It was the second year of the Great Patriotic War. The chairman of the collective farm Mukhtar went to the front, and instead of him they chose his friend Jebrail, who was not taken into the army due to injury back in the 20s. Jebrail had long loved the wife of Mukhtar Sayali, but for the sake of a friend he abandoned his love, never in twenty years daring to tell Sayali about this. Notification comes from the front about Mukhtar's death. Soon, the already middle-aged Sayaly and Jebrail get married: Sayaly also loves him. Her sons, and behind them the entire village, see this as disrespect for the memory of Mukhtar and all those who died in the war and demand that Jebrail leave the village.