A Zhao, a female martial opera performer, refuses to accept earning only 300 wen per performance. She takes her junior sister, Xiao Sui, to join a new troupe leader, Qian Delu, who promises to pay them double for each performance. Unexpectedly, clothing rental fees, medicine costs, and loan interest soon pile up, while their wages for performances already completed are withheld. After injuring her hand, A Zhao refuses to perform on the high platform, but Qian Delu uses the entire troupe's unpaid wages to pressure Xiao Sui into taking the stage, secretly using an old rope to hoist her into the air. At the critical moment, A Zhao and the musician Liu Qi call for the performance to stop, and their master, Bai Yusheng, rescues Xiao Sui. Using the broken rope, witness testimony, and account books, everyone exposes the scam and recovers the entire troupe's unpaid wages. A Zhao returns to her master's school and starts again with ground-level performances, finally understanding that performance fees can pay for one's skills, but they can never buy away the right to refuse dangerous stunts.