Su Qingran is a twenty-two-year-old carving artist and senior university student who runs a small studio called "Dye and Carve" on Beicheng Street in Beijing. She is engaged to Jiang Chenlin, her childhood sweetheart and neighbor, with whom she shares a comfortable and playful relationship. Their engagement is scheduled in sixteen days. Su Qingran is dedicated to her craft, having studied under master carver Hong Yiru since age eleven, and she views carving as a lifelong pursuit rather than merely a business. Her life appears stable and happy until Pei Jingyan, Jiang Chenlin’s half-brother from their mother’s side, enters her shop. Pei Jingyan is a cold, aloof CEO who runs a medical AI company. He commissions Su Qingran to carve a 108-bead sea willow bracelet with the specific purpose of calming, rather than eliminating, restless thoughts. This unusual request sparks Su Qingran’s artistic curiosity, leading her to create a design that captures a sense of inner struggle and desolation, which Pei Jingyan approves.
The dynamic between the three characters shifts subtly as Pei Jingyan becomes a recurring presence in Su Qingran’s life. He visits the Jiang family home during a gathering for Jiang Chenlin and Su Qingran, sitting uncomfortably close to Su Qingran while Jiang Chenlin watches with visible jealousy. Later, Pei Jingyan is seen feeding the family dog, Alpha, in the garden, a moment that Jiang Chenlin interprets as a threat to his relationship with Su Qingran. Jiang Chenlin’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic and possessive. He receives mysterious late-night phone calls and maintains a secret countdown on his calendar, referencing "The Last 17 Days." Despite his growing anxiety, he continues to plan the engagement, though he occasionally asks to postpone it, citing stress.
Su Qingran travels to Yutian in Xinjiang to purchase jade for an upcoming carving competition. While there, she receives a tip from a friend that Jiang Chenlin was seen entering a hotel room with Xu Yin, a long-time rival and heiress to a jewelry fortune. Su Qingran dismisses the concern, attributing it to a misunderstanding. However, her trip is interrupted by acute gastroenteritis, forcing her to stay in a hospital. Pei Jingyan, who is also in Yutian visiting an elder, visits her at the hospital, revealing that he saw her social media post and came to check on her. This act of care deepens Su Qingran’s confusion regarding Pei Jingyan’s intentions, as she perceives him as intimidating yet unexpectedly attentive.
Meanwhile, Jiang Chenlin’s secret life unravels further. He is shown listening to a radio program called "Midnight Voices," where a listener requests songs for a countdown. The number on his calendar decreases daily, indicating a finite timeline he is keeping from Su Qingran. His interactions with Su Qingran become strained; he grips her hand too tightly during their engagement dress fitting and exhibits signs of internal turmoil that he cannot explain. The narrative highlights the contrast between Su Qingran’s innocent view of her impending marriage and Jiang Chenlin’s hidden burden. Pei Jingyan’s presence serves as a mirror to the cracks forming in the couple’s relationship, as he observes Jiang Chenlin’s distress with a knowing, silent intensity.
The story moves toward a critical juncture as Su Qingran prepares for the jade auction, securing valuable materials with financial support from her father. She remains unaware of the full extent of Jiang Chenlin’s secrets, interpreting his behavior as mere pre-wedding anxiety. The tension builds through small, charged moments: Pei Jingyan’s unexpected kindness, Jiang Chenlin’s jealous outbursts, and the looming date of the engagement. The narrative suggests that the foundation of Su Qingran’s happy life is built on a hidden truth that Jiang Chenlin is struggling to protect her from, or perhaps from himself. As the days count down, the proximity of Pei Jingyan and the distance of Jiang Chenlin create a triangular dynamic that threatens to disrupt the carefully planned future Su Qingran envisions. The story ends with Su Qingran in the hospital, caught between her fiancé’s erratic behavior and the quiet, persistent attention of her half-brother’s rival, setting the stage for a dramatic revelation regarding Jiang Chenlin’s true circumstances.
