In the early 1990s, village beauty Xu Chunyan was driven out by her in-laws after her husband died, and in despair jumped into the river, where she was rescued by fellow villager Chen Guangming. Hiding her pregnancy, she went to the city to find work, accidentally met the enthusiastic cadre Zhang Chunsheng, and became a domestic helper for his family. Facing opposition from the Zhang family and worldly prejudices, she became self-reliant by selling spicy fish pieces, but was driven out of the house after giving birth. Isolated and helpless, she rented a shabby room, depended on her child for survival, and began her counter-attack journey from a cast-off wife to an independent woman.