The day Liao was discharged from prison with his maimed right hand was also the day Nan was forced to retire. Nan will no longer be the head of CIB, just as Liao will no longer be a pickpocket. Liao wants to find the young pickpocket who called him “Daddy” back then, while Nan misses his daughter badly, who hated him profoundly and was unwilling to forgive him. So the two desperate old fellows start trying to find their last hope.
The Qiaotou youth LI Wen-hsin was arrested during the December 10, 1979, demonstration spearheaded by Formosa Magazine. After being thrown into prison, he learned a way to survive: mixing saltwater with white rice. He also recalled wonderful times with his girlfriend A-chun, the joys and suffering he shared with friends and family, and his longing for democracy. In this prison, referred to by inmates as the “Hotel Saltwater,” Wen-hsin and his companions, though suffering greatly, never let their thirst for freedom be extinguished.