Crazy Rich Asians: Part 2, Chapter 2 Summary & Analysis

Nick opens the car door for Rachel and thanks Peik Lin for bringing her. Peik Lin desperately wants to get out and explore, but instead she asks if the house is Ah Ma’s and how long Ah Ma has lived here. Nick says Ah Ma has lived here since she was a child, and Peik Lin is desperate to ask who Nick’s grandmother is. But she leaves without asking. Rachel is obviously anxious, but Nick explains that Ah Ma is throwing a “small party” because her tan hua flowers are blooming. The rare flowers only bloom once per decade. He assures Rachel she’s not underdressed and escorts her into the house. There, he coaches her through rinsing her fingers in a bowl of rosewater, though it’s hard for Rachel not to get distracted by the intricate mosaic tile floor.

Nick steers Rachel toward the stairs, where an enormous stuffed tiger, posed in a pounce, frightens her. He shares that his great-grandfather supposedly shot it, and it used to frighten him too—he lived in this house until he was seven. Rachel insists this is a palace, not a house, as Nick leads her to the living room. But Rachel is again shocked—the room they enter isn’t really a living room. It runs the length of the house, with many seating areas, views of the grounds, and a man playing the grand piano for the guests. The furniture is teak and leather, and the walls are filigreed with silver and lapis lazuli. Rachel is afraid to touch anything, but the guests all seem at home.

Nick’s aunt Felicity approaches first, looking like a stereotypical Chinese matron. After curtly nodding at Rachel, Felicity hurries off to greet a woman in a stunning sari—Nick explains she has her saris flown to New Delhi for special cleaning. Next, Rachel meets Uncle Dickie and Auntie Nancy and has to awkwardly explain that her family isn’t from Taipei; her mom is from Guangdong and now lives in California. It’s again awkward when Nancy asks if Rachel knows her good friend Ann Getty, whom Rachel has to confirm is from the Getty Oil family. Rachel’s reaction shocks Nancy. Rachel meets many more of Nick’s relatives and important people, and then Nick introduces Rachel to a stately older woman whom Rachel mistakes for Ah Ma, but who is actually Great-aunt Rosemary. 

Next, Nick leads Rachel to meet Ah Ma, a shrunken yet beautiful woman with two beautiful women standing behind her. Ah Ma thanks Rachel for coming and then turns away. Rachel is embarrassed and then shocked when Nick says the women behind Ah Ma are her ladies’ maids; the King of Thailand gifted Ah Ma a constant string of specially-trained Thai women to wait on her. Rachel is overwhelmed, but she’s thrilled when Astrid and Cassian appear behind her. Just then, a woman plays a xylophone by the stairs, signaling the start of dinner. Nick hugs the woman, whom he introduces as Ling Cheh, the woman who raised him. In Cantonese, which Astrid translates for Rachel, Ling Cheh teases Nick about marrying Rachel.

Nick leaves Rachel in the lavish dining room while he goes to go put Cassian to bed. Rachel helps herself to food from one of the many dishes on the buffet and another of Nick’s cousins, Oliver T’sien, appears behind her and introduces himself. He knows already where Rachel is from, and he notes that “the whispering gallery” is already talking about her. Oliver leads Rachel to start their own table, ignoring Dickie and Nancy’s attempts to call Rachel over. Cryptically, Oliver says his aunt and uncle are here to “spy for the opposition”—that is, the “team” that’s against Rachel. He also notes that they haven’t historically been very nice to him. 

Then, Oliver explains how he’s related to Nick (they’re technically second cousins) and details the Young family tree. There are three branches, the Youngs, the Shangs (who are in England for the summer), and the T’siens. The three branches were “strategically bound together” decades ago, which consolidated and preserved the family fortune. Nick and Astrid join Rachel and Oliver, and Rachel is awed to learn that Astrid’s earrings cost around a half-million dollars. Oliver mentions having seen a man who looked shockingly like Michael walking with a little boy in Hong Kong; Astrid tries not to react. They discuss Oliver’s job as an Asian art and antiquities expert and how unfortunate it is that Ah Ma’s generation went for Art Deco stuff to try to look “modern and sophisticated.” Now, there’s a movement to get all the museum-quality Chinese art that’s currently in Europe back to Asia.