Summer 1919. After the sons of the kulaks deserted and went into the woods, in the remote Russian village of Potma there was only the old Bolshevik Matvei and a small Komsomol cell led by Sanya Yermakova. A fierce struggle begins between the Komsomol's and deserters.

A young literature teacher does not like his job. He feels he has to change something in his life. And one day he decides to tell only the truth. This decision leads to a breakup with his fiancée, a series of misunderstandings at school.