Better Days (2019) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Xiao Bei decides to take the blame because he believes it's the only way Chen Nian can still have a future. With her college entrance exam score good enough to get into Beijing University, he knows that if she's convicted for murder, her life will be destroyed. He confesses to the crime hoping that his confession will secure a lighter sentence for both of them, allowing Chen Nian to eventually move on with her life despite the grim reality.

Foreshadowing: Earlier in the film, Xiao Bei demonstrates his protective nature by walking Chen Nian to and from school every day, showing his willingness to sacrifice for her safety.

• xiao bei
• wei lai death
• confession
• murder charge
• chen nian future

Wei Lai died accidentally during a confrontation with Chen Nian on the school stairs. When Wei Lai begged Chen Nian not to report the assault video to the police, Chen Nian pushed her away in anger. Wei Lai lost her balance and fell down the stairs, dying from the fall. This hidden truth only emerges in a flashback during the investigation.

Foreshadowing: The film earlier shows Chen Nian's growing frustration and desperation under the relentless bullying, building to this explosive confrontation.

• wei lai death
• chen nian
• flashback
• school stairs
• accident

After Xiao Bei confesses to Wei Lai's murder, the detective reveals he lied about Xiao Bei receiving the death sentence to prompt a confession from Chen Nian. Both ultimately accept lighter sentences and end up in jail. Years later, Chen Nian becomes a teacher and is seen walking with Xiao Bei, who has been released, as they notice a distressed child walking alone.

Foreshadowing: The film's closing scenes shift from the dark narrative to a more hopeful message about societal change and personal redemption.

• ending
• prison sentence
• chen nian
• xiao bei
• jail
• teacher

After the bullies corner Chen Nian while Xiao Bei is detained at the police station, they brutally assault her by cutting her hair, beating her, and stripping her while filming the attack for humiliation. When Xiao Bei is released and finds her bleeding at home, he helps shave her remaining hair, and then shaves his own head in solidarity to show they face the world together despite the trauma.

Foreshadowing: This moment represents the lowest point of their ordeal and solidifies their bond through shared suffering.

• shave head
• solidarity
• bullying assault
• hair cut
• humiliation video

The video is the footage of Chen Nian being assaulted by the thugs who forced her to kiss Xiao Bei during the earlier attack. Wei Lai had obtained this video and was using it as leverage to prevent Chen Nian from going to the police. When Chen Nian finally decides to report the bullying and the assault video, Wei Lai desperately begs her not to, leading to their fatal confrontation on the stairs.

Foreshadowing: The earlier scene where Chen Nian tries to call the police during the assault establishes her desire to report the crime, which later becomes the catalyst for conflict with Wei Lai.

• video
• assault
• wei lai
• blackmail
• police report

Chen Nian explains during police interrogation that she didn't want to report the bullying because she simply wanted to finish her college entrance exam and move away to Beijing for college. The intense pressure of the gaokao system, combined with her desperation to escape her current life, made her prioritize the exam over seeking justice for the harassment. She believed that reporting would derail her chances of escaping to a new life.

Foreshadowing: The film establishes early on how the gaokao dominates every aspect of these students' lives, creating an environment where academic achievement supersedes all other concerns.

• bullying report
• gaokao
• exam
• beijing college
• police

On the first day of the two-day college entrance exam, heavy rain triggers a landslide near the exam site. While rescue crews work to clear the debris, they discover Wei Lai's body, which shifts the entire murder investigation forward. This discovery forces the police to connect her disappearance to the ongoing bullying case and ultimately brings Chen Nian under suspicion.

Foreshadowing: The timing of Wei Lai's disappearance had already been noted by investigators working on the bullying case.

• landslide
• exam day
• wei lai body
• rain
• investigation

The detective deliberately tells Chen Nian that Xiao Bei has been sentenced to death as a psychological tactic to prompt her into confessing. Knowing that Xiao Bei had confessed to protect her, the detective uses this lie to pressure Chen Nian into also confessing and revealing the truth about Wei Lai's death. The lie works, and both ultimately receive lighter sentences than they would have otherwise.

Foreshadowing: This manipulative interrogation technique reflects the police's determination to close the case after Xiao Bei's confession.

• detective lie
• confession
• death sentence
• interrogation
• tactic

Xiao Bei and Chen Nian first meet when Chen Nian witnesses him being assaulted by rival thugs. She tries to call the police to help him, but the aggressors notice her and turn their abuse toward her instead, forcing her to kiss Xiao Bei as a degrading display of power. This shared trauma becomes the foundation of their later relationship when Xiao Bei agrees to protect her from her own bullies.

Foreshadowing: The film opens by establishing both characters as vulnerable targets of violence, creating sympathy for their eventual alliance.

• first meeting
• assault
• thugs
• kiss
• rescue

Hu Xiaodie commits suicide after enduring sustained bullying at school. Her death is what sets Chen Nian on her own brutal journey as the new target of Wei Lai and her circle of bullies. The suicide reveals the toxic school environment and establishes the devastating consequences of unchecked bullying that drives much of the film's emotional weight.

Foreshadowing: The opening sequence establishes the film's central theme: the devastating impact of bullying on teenagers.

• hu xiaodie suicide
• bullying
• school
• death
• trigger