Single mother Li Qingcao manages a stall in Shenzhen to make a living. The lack of a local household registration or property makes it difficult for her daughter to go to school. Once a left-behind child herself, Qingcao now confronts the dilemma of her daughter, who is on the verge of repeating her fate.

Meanwhile, in Li’s hometown, the remains of a man who had been killed for years were found at an abandoned primary school in a remote, impoverished mountainous county in Hunan. The deceased was the school's canteen manager at the time.

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The decade-old murder case has now become incredibly complex and confusing, surrounded by mysteries. On a rainy night, Detective Han Yan returns to the crime scene for investigation and suddenly discovers a connection between the case and several left-behind children, unraveling both Li Qingcao’s secrets and his own in the process…

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Director's Note 

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The left-behind children’s issue have always been an open sore in Chinese society. After the economic reform, countless migrant workers from the inland flocked to coastal cities for work, resulting in a significant number of children who were left-behind. The absence of parents in these households has led to a myriad of problems during the children’s upbringing, causing damage and lasting effects that will accompany them throughout their lives.

Today, the first generation of left-behind children has grown up, and when they go to work outside their hometowns, they face similar problems as their own children may be repeating their fate. This cyclical dilemma is what our film aims to portray and draw attention to. This cyclical dilemma is what the film aims to portray and draw attention to. Therefore the film focuses on the female protagonist, who goes to great lengths to prevent her daughter from becoming a left-behind child. In the end, she returns to her hometown to be with her daughter, despite the traumatic past it holds.

To make the film more engaging for the audience, I've incorporated a crime element into the story. In fact, the crime rate among leftbehind children is very high in real life, which is what the film seeks to shed light on.