The story took place in a poor mountain village in Jiangxi in the 1990s. A 12-year-old girl, Chun Xiu, lost her mother in her early years and lived alone with her father and grandmother who were paralyzed in bed. Chunxiu wanted her father to remarry, but he didn't agree. Chunxiu takes the only valuable steel pot in the family as a thank-you media, and asks the matchmaker Aunt Liu to find a mother for herself. Aunt Liu is looking for a woman named Gui Lan in a remote village. A year ago, a man fell and died while cleaning the glass of a tall building in the city, leaving her and her daughter Qiaozhen behind. Gui Lan has good facial features, and Chunxiu likes it very much, but his father disagrees, complaining that his daughter shouldn't give the steel cauldron to others casually. It turns out that this steel cauldron is Chunxiu Niang's dowry. In fact, Chunxiu also knows the origin of this fine steel pot, and she wants to break her father's heart. One day, there was no rice in the rice jar, and my father went to Aunt Liu's house to borrow rice. Aunt Liu asked about it again, saying that her father was in poor health and left one day. What should I do if there is no rice in the rice jar at home? Who will take care of Chunxiu? Aunt Liu's words touched the hidden pain in her father's heart. It turned out that her father had lung cancer and only had a short life. After careful consideration, my father finally agreed to marry Gui Lan, hoping to entrust Chunxiu to her after his death. After Gui Lan got married, Chunxiu's life changed a lot. Although there are two more mouths to eat, Gui Lan is hardworking and capable, and can manage the family well and make it colorful. However, the good times did not last long. It turned out that Gui Lan had uterine cancer before she got married, and it had spread, and she had only three months to live. Gui Lan married Chunxiu's father for the same purpose as Chunxiu's father married her, hoping to entrust Qiaozhen to him after his death. At first, they hid their purpose from each other, but in three months of living together, both sides discovered each other's secrets, and no one revealed them. Chunxiu's father decided to give up on himself after discovering that the woman had the same purpose as himself until he thought of suicide. Finally, the goodness of human nature finally made him make a decision. He wants to live tenaciously, and stick to this secret to fulfill each other's dreams. Three months later, Gui Lan died before Chunxiu's father.

After Gui Lan died, Chunxiu's father's days were numbered. According to Gui Lan's will, Qiaozhen should drop out of school to help with farm work and housework. Chunxiu's father went to the village head, hoping that after he left, the village could afford the living and study expenses of his two daughters. The village chief said that according to the regulations, the village can only afford one child. Faced with two daughters, it is difficult for the father to make a decision. After careful consideration, he decided to draw lots. Father went to the kitchen and caught two beans, which means one is red bean and the other is black bean. Give the red beans to whoever catches them. Father asked Qiaozhen to catch it first, and Qiaozhen caught the red beans. In fact, on the other hand of her father, it is also a red bean. In this way, her father skillfully let Qiaozhen win the opportunity to go to school. Soon after, her father died, and Chunxiu replaced her father with her weak shoulders to shoulder the burden of the family.

Qiaozhen graduated from high school, was admitted to Beijing Normal University, returned to her hometown, and became a primary school teacher to serve her father and sister.