Provincial department official Liang Hui is sent packing to become deputy mayor of Tianhe Town, the poorest in the province, after refusing to let a leader's well-connected relative get special treatment. On his first day, local factional bosses throw up roadblocks: he is assigned the mess of agriculture and poverty alleviation, solar subsidies are embezzled, the levee is shoddily built, and villagers' fruit and vegetables rot in the fields because they cannot be transported!
Faced with the threat, “Either get out or do as you're told,” Liang Hui sneers: “I came to the grassroots to get things done, not to be a decoration!” He investigates corruption, repairs the levee, evacuates a thousand villagers during a flood, takes on the powerful protectors behind the shoddy construction, and, above all, builds roads to prosperity so people can increase their incomes!
Unexpectedly, the more he gets done, the more popular he becomes. The tide of public support cannot be stopped, and the “outsider” who was once pushed aside rises all the way to become a rising star at the heart of the provincial leadership. At the grassroots, results are what count!
