It starts out like a xianxia drama! Why did no one tell me that? A sentient stone spirit (made and then abandoned by the goddess Nu-wa) falls for a Crimson Pearl Flower and waters her with sweet dew until she becomes a fairy girl. She pledges to someday repay him with her tears

The crimson flower and stone are reborn in the human world to meet one another and live out their fates. And then the tale shifts, for long periods of time, to something like a 19th century English novel of manners. Rounds of social visiting, tea, dinner parties, plays.