In the 1990s, Chen Mo was just an orphan riding a tricycle to collect scrap. His greatest wish was to save enough money to pay for treatment for the little sister he'd taken in. Then, when a foreman demanding his wages cornered him in an alley, he grabbed a rusty wrench and pried open another door to destiny.
From settling disputes for a gambling den to claiming a share of the old town's redevelopment; from being discarded as a pawn by a big shot to becoming the just-right knife between rival powers. He knows nothing about fighting and killing. He only knows that human hearts are crueler than knives, and loyalty weighs more than debt.
“Brother Mo, they're demolishing the new district, and the other side has brought in people from another province.”
“Get a gift ready. I'll have a cup of tea with their boss.”
“But they've brought dozens of men...”
“One IOU will do.” Chen Mo flicked away his cigarette ash. “I guaranteed his son's studies abroad last year.”
This is the story of an ordinary man carefully advancing through the gray zones of society. No bloodshed with bullets flying, just one deal after another in the ledger of human relationships. When he finally stands in a top-floor office lined with floor-to-ceiling windows, he discovers that the heaviest things he carries aren't power and authority, but favors he can never repay and mornings he can never get back. That rattling tricycle is still parked in his memories.
