Lin Shu meets Shen Yanqing for the first time while working as his younger brother's private tutor. A twist of fate brings her into Shen Yanqing's world, but when she realizes she is nothing more than a caged bird in the eyes of others, she chooses to leave. Determined to earn a love and marriage of equals, she spends seven years rising—until at last he sits in the audience, applauding her.