Summer in the Wilderness

Xu Zhixia is a twenty-six-year-old emerging artist with a solo exhibition in Shanghai, yet her work is deeply influenced by an unresolved past love. In August 2019, she returns to her hometown of Yuhe for a gallery event hosted by her boss, Li Shuyin. Although Li Shuyin harbors romantic feelings for her and attempts to cultivate a close relationship, Xu Zhixia maintains strict professional boundaries, viewing him solely as a client. During the exhibition, her painting "Utopia in Dream" is purchased by a mysterious collector known only as Mr. Liu. Xu Zhixia has corresponded with Mr. Liu via WeChat for a year, finding in him a kindred spirit who understands the emotional depth of her art. She hopes to meet him in person but is politely rebuffed.

Seeking distraction, Xu Zhixia joins her gallery colleagues at a bar called Buy Drunk. The establishment triggers a visceral reaction in her, as it shares its name with a setting in a painting she created ten years prior. Inside, she encounters Li Shuyin, who arranges a meeting with her idol, Master Yu Qingfeng. However, the evening takes a dramatic turn when the bar owner, Xiao Ye, learns of her presence. Xiao Ye is the man Xu Zhixia once loved and left five years ago. He had abandoned her after a painful misunderstanding involving a large sum of money, leaving her heartbroken. Now a wealthy bar owner, Xiao Ye reveals that he is Mr. Liu, the anonymous collector who has supported her career from the shadows. He confronts Xu Zhixia in the bar restroom corridor, declaring his intent to win her back and asking to start over.

The confrontation escalates when Xu Zhixia, feeling manipulated and exposed, slaps Xiao Ye in front of the bar staff. Despite the public humiliation, Xiao Ye remains composed and eventually carries her out of the bar to take her home. In his private room, he reiterates his desire to reconcile, but Xu Zhixia rejects him, reminding him that they were never truly together and that he abandoned her. She leaves the bar and returns to her hotel, where she immediately books a flight back to the United States to escape the emotional turmoil. The next morning, however, her plans are interrupted by a call from the police. A breakthrough has been made in a cold case from her childhood involving a murder in her former neighborhood, Construction Alley. Xu Zhixia is summoned to provide testimony regarding events from thirteen years ago.

Through a flashback to 2006, the narrative reveals Xu Zhixia’s childhood. At thirteen, she moved to Yuhe with her mother, Fang Qing, a widow and math teacher. They settled in Construction Alley, an old residential area. Shortly after moving in, Xu Zhixia had a terrifying encounter with a young man who fit the description of a local thug. He had blonde hair, tattoos, and a menacing demeanor. In her panic, she accidentally knocked a vegetable basket onto his head and fled, vowing never to apologize. This man was Xiao Ye. The flashback also establishes the volatile environment of the alley, where neighbors engaged in frequent disputes and domestic violence. Xu Zhixia witnessed what she believed was abuse coming from the apartment across the hall, though her mother later discovered the woman was unharmed, suggesting the sounds were misleading or part of a different dynamic.

Back in the present, Xu Zhixia visits the police station with Xiao Ye waiting outside. He brings her breakfast, her favorite food, demonstrating his continued attentiveness despite her rejection. The police need her detailed recollections of the neighborhood dynamics from her childhood to solve the murder case. As Xu Zhixia prepares to recount the events of 2006, the story intertwines her artistic success, her painful history with Xiao Ye, and the lingering mystery of the past. Xiao Ye’s presence in her life has resurfaced not just as a romantic interest but as a key figure connected to her childhood memories and the unresolved trauma of Construction Alley. The narrative sets the stage for Xu Zhixia to confront both her past love and the dark secrets of her youth, forcing her to decide whether to flee or face the truths that have shaped her life.