Like a Flowing River

In a period of economic reform, three men will push the boundaries to reach success. Song Yunhui (Wang Kai) 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 Yunhui, Lei Dongbao (Yang Shuo) 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 (Dong Zijian) 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?