對人歡笑背人愁，一生兒女債難酬，紅塵獨剩恨悠悠！

　　丑生王生鬼利因世界蕭條下，戲班解散，但堅持供兒子權讀書，用盡各種方法。暑假期間，權返家令利更擔憂學費事宜，更押當戲服及當閒角來賺取微薄薪酬，權終發現決找工作，無奈人浮於事只好回學校半供讀。利妻珍見夫辛勞，生病仍接來衣服工作，終一病不起，而利卻因演街頭劇，導致失聲，得師兄厚相助，利無奈送小兒學戲，最後利終得見權，放下心頭大石…

An opera troupe has to dissolve in view of the poor economy. Comedian star Sang Kwai-lei loses his job and he has no alternative but to play the lion character in the opera troupe of his former junior apprentice Chan Hau and pawn his stage costume. He aims at earning enough money to support the final year's secondary school studies of his elder son Chi-kuen. Kuen however refuses to continue his studies, seeing that his father has to put aside his dignity to earn money and his mother is worried. Lei is enraged and uses the money to support his younger son Chi-wai's studies.

Again, Lei loses his job and he resorts to giving street performances, his wife takes up sowing work in her spare time and she dies after a long illness. Kuen works to support himself through school, but Wai is less fortunate, he is forced to enrol in an opera troupe as an apprentice. Years later, the dying father joyfully embraces Chi-kuen's return from his studies.