Esko makes a bet that he will marry the first young woman he encounters. This turns out to be Kirsti, who promptly turns down the proposals. But when she finds about the bet, she agrees to marry him in order to get her revenge.
Adalbert "Mussu" Koikkalainen inherits 9,000 marks from his uncle. To buy a milk shop, Koikkalainen needs another thousand marks and work experience, so he applies for a job at the department store Sampo, where he is hired as a scapegoat to receive customer complaints. The saleswoman Irja Salo, who is under threat of dismissal, falls in love with the general manager Vaara, whom she thinks is a traveling salesman.
Old Virtanen is a respected night watchman at a textile factory and a single father to his daughter Aino, who is about to graduate from high school. The heartless factory owner Kuusela fires Virtanen, who is forced to look for a new job. When Aino, who is in love with the manager's son Veikko, disappears after her graduation party, her father, who has fallen ill with worry, is overcome with despair.
