In 1978, Chen Moyan was left in the care of Old Master Guan. He studied antiques, but what he really learned to restore was the human heart. Inheriting the teachings of two masters, he learned both the “rules” of an old Palace Museum expert and the “ways of the underworld” from a street-market antiques king. This taught him to see through both fakes and human nature.
Behind every antique lies a scheme. But the biggest scheme of all turned out to be his master's staged death, a test that put everyone to the test.
His childhood sweetheart turns against him over their differing principles, while his sworn enemy uses the dirtiest methods to exact revenge. From Panjiayuan's street stalls to buying up courtyard houses, from striking it rich with lucky finds to facing off against foreign forces, every step he takes leads him through a fog of deception and a blade's edge of loyalty.
In this line of work, one glance can determine fortune, and one mistake can cost a life. Can he hold on to his principles and see the truth through the tangled schemes of human nature and the antiques trade?
