In the winter of 1968, Lin Yueming, a sent-down youth in Shanghai, collapsed from hunger in Zhaoji'ao. Zhao Dashan gave her the only half-piece of cornbread he had. In 1978, Zhao Dashan rescued a child from drowning, but village Party secretary Chen Laoshuan falsely accused him of being a hooligan, leaving his life hanging in the balance at a public denunciation rally. Lin Yueming returned as the director of a provincial-capital machinery factory and a patriotic overseas Chinese, uncovered the truth behind the wrongful accusation, and saved Zhao Dashan and his mother. Later, Zhao Dashan became the factory director, helping Xiao Fang, Liu Ergou, and others turn their lives around. He also built Cornbread Road and Cornbread Bridge and opened a free teahouse, allowing kindness to pass from one generation to the next.