Chaoyan is a young wife and mother with a steady job, living in an enormous city. She increasingly finds her seemingly comfortable life empty. When she discovers the ancient teachings of Confucianism that most of her generation has forgotten, she insists that her son joins in her studies. Her husband, however, does not approve. Family conflicts intensify, and their ties weaken. In this zealous pursuit of harmony, Chaoyan and her family find themselves approaching a breaking point from which they might never recover.