Reborn in 1985, the rugged Lu Shanhe refuses to remain trapped in a marriage that would drain his entire family and resolutely breaks off his engagement to his vain former fiancée. Using his intelligence, he sells eels and makes sauces to break into the county market, then designs and builds a rice-transplanting machine to ease agricultural work. He firmly separates from his exploitative relatives to protect his mother's and younger sister's dignity. During a fire, he risks his life to rescue Shen Wei, a female educated youth, and on a stormy night, he broadcasts an appeal for the entire commune to save the grain warehouse. Self-reliant, devoted to filial duty, and full of love, he uses his own hands and ingenuity to lead his family step by step toward a better life and turn the tables against adversity.