In the tenth year of the Republic, Suzhou is veiled in mist and rain in the late spring. The heroine, Lin Qinghe, travels there with her father, Lin Wenxuan, a former Qing dynasty scholar, to visit an old friend. Her father hopes to find her a suitable match. Raised under her father’s influence, Lin Qinghe is accomplished in poetry, calligraphy, and painting. Gentle yet strong-willed, she dislikes traditional arranged marriages. One day, she goes alone to admire the scenery at the Humble Administrator’s Garden. While sketching beside the lotus pond, she accidentally drops her paintbrush into the water. Just then, the hero, Lu Zhiyuan, passes by. He is the son of Suzhou’s prominent Lu family, recently returned from studying abroad. Open-minded and devoted to literature and the cause of national salvation, he has come back to Suzhou to handle family affairs. Seeing what happened, Lu Zhiyuan offers to retrieve the brush for Lin Qinghe. They bond over poetry and painting, enjoy a pleasant conversation, and leave a deep impression on each other.
