The novel is mainly about a woman and her tangled love and hate with three men. A misunderstanding separates Xia Xiaoyan and her lover, Zhang Yang. Many years later, after divorcing the man she married because she was pregnant, Xia Xiaoyan meets the gentle and considerate Li Yang and chooses to marry again. But on her way to get her marriage certificate, Zhang Yang rushes over to stop her. For love, he loses his precious life.
At the very last moment of his life, Zhang Yang takes Xia Xiaoyan's hand and gently places it in Li Yang's. Looking at Xia Xiaoyan, he says weakly, "The... the wishing tree said... said I... didn't love you... properly, so... it... sent... sent someone else... to... to keep... loving you..."
"If five hundred glances in a past life were needed to earn one chance encounter in this life, then perhaps I was so captivated by the beauty of those peach blossoms that I forgot to turn back and look at you once more, leaving us with only half a lifetime of love. Or perhaps I mistakenly snapped off a peach blossom branch, bringing this peach blossom curse upon myself. If there is another life, will you remember that we once passed each other by?"
