Our narrator is an unseen local videographer, who tells the story of star-crossed lovers Mardar and Moudan. Mardar is a motorcycle courier in Shanghai who meets and falls in love with Moudan, but when he becomes involved in a plot to kidnap and hold her for ransom, Moudan is heartbroken. Devastated by his betrayal she throws herself into the Suzhou River, apparently to her death, threatening only to come back and haunt him. Mardar vows to find her and soon becomes obsessed with a nightclub dancer, Meimei, who bears a striking resemblance to Moudan and whom Mardar believes to be his lost love.