Kampong Ties

The story begins in a kampong in the 1960s. Yueman is ostracised by her father in-law, Weng Tianshi, for giving birth to a mute daughter while her husband Jiaqing is a good-for-nothing bum. The only son in the Wang family, Wang Lihai, has contracted a venereal disease and his mother hurriedly finds a match-maker to get him a wife. Shuixian is thus arranged to marry him. On the day of the wedding, their marriage ceremony is interrupted by news of Yueman and her daughter being poisoned.

Shuixian and Yueman become good friends. Shuixian advises Yueman to be optimistic but Yueman maintains she didn't commit suicide on that day and she says no one will take care of her son Weinan if she dies. Shuixian concludes Nine-Headed-Bird is the one who is spreading the rumours and is turned off by him.

Tianshi is hurt instead when he tries to murder his mute grand-daughter. Yueman is suspicious of Tianshi and refuses to even touch the milk powder he buys back. After devising a plan with Shuixian, they secretly swop the milk powder.

Jiaqing owes Black Dog Six a lot of money and hides at home after being terrified by Youbao's tales of Black Dog's Six's evil deeds. Yueman is gratified when he tells her he is staying home to coach their son in his studies but is disappointed to learn from Tianshi that he is staying home to hide from his creditors.

Jiaqing asks Glutinous Chicken to sell the gold watch he stole from Lihai. Glutinous Chicken brings it to an antique watch dealer but he confirms it to be a fake watch. Tianshi sees the watch on the table and places it in Youbao's car to frame him for the theft.

Yueman is guilty of wronging Tianshi for poisoning the milk powder. Shuixian reminds her to be on her guard against him as he attempted to harm An An before. Yueman and Shuixian feel that Tianshi is somehow involved in the theft of the gold watch and believe Yuebao has been framed for it.

Jiaqing's family is harassed by his creditors. For the safety of her family, Yueman unwillingly agrees to help Black Dog Six to collect bets to help Jiaqing clear his debts. Tianshi is unhappy about it and Shuixian vows not to let Jiaqing off if something untoward happens to Yueman.

Following the death of a tycoon, Tianshi and friends decide to pool their money together to bet on the deceased's numbers. Tianshi passes the money to Weinan and asks him to pass to Yueman as he needs to leave the house. Jiaqing snatches the money from Weinan once Tianshi steps out of the house.

Nine Headed Bird and others storm to Tianshi's provision shop to grab his goods when they are unable to collect their winnings. They find nothing valuable in the shop and decide to go to his house instead. Yuenman is very grateful to Shuixian when she blocks them from entering the house.

Yueman and Jiaqing discover someone trying to burn their house down. Jiaqing gives chase but loses sight of the arsonist at the shower area and decides to wash his face. Shuixian happens to walk out of a cubicle and beats him up when she thinks he is peeping at her again. Nine Headed Bird intervenes and stops the beating.

Shuixian is implicated into Jiaqing's murder case as there is evidence against her on the scene of the murder. Yueman stands by Shuixian even though Shuixian's family is quick to disassociate themselves from her.

Yueman begs Youbao to help Shuixian in her case. Youbao is initially reluctant to do so as he dislikes Shuixian but he eventually gave in to her request. Youbao and Yueman look up Inspector Huang Haifeng in turn to discuss Shuixian's case but he refuses to help them.

Haifeng finally agrees to re-investigate Shuixian's case. Yueman tells Lawyer Zhou that she suspects Guotang is the murderer as he had wanted her to be with him to make up for Jiaqing's misdeeds but she had rejected him. Tianshi thinks Yueman is maligning Guotang and chases her and her daughter out of the house.

Tongues start to wag when Youbao takes Yueman and her daughter in. Tianshi paints a bad picture of Yueman in front of Weinan, causing him to hate his mother. Yueman visits him in school but he runs off when she and Tianshi quarreled over him.

