Wang Jing, a 26-year-old master's degree candidate, was assigned to the remote Qingxi Town. On the night of registration, she was harassed by the deputy mayor and coldly warned by the town secretary. She found that the note left by her father said "there is a problem with poverty alleviation funds" and that her father died "accidentally" while investigating the case a year ago. Wang Jing is determined to find out the truth for her father. She starts from the town's Discipline Inspection Commission and fights wits and courage with corrupt elements along the way.
What she faced was not one person, but a huge network from the township to the provincial capital: the town secretary, the county party committee standing committee member, the deputy mayor, the director of the Provincial Poverty Alleviation Office, and the vice chairman of the Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, all layers of protection and interlocking. Some people use power to suppress her, some use money to buy her, some use beauty to seduce her, and some threaten her with the lives of their family members. Wang Jing saved the day every time - using recordings to counter sexual harassment, using evidence to deal with false accusations, using tricks to defuse traps, and waiting patiently for her opponents to reveal their flaws.
Under the secret protection of Han Ming, a veteran of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, she brought down corrupt officials one by one and approached the truth step by step. From the township to the county Commission for Discipline Inspection, from the county committee office to the deputy county magistrate, and from the county magistrate to the deputy director of the Provincial Poverty Alleviation Office, it took her ten years to complete the journey that her father had not yet completed. In the end, all five core corrupt officials were arrested, more than 800 million in funds were recovered, and thousands of kilometers of roads were repaired.
Wang Jing always has a lantern given by an old farmer on her desk. That light was never lit, but it illuminated all the darkness she walked through.
