A young engineer Aydin comes back to his hometown after years of education as a mining engineer in London. Selami, the owner of a local wood company, paid for Aydin's tuition and expenses. Selami has been the employer of Aydin's father in the past and he acts like an elder brother for Aydin, offers him to stay in his house. Aydin starts to work as the chief engineer in one of the mining companies. From the first day onwards Aydin opposes the mining practices imposed by Rahmi Bey, the owner of the company. He orders to stop mining and deals with the wood sellers who sell low-quality wood used to support the thrusts in the mines. He encounters Mustafa Bakirci the wood company owner and accuses him as well. For a while everyone seems to be on Aydin's side. Rahmi Bay accepts Aydin's terms of quality mining. The local politician Serafettin Toraman and Aydin's childhood friend, the newspaper reporter Sabri, slyly support Aydin's moves. Meanwhile Aydin finds out that his former love interest Gonul is now his mentor's, Selami's wife. Selami has a son, Cetin, from his late wife. The old love affair between Aydin and Gonul is once ignited again with Aydin's return and Selami's neglect of his wife. They live a forbidden love affair but without a hope for the future. Meanwhile Aydin fights for workers' cause. He goes for mining with them, helps the poor, neglected and aging workers. One day the mine collapses on the workers and Aydin is also wounded with some of the workers. He takes a leave accusing the mine manager and the wood company. After an investigation the company loses its privileges to sell wood to mines and the mine manager is forced out of office and both face possible jail sentences. This leads to an increase of hostility towards Aydin. Meanwhile he tries to recover from the incident and this time Aydin and Gonul become real close. Their love affair is made public by Aydin's enemies and a photo of Aydin and Gonul kissing in the woods appears on newspapers. After this event Selami takes his now pregnant wife to Istanbul to escape the shame. Aydin is now portrayed as a shameless atheist and immoral and loses the support of the mine-workers. Meanwhile Selami is not convinced that Gonul's newborn child is actually his child. Receiving the death news of his son in Zonguldak, Selami decides to leave for his hometown once again.