Holding Love

Beijing, the present day. On the day they spontaneously divorce after being married for less than a month, magician Tao Xiaolei (Hawick Lau) and air hostess Zhou Jing (Mini Yang) hear they have won a free honeymoon down in Sanya, Hainan Island. Zhou Jing agrees to go, on condition they each do their own thing. At a drunken party Xiaolei bumps into an ex-girlfriend, Fang Meng (Chrissie Chau), and almost gets into a fight with a gangster type, Brother Bao (Michael Wang), who also claims to be her ex. Next morning Xiaolei and Fang Meng wake up in bed together, and Xiaolei receives a call saying that Zhou Jing has been kidnapped and will be killed unless he pays RMB1 million (US$150,000) within 48 hours. Xiaolei calls a Beijing friend, Sun Nuo (Lawrence Wang), manager of the bar at which he first met Xiaolei, to ask for a loan, but it’s not enough. Meanwhile, Zhou Jing wakes up in a jungle treehouse in Jianfengling National Park and meets geeky botanist Bao Sanhe (Michael Wang), who is collecting samples. He offers to take her to safety but, when he can’t find the way out, they end up spending the night in the jungle. At the same time, Fang Meng has been introducing Xiaolei to some gambling groups so he can use his card skills to win some money, but without success. Xiaolei refuses to ask the help of his wealthy father, Tao Dawei (Hugo Wu), who walked out on him and his mother, but eventually is forced to call him, and his father agrees to wire the money. However, the kidnapper then gives him a further 24 hours, even though he’s ready to pay up, and just as Zhou Jing arrives back at the hotel she sees Xiaolei going off with Fang Meng – the continuation of a train of events that are not what they seem.