Republican Era: Shanghai Bund, Upending the City's Three Big Bosses

Shanghai, 1927, in the Zhabei shantytowns. Chen Guangliang opens his eyes and finds himself transported from the modern era into the body of a rickshaw puller. He's seventeen, strong, and even hungrier than he is strong. If he doesn't earn a silver dollar, he can't even afford a meal. Half a month into the job, he boosts his daily earnings to 1.2 silver dollars by cleaning his rickshaw, reading newspapers, and practicing English to attract passengers. The owner of the rickshaw company fears he'll save up too quickly and buy his own rickshaw, so he forces him to take a "mandatory break."

Chen Guangliang appears honest and obedient, but in his heart he's already planning another path: pooling money with partners, getting his own license, and building a fleet. Old rickshaw puller Yang Qingshan is his second uncle, and He Xiangdong is a young man bold enough to drive an "unlicensed cab." These two will be his first capital. But licenses are controlled by the Municipal Council, and getting one requires connections.

That day, he gives a ride to a bespectacled scholar and chats with him until the man's eyes light up. His name is Zhang Qihua, a university professor struggling to find material for a novel. Chen Guangliang holds the rickshaw handles as the corners of his mouth slowly rise. Perhaps he won't have to earn his first fortune by pulling a rickshaw. As a working-class rickshaw puller starts making money with his brains, Shanghai's rickshaw companies still have no idea that a ruthless player has already set things in motion.