Trapped between love and lust, Sue-Ling flees Beijing, taking one daughter, Jay-Ann, with her to Hong Kong, and leaving the younger one, Jay-May, behind. Jay-Ann, beautiful yet headstrong, is a prisoner to vanity. She craves undiluted love, but has to share her mother's attention with her sister, who is like a phantom that keeps taking things away from her, but she has no way to fight back. In contrast, Jay-May is timid and sweet, growing up in Beijing with her grandma and a neighbor boy named Ming-Wei. When the Culture Revolution comes, they are scattered like chaff in a strong wind. From Beijing to Inner Mongolia, from Hong Kong to California, Jay-Ann, Jay-May and Ming-Wei brave pain and suffering in this troublesome age and emerge altered yet stronger. They are like lines separated by 90 degrees. No matter how far away they are from each other, their roots always join together at the base. Above all, a love endures tribulation and blossoms into something more powerful than death.