The first Chinese sound film. It tells the story of Hong Pion (Red Peony), a singer-songwriter who, after her marriage to the depraved Faxiang Chen, not only tormented and suffered, but also endured the decline of her artistic career.

After a flood, the Sea Charity Association sends Liu Hao Ming to a village to direct the burial of corpses. Hao Ming meets the singer Ruyun and her father there, and advises Ruyun not to sing a beautiful song, but to sing “The Beauty of Yu” instead, which Ruyun obeys to the full applause of the audience, but arouses the displeasure of a butcher, Sa-zuo, and others. When the flood comes again, the village people go to Shanghai to evacuate. Sa-zuo and the others ask Hao-ming for help, and Hao-ming leads them to an empty mansion to spend the night, where they run into Ruyun's father and learn that Ruyun has been separated. A female ghost haunts the house and they all escape from the house. Hao Ming does not see Ruyun's father and goes back to look for him, but he sees that the female ghost is Ruyun.

A primary school teacher rallies the citizens of a small town to resist the corruption of the local government and unite to build reinforcements against an oncoming flood.

Part two of A comedy film set on Shanghai film studio. The background events frequently involve the shooting of other films being made at Mingxing Film Company at the time. This includes a sequence of the 17th episode of the silent wuxia film series Burning of the Red Lotus Temple, which is the only known footage from this historic series to exist.

The New Year's Gift is the story of some lucky money gifted to a girl. It then leaves her and passes from hand to hand.