John Chinaman seems to have turned over a new leaf with schoolmistress Ada in the small town of Blue Hill. But his troubled past keeps him from trusting this peaceful new life, and his worst fears come true when the US government passes the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, further inflaming already simmering resentments among townsfolk. John's life is further complicated when his blood brother Chow turns up again, an advance scout for a Triad concern seeking to buy up land along the planned railroad route. Will a reunion between these two old friends ever be anything but bittersweet?