In the winter of the 18th year of the Republic of China, Shen Nianzhi came to Shanghai alone and stayed in an inconspicuous inn.
She is waiting for someone. The man said that if he missed the appointment, he would go to the pier and wait for a ferry with a gardenia painted on its bow. But after four nights of waiting, the river froze and the boat didn't come.
The innkeeper's wife's surname is Chen. There is a stack of unsendable letters locked in the counter drawer. The envelopes have the same address written on them. The recipient died in Wuchang ten years ago.
The gang who stayed at the hotel, the old man who played the huqin, the woman who was in charge of clothes at Paramount... Everyone was carrying a letter that had been written but had nowhere to send it. Everyone was waiting for someone who would never come back.
Later, Shen Nianzhi saw that name in an old newspaper, with white letters in a black frame, clearly visible.
Concept: For some people, waiting is equal to loving.