Siblings Yu Mei and Yu Nan were born on "Green Island" off the east coast of Taiwan. They grew up listening to fairy tales about mermaids told by their mother. Now a painter based in Taipei, Yu Mei is in a rocky relationship with aspiring boxer Hsiang, who channels all his energy into training.
Pi Zi and Ying Xiong are two cops who are as different as day and night. One does nothing except for drinking coffee and living a luxurious lifestyle while waiting for information from dubious sources to crack his cases. Another believes law and justice are the pillars of society and is constantly on the street catching criminals... a little overzealously for his superior's liking. When a case brought these two top crime solvers together, sparks flied and a little light peeked into this dark city where the nation's President is on friendly terms with the local triad and twins kill people while drinking milkshake.
Petite but determined Yu Hing is working as a museum research assistant when a Japanese man, Tao, inquires about a piece of Chinese calligraphy entitled "The Cold Food Observance". Yu Ching sees an opportunity here both for romance and for the healing of her friendship with an emotionally repressed pal, Dong Heng, as the artwork is the center point of a book Dong is writing. However, Dong reacts with jealousy.