12-year-old Xinyi Zheng is sent by her mother to stay with her cousin Lian Liu’s family by the seaside. Although naturally wary of them, she secretly admires the harmonious relationship Lian has with her mother, and gradually opens up to her. But her cousin is threatened by Xinyi's attempts to get close to her mother, and makes it clear that she only belongs to her. Xinyi realises she will never be a part of this family. After she passes a statue of a woman whose breasts have been rubbed shiny by passers-by, she has her first period...