The film takes place in Hong Kong, 1962. Chow Mo Wan, a journalist, rents a room in an apartment of a building on the same day as So Lai Zhen, a secretary from a shipping company. They become next-door neighbors. Each has a spouse who works and often leaves them alone on overtime shifts. Despite the presence of a friendly Shanghainese landlady, Mrs. Suen, and bustling, mahjong-playing neighbours, Chow and So often
