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Classic overview

Fulfilling her late father’s last wish, Zhang Yuanyuan (Wang Zhen’er), who grew up in the United States, returns to China with her young daughter. There, she is confronted with a painful truth — her estranged mother (Li Ping), whom she has long blamed for abandoning her, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. As the mother’s memories fade, Yuanyuan and her daughter accompany her through the gradual unraveling of time. Through fragments of recollection and reality, Yuanyuan’s thoughts drift back to the 1980s, where she “meets” her mother as a young woman (He Lin) — brilliant, beautiful, and full of promise. In that era of newfound hope after the resumption of university entrance exams, her mother’s life seemed destined for success. Yet a single unexpected event changed the course of her life, as well as that of Yuanyuan’s father and Yuanyuan herself, forever. A tender and time-woven story about memory, reconciliation, and the quiet strength that binds generations.