Chapter Summaries

Li Ye challenged Cai Minying’s proposal to privatize railways and electricity, arguing that essential infrastructure must not be controlled by private or foreign capital. Zhang Qiyan redirected the group to discuss the Plaza Accord, where Li Ye predicted a sharp rise in the Japanese Yen and was mocked by Cai for focusing on petty gains.

• Cai Minying accused Li Ye of looking down on overseas returnees and demanded that he explain his objections to her proposal.
• Li Ye argued that privatizing railways and electricity would put vital infrastructure at the mercy of private interests and overseas capital.
• Zhang Qiyan stopped their argument and asked the group to analyze the Plaza Accord.
• Wang Zhiyuan, Zou Mengcheng, and Cai Minying discussed how Japan might shift manufacturing overseas and how the mainland could attract those industries.
• Li Ye predicted that the Japanese Yen would appreciate sharply and suggested exchanging money, drawing laughter from the group and scorn from Cai Minying.

After leaving Teacher Zhang’s gathering, Li Ye rode toward Zaojunmiao with his fellow disciples, who discussed Cai Minying’s combative return from studying abroad and the need for her to wait for influence and authority. The chapter left Cai Minying dissatisfied with waiting for her turn to call the shots.

• Li Ye left early to pick up his younger sister and girlfriend, and Peng Rui and the others also departed.
• On the ride home, Zou Mengcheng and Yu Xiufen asked Li Ye about his disagreement with Cai Minying, and Wang Zhiyuan said the conflict was not Li Ye’s fault.
• Wang Zhiyuan wondered whether Cai Minying was being used by someone, prompting the group to fall silent.
• Cai Minying caught up on her scooter and complained that Teacher Zhang told her to speak less and wait for an opportunity.
• Wang Zhiyuan told Cai Minying to wait until it was her turn to call the shots, and Li Ye reflected that only influential figures like Zhang Qiyan could affect decisions.

Li Ye spoke with Fu Guiru about their Japan investment after the Plaza Accord and urged her to prioritize safety as the financial operation began. Afterward, Wen Leyu asked to invest some of her own money, and Li Ye agreed to have Fu Guiru buy two hundred thousand dollars' worth.

• Li Ye arrived at Zaojunmiao and asked Li Juan to wait before returning to her dormitory.
• Fu Guiru told Li Ye that their plans in Japan had gone smoothly, though a real estate company was trying to back out of a twenty-six-million-dollar property deal.
• Li Ye reminded Fu Guiru to keep the legal team ready and put her safety first.
• Li Ye and Wen Leyu took Li Juan back to her dormitory, then walked by Weiming Lake.
• Wen Leyu asked to invest in exchange rates, and Li Ye agreed to have Fu Guiru buy two hundred thousand dollars' worth for her.

Li Ye and Wen Leyu celebrated their growing profits from exchanging dollars for Japanese yen before returning to campus. There, Li Ye learned that professors had been recruited to handle the exchange-rate shift, suggesting that the mainland authorities had entered the market too.

• Wen Leyu calculated that their account had grown to 215,780 after the yen rose, and Li Ye praised her decision to invest.
• Li Ye and Wen Leyu collected Li Juan from Zaojunmiao and took her back to her dormitory before returning to their own room.
• Wu Runfu teased Li Ye about having a girlfriend, and Chen Sihai joined in by bringing up Wu Runfu's failed romances.
• Wu Runfu advised Li Ye to exchange any remaining U.S. dollars for Japanese yen, and Chen Sihai explained that professors from his department had been transferred to work on the exchange-rate shift.
• Li Ye realized that the mainland authorities had likely entered the currency market and considered the resources and expertise they could bring.

Li Ye learned that Jiang Xiaoyan had exposed a questionable investment scheme that had angered local merchants who wanted their money back in. At the Chen Family Noodle House, he confronted the merchants and discovered they claimed the company was backed by Master Duo of Dongcheng.

