Unspoken Rules: The Red and Black of Film School

In the mid-1990s, a group of young people chasing stardom entered the acting program at Capital Film Academy. Su Manqi arrived on campus with an innocent heart, only to transform step by step in a world of fame and fortune. Jiang Ruotong stood out through talent and became a calculating opportunist in pursuit of opportunities. Lin Wanqiu devoted herself to acting, caught between perseverance and compromise. Tao Lili yearned to be noticed, struggling with her desires. Shen Yuwei seemed sweet and obedient, but secretly laid out one scheme after another.

Competition on campus simmered beneath the surface, and after graduation they were swept into an even more complicated whirlpool. Some became wealthy patrons' kept mistresses; some paid a terrible price for fame; others quietly honed their acting skills, only to remain unknown. The encroachment of Hong Kong and Taiwan's entertainment industry and the rise of the mainland scene brought a flood of scandals and secrets.

Decades later, the young men and women of that era have either made their mark or faded into obscurity. Some became the people they had dreamed of being, while others lost themselves completely in the cesspool. This ensemble story of dreams and degradation, steadfastness and compromise, reveals the entertainment industry's most naked rules of survival.