At 22, illustrator Lin Xiaoxiao meets her mature, steady soulmate, “River,” in a virtual game world. He understands her wild imagination and is the warmest light in her weary real life. Meanwhile, her stern, old-fashioned father, a retired military officer, is doing everything he can to arrange a blind date between her and one of his old comrades: the rigid “Uncle Gu” she has heard about all her life.
As her online romance burns bright while she goes through the motions offline, a family birthday dinner tears down the curtain between the two worlds. The man standing outside is both her online boyfriend and her father’s old comrade. They are one and the same.
On one side is a passionate love that reaches to the soul; on the other stands an ethical wall built from family ties and generational boundaries. When her father flies into a rage and her lover falls silent, how can Lin Xiaoxiao find a shore where they can belong together, caught between virtual and real worlds? This is a story about courage, honesty, and reconciliation, exploring how to protect the person who is right for you when you’ve met them under the wrong identity.
