宋运辉到东海报到，成为东海化工领导班子里最年轻的副职。他将妻女接到东海工作生活，程开颜的懒惰和猜疑让两人间逐渐有了裂痕并且越来越深，以离婚收场。凭借过硬的业务能力和魄力，宋运辉不断发挥主心骨的作用，在前期筹备和组建合资厂的过程中一次次带领东海项目渡过难关，却也因风头太盛招致不满。小雷家改革步伐越迈越大，却因对安全问题的忽视导致铜厂爆炸，雷东宝因行贿遭遇牢狱之灾，出狱后建雷霆公司，收服手下人，给电线找到了销路。从入狱到出狱，韦春红一直是雷东宝背后的支撑。杨巡来到东海发展，把市场做得风生水起，在与外资代表梁思申的合作中，一面仰视着高阶层的梁思申，一面做着假账，被梁父发现，出手整治，加之寡母离世，杨巡遭受多重打击，小会计任遐迩陪在他身旁。出任中外合资厂外方经理的梁思申在工作中和宋运辉多有接触和交锋，彼此也为对方的能力所折服，两人都未明言，但内心已经越走越近。 song yunhui reports to work in donghai, becoming the youngest deputy director on the leadership team of donghai chemicals. he brings his wife and daughter to work and live in donghai. cheng kaiyan’s laziness and suspicious nature gradually cause a rift between her and song yunhui. the rift deepens and they end in divorce. the excellent abilities and resoluteness demonstrated by song yunhui make him the backbone of his team. during the preliminary preparations and establishment of the joint venture factory, song yunhui leads the donghai project through the difficult times time and again. however, his high-profile actions have also caused dissatisfaction. the reforms in lei village increase in scope, but the disregard for safety issues causes the copper factory to explode. lei dongbao is imprisoned for bribery. after his release from prison, lei dongbao establishes thunder company, recruits his former subordinates, and finds a market for their electric wires. wei chunhong has stood behind lei dongbao from his imprisonment to his release. yang xun comes to develop his career in donghai and his market is a success. during his cooperation with liang sishen, a foreign representative from the upper class, yang xun is drawn to her. on the other hand, he cooks the books of their business. liang sishen’s father finds out and takes action to punish him. yang xun suffers further setbacks when his widowed mother passes away. the young accountant, ren xia’er, stays by his side. liang sishen, who serves as the foreign manager of the chinese-foreign joint venture factory, has had a lot of contact and confrontation with song yunhui at work. song yunhui and liang sishen are impressed by each other’s abilities. although neither of them has made their feelings known, they have grown fond of each other.