A man picks love or money — guess which one ruins everything?
Orphan He Yongnian was brought up by Zheng Mu, the owner of a small shop, and he was childhood sweetheart with Zheng's daughter Jingqin. Yongnian and Jingqin's love roots have been planted early, Jingqin helps everywhere, and Yongnian is very grateful. After Yongnian graduated, he was appreciated by the boss of the trading company, Leung. Jingqin's mother and daughter supported him. Boss Leung's daughter Dai Ni is attracted by Yong Nian and starts pursuing him. Yongnian's heart is attached to Jingqin, but he is afraid of offending Dai Ni, so he reluctantly entertains. Seduced by Dai Ni, Yongnian gradually yearns for a higher life, ignoring Zheng's mother and daughter...
Acting
Gao Yuan's slow moral corrosion is exquisite self-destruction.
Costume
Dai Ni's Westernized wardrobe screams wealth Jingqin can't compete with.
Director
Zhu Shilin
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Zhu Shilin was a master of 'wenyi pian' — melodramas that let 1950s Hong Kong audiences process rapid social change through suffering women.
Ouyang Sha-Fei's Dai Ni was deliberately costumed in Western fashions to mark her as colonial-adjacent temptation versus Jingqin's traditional qipao virtue.
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