Two women, old friends, meet by chance on the busy streets of Laos. They talk about their families, the complexities of living, and surviving on little wages. One woman is upset at the choices she has to make about her family's health and how much easier it is for her friend, Maiker, who has no husband to answer to. At home, Maiker sees her pregnant daughter Hnuhlee, a modern woman who is still living at home and does not have a husband. Maiker thinks about raising Hnuhlee. Maiker's husband had left them both when Hnuhlee was just a baby to fight against the communists working their way into Thailand. He never returned, yet she waited for him even after his parents and her parents left for America. Years later, Maiker goes back to Laos with her daughter to try and find her husband, who everyone thinks is dead. She ends up in a village, where she meets a Mr. Cha, who lets her use his tape recorder to hear messages recorded by her family overseas. They connect over both being widowed while trying to raise children. Maiker searches for work, but no one is hiring or looking for help, no matter how menial the task. Eventually, one of her friends tells her about the orchid growing business, but laughs when she tries to join. Eventually, a neighbor takes pity on her and brings her fishing at the river in the mornings. Maiker enrolls Hnuhlee in the same school that her employers' children go to so she can learn English. Americans start visiting the country to search for orchids and offer to pay large sums for the rarest breeds. The women are wary of these men with large amounts of money, and most are there to hurt, steal, or assault the villagers. After a few years, Maiker finally pays the funeral rites for her husband. Her friend, Mr. Cha, has taken to prostitution to make money and take care of his children. Mr. Cha has also taken to opium to dull the pain. He gets high for days and sometimes soils himself, but he refuses anyone's help except Maiker's. Maiker cleans him with the help of his sons and their wives during these times. Hnuhlee is about to graduate from school and become an English interpreter, but she needs money for the vocational school to make it happen. When Mr. Cha hears this, he gives her enough money for tuition and more to Maiker, telling her it will make him feel like a man to pay her for sex while helping her help her daughter. Maiker accepts, and Mr. Cha kills himself a few days later. Maiker reflects on the choices she made that got her and her daughter the money they did. She defends her decision to stay in Laos instead of going to America with the rest of her family because she sees how unhappy everyone is there, even though they have more money. But she never tells Hnuhlee because she knows Hnuhlee doesn't care and won't listen to her.