Chef Handong (Hu Jun) is a businessman that runs a well-respected company. His father is a government agent. Though Handong has is a playboy and a night owl, he keeps these habits relatively quiet. He is reserved and always in control. But when he meets Lan Yu (Lie Ye), an architecture student who is working as a prostitute for extra cash, he finds an untapped passion he did not expect. But Handong has his reputation and his freedom to protect, and Lan Yu is as financially troubled as he is emotionally vulnerable. As the two men test each others` boundaries their bond grows deeper, amplified by Handong`s inability to commit and Lan Yu`s clear love for him. It is not until Handong`s situation changes and the tables are turned that LAN YU finds its dark and difficult conclusion.This multi-layered story, set in the late 1980s and directed by Stanley Kwan, weaves corporate corruption and the Tiananmin Square demonstration into its story, using these issues to amplify the tumultuous love affair between Handong and Lan Yu.