During a famine year, family property is divided. Zhou Yantian takes his ailing mother and moves into a dilapidated mill, awakening a portable grain granary cheat. Assisted by the stonemason father and daughter Su Changgeng and Su Jianwei, he overcomes the harassment of his uncle Zhou Guanglu over water sources, repairs the water mill, and starts the business of milling grain for others. Yan Maoqing sends Hu Liu to secretly meddle and try to destroy the mill. Learning that his elder sister Zhou Wanhe is suffering extreme abuse at her in-laws' home, Zhou Yantian resolves to go to the Ma family, breaks through the Ma family's obstruction, and brings back his severely tormented sister and niece Zhou Douer, allowing the family to reunite at the mill and establish a hard-earned foothold for survival.