Ratna, a young student, inadvertently meets Suparta, a medical student, on a train. There, Suparta tries to find her a seat but fails because a
Chinese-Indonesian couple are using the spare seats for their luggage. Upon arrival in Cimahi, Suparta escorts Ratna to her school. Pleased by Suparta's manners, Ratna and he agree to keep in contact via
mail. A few months later, Suparta
proposes to Ratna via post; Ratna accepts, and leaves for
Sumedang to meet Suparta's
bangsawan parents. However, Suparta's mother, Nyai Raden Tedja Ningrum, is unwilling to accept Ratna as her
daughter-in-law because Ratna is not of
bangsawan descent. Disappointed, Ratna decides to forget Suparta. Not long afterwards, her father's
chalk business becomes
bankrupt, and Ratna has to
drop out of school and find a job as a salesclerk, then later at a lawyer's office and as a maid for a Dutch couple. However, one of the other maids, Jene, becomes jealous of her and tells the police that Ratna stole jewelry from her
mistress. After being arrested, Ratna tries to escape but falls into a river, nearly drowning. She is brought to a hospital. She is treated by Suparta, who has already graduated from
medical school and has been looking for Ratna. Hearing her plight, Suparta hires a lawyer for her and she is declared innocent; Jene's boyfriend, Amat, is shown to have stolen the jewelry. After being discharged from the hospital, Ratna is asked to go to rest at the Bidara Cina
pavilion. There Suparta treats her and they grow closer. Once Ratna is fully healed, Suparta proposes to her again and they are married the same day. ==Reception==