The Zhuang, Lin, and Wu families live in a small alley in Suzhou during the late 1970s. As societal changes unfold, the parents and children in each household experience dramatic shifts in their fates, forever altering their lives and relationships.
The film revolves around the story of Li Yitian, who struggles in a big city, showing the current situation of the life of a new generation of young people, focusing on the ordinary people who are trying to live in contemporary society, and their pain and struggle from ideals to helplessness to new life.