Before the wedding, Rain masturbates in a bathroom stall and accidentally answers a call from Ingrid; nearing climax they hear a distant river, are spooked, give up and leave.
At the banquet Rain learns Mom hid Dad's visit, and the two fight openly during the toasts.
Rain rides at the back of a crowded village bus, watching the cityscape pass by.
A memory of a pristine lake gives way to a dried lakebed marked with "no fishing" signs.
The bus passes through a dark tunnel; Rain glimpses Meng riding a moped with luggage, as if leaving town; title card appears.
Rain follows a folk song through the stone gate, passing an erhu player.
Rain briefly locks eyes with Yi-Yun, who carries live fish.
In an ancient alleyway, Rain bumps into a group of women in Qipaos under pastel umbrellas.
Rain hurriedly passes through the town's shops.
Liu Yan offers to remake Rain's torn Qipao into something they will wear, and Rain agrees.
In the ALTERNATIONS shop bathroom Rain washes off their makeup and changes into joggers and a tank top, revealing their tattoos.
Rain hands the Qipao to Liu Yan and asks her to alter it into a shirt and a bandana; Liu Yan says she'll finish it by tonight.
In a local market, Rain asks vendors for directions to Neiqing Village and buys mangosteen from a fruit seller.
Rain asks an old fisherman carrying a huge fish for directions to a fish restaurant.
Rain enters a dusty glass dolphin-viewing shelter, reads the Baiji plaque, and leans out over Poyang Lake — no dolphins in sight.
Loudspeaker wide
—
Sweating and disoriented, Rain realizes she's gone the wrong way; the fisherman offers to take her directly.
The fisherman drops Rain off at the entrance of a small restaurant decorated with colorful textiles.
As Rain comes in, the monk tells them the server will be back soon; Rain rests and drifts into a daydream of the lake.
In Rain's daydream, a foggy lake shore where a man's silhouette stands; Meng's voice announces the kitchen is closing.
Meng asks the manager about Huang An with no luck, but a monk points Rain to the Jiao Feng Fan Island fish market.
As Meng locks up, Rain asks him to guide her to the fish market and explains Huang An is an "alien," like herself.
Rain rides on the back of Meng's moped past an empty temple.
A man with a dog ferries them and the moped across the water.
Rain rides behind Meng on his moped through the countryside, briefly stopped by a herd of goats.
At the relocated market site, Meng and Rain talk about the Baiji as he teaches them to breathe and listen.
A radio announces the protected area; Meng and Rain ask fishermen about Huang An and learn of a possible Baiji sighting near a small island.
A conservation boat carries Rain and Meng to a small island, where researcher Mr. Wang recalls photographing dolphins for Huang An; they spot a small shack.
RAIN's POV of Huang An's shack
Rain enters the abandoned research shack alone, switches off a badly tuned radio, finds scientific drawings of river dolphins and a pile of VHS tapes, and plays one labeled "June 4, 2005."
Rain puts in another tape, labeled "December 2, 2015."
An older Huang An measures toxin levels and speaks about the critically endangered finless porpoise and a Baiji named "Storm," while Yi-Yun's offscreen voice calls him out of the water.
Rain finds a ripped childhood photo with Huang An; Meng confronts them about hiding he is their dad, and Mom calls.
Rain takes her mother's call on the dock, the two arguing over her hidden search for her father and her expiring visa.
In a re-enactment, Rain and Meng voice young Huang An and Zhou Hong's 1990s conversation about whether to immigrate and what to name their unborn child.
In a re-enactment, Rain and Meng voice young Huang An and Zhou Hong's 1990s conversation about whether to immigrate and what to name their unborn child.
Rain glares at Meng during a brief break in the re-enactment.
The re-enactment continues; Huang An admits he feels having a child now might be a mistake.
The re-enactment continues; Huang An admits he feels having a child now might be a mistake.
Meng breaks character to ask about their father, then a Polaroid from the tapes points them to the Blue Sky Club.
Riding through the village, Meng tells Rain he is Qiang and wants to move back to a monastery in Aba.
The moped crosses the water highway over the dry lakebed as Meng recalls taking this road home with his mother.
As they ride across the water highway, the dry lake transforms into water in Rain's vision as she translates a song for Meng.
As they exit the highway, the water levels revert to the drought, and the spell of the moment they shared suddenly vanishes.
In the dark, a man's silhouette stands by the lake, lit by a lighter; Rain reaches toward him before the image cuts to black.
Rain wakes disoriented on Meng's sofa; Meng explains the women's shoes he buys yearly for his late mother and shows Rain an old photo of his father.
Reflected in the TV, Rain and Meng re-enact a 90s conversation between Zhou Hong and Huang An about naming baby Rain "Tessa," ending with Huang An's confession that he's afraid.
In the TV, Zhou Hong and Huang An talk about about naming baby Rain "Tessa," ending with Huang An's confession that he's afraid.
