Crossing a dark passageway, Lin Jiawen walked toward her job at the toll booth, where her job was to collect tolls from passing vehicles on this endless and noisy highway.
Often on the night shift, and facing a dusty environment, the small toll booth is like a small island in a huge traffic flow, and she wears a mask when she works, which completely covers the expression on her face and the fluctuations in her heart.
And the only exposed eyes revealed a hint of confusion and exhaustion of a single mother.
She was mechanically stamping her bill, and with a long truck horn sound, an old hippie face appeared in front of Jiawen again.
His name was Wang Zhihao, and he was the one who had chased Jiawen for a long time, but Jiawen was not at all moved by his frivolous and unreliable appearance. And this guy has a momentum that doesn't stop until he reaches his goal.
This upset Jiawen.
Finally staying up to the time of the shift break, Jiawen and her good colleagues played badminton, and are getting a moment of relaxation and joy from the heavy life and work.
A sudden phone call dragged her back to reality, and her son Yan Chao secretly fell in love with her classmate Leah and was caught by the school.
Jiawen hurried to the school and sat alone in front of The Blue-faced Liya's father, jiawen felt very unable to lift her head.
In order to avoid the publicity of the matter and damage the reputation of the beloved daughter, the other party put forward a compensation claim of NT$827,000.
Despite Jiawen's repeated statements that she could not afford compensation according to her financial conditions, Liya's father still did not spare her, thinking that she was bargaining and became angry.
Leah's father said that he did not need the money at all, but just wanted to teach her and her son a lesson, and if she did not agree, she would directly file a lawsuit.
In order to calm things down and think more about her son's future, Jiawen had to acquiesce and accept the other party's request and one-month deadline.
Back at home, she did not turn on the light, quietly waiting in the dark for her son to return.
Seeing that the son who walked into the house was still like a person who had nothing to do, she was really angry, and she wanted to vent her anger to the fullest, who knew that she had said a beginning, and Yan Chao knew the general situation.
In the rebellious period, he, like his own reason, angrily quarreled with his mother, saying that his relationship with Leah could not be measured by money.
Speaking of excitement, he also rushed into his room, closed the door tightly, and let Jiawen scream outside the door and did not move.
After all, the problem must be solved.
Jiawen called her ex-husband, wanting to get some help from the child's father, who knew that it was the ex-husband's current wife who answered the phone, the two did not speculate, and the other party directly picked up the phone.
The next day at work, Jiawen unexpectedly heard a bad news from the station manager, because the manual charges should be converted to computer charges, and everyone will face the dilemma of cutting or diverting placement.
Although I had heard about this matter before, I did not expect this day to come so quickly, which was undoubtedly worse.
The company proposed a plan for everyone to choose, one of which was to give a compensation payment for five months' salary, as long as the plan was signed.
This money can alleviate Jiawen's urgent needs a little, she is a little moved, and most of her colleagues, led by her good sisters, are not very satisfied with all the plans.
Everyone shouted against it, asking the government department to come up with a better plan, otherwise it would resolutely fight to the end.
Jia Wen was not able to say anything more, and could only follow the crowd when she raised her hand to vote.
Next, Jia Wen moved her mind at work, secretly using some fake money to replace the real money collected for tolls, hoping to accumulate more in this way to make up enough compensation for the children.
And the objects of this also include Zhihao, who always writes his phone number and meat love words on the return ticket, and even thinks that the place is not big enough and transfers to the banknote.
However, he did not expect to be reported to the webmaster by Jiawen on the grounds of using counterfeit money, and Zhihao recognized Jiawen's trick, although he was a little surprised and angry, he still did not expose her.
During the work break, Jiawen called her ex-husband again, and after some verbal arguments, the idea of borrowing money from him was still frustrated.
While he was frustrated, Zhihao stepped forward.
Still looking like a hanging Lang Dang, he told her not to underestimate herself, she is a "small kai", and she can help her financially.
Jia Wen did not pay much attention to him, but after work, Jia Wen thought left and right, there was really no better solution, and in desperation, she dialed Zhi Hao's phone for help.
Zhihao asked her to meet, Jiawen bluntly asked Zhihao to borrow money to help her solve the problem, but Zhihao asked her to be her girlfriend.
After some bargaining between the two, Jiawen, who was desperate, offered her a physical transaction to give her ten thousand yuan at a time.
