The young Chinese heir to millions in the USA is suddenly destitute. He takes out a life insurace policy on himself and assigns his former teacher to kill him.

Several members of a Nationalist Chinese Army unit that is trapped between Japanese forces and another Chinese unit take revenge when their unit is almost wiped out.

It is the late 1920s when six-year-old Yingzi and her family move to Beijing. As Yingzi explores the busy streets and alleys, she befriends a widow who, driven mad by grief, stands vigil at the entrance of her hutong, waiting for her missing daughter to return.

While looking for his cat, a young boy meets and befriends his neighbor, who is a biology professor.

At the tail end of the Cultural Revolution, Qiu Shi, a poet who has been in prison for six years, is transferred elsewhere by boat under the guard of two officers. During transit, he meets a series of passengers, who have also faced hardships in recent times.

After a fierce battle in the plains of Gansu, two injured survivors, a young trumpeter and a girl of the Woman Pioneers, wander in search of their comrades. They are eventually joined by an Yugur girl who has lost her family.

Shanghai, China, 1930. When young Shuisheng arrives from the countryside, his uncle Liushu puts him at the service of Bijou, the mistress of Laoda, supreme boss of the Tang Triad, constantly threatened by his enemies, both those he knows and those lurking in the shadows.

The Kong family is restrained by tradition because families named Kong are thought to be direct descendants of Confucius.