Sunrise = 日出

Chen Bailu is an innocent young lady, compelled by the harsh reality she is forced into, becoming a social butterfly lost among the Shanghai nightclubs. She spends her days circulating amongst the wealthiest tycoons such as Pan Yueting and Zhang George, living a luxurious and voluptuous life style. The sudden arrival of Bailu’s past sweetheart arouses her memories of a simpler life and the longing for a new beginning. She views her world with disgust and contempt, yet she no longer has the power to break away from her extravagant life style.

One day, Bailu rescues a little girl who is ready to be sold into a low-class brothel and names her “little thing”. Due to the sympathetic feelings towards the likeliness of their fates, Bailu claims the little girl as her daughter and uses all her power to protect “little thing”. However, “little thing” does not escape her fate of forced prostitution, even with the help from the good hearted prostitute Cui Xi, the unbearable insult eventually driving “little thing” into suicide.

At the same time, Bailu’s wealthy lover Pan Yueting loses all his money by going against the underworld mafia’s Jin Ba and is on the verge of bankruptcy, leading Bailu into accumulating piles of heavy debts she cannot pay for. Bailu loses all hope for life when she finally learns her debts are been taken care of by Jin Ba, meaning her ownership has been transferred. In her final moments, she looks back to “little thing” and Cui Xi and refuses to exist as a puppet of upper society. She silently swallows some sleeping pills and ends her life.
(Wendy Xu, 2013).