In a near future where memories can be retrieved, traded and even mortgaged, "Yesterday's Auction House" is an industry giant. In order to treat his seriously ill granddaughter, Jiang An decided to auction his most precious memory - the day he first met his late wife. On the eve of the transaction, he was horrified to discover that this memory was not "original": it was too perfect, lacking the rough edges and noise that reality should have, and more like a carefully crafted "emotional experience product."
While pursuing the truth, Jiang An met Xiao Chi, a girl who had been living at the bottom because her memory was stolen. The two teamed up to dive into the abyss of auction house data and discovered a huge conspiracy: by recycling, tampering and re-implanting "customized beautiful memories", the auction house quietly healed the trauma, dissatisfaction and resistance impulses of the entire era, and built a stable "happy consensus". Those replaced real painful memories are sealed in a taboo database called the "Tear Bank" and become the secret fuel to maintain the operation of the system.
When Jiang An finally found the real owner of his memory - an old man who lost everything in the early resistance of the system - he faced the ultimate choice: use the evidence in his hand to destroy this fragile world built with fictional warmth and let the real pain come to light; or keep silent and let his granddaughter live in the peace bought by the bitter memories of countless people?
