Liu Li and Xiao Hong are stepsisters. They go to the same high school and sleep in the same room. Both are pretty, but there is intense rivalry between the two. Liu Li spends time with boys, but Xiao Hong, who works hard at her studies, despises her. One day, Xiao Hong steals some money from her father′s meager grocery budget and frames Liu Li. Failing to prove her innocence and outraged at Xiao Hong′s contempt, Liu Li hits Xiao Hong with a bamboo stick and accidentally kills her. Liu Li is put in jail, and Xiao Hong′s father refuses to forgive her.
17 years later: a typical day of Liu Li′s life in prison starts at 6 am. After breakfast, the prisoners do morning exercises and then start working in a prison factory. On this particular afternoon, the warden announces the names of those who are allowed a holiday home. Liu Li is one of them. A prison guard, Xu Huiying, offers to escort Liu into the city, since she is going home as well. Xu brings Liu to her old house, but it has been demolished. Finally they find Liu′s parents′ new home. Her mother and stepfather, both very old now, are watching television when Xu and Liu turn up at the door. Xu Huiying becomes a witness to the emotions and events that ensue: repressed love, Liu Li′s remorse, her mother′s anxiety and fear, her stepfather′s silent struggle to rise above his pain, and ultimately, their determination to live happily from then on as a family. This is the first film to obtain permission from Chinese authorities to show the interior of a Chinese prison. (production notes)