In 1920, a severe drought grips the north. Chen Ergou, a local ruffian, is reborn in his famine-stricken hometown, where corpses litter the fields. Drawing on the survival skills he learned through hardship in his previous life, he starts by digging up rat holes, then leads the villagers in hunting and fishing, improving farm tools, and digging irrigation channels to carve out a way to survive the famine. As bandits seize grain and local gentry exploit the people, the former hoodlum becomes the backbone of the entire village.