• At the Zaojunmiao gathering, Wen Leyu told Li Ye that Jiang Xiaoyan’s parents had invested in a Hong Kong company trading Hong Kong stocks and Japanese Yen, and Jiang Xiaoyan had forced it to return their money.
• Li Ye and Wen Leyu followed Jiang Xiaoyan to the Chen Family Noodle House, where Chen Jinhua explained that the company had paid returns to the family and persuaded Jiang Yougui to invest heavily.
• Jiang Xiaoyan refused to apologize to the merchants who demanded that she help them resume investing, and she threatened to report them to the police if they kept causing trouble.
• Several merchants confronted Jiang Xiaoyan with a recent Hong Kong newspaper showing the Japanese Yen exchange rate had risen, while Li Ye examined the paper and challenged their claims.
• Li Ye suggested they check whether the company was legally registered, but Old Hu said the company had backing from Master Duo of Dongcheng.

Li Ye and Tan Min confronted Master Duo over a Hong Kong company’s fraudulent investment scheme, and Master Duo recognized how it used his currency-exchange business to reassure victims. After Sheng Zi revealed Chang Zi’s suspicious currency deals, Master Duo realized Chang Zi had been using his reputation as a guarantor, but the group still did not know where the company operated.

• Master Duo rushed to Xizhimen after Tan Min summoned him, but he denied knowing anything about the scheme Tan Min described.
• Master Duo explained that Shunhua Company’s foreign-exchange and stock-trading pitch was a fraudulent high-profit scheme designed to evade blame by claiming investors had been liquidated.
• Li Ye asked Master Duo to investigate the people behind the scheme, and Master Duo sent word through his contacts.
• Sheng Zi told Master Duo that Chang Zi and Heng San had exchanged large sums of foreign currency through him while claiming to trade stocks for a Hong Kong company.
• Master Duo deduced that Chang Zi had been using his currency exchanges and local reputation to reassure investors, then ordered the group to find the company and expose it.
• Sheng Zi admitted he did not know the company’s location, and Master Duo berated him for being drawn into the scheme.

Li Ye and Zou Mengcheng joined Master Duo and the neighborhood defense team to investigate Shunhua Company, which Li Ye suspected was a fraudulent investment operation. When Heng San recognized Li Ye during the raid, he was terrified by memories of their violent encounter three years earlier.

• After leaving Chen Jinhua, Li Ye learned Shunhua Company's office was in a purchased courtyard, while Old Hu ran to call Manager Lu about withdrawing his money.
• Li Ye met Zou Mengcheng and his colleague Little King outside Shunhua Company, then waited for the neighborhood defense team before entering.
• Li Ye recognized a masked man leaving the courtyard but stopped Zou Mengcheng from approaching him.
• The neighborhood defense team raided Shunhua Company, where Master Duo accused Heng San of using his name to swindle people.
• Li Ye realized the missing Manager Lu was Lu Gang, a former Peking University student, and Heng San recognized Li Ye with terror.

Li Ye helped expose Heng San’s fraudulent investment operation, and the authorities seized its money while investors demanded their funds back. Two days later, angry investors surrounded the Chen Family Noodle House and demanded compensation, leaving Jiang Yougui holding kitchen knives to defend it.

• Li Ye told investigators that Lu Gang had been expelled from Peking University, while Heng San and his staff resisted the search by demanding a warrant.
• Zou Mengcheng summoned more officials, who questioned the investors and the staff, discovered that the men lacked passports, and opened a safe packed with cash and foreign currency.
• A young employee revealed that Manager Lu had taken fifty thousand RMB to exchange currency, prompting officials to seal the exits and search for him.
• Zou Mengcheng took Li Ye away to gather colleagues, and Li Ye suggested depositing the seized money in the bank; investors soon crowded the compound demanding their savings back.
• Two days later, Wang Qiangdong told Li Ye that Old Hu and a crowd of investors had surrounded the Chen Family Noodle House.
• Old Hu demanded that Chen Jinhua and Jiang Yougui repay the investors, and Jiang Yougui confronted the crowd with two kitchen knives.

