Cuicui is raised by her 70-year-old grandfather. 17 years ago, Her mother was pregnant before marriage and she committed suicide after giving birth to Cuicui by drinking cold water in the river. When Cuicui grows up, her grandfather begins to worry about her marriage, because he doesn’t want Cuicui to have the miserable life like her mother.

In Wenshui County, Shanxi Province, a remote place called Yunzhou West Village, where the girl Liu Hulan was born. She was born in troubled times, the feudal dynasty was overthrown not long ago, but the warlords ruled in separate regimes, years of wars, and even more imperialist invaders are sharpening their knives, trying to annex the land of China with a long history. At that time, the reactionary warlord Yan Xishan ran rampant in the Jin area, and even the local tyrants and landlords did evil. All kinds of evil deeds planted the seeds of hatred in the girl's heart. Until the Red Army came here, it not only attacked the reactionaries, but also threw light into Liu Hulan's heart. Since then, she has understood the meaning of revolution. However, when the claws of the Japanese penetrated Wenshui County, the landlord Lu Shanqing was proud of the spring breeze, and the stubborn Liu Hulan also became a glorious Communist Party member during this period.

In a mountain hamlet in eastern China, a poor woman faces trial after trial. Sold into marriage as a child, she is left a young widow and enslaved by her mother-in-law, who sells her to a poor peasant. Her second marriage turns out to be happy until fate takes away her husband and son. Now seen as a bearer of bad luck, she becomes a social outcast.