Although Dayao's farm is the only thing that matters to him - he lives there with his aging mother, Guei-Hua, and his wife - he travels to a nearby town with her every day to work. Pregnant, Tian-Tian insists on buying an apartment and raising their baby there, as the only way for them to escape poverty and for her to emancipate herself from men. When hundreds of tons of concrete fall on him at the construction site where he works, Dayao miraculously escapes... but loses his speech and his mind. He is now a five-year-old child.