Li Ye stopped the crowd threatening the Chen Family Noodle House, exposed Old Hu as the person who had recruited investors and warned Lu Gang before his escape, and had him taken to the police. With the trouble over, Chen Jinhua thanked Li Ye and Jiang Hong, then asked them to find her a live-in son-in-law like Yang Yumin.

• Li Ye arrived at the Chen Family Noodle House, claimed responsibility for reporting Shunhua Company, and collected the crowd’s deposit receipts before warning them that the receipts could serve as evidence of illegal activity.
• Jiang Hong brought fifty or sixty retired soldiers, and Li Ye returned the receipts one at a time after making their owners admit they had no grounds to blame the noodle shop.
• Li Ye accused Old Hu of recruiting the investors, organizing the confrontation, and calling Lu Gang before he fled with the money.
• Old Hu tried to run but was surrounded and escorted to the police, while the other investors dispersed.
• Jiang Yougui dropped his cleaver and broke down in tears, and Chen Jinhua helped him back into the kitchen to resume work.
• Chen Jinhua thanked Li Ye and Jiang Hong, then asked them to find her a live-in son-in-law like Yang Yumin.

As Li Yue neared her due date, she stubbornly stayed at her maternal family’s home, prompting Wu Juying to worry about the Yang family’s feelings. Li Ye defended his older sister and listened as Grandma reflected on tensions between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, ending with him wondering whether her words hinted at her own past.

• Wu Juying scolded Li Yue for staying at Zaojunmiao instead of returning to the Yang family, but Li Yue refused to leave.
• Li Ye arrived with Wen Leyu, Li Juan, and Fu Yiruo, and the women gathered to play cards while Li Ye offered to cook.
• Wu Juying told Li Ye that Yang Huaihua worried she had failed to care properly for Li Yue, and warned that a daughter-in-law who seemed too strong-headed could cause resentment.
• Wu Juying defended serving Li Yue rich old hen soup despite Li Ye’s suggestion to make lighter food.
• While Li Ye prepared a cold salad, Wu Juying spoke of the lasting harm caused by conflicts between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, leaving Li Ye to wonder if she was recalling her own experience.

Li Ye helped Li Yue settle back at home as her due date approached, while Wu Juying and Fu Guiru’s tense relationship surfaced through a series of calls and misunderstandings. The chapter ended with Fu Guiru learning that Li Yue was in difficult labor and might need a blood transfusion.

• Li Ye reassured Yang Yumin that Li Yue would stay at Zaojunmiao, and Yang Yumin brought pickles before taking Li Yue home.
• Yang Huaihua and Yang Yujiao fussed over Li Yue after she returned to Zhongguancun, while Li Ye went back to Zaojunmiao.
• Wu Juying told Li Ye she had raised Li Yue strictly so Li Yue could protect him, then mistakenly answered Fu Guiru’s call and sparked confusion.
• A late-night call alerted Li Ye that Li Yue was about to give birth, so Wu Juying ordered him to start the car.
• Fu Yiruo told Fu Guiru that Li Yue’s labor was not going smoothly and that Fu Yiruo had been called to the hospital for a blood test because of Li Yue’s rare blood type.

Li Yue gave birth to a healthy boy at Union Hospital, and her family gathered around her as she recovered. Li Ye’s senior schoolmates visited, and the chapter ended with Wen Leyu and Teacher Ke arriving, prompting them to wonder about Li Ye’s relationship with Wen Leyu.

• Li Ye and his family waited anxiously while Li Yue was in labor, and Fu Yiruo brought them breakfast.
• A nurse brought out Li Yue’s baby boy, and a doctor later said the birth had gone smoothly and Li Yue could go home after two days of observation.
• Yang Yumin cared for the exhausted Li Yue while the family took turns holding the baby.
• Peng Rui, Yu Xiufen, and other schoolmates visited Li Yue, and Li Ye urged them to buy property before housing prices rose further.
• Mu Yunning visited Li Yue, and Yu Xiufen teased Li Ye about his relationship with her.
• Wen Leyu and Teacher Ke arrived with food and fruit, and Li Ye’s schoolmates speculated that Wen Leyu was his girlfriend and Teacher Ke was influential.

