Lost on Journey 2010

Li Chenggong Xu Zheng is a wealthy and arrogant businessman who treats his employees poorly and has a secret mistress, Manni Li Man. Although Manni hopes he will spend Chinese New Year with her in Shijiazhuang, Li Chenggong returns to his hometown Changsha to celebrate with his wife Meili Zuo Xiaoqing, their daughter, and his mother.

Arriving at the crowded airport, Li discovers he has been mistakenly booked in the economy class and sits next to Niu Geng [Wang Baoqiang], a naïve and gullible migrant worker who works as a milk extraction technician. Niu is also heading to Changsha to claim his wages from “his boss’ debtor” with a (questionable) promissory note given to him by his boss.

As Li and Niu cross paths, the two embark on a chaotic journey together. The streak of bad luck seems endless as they struggle to reach Changsha.

After takeoff, Changsha airport is hit by a heavy snowstorm and the flight is canceled; they must turn back. Li manages to secure a train ticket, only to realize it is counterfeit and the same seat that Niu bought. When a landslide collapses some tracks, they abandon the train and switch to a bus.

Just before boarding the bus, Niu is touched by a female beggar Zhang Xinyi who asks for money. Li scolds him for trusting her tales and leaves, boarding the bus alone. Hours later the driver wakes him to say the bus has returned to the station due to a broken bridge. Li and Niu meet again, and Niu reveals that he still handed over some money, though the beggar vanishes.

A bridge closure over the Yangtze forces them to pause in Wuhan, where they spot the beggar once more. This time the pair uncovers that the “beggar” is actually a teacher who cares for a group of children, and needs funds for an operation for a visually impaired child. Moved, they give her all their money.

The misadventure continues when Niu convinces Li to buy a lottery ticket. To their astonishment, they win the first prize: a car. They decide to drive it to Changsha. Sleep-deprivation catches up with them, so Li lets Niu take the wheel; he drifts off and the car slides into a ditch. The duo barely escapes an imagined explosion, and when they emerge, they share a quiet, candid talk about their choices and future, deciding to spend the night in a remote area.

The next day they hitch a ride on a tractor transporting poultry and finally arrive in Changsha, covered in chicken remnants. Li is stunned to find his mistress in the city to give him a surprise, but the journey has already begun to reshape him.

What follows is a journey of self-discovery in which Li softens toward the vulnerable, learns to see the humanity behind beggars, and shifts from a cold, calculating boss to a person capable of love and accountability. He ends the relationship with his mistress and returns to his family, while secretly arranging funds to secure Niu’s back pay—though Niu wasn’t Li’s real creditor, the lessons Li learned and the trust he built along the way become his true compensation.

A year later, Li boards a plane and questions a stewardess about the delay. The final passenger arrives—Niu, now in a suit and having quit his own job to become his own boss—calling out to Li with triumph as the two have become equals at last.