Operation Bosimao is put into effect by Chinese Nationalists to attempt to assassinate the mayor of Shanghai and slow Communist military action against a nearby island.
When Gu Tingting, a young worker in a silk factory in Suzhou, is suddenly notified by a court in Shanghai that she will inherit a large sum of money from her aunt as her adopted daughter, her cousin Feng files a lawsuit against her backed by a forgery. Judge Ping senses foul play, and meets with Tingting, who begins recounting her past.
The Deputy Director of the Qinshan County Bureau of Commerce makes poor business decisions and opposes his daughter's relationship with a man who points out the Deputy Director's errors.
During the Cultural Revolution, the director of a farm collective studies medicine on her own in order to provide a more effective alternative to the collective's "capitalist" health care clinic, then investigates and exposes a sinister plot by the clinic's staff.
In the spring of 1949, a war is about to happen between the Liberation Army and Kuomintang Army on the Yangtze River. The Liberation Army dispatches a reconnaissance to scout the southern parts of the River, whose work is actually full of hardships and dangers. However, with the help of the local crowd and the guerrillas, finally, the members of the reconnaissance succeed in the commission and offer valuable information to the Liberation Army, making great contributions in the war.