Set in modern-day Shanghai, the film follows Lu Min (played by Xiao Bo), a high school student facing the pressure of the college entrance exam. Without a privileged background, his hopes for a better future rest entirely on getting into a top university. His mother, Fangfang (played by Song Dandan), is a thrifty housewife obsessed with winning prizes from TV quiz shows—nearly every appliance in their home comes from her efforts. His father, Dayi (played by Fu Biao), struggles to find stable work after being laid off, failing one re-employment program after another. After briefly landing a job as a bar companion, he ends up in the hospital due to poor alcohol tolerance. Each member of the family is caught in their own test of life, navigating hardship with resilience, like countless ordinary families striving to hold on.

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

Pan Hung is Lily, a humble bus conductor hired by Hong Kong commodities trader Sean Lau to be his connection to the Shanghai stock market. Lily finds the job surprisingly easy, and the duo begins to make big money. But at what price? With wealth and prosperity a driving daily goal for Lily, will her own family come to bear the cost? Director Lee Lok See uses his Shanghai focus to great effect, finding many avenues and opportunities for his satirical observations and cultural clashes. With capitalism and communism going head on in the rapidly growing city of Shanghai, which value system will ultimately live in each person's heart?