Yu Kin-sheng, a farmer, was sentenced to ten years for killing a man when drunk. His wife took care of their child, little Hua, and supported her mother-in-law in the hospital. When Hua was five years old, she was hired to be a child bride in a distant village to pay for her grandmother's medical expenses.

富商黃志明一時誤入花叢，與酒女秋滿同居。但秋滿一心只謀志明的財產，便串通男友小馬用計，使志明誤會妻子碧雲也有外遇，迫使碧雲離家，留下年幼的兒女秀娟、鴻文和強褓中的嬰兒秀珠。數月後，志明被秋滿陷害至傾家蕩產，從此一家被迫搬出豪宅，生活沒有保障。志明為了兒女的生活四處尋找工作，終於獲得了油漆工作。不料在上班的第一天，不慎自高樓墬下，導致手臂行動不便。所幸得鄰居建來夫婦幫忙，三個兒女才暫時免於挨餓。