Rodion Potapych Zykov is the “oldest steiger” (mining foreman in mining operations) “in all the Baltschug gold mines” of the Urals. He leads the prospecting work on the Fotyanovskaya placer, which gave the treasury "more than a hundred pounds of gold." This placer was discovered by Andron Kishkin, an “old office rat” with “small, curious, thieving” eyes. Zykov does not like Kishkin and therefore is not happy when one winter morning he comes to visit him with a “businessman”. Kishkin reports that soon the open Kedrovskaya cottage will be opened for general use, and offers Rodion Potapych to look for gold there. The harsh old man of a conservative warehouse, a “fanatic of state-owned mining”, Zykov categorically refuses, and Kishkin leaves with nothing. A poor man, he envies both Zykova and all wealthy workers, considering himself undeservedly deprived and placing all his hopes in the Kedrovskaya cottage.

Rodion Potapych in steygery for about forty years. And he himself, and his first, early dead wife, in whom he did not cherish a soul and from whom the eldest son, "dissolute Yasha" was born, were formerly convicts. He married for the second time, already on the daughter of a convict who gave birth to four daughters, "but he did not turn up happiness, according to a proverb: the deceased is not standing at the gate, but will take his own." After the death of his beloved wife, Rodion Potapych went headlong to work. Only once did he “bend his soul” - when he hid from the “official fiscal” the fact of widespread theft of gold at the Balchug factory (however, they also stole at other state and private mines; there were also gold buyers who already had a detective, and if not Zykov, the Balchugovsky plant would have suffered much more). By the way, then Kishkin, miraculous in this matter, was saved by a miracle ... When the hard labor was abolished, Rodion Potapych, who did not understand freedom, was taken aback, but "calmed down with the placement in <...> the business of the company business <...>". The field workers continued to remain in slavery: they had nowhere to go, and had to work on the most unfavorable conditions: "you are not full enough and you will not die of hunger." Therefore, the opening of the Kedrovskaya state bungalow for free work will change “the whole system of fishing life,” and no one feels it like Rodion Potapych Zykov, “this fishing tested wolf.”

And in the family, Rodion Potapych is rare, disappearing at the recently opened mine of Rubles, in whose profitability he earnestly believes. Yes, and he is really attached in the family only to the youngest daughter Fene, with the rest he is cool: he scolded all the suitors from his daughter Marya, scored his son; the eldest, Tatyana, fled with planer-worker Mylnikov, making "a mesalliance, who forever threw the recalcitrant daughter out of her native family." Tatyana’s husband often drinks, beats his wife and children, especially the restless and unrequited ugly Oksya, and they all live poorly (mother, USINYA Markovna, secretly helps Tatyana). But the beloved Zykova Fedosya, to the horror of the family, escapes in the absence of her father from home, as Tatyana, only, unlike her, does not get married, but leaves for Taybola, a schismatic family, which is considered a grave sin. Until the formidable father of the family returned from the mines, the only brother Feni Yakov with brother-in-law Mylnikov tried to settle the matter amicably by returning Fenya home, but neither she, nor her husband, Kozhin, “a solid and handsome man,” did not want to hear about it.

Zykov is shocked by the news of his daughter’s escape, curses her in front of the icon and mourns the death of his first wife, in which, as he thinks, this could not have happened. Rodion Potapych tells his son-in-law Mylnikov about another misfortune, which is about to break out: in his opinion, Kishkin, out of envy of those who have become rich in the mines, is preparing a denunciation of all prospectors regarding the theft of gold. Zykov listens to his unloved son-in-law with contempt and does not attach special importance to his words. Meanwhile, the chief manager of the Balchugovsky mines Karachunsky, whom Zykov respects very much for his intelligence and knowledge of the case, but condemns him for his weakness for the female sex, manages to convince Fenya and Kozhin to apologize to the priest. However, Rodion Potapych has already cursed his daughter and does not want to know her - and he decides to send her for upbringing to the "granddaughter Lukerye", the sister of the deceased wife, the harsh old woman of the old school, especially honored by Zykov and close to him in spirit.

Fenya is taken to the "bauka" by deception. Listening to the arguments of the old woman, the girl returns to Orthodoxy, willingly performs all the chores around the house, but does not forget her chosen one. It’s bitter that he could have converted to Orthodoxy, if it weren’t for his mother, the splinter of Maremyan’s steep disposition; Kozhin, not his own with longing, was addicted to drinking: how to forget Fedosya Rodionovna! Meanwhile, the shy beauty Fenya liked the manager of Karachunsky very much ...

Gold mining is in full swing, and passions are boiling around gold. Kishkin, Mylnikov and son Zykova Jacob with excitement work at the Kedrovskaya cottage; Oksya Mylnikova’s daughter is also involved in prospecting work: according to popular legend, an innocent girl will bring luck to gold seekers. Everyone laughs at the hunted and unrequited Oksya, who, however, turns out to be an irreplaceable worker, moreover, is on her own mind: she is in love with the worker Matyushka and, having really attacked the gold mine, secretly drags gold from there into her dowry and hides it in the desk at the unsuspecting Rodion Potapych, who sincerely becomes attached to Oksa and is not even able to be stern with her granddaughter, realizing that she and her father like Mylnikov are already hard. And Kishkin really gives the denunciation to the prosecutor’s office, starting a protracted process that distracts Zykov from work: Zykov is the main witness, but he evades testimony, and the case drags on indefinitely, eventually getting bogged down in a bureaucratic routine. In general, Kishkin’s revenge does not fall on those people: most of all goes to the beloved manager of Karachunsky.

