This novel describes that when the Long March crossed the grassland, Vice Chairman Zhou, who was seriously ill, learned that the Red Army soldiers were poisoned by poisonous weeds by mistake. Regardless of his personal safety, he carefully identified poisonous weeds, chewed poisonous weeds himself, made a decisive and wise decision, and guided the Red Army soldiers to treat difficulties correctly. The story is simple and clear, but it clearly embodies Vice President Zhou's fearless heroism, revolutionary optimism and materialist dialectics, thus successfully shaping the older generation of proletarian revolutionaries represented by Vice President Zhou.