Chapter Summaries

At a cruise-ship banquet, Xin Hexue manipulated Qiu Yuan into believing they were alike, then faced an interrupted proposal from Xi Zhengqing when Pei Guangji arrived and asked whether they had met before. Pei Guangji’s question left Xin Hexue and the watching guests stunned as they noticed Xi Zhengqing’s promise rings.

• Xin Hexue danced with Qiu Yuan, teased him about his suspicions, and used K’s electric shock to confirm Qiu Yuan’s connection to the tentacles.
• Xin Hexue planned to make Qiu Yuan believe they were both nonhuman outsiders so Qiu Yuan would take him under his protection.
• Xi Zhengqing led Xin Hexue to the darkened top deck, showed him promise rings, and asked him to accept them.
• Qiu Yuan interrupted Xi Zhengqing’s proposal by bringing the banquet guests onto the deck, where Pei Guangji appeared.
• Pei Guangji approached Xin Hexue with a drink and asked whether they had met before, then asked if Xin Hexue knew him.

At Qiu Yuan’s birthday party, Pei Guangji met Xin Hexue but could not remember their past, and Xi Zhengqing took Xin away while claiming to be his boyfriend. Pei Guangji investigated his memory loss and searched for Xin as Xi Zhengqing continued hiding his own deception from him.

• Pei Guangji asked Xin Hexue if they had met before, but Xi Zhengqing claimed Xin was his boyfriend and led him away; Pei Guangji admitted he had lost important memories and watched them leave.
• Qiu Yuan explained that Pei Guangji had taken control of the Pei Corporation after waking from his coma, then exchanged teasing messages with Xin Hexue and gained affection points.
• Xi Zhengqing told Xin Hexue that Pei Guangji’s memory loss resulted from an injury in the aircraft accident, while concealing that he had once used Pei Guangji’s identity to approach him.
• Pei Guangji’s doctors said the accident may have damaged his temporal lobe, and he became convinced his missing memories involved Xin Hexue.
• Pei Guangji learned that his former special assistant, Jiang Jing, could not be reached and had gone traveling with his family.

Xin Hexue moved out of the South City villa, leaving Pei Guangji to find remnants of their former life as his memories returned. He settled into a new home with Xi Zhengqing and prepared to audition for a dark sequel in which he would play Yi Si.

• Pei Guangji returned to the villa and found Xi Zhengqing collecting Xin Hexue, who left with his mechanical cat and android butler.
• Xin Hexue settled into the Yangnan Bay apartment with Xi Zhengqing and planned to let Pei Guangji recover their past gradually through the belongings left behind.
• Xi Zhengqing promised to pick Xin Hexue up for his audition the next morning, and the two parted as an affectionate couple.
• Xin Hexue read Qiu Yuan's script for a sequel to Yun Ziming's film, in which Yi Si endured abuse at an academy, was manipulated by the Carter brothers, and ultimately took revenge on their family.

Xin Hexue won the role of Yi Si after a powerful audition and impressed Qiu Yuan during a private test, then filming began under Qiu Yuan’s direction. As the crew prepared to shoot a swimming-class scene, Xin Hexue removed his coat and remembered to take off his ring.

• Yi Si returned to his cramped Lower City home, listened to Moonlight Variations, and ended his life with the revolver his lover had given him.
• Xin Hexue’s audition moved the observers, and Qiu Yuan praised his performance before telling him to wait for the result.
• Will introduced himself to Xin Hexue, who explained that he recognized him from a radio report about a supposed love triangle.
• Qiu Yuan tested Xin Hexue’s suitability for Yi Si by asking about his drinking and fighting, and Xin Hexue slapped him at his request, earning ten Affection Points.
• Xin Hexue was cast, and the crew began filming; he learned Qiu Yuan controlled the production and discovered the director arguing with netizens through alternate accounts.
• Before filming the swimming-class scene, Xin Hexue took off his coat and removed the silver ring on his left hand after his assistant reminded him.

Xin Hexue met Xi Zhengqing’s mother, who welcomed their relationship and gave him a supplementary card while discussing a possible wedding. Xi Zhengqing claimed their families supported their relationship in front of Pei Guangji, whose painful memories of an unknown promised marriage resurfaced.

• Qiu Yuan warned Xin Hexue not to get too involved with Xi Zhengqing and suggested finding a backup plan, earning affection points.
• Xin Hexue met Mrs. Xi for lunch, and she gave him Xi Zhengqing’s supplementary card and said she hoped they would marry soon.
• Pei Guangji saw Xin Hexue dining with Mrs. Xi and hurried over, fearing the Xi family would pressure him to end the relationship.
• Xi Zhengqing arrived and announced that their relationship had their parents’ blessing, then invited Pei Guangji to be a groomsman.
• Pei Guangji remembered promising to marry someone and arranging a proposal ring, but could not recall who the intended person was.

