Two students in the Peoples Republic of China are forced to flee out of China after having taken part in a protest action for freedom. They come to America, and try to build up a new life. After a while, one of the brothers pursues a musical career while the other gets entangled in a criminal organization.

After the death of his brother Wago, Jian-Wa Chang now roams America's countryside while looking for his place in the world. He is hit by a van of two college students. Jian-Wa is taken in and nursed by Megan, a secluded artist. Jian-Wa is also visited by the ghost of Wago, who must act as an angel to Jian-Wa to gain acceptance into heaven. Meanwhile, the students from the hit-and-run plan to kill Jian-Wa so he doesn't talk to the police.

In 1945, a young boy arrives in a small Georgia town on a bus from which his mother was abducted and murdered. Alone he sits quietly and everyone becomes convinced that he is deaf and mute. Deciding that silence offers some power and protection, the boy decides to remain mute and just listens to all that is being said around him by people who think that he cannot hear.