Be There or Be Square 1998

Freelancer Liu Yuan, Ge You, is a carefree Beijing native trying to make a living in Los Angeles, working as an occasional film extra and a part-time insurance agent. While helping a Beijing film crew scout for a suburban mansion, he encounters Li Qing, Xu Fan, a former acquaintance who is house sitting for a wealthy Taiwanese family. Liu convinces Li Qing she lacks the requisite skills to survive in an American city, and buys her an air ticket to fly back to Beijing. The two part at the airport, expecting never to meet again.

A year later in L.A., Li Qing has not left the U.S.; she now rents a cheap apartment and works as a cleaner. Still his carefree self living in a travel trailer, Liu has turned to selling cemetery plots. Their relationship seems jinxed, as they encounter a hold-up at a restaurant, then end up arrested by the LAPD after they discover the traveling agency they worked for is actually a human smuggling ring in disguise. Li Qing finds their relationship unnerving enough to stop contact, vowing never to meet Liu again.

A year passes. Liu Yuan places a classified ad in a local Chinese-language newspaper looking for Li, who now has her own florist shop and is teaching Mandarin part-time to Chinese Americans. Li remembers their relationship fondly, and the two set up a Mandarin school for LAPD cops who patrol the LA Chinatown area. Through various mishaps, Liu makes no secret of his romantic interest in Li, but it is only after an elaborate hoax from Liu that Li realizes she values him as well.

However, news arrives from Beijing that Liu’s mother has suffered a serious cerebral hemorrhage. Liu heads back to Beijing to fulfill his filial duties and parts with Li, not wanting to pressure her to follow him home as Li has just obtained a green card after years of hard work in the US.

On the airplane heading home, Liu has a troubled dream that he will not see Li again until decades later at an old folks’ home. When he wakes up he finds to his delight Li Qing sitting next to him. Just then, the airplane meets with a technical mishap and seems to be heading for a crash – another mishap in their long line of “hexed” meet-ups. In the face of imminent death, the couple profess their love for each other, but miraculously, the technical problem is resolved just moments after their mutual love declarations. The two decide to get hitched immediately on landing – but only after Li discovers Liu is sporting dentures after their first kiss.