In 1970 China, eighteen-year-old Lin Zijin, a high school graduate, impulsively decides to volunteer for the sent-down youth movement, eager to escape her cramped and hostile home life. Her mother, Yang Qingqiu, a widow who married into the Lin family for stability and urban status, vehemently opposes the plan. Yang Qingqiu fears the countryside is a place of suffering and ruin, having witnessed the deterioration of neighbors' children who went before. She drags Lin Zijin back from the brink of rebellion and threatens to arrange an early marriage to keep her daughter close and safe.
Lin Zijin’s situation is complicated by her stepfamily. Her stepfather, Lin Jiancheng, has four biological children from his previous marriage. The eldest, Lin Lei, is married and independent. The second daughter, Lin Qing, married young. The third daughter, Lin Xue, is eighteen and shares Lin Zijin’s age, but their relationship is strained by jealousy and competition. The youngest biological daughter, Lin Shu, is fifteen and entitled, while the youngest son, Lin Ziyou, is four and adored by Lin Zijin. Yang Qingqiu has spent years enduring the Lin family’s subtle disdain and Lin Shu’s cruelty to protect her own children, but she remains an outsider in the household.
Yang Qingqiu arranges a blind date for Lin Zijin with a young man named Lu Jinyu, a steel factory worker with a good background. However, Lin Xue, who has been eavesdropping and harboring jealousy toward her step-sister, intercepts the match. She dresses up and brings the man home, claiming he is her boyfriend. Unbeknownst to Lin Zijin, the man she meets is actually his brother, Lu Jingyu, a textile factory worker who is also being pressured by his mother to marry. Due to a mix-up in names and timing, Lin Zijin and Lu Jingyu meet at the restaurant, hit it off, and impulsively decide to register their marriage immediately.
After obtaining the marriage certificate, Lin Zijin returns home to find chaos. Yang Qingqiu is furious and distraught, believing Lin Xue has stolen her daughter’s chance at a good match. Lin Jiancheng attempts to appease Yang Qingqiu by paying a small compensation, but the tension escalates when Lin Shu insults Yang Qingqiu for not cooking dinner. In a decisive break from her past submission, Yang Qingqiu refuses to cook or clean anymore, declaring she is done serving the Lin family. She locks herself in Lin Zijin’s small room with her children, effectively seceding from the household.
The next day, Lu Jingyu visits Lin Zijin’s home. He is calm and respectful, bringing gifts and expressing his sincere interest in Lin Zijin. He explains that his family is aware of the situation and is preparing for a formal wedding. He offers Lin Zijin a stable future, inviting her to move into his family’s prepared home. Yang Qingqiu, seeing Lu Jingyu’s character and stability, feels relief and hope for her daughter. The story concludes with the two families preparing to meet formally, marking a turning point where Lin Zijin escapes her oppressive stepfamily and begins a new life with Lu Jingyu, while Yang Qingqiu asserts her independence from the Lin household.
