At twenty, Yun Ni arrived in Paris with a suitcase to study oil painting at an art academy. With help from fellow countrywoman Lin Xi and support from her group of girlfriends, she gradually found her footing in a foreign land. At a bar gathering, she met Louis, a thirty-year-old entrepreneur with curly brown hair and a canine tooth who loved mixing drinks for his guests himself. Their relationship grew from tentative flirtation into love, sweet yet natural and restrained.
Louis's steady nature and Yun Ni's slyness drew them to each other, and their circles of friends soon became one: the girls brought the chaos, while the guys had their backs. A note from the elderly landlady, the art academy's aloof top student Chloe picking at her work, and business rival Philippe's schemes: Yun Ni and Louis handled each little hiccup with composure, never letting them damage their relationship.
Yun Ni went from being criticized by Chloe to being invited to collaborate on a mural, and from painting still lifes to painting a window looking out onto the sea. Louis went from passively reacting to taking the initiative to meet with Philippe. Through all the little things, they grew closer and closer.
After the graduation exhibition, Louis proposed by the sea with a glass of wine and a key. Yun Ni took him home to meet her parents. He drank baijiu, ate home-cooked food, and ended up knocked out on the sofa. In the end, they agreed to spend half the year in France and half in China after marriage. The story ends at the airport: Yun Ni leans on Louis's shoulder, feels the candy he slipped into her pocket, and says without looking back, "Next time, make it liquor-filled chocolate."
After three years in Paris, she took away a painting, a ring, and a rowdy group of friends. And he took her with him.
