The story takes place in a small village called Jiulongbao, northwest of Zhucheng in Shandong. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the traitor Zhang Maochun had an affair with Lin Ping'er, wife of Du Zhongyun, a small landowner and village schoolteacher. Even when the teacher was at home, Zhang Maochun brazenly drove him to the gatehouse by the front entrance, then slept in the main room with another man's wife in his arms!
On the day after the Eighth Route Army drove the Japanese out of Zhucheng in September 1945, amid the chaos of war, the schoolteacher's son Du Yaowu and his nephew Du Yaowen abducted the traitor and took him to Mahou Ravine behind Jiulongbao. They tortured him mercilessly, first cutting off his genitals, then executing him by slow slicing.
After Zhang Maochun's death, Lin Ping'er donned mourning clothes for him and threw herself against the spirit hall, killing herself! Before she died, she told her son Du Yaowu that she and Zhang Maochun had been childhood sweethearts. Back then, it was Du Yaowu's father, Du Zhongyun, who had forced himself on her. She and Zhang Maochun had been together willingly, and he had never coerced her.
After learning the truth, Du Yaowu had no idea what to do. In grief and anger, he left home. On the road, he joined the Eighth Route Army and became a soldier. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he fought in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, earning distinction in battle time and again. Later, he buried his honors and returned to his village to farm.
Years later, his eight-year-old son suddenly went mad in an instant on a thunderous, lightning-filled midday.
The wheel of fate turns, and there is no escaping it!
Thus unfolded the love and hatred between the Du and Zhang families, spanning three generations!
