Liu Min

Zhao Li manages a Sichuan Opera troupe that lives and performs together in a rundown theatre in the outskirts of Chengdu. When she receives an order of demolition, she hides the news, fearing that this could spell their end. Secretly, she wouldn’t mind stopping since their life has become harder over the years. But what else can she do? She also worries that her niece Dan Dan, their star, will leave them for a better future in the city. To keep her troupe “family” together, Zhao Li begins a search for a new theatre for them to both sing and live in. As she struggles with bureaucracy, the characters from the opera world that she uses to escape her troubles begin to seep into her real life…

1999年、中国山西省のフェンヤン。小学校の女性教師タオと、炭鉱で働く青年のリャンズー、そして若き実業家のジンシェンは、仲の良い幼なじみ。2人の男性からともに想いを寄せられていたタオは、やがてジンシェンからのプロポーズを受け入れて彼と結婚し、男児を生む。2014年。ジンシェンと離婚し、ひとり暮らしをしていたタオのもとへ、息子のダオラーがやって来て、2人は数年ぶりに親子水入らずの時を過ごす。