Synopsis

On an ancient Suzhou street with white walls and black tiles, an old lady in her nineties lives with her carer who is in her sixties. The lady comes from a famous family and was a national athletic star during her college years. After fleeing to Suzhou from Shanghai together with her lover, her life was filled with hardship. Her husband didn’t leave her, but always betrayed her, and in the end passed away before her. After her husband’s death, the old lady, who has no children, wrote a will that she will give all her money to the local university for a scholarship. The old lady intended her will to be secret. However, everybody knew about this secret. People couldn’t understand why she would give money to students who would never take care of her. While the lady was sick and confused, her carer made her write a slip to give the caretaker RMB 20,000. In order to get this money, the carer began to study and learn one Chinese character a day. The grandma was hospitalized several times and lots of valuable furniture was taken away by her niece, which made the carer envious. So, the carer and the niece began to bad-mouth each other to the old lady… Before we know it, six years have passed. Half of the old street has been dismantled while the other half remains. With all that is happening in the world, the old lady has lived through the frustrations in her life and has been revitalized at the age of 95, just like an ancient tree producing new leaves. Under the autumn sunlight and with the carer by her side, she caresses the remains of a photo showing her with lipstick on, misses her late husband, and ponders how her secret will one day be disclosed and what legacy she will leave — all things that are meaningless to those around her.