The film begins with a storyteller being taken to the police station for questioning by a policeman (played by James Wong) for gathering to cause trouble. The storyteller tells the story of the life of Nanhai Shisanlang, the gold medal screenwriter of Cantonese opera. As the thirteenth son of Jiang Taishigong, Jiang Yuliu (played by Xie Junhao) is free and naughty, and goes in and out of celebrity places. At an accidental dance, he met Lili (played by Wu Qili), a rich girl from Shanghai, but the two met by chance and had no chance to marry. Later, he followed her to Shanghai, but ended up in poverty. Two years later, he returned to his home in Guangdong and had been expelled from school. At that time, Taishigong was already old, so he went to watch the opera every day. He was never appreciated by the boss of the opera troupe, Xue Laowu, and later became a royal screenwriter and made a big splash, and was nicknamed Nanhai Shisanlang. However, the situation was turbulent, and he went to Jiangxi to write a script to comfort the frontline soldiers. Because he couldn't stand the kitsch works of his peers, he angrily shot and parted unhappily. At this time, a car accident reunited him with his former lover, but unfortunately she had married a foreigner. Shisanlang was depressed and later entered the temple to practice Buddhism. However, during a conversation while praying for someone, he learned about his family's decline and he went crazy...