Ling is riding on a train with Charles Crocker, one of the major barons of the Central Pacific Railway. Although he thinks that he should be directing his attention out of the train’s windows to ascertain whether the hills they are traveling through are, in fact, made of gold, he cannot manage to look away from Charles, his employer. Ling is wearing a new suit and thinks back to when Charles bought it for him. Charles had been happy with the suit and exclaimed, “Clothes make the man!” (4).

The narrative moves back in time to tell the story of Ling’s arrival in the US. Ling’s mother had been a Chinese sex worker and his father a foreigner. His mother, who was from a semi-nomadic fishing community looked down upon by the majority Han Chinese, died in childbirth, and Ling’s father sold him to a man who sold opium and managed sex workers. When Ling grew older, this man arranged passage for him to travel to the United States and work in the fast-growing world of gold mining.