At the end of the 19th Century, in Shanghai, curiosity gets the better of a 13-year-old boy and he sneaks into the Manufacturing Bureau. The Mechanic's daughter, upon seeing his talents, takes him to her father. The Mechanic, immersed in the sorrow of his son's death refuses to give the young boy an apprenticeship. But the boy does not give up on his dream, and begins his efforts to prove himself.