The Ladder of Power: From Clerk to Provincial Governor

A career in politics is like a battlefield. When your patron falls, people turn cold and the tea goes stale.

Secretary Chen Pengfei has loyally followed Huang Shaohua for five years. Just as a promotion seems within reach, his superior is suddenly transferred, leaving Chen standing still with an uncertain future.

His former colleagues are already looking for new patrons, bringing "tokens of goodwill" as they prepare to switch sides.

Should he go with the flow and join the reshuffling of power, using "sincerity" beyond the rules to secure a future?

Or should he hold fast to his principles, waiting for a slim chance to turn things around on an ignored back bench?

An unexpected encounter with an elderly man, an awkward predicament at the office, an invitation to a dinner where undercurrents swirl...

The town is small, but people's hearts are hard to fathom.

As the curtain rises on the changing of the guard, every choice could be a stepping stone to success, or the first step into an abyss.

Follow an ordinary secretary with no power or connections as he navigates the cracks in the power structure, finding his own path to survival in the workplace between standing firm and making compromises.