In 1990, Zhou Shoushan is framed by his business partner, Ma Wancheng, losing his merchandise payments, vehicles, and everything else, and going bankrupt overnight. With seven daughters left behind by his late wife, he takes the children back to Qingshi Village to seek help from relatives, only to be turned away by his elder brother and sister-in-law and have old friends refuse to repay their debts. His eldest daughter is even nearly forced into marriage for a bride price of 300 yuan. At the end of his rope, the mountain-exploration token on his chest awakens the Mountain-Subduing Mark, granting him the power to borrow strength from the mountains and identify their treasures. To feed his daughters, treat their illnesses, and send them back to school, Zhou Shoushan settles in a forest ranger's shack and ventures deep into the mountains to dig medicinal herbs and gather matsutake mushrooms and pine cones. He battles a wild boar king, black bears, and packs of wolves. In the end, he drives his enemies into bankruptcy, recovers his old debts, and establishes a cooperative spanning four villages.