In the years just after the Korean War, Hoon is a farmer who is happily married to Young-Soon. Since they are childless after six years of marriage, his mother forces him to marry a second wife, Kyung-Ja, a widow with a young brother to support. Kyung-Ja soon bears a son, Min. However this unusual arrangement causes all kinds of trials and tribulations for the two wives and their extended family over the next twenty years.