The scene opens in a hotel in Shanghai, where a young man named "Muffin" is waiting for his sister "Lan" to return home. The young man, who has been working as a script writer, has just received a business card from "Lan." He thanks his sister for the card, but she is not home. She asks him if he is home, and he replies that he is, but that he has not paid the gas bill. He tells her that he used the money she gave him to trade stocks, and now he does not have enough money to pay the bill. She tells him that he owes her the money that he gave her, and she begs him not to leave her. He says that he had thought of ways to earn money, and that he can ask his boss to meet with him, but he has to fight for the opportunity. He invites the young man to have dinner with him and learn more about his work