Lu Xiao is a young man who clawed his way up from the bottom in a rural township. He seems mild-mannered and unassuming, but beneath the surface he is calculating, well versed in human weakness and the tricks of the underworld.
He doesn’t believe in fate, yet knows exactly how to use “fate” to set his plans in motion;
he doesn’t enjoy taking advantage of people, but he is adept at completely outmaneuvering anyone who tries to take advantage of him.
After graduating from college, he draws on a family notebook of unorthodox tricks and an uncanny eye for reading people. Starting as a low-ranking township clerk, he uses feng shui schemes, psychological ploys, public opinion tactics, and drinking-table maneuvering. At every step, he turns seemingly hopeless situations to his advantage, playing the game of a master con artist on the most complicated chessboard of all: officialdom.
