Tracing the Roots of Dream of the Red Chamber, Starting with Qiao Jie

A century passes in the blink of an eye. The once magnificent Rongguo Mansion, with its golden bricks and jade tiles, has become a field of broken walls and rubble.

A hundred years later, a failed scholar named Chao Xuexi is on his way back to his hometown. He spends the night at a country inn in a deserted village, only to dream of a female ghost.

The ghost claims to be Jia Qiaojie, a young lady of Rongguo Mansion. She has an unfulfilled wish and hopes someone will help her return to the mansion to retrieve a few things.

Down on his luck and with nothing better to do, Chao Xuexi agrees to help her.

He thinks he'll just be picking through a pile of ruins for whatever scraps remain. Instead, this leads him into a dazzling, prosperous dream...

&:

In short, a hundred years after the Jia family fell into decline, a scholar helps spirits lingering in the human world fulfill their wishes. Among the ruins, he gradually traces the history of Rongguo Mansion's former extravagance and splendor.

*There are ghosts and supernatural elements, but it's not scary (probably).

Theme: The power of culture endures through the ages