Su Dongqing

Liu wants to sell his unprofitable travel agency business. One day, when one of his employees falls into a coma for a dubious reason, his family and relatives come to Liu, demanding a settlement. Meanwhile, Liu's ex-wife Tao Qing, a middle school teacher, is troubled by her lover who keeps on delaying their marriage, and his teenage daughter, while her son Yi Fan, who has no experiences or skills to show for or things he wants to do, happens to befriend a group of people who illegally drive cars. Director Wang Qi, who is visiting Busan for the first time with THE BARGAIN, depicts a dense narrative of a dispersed family that is struggling in the rapidly changing modern Chinese society and the wave of capitalism. The occasional handheld camera and close-up shots placed appropriately throughout the film add powerful emotions to the sober narrative.

An elderly mother in her twilight years grows weary of her identity as a mother. She crosses paths with a troubled young man, and is also haunted by the ghost of her late husband. This sets off a wandering journey across Beijing, under the pretext of abandoning her cat. She lingers like a specter, awkwardly observing and faintly stepping into the distant, disconnected lives of her son, daughter-in-law and friends. Unforeseen incidents arise, their lives collide and intertwine, and amid this constant movement, she rediscovers the vital force of her true self.

Shen Jialan, once a nobleman's granddaughter, falls from grace after her family is falsely accused of treason. Abandoned by her fiancé Lin Jinqi, she is forced to assume a servant's identity in his household. Despite hardships, she refuses to bow to fate. With resilience and wit, she rises above class barriers, wins Lin Jinqi's heart, earns the family's respect, and ultimately clears her family's name.