From Village Official to County Magistrate

Sun Zhicheng is a farmer through and through, but he is also fiercely ambitious and adept at scheming. When he hears from a classmate that the county plans to build an industrial park near his village, he immediately spots a business opportunity. Under the pretext of building a factory, he returns to the village, acquires land, and stockpiles construction materials before selling them off for a huge profit overnight. Through lavish entertaining, gift-giving, and bribery, Sun Zhicheng starts out as the village grid secretary. He plots to frame the village Party branch secretary and take his place, monopolizing power and ruling the village with an iron fist. At the same time, he colludes with government employees and township officials to illegally operate sand pits and mine tin, oppressing the villagers, suppressing others, and enriching himself at public expense. In particular, he curries favor with the executive deputy county magistrate by ghostwriting a book for him and sharing the proceeds, building a network of connections and finding powerful protectors. In the end, he becomes a criminal involved in organized crime and vice, and is caught in a sweeping crackdown and brought to justice.