Gu Mian, a medical graduate from Hai Cheng University, enters a loveless marriage with Li Tingshen, the CEO of Li Group, under coercive circumstances. Three years prior, Li Tingshen fell into a vegetative state after a car accident. To save him, his mother arranged a marriage with Gu Mian, whose birth chart was compatible, in exchange for free medical treatment for Gu Mian's ailing grandmother. Gu Mian, who had loved Li Tingshen for ten years, agreed. Upon waking, Li Tingshen demanded a divorce, but paused when he discovered Gu Mian possessed a rare "Panda" blood type. She subsequently became the blood donor for Yin Luoxue, Li Tingshen's childhood sweetheart, who suffered from a blood disorder and was paralyzed from the waist down after a suspicious fall. Gu Mian was falsely accused of pushing Yin Luoxue down the stairs and sentenced to one year in prison, a sentence Li Tingshen enforced despite his initial anger at the arranged marriage.
Upon her release, Gu Mian is granted a one-day family visit to see her grandmother. However, Li Tingshen intercepts her, demanding she donate 800 milliliters of blood for Yin Luoxue, who is in critical condition. Gu Mian pleads to stay with her dying grandmother, but Li Tingshen physically drags her to the hospital. While Gu Mian is donating blood, her grandmother passes away alone. Gu Mian returns to find her grandmother dead and begs Li Tingshen to let her keep vigil, but he refuses, citing prison regulations and offering only monetary compensation for the funeral. Devastated and realizing the depth of his indifference, Gu Mian decides to divorce him.
Li Tingshen, however, refuses to let her go, viewing her departure as a tantrum. He attempts to force intimacy to win her back, but Gu Mian resists, having finally shed her decade-long infatuation. During this period, Gu Mian discovers she is pregnant, a fact she hides from Li Tingshen after he coldly states that having a child is impossible because she would no longer be able to donate blood to Yin Luoxue. Realizing her child is unwanted, Gu Mian moves out, leaving a divorce agreement behind. Li Tingshen, furious at her defiance, tracks her down and attempts to coerce her back, but she stands firm, citing his oppression of her family and his favoritism toward Yin Luoxue.
The conflict escalates when Yin Luoxue manipulates situations to turn Li Tingshen against Gu Mian. In one instance, Yin Luoxue stages a scene at a luxury club, pretending Gu Mian pushed her, leading Li Tingshen to accuse Gu Mian of bullying the weak. Gu Mian exposes his hypocrisy, noting that he uses his power to oppress ordinary people like her uncle. Despite Li Tingshen's attempts to control her, Gu Mian secures a job as a nursing aide to support herself and her unborn child. Her path crosses with Pei Jinchuan and his son, Xiaobao, when she takes a high-paying VIP ward position. Xiaobao, who suffers from bipolar disorder and misses his deceased mother, bonds with Gu Mian, calling her "Mommy." This unexpected connection provides Gu Mian with emotional support and a new direction, while Li Tingshen begins to notice the profound changes in her demeanor, struggling to understand why his former submissive wife has become so detached and resilient.