Rain asks if she can kiss Meng; the two become intimate, but Meng disconnects partway and Rain notices and stops.
Through a crack in the door, Rain watches Meng meditate and cry before a family portrait before composing himself.
Meng and Rain talk about relationship love, and Mom calls about a flight and meeting point the next morning.
窗外月光洒在干涸的鄱阳湖床上（外景夜） 沙粒/沙子的特写（可用替身） 风吹过雨皮肤的特写 黑色天空化作雨的眼睛——从雨的眼睛里出来
Meng leads the way through a windswept grassland valley toward the Blue Sky Club, passing a stranded ship overgrown with grass.
Meng leads Rain to the club's neon-lit entrance in an alleyway; Rain enters first while Meng smokes outside.
At the bar, bartender PJ pours Rain a shot of baijiu as a woman's voice sings in the distance. Feng asks Rain to dance and Rain hesitantly follows him to the floor.
Yi-Yun sings to Rain, cuts off their public search for Huang An, then dances close as Meng watches.
On a fantasy dance floor, Yi-Yun and Rain dance alone amid rain and ocean sounds, growing intimate; Rain touches the fading carp tattoo on Yi-Yun's wrist and she pulls away.
Rain blacks out and wakes disoriented in Meng's arms in the hallway, having had too much to drink.
Rain is entirely alone as the club ceiling dissolves into daylight; through a curtain they find Yi-Yun's room and take VHS tapes.
In a flashback, a heartbroken Yi-Yun watches Huang An sail away; Rain then replaces her at the shore, watching the boat disappear.
Rain wakes disoriented under a neon sign in a downpour, calls Ingrid with no answer, and walks into the rain.
Rain walks through a narrow residential alley in the rain.
Soaked, Rain passes the ALTERNATIONS shop; Liu Yan hands over the altered clothes, and Rain pays and asks for help playing a VHS tape.
Liu Yan gives Rain a towel and mentions she's had trouble sleeping since her daughter moved away.
Shaky footage shows young Yi-Yun posing on a boat in red lipstick as Huang An films her.
Rain's eyes widen with curiosity at Huang An's voice.
Yi-Yun playfully mimics a dolphin, suggests starting a family; Huang An stiffens, pushes her off, and the tape ends.
Liu Yan shares a meal with Rain and talks about missing her daughter; Rain puts in a new tape.
In an interview, Huang An describes the toll of decades of losing Baiji one by one, while Yi-Yun watches him intently.
Liu Yan dozes off on the couch as Rain keeps watching the tape.
Yi-Yun presses Huang An on why he hasn't published since 1994; he explains he wants to protect the dolphins from humans.
Rain freezes when Huang An, on tape, responds, "What family?"
Huang An argues that humans don't deserve responsibility over nature, and that the porpoises and dolphins are now his "family."
Watching Huang An's heavy breathing on tape, Rain unconsciously mirrors it, digging her nails into her arm.
Huang An suddenly looks directly into the camera, as if straight at Rain.
Rain stares at his pained expression and mirrors it.
On the VHS, Huang An stops the shoot in anger, then guides Yi-Yun's hand in a Baiji-like motion and weeps.
Liu Yan sleeps as Rain rewinds their father's frozen face, fights a panic attack and runs into the rain.
Rain runs through tall grass in the rain, yelling silently into the sky.
Rain sprints toward the river, trying to outrun their grief, their run beginning to intercut with the tape.
VHS flashes of Huang An running cut against Rain's run; both of them are searching for someone.
The rain softens; Rain reaches a clearing and hears water in the distance.
Rain follows a dolphin's fin across a lake and a bridge toward a man's silhouette; he jumps in, and Rain follows with a flashlight.
VHS footage shows five-year-old Rain running on the lake shore as it rains, sticking out her tongue to taste it.
From toddler Rain's POV, Huang An stands with his head turned away.
From a third-person view, Rain and Huang An embrace as the footage distorts and Huang An dissolves into pixels, leaving toddler Rain alone in the static.
Meng finds Rain gasping on the lakebed; he reveals he once nearly jumped from a rooftop after his mother died, and helps Rain release their grief through a ritual.
In a memory, the lake is pristine and full of life; Rain undresses and dives in, and the Baiji "Little Cloud" surfaces briefly.
In the altered Qipao, Rain and Meng ride to the water-deity festival, where Rain declines a lead on Huang An.
From inside the taxi, Rain watches Meng's future self ride away, and the two share a parting smile.
Seen through the taxi window: Meng's future self rides away on a moped.
In the taxi, Mom recognizes Huang An's VHS tapes and breaks down, revealing she too once considered leaving; Rain tells her that they now go by "Rain," and Mom accepts it.
Final VHS footage shows toddler Rain filming Huang An, who smiles before the image cuts to black and the end credits roll.