Together 2003

Liu Cheng Liu Peiqi is a widowed cook in a small southern town in China, and his thirteen-year-old son, Liu Xiaochun Tang Yun, is a violin prodigy whose gift shines even as their life is modest. To give Xiaochun a real shot at a musical future, father and son travel to Beijing for a competition hosted by the Children’s Palace, an esteemed arts institution for schoolchildren. Although Xiaochun finishes fifth, he is denied admission into the conservatory because he does not hold Beijing residency. Determined to fuel his son’s dream, Liu Cheng persuades Professor Jiang, a stubborn and eccentric teacher from the Children’s Palace, to take Xiaochun on as a private student.

In the days that follow, Xiaochun befriends Lili Chen Hong, a young woman upstairs who doesn’t hold a steady job and leans on the company of wealthy men. Yet her heart is with Hui, her smooth-talking, untrustworthy boyfriend. After Lili learns of Hui’s affairs in Xiaochun’s presence, he does something reckless: Xiaochun sells his violin to a shop and buys a fur coat that Lili admires, leaving it at her apartment for her to discover. Hui eventually finds the gift and passes it to Lili, claiming it as his own. Lili doesn’t realize the coat’s true origin—Xiaochun’s gesture—until later.

Meanwhile, Liu Cheng learns of Professor Yu Shifeng, a renowned figure from the Central Conservatory of Music. Believing Yu could spearhead Xiaochun’s rise, Liu Cheng advances a plan to switch Xiaochun to Yu’s tutelage. He visits Yu and shares the truth about Xiaochun’s birth: Liu Cheng has never been married and once found the infant Xiaochun abandoned at a train station, with a violin placed beside him. Liu Cheng raised Xiaochun as his own, devoting his life to nurturing the boy’s prodigious talent. Yu, though reserved, agrees to grant Xiaochun an audition.

When Liu Cheng arrives at Yu’s home with Xiaochun, they discover the violin case is empty. Xiaochun becomes furious—accusing his father of chasing commercial fame rather than music—and refuses to play, even when offered another violin. In a moment of rage, Liu Cheng tears up the award certificates Xiaochun had earned in past competitions. Lili, groaning with remorse over her affair with Hui, persuades Yu to give Xiaochun a second chance. This time, Xiaochun plays, and Yu accepts him without hesitation.

At Yu’s school, Xiaochun faces Lin Yu, a highly jealous and ambitious rival (a fellow young prodigy). As the international competition’s selection trial approaches, Liu Cheng decides to pack up and return home to give Xiaochun space for concentration and to gather funds should Xiaochun be selected. Yu reveals the truth about Xiaochun’s birth to deepen the boy’s emotional connection to his father, and Xiaochun’s love for his father only grows stronger. Right before the selection, Xiaochun—having been chosen to participate—reluctantly relinquishes his spot to Lin Yu after Lin Yu discloses that Yu had secretly bought Xiaochun’s original violin from the shop to prevent distractions. Xiaochun then grabs the violin and chases after his father, and the story culminates in a reunion at the train station. In the end, Xiaochun chooses to be with his father, valuing family and devotion over fame and the lure of a glittering career.