The story unfolds from the first-person perspective of the heroine Wang Jinshi. She was originally the third concubine of the royal palace in Beijing. When she was about to get married, she was framed by her aunt, sister and fiancé. She was insulted by the robbers and then abandoned by her family. She lived in Wuqu Town in the south of the Yangtze River. She made a living by selling "March Peach Blossom Powder" and raised her son Aman, who was pregnant during the robbery, by herself. Later, she met Fang Chu, a former scholar who had fled to a small town because of his family's financial difficulties. The two went from helping each other as neighbors to falling in love and became husband and wife. Although there was no formal marriage certificate, they loved each other. They moved from Wuqu Town to the county seat and then to the capital. Fang Chu entered the Imperial College to give lectures, and Wang Jinshi continued to sell rice noodles. The story spans decades, experiencing the joys and sorrows of Fang Chu going out to compile books and studying abroad, Aman growing up, getting married and starting a business, and Fang Chu's final death. The full text depicts the warmth, perseverance and waiting in ordinary life with delicate brushstrokes, and shows the heroine's journey of emerging from suffering and finally finding her own home and happiness.
