The Yangs have moved from Gansu, one of the poorest provinces in Northwestern China, and settled in Shenzhen in South China more than 20 years ago. Having hoped to find a future for their next generation, the Yangs only reckon that after many hard years of working in Shenzhen as construction and factory workers, the new Shenzhen no longer has a place for them. They return to their home village in Gansu. Yang Yaoting, their Shenzhen-born daughter, who has neither a Shenzhen residency nor a college degree, sees none of the future her parents have envisioned for her in modern Shenzhen. Amidst the harsh reality of daily life, the quiescent, soft-spoken Yaoting, along with her peers, leads a solitary life, and can only find solace in the fantasy worlds of virtual reality and WeChat. Seeing her parents having difficulty in readapting to a rural life back home, Yaoting decides to visit Gansu and bring her beloved parents back to Shenzhen.
