This movie made in the very early era of the reform is a pioneer and a masterpiece of social criticism, and the hidden message of the movie lies in the place where the protagonists worked: the foreign trade company.
Because the foreign trade company deals with west, inevitably it must adopt some western practice in order to do the business, so in the isolated China back then, it was one of the few and one of the earliest places where new capitalistic ideas from west can be contacted, and such liberalization created a live and energetic feeling, symbolized by Joan Chen, while the rigid old communist practice kills creativity and and made people disillusioned, as shown by the male protagonist.
Because the foreign trade company deals with west, inevitably it must adopt some western practice in order to do the business, so in the isolated China back then, it was one of the few and one of the earliest places where new capitalistic ideas from west can be contacted, and such liberalization created a live and energetic feeling, symbolized by Joan Chen, while the rigid old communist practice kills creativity and and made people disillusioned, as shown by the male protagonist.