Episode Summary
Returning from Germany in 1998, engineering PhD Liu Jun discovers his father has suffered a stroke and their family factory is bankrupt. He has a tense reunion with his estranged childhood friend, Qian Hongming, now a successful businessman, who harbors a deep grudge over a past family scandal. Facing aggressive creditors and technical failures at the factory, Liu Jun uses his expertise to solve a critical product defect, creating a glimmer of hope just as his father begins to regain consciousness.
Spoiler Alert
The premiere of Created in China Episode drops us into the autumn of 1998, a period of rapid, often brutal, economic change in China. We meet our protagonist, Liu Jun, a brilliant mechanical engineering PhD just stepping off a plane from Germany. He’s immediately hit with a harsh welcome—a price-gouging black cab driver—and even harsher news. A frantic payphone call confirms his worst fears: his father, Liu Shitang, has suffered a stroke and lies in a coma, his business, the Qianjin Machinery Plant, on the verge of bankruptcy.
Just as the weight of it all sinks in, a sharply dressed man in a tailored suit brushes past him. It’s Qian Hongming, a childhood friend Liu Jun hasn’t seen since a bitter falling-out six years ago. Now the manager of the successful Xiangtong Mechanical Import & Export Company, Qian’s polished appearance and sleek sedan are a world away from Liu Jun’s disheveled panic. The stage is set for a collision of past and present.
A Ghost from the Past and a Feud Revealed
The car ride to the hospital is thick with unspoken history. Qian Hongming pointedly avoids driving past the factory, while Liu Jun feigns sleep, both men unwilling to touch the six-year-old wound that tore them apart. At the hospital, they part with a clipped exchange.
The source of their animosity is quickly revealed. Over dinner with his sister, Qian Hongying, Qian Hongming laments, "I just wanted him to see I've made something of myself, but he didn't even seem to notice." This opens a floodgate of resentment. Years ago, Qian Hongying had borrowed money from Liu Jun’s father to cover their parents' medical bills. But the transaction was twisted into a scandal when Liu Jun’s aunt publicly accused her of being a homewrecker, trying to destroy Liu Jun’s parents’ marriage. Qian Hongming remains convinced the Liu family deliberately spread the rumor to ruin his sister's future, a betrayal he has never forgiven.
A Factory on Life Support
The next day, Liu Jun stands before the rusted gates of the Qianjin Machinery Plant, a place that was once his childhood playground. Now, it’s a graveyard of cobwebs and decay. After grabbing a screwdriver and gouging at the floor, his diagnosis is swift and brutal: "The equipment's precision is shot. Management is a total mess."
The tension with Qian Hongming, who has accompanied him, finally boils over. "Does a small-time factory like this really understand German industrial standards?" Qian scoffs. Before Liu Jun can retort, they’re interrupted by shouting. A supplier, Boss Quan, has arrived with his men to demand payment. Just as things are about to get physical, a veteran foreman, Xu Bo, and a group of workers step in. Liu Jun seizes the moment, making a bold promise: "Give me two days to check the books. I'll get the money." Boss Quan, seeing Qian Hongming standing by as a silent, implicit guarantor, spits on the ground and leaves—for now.
A Technical Puzzle and a Glimmer of Hope
With the immediate crisis averted, Foreman Xu reveals the final straw that broke Liu Jun’s father. Desperate for a turnaround, Liu Shitang took on a high-end order for hydraulic parts that was far beyond the factory's capabilities. The samples were consistently riddled with porosity and sand holes. The stress of repeated failures led directly to his collapse. "If we don't deliver by the end of the month," Xu warns, "selling the factory won't even cover the debt."
This sends Liu Jun racing back into the workshop. He spends hours analyzing the failed parts until, late at night, he has a breakthrough. He rushes to Qian Hongming’s office to use his phone to contact an assistant back in Germany. Seeing him in a desperate state, Qian offers him a place to stay for the night. The atmosphere at Qian's home is tense, a fact not lost on his observant wife, Shen Jiali. Later, Qian quietly confesses to her the depth of his grudge: "The Liu family owes my sister. It's a debt that can never be settled in this lifetime."
For the next three days, Liu Jun lives in the workshop, redesigning and fabricating a new mold. When the new sample passes all the client's tests, Foreman Xu is ecstatic. "We can restart production tomorrow!" he exclaims. But Liu Jun, ever the engineer, looks at the blueprints and asks a critical question: "Where's the technician?" Xu is taken aback. "We can't afford a designer. The old masters have always just made changes based on experience."
Just then, the phone rings. It’s the hospital. Liu Shitang’s finger moved. Liu Jun sprints to his father’s bedside. As he watches his father’s eyelids begin to flutter, the morning light catches the flawless, gleaming hydraulic part resting in his toolbox—a single, hard-won symbol of hope in a sea of trouble.
Final Thoughts & Spoilers:
The first episode masterfully sets up a compelling drama rooted in personal history and a changing nation. The central conflict is clear: can Liu Jun, a man of science and principle, navigate the messy, relationship-driven world of business his father failed in? The dynamic with Qian Hongming is the heart of the story—is he a friend, a foe, or something in between? His silent guarantee at the factory suggests a flicker of old loyalty, but his confession to his wife reveals a deep-seated desire for revenge.
With Liu Shitang waking up, the truths behind the old scandal are bound to come to light. The episode leaves us with several burning questions: Can Liu Jun’s technical genius single-handedly pull the factory back from the brink? What is Qian Hongming’s real endgame? And as Liu Shitang regains consciousness, what secrets will he reveal about the feud that has poisoned two families for years?
