A Relationship on the Edge

Scheming, sharp-witted younger woman vs. patient, gentle older woman

The younger woman's marriage is only a marriage of convenience. They each get what they need from it, and there is no love between them.

The older woman's husband has already passed away, so by the time she develops feelings for the female lead, she is single.

In the spring of her twenty-third year, Ruan Qiu Ci is called back to China by her biased father, who sends her a plane ticket. Waiting for her is that damned marriage contract. It was supposed to be her younger sister's, but her father has pushed it onto her instead.

On her first night back, she accepts a friend's invitation to have some fun at the bar her friend has just opened. She never turns down a drink offered to her. Half-asleep and half-awake, she catches sight of a woman with an extraordinary air sitting in a corner.

Sheng Wan Yun is nearing forty. She has spent nearly twenty years keeping watch over the Lin family, a hollow shell of a household.

She has always loved her stepdaughter as if she were her own.

One evening, she gets off work early and passes a lively bar. There, she happens to brush shoulders with Ruan Qiu Ci.

On an inexplicable impulse, she walks into the bar.

At a glance, she spots the girl surrounded by a crowd.

The girl is beautiful. As she drinks, her upturned neck forms a graceful curve, and Sheng Wan Yun can't help staring.

Perhaps under the influence of alcohol, she makes her way unsteadily over to the girl. Distracted for a moment, she falls into Ruan Qiu Ci's arms. The scent of perfume intoxicates her a little. Leaning close to the girl's ear, she murmurs hoarsely, "Spend the night with me. How much do you want?"

Ruan Qiu Ci: "??? Did she really mistake me for that kind of woman?"

But the woman in her arms is cool and composed, dignified and elegant, and Ruan Qiu Ci figures she isn't exactly losing out either. With that thought, she tightens the hand around the woman's waist.

Then, when her senses finally return, a beautiful girl is lying beside her. Neither of them has a stitch on, and anyone could tell at a glance what had happened.

She forces her aching body to flee, ignoring the look in the eyes of the woman behind her.

Side Story:

The woman's tears stream down her face. "A Ci... What we're doing is wrong..."

The girl kisses away her tears. Her voice is calm, yet almost obsessive, as she whispers in her ear, "Mom, it's too late..."

The rustle of fabric fills the room as the girl half coaxes, half pushes her into the changing room.

The celebratory music drowns out the woman's muffled moans as she tries to hold them back.

"Mom, look at me... Look only at me, okay?"

Theme: Never lose your desire to live.