Yue Yue is a village girl living in the Qin Ling Mountain. Two boys, Cai Cai and Men Men, are her friends and both like her. Cai Cai is diligent and conservative, Men Men is discontented with life and like novelty.
An outstanding college student who lost his sight accidentally has no faith to live on until he meet an encouraging girl who is also blind. But the girl leaves him when his sight is recovered and tells him not to treat promise as shackles.
At a 1930s swimming match, a Chinese champion is forced to lose to his American rival. Later, the Chinese champion's son, another potential champion, is torn between the rigours of training and the lure of romance.
In a mountain hamlet in eastern China, a poor woman faces trial after trial. Sold into marriage as a child, she is left a young widow and enslaved by her mother-in-law, who sells her to a poor peasant. Her second marriage turns out to be happy until fate takes away her husband and son. Now seen as a bearer of bad luck, she becomes a social outcast.
