In the late 1990s, Lu Yan, a veteran who had been discharged from the military for many years, returned to a poor coastal fishing village. He spent his own money building a dam designed to mimic the effects of toxic tides from the open sea. Ignorant villagers believed the dam was blocking nutrient-rich water from the open sea and, egged on by Qian Hao, tore it down. Once the dam was gone, the red tide surged inland, devastating the villagers' aquaculture farms. Even Qian Hao's oysters were not spared, while Lu Yan's farm remained completely unharmed. Convinced by Lu Yan's farming methods, the villagers begged him to help them raise aquatic products. From then on, Lu Yan led the villagers in breaking the monopoly of big capital and building prosperity together.