Sweet Eighteen

Hunan province, central China, the present day. In a town by the Xiang River lives 18-year-old He Na (Cynthia Zhou) and her mother Zhang Lan (Zheng Shuang), a former Chinese Opera singer originally from northeast China. The tomboyish He Na is an introvert and a dreamer, never happier than when painting on her own, though she does have a casual boyfriend, Li Cong (Teng Fei), who is her same age. After He Na sees her mother's lover, Lin Guo (Liu Qiancheng), with a bargirl, she tells her mother she's being two-timed. One day, after an argument started by He Na, Lin Guo walks out on Zhang Lan, taking her money with him. Later, Zhang Lan falls downstairs while drunk and ends up in hospital in a coma. Abandoning her dream of going to the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and in need of help, He Na goes in search of the bargirl, Xia Hong (Qi Qi), whom she discovers is pregnant by Lin Guo, who fled after leaving her RMB20,000 (US$3,000). The two women become friends - and more.