One key, two empires collapsing, and four boys who chose brotherhood over survival.
Season 1 • Episode 32
LatestLin Xi, a member of a dockside gang, finds himself unintentionally caught in an intelligence war between the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (BIS) and Japanese invaders due to a key. Alongside his good friend Li Yunfei, they cross paths with Su Nan, a forward-thinking student, and Zhou Yingqun, an upright and principled BIS agent. As the enigma surrounding the key gradually unravels, it sets off clashes among gangs and sparks nationwide turmoil. Amid the turmoil, Lin Xi, Zhou Yingqun, and Li Yunfei form a profound brotherly bond, navigating through life-threatening scenarios.
Acting
Ou Hao's transformation from dock rat to reluctant patriot
Production
Period recreation of 1940s Shanghai's rotting glamour
Writing
Intelligence plots that actually make you work for it
Creator
袁源
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The BIS (Bureau of Investigation and Statistics) was the actual intelligence arm of the Nationalist government, notoriously brutal and chaotic—making Zhou Yingqun's moral struggle historically grounded.
Director Yuan Yuan specifically cast theater actors for the dock gang scenes to capture authentic 1940s Shanghainese dialect and physicality lost in mainstream productions.
CN
