Set in the slums of old Shanghai, the film begins with a wedding procession. Xiao Chen (Zhao Dan), a trumpet player in the marching band, establishes a romantic connection with his neighbour, the singer Xiao Hong (Zhou Xuan), who has fled the Japanese invasion of Manchuria with her older sister Xiao Yun (Zhao Huishen). With limited resources and connections, the two sisters are taken in by a couple that owns a tea house and made to work for them. Xiao Yun is forced into prostitution to make a living, while Xiao Hong works as a singer at the tea house.