In 1948, civil war ravages the Chinese countryside, but in rural Shandong, the wealthy, landowning Angs are more concerned with their lack of an heir. Hai is the eldest of four girls, and their mother is abused by the family for failing to birth a boy. As the Communist army closes in on their town, the rest of the prosperous household flees, leaving behind the girls and their mother. They forge travel permits and embark on a journey to confront the family that abandoned them. But with the loss of their home and the life they've known also comes new freedom - to take hold of their fate, to shake free of the bonds of their gender, and to claim their own story.