The All-Rounder from the Deep Mountains tells the story of Wang Dashan, who was abandoned as a child and raised by an old man deep in the mountains. Armed with a whole set of “all-around skills in literature, martial arts, music, chess, calligraphy, and painting” forcibly crammed into him by his master, he ventures into the city.
He uses the logic of chess to work out milk tea recipes, the eye for detail he learned from painting to pick potatoes at the market, martial arts footwork to dodge delivery drivers on electric scooters, and the finger techniques he learned from playing music to type on a keyboard... His “special skills,” so out of place in modern life, lead to one mishap after another as he looks for work, adapts to city life, and deals with people: while fixing a neighbor’s plumbing, he casually shows off his light-footed martial arts; at the company’s annual party, his performance on the guqin turns into a “wild tune from the mountains”; and when sticking up for a child, he uses classical Chinese to tell off the bully with “A gentleman uses words, not fists”...
Through a string of hilarious clashes, Wang Dashan uses his sincerity, earnestness, and seemingly “useless” talents to gradually fit into the city and quietly change the lives of those around him. In the end, amid the concrete and steel jungle, he becomes a heartwarming and healing sight, with a knack for making people laugh.