Zhihao, who had long been fond of her, agreed without saying a word, and led her to a dilapidated hotel to open a room, and the two completed the first transaction in the dim light.
Finally completing his long-cherished wish, Zhihao, who returned home, ignored the disgusted gaze that his sister-in-law had always thrown, and looked satisfied and proud.
After that, the second, third, and more times, in order to make up money, Jiawen continued to find Zhihao to trade.
But Zhihao, like finding a girlfriend, seriously invested in this relationship and cared for Jiawen meticulously. Stomach medicine and wet cream were all bought by him to give to the frail Jiawen.
This scene was seen by Yan Chao, who returned home, who was very dazed by the appearance of the man in front of him, and Jiawen did not explain anything to him, but just urged him to enter the house quickly.
Next, Zhihao insisted on asking his brother to borrow money, and wanted to use it to help Jiawen. At this time, he received a call from Jiawen, it turned out that Yan Chao had skipped school, she was unable to get out because she was at work, and wanted to ask him to help find it.
Zhihao didn't say a word, immediately agreed, and turned to his brother seriously and said that Jiawen was a new girlfriend, this time it was different from the past, it was true.
The brother was half-convinced, but still helpless to take some money to him, who called his parents died early, leaving only such a younger brother.
Soon, Zhihao led the order to set off, and after some hard work, he finally found Yan Chao in the bookstore.
Zhihao even pulled and dragged him to the car, did not want to throw his textbook to the ground, and could only turn back to collect, But Yan Chao in turn teased Zhihao, secretly calling the police that Zhihao had kidnapped him.
The two are taken back to the police station by the police who quickly arrived, and Jiawen, who heard the news, lost her temper with her son and felt guilty about the trouble she caused to Zhihao.
Zhihao smiled and said, "Well, little child, why don't you invite me to your house for dinner?"
Jiawen still did not agree on the spot.
Not long after, Zhihao passed by the school gate and saw Yan Chao chasing Liya, so he took him to the car and rushed up.
After Yan Chao and Leah had a conversation on the side of the road, Yan Chao was obviously rejected, shrugged his head and walked back, leaving tears in his eyes.
For an instant, As if he had been hit by something, Zhihao put down the cigarette he was holding in his mouth, and also let go of the usual playful expression on his face, stepped forward, took Yan Chao into his arms, and comforted the boy in a way that he thought was not very manly.
That night, perhaps out of gratitude, Yan Chao took Zhihao home for dinner, and Zhihao took the opportunity to stay here and completed another deal with Jiawen.
Early in the morning, Yan Chao asked him, "Are you boyfriend and girlfriend with my mother?" ZhiHao said, "Bullshit, or else, prostitutes and prostitutes?" While Zhihao was busy getting dressed and going out, he did not forget to issue an invitation, he wanted to find time to take Yan Chao and Jia Wen to a picnic together.
Soon, he drove a truck full of picnic equipment to pick up mother and son, both of whom were very surprised and deeply infected by Zhihao's liveliness and enthusiasm.
Sitting on the truck heading for happiness, even Yan Chao, who had always been stubborn, became well-behaved, leaning on his mother's shoulder for a long time, and Jiawen gently caressed him with one hand.
Until late at night, the three people were still playing happily by the river, like a loving family, Jiawen's heart surged with a long-lost sweetness, but her mouth still did not show it.
She took out a banknote that Zhihao paid for the toll and handed it to Zhihao, who asked her to take a good look at the love words he had written for her on the back of the banknote.
Jia Wen said on her mouth, she didn't know where to copy it, but she had a smile on her face, but the corners of her eyes still revealed a trace of worry about life.
The days slowly moved forward, the relationship between the three people became more and more harmonious, and when they had breakfast together, they also showed a natural warm nature, and everything seemed to be gradually developing in the best way.
But a thing that derailed life suddenly came, one day Zhihao came to pick up Jiawen from work, but there was a delicate woman on the car, Zhihao said that it was his dry sister.
The three of them came to the KTV together, watching Zhihao and Gan Sister's intimate appearance, Jiawen drank on the side, vinegar rose, resulting in a strong sense of insecurity about this relationship, and distrust of Zhihao, who has always been uninhibited.
