春枝（宁静 饰）出生于专门制作炮竹的大户人家，是家中的唯一子嗣，因此打小就被当做男孩养大，个性桀骜不驯。父亲死后，族老们定下规矩，春枝一辈子不能嫁人，否则就会失去继承家业的权利。 　　某日，春枝邂逅了名为牛宝（巫刚 饰）青年画家，牛宝为人十分高傲，绝不向权贵低头，这点吸引了春枝的注意。春枝潜入了他的画室，却意外的看到了自己女儿身的画像。觊觎家业的管家满地红（赵小锐 饰）将春枝的动情看在眼里，他设计逼走了牛宝，却没能够阻止春枝前去找他。终于，春枝和牛宝两情相悦了，春枝也恢复了女子的打扮，这让族老们大为震惊。满地红和牛宝即将进行一场放鞭炮的比试，胜者方能娶春枝为妻。

A woman inherits her father's fireworks factory, as he had no son. The business does well and everything works in an orderly fashion until one day, an itinerant painter is hired to decorate the doors and vases at the factory. The woman, forbidden to marry and thereby involve outsiders in the factory ownership, finds herself drawn to the headstrong painter. When they fall in love, the situation throws her entire life into disarray

Un sencillo pintor callejero se enamora de una joven dueña de una tienda de pirotecnia, que lleva como negocio familiar. Ambos se corresponden, pero las diferencias sociales tan arraigadas en una sociedad china muy conservadora, se interpondrán en su amor.