Story summary:
An Jiaojiao and Cheng Xiaoyan are young people in the 1990s, living in the rural areas of the northern Jiangsu Plain. They are cousins and have deep feelings for each other, but there are many disputes between their parents. Jiao Jiao's father was once the captain of the production team. He forced his sister to marry the district director out of selfish motives. After her sister resisted, he designed and framed another woman, causing her to be misunderstood by her lover. After giving birth to a child, she died of hatred.
Xiaoyan's mother, who was not afraid of secular power, bravely pursued free love, and sacrificed her young life to save a daughter who was not her biological daughter. Xiaoyan's father was too sad and had no energy to take care of his two daughters. They were taken back to be raised by their grandfather and grandmother respectively. Xiaoyan and Jiaojiao became playmates when they were young, and they spent sunny days. Everything in the past has gone with the wind. As an adult, An Jiaojiao has a melancholy character because he was born with a disease in his mother's body. The mother is selfish and domineering, often ridiculing and cursing her husband, and obstructing her nephew's marriage. Jiao Jiao's father is like a zombie, always escaping from himself. Jiao Jiao shows a rebellious spirit and constantly confronts his family. After failing the college entrance examination, his life suffered setbacks one after another. His simple heart could not cope with the world, so he once immersed himself in nature. During a heavy rain, he met a fisherman girl and seemed to regain happiness and new life. But contrary to expectations, he had to withdraw from the fruitless love affair and obey the fate of his fate. In the irreversible living situation, he no longer struggled in vain, allowed his mind to calm down and returned to his true nature, thus creating a painting called (Angel on the Water).