Zhao Ce, a young man from modern times, travels through time to a fictional Ming dynasty, where he becomes an impoverished young scholar from a poor family with a terrible reputation. His family has nothing but a small plot of farmland, and he has hastily spent his money marrying Su Cai'er, an orphan with a tragic background, an old ailment, and unusual eye color. The villagers ostracize and gossip about Su Cai'er because of her appearance, while even their relatives struggle to understand. Zhao Ce never looks down on his wife. He works to overcome his neighbors' prejudice, improves traditional sugar-making methods to establish a livelihood, and diligently farms to improve their circumstances. At the same time, he returns to the classics of the sages and studies hard for the imperial examinations. Supporting and understanding each other, the couple earn an honest living with their own hands, weather years of poverty together, and strive toward a stable and prosperous future.