In the 1980s, in Kaoshantun village, Su He, an orphaned young woman, witnesses Hu Jinhua, the owner of the village grocery store, exploiting the villagers by monopolizing supplies, inflating prices, and selling shoddy goods. Together with Chen Weidong, a worker at the machinery repair factory, she pools all their savings to buy an agricultural vehicle. Breaking through the blockade imposed by county-town wholesalers, they risk a journey to the provincial capital to purchase goods and establish a mobile, affordable supply station. Hu Jinhua repeatedly sabotages their efforts, blocking roads and selling counterfeit medicines that endanger lives. She even goes so far as to commit arson, but ultimately faces the full force of the law.