Back in the 1980's, passing the college entrance exam was every high school student's only hope for the future. Yet for Chi-wen and Ming-hsien, it is not a road of their own choice. Gradually they rebel against it. The spicy soy chowder is their favorite breakfast. They like to watch the ingredients being mixed and swirled together forming a soup that tastes otherworldly, which seems to mimic the future they long for. Ming-hsien is in love with Jing-fen, a girl with whom he shouldn't be involved. She already has a boyfriend, Ah-shiang, who performs at a local pub. Ming-hsien's love for her is unconditional and he agrees to help Jing-fen on a money making scheme. All she wants is to have enough money to buy a new guitar for Ah-shiang. Ming-hsien decides not to take the exam. As Chi-wen follow suite to stand by his friend, he looses his girlfriend as well as his focus in life. Coincidentally, he witnesses a mysterious woman who lives downstairs being threatened by a gangster. The hero in Chi-wen is awaken and he wants to save the woman from harms way.