The Piano in a Factory

Chen Guilin currently makes a living as an accordionist, playing on the street in his steel factory town in China with his small band whenever they don't have a gig. He wants his adolescent daughter, Xiao Yuan, to follow in his footsteps and become a musician, she who loves playing the piano. Since they don't own one, she must practice on the piano at her music school. Guilin's wife/Yuan's mother, Xiao Ju, deserted them in her pursuit of another man and an easier life. Ju has just returned having achieved that life, her boyfriend's wealth from selling fake medicine to unsuspecting buyers. Ju wants a divorce, which Guilin is more than happy to grant as he is dating the band's singer, Shu Xian. But Ju also wants custody of Yuan, who Guilin is not willing to relinquish without a fight. Her parents asking her what she wants, Yuan decides that she will live where she has a piano to play. Not having the financial means to buy a piano, Guilin goes through one scheme after another in trying to obtain one. When he sees the internal workings of a piano, he believes he can build one instead. In achieving this goal, Guilin will need the help of his friends in providing their expertise, their facilities, their time to scrounge up materials and their labor, all for free if possible. Even if he is able to get his friends to cooperate, time is not on his side as he has to get it all done before Ju completes the divorce proceedings. Through it all, Xian is by his side. However, she may be able to tolerate only so much as Guilin takes her for granted and has a skewed view of male/female relationships based on his disastrous marriage to Ju.