During the 1990s, Xu Ban Xia is a woman with vision and strength who overcomes many obstacles in the male-dominated steel industry to carve out a place for herself. Xu Ban Xia's mother died during childbirth while her father never cared for her. In spite of this, Xu Ban Xia has grown tough, proud and fearless in the face of challenges. Xu Ban Xia and her good friends Xiao Chen and Tong Xiao Qi venture into the transport of scrap steel. In an industry where men have an absolute advantage, Xu Ban Xia relies on her adventurous spirit and pragmatic attitude to weather many untold hardships and even survives death. She eventually opens up an international steel import business. Xu Banxia develops a keen sense for the market to gradually expands their business, pushing herself to grow in her field while also finding love.

A story that details the the lives of ordinary civilians amidst the magnanimous changes in Chinese society over the years. At the end of the 1970s, the Zhou family lived in a provincial city in the north. The father, Zhu Zhi Gang, has just participated in the Third Front Movement in Xi Nan. The eldest son, Zhou Bing Yi, responds to a national call to become part of the first batch of "educated" youths sent to live and work in rural areas. The eldest daughter, Zhou Rong, follows her poet husband to the countryside of Guizhou. The youngest son, Zhou Bing Kun, is the only one left at home with their mother. In the span of 50 years, the Zhou family is swept by the tides of change in China.