Mark Chao as a technically fantastic investor, but too straight /prideful /charmless in the interpersonal department. He completes difficult projects but makes enemies in his company left and right, including all his bosses at every level onward and up. Trying to uglify a former model to be a rumpled middle management is hard work. Mark Chao is always wearing suits and shirts that are a size too big, hanging weirdly, with half combed hair, unkempt beard, trying to achieve that effect...semi-successfully, I guess. But his is a complicated role of a harsh but caring boss who feels all kind of pain when a project he loves can't get sorted, or he has to do things that violated principles, or when he can't give his employees who are loyal to him the benefits they deserve--and he performs this role excellently.

Sun Yi Qiu is an introverted, slow-but-steady, detail-oriented, and principled young man who invests real emotions into investment projects and the people involved, just like his new boss. Due to sheer chance, he drops unprepared into this huge grinding machine of a company and must learn from scratch (not even a basic college degree because he spent his formative years aiming to be a competitive Go player, but ultimately stalled). Eventually though, with some help and hard-won opportunities, he does find a food-hold to stand his own ground in the world of investment banking.

Along with him, there are also 3 other fellow first-year employees, each on their own journey in the first steps of their careers, having their own character arcs, their own stories and volition and perspectives, which are also very engaging.

The acting is really great throughout. I love how REAL everything is... and admit to being moved to tears several times, because the conversations and lessons are the type that everyone can encounter in our IRL everyday lives. Although, that's also why this show is quite stressful, lol. Way more stressful than watching some gods and demons battling over a universe.

Although the story drags a bit in the middle and could have had 10 episodes shrank to 5, the close work relationships everyone form, whether good or ill, is really the best parts of the story. The Chinese workplace is a FAMILY. There are family members who care for you and are loyal to you, or who can't stand you or are jealous of you, or who have their (sometimes very rational and valid from their perspectives) negative opinion of you, or all of these at the same time--but it is your obligation to find a way to coexist together in a reasonably cohesive way if you want to succeed, and become a part of that complicated family. And when you REALLY can't anymore... well, going forth to create your own new family is truly the best and most hopeful option.