With the king's death, Queen Heon-ae becomes the queen mother. Young Heon-ae misses Wang-uk whom she loved before rising to the throne. Wang-uk, however, is indifferent towards her.

An oriental doctor Kim Hak-gyu is a cantankerous man who is the longest-term householder in a small village in Seoul. He often causes domestic trouble by being nasty to his wife and his children. Kim Hyeon-ok, a daughter of a young widow who runs Nahana Beauty Shop, is in love with Choi Du-yeol, an obstetrician across the street. Kim Hak-gyu has great distaste for western medicine, and at the same time, is jealous of the obstetrician. He always gets in the way of Choi Du-yeol. Kim's son, Hyeon-gu, dates Jeom-ryae, a daughter of a bar owner.

A woman attempts to help her small village by changing its primary source of income from open-water fishing to clam farming, but meets with opposition from the fleet owners.

Bun-rye, the eldest daughter in a poor family, is violated by Yong-pal, who is a married man, and out of desperation she becomes a concubine of Young-cheol, a gambler who is impotent. Kong Jo-shi is in love with Bun-rye, though she still has feelings for Yong-pal. After losing his money, Young-cheol takes out his anger on Bun-rye and throws her out of his house. In retaliation, Jo-shi kills Young-cheol, and Bun-rye is driven to madness.

Father An is locked up in a basement by retreating North Korean soldiers while reconstructing his church ruined during the Korean War (1950-1953). The North Koreans hide in the basement with Father An and tries to escape the church by using him as a shield. Captain Choe Dong-ho of the South Korean Army has been chasing the remnants, but he cannot annihilate them because of the safety of Father An. However, thanks to the clever strategy of Captain Choe, the North Koreans are killed and Father An is safely saved.

There is a poor farmer couple. The landowner, an old man, covetous of the tenant's wife, tries to seduce her and sometimes threatens her. The wife spends every night with the old man at the water mill. Her husband, hearing the news, runs to the water mill and witnesses them together. He picks up the sickle that was placed near and kills his wife. The landowner escapes and the farmer gets arrested by a Japanese policeman.

Six-year-old Ok Hee is glad when Mr. Han comes to board at her house full of women. She plays messenger for Mr. Han and her widowed mother as they quietly fall in love, but is her support enough to guard their love?