Fertile Soil, Mighty Army

Synopsis: Wu Hua, a retired soldier, returns to his hometown and the declining, isolated village of Qingshan. Faced with abandoned hillsides throughout the village, local produce being deliberately underpriced by traders, and local produce dealer Liang Shouye coveting the key woodlands behind the mountain, he resolves to revitalize the forests his ancestors protected. Starting with wild-simulated understory cultivation of polygonatum, he sets out to forge a new path to prosperity through the mountains.

He takes the lead in establishing the Qingshan Understory Cooperative. Starting from scratch, he expands the cultivation base, renovates a processing workshop, sets quality-control standards, and creates the cooperative's own Qingshan Understory brand. From canvassing the streets and lanes for buyers, to winning a lawsuit over woodland rights and securing municipal demonstration status, then signing a province-wide distributor at the provincial agricultural expo, he gradually brings authentic medicinal herbs from the remote mountains to the outside world.

As Liang Shouye resorts to one scheme after another, destroying seedlings, forcing down prices, counterfeiting products, and obstructing deliveries, Wu Hua draws on a soldier's composure and tenacity to counter every move. In the end, his rival reaps what he sows after manufacturing and selling substandard products. Wu Hua also takes the lead in forming a joint cooperative of eight villages, helping nearby communities develop together, and successfully earns provincial recognition as a model understory-economy cooperative.