Teacher Ke visited Li Yue and her newborn, while Li Ye and Wen Leyu played with the baby and the elders discussed their future marriage. Fu Guiru secretly visited Li Yue, but fled through the ward window when Li Kaijian arrived, prompting him to follow her out.

• Teacher Ke brought pig trotter soup to the hospital and joked with Wu Juying about how Wen Leyu had been fed and learned to cook.
• Li Ye led Wen Leyu to play with Li Yue’s newborn, and Teacher Ke and Wu Juying discussed arranging Wen Leyu and Li Ye’s marriage.
• Li Ye sent Wu Juying and Yang Huaihua home to rest, leaving Li Ye, Wen Leyu, and Fu Yiruo at the hospital that evening.
• Fu Guiru secretly visited Li Yue, held her grandson, and discussed where Li Yue would spend her confinement.
• Li Kaijian arrived unexpectedly, and Fu Guiru escaped through the second-floor window before he entered the ward.
• Li Kaijian spotted Fu Guiru fleeing below, called his children something else, and climbed out the window after her.

Li Kaijian chased Fu Guiru through the streets of Beijing after realizing she was alive, and the two reunited after twenty years apart. Fu Guiru said she had returned to see their children, while Li Kaijian learned that Fu Yiruo was his daughter and turned his thoughts toward confronting Li Ye.

• Li Kaijian hurt his ankle jumping from the hospital and ran after the figure he recognized as Fu Guiru.
• Li Kaijian used his old reconnaissance training to predict Fu Guiru's escape route, but failed to find her after searching for two hours.
• Fu Guiru emerged from the darkness and teased Li Kaijian for losing his tracking skills as he admitted he was old and relieved she was alive.
• Fu Guiru told Li Kaijian that she had returned to see Li Ye and Li Yue, and asked him not to interfere when she visited them.
• Fu Guiru left after telling Li Kaijian not to cause trouble, and he realized Fu Yiruo was his daughter.
• Li Kaijian decided to confront Li Ye for keeping the truth from him.

Li Kaijian arrived at the hospital and struggled to confront Li Ye once his family gathered around them. Later, Li Ye advised his business partners to keep investing in Japan, then stopped short of asking Fu Guiru about the previous night.

• Li Kaijian woke up ready to scold Li Ye, but Fu Yiruo and Li Ying stepped in, and he learned that Han Chunmei and Li Ying had just arrived.
• Li Ye told Li Kaijian he needed to stay at the hospital to receive Pei Wencong and his Hong Kong friends, while Li Kaijian postponed speaking with him until that night.
• Fan Xiuling brought gifts for Li Yue and her baby, while Li Ye met privately with Pei Wencong, Luo Runbo, and Fu Guiru.
• Li Ye told Pei Wencong that the Japanese Yen would keep appreciating and advised the group to wait for Japan's stock market to rise before acting further.
• Fu Guiru rebuffed Li Ye when he tried to ask about the previous night, and he obediently stopped asking.

Li Yue left the hospital with Little Dun'er and agreed to spend her confinement at Yang Huaihua’s home before visiting her own family. At a family banquet, Li Ye learned Cui Aiguo was engaged to his former classmate Xia Yue and warned his sisters that the sharp-tongued bride would make things lively.

• Li Yue agreed to return to Yang Huaihua’s home for confinement, with Wu Juying helping care for Little Dun'er during the day and Yang Yumin handling things at night.
• Seven days after Little Dun’er’s birth, Li Zhongfa brought relatives to the capital for the celebration-rice banquet.
• Cui Zhixian hinted that Li Ye might already be involved with Wen Leyu, but Li Zhongfa warned him not to meddle in Li Ye’s affairs.
• Li Mingyue announced that Cui Aiguo was engaged to Xia Yue, a graduate of Qufu Normal School who taught at County Second High School.
• Li Ye recognized Xia Yue as a former classmate and told Li Ying that the new bride was good at bickering; Li Ying and Li Juan promised to help him, while Li Ye said their grandmother would handle her.

