| Director | Jackie Chan |
|---|---|
| Budget | $64 million |
| Box office | $34 million |
Kind-hearted country boy Kuo Cheng-Wah is cheated out of all his money by a man named Tung when he arrives in Hong Kong. Depressed and destitute, he encounters Madame Kao, a poor woman selling flowers on the street; she urges him to buy a red rose, saying it will bring him luck. He eventually agrees.
His fortunes take a turn when he stumbles into a gang war, and renders assistance to a dying gang leader. When Fei asks who will take his spot, the gang leader unwittingly makes Kuo his successor and dies. Kuo attributes his luck to Madame Kao's rose, and takes to buying one from her every day thereafter. This does not sit well with the gang, especially Fei, who feels that he was next in line to be the boss. Uncle Hoi, the boss' right-hand man, helps Kuo adjust to being the boss. In a fight to test his toughness, Kuo wins the gang's respect, with the exception of Fei.
Kuo reluctantly accepts being a gangster boss and tries to find a different way to legitimately make a living for himself and his gang. When singer Yang Luming comes to him with money to pay off a debt the previous boss had loaned to her dad, Uncle Hoi comes up with the idea to open a nightclub. At the opening of the nightclub, rival boss Tiger arrives, hoping to muscle his way into half of the shares of the club. The police and Inspector Ho soon interrupt the show. In Kuo's office, Ho privately tells him his plan to bring both gangs to jail. Ho leaves Kuo with Uncle Hoi, who tells Kuo everyone knows what they talked about since Ho always uses the same lines.
Before a meeting with Tiger, Kuo goes to buy his usual rose from Madame Kao, but she is not at her post. Because of this, he is caught up at a fight in a restaurant. The fight ends when Tiger stops a fan from falling on Kuo, who dives out of his way to grab a rose. About to be taken for ransom by Tiger, he is saved again by Ho. Afterwards, Kuo searches for Madame Kao, and finds her upset over a letter she has just received. The letter is from her daughter, Belle, a student in Shanghai whom Madame Kao has been supporting, all the time while concealing her sufferings and leading her to believe that she is a rich society woman in Hong Kong. She now comes to visit Madame Kao, bringing her wealthy fiancé and his father, but Madame Kao is afraid that her poverty will bring disgrace to her daughter. Through Luming's persuasion, Kuo offers to help, buying Madame Kao expensive new clothes and arranging a lavish party for her, to which he invites some of his disreputable friends, including Tung as her husband, on the condition that they impersonate the local dignitaries. Kuo accidentally agrees to the wedding in which he later on decides to get the gangs to act as rich dignitaries. The gang begins to tie up and kidnap photographers and business people to cover-up Madame Kao's secret.
Meanwhile, Fei has manipulated Tiger into thinking Kuo had some of his men killed when they were trying to bring him in for a negotiation. In reality, they were simply being held captive. On the eve of the party, Kuo tries to get to Ho but is instead captured by Tiger and taken to a rope factory run by Fei. It is now clear to Kuo that Fei has been behind the scenes of all the strife. However, as Tiger is about to shoot Kuo, Tiger's missing men return, proving Kuo's innocence. Tiger sees this as an internal struggle and lets Kuo and Fei sort things out on their own with assurance from Tiger that there is no foul play. After a fight in the factory with Fei's men, Kuo triumphs. Fei is ready to fight Kuo himself, but Kuo wants to solve their issues peacefully, and more importantly get back to Madame Kao's situation, winning Tiger's respect in the process.
After canceling the party and getting rid of the gangs that will play the rich dignitaries, Kuo tries to convince the real dignitaries of Hong Kong to help him. Madame Kao is about to confess to Belle's fiancé and her father the truth when the real dignitaries come in for the party, Kuo having convinced them that he could not do this without them.
Belle and her fiancé later take a ship back to Shanghai. Ho, wanted for embezzlement and abuse of power when he was conned by Tung, is also on the ship.