Canadian surgeon Norman Bethune assists the Communists during the anti-Japanese struggle.

River water surging

During the economic reforms, in the early 80s, oversea chinese Xiao Ziyun comes back to China.

Biography of Red Army commander Luo Xiao, known as Xiao Luo when a slave, who joined the Chinese army in 1915.

When Luo Xin'gang a new manager arrives in an ailing silk-printing plant, he maintains that the remedy for the loss in profits is to go back to producing handmade silk handkerchiefs for export -- but the conservative authorities resist any change at all. In the background lurks the shadows of the black market and other forms of graft.

Hu escapes from prison after 8 years, only to find that his father was killed by the landlord and his fiancee Jin Zi was married to the landlord's son. The blind, widowed mother-in-law is a termagant. Hu plots his revenge.