Fang Hung-chien, the hero, is a young man who came out of a squire family in the south of China. Fang Hung-chien was forced by family pressure to get engaged to a woman who was also Zhou. However, during his college years, Zhou Sheng became ill and died very early. Mr. Zhou, the prospective father-in-law, was moved by Fang's condolences and funded him to study abroad. Before graduation, Fang bought a doctor's degree certificate from the fictional Clayton University and returned to China with international students. On the boat, I met and fell in love with Miss Bao, a foreign student, but she cheated me. At the same time, I got to know my college classmate Sue.

After arriving in Shanghai, I worked in a bank run by Mr. Zhou, the father of my late fiancee. At this time, Fang got the favor of Sue's classmates and fell in love with Sue's cousin at first sight. Fang finally ended his relationship with Su and Tang, and Su married the poet Cao Yuanlang.

At the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, Fang fled to Shanghai Concession. On Zhao's recommendation, he went to mainland universities to teach under Zhao, Gu Erqian and Li. Write about the infighting in San Lv University. From the headmaster, dean, department head, to faculty, students and even their families, they are involved in a dizzying personnel dispute. Because of the weakness of Fang Hung-chien's personality, he fell into a complicated interpersonal dispute. After being engaged to Sun Roujia and leaving San Lv University for Shanghai, Fang Hung-chien and Sun Roujia got married on their way back to Shanghai. This is not an exciting combination for both parties. The anxiety about the future brought by unemployment makes them quarrel constantly after marriage. This quarrel is relatively simple on the way back to Shanghai. After settling in Shanghai, the contradiction became more complicated due to the intervention of families and relatives of both sides. There was a time when there were a series of discord and disputes between mother-in-law, Weng Xu, sister-in-law, relatives and friends, and even master and servant. With Zhao's help, Fang Hung-chien worked in a newspaper and married him. Finally, the contradiction between Sun and Fang finally intensified. The former resigned as the director of the newspaper reference room and faced unemployment again. With Zhao's help, Fang Hung-chien worked in a newspaper and married him. The contradictions between Fang Hung-chien and his wife, Fang Jia and his aunt's family were exposed and intensified. Fang Hung-chien resigned, quarreled with Sun Roujia, and gradually lost hope of life.