Top-tier star Dong Wan refuses the sexual advances of Zhang Han, the boss of Dingsheng Capital. The company maliciously terminates her contract and has her blacklisted across the internet. Overnight, she falls from the heights of fame into the gutter, burdened with a host of false accusations and left with only 650,000 yuan in savings and a three-month "blacklist grace period." With nowhere else to turn, she runs into Lu Xun at a coffee shop in an alleyway. The heir to Xuntian Group, he has concealed his identity because he is tired of the infighting and profiteering in the business world. Posing as an ordinary office worker, he carries a stack of original songs and lyrics untouched by capital.
The two hit it off and decide to use their meager funds to produce an original album, Neon Ashes, gambling on a chance to prove her innocence to the entire internet. During production, they face one attack from capital after another: their audio files are stolen, then they are accused of plagiarism; the studio’s account is frozen; one partner after another cancels their deal; and fans abandon them en masse. Capital even pays online trolls to throw paint and cause a scene, trying to drive Dong Wan out for good. While secretly using his connections to gather evidence, Lu Xun stands by Dong Wan as she bears the pressure. From selling her bags to raise money, to running between underground recording studios, to building a following with open-air street performances, the two carve out a way forward through capital’s layers of blockade.
When Neon Ashes unexpectedly becomes a hit as an independent release, Lu Xun’s identity is finally exposed. He retaliates by making all of Dingsheng Capital’s dirty secrets public, overturning the entertainment industry’s unspoken rules of capital once and for all. In the end, Dong Wan clears her name and joins Lu Xun in establishing a support program for independent musicians, opening a new path for creators who refuse to bow to capital.
Set against Shanghai’s plum rain season in 2024, the story opens with the production of the album Neon Ashes as its main thread, and tells the story of the two of them from the depths of despair
