By the Time You Abandoned Me, I Had Already Reached the Top

Li Fan, an orphan from the countryside, starts doing odd jobs in the county seat after graduating from middle school. He lives on instant noodles, has nowhere to call home, and tastes all the hardships of life at the bottom. An announcement for a grassroots civil service recruitment exam becomes his one chance to change his fate. Resolute, he sets out to prepare for the exam, hauling bricks on construction sites to make ends meet while squeezing in late-night hours to study and practice questions. With only a middle-school education, he struggles with the aptitude and essay tests, and is repeatedly harassed by his foreman and mocked by others.

Fortunately, his childhood sweetheart, Xia Wan, gives him everything she has. She saves money washing dishes to buy him study materials and brings him late-night snacks. He happens to meet the kind and perceptive Shen Zhiyu, who helps him when he’s down and guides him through difficult exam questions. Along the way, he also meets the sharp and capable Lin Xiao, and the two learn from each other, complement one another, and press forward side by side. Drawing on his grit and quick wit, Li Fan stands up to workplace bullying and outsmarts those who plot against him. He weaves the warmth and bustle of ordinary life into his exam-preparation routine, turning his longing for a stable life into the drive to keep moving forward.

After passing the exam, he joins a grassroots office, still armed with all his streetwise skills. He navigates workplace conflicts, meets several women with very different personalities, and gains both emotional ties and support in his career. He also teams up with old friends to start a business and build a solid safety net. From a county clerk to positions at the city and provincial levels, Li Fan claws his way forward, overcoming one obstacle after another as an ordinary man. His rise from construction worker to grassroots official captures the struggles and perseverance of ordinary people taking civil service exams, and shows how even the smallest people can fight their way upward against fate.