In the winter of 1977, on the train carrying Zhou Shenzhi home after his wrongful conviction was overturned, the fates of three families became entwined over a packet of life-saving powdered milk. Lu Jianguo, a sent-down youth returning to the city, stole the milk to treat his adopted son, only to be caught by private entrepreneur Su Jinbao. Zhou Shenzhi, an intellectual, was forced to become an accomplice. Over the next twenty years, the three families in the alley supported one another while quietly competing amid the tides of the times:
- **Knowledge Changes Your Fate**: While taking part in planning Pudong, Zhou Mingyuan discovers that the Shikumen building his father once protected is facing demolition.
- **Struggles in the Gray Areas**: Lu Jianguo's identity as a
