A touching contemporary drama about the emerging Chinese middle class: When his unhappy wife leaves for a month of corporate training, a struggling young father loses his job, learns to cope with their 7 year old son, and finds unlikely salvation in the form of a cake delivery job that allows him to find his real talent and reunite with his estranged wife.
Four parallel stories of people just getting by, unfolding over seven days in Beijing. For most of the story, the main characters mis-connect with others, except through their pagers.
Shiwa, the son of a poor Chinese farmer, is doing well at school. But when his mother dies and his sister leaves the house, he's the only one left to take care of his disabled father.