Set in Wujia Village on the banks of the Black River, the novel traces a community's fortunes across decades of upheaval. It opens with Yunus and Guyi, two homeless tramps sheltering in an abandoned oil mill, whose son Juma is born on a Friday. Around them unfolds a sprawling rural saga: the wealthy landlord Second Master Zhao and his three mistresses, the ambitious Qian family, and villagers such as Qasim, Sahar, Caidai, and the resilient widow Heche. As land reform, political campaigns, and collectivization sweep through the village, old hierarchies collapse, loves are won and betrayed, and lives are broken by violence, poverty, and shifting ideologies. Through it all, Juma grows from a "second-generation tramp" into a man who finally brings a companion home for his aging father. The Black River flows on indifferently, witnessing the cycle of human joy and sorrow, until a warm spring signals quiet renewal.