The plot of the novel is compact and full of ups and downs. The protagonist Xiao Yang has ups and downs, great joys and sorrows. His love entanglements with three women (Zhou Jie, Su Min, and Zhuang Lihua), and his life-and-death battles with five men (Xia Youde, Cao Qian, Vice Mayor Xue, Niu Niu, and Wang Sanhai) form a magnificent picture of the times. The novel has a high-pitched main theme, but there are also some good-reading sentences and chapters. Especially the descriptions of Xiao Yang's wife Zhou Jie, Xiao Yang's lover Su Min, and the bohemian Sun Xiaomei, Cao Xiaofeng and other beautiful women can always arouse the pleasure of reading.