He buys her presents to win her attention while barely able to pay his rent, and is hardly successful as she is also seeing Wang Junsan, an affluent owner of a tea business.

Zhang Xiaoyun’s father, now a co-owner of a pawn shop, discusses their deteriorating finances with his wife as they struggle to pay their bills.

Later, after an invitation for noodles at Zhang Xiaoyun’s house, Wang Junsan and his secretary shower her with gifts while discussing business and family matters.

Zhang Xiaoyun, pretending to offer to pay for their meal, feigns losing her wallet and coerces Wang Junsan’s assistant into buying her the luxurious dress she wanted for her friend’s wedding.

She frequently sees him, even late at night, and is caught sneaking out by her father, who later insists to Wang Junsan that they get married, given he professed his loyalty to her.

Li Menghua uses this opportunity to win her back by giving her many love letters he has written, but she turns down his deceitful attempt and angrily leaves him for good.

In the midst of this turbulent time, his assistant, annoyed by Wang Junsan’s infidelity and debt issues, develops a connection with Ahxiang, the family maid of Zhang Xiaoyun.

Meanwhile, the broke and depressed Li Menghua escapes the hospital and wanders the streets of Shanghai in torn and tattered clothes, walking tiredly to an unknown fate.

He leaves in his car, unknowingly hiding his secretary and Ahxiang in the trunk, and is chased by Zhang Xiaoyun and her father into a bustling scene of Shanghai.

This juxtaposes the presence of affluent people in luxurious cars even in economically turbulent times, highlighting the wage gaps and rampant consumerism characteristic of a materialistic capitalist society.

It demonstrates leftist agenda through the struggles in a rapidly modernizing urban environment and subtly hinting collective action as the solution.

Chinese film makers in the 1930s, including the cast of Scenes of City Life, faced severe financial difficulties, struggled with low wages and unstable employment.

[1] Although these environments were unpleasant and ill to live in, it did aid in fostering a creative and collaborative atmosphere which influenced their cinematic techniques: strong sensitivity to space and acoustic.

[1] Although The production of Scenes of City Life was marked by significant challenges, the film emerged as a groundbreaking work in Chinese cinematic history which pioneered the genres of musical comedy.

[5] Furthermore, the innovative aspect of “noise-musicality”, where everyday noises and speech patterns are transformed into rhythmic and musical elements, greatly enhances the film’s satirical tone.