A modern soul transmigrates into Gu Zhizhuo, a foolish young scholar from Xiw ei Village. Upon waking, he is immediately pressed by the village head to pay two taels in bachelor tax, or risk losing his farmland. Pretending to be an idiot, he secretly lays his plans. At the eastern market, he rescues Lu Wanheng, who is selling herself to save her father, by demonstrating that he can treat her father's injuries. He distills strong liquor and removes an embedded broken arrow to save Lu's father, then takes this as a betrothal gift and marries Lu Wanheng, publicly chopping and burning the wooden bachelor-tax placard. When famine strikes the village, he devises fish traps that yield a bountiful catch and establishes rules to distribute fish according to labor, with double shares for widows and orphans, uniting the villagers. Selling fish for grain helps the whole village recover. Bai Mantun, a local strongman who resents losing his chance to marry Lu Wanheng and covets the riverside land, forges an old land deed supposedly dating from the founding of the dynasty and leads men to demand rent. Gu Zhizhuo calmly accepts the deed and leads the entire village toward prosperity.