She left the bar alone, and even, driven by alcohol and anger, broke the head of a man who spoke softly to him.
The next day, Zhihao found Jiawen and wanted to comfort her, surprisingly, Jiawen did not seem to be angry on the surface, but there was already the idea in her heart that the two were trading for money.
She pulled Zhihao over, kissed him, and even took the initiative to take him home to Yun Yu. After the incident, Zhihao jokingly said, "I didn't bring money today."
Jia Wen suddenly turned her face and said that it was good to trade with money, otherwise how to solve the problems she faced. Zhihao said that on the issue of money, we worked together, but Jiawen still did not forgive.
The conversation between the two made Yan Chao outside the house hear it clearly, and he was not angry when he was rejected by Leah again, and when he heard about it again, he scolded his mother for being a J goods.
Zhihao took the lead for Jiawen and beat Yanchao, but Jiawen struggled to pounce on him to prevent Zhihao from violently abusing Yanchao.
After calming down, she said to Zhihao coldly, "Do you really think we are in love?" ”
Zhihao was a little confused, the expression on his face was complicated, after once again confirming Jiawen's idea that he just wanted money, Zhihao was like a thousand arrows piercing his heart, he silently shed tears and turned to leave.
Zhihao wandered outside for a long time before returning home, holding his brother helplessly and crying in pain, crying like a child.
Where did he know that on the other hand, Jiawen at work was also listless and restless.
The day of paying compensation to his son is imminent, and the moment when the road toll is transferred from manual to computer is also coming.
However, more important than these two points, Jia Wen clearly felt that she was deeply in love with Zhihao from her heart.
So, at the separate dinner organized by the station, she drank alone and did not say a word. So, she returned home and repeatedly counted the money Zhihao gave her after each transaction in confusion.
Thinking about everything in the process of the two people's interaction, she saw her heart clearly, jiawen finally plucked up the courage, no longer hesitated and waited, and made many phone calls to Zhihao, but did not get his response.
She even ran to the KTV where Zhihao had been to look for it, but still failed, until the last day of manual charging at the toll booth, she stood on the familiar workstation for the last time.
She finally saw the familiar face again, and Zhihao still handed her a return ticket as usual, but only smiled politely on his face.
When she picked her up, there was no longer the laughter and entanglement of the past, he seemed to hesitate for a little while, and finally let go of his hand and turned his head to drive away, quickly disappearing into the traffic.
Jiawen was a little stunned, trotting two steps, but the bill in her hand was blown off by the wind, and she hurried to chase it, shuttling through the dense traffic, and was almost hit by the speeding car several times.
When she finally got the ticket back in her hand, she immediately turned to the back to look at it, but she didn't see the same handwriting of Zhihao on the back as before.
In an instant, Jia Wen felt as if her heart was hollowed out, and she sat paralyzed on the side of the highway and cried incessantly, while the expression on her face did not know whether to cry or laugh.
The day to pay the compensation also arrived, Jiawen took Yanchao to the door of Liya's house, and the reluctant Yanchao broke free of her mother's hand and ran away angrily.
Not long after, when Jiawen was standing alone in front of the steps, Yan Chao returned again, handed her mother a bottle of drink, and sat down with her mother to wait for the return of Leah's family.
Maybe from that moment on, he began to really grow up, knowing how to face rather than run away from the problems he should solve...
Released in 2016, the film "Island of Rivers" tells the love between a single mother who has been involved in the hardships brought about by the changes of the times and the stress of life due to the changes of the times and the wanderings of the past, but this time she has invested in infinite true feelings.
In middle age, Jiawen, whose son rebelled, experienced the tragic pain of marriage failure, was accustomed to the illusions of the world, and although there was an incomparable desire in her heart, out of the protection of her family's safety and the avoidance of emotional injury, she did not dare to talk about happiness, did not dare to speak of love, and did not dare to pay sincerity.
This undoubtedly also represents the thinking of a large part of single middle-aged people.
When sharp words blurt out and hurt people deeply, when the precious love is quietly passed away because of misunderstanding, timidity, and concealment, and then try to find it, but the time has passed, and it has not changed since then.
Even if there is a huge cry in the traffic that can cover everything, it can only drift away with the wind, to no avail.
The misses and regrets of life are lamentable, and such examples are also numerous in real life, which is not only the sadness of Jiawen and Zhihao.