In a rapidly developing second-tier city along the river, the glossy facade of prosperity conceals the struggles of its old neighborhoods and cases buried in the past. Chen Mo, a 32-year-old shopkeeper who helps people process ID documents, is an ordinary man at the bottom of society who only wants a quiet life. One stormy night, a stranger leaves behind a locked metal box before mysteriously drowning. Two groups arrive one after another, threatening Chen Mo and demanding the box, shattering his peace for good. To protect himself, Chen Mo pries it open and discovers a key piece of evidence in the “accidental death” of Lin Jianjun, a worker at a state-owned factory twenty years earlier. Forced into the mystery, he follows the clues, which point straight to today's leading real estate conglomerate. He faces mortal danger time and again, and can no longer tell friend from foe. Just as he thinks he has exposed the capitalists pulling the strings, the truth takes a complete turn: the real culprit is Lin Jianjun's own brother, the person closest to him. What appeared to be a case born of a struggle between corporate powers is actually a tragedy wrought by human greed and betrayal. In the end, Chen Mo becomes a pawn in a revenge plot, left with a heavy heart and peace that remains out of reach.
