Leo Chao is the character around whom most of the action revolves. Though he does not spend the most time on stage, the first section of the book builds the animosity toward him, and the second focuses on the fallout of his death. Leo, called “Big Chao” by the community, is the archetypal patriarch, the head of the family, a man whose restaurant is the pillar of the community, but with a reputation among his neighbors for being abrasive and single-minded.

James sees his father as a “sturdy, vigorous man with tadpole eyes and a dark, strong-featured face thickened by food and living” (17). His flaws are “miserliness, dissipation, lechery” (30). Leo is physically intimidating, and Ming thinks of him as a beast on its hind legs. Leo considers himself in his prime—69 at the time of his death. Dagou notes his “unwavering self-dedication” (112), driven by his appetite for food, sex, and money. Fang says Leo “was the consummate American id, an insatiable narcissist, a shameless capitalist who wanted to screw everyone” (163).

Though Leo’s neighbors describe him in terms of the archetypical, hard-working immigrant, his real goal is not to provide for his family but to become rich and support his own lifestyle.