In 1948, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party were on the brink of a decisive showdown, and the economy in Kuomintang-controlled territory was collapsing completely. Fang Meng'ao (played by Liu Ye), a Communist underground agent embedded in the Nationalist government and serving as an Air Force colonel, is ordered by Chiang Ching-kuo to investigate corruption at the Beiping People's Mediation Committee and the Beiping Branch of the Central Bank. The branch manager is his father, Fang Buting (played by Wang Qingxiang). Chiang Ching-kuo's "Peacock Flies Southeast" operation tasks He Qicang (played by Jiao Huang) and Fang Buting with carrying out currency reform, aiming to plunder gold, silver, and foreign currency from the people. As the struggle unfolds on this crucial economic front, Communist underground agents and progressive young members of the Beiping Students' Federation face off against Nationalist Party officials embedded within the Communist Party
