In the 1980s, the wave of reform and opening up swept through small towns in southern water towns, and traditional shackles and new ideological trends collided fiercely. 19-Year-old Lin Xiulian obeyed the matchmaker's advice and married carpenter Wang Dashan. They have a daughter, Xiaoya, and live a poor but stable life. However, her husband died in an accident while away at work, and the construction site boss was reluctant to pay compensation. Her mother-in-law accused her of being a "coward" and kicked her mother and daughter out of the house. Rumors and persecution from her parents' family put her in a desperate situation.
In order to let her daughter live an upright life, Lin Xiulian put down her dignity, moved bricks in the brick kiln, sold handmade woodware in the market, and resisted the deduction from the contractor, the slander from her colleagues, and the entanglement with her mother-in-law. The heavy blow of fate once brought her to the verge of collapse and even thought of committing suicide, but her daughter's call and her husband's entrustment made her stand up again.
The appearance of Chen Jianguo, a middle school teacher with an educated youth background, became a glimmer of light that illuminated her dark life. He respected her tenacity and helped her clarify rumors and expand sales. The two gradually fell in love while supporting each other. Faced with the criticism of "widow clinging" and the obstruction of the old forces, Lin Xiulian no longer backed down, and joined hands with Chen Jianguo to break through the shackles of the secular world and jointly establish a furniture factory.
From a spurned widow to a well-known female entrepreneur, Lin Xiulian used her motherhood as armor and split the thorns of fate with both hands. She not only gave her daughter a stable future, but also led the women in the town to become self-reliant. This counterattack spanning twenty years witnessed a woman's blazing life of reinventing herself, harvesting love and new life in a desperate situation in the tide of the times, and interpreting the deep truth of "motherhood is strong" - love is the courage to overcome obstacles, and it is the power to change one's destiny against the odds.
