The Cold Case is Serious

Set against the turn of the millennium, three troubled youths—Wu Jinbiao, Cao Minghao, and Mai Xingfan—descend into a life of crime orchestrated through premeditated robberies. During a violent rain-drenched home invasion, they accidentally cause the death of wealthy businessman Chen Da. Exploiting the lax household registration loopholes of the era, the culprits successfully assume false identities, launder their ill-gotten gains, and scatter into deep hiding for twenty years. Meanwhile, three innocent young men—Lan Zhence, Dai Yongchao, and Zhang Xiangchong—are wrongfully convicted in a hasty trial, enduring years of agonizing imprisonment. Decades later, veteran detective Wan Youwei remains unyielding in his pursuit of justice. Leveraging a nationwide campaign to clear backlog cases alongside modern forensic breakthroughs, he links the true perpetrators to the crime scene through a single fragment of a belt. Following a coordinated multi-jurisdictional manhunt, the suspects are captured and promptly turn on one another, resulting in an airtight case. Ultimately, the three masterminds receive severe prison sentences while the wrongly accused are fully exonerated—a powerful testament to the inescapable reach of the law and the unyielding presence of judicial justice.