The chairman of a prosperous kolkhoz, Ilya Rudenko, prepared for the solemn welcome of Koval, a famous fellow countryman, a retired colonel. Arriving in Zatishye to rest, the former colonel was surprised at Ilya's strange approach to collective well-being. And when the chairman began to prepare the entire harvest of the apple orchard to be sent to the North, in order to sell there at exorbitant prices, Koval by making it known that he does not agree, receives the unanimous support of all the inhabitants of Zatiche ...