Five people, all rotting away at the very bottom of society, came together to pull off one big score.
Dong was fresh out of prison. His wife had left him, and his child wanted nothing to do with him. Old Diao had done three stints in prison. When he got out, the world had changed, and no one wanted him. Xiao Bo had no parents and wanted to prove he wasn’t useless. Sister Hong was past her prime, selling drinks at a KTV and hoping to get her son back. A Gui slept under a bridge and never spoke. In his pocket was a photograph with “I’m sorry” written on the back.
Old Diao had a plan: kidnap a businessman's daughter in the provincial capital and demand three million yuan in ransom. Once the job was done, they would each go their separate ways.
They rented a beat-up Jinbei van, pooled their money for gas, and hit the road.
In the end, they got no money, and the group fell apart. Sister Hong went south to find her son, but he didn’t recognize her. Xiao Bo spent all his money, then went back to Dong, who told him, “We each go our own way.” A Gui returned to the bridge, but the photograph was gone. Old Diao rented a place in the county town and bought and cooked food by himself. Dong went back to a construction site. When the contractor asked, “You got a criminal record?” he said no.
At the end of the year, snow fell. The five of them were in different places, all looking up at the same snowfall.
No one knew where the others were. None of them ever got in touch again.
They had come together to split up. Now they were apart, but they hadn’t gotten very far.
