Xiang cao mei ren

Due to lean years and the poverty that followed, Farmer Wang moved to Shanghai with his wife, daughter and younger brother. The whole family got a job at a tobacco factory, where they earned mere pennies, which they barely had enough to live on. Since the factory was unable to compete with foreign tobacco companies, the harsh conditions of competition led to a gradual reduction in production. Many of the employees were fired, Wang's wife was among the first, and his younger brother, who quarreled with his boss over his salary, ended up in prison. After the company closed, Wang's daughter started working on the streets to save her family from starvation. When Wang learned the truth, he kicked his wife and daughter out of the house. The police arrested Wang for breaking the glass of a mall that had foreign cigarettes on display. This film, having been significantly cut, was released on the screen in November 1933, but after the first demonstration it was banned altogether.