Wen Shan is a mediocre screenwriter struggling to make a living in Beijing. Commercial projects are left undone, and his own stories fall by the wayside. He lives a stagnant life in a fast growing city. By chance, he begins to write eulogies for a living. He meets the families of the deceased, carefully observes, listens to the stories, and at last, puts pen to paper. As he restores the lives of others, he finds his own place in the city and finally realizes that ordinary people can take the center stage too.

It tells a family of three generations of women who stay true to their intentions to serve the neighborhood from the early days of the liberation to the present. Their stories capture the face of youth in each period to showcase the Hutong Culture in Beijing. Tian Zao has been engaged in grassroots work since the early days of liberation. She eventually becomes a leader of the resident's committee and serves the people for 70 years. She participated in catching spies, curbing illiteracy and led the masses to donate handicrafts to the volunteer army. During the era of reform, she encouraged her daughter to succeed her line of work. Tian Zao did not leave her post even after she retired. When she reached the age of 90, her granddaughter has become the new leader of the resident's committee.

Set in the eponymous White Deer Village in Shaanxi Province where the two most important families – Bai and Lu – and their sons have always lived together in peace. But the turmoil leads to a fierce struggle for land ownership. A young woman new to the village soon finds herself caught between the two camps. Director Liu Jin uses the story of these two families as a metaphor for the fate of the Chinese people as first Chinese war lords are overrun by Japanese invaders, then civil war follows hot on the heels of the Second World War and finally the victorious Maoists begin waving their red flags. The drama is based off the novel by Chen Zhong Shi.