A prostitute from the Northeast, desperate and unable to make ends meet, abandons her baby. An unemployed factory worker decides to take the child for the 200 yuan (about $37 Canadian) a month in child support promised by its mother. His early attempts at child-rearing are somewhat painful to watch, but also charming and amusing. Eventually, he and the mother become friendly and it seems that the child will be raised in a sweetly unorthodox family. However, when the woman's pimp, a local gangster, not only finds out that he may have fathered the child, but also that he is dying of cancer, he decides that he must adopt the baby - and is willing to resort to violence if necessary.

乡村教师李启明（吴有才 饰）来到阔别四十年之久的武汉，因为妻子病重，他要在这里寻找一年未有音信的儿子返家。在武汉做陪酒女的女儿艳红（田原 饰）安排李启明到自己的合租房中暂住。江城夏日，老教师在一名武汉老警察的帮助下开始了寻子之旅。另一方面，艳红的情人鹤哥以男友的身份出面陪同，鹤哥驾驶着劫来的奥迪车，对身怀自己孩子的艳红照顾有加，但他的感情之中，似乎隐藏着别样的内容……随着李启明的探访不断深入，儿子的下落愈发明朗，但艳红突然从鹤哥口中得知，哥哥早已因鹤哥的关系不在人世。在李启明返乡前的小聚上，老警察对鹤哥的身份产生了怀疑，于是这个夜里各人的命运再次遽变。但生活仍将继续，或许周而复始，或许从新开始……

黄河中部某煤矿。矿工广生（刘磊 饰）与师父日日下井，暗中却与师母（王澜 饰）维持着关系，师父胖大的傻儿子阿福（肖明 饰）与一头毛驴感情甚笃，即便撞破了广生与母亲之事也不明就里。不久矿山发生事故，师父生死，广生为自己本可救出师父却选择独自逃生而深深自责，他终止了同师母的关系，劝其离开。广生将残破的煤矿承包独自经营，阿福返回煤矿一同劳动。随着煤矿的经营转入正轨，广生的经济状况有所好转，他向师父的幻影承诺：为阿福找到媳妇儿。相亲的姑娘们络绎不绝的来到矿上，广生在小店的按摩房里邂逅了背井离乡的红梅，他克制自己对红梅的爱意将她许配给了阿福……