Nineteen-year-old Sun Yulan was forced to marry a man fifteen years older with a child in exchange for a bride price so her older brother could get married. Unwilling to accept her fate, on the night before the wedding, she fled marriage overnight with her fifteen-year-old younger sister, Sun Yumei, heading for the provincial capital. With only a few dozen yuan in their pockets, knowing no one and facing a bleak situation, the sisters struggled to make a living. Yulan found a job washing dishes at a restaurant, seizing the opportunity to learn tailoring skills at night, while Yumei picked up her education and studied hard.