Long Xiaoning, a university student from Tsinghua sent to teach temporarily in an Evenki township, hopes to make a difference there. Liu Bai, the male teacher who guides her teaching and shares her class, immediately catches her eye. When students wreck her dormitory, Long Xiaoning has no choice but to move in with Liu Bai. The longer they spend together, the more she discovers that Liu Bai is not only handsome but kind-hearted, determined to use his knowledge and passion to dispel the gloom hanging over the township’s students, who see no future for themselves. Together, they bring dropouts back to school, secure sponsorship to expand the library, and guide students experiencing their first stirrings of love toward working hard to build a better future. In the process, feelings quietly blossom between them. But Liu Bai is conflicted. He does not want Long Xiaoning to become rooted in a difficult rural life as he has, so he keeps his identity as a Tsinghua alumnus secret. When a student lets the truth slip, Long Xiaoning is overjoyed and even more determined to stay. She boldly confesses her feelings, and at last they become a couple. But not long afterward, Liu Bai freezes to death in the snow while trying to stop a student who has run away into the mountains. Long Xiaoning carries on alone, keeping their shared dream alive as she nurtures generation after generation of students. She becomes a decorated teacher, and only after her death is she reunited with her beloved.
