In Chengdu’s Shaocheng district in 1996, a mistakenly taken English exam paper quietly entwines the fates of the boy Cheng Yinxing and the girl Ji Furong. The sweetness of tangerine candy and the fragrance of candied rice cakes color their tender, youthful feelings. In a campus where ginkgo leaves fall, they support each other and keep their promise of “a lifetime” hidden in their hearts. But the fork in the road appears without warning. Policy changes, distance, and the grind of reality force their tightly clasped hands apart. Lost contact, news of marriages, and the separate paths their lives take grind their youthful promise to pieces. After fourteen years of twists and turns, the faded ginkgo-and-hibiscus handkerchief finds itself reunited with a familiar warmth. Can the regrets buried by time be given a new ending in Shaocheng’s autumn breeze?