Shuixian is acquitted of the murder charge. Lihai's mother discovers him behaving intimately with a girl and is livid. Lihai's father decided to fetch Shuixian home so that Lihai will not run another risk of contracting a venereal disease again. Although Lihai's mother despises Shuixian, she has no choice but to agree to the arrangement.

Yueman brings Weinan red eggs for his birthday but Tianshi refuses to open the door for her. He only agrees to take the eggs from Yueman when Weinan promises to go to Taiwan with him but he still does not permit Yueman to see Weinan. Tianshi speaks tales of Yueman to Weinan afterwards.

Tianshi puts up an act of sending Weinan to school but leaves the country secretly with him. Youbao discovers it is Four-Eye who helped Tianshi to leave the country and he reveals Tianshi left for Taiwan. Yueman begins to lose her sanity upon hearing the news.

Yueman sees Shuixian carrying her daughter and chases after her to snatch her daughter back. Youbao appears in the nick of time and subdues Yueman. Youbao and Shuixian unwillingly decide to send Yueman to a mental institution.

Shuixian and Youbao pretend to have returned from Taiwan and bring a letter written by "Weinan" to Yueman. Yueman is convinced Weinan will return to her after reading the letter and her condition improves.

Black Dog Six sends his men to beat Youbao up. He is offended when Shuixian beats him up while defending Youbao. Her in-laws learn she has gotten herself into trouble again and try to beat her to teach her a lesson. Lihai is also beaten up while trying to shield Shuixian from their beatings. Caught in between his wife and his parents, a frustrated Lihai beds a prostitute.

In order to keep Lihai's condition a secret, Youbao pretends he is the one who is seeking treatment instead of Lihai. Shuixian remembers what Nine Headed Bird told her about Lihai's condition and presses Youbao for a clarification. Youbao tells her to dismiss Nine Headed Bird's claims.

Shuixian is scared out of her wits when she mistakens a shadow for a ghost while passing by Youbao's house. In the middle of the night, Youbao discovers an intruder in his house and fights with him. The intruder fires two shots at him and escapes when Youbao is unharmed.

Yueman works at the hospital and accidentally discovers Xiuyuan has been putting up an act all along. Yueman intends to inform Youbao but misses the chance when he is unexpectedly assaulted. Youbao guesses someone is out to seek revenge on him and steps up his guard.

Shuixian discovers Xiuyuan has been tricking Youbao into thinking she is blind and approaches the hospital for help to expose the fraud. After the hospital does a thorough investigation, an angry Xiuyuan is discharged. Thinking she has fully recovered, the naïve Youbao is happy for her.

Red sores appear on Shuixian's leg and she brushes it aside, thinking they are mosquito bites. Her mother-in-law sees the sores and realizes Lihai has infected Shuixian. Worried that they have to foot Shuixian's medical bills, her parents-in-law decide to abandon her and get her to sign a document.

Shuixian discovers her foetus is infected with the disease during a body checkup and thus the chance of her baby born with deformities is high. Her mother-in-law forces her to get an abortion but she refuses, insisting to follow Yueman's example of raising a child with deformities. Her mother-in-law then arranged for a nurse to forcefully perform the abortion.

A heavily injured Haixing dies at the Cais' home after Glutinous Chicken stabs him. Youbao decides to bury him but his movements get photographed by Juncai.

Youbao is accused of murdering Haixing but he explains he only helped to bury the body. He also states that Haixing was under instructions to kill him and he is also pursuing the identity of the mastermind who wants to kill him. Inspector Tao doubts his claims and he is sentenced to life imprisonment for possessing weapons and murder.

Xiuyuan is about to get married to Duck Bing and goes to the temple to mock at the Gods for giving her a bad marriage lot years ago. On the eve of the wedding, Juncai unexpectedly escapes back to the kampong to confront Xiuyuan for sending him to a god-forsaken place. In his anger, he beats her to death.

Weinan finally appears at Tianshi's wake. Weinan has become a lawyer and he returns to the kampong to help Youbao re-open his case. Will Youbao be freed? Will Yhe and Yueman be together at last? What will happen to the ill-stricken Shuixian?