The story takes place in Hong Kong in the 1940s. Young girl Fang Lan (Zhou Xun) and her mother (Deanie Ip) live together and depend on each other. They rent the second floor of their home to writer Mao Dun (Guo Tao) and his wife Kong Deqi (Jiang Wenli). Fang Lan loves Mao Dun's writings very much, and feels the fiery revolutionary enthusiasm and surging national integrity in them. However, Fang Lan knows very little about the turbulent situation and tense political atmosphere around her. Liu Jinjin (Eddie Peng) is a progressive young man with agile hands. Entrusted by the organization, he is responsible for escorting a group of important literati stranded in Hong Kong back to the mainland, and Mao Dun's family is on the list. In a mistake, Fang Lan was involved in this dangerous action, and under the advice and encouragement of Liu Jinjin, she joined the revolutionary team, and the mother and daughter were thus involved in the torrent of history.