Episode 1 - 1987: The Hollow Success
1987 Canteen Betrayal: Sun Guifen’s 12,000 Yuan Play
Profit is finally showing at the brick-factory canteen, and Lin Guoqiang and Sun Guifen stop pretending. They push Zhao Weidong’s original 12,000 yuan back across the table and tell him he’s out. Sun goes for blood in front of the kitchen staff: Zhao only paid, never sweated, never built the connections, never earned the contract—so the canteen belongs to Lin alone. When Zhao reminds them who pulled Lin back from the edge, Lin hides behind “I risked my life.” The partnership tears open right there. Zhao stares at the money, then at the staff who just watched Sun humiliate him, and refuses to accept the lie.
Sun slaps the 12,000 yuan on the canteen table—will the kitchen staff stand with Zhao when the lunch rush starts?