Three novellas based on M. Sholokhov's early stories about the first years of the formation of Soviet power on the Don. (1) “Koloverť”. Two Cossack brothers and their elderly father fight for the Bolsheviks, but when only Ignat and his father return to their White-held stanitsa, their third brother betrays them, sealing their fate by handing them over for execution. (2) “Chervotočina”. Idealistic Stepan joins the Komsomol against his wealthy Cossack family’s wishes, but when two oxen he lends to a poor neighbor vanish, his enraged father and brother beat both Stepan and the neighbor to death. (3) “Prodkomissar”. Commissar Ignat Bodiagin is charged with requisitioning grain for the Red Army, only to find his own father condemned for hoarding; he must preside over his execution and soon dies himself leading the resisting Cossacks away from the grain convoy.

One day, a girl sits in the car of the director of a large plant, Pyotr Semenovich Polyakov, calls herself Varya and shows the found father a photo of her mother. And now, in search of the lost, the director comes to the city where he once loved Varina's mother, Zinaida...

The projectionist Vasily, arriving in the village to his grandmother, meets Zina. He had liked her once.

Inspector Sergey Baev arrives at a fishing collective farm for a new job and begins to fight poaching. This does not please both poachers and the head of the artel Fetisov. Having failed to reach a compromise solution, Fetisov sends the Ermakov brothers to "deal" with the new inspector. But the intervention of the police stops the fight, and the criminals receive the punishment they deserve.

Having failed to enter the institute, Sergei got a job in a workshop to refill lighters. Giving all his free time to his new hobby - boxing, the hero in a short period of time achieves significant success and insists that the coach allowed him to the nearest competition. Having received a well-founded refusal, Sergei goes to another club and wins a victory over a famous boxer at a tournament. But the accidental victory does not bring him joy.

Marina met a charming man at the resort, who gave her an unforgettable two hours of love, which remained with him until departure from the airport. Time passes and Marina comes to Leningrad to visit her prince, but he is not at home. Wandering around an unfamiliar city, she ends up with the police. What awaits a beautiful lonely girl in a huge foreign city?

The chairman of the collective farm, Yuri Sergeyevich, has no rest - and all because of the boys, whose main instigator is Petka, dreams of space flights are overwhelming. With his ideas, he gives a lot of trouble to adults, and they decide to entrust him with a "serious" business ...

The court undeservedly passes a harsh sentence on a young worker Volodya Kharlamov. His girlfriend Valya, whom Volodya once saved from hooligans, and the people's assessor Mitrokhin actively insist on a review of the case. In the end, they are joined by others who knew Kharlamov well, but who were significantly hindered by simple human qualities - fear, selfishness and indifference.

One day, a girl sits in the car of the director of a large plant, Pyotr Semenovich Polyakov, calls herself Varya and shows the found father a photo of her mother. And now, in search of the lost, the director comes to the city where he once loved Varina's mother, Zinaida...