Tian Di Liang Ren 天地粮人

Description:

The story follows a generation of grain workers with a conscience. The protagonist Gao Yuan and Qu Zheng-Ping are sworn friends. More than thirty years later, Gao Yuan returns to his hometown as the new head of the grain department. Soon after taking office, he receives a mysterious anonymous letter reporting that the grain depot is in fact an empty warehouse, pointing directly at Qu Zheng-Ping, who by then was already vice governor. Determined to get to the bottom of the truth, Gao Yuan faces interference and surveillance from all sides. Why has the Red Flag grain depot become empty? Who is the mysterious whistleblower? A series of unsolvable riddles crashes down on Gao Yuan.
The two protagonists, Gao Yuan and Qu Zheng-Ping, are played by Li You-Bin, long known as a "specialist in police roles," and Zhang Zhi-Zhong. Speaking of this drama, Li You-Bin said bluntly: "Acting should not start from events, but from the character's feelings. Performance is not a competition, but a process of understanding the role, society, and the issues." Zhang Zhi-Zhong, long presented in a "tough guy" image, plays Qu Zheng-Ping in Tian Di Liang Ren; because of their sharply different political views, he and his good friend Gao Yuan part ways and become irreconcilable rivals. With his rich acting experience, he vividly and movingly portrays a man torn between emotion and self-interest.
This is a long television drama set against the background of the grain industry, deeply concerned with "food security" and the "three rural issues," while passionately praising the grain workers' strong sense of responsibility to society and their spirit of selfless dedication.
The youth of the protagonists Gao Yuan, Qu Zheng-Ping, and Fang Jie was spent during the "three years of natural disasters." With grain as their bond, Gao Yuan, descendant of peasants, and Qu Zheng-Ping, son of a county party secretary, formed a friendship stronger than life and death; also with grain as their bond, Gao Yuan and Fang Jie, daughter of an agricultural expert, developed a vague, budding affection. In the blink of an eye, nearly forty years have passed. Qu Zheng-Ping is already vice governor in charge of agriculture and grain, and Fang Jie is already a senior engineer at the provincial grain inspection institute — and has been divorced from Gao Yuan for seven years. That day, Qu Zheng-Ping, not long after divorcing his ex-wife Ye Wen, is preparing to openly declare the love that evolved from their youthful friendship with Fang Jie, when Gao Yuan, far away in Beijing, suddenly returns as the new head of the grain department and appears before them... Thus the story formally begins.
In fact, Gao Yuan has not come back merely to rekindle a romance. He is a man with deep memories of the years of great famine, who has always worked in grain and treats grain as his life. Thus, not long after taking office, when he discovers in his hometown of Heji a grain depot emptied by "grain rats," he resolves to carry out a "four cleanups and four inspections" campaign aimed at clarifying the real situation and establishing a sound food reserve security system. Yet Qu Zheng-Ping rose to vice governor precisely because of his outstanding achievements as head of the grain department, and the Heji grain depot was in particular a Red Flag model depot established by Qu Zheng-Ping! Thus a conflict mixed with friendship emerges, and why the empty depot appeared and where the funds obtained from it went temporarily become a mystery.
Thanks to the firm support of Governor Chang Yan-Bin and the active backing of the broad ranks of cadres and workers represented by Sun Li, director of the grain department office, Gao Yuan finally overcomes the resistance of Qu Zheng-Ping and Li Yong-Bao, director of the Heji grain bureau, and others, and launches the province-wide inspection. To cover up problems and divert contradictions, Qu Zheng-Ping insists on placing the pilot program of "market-oriented grain purchase and sale" in Heji at the start of the summer harvest. As a result, private grain merchants represented by Mei Zi stir things up so badly that the state grain station nearly closes, and just then a heavy rain arrives, causing "sprouted wheat" to appear everywhere. Not only does a huge gap appear in commercial grain, but because peasants had long stopped storing grain, even the peasants themselves could not solve the problem of having grain to eat that year! Facing such a severe food security situation, Gao Yuan, on the one hand, organizes emergency grain transfers from other provinces, and on the other begins looking for ways to help peasants deal with the sprouted wheat. Yet precisely at this moment, Qu Zheng-Ping, hinted by Li Yong-Bao, realizes that the funds from that empty depot are connected to his ex-wife, and that if the inspection continues it will affect his official position. Contradictorily and painfully, while Governor Chang Yan-Bin is abroad on an inspection tour, he strikes at Gao Yuan, using the sprouted wheat affair as a pretext to suspend Gao Yuan from his post as department head... At this time Gao Yuan is also conflicted. He thinks of angrily resigning and transferring back to Beijing, but facing the peasants who are linked to him by blood and are at their wits' end, and facing a situation that could trigger a "grain famine," he still realizes his responsibility and makes a choice: to cast personal fame and gain behind him and, with the unwavering support of the grain department and the broad workers of the grain industry, continue striving to prevent a grain famine. In fact, at this time not only Gao Yuan, but many others, even Mei Zi, made their own correct life choices, including Fang Jie, who also made her emotional choice — from then on Qu Zheng-Ping no longer had a place in her heart.
Grain is the "foundation of all prices," a special commodity vital to the national economy and people's livelihood. Gao Yuan's actions actually represent the true community of "grain people," their spirit of "heavenly duty" to be highly responsible to the country and society. For example, there is a grassroots grain station chief named He Shun-Fa, who, squeezed and attacked by Li Yong-Bao until his personal fate reached a dead end, still never forgot his responsibility, and in a remote rural corner silently collected and stored grain, sustaining a grain station where he was the only person! Another example is Ding Zhi-Gang, Gao Yuan's childhood playmate, who after being demobilized and returning to the Heji grain bureau, defied Li Yong-Bao's power and also selflessly performed his own "earth-shaking" deeds for food security.
What is tragic is Qu Zheng-Ping. Ignoring the severe situation of food security, at this time, in order to build personal political achievements, he mistakenly launches a pilot program in Heji of "fruits and vegetables replacing grain," intending to guide the peasants of this poor province toward prosperity and moderate comfort by sacrificing grain production. As a result, the so-called "three withouts" model quickly appears in Heji — "households without grain, villages without grain, townships without grain" — and the further result is that peasants with no grain reserves rush into Heji city to buy grain, finally triggering a "grain famine" that could have been avoided...
In the end, through the efforts of Gao Yuan and others, the "grain famine" is quelled, and the inspection work interrupted by Qu Zheng-Ping is once again fully launched with the full support of Provincial Party Secretary Hao and Governor Chang. Qu Zheng-Ping seems to have gained some understanding of his mistakes and voluntarily proposes to resign and take blame, while Li Yong-Bao, who had all along used Qu Zheng-Ping to achieve his own goals, also receives the punishment he deserves... However, the plot does not seem to be completely over. Gao Yuan's public words still seem to echo for a long time and provoke people's reflection: the abolition of grain coupons and grain stores does not mean that for us "eating grain" is no longer a problem. While cherishing grain as Gao Yuan does, the whole society should attach great importance to food security and to the "three rural issues" that directly exert a major influence on it! Of course, what is gratifying is that this issue has now begun to receive great attention.