The gold buyer, the crook of the Hawks, is getting richer at this time; he becomes a profitable lodger, and therefore the Lukarya’s bauka, in whom greed wakes up, allows him to live. Now you don’t recognize Bauska Lukeryu: she also fell ill with a gold rush, “became mad with money,” became greedy, and began to build a second hut; pushes her and her son, a curve in one eye - Pyotr Vasilich. This change in the old woman Fenya notices and goes to Karachunsky, supposedly "in the maids." Karachunsky truly loves Fenya and is jealous of Kozhin, but Fenya cannot fall in love a second time, although she does not want to return to Kozhin: “young happiness has broken”, and in Karachunsky she guesses wonderful spiritual qualities and searches for “that quiet marina, which every woman who has not lost her best female instincts is torn. ” And Kozhina, mother Maremyana marries a quiet girl whom he beats and tortures to death. Having learned about this, Fenya asks Mylnikov to reason with Kozhin. Shurin is ready to help if Fenya begs for him a good plot for prospecting work from Karachunsky, but it is too late: Kozhin’s unfortunate wife is found almost dead, and Kozhin is put on trial.

And the eldest daughter Marya Zykova, who sat up “in girls” and therefore angry, decides to settle with grandfather Lukerya instead of Feni and at one time Oksi who mixed her up: she wants to be closer to the money of the grandmother, and there, you look, and find the groom ... in fact, the cunning girl manages to marry the engineer Semenych, a kind and hardworking man six years younger than her; she and her husband “go to Kishkin to Bogodanka” - an old mine opened by an old man, and the daughter of her married sister Anna Natasha determines to live with her grandmother Lukery. Meanwhile, the Mother of God brings wealth to old Kishkin, although he laments, which is too late; he keeps money in a chest for seven seals - many would like to open it; Grandfather Lukerya leads friendship with Kishkin and gives him money at interest; he “laid his eyes” on Natasha and even wants to get married to her.

Meanwhile, a series of terrible misfortunes sets in. Under the threat of revelation, saving his honor and the honor of the plant, Karachunsky shot himself (after having provided Fenya), and the workers disliked Onikov’s “new broom” and called “cleanliness”: he breaks everything “splez” without hesitation, reduces the employee's salary, introduces new rigor; Yastrebov, a gold buyer, was given to the investigation by the son of the granddaughter Lukerya, Pyotr Vasilich, who had been deceived by him, for which he was carved by old men interested in Yastrebov; not his own from anger and humiliation, Pyotr Vasilich set fire to his house, and Lukerya, distraught from greed, climbed into the fire for money and died. Pyotr Vasilich is outlawed. Mary, along with her husband, Natasha and her brother Petrunka, settle on Bogodanka near Kishkin. Natasha, who previously did not like the imperious aunt Marya (still at home “everyone was dancing to her tune” except her father), is now touched by her care, not even suspecting Marya's self-serving intent: to set the girl on voluptuous Kishkin in order to take possession of his wealth.

And the worker Matyushka, who has married Oksa, who is now expecting a child, begins to flirt with Marya and becomes her lover: he wants to get access to Kishkin’s money through Marya; and Marya directs her husband, Semenych, with the help of Kishkin to work on the night shift. She also beats up the naive Natasha to find and supposedly jokingly hide the key to the treasured Kishkin chest. Natasha likes the idea of ​​“frightening the nasty old man, who again began to look at her with slick eyes.”

The tragedy erupts suddenly. Once, around midnight, Semenych was urgently summoned from work to Bogodanka. He finds Kishki-na, Marya, Natasha, and Petrunka killed, and the box office is empty. At first they think that this is the work of Peter Vasilich, who went "to despair", but later his corpse is also found. The investigation is at a loss, until Matyushka confesses to Rodion Potapych that he “decided” everyone: Pyotr Vasilich was an accomplice who interfered with him, who knocked him out for a crime and wanted to run away with money. Oksya died from childbirth and before death said that she knew everything and that she was dying for Ma-tyushkin's guilt; exhausted by remorse and reproach Oxy, he decided to give up. Rodion Potapych, who is already a little crazy about all the events, after the recognition of Matyushka, is completely damaged in her mind and floods the Rublehu mine, which she has been working passionately and desperately for the last time ...

The rubleha was destroyed, the dam on Baltschugovka was washed out by spring water, "and this is in a place where, with proper farming, a hundred thousand people and ten such companies could prosper." Zykov really goes crazy, "raves hard labor" and walks, surrounded by a crowd of children in the Balchugovsky factory, together with the local executioner Nikitushka, "giving terrible orders." Fenya goes to Siberia “for a party of prisoners, in which Kozhin was sent: he was sentenced to hard labor. Hawks also left in the same game. ” Matyushka "hanged herself in prison."