The purposeful village guy is indifferent to entertainment, but strictly follows the daily schedule, studies languages and exact sciences. There are two goals in his life - to become an astronaut and win the heart of his former classmate.

After the death of his wife, Pyotr Maksimovich Zverev’s life didn't develop very happily: relations with a woman whom he loved were difficult to develop, and it was also not easy with adult children. And therefore, he did not expect anything special and joyful from the coming day of his birthday...

The life of Pavla Brus, a middle-aged, modest but principled woman, suddenly changes with a crush on a drilling foreman. Unable to restrain her feelings, she decides to cheat on her husband, divorce and leave the family. But her youngest son Kuzma, a teenager with an intelligent and piercing look at the world around him, stops her from a rash act, which is shaped by observation of Siberian nature. A philosophical attitude towards banal life processes allows the mother to reconsider her feelings for her husband Tikhon and the failed lover Nikolai.

The chief engineer proposes to make changes to the design of the polar hydroelectric power station by abandoning the construction of the tunnel due to a collapse.

The action takes place in the 1920s. It is about the everyday work of criminal investigation staff in a provincial town, who are engaged in an unyielding battle against a well-organized gang of murderers and robbers.