In 1919, Du Qing, a 16-year-old wharf coolie, witnessed a gang fight in the Zhabei slums. He stepped into the world because he blocked a knife for a seriously injured young gang leader. From Ma Zai, who ran errands and delivered letters, to "Mr. Du" who took charge of his own business, he worked his way around the opium dens in the French Concession, the casinos in the British Concession, and the docks in the Chinese Concession, paving a bloody path of ascent with courage, intrigue, and betrayal. This is a story about ambition and betrayal, friendship and calculation. It tells how a young man from a lower-class background turned from a chess piece to a chess player in the cannibalistic Shanghai, and finally sat on the "King of Shanghai" coveted by countless people.
