Jing Guoda is unsure that he could ever forgive his father. The father who has beaten him, ordered him to split his fiddle, locked him up, and forced him to skip grade after grade that has made him feel so insecure and inadequate.

Guoda survives the childhood experience. At St. John's University, Shanghai, away from his father, he matures and gains self-confidence. As a refugee in Hong Kong after the Chinese Civil War, he struggles and eventually finds considerable success as a broker. In search of an even brighter future, he makes his way with his newly wedded wife to America to pursue a career in engineering, in which he already has a bachelor's degree. Steadfastly he advances through graduate school and the academic ladder to become a full professor. Later on, he even tries to accommodate an old interest in literature--which his father used to ridicule.

In his adult life Guoda regularly contends with his father, who lives in Taiwan, whenever they meet. Their conflict peaks in the days of his mother's funeral. Finally, looking after his now seriously ill octogenarian father, Guoda discovers that he is ready to make peace with him.