Two boys meet at an opera training school in Peking in 1924. Their resulting friendship will span nearly 70 years and endure some of the most troublesome times in China's history.
Middle aged businesswoman Xie Chunhua is well-off but still leads a celibate life. In her plastic flower factory, she notices two young men: they have similar appearance, one plays flutes, and the other writes poems, entirely different from the rest of workers in the factory.
