In 1998, Qingxi Town gangster Lu Chuan was stepped on and humiliated in public by Zhou Tian, the son of the deputy county magistrate. His father's words, "You are not even qualified to fight back" completely awakened him. He gave up street fighting and entered the official career as a temporary worker in the town government, starting from the lowest level as an errand boy. During the three years in Qingxi Town, he helped Lao Zui track down the truth behind his son's death due to a work-related injury ten years ago, donated 50,000 yuan for road construction for the villagers of Yangjia'ao, helped Lao Wu's tea garden become a brand, and helped Lao Han, a homeless man, to get a new residence and plant a "rooted" osmanthus tree. Every time he ran for the people, he paid his own travel expenses and wrote handwritten notes, practicing his belief that "justice comes from running out" on the muddy mountain road.
After being transferred to the county seat, Lu Chuan faced the interest network woven by Zhou Tian, his father Zhou Jianguo, and businessman Liu Yongfu. He took advantage of his own strength, used auditing as an edge and people's hearts as a shield, and successively brought down corrupt elements such as Ma Jianguo, making the truth about the murder of his stubborn son fourteen years ago come to light. The novel uses keywords such as "security", "convenience", "dignity" and "roots" to connect the triviality and heaviness of grassroots governance, showing the growth of an atypical official - he is not a born idealist, but gradually understands the true taste of power while helping the common people accomplish practical things.
The work abandons the Machiavellian conventions of official novels, and uses rough and real details to bring to life the portraits of low-level groups such as Lao Zui, Lao Han, and Zhang Guifang. It also reveals the survival wisdom of the "silly young people" within the system: they must not only be able to run departments, raise funds, and coordinate relationships, but also know how to take advantage of opportunities, lay hidden stakes, and kill people with borrowed knives. In the end, Lu Chuan's "official career" proved that the real upward path is always based on the hearts of the people.
