Qu Qiubai is the head of the Department of Sociology, and Yang Zhihua is his student. Yang Zhihua is a new woman who came to Shanghai from her hometown to seek democracy and save the country. Yang Zhihua was deeply moved by the teacher's talent and demeanor. What she envied was the case of Qu Qiubai and his wife Wang Jianhong v. Qi Mei. Because of her different life ideals, she felt a little disappointed in her husband Shen.
Wang Jianhong died on 1924. Grieving, Qu Qiubai appeared in class the next day. Qu Qiubai was forced to go underground because his residence was searched by the enemy. Yang Zhihua was instructed by the organization to contact Qu Qiubai, and the friendship between teachers and students and comrades-in-arms gradually sublimated.
In the wave of Shanghai workers' movement, Yang Zhihua bravely confessed to Qu Qiubai, and Qu Qiubai politely refused her.