Midnight

This film (drama)Also known as子夜，is aMainland ChinaProducerbeauty live，At2007Released in year 。The dialogue language isMandarin Chinese，Current Douban rating7.0(For reference only)。

The TV series "Midnight" is adapted from Mr. Mao Dun's representative work, a novel of the same name, and three unpublished manuscripts. The story takes place from the 1920s to the mid-1930s, during a period in Chinese society marked by complex contradictions, a dark and turbulent political situation, government corruption, armed conflicts among warlords, and the signs of imperialist aggression becoming apparent. In this unpredictable era, Wu Sunfu, a representative figure of Chinese national capitalists with exceptional courage and intelligence, returns from Japan to Shanghai with ambitious plans to develop his national industrial kingdom and fulfill his dream of becoming a "hero of the Chinese machinery industry." However, upon arriving at the banks of the Huangpu River, he encounters a violent incident involving the assassination of warlord Lin Kun, leading to the chaos of losing over 200,000 silver notes he had brought with him. While searching for the notes, he inadvertently witnesses the radical elements involved in the assassination kidnapping Lin Kun's daughter, Lin Peiyao, and thus establishes a bond of mutual hardship with her. The lost silver notes unwittingly fall into the hands of Zhao Botao, who is facing a financial crisis, resolving his troubles. Wu Sunfu, filled with passion but utterly despondent, returns to his hometown of Shuangqiao Town, only to be severely reprimanded by his conservative father. His brother-in-law, Hu Bingwen, who covets the Wu family's fortune, plots to frame Sunfu, but ends up being outsmarted and meets his demise. Wu Sunfu's sister, Wu Fufang, mistakenly believes that Sunfu has caused her husband’s death and demands his life in return. Left with no choice, Wu Sunfu leaves his hometown again to start anew in Shanghai, coincidentally encountering Lin Peiyao, who sells wontons, and befriending Du Zhuzhai, who is an assistant to Zhao Botao. Progress is made in both love and career. When Du Zhuzhai introduces Sunfu to Zhao Botao, Zhao harbors suspicions of Sunfu having ulterior motives related to the 200,000 silver notes. Unaware, Sunfu sincerely offers strategies to Zhao. When Zhao Botao finally no longer worries about the silver notes, he realizes that Sunfu's talents could become a hidden danger for him and plots to undermine him. At a critical moment, Du Zhuzhai inadvertently saves Wu Sunfu, forcing Zhao Botao to retreat. Eight years later, the now successful Wu Sunfu brings his elderly father to Shanghai, but the conservative Wu father cannot cope with Shanghai's bizarre and strange atmosphere and dies, turning a joyful occasion into a funeral. Over the years, Wu Sunfu's "Shuangqiao Kingdom" has both absorbed several small to medium enterprises to grow stronger and faced oppression from imperialism and feudal forces. Now, amid the siege from bureaucratic and compradore capital, fate pushes him toward the duel arena. He has irreconcilable life-and-death contradictions with compradore capitalist Zhao Botao, as well as sharp conflicts with farmers and workers. In order to achieve victory in the struggle, he reluctantly has to embrace bureaucratic capital, attempting to control the public debt market through war. However, due to limited capital and the inherent weaknesses of national capitalists—who are indecisive, fearful, and autocratic—Wu Sunfu faces significant difficulties in the public debt market. To shift the crisis, he targets the workers by reducing their wages, firing them, and extending their working hours. In the face of worker resistance and strikes, he resorts to bribing and utilizing scabs to undermine the worker collective, even colluding with military and police to suppress them. Yet, none of this can prevent the tragedy of his continual defeats in the public debt and factory struggles. Ultimately, Wu Sunfu confronts Zhao Botao in an open showdown, where Zhao offers to lend money to the struggling "Yizhong Company" as a condition for "reconciliation," while secretly plotting to take over the company. When Wu Sunfu discovers Zhao's scheme, he remains unyielding and decides to go all in, making a final gamble in the public debt market...