He came there thirteen years ago, just after the army, without even a glance at the road leading to his native village, where his bride Nastya was waiting for him.

The fact is that at the end of the service, Pavel got a letter from his mother, from which he learned that Nastya had cheated on him and is expecting a child whose father is not known.

Later, after marrying a drunkard artist, Anastasia gave birth to a son named Pavlik and also adopted Styopka, a child from a maternity hospital.

Everyone thinks that Styopka is mute from birth, even though he hears perfectly, understands everything and has no physical defects which prevent him from talking.

The children do not have adult able-bodied family members and foster care is not given to Pavel's parents because they are elderly.