Yang Caiyu

Knowing nothing more than the working-class life he is born into, headstrong Lu Xiaolu reluctantly starts down the path he is expected to follow. At age nineteen in 1990s China, he feels pressure to follow suit with those around him and takes a job at the town’s saccharin factory. Slowly, he adjusts to the bureaucratic factory routine, making the best of the situation by bonding with coworkers, flirting with girls, and refusing to give in completely to the expectations of those around him. As Lu Xiaolu finds his way, a startling portrait of an economically expanding China comes into view; the propaganda of a common goal gives way to a bottom-line system that he sees as indifferent to individual happiness. But thanks to the relationships he develops, Lu Xiaolu decides to fight for the life he wants.

In a period of economic reform, three men will push the boundaries to reach success. Song Yun Hui is a highly intelligent man who becomes a technician and builds a great foundation for his career. Despite his success, he finds himself struggling to advance in rank due to discrimination against his poor background. Like his brother-in-law Song Yun Hui, Lei Dong Bao is also from a poor background. However, despite being a poor, rural boy, with a lack of education, he becomes a well loved leader that others look up to. A third man, Yang Xun is on the road to becoming a self-made entrepreneur and thrives on finding business opportunities. During the hardships of China's economic reform, can these three men find success?

Can five single, independent career women who live in the Ode to Joy apartment building find fulfillment on their own terms? An Di is a successful business woman who has returned to China after studying in New York to find her younger brother. Qu Xiao Xiao is only 25 but already owns her own small business. Fang Sheng Mei grew up in poverty but has shed her “Princess of the Streets” background to work for a multinational company. Qiu Ying Ying is a 20-year-old small-town girl who is trying to make it in the big city. Guan Ju Er is a 20-year-old from a highly educated family, but she must discover what she wants out of life when enters the workforce for the first time. For these women, there is a man (or two) who is trying to get their attention. Dr. Zhao is a flirtatious, handsome doctor. Qi Dian is the stoic businessman. Wang Bai Chuan is Sheng Mei’s steadfast friend who has always carried a torch for her. Yao Bin is a second-generation chaebol. Tan Zong Ming is An Di’s boss who has been friend-zoned by her despite knowing her since their schooldays. 

Hong Kong police agent Cheung (by Aaron Kwok) works undercover in Kang’s (by Sean Lau) drug cartel, while another undercover cop Au (by Louis Koo) successfully earns their trust in an incident, a brotherly-bond is built among the three. After the Police busts the syndicate in Hong Kong, Kang subsequently hides away in the Golden Triangle, by chance he receives a tip-off about the betrayal within his circle of trust…