Ju Xiang is born into a wealthy Straits Chinese household deaf and mute, but she is treated as a servant by the family as her mother is only a bondmaid.

While preparing the Peranakan dinner feast for Tok Panjang, a Japanese photographer, Yamamoto Yousuke, chances upon Ju Xiang and becomes infatuated by her beauty.

All lustful advances towards Ju Xiang from Charlie Zhang are stopped by Chen Sheng. Instead, Charlie decides to ask for Ju Xiang's hand in marriage.

Unable to deal with her fate as Charlie Zhang's second wife, Ju Xiang escapes but lands herself in the hands of human traffickers.

Yousuke takes Ju Xiang's hands in marriage. However, the couple run into trouble during the height of the Japanese occupation, as Yousuke becomes the target of the community.

Ju Xiang and daughter Yueniang are thrown into poverty after Yousuke returns to Japan. Chen Sheng decides to take them in, but wife Meiyu suspects that this is more than just an act of kindness.