One Whole and Perfect Day Chapter 21 Summary

The Old Place

  • The next day, Stan makes his trip back to where he grew up, only it's not such a beautiful day in the neighborhood. In fact, the neighborhood is barely recognizable and is now populated with Chinese people and businesses.
  • In his mind, Stan has an argument with Lily about his alleged racist tendencies.
  • While Stan is having a mental fight with Lily about Chinese people, Rose is on a train heading for a nostalgia trip of her own.
  • She recalls the day she learned of her parents' death on a ferry in Malaysia and the emptiness she felt at the news. When she goes to the sweetshop to buy her mom's candy, she remembers the haunting sound of the echoing, empty floors at the family's house after they died.