Young-ae is a prostitute who obsesses over money after losing her daughter to illness. Her co-workers are jealous of her. When a prostitute named Mrs. Kangwon dies after giving a birth, Young-ae takes the baby under her care and leaves the brothel district. Although she struggles to make ends meet and provide a home for the child, the child is taken away by the authorities because she is single. She decides that her old life is the only ground for living she has and returns to it.

There are 200 miserably impoverished people working in the Dongseong Metalworks Factory. Ju Wan-ik is introduced to the forging team as a new member of the team and they all go drinking together to welcome him.