In 1987, Shen Hongmei, a garment factory worker, is abandoned when her husband runs away with their money. Her husband's family forces her to remarry to repay his debts and mistreats her daughter. Unable to endure it any longer, Shen Hongmei takes her daughter and heads to Shenzhen to make a living. Starting as a canteen assistant, she uses her exceptional skills to sell her creations at a street stall and wins a prestigious design award. She then starts her own business, opening Hongmei Department Store, where she repeatedly overcomes her rivals' schemes and harassment. As she and Lu Zhu'an grow closer and fall in love, their childhood betrothal is revealed. In the end, she makes her ex-husband and his family pay for their actions and becomes a symbol of the new woman.