Rich man Zhao Futian wants to slaughter an old yellow ox that has plowed the fields for twenty-three years to use as a dish for his father's birthday banquet. The old yellow ox kneels and weeps, and the farmhand Lao Shi steps forward to stop it, recalling how years ago the old ox risked its life to save a young Zhao Futian who had fallen off a cliff, but Zhao Futian had long since betrayed his oath of back then. Lao Shi takes out all his savings and his deceased wife's silver hairpin, scraping together ten taels of silver to buy the old ox, but as a result is dismissed by Zhao Futian. The man and the ox move to the barren Black Stone Slope broken thatched shed, making a hard living. Late at night, the old yellow ox that originally could not speak has eyes shining brightly, and calls out to Lao Shi to walk together, with the secret about to be revealed.