In a small pharmaceutical factory in southern Yangtze River, Xu Lisa, a college graduate, works as a bottle washer due to her bourgeois origin. The new section chief, Zhu Shiyi, falls in love with her and pursues her. Lisa, seeking warmth and happiness, accepts his advances. However, life after marriage is not as idyllic. Zhu Shiyi, a commoner, is calculating, and his bitter mother, a market vendor, traps Lisa in a dreary existence.