A-chun is the newly-weded wife of TSAI Ri-sheng, the eldest son of tenant farmer TSAI Tu-shui. Because of the household’s poverty and the lack of an ox to help plow the fields, Ri-sheng is loaded down by his cares and becomes gravely ill. Kind-hearted landlord CHEN Jin-ding takes Ri-sheng to Ci-ai Hospital in Beigang County, headed by CHEN’s relative, LIN Bo-yuan, but it is too late, and Ri-sheng cannot be saved.In this desperate situation, CHEN Jin-ding makes a bold request of TSAI Tu-shui: He will adopt the child borne by daughter-in-law A-chun. To repay the landlord’s kindness in trying to save her dying husband and to fulfill Ri-sheng’s last wishes, A-chun agrees to let CHEN adopt the child in return for an ox. This transaction transforms the relationship between the two households from a simple landlord and tenant arrangement to an inseparable bond.
阿春與佃農蔡日生是新婚夫妻,由於家境貧寒,沒有耕牛,以致日生操勞過度。日生臨終時對阿春說:「家裡如果有一頭牛就好了。」在不得已情況下,地主陳進丁大膽提出商請守寡的阿春借腹生子,阿春為還地主的恩情,更為了完成日生的遺願,同意以一頭牛的代價代孕生子,兩個家庭因此從單純的地主與佃農,變成密不可分的關係。