He was just an ordinary student who was timid and afraid of getting into trouble, until one night he touched the old pocket watch left by Lao Pao'er's father - the hands moved backwards, and everything turned upside down, and he fell into the old Beijing of the 1980s and 1990s.
In this age where fists are more important than rules, truth is worthless, and face can save lives. Relying on the rules of the world repeatedly mentioned by his father at the drinking table and his own "prophet" about the future direction, the protagonist steps into the neighborhoods, venues, business routes and higher tabletops step by step: he learns to owe people debts, learns to share accounts to support people, learns to exchange profits for peace, and also learns to pay the price for every "danger to safety".
He made friends with people from all over the country, dealt with black and white, and escaped from death several times. He finally grew from an unknown person to a big brother and became a legend in the capital. But the higher he climbed, the more he realized that he was tied to a ledger of favors - every entry was a debt and a life.