Xin Hexue filmed Yi Si’s reunion with the Carter Brothers at a hotel reception, while Pei Guangji’s rut and a call to Xin Hexue left him devastated after he heard Xin Hexue with Xi Zhengqing. After filming wrapped, Xin Hexue stayed behind when he spotted Director Qiu, leaving their next conversation to follow.

• Xin Hexue accepted Xi Zhengqing’s marriage proposal and kissed him as Pei Guangji’s rut began at the villa.
• Pei Guangji found Xin Hexue’s contact and called; he heard Xin Hexue and Xi Zhengqing being intimate, raising Pei Guangji’s Heartbreak Value by 30.
• Xin Hexue ended the call and told Xi Zhengqing that nobody had called.
• Xin Hexue reshot Yi Si’s hotel-reception scene five times before Director Qiu ended filming for the night.
• Xin Hexue told his assistant to wait in the car after he and Qiu Yuan exchanged looks outside the filming location.

Qiu Yuan criticized Xin Hexue’s portrayal of Yi Si as too confident and took him on a motorcycle ride to give him a taste of losing control. Afterward, they discussed Xin Hexue’s uncertain future as rumors spread that he would soon get engaged to Xi Zhengqing.

• Qiu Yuan told Xin Hexue that his performance lacked Yi Si’s desperation and explained how Yi Si’s Lower City upbringing shaped him.
• Qiu Yuan took Xin Hexue on a fast motorcycle ride along the coast, and Xin Hexue clung to him as the bike rounded a bend.
• When Xin Hexue began coughing, Qiu Yuan slowed down and gave him warm water at their seaside destination.
• Xin Hexue admitted that his unhealthy body kept him from taking risks or doing things he could not control.
• Qiu Yuan asked what Xin Hexue had decided about finding a way out and warned that people in the Core District already knew he might get engaged to Xi Zhengqing early next month.

Xin Hexue learned that the Gong Group had hired an assassin and decided he wanted to make his enemies go crazy rather than fake his death. After Qiu Yuan brought him home, Xi Zhengqing heard him murmur Pei Guangji’s name in his sleep and grew alarmed.

• Qiu Yuan told Xin Hexue that the Gong Group had hired a killer through Black Snake and Spark, and offered to help him fake his death before the engagement banquet.
• Xin Hexue tricked Qiu Yuan into smoking the cigarette he had pretended to want, then fell asleep on a bench while Qiu Yuan watched over him.
• Qiu Yuan found messages from Pei Guangji on Xin Hexue’s unlocked communicator and carried the sleeping Xin Hexue home to Xi Zhengqing.
• Xi Zhengqing took Xin Hexue inside, warned Qiu Yuan to keep his distance, and threw Qiu Yuan’s jacket back out the door.
• Xin Hexue reflected that Qiu Yuan’s snooping could help push Pei Guangji to recover their chat history before the engagement banquet.
• Xi Zhengqing heard Xin Hexue murmur Pei Guangji’s name in his sleep and became suspicious.

Xin Hexue met Pei Guangji and let him believe he had forced his way between Xin Hexue and Xi Zhengqing, then arranged for photos of their meeting to spark a breakup rumor. Pei Guangji had the rumors suppressed but was left grieving in the villa, while Xin Hexue still needed thirty-five more Heartbreak Value.

• Xin Hexue rejected Pei Guangji’s questions about their past and told him to throw away the matching belongings in the villa, leading Pei Guangji to believe he had interfered in Xin Hexue and Xi Zhengqing’s relationship.
• Pei Guangji tried to stop Xin Hexue from leaving and asked if their relationship could be salvaged, but Xin Hexue told him to let go and left.
• A hidden camera captured their meeting, and the photos appeared on the Star Network with a rumor that Pei Guangji had broken up with his first love.
• Xin Hexue reassured Xi Zhengqing that he would meet him after work, then asked Pei Guangji to clear up the rumor; Pei Guangji removed the posts and apologized.
• Xin Hexue paid the paparazzo with Xi Zhengqing’s money, while Pei Guangji drank alone in the villa and mourned Xin Hexue.

Pei Guangji received the backup-server key from Jiang Jing and discovered Xin Hexue’s missed messages from the previous November as Xi Zhengqing and Xin Hexue’s engagement festivities began. At the Xi Residence, Xin Hexue found the hidden entrance to Xi Zhengqing’s collection room, but Xi Zhengqing stopped him and claimed the room was abandoned.

• Qiu Yuan brought Jiang Jing to Pei Guangji, and Jiang Jing gave him the backup-server key.
• Pei Guangji transferred the data and found old messages from Xin Hexue, then dropped his bottle as dawn fireworks marked the engagement festivities.
• Xi Zhengqing and Xin Hexue woke together at the Xi Residence and prepared for their engagement banquet.
• Xin Hexue continued searching the residence for Xi Zhengqing’s collection room, suspecting it held the collar he had given Pei Guangji.
• Xin Hexue turned a vase in the study and opened a concealed entrance, but Xi Zhengqing yanked him away and closed it.