In the final days of the war a beautiful young widow Duyen faces a daily struggle to take care of her young son and ailing father-in-law all the while hiding from them the fact that her husband has recently been killed in battle. Keeping her secret burden to herself she is befriended by the village schoolmaster Zhang who agrees to fabricate letters from her dead husband in order to spare her family sorrow. As their friendship deepens Duyen and Zhang find themselves drawn closer to intimacy—a dangerous relationship if Duyen is to maintain her charade.