Li Ye and Pei Wencong attended the first mainland telephone connection to the other side of the strait, made possible by Pei Wencong’s preparations through Hong Kong. The call reached an elderly man in Taipei, who asked them to find out whether his mother in Hunan was still alive.

• Li Ye reassured Li Kaijian that his gift for Wen Guohua’s wedding would let the couple make an impression before important people.
• Li Ye and Pei Wencong arrived at a Beijing telecommunications bureau, where Pan Xiaoying led preparations for the connection.
• After the technical teams confirmed they were ready, a senior official chose to call a randomly generated number instead of a prearranged contact.
• An elderly man answered the call, and Pan Xiaoying told him she was calling from Beijing.
• The man tearfully asked them to find his mother in Hunan, and the senior official promised they would help if he provided her address.

After a successful transoceanic call reunited an elderly Taiwanese compatriot with the hope of finding his family, Li Ye met Bu Qingjun and learned about the research behind China’s future satellite navigation efforts. He persuaded Pei Wencong to consider funding researchers’ housing, then the author’s notice said the next update would be skipped for a day.

• Pan Xiaoying completed a transoceanic call with Liu Xunzhang, who asked her to help find his mother and other compatriots’ relatives.
• Pan Xiaoying credited Pei Wencong and Li Ye with helping inspire the call, and officials praised them at the gathering.
• Pei Wencong agreed to contact Guangxi Film Studio about bringing The Battle of Taierzhuang to Hong Kong earlier.
• Great God Ni introduced Bu Qingjun to Li Ye and Pei Wencong, and Li Ye recognized Bu as a future Beidou project developer seeking donations.
• Li Ye suggested that Pei Wencong fund research dormitories to improve researchers’ living conditions.

Li Ye persuaded Pei Wencong to fund two Talent Buildings for Old Bu and helped secure a preliminary agreement. He also urged Pei Wencong to trust Old Bu’s satellite-positioning research, which Li Ye hoped would advance the mainland’s own navigation system.

• Pei Wencong, Old Bu, and Li Ye reached a preliminary agreement to build an Expert Building and an Elite Building, with the Elite Building restricted to people under thirty.
• Old Bu worried that young people distrusted the organization, while Great God Ni argued that the age restriction would protect hard-working young staff from unfair allocation.
• Pei Wencong asked Li Ye whether Old Bu’s research deserved more investment and described a supposed water-to-oil invention that had been offered to him.
• Li Ye distinguished Old Bu’s work from the scam and explained that Old Bu’s satellite-positioning project aimed to reduce reliance on foreign GPS.
• Li Ye encouraged Pei Wencong to support the project patiently, hoping the buildings and funding would help the mainland begin its own navigation research earlier.

Li Ye joined Wen Guohua’s wedding procession and won over the groom’s friends after being teased for dressing too handsomely. After the bride was brought home, Li Ye helped Wen Leyu with the banquet and learned that Wen Qingsheng had arranged a job at COFCO for Uncle Bao’s youngest son.

• Wu Juying warned Li Ye to keep a low profile at Wen Guohua’s wedding and to introduce himself as Wen Guohua’s friend.
• Wen Guohua sent Li Ye to change clothes because he thought Li Ye looked too handsome, and Wen Leyu picked out a Zhongshan suit for him.
• Li Ye changed into a sweater, and Wen Guohua’s friends teased him before drawing him into conversation about his act of bravery at Xiushui Street.
• Wen Guohua’s procession fetched Pan Xiaoying smoothly, while her bridesmaids asked about Li Ye until Pan Xiaoying told them he already had a girlfriend.
• Li Ye and Wen Leyu helped arrange the wedding banquet, where Li Zhongfa met Director Ma and Li Ye learned that Uncle Bao’s youngest son would work at COFCO.