A special agent of frontier force in Canton tries to find a spy called aunt Mei.

Chen Shaochang (Shi Hui), a primary school principal widowed at a young age, raises his children alone. His close friend's daughter, Liu Minhua (Zhu Jiachen), whom he hasn't seen for many years, begins working at the primary school through his introduction. Chen Shaochang's son, Jianzhong (Han Fei), and daughter-in-law, Feng Lijun (Li Huanqing), consider Chen's job undignified. After retiring, he is filled with melancholy, understood only by Minhua. Although their relationship deepens, they must contend with the ethical and social norms of Republican-era Shanghai.

A group of eighth-grade boys and girls set themselves the goal of greening the vacant lot adjacent to their school and turning it into a blooming garden. At first, they thought it would be extremely easy to achieve this goal. But then there were those who argued that the garden only required physical strength (so wouldn't it be easier to hire workers?) and that schoolchildren should not be distracted from their classes, especially since many of them were falling behind. The enthusiastic gardeners did not give up. They took the weaker students under their wing. Much more was needed—special knowledge, teamwork skills, and perseverance—before the eighth graders were able to ceremoniously present the school with the first bouquets of flowers from their plot.

A young woman named Lin Pei-min, a kindergarten teacher who underestimates her profession, considers it boring, and, most importantly, thankless. But gradually, Lin Pei-min begins to realize how responsible and important the work entrusted to her is. And her "ordinary profession" becomes her life's work.

It is policeman Ma Tianmin’s day off, and his chief’s wife has fixed him up with Liu Ping, a young woman she knows. But, on his way to keep the date, Ma, who embodies all the qualities of an exemplary member of the new communist society, stops many times to help people in need. In a Shanghai fully involved in the Great Leap Forward, will the kind-hearted socialist hero get the girl?

A big happy Peking family each rushing thing when the anti-Japanese War breaks out. The family reunites after the war, but drifts apart soon when the Chinese civil war breaks out.

This tale of familial warfare and sacrifice takes place in hard-pressed Shanghai at the end of the 1940s. Hu Zhiqing can barely support his wife and children, and his situation is worsened by the unexpected arrival of his mother, brother and sister-in-law. When he is fired by his unscrupulous boss, the whole family becomes embroiled in one emotional/economic struggle after another.