Episode Summary
Ma Weiguo, a wealthy but terminally ill executive in New York, returns to Beijing after his "Little Aunt" falls ill. He reunites with his three estranged childhood friends. They resent him for a past tragedy involving the death of Aunt's son. Ma Weiguo uses his Aunt's dying wish to force a temporary truce and moves in with one of the friends.
Spoiler Alert
Episode 1 Recap
A Funeral for the Living
Ma Weiguo starts the show in a coffin. He is attending his own funeral in New York. It is a simulation. He hired actors to mourn him. His phone rings in the casket. It’s Kong Liang. A board meeting is about to start. Ma Weiguo isn't dead. He is a high-powered executive making big money. He leaves the funeral home and walks onto the streets of Manhattan. The city is busy. It is cold. It lacks soul. The isolation triggers memories of Beijing in 1998. He had three best friends back then. They were young and happy.
The Boys Back Home
We get a look at the old crew in China. Li Lianbao works at a big factory. He climbed to middle management. He is slick and calculating. Wang Chunsheng comes from a line of chefs. Tong Qiu is a slacker who likes to coast through life. Ma Weiguo, meanwhile, is dealing with sharks in New York. A rival named Jack tries to oust him. Ma Weiguo is two steps ahead. He planted the evidence Jack used. He crushes the coup effortlessly.
The Diagnosis
Success doesn't cure everything. Ma Weiguo gets bad news. He has a glioma. It is a brain tumor. The doctor urges him to get surgery. It is risky. Ma Weiguo considers ending it all. He holds a bottle of sleeping pills. He starts fading out. He hears his childhood friends calling him in a hallucination. The phone rings for real. It saves him. His Little Aunt is in critical condition. He drops the suicide plan. He flies back to Beijing.
Crash Landing
Ma Weiguo rushes to the hospital. The three friends are already there. He freezes. He hides. He isn't ready to face them yet. We see what the others are up to. Wang Chunsheng runs a chaotic restaurant. He visits Tong Qiu. Tong Qiu is renting Ma Weiguo’s old place. The authorities are tearing down the storage room because Ma's father built it illegally. Tong Qiu is out on the street.
Bad Blood
Wang Chunsheng has his own problems. His son, Wang Fei, is failing school. Wang tries to bribe the teacher with a duck. The teacher refuses. Wang gets drunk with Li Lianbao. He wakes up and catches his son messing up. He chases the kid down. He starts beating him in public. Ma Weiguo steps out of the shadows right then. The mood drops instantly. Wang and Li still hate him.
The Sin of the Past
Here is the ugly truth. Years ago, Ma Weiguo got jumped by thugs. The friends jumped in to help. Little Aunt’s son, Xu Liang, followed them. The thugs killed Xu Liang. Wang Chunsheng killed a thug in revenge. Their lives fell apart. Ma Weiguo sparked the fire. Then he ran away to America without a word.
An Uneasy Peace
Ma Weiguo visits Little Aunt alone. She doesn't blame him. She tells him to let it go. Her only wish is to see the four friends united. Ma Weiguo invites the guys to dinner. He hands out three bank cards. He tries to pay for his guilt. It insults them. But he plays the "Little Aunt" card. That is their soft spot. They agree to visit her together. They take a group photo. It is a start. Ma Weiguo moves in with Tong Qiu. He replaces all the furniture. He is here to stay.
