Based on the novel, “Love by the West Lake” by Wang Xufeng, “The Chanting Willows” is set against the backdrop of the Orioles in the Willows Garden, by Hangzhou’s West Lake, and tells of the emotional entanglement between a fan painter and two female Yue opera performers, Chuitiao and Yinxin. The two girls have performed together since they were children and are like sisters. Chuitiao is true to her nature and lives for the opera, whereas Yinxin appears naive, but knows how to work her way up by currying favour with the right people. ​The two are inseparable until the fan painter, Gong Yushan arrives on the scene. As the popularity of Yue Opera wanes, Chui Tiao and Yinxin’s relationship also deteriorates. It is only towards the end, when they are about to part, that they realise that the person they need the most is each other.

Cursed by mischievous deities, Sangui Wang plunges those he kisses into a deep sleep.

Their separate worlds converge when a restaurant owner suggests they "share a table" during overlapping lunch breaks. What starts as awkward silence evolves into tacit understanding over shared noodles, leading them to explore Shanghai's culinary scene together .

The movie tells the story of Bai Sheng (by Deng Chao), a veteran employee of an Internet company who is forced into a workplace fiasco and decides to join forces with others to break the ice in order to defend his rights, only to be caught up in an even bigger whirlpool of mystery.