In old Shanghai, two sisters, a prostitute and a singer, try to escape from the local scoundrels with the help of a trumpet player and a newspaper seller.

The New Year's Gift is the story of some lucky money gifted to a girl. It then leaves her and passes from hand to hand.

In 1920s Beijing, a young student named Fan Jiashu falls in love with Shen Fengxi, a talented but poor street singer. Their romance is tested by class differences and the unwanted attention of a powerful warlord. Torn between three women from vastly different backgrounds, Fan becomes trapped in a tragic web of love, fate, and social pressure.