The Fine-Craft Quagmire

Lin Chen, an ordinary man, makes his start in an old, run-down workshop. Hemmed in by competitors, cut off from resources, and suppressed at every turn, he relies neither on connections nor shortcuts. Instead, he holds fast to his standards with masterful craftsmanship and breaks through the exacting barriers of a major city factory. He shatters the county town’s social circles and breaches the barriers between classes, carving out a way forward against the current through sheer skill in the narrow cracks of the manufacturing world.