In the 1970s, Ma Jie (Zhang Wen), an educated youth from the city, came to a rural area in the northwest to join the production team. He was attracted by the cry of Hei Liu, a beautiful donkey in the village. Ma Jie disliked Hei Liu for not letting him ride. When he was stitched in the clinic due to a work injury, he stole anesthetics and gave them to Hei Liu. The team leader Dalian (Yue Hong) thought Hei Liu was sick and was very worried. Ma Jie miraculously "cured" Hei Liu, won the trust of Dalian and the team, and became a livestock breeder. While feeding the donkey, Ma Jie secretly fell in love with Cai Feng (Bai Jing), a young woman in the village. At the same time, Ma Jie became increasingly dissatisfied with Hei Liu's special treatment of only breeding and not working, and was secretly angry at Dalian's argument that "donkeys are more valuable than people". In venting his anger, he actually broke Hei Liu's "lifeline". Hei Liu, who could not breed or work, was slaughtered by Ma Jie, but he never thought that Hei Liu's younger brother, the donkey Hei Qi, would be irreconcilable with Ma Jie from then on. The struggle between people and donkeys intensified.