Real Americans

Content Warning: This section includes discussions of suicide, depression, drug overdose, sexual assault, violence, and racism.

Two people stand inside a darkened museum. To protect the cultural relics from the Red Guards, they smash the glass and steal a small seed. Rumored to have been dropped by a dragon into the hand of an ancient emperor, the seed is said to hold the power to grant wishes to its bearer.

It is 1999, and Lily Chen is an unpaid intern at a large media corporation. She spends her days editing images while fretting about what she will do after she graduates. Options for art history majors are limited, and she cannot see herself in any of the careers that will be available to her.

At her company Christmas party, Lily eats free food with the other interns, contemplating the cost of the party in comparison to what her salary would have been if she were a paid employee. She is one of the only Asian interns. Their boss obviously prefers bubbly blondes, and Lily often feels out of place among her coworkers. Her boss introduces her to his nephew, Matthew Maier, by saying that she is Korean, though she is actually Chinese.