Zhongliang (Leslie Cheung), whose parents died, went to live with his sister Xiuyi (He Saifei) who married into the Pang family. He was squeezed and insulted by his brother-in-law everywhere. In anger, he poisoned his brother-in-law with opium. After escaping to Shanghai, he was mistakenly accepted by the gang leader Dada, and became a "white-collar gang" who used sex appeal to seduce rich wives and then extorted money from them. After the death of the master of the Pang family, the eldest daughter Ruyi (Gong Li) was appointed as the chief. In order to defraud the Pang family's property, Dada ordered Zhongliang to return to the Pang family to seduce Ruyi. Unexpectedly, the two fell in love with each other over time. Zhongliang, who could not bear to deceive Ruyi anymore, returned to Shanghai alone. Ruyi was also taken to Shanghai by Dada. She saw the "white-collar gang" activities that Zhongliang was engaged in and was disheartened.