In the autumn of 1999, Ren Xiangdong and Ouyang Huijing fell in love at first sight in Hulunbuir. However, they went through many twists and turns from meeting, falling in love to getting married. One reason: Ouyang Huijing's father is a mayor at the department level, and requires that only Ren Xiangdong, who is at the deputy department level, can get married after being mentioned as deputy department; the second reason: During Ren Xiangdong's relationship, he was entangled with Yu Huimin, a female colleague who silently devoted himself to him; the third reason: every time the two planned to get married, another historical event occurred (such as SARS in 2003) or a family member was seriously ill and hospitalized. In order to meet the requirements of Ouyang Huijing's father, Ren Xiangdong worked hard and strived for meritorious service; he made concessions in order to improve the relationship with his colleagues; he racked his brains to win the appreciation of the main leaders of the unit, and even violated his own principles and risked being caught at any time for breaking the law and taking advantage of his position to seek improper benefits and build relationships. Four years later, Ren Xiangdong was promoted to deputy director level and soon got married. He could have lived a happy life with Ouyang Huijing. However, over the years, due to various reasons, Ren Xiangdong's outlook on life has been seriously distorted. His desire for power and money made him trapped in the quagmire and unable to extricate himself, leading to him being sent to prison. After being released from prison, Ren Xiangdong was depressed for a time. The love of family and friends gave him the courage to face life and society head-on, and he stood up again. Relying on diligence and not being afraid of hardship, Ren Xiangdong has achieved remarkable results in the engineering construction and Chinese herbal medicine cultivation industries. From then on, he and Ouyang Huijing lived a happy life. The novel reflects the changes in a relatively backward medium-sized city from the side.