When Song Wei's fiancee Luo Qun is denounced as a right-wing traitor by Party official Wu Yao, he is sentenced to ten years' hard labor. Song Wei breaks off her engagement, and eventually marries Wu Yao. Years later, after the Cultural Revolution, political currents have shifted; Song Wei demands that her husband, now a powerful Party official, seek Luo Qun's rehabilitation, but Wu Yao has no desire to open up old political and emotional wounds.

After suffering a stroke, an altruistic maid announces that she wants to quit her job and move into an old people's home.

Chinese movie

As most families only want to have boys, women end up becoming rare and precious.

Gu Ying, a Peking Opera actress, is now growing older and is restricted to smaller roles in the troupe.

Winner of the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Film in 1984

After her groom is killed in a bandit ambush, a young peasant bride must move into the home of her wealthy mother-in-law, Madame Liu. In a perverse tribute to her fallen son, Madame Liu imposes on her new daughter-in-law a life of domestic servitude. In the midst of her misery, the young widow finds new romance with another peasant, the gentle and brave Kui. But when Madame Liu discovers her infidelity, she vows to keep the lovers apart.