Tanya is getting ready to celebrate her birthday. She pointedly invites Matvey to the party, but deliberately leaves the older Gudovs uninvited. This selective hospitality becomes a source of resentment and forces the farmer to look for a way to respond to this bold challenge.

Matvey decides to confess and tells Lysy about his feelings for Olya. Soon it turns out that the girl's wedding to Valya has been suddenly postponed. The влюблённый young man decides to take action: he sees this postponement as an ideal chance to completely ruin someone else's wedding.