World view setting
Time setting: modern city, the Internet winter period of 2023, economic downward pressure intensifies workplace competition
Location setting: Shanghai Lujiazui financial circle, where the workplace of a design company intersects with the life scenes of middle-class families
Basic background: A middle-aged designer encounters a workplace crisis, and the seemingly glamorous middle-class life hides marital rifts. The survival dilemma of contemporary urbanites is shown through three main lines of workplace struggle, family conflicts, and emotional betrayal.
Story summary
Volume 1: Hidden Reef: 42-year-old design director Lin Shen encounters a crisis of being demoted in the workplace. He discovers his wife Su Jin's hidden medical history of depression. The pressure of her daughter's education is intertwined with the burden of mortgage. She meets a mysterious investor at the celebration banquet.
Volume 2: Whirlpool: The parachute arrival of new director Jiang Xue triggers a power struggle. His wife's sudden car accident reveals the dusty past. The company's bidding case hides a business conspiracy. Lin Shen is forced to misappropriate project funds for emergency relief.
Volume 3·Undercurrent: Old lover Shen Yi returns as an investor. The exposure of the commercial espionage case triggers a crisis of trust. Her daughter's psychological problems break out. Lin Shen discovers the secret connection between his wife and the psychiatrist.
Volume 4: Disintegration: The financial fraud was exposed on the eve of the company's listing, the twenty-year marriage came to an end, the paternity test caused an ethical impact, and the partner absconded with the money, forcing the protagonist into a desperate situation
Volume 5·Backlight: Regaining the original design intention during bankruptcy and liquidation, the truth about the ex-wife's depression comes to light, the court battle for the daughter hides the mystery of her life experience, rebuilding life and self-salvation in the ruins
