Set against the rustic and harsh landscape of rural Gansu during the year 2011, the story unfolds as a poignant exploration of love and hardship. It centers on the lives of Ma Youtie, played by Renlin Wu, a humble and impoverished farmer who lives a life of extreme simplicity, and Cao Guiying, portrayed by Hai-Qing. Guiying is a middle-aged woman who has faced a lifetime of adversity; she is disabled, incontinent, and infertile. Because of these challenges, she has suffered systemic mistreatment from her own family and has surpassed the traditional age for marriage in rural Chinese society.
Despite their societal standing, their families arrange a marriage between the two. What begins as a marriage of convenience gradually evolves into a deep emotional bond, characterized by genuine closeness and a rare tenderness that provides both of them with a sense of belonging. Together, they navigate their daily existence, farming the land with the help of their loyal donkey. Initially, the couple finds shelter in one of the many abandoned properties within their village. However, their stability is short-lived. The original owner of the house, who had long since migrated to Shenzhen for work, returns unexpectedly. His return is motivated by greed, as he discovers a government incentive offering substantial cash payments to homeowners whose poorly constructed, unoccupied houses are demolished.
Forced to move once again, Youtie and Guiying relocate to another vacant property before deciding to take their destiny into their own hands by building their own homestead. With a spirit of resilience, they construct a home using mud bricks they manufacture themselves and old wooden posts salvaged from the ruins of other demolished buildings.
Parallel to their domestic struggles, Youtie becomes entangled with a powerful local businessman who requires frequent blood transfusions. Because Renlin Wu's character shares a rare blood type with the businessman, he is repeatedly called upon to donate blood to save the wealthy man's life. In exchange for these life-saving donations, the businessman's family provides Youtie with cheap gifts. Demonstrating his integrity and lack of materialism, Youtie refuses to treat these as gifts, accepting them only as borrowed items. During this time, his brother, Zhanhong Ma, suggests that he and Guiying move into a modern high-rise public housing apartment. However, the couple finds this option completely impractical, as the apartment cannot accommodate the farm animals essential to their survival.
Tragedy strikes when Guiying falls ill. In an act of care, Youtie insists that she rest while he goes out to work. While out, he encounters a group of locals lounging unconcernedly by an irrigation canal. They casually inform him that Guiying had been searching for him to deliver some food, but that she felt dizzy and accidentally fell into the water, where she drowned. Devastated by the loss of his companion, Youtie desperately jumps into the canal to retrieve her lifeless body.
In the wake of this tragedy, Youtie moves through his days in a state of quiet grief. He finishes his harvest, frees his faithful donkey, and sells all his worldly possessions to clear his remaining debts. He departs from his usual habit of saving seeds for the next planting season, signaling a loss of hope for the future. Even in his final act of commerce, he is exploited; the buyer cheats him by rounding down the price, claiming it is simply “to make the bookkeeping easier.”
As he prepares Guiying's body for burial, Youtie performs a heartbreaking gesture, pressing grains of corn into her hand to leave a mark. He had previously explained that through this specific mark, he would always feel a connection to her. In a final, somber scene, Youtie lies down next to some smoldering charcoal, his body shaking uncontrollably, strongly implying that he has committed suicide.
The aftermath is cold and clinical. His few remaining belongings are hauled away in a handcart, and a government official pays Zhanhong Ma for the permission to demolish the small house that Youtie and Guiying had built with their own hands—the only place where they experienced true happiness. The loyal donkey is seen returning to the ruins of the house on its own, ignored and unwanted by everyone.
Due to strict censorship in China, the ending of the film was modified. In the revised version, the explicit act of taking poison is removed, though a bottle remains on the altar dedicated to Guiying. Furthermore, a confusing plot point was added where a character claims Youtie is moving to a city apartment, despite the implication of his death. A final line of text was eventually added to the credits to satisfy authorities, stating:
> "Ma Youtie moved to his new home in the winter of 2011 and started his new life with the help of the government and the warm-hearted villagers."
