Interweaving overlapped timelines through flashbacks, the tale is structured to mainly take place in 2000, 2006 and 2021, with the first two skillfully in line with years when China launched national campaigns to crack down on organized and gang-related crime. The country's latest national campaign to fight against gang crime, and corrupt officials related to such cases, was launched in 2018 and lasted until 2021.

The Knockout marks Zhu's first major work, although he has worked as a scriptwriter for eight years. It is also his first opportunity to get access to the offices of Chinese law enforcement and read confidential files about some of history's most notorious cases.

"I was only allowed to read the archives inside the rooms. Making copies or taking photos was forbidden. The sums of money involved in these cases are stunningly huge figures, which makes it seem surreal," says Zhu.

A native of East China's Shandong province, Zhu, despite depicting himself as an easily satisfied person who mainly eats noodles, recalls he wasn't hesitant to add another dish to his supper at a restaurant after he read those figures.

"The dish was a plate of mixed vegetables, costing around 15 yuan ($2.2). The price tag helped bring me back to reality," he says, with a laugh.

Zhu says the creators reached a consensus to produce the drama with fictional characters in a fictional city located in South China, as a necessary way to avoid traumatizing the families and relatives of real-life victims.

"I have employed a 'piece-together' method to write the major characters, taking inspiration from many true events," he explains.