Shao Bin works at a fertilizer factory, and he lives in a small apartment that his company pays for as part of his compensation. One day, the factory workers are given upgrades to larger apartments, but Shao Bin is excluded. He believes he is the victim of office politics. He is an artist, so he draws cartoons that make fun of the two guys in management above him, Director Ma, and secretary Liu.
They find out about the comic and cut his wages. Shao Bin makes another cartoon depicting their greed. With his wife's encouragement, he decides to talk to the commune leaders, but they cannot help, so he goes to his local government for help, but cannot find it there.
Eventually, after being unable to effect change at the local level, he goes to Beijing with the case, and it gets famous, so his bosses fall under public scrutiny. They cannot react hatefully (which they want to) without public disapproval. Finally, Liu and Ma's boss promotes Shao Bin to the role of propaganda artist. The wife is still unhappy in their small home.
