In the winter of 1977, on the train returning from Zhou Shenzhi's vindication, the fate of three families was intertwined because of a packet of life-saving milk powder. Lu Jianguo, an educated youth who returned to the city, stole milk powder to treat his adopted son's illness. He was caught by the self-employed Su Jinbao, and the intellectual Zhou Shenzhi was forced to become an "accomplice." Over the past twenty years, the three families in the alley have supported each other and secretly competed with each other in the tide of the times:
- **Knowledge changes destiny**: When Zhou Mingyuan participated in the planning of Pudong, he discovered that the Shikumen that his father protected back then was facing demolition.
- **Struggle in the gray area**: Lu Jianguo's identity as "Sunday Engineer" was exposed, triggering an earthquake of ideas before the restructuring of state-owned enterprises
- **Redemption from Original Sin**: Su Jinbao made his fortune through smuggling, but donated all his inventory of jeans when fighting the flood in 1998
The three main lines intertwined through incidents such as "illegal construction and demolition of patios", "competition for college entrance examination quotas", and "black market case of foreign exchange coupons", and finally ushered in a collective settlement in 1999 when state-owned enterprises bought out their seniority.
