Bangkok, Sukhumvit Soi 24.
In an old house that stitches together Japanese order and tropical chaos, the Matsumoto family has taken root here for three generations.
Ayano Matsumoto, seventy-three years old, with gray hair on her temples and meticulous black formal wear, is definitely the leader. She built an orderly island on Thai land using Japanese rules - the tatami must be kneeled in the same direction, the tea cup must be turned twice before drinking, and juniors must bow to a precise angle when entering the door.
Granddaughter Akiko Matsumoto is the one who has carved these rules into her bones. She lived cautiously, like a chess piece being placed, trying to find her place in this silent and strict family.
And her cousin Anno Matsumoto is the most restless piece on the chessboard - the mixed-race daughter of her aunt and a Thai. She has the only unrecognized blood in this family. She steps on the tatami wearing a denim jacket, pours tea from the spout, and grins at everyone.
When grandma's guest "worthy of raking sand again" comes to visit on a rainy night, the order that the Matsumoto family has maintained for half a century begins to loosen. Akiko discovered that beneath those rules that had been ironed without a single wrinkle, there were hidden secrets, lies, and cracks that were far deeper than she could imagine——
And she must make a choice between "becoming part of the rules" and "breaking it."
Burmese gardenias fall all over the courtyard every year. Some people kneel and sit on the porch, and some people step on the fallen flowers with bare feet.
Concept: "Qianzhen" refers to the hammer pattern on the metal surface, and "Acanthus" refers to the plant of the family Acorus.