Because Wu Yurou resembled the late Bai Yueguang, she was married off as a substitute by Li Hanzhou, the president of the Li family. He sees others through her, and gives love but also alienation. She played her role soberly and quietly planned her departure. On New Year's Eve in the Year of the Horse, she submitted the divorce agreement and prepared to fly away. But Li Hanzhou chased her to the airport with scarlet eyes, held her tightly in his arms, and said in a hoarse voice, "I have stopped looking at other people. My love is you Wu Yurou from the beginning to the end!" The story uses the sadomasochistic setting of "substitute" to deeply analyze the emotional propositions of "shadow and true self" and "remembering and cherishing the present". The theme is to explore whether a person can transcend his obsession with the deceased and see and fall in love with the real individual in front of him. The male protagonist Li Hanzhou initially took Wu Yurou as his emotional sustenance, but as they got along day after day, he was attracted by her vivid personality, kindness and tenacity that were completely different from "Bai Yueguang". Unknowingly, the object of emotional projection had changed. The heroine's sobriety and independence are the key to her ultimately winning respect and true love. The story reaches its climax at the turn of the old and new years of the Horse, symbolizing farewell to the past and embracing new life. The theme profoundly points out that indulging in the past is an escape from reality. Real love is to see and accept the unique, flesh-and-blood person in front of you, and to cherish the real warmth of the present.
