In the height of summer in 2000, Shaocheng in Chengdu still held a slow pace of life untouched by commercialization. Gray-green tiles covered the old lanes, locust trees shaded the bluestone streets, and the fragrance of tea in lidded bowls mingled with the heat of hot pot, drifting over the bustle of everyday life. The millennium breeze swept through Chengdu as old and new eras quietly collided. Old pagers and candy-bar phones took turns in people’s hands, secure jobs in state-owned enterprises began to lose their appeal, and countless young people set out in search of the unknown in this city.
Chen Mo, a young man born and raised in Shaocheng, and Lin Haitang, a young woman from southern Sichuan who had come to Chengdu alone to make a living, meet by chance beneath an old locust tree during a sudden thunderstorm. An old umbrella brings their lives together, and in the quiet moments they share, a tender affection takes root. But the differences in their family backgrounds, their families’ prejudices, and the storms of reality already churn beneath the surface. After four years, can they hold on to this pure love and find a safe, steady home amid the bustle of Shaocheng?
