Zhong Jianguo, known as “Little Zhong,” was once the village’s envy as a construction contractor. At the height of his success, he had more than twenty people working for him and drove an Audi to upscale restaurants. Now, at thirty-seven, he was hiding in a construction-site container, counting his last three cigarettes. Outside were workers demanding their wages; on his phone was the bank’s final warning; on WeChat was a reminder from his ex-wife to pay child support.
These days, the work is easy enough to find, but the money is hard to collect. Government projects are behind on payments, developers have fled, and suppliers are at his door every day. To keep up appearances, he maxed out ten credit cards. Now he even has to buy the workers’ boxed lunches on credit. When the court’s seal was slapped on his secondhand Audi, reality finally stripped the once-spirited man of his last shred of dignity.
But just as he was about to leap from the unfinished twenty-third floor, an unexpected discovery showed him a way out. Contractors like him, all owed money, had formed a secret “Debt Collection Alliance.” They didn’t use violence. Instead, they exploited industry dirt and loopholes in the law: one member specialized in tailing developers’ mistresses, another bribed bank employees to trace the flow of funds, and yet another forged court documents to apply pressure. Thanks to his knowledge of the construction industry’s inner workings, Little Zhong quickly became the alliance’s “technical adviser.” All his failures suddenly became his most valuable asset.
With his dignity ground into the sand and gravel of the concrete, this desperate man sniffed out a chance to survive in the cracks of the gray zone. But when he helped Old Zhou recover the first unpaid sum, a sudden visit from the police made him realize that this road to survival was far more dangerous than he had imagined.
