AllMovie

Directed by Zhang Jiarui, Ruoma de Shiqi Sui (When Ruoma Was Seventeen) follows perky teen Ruoma (Li Min) as she commutes each day to town in order to sell sweet corn at a roadside market. When Ruoma becomes friends with older, poverty-stricken photographer Ming (Yang Zhigang), however, she swaps the corn-selling business for the opportunity to pose for tourists. Though Ruoma has feelings for Ming, his girlfriend, Lili (Sang Yi), temporarily squelches her ability to pursue a relationship. Eventually, Lili leaves Ming, who turns to Ruoma for comfort and promises, among other things, that he will take her to the big city someday. Predictably, the relationship grows more complicated as time goes by, and culminates when Ruoma schemes to follow him after he informed her of his plans to leave town.