A-Sheng leads a group of three disaffected young men who roam the city’s outskirts at night, breaking into strangers’ homes. Their form of release: smashing televisions—an act born of frustration with a city that refuses to accept them. One night, during a break-in, they stumble upon a TV ad calling for people to “return to the land.” Moved by the message, A-Sheng and Shacun, who has a mild intellectual disability, decide to leave the city and “plant themselves back into the soil.” The third member, Skinny, chooses to stay behind in the urban-rural fringe.

Back in their hometown, A-Sheng and Shacun lease a plot of land and begin cultivating chrysanthemums. But when the buds fail to bloom, they meet an eccentric old flower farmer at a banquet who explains the issue: the plants lack sufficient light and need artificial sun lamps. Around the same time, Shacun’s dog bites Wang Shun, a man who uses his official position to retaliate by demanding they pay an arbitrary “tax.” The conflict escalates—Wang Shun publicly humiliates the old farmer by pulling down his pants. The farmer, overwhelmed by shame, returns home and takes his own life.

Before his death, the old man leaves his sun lamps to A-Sheng and Shacun. The tragedy causes tension between the two. While A-Sheng sets up the lighting in the chrysanthemum field, Shacun remains in bed, asleep. As night falls, a drunken Wang Shun breaks into their home and attempts to assault Shacun. Enraged, A-Sheng grabs a sickle and chases Wang Shun into the chrysanthemum field. Driven by a storm of past and present anger, A-Sheng kills him. Blood streams down a television screen—Wang Shun’s severed head perched on top—while the chrysanthemum buds, nourished by the blood, bloom more brilliantly than ever.