The main protagonist is a naive Chinaman, Lee Fong, of basic tastes and culture, whose work in China involved preparing various animals for human consumption, principally in the abundant dog-markets, which proliferated in his local area. He was brought up in an orphanage with an horrific environment, but made two important friendships, which enabled him to eventually escape to England. One was a lady of mixed descent with whom he fell deeply in love, but his other friend evolved into a mercenary individual, once he had tasted the riches of the West.
After many years of hardship in the dog-markets he made his way to London, where his two friends had opened a Chinese restaurant. The story relates how his conception and cruelty to animals, like the dogs he had abused in China, slowly but radically changes through a sequence of bizzare events.
