Lin Doudou, a modern-day woman, and Wang Ergou, a “survival expert” from the streets, transmigrate together into beggars on the streets of the Tang dynasty. From the start, their struggle to survive begins with fighting over steamed buns in a ruined temple. Lin Doudou stuns a vicious beggar with her sharp tongue, firing back, “Your mom says come home and eat your fried dough!” Wang Ergou hides food that could save their lives by playing the fool. This duo, “lacking virtue in all five elements,” become the “Two Troublemakers.”
To scrounge up a meal, they put modern survival know-how to ingenious use. Lin Doudou deploys “precision flattery” to talk a scholar into trading for buns, while Wang Ergou wins handouts from women with his “tragic sob story package.” They even spearhead the creation of a “Beggar Gang Reserve Unit,” using “stinky sock tactics” and “modern memes to crush the competition” to chase off thugs demanding protection money. From battling street toughs and mouthing off to arrogant officials’ sons, to sneaking into granaries to swap out the government grain and using political rivals to bring down corrupt officials, the two beggar brothers’ path of “stirring up trouble” just keeps opening up.
Armed with the “capital” they have saved, they head for Chang'an and become forces to be reckoned with. Lin Doudou’s sharp tongue beats Chang'an’s beggars into surrendering their turf; the pair outsmart unscrupulous grain merchants and save the people; they sneak into the chancellor’s residence at night to steal evidence of corruption and pin it on political rivals; and they even unexpectedly become allies with the fallen prince Li Yan. At court, Lin Doudou’s “logic-genius” arguments leave the old ministers speechless. In the palace power struggles, Wang Ergou’s cunning calculations expose a conspiracy to rebel. After helping Li Yan ascend the throne, they refuse high office and head straight into the martial world instead: they win over the Beggar Gang and are honored as its founding patriarchs, take down Black Wind Stronghold and make their names, and even bring the martial arts alliance leader down with their combination of “verbal volleys and dirty tricks.”
From beggars in a ruined temple to legends of the Tang dynasty, this “Double Scoundrel” duo always holds fast to one principle: “We only mess with bad people, and the more miserable they are, the happier we get.” Their sharp tongues clear the way, and their cunning has their backs. Their
Good to hear, wonderful plot