A biomedical researcher returns to China to transfer her late grandmother's apartment to her male cousin so he can marry. However, a simple legal task to save her dwindling clan becomes a bureaucratic nightmare, and her interracial marriage in Boston begins to unravel. While she struggles to regain equilibrium between two clashing cultures, her homebound journey evolves into a midlife self-discovery.
The story portrays a resilient Chinese family that has survived a tumultuous century. Ultimately, finding one's identity during a crisis celebrates the human potential of reaching enlightenment under all circumstances.