After graduating from maritime college, a group of girls arrive to undergo practical training on a ship and, as future navigators, are greeted in different ways.

In 1925, Gao Fengchun and his girlfriend He Li returned from studying in the UK, determined to save the country through medicine. They came to Dingzhou, a mountain city in western Fujian, to open a poor relief clinic. In the Wangjiang Tower, Gao Fengchun, He Li and their young friend Wang Zhanfei and Fang Liang, a student movement leader who recently met, debated how to save the country. In the bloody storm of counter-revolution, Gao Fengchun’s religious enlightenment teacher Charlie took off his disguise, Wang Zhanfei betrayed the revolution, Gao Fengchun’s hospital was destroyed, and He Li was deceived back to Shanghai. After a series of changes, Gao Fengchun's ideal of saving the nation through medicine was completely shattered. In the baptism of blood and fire, he gained a new life and plunged into the torrent of revolution.