Heritage

In the late 1920s, the Yi family, a giant in the Shanghai retail industry, faced a succession crisis. Yi Xinghua decided to choose a family heir among his three daughters, Zhong Ling, Zhong Yu, and Zhong Xiu, after his only son, Yi Zhongjie, abandoned business to pursue medicine. Zhong Ling was a refined lady, elegant and quiet. Zhong Yu was raised by her maternal grandfather, a wealthy businessman from Southeast Asia, and was astute and capable. Zhong Xiu studied in the United States, romantic and naive. The three daughters, having different mothers, incompatible temperaments, and distinct upbringings, resorted to various extraordinary measures to win the right to inherit Xinghua Department Store. Yi Xinghua did not anticipate that the return of the three daughters would cause a huge uproar and feared it would hurt their familial bonds, making it difficult for him to select a final heir. During Shanghai's 'isolated island' period, Yi Xinghua seized the opportunity as Xinghua Department Store thrived like never before, with most of its profits going to aid Shanghai's disaster victims. However, good times were short-lived; in 1941, the Japanese invaders occupied Shanghai. Yi Xinghua was killed for supporting anti-Japanese patriotic activities and refusing to collaborate with the invaders. With the loss of their leader, Xinghua Department Store suffered repeated severe blows and found itself in turmoil. Yi's children, determined to realize their father's dream of revitalizing the nation through industry, eventually united and weathered the challenging times together.