Kim Chun-dong (Choi Il-hwa) is a widowed farmer with one daughter, Kyung-sook (Lee Young-ah), and two sons, Kyung-gu (Kim Myung-jae) and Kyung-min (Park Ji-bin). Kyung-sook is committed to maintaining the household after the passing of their mother, and the villagers praise her sweet, cheerful nature and hardworking attitude. Everyday chores leave her little time for fun, but she does shed her tough exterior for Park Jong-gyu, the farm owner's son. A student at Seoul National University, Jong-gyu visits on occasion to the delight of Kyung-sook.
Her father Chun-dong marries again, and the woman (Bang Eun-hee) has a six-year-daughter, Keum-shil (Yoo Yeon-mi). The new siblings live a humble but happy life in the countryside. But the marriage is not a happy one and Keum-shil's mother continues her affair with Park Byung-sam (Lee Deok-hwa) a rich landlord in the village who is running for a seat in the Parliament. After the election, her body is discovered floating in the river and Chun-dong is wrongly accused of being the killer. He confesses after being tortured by the police and later dies in custody before the trial. Park Byung-sam, who is in fact Keum-shil's real father, orders his brother-in-law Jung (Lee Ki-young) to adopt Keum-shil, then gives him a job at the Intelligence Office in Seoul.
Years later, Kyung-sook (Park Sol-mi) has also moved to Seoul and is working hard to raise her brothers (Kim Ji-hoon, Ji Hyun-woo). She vows that she will clear her father's name and find the real killer. Park Byung-sam remains her number one suspect even though she was in love with his son, Jong-gyu (Jung Chan).
