Life Show follows a woman, Lai Shuang Yang, who operates a duck neck stall in night market in an unnamed city in central China. Though Shuang Yang keeps her cool, her life is filled with complications. Her brother drug-addicted Jiu Jiu has been committed to a sanitarium Her assistant, Mei, who has fallen in love with Jiu Jiu, attempts suicide. Her sister in law, Xiao Jin, always leaves Shuang Yang's nephew for Shuang Yang to take care of. At the same time, Shuang Yang is trying to regain her family's home, which was given to a neighbor during the Cultural Revolution. Perhaps worst of all, Shuang Yang is at risk of losing her restaurant.
Into this morass, Shuang Yang starts to notice one of her customers, Zhou Xiong Zhou, a middle-aged businessman who has been frequenting her restaurant for a year. Despite concerns, she decides to take the risk with Xiong Zhou and the two begin an unassuming romance.