The story begins with
Nnadia as a simple village girl who lives with an uncle, her
only kin, and made a living by fishing. Nnadia had a childhood friend, Niu, whom she
eventually fell in love with. However, due to the feudal system (the story was set in the
1920s-1930s), they were forced apart and Nnadia was to marry a man whom she was match-made
to when she was young.
Meanwhile, a filming crew arrived on the village to film a love story, much to the
displeasure of the village head, who accused them of bringing wrong values on 'freedom to
love' to the humble fishing village. However, Nnadia and Niu were greatly inspired by the
film and decided to elope to Shanghai together. Unfortunately, Niu was caught, leaving
Nnadia on her own in the journey to Shanghai. However, Niu promised her that he would meet
up with her in Shanghai a few days later.
On her arrival in Shanghai, Nnadia was lost and aimless. Fortunately, she met Xiaocui who
readily took her in. Touched by the warm hospitality, Nnadia and Xiaocui became the best
of friends. Since then, she stayed with Xiaocui on the roof balcony of an apartment (there
were many rooms for rental on the roof balcony). Subsequently, Nnadia, together with
Xiaocui and two other neighbors lived a simple and happy life on the roof balcony.
One day, the landlord decided to rent out another room on the roof balcony where Nnadia
and the rest stayed. Soon, Ekin Cheng, a painter, became the
next tenant. The residents of the rooftop had found him peculiar at first as he appeared
in Western-style clothes, well-mannered, and seemed to be rather rich. Ekin even had
difficulties cooking his own meals and the residents were unconvinced that he
needed to rent such a low-down apartment on the roof balcony. However, being the warm and
hospitable people they were, coupled with Ekin's approachable character, they were quick
to strike a rapport with him. Meanwhile, Ekin found that he had become fond of Nnadia.
Finally, news of Niu's arrival to Shanghai reaches Nnadia and she eagerly waited for the
day to come, only to be struck by a tragedy, that NIA's boat had capsized on the way to
Shanghai and all on board had drowned. Saddened by the loss of her childhood sweetheart,
Nnadia lost her will to live. Once, she even told Xiaocui that her life would end after
the last peach blossom flower withered and fell from the tree outside her window.
Ekin was terribly shocked by this statement. On a cold winter night, he anxiously made a
trip to Nnadia room and was horrified when he saw the last flower fall from the peach
blossom tree. Determined to let Nnadia live on, he braved the cold and painted a
life-sized peach blossom tree on the wall outside her window. True enough, Nerd's
condition turned for the better upon seeing the painting of a full-bloomed peach blossom
tree outside her window. Touched by Ekin's gesture, she soon fell in love with him.
Meanwhile, Nnadia found out that Ekin was actually a rich-man's son. Due to his father
traditional way of thinking and the hope for his son to take over the running of his
business, Ekin found it hard to convince him to let him pursue a career as an artist.
Hence, quarrels erupted frequently and Ekin finally decided to move out on his own.
As the story goes, Nnadia was approached by a film-maker, Hua, to act as the lead in a
movie. Apparently, Hua was the same film-maker who was in charge of filming on the fishing
village years ago. The movie eventually became a huge success. Nnadia and Hua became close
friends and Nnadia turned into a famous singer/actress of that time. Ekin also gained
prominence in the arts circle
of Shanghai with the help of his best friend. Nnadia and Ekin were happy as a couple but
this was disrupted by the sudden return of Niu. Apparently, Niu had survived the storm and
he had since searched for Nnadia in the hope of re-uniting with his lover. Problems arose
as Nnadia had to choose between Ekin and Niu. Finally, Nnadia made it clear to Niu that
her love for him had died and the one she truly loved was Ekin. Although devastated at
first, Niu finally accepted the truth and gave the couple his blessings.
Soon, a rich playboy attempted unsuccessfully to woo Nnadia. During a struggle where he
tried to sexually assault Nnadia, he was pushed down a flight of stairs by her
accidentally. He became paralyzed from the waist down. Overcome with anger, he sued Nnadia
of attempted murder and had all the officials involved bribed to allow him to win the
case. Ekin went all out to get her acquitted but with no avail. Driven to desperation, he
finally turned towards his father for help. Initially, his father turned a deaf ear to his
pleas as he had always disapproved of Nnadia as his son's girlfriend. However, upon
learning that Nnadia and Ekin had secretly helped him when his business was in financial
difficulty, his heart softened and finally agreed unconditionally.
Despite the efforts father and son went through, Nnadia was finally convicted of attempted
murder and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. As a last resort to help Nnadia and his
son, whom he had misunderstood so deeply before, Ekin's father sold his business and used
the money to bribe the officials in releasing Nnadia secretly, finally arranging for Ekin
and Nnadia to escape to Hong Kong.
Summary by P-Chan, Singapore
GO TO:
The Songbird
Knot to Treasure
Instinct
Cold Blood Warm Heart
Once Upon a Time in
Shanghai '96
Star.Moon.Sun
Happy Ever After
TVB's / Other
Previews in RealMedia
(downloadable file) :
The Songbird
Beside the Seaside,
Beside the Sea
The Zu Mountain Saga II
The Mark of Triumph '92
The Spirit of Love
Knot to Treasure