[1] The story begins after the takeover of the Communists[1] with Jia Kuan's father (Feng Enhe) accidentally triggering his gun, thus blinding himself permanently.

The village boys see a stranger, Yu Chen (Dong Jie), and they believe she is the one who caused his injury, so they raise an alarm and pursue her.

The village boys catch up and start yelling to Jia Kuan that this girl harmed his father.

From this incident, Yu Chen begins to live with Jia Kuan and his father.

It is by these small interactions that Jia Kuan's father discovers that Yu Chen was in the area because she was looking for her brother, as her parents had died.