 Demoralized, Zhongliang, formerly a teetotaler, takes to drink, and gradually he allows himself to be seduced by the dissolute Lizhen and thinks no more of his wife and son, thereby becoming a philanderer.In Shanghai, Sufen now works during the day in a war refugee camp while taking care of her son and ailing mother-in-law in the evenings.Part One ends as a torrential thunderstorm pummels their shanty lodging.