Su Wanxia is a rural woman whose husband died young, leaving her to endure years of oppression. After learning that she has late-stage stomach cancer, she decides to fight back against the Wang family. While washing clothes by the river, she tells her daughter that she wants to leave, but her daughter refuses. After collapsing, she encounters Chu Yunqiang, who offers her help and strengthens her resolve to change her fate. Su Wanxia finds a job and saves money to prepare for her departure, but her family misunderstands her actions, suspects her of having an affair, and intensifies their abuse. She bravely fights back, publicly reveals her illness, and demands the opportunity to work. Her relationship with Chu Yunqiang grows closer, but her condition deteriorates, and the Wang family attempts to marry her off to an abusive man. At the clan leader's home, she firmly severs all ties with the Wang family and finally becomes a free woman: Su Wanxia.