American Panda

Mei meets Xing at a dim sum restaurant. The estranged siblings don’t know how to behave around each other, and Mei still feels guilty for meeting him in secret. Mei is tired of keeping secrets from her parents. When she asks Xing why he disappeared completely from her life, he admits that he thought taking himself out of the situation would be better for Mei. He didn’t want her to have to choose between her parents and brother. Mei is upset that he seemingly sealed her fate as a sheltered, awkward person. She recalls the night that Xing was disowned and how he begged his parents to accept Esther. Instead, they shunned him, and young Mei was confused and afraid. Mei now tries to confide in him about her fears of pursuing medicine. However, once she discovers that Xing enjoys being a doctor, she decides that he wouldn’t be able to relate to her anxiety, so she keeps another secret for now.

Note: There is no Chapter 13 because Mei acknowledges that the number 13 is bad luck in American culture.