Red Cherries and a Broken Heart

Learning from her brother Xiao Huaiya’s letter that he becomes rich, Xiao Taohong quits the singing business with her father Xiao Yazi. Upon their departure, the famous musician Zhao Zhuji comes to make an arrangement to buy their flute. Huaiya, after saving the rich young man Kong Guifen, not only marries his sister Yanfang but also matchmakes Guifen and Taohong.

Yanfang seeks help from Guifen after Huaiya has been imprisoned for his business failure. However, upon his release, Huaiya resents Guifen. They then go into dispute and divorce the other’s sister respectively. Taohong goes back to sing for a living and meets Zhuji again. She deliberately hides her past in order to learn from Zhuji. A year later, Taohong finally becomes a famous songstress, and Yanfang’s accidental re-encounter with Huaiya leads Guifen and Yazi to come beg Taohong to go home.
Already exhausted and seriously-ill from teaching Taohong, Zhuji spits blood and dies after knowing Taohong’s story at the wedding night. To return the compliment, Taohong vows not to reunite with Guifen until she brings Zhuji’s son Jizhu up as a successful musician. With no musical talent at all, Jizhu learns nothing from Taohong and even plots with Huaiya to cheat her. Taohong dies with anger before she can see Guifen and her daughter Xiaohong again.