Zhou Chen, 35, is a demobilized reconnaissance soldier and a small-time contractor in Bincheng. He has three or five workers under him, taking small jobs in renovations and masonry. The pay isn't much, but it's honest work. He's quiet, stubborn, and set in his ways. His workers respect him because he never misses a payday.
His wife died of illness three years ago, and he has been raising their twelve-year-old son, Zhou Ran, alone.
Ma Debiao, a major property developer, hires him to handle the structural work on a commercial complex. The job is worth eight million, to be paid in full upon completion. Zhou Chen scrapes together the deposit and spends over half a year working with more than twenty men.
The work is done. It passes inspection.
Ma Debiao refuses to pay.
Eight hundred thousand.
Zhou Chen wins the lawsuit, but the judgment can't be enforced. Ma Debiao's company is a shell, and the money has already been transferred away through related-party transactions.
Only then does Zhou Chen realize that this isn't just about unpaid wages. Ma Debiao has been cutting corners, bribing officials, and laundering money, with retired official Li Tiancheng backing him. Substandard building materials have been poured into the foundations of one housing complex after another.
Zhou Chen decides to investigate.
The cost: his workers are beaten, his army buddy is targeted in retaliation, his son is threatened, and a building-supply store is smashed up.
One small-time contractor is taking on an entire industry chain.
Everyone says he's crazy.
Zhou Chen says nothing. When he was in the army, he learned one thing:
Keep your eyes on the target, close in step by step, then strike with lethal force.
This is a tough nut to crack.
His teeth are tougher.
