Go Back to China 2019

Sasha Li is a recent fashion graduate in Los Angeles who struggles to land steady work and survives on a lucrative one-million-dollar trust fund left by her estranged father, Teddy Li, a powerful Chinese manufacturer known for mass-producing plush toys. The cushion of wealth lets her dream big, but it also keeps her tethered to a life of easy access and vague consequences, until the day her world starts to shift.

On her birthday, the trust fund is abruptly cut off, pushing Sasha toward a harsh choice: return to the family business in China or face financial instability. When that tactic fails, her father further cuts alimony payments to her mother, May Li, a move aimed at forcing Sasha to capitulate and rejoin the skein of family duties. The pressure is heavy, and Sasha finds herself weighing independence against obligation, freedom against the weight of a legacy built on control.

In Shenzhen, Sasha is reunited with her older half-sister, Carol Li, and discovers the reality of siblings—both older and younger—born from her father’s affairs. To her dismay, she also learns that his latest girlfriend, Lulu, is nearly her own age, a reminder of the entangled web she never asked to inherit. Despite the discomfort, Sasha plunges into the family business, joining [Carol Li] in the toy factory’s bustling corridors and learning the rhythm of production, orders, and global sales.

Together, Sasha and Carol venture beyond the factory floors, taking their father’s design team to Hong Kong to scout for fresh ideas and newer aesthetics that might breathe life into a line that feels dated to buyers. Sasha quickly proves she has a knack for spotting trends and translating them into marketable products. Her eye for design earns her father’s cautious approval to craft a distinctive Christmas toy collection, one that promises to stand out in a crowded market and drive strong early sales.

Amid the celebrations, a painful truth surfaces: their father had remained married to Sasha’s mother while Sasha’s mother began an affair with him, and over the years he maintained a pattern of multiple relationships, often pushing his girlfriends toward abortions. The revelation lands hard, casting a shadow over the successes Sasha achieves at the factory and forcing a deeper reckoning about loyalty, ambition, and independence.

The Christmas collection moves forward under Sasha’s leadership, but trouble arrives when she tweaks one piece—swapping a plain scarf for a sequinned one—only to discover that the sequins pose a choking hazard. She has already ordered fabric in large quantities, and her father and Carol decide to push ahead with production anyway. The product is recalled after a child chokes on the scarf, and Sasha endures a fierce scolding from her father. Overwhelmed by the clash between creative responsibility and parental pressure, she quits on the spot. Carol pleads for her to stay, hoping Sasha would be the heir apparent who could finally take charge and free them all from their father’s grip, but Sasha chooses independence instead.

Back in Los Angeles, Sasha’s friends urge her to find a workaround rather than dwell on the recall’s setback. They suggest sending one of the recalled toys to a social influencer to spark attention, and the strategy works: the influencer’s review ignites renewed interest, the distributor withdraws the recall, and the toy is reissued without the hazardous scarves. The bold marketing move validates Sasha’s design instincts and opens a path to a new role—she is soon hired to work with the distributor to shape future lines, blending her creative talents with practical market insight.

Meanwhile, Carol returns with news that she has finally quit the family enterprise and decided to craft her own life on her terms, a turning point that echoes Sasha’s own struggle for autonomy. The two sisters reconnect, their shared history now reframed as a foundation for a new start rather than a chain binding them to a single patriarch’s will.

Sasha’s journey comes full circle when she makes a bold, personal visit to her father in China during a business trip. She suggests using the remaining trust funds to fund child care for the factory workers, a move aimed at boosting morale and stability among those who keep the production line running every day. She also proposes to continue designing toys for him on a freelance basis, a compromise that acknowledges the ties of family while laying down a trail toward professional autonomy. Teddy Li accepts the arrangement, signaling a new phase where her talents are valued on their own merits and where Sasha can pursue creative work without being trapped by old dynamics.

In the end, the woman who started with a cushion of wealth and a sense of obligation finds a balance between responsibility and independence. She uses her experience to influence both design and strategy, proving that bold ideas can reshape even a legacy built on power and control. The narrative closes with Sasha stepping into a future she has earned—one where her creativity leads the way, her relationships are redefined on healthier terms, and her work speaks for itself, even as the family threads that shaped her continue to influence the life she is actively choosing to build.