Somewhere on the coast of Taiwan is Hotel Iris, a mouldering seaside establishment run by a cold and thrifty Japanese woman (Nahana) and her lonely half-Taiwanese daughter Mari (Lucia). One night, Mari hears the cries of a woman from the upper floors. Heading up to investigate, she witnesses a distraught woman in a red camisole dress escape an impeccably dressed but violent man (NAGASE Masatoshi) whose cold voice is entrancing. Mari’s initial shock turns into a strange fascination which drives her to follow the man to discover more about him. He is a translator who lives on an isolated island one can only reach by boat and rumours swirl around him and recent murders. The closer she gets to the man, the more a hidden layer of Mari’s personality awakens as she allows herself to be engulfed by his strange passions…

In 1990, college student Ing, who accidently gets pregnant, returns to Lishan to spend the summer with her father. Ing notices the conflicts between her father and the farmers. She meets a young farmer Wen, and affection slowly grows between them. As summer ends, Ing leaves, and no one knows what the future will hold. To promote a new fertilizer, Ing's father gets a hot-air balloon, but hard as they try, it just can't fly.

Captured and imprisoned by the government, Liu Yao-ting is forcefully separated from his wife Shih Yueh-hsia. During this time, they write to keep their love alive. Eighty one letters, lipstick-smudged and sweat-stained, are the vessel for their passion and the embodiment of their spirits.

At twenty, A Wen, directionless and lacking skills, leaves home after an argument with his father, never expecting to return. Twelve years later, he comes back as a man with a criminal record. Fifteen-year-old Li Ming, a gifted student, is constantly bullied by local thugs because of his close friendship with Wang Yu-ting, the girlfriend of the gang leader. When A Wen saves him from the thugs, Li Ming asks him to be his bodyguard, hoping for protection from further bullying.

Cheng Hai, a talented photographer, sacrifices everything for his dream. But after winning a prestigious award, he feels empty. A chance meeting with his ex, Pei Han, leads him to confess his frustration. That night, a bizarre dream takes hold: he must find a bathroom, but the need to urinate is endless. This surreal journey, where Pei Han appears in many forms, forces him to confront his doubts. He cries out, "When will this pee finally be over?"