Chapter Summaries

Li Ye and Jeff pursued an investment in the Bosacks’ router technology, but their first meeting with the founders nearly ended in failure. Li Ye arranged to inspect the technology at Stanford and argued that they should cooperate on the Bosacks’ terms, leaving the venture’s negotiations ahead.

• Li Ye named the new venture capital company Grow Flowers, and Jeff discussed its setup with him.
• Li Ye asked Gary about Leonard Bosack and Sandy Lerner’s router project, and Jeff decided to contact them about building a network.
• Gary arranged a meeting at the Bosacks’ home, where Sandy Lerner angrily challenged Jeff and Gary’s questions about the technology and its patents.
• Li Ye praised the router’s potential, and Bosack agreed to show the group the technology at Stanford University.
• Li Ye told Jeff and Gary to help the Bosacks and seek cooperation rather than take their technology, then explained to Wen Leyu and Fu Yiruo that they needed to follow Silicon Valley’s rules.

Li Ye used a visit to Stanford to spur Professor Bosack toward accepting Jeff and Gary’s investment in Cisco, aiming to secure the router patent and reach the market first. He estimated the technology could be worth billions, but Fu Yiruo worried they were making a wedding dress for someone else, and Li Ye admitted that only Bosack’s team could wear it for now.

• Li Ye impressed Stanford students and teachers by rapidly messaging Professor Bosack’s terminal and praising the school’s computer network.
• Li Ye explained that he had praised the network to encourage Bosack’s colleagues to help him secure the technology before Cisco’s rivals could act.
• Jeff told Li Ye that Bosack had agreed to investment but could not guarantee the patent license and would offer them only 45 percent of the shares at a high price.
• Li Ye estimated the router technology could eventually be worth several billion dollars, leaving Jeff and Gary doubtful but pleased.
• Fu Yiruo asked whether Cisco could really reach that value and lamented that they seemed to be making a wedding dress for someone else; Li Ye agreed that only Bosack’s team could wear it for now.

Li Ye explained to Fu Yiruo and Wen Leyu why they needed to help America’s computer industry grow before bringing its wealth and technology back to China, even if that meant risking a fight with powerful interests. Their conversation was interrupted by a traffic stop, and Li Ye decided they should drive a more expensive car to avoid trouble.

• Li Ye told Fu Yiruo and Wen Leyu that America was the best place to develop computers and compared their plan to quietly gathering treasure from a dragon’s lair.
• Li Ye explained that China’s need to catch up might force them to fight the dragon for more than a few sacks of treasure, leaving Fu Yiruo worried and Wen Leyu holding his hand.
• A patrol officer stopped Fu Yiruo, checked the trio’s documents, and confirmed they were old enough to be driving despite their youthful appearances.
• The patrol officer approached Jeff and Gary’s car, then left without further incident.
• Fu Yiruo complained that the officer had treated them differently from Jeff and Gary, and Li Ye proposed switching to a more expensive car to discourage scrutiny.

After a police officer suspected Li Ye and his companions of driving without licenses, Li Ye asked Jeff and Gary about cars that would command respect and requested a lawyer and phones. Later, he arranged vehicles to deliver classmates’ gifts to Zhen Rongrong, who confronted Ruan Shujun for looking down on poor people.

• After the police car left, Jeff and Gary checked on Li Ye, who asked what car would make Americans assume he had a powerful private lawyer.
• Jeff recommended a Cadillac or Bentley and warned Li Ye that a Mustang would attract police attention; Li Ye thanked him and asked him to hire a well-known local lawyer and buy mobile phones.
• Jeff explained that Motorola’s early portable phone was a heavy shoulder-bag model, and Li Ye urged Jeff and Gary to investigate phone and service-company investments.
• Back at the hotel, Li Ye asked Fu Yiruo and Wen Leyu to choose rental cars and arranged an extra pickup truck for the parcels his classmates had brought for Zhen Rongrong.
• At her UC Berkeley dormitory, Zhen Rongrong saw the pickup full of gifts and became angry when Ruan Shujun called pickup trucks poor people’s cars and warned her about Li Ye.

Li Ye brought Zhen Rongrong gifts from her mainland classmates, while her roommate Ruan Shujun tried to ingratiate herself with him and disparaged poor people. Sister Zhen exposed Ruan Shujun’s pretense and stopped her from following them to San Francisco, then told Li Ye and the others about her.

• Ruan Shujun defended Lighthouse’s wealth-based discrimination and tried to persuade Zhen Rongrong that Li Ye was an unsuitable partner, but changed her tune when she saw his luxury car and handsome appearance.
• Li Ye and his companions carried the classmates’ gifts into Zhen Rongrong’s dorm, and Zhen Rongrong grew emotional as he explained who had sent them.
• Ruan Shujun rushed to fix her appearance and then exaggerated her weakness while insisting on helping, making Li Ye and his companions uncomfortable.
• Wen Leyu pulled Zhen Rongrong out to go to work, but Ruan Shujun followed them downstairs despite her apparent poor health.
• Sister Zhen arrived, asked whether Ruan Shujun was pursuing a Cadillac or needed a hospital checkup, and ordered her to stay home.
• After Li Ye and the others left, Sister Zhen told them the details about Ruan Shujun.

Li Ye explained how cultural differences in praise had helped Cadill win over Ruan Shujun, then teased Wen Leyu about the habits he had criticized in her. The group set off through Chinatown to find food, with Li Ye insisting they eat hotpot.

• Li Ye and the others discussed Ruan Shujun's unpaid shift cover, and Li Ye argued that American men’s frequent compliments could confuse international students unaccustomed to praise.
• Li Ye declined Zhen Rongrong's offer to treat them to a meal, and he, Wen Leyu, and Fu Yiruo walked through Chinatown looking for food.
• Wen Leyu asked Li Ye whether his past compliments to her had been sweet talk, and Li Ye listed her picky eating, late-night reading, and excessive training as habits he had criticized.
• Li Ye explained that he wanted Wen Leyu to train in moderation, and she reluctantly accepted his criticism.
• Fu Yiruo tried to smooth over the awkwardness by suggesting a Western restaurant, but Li Ye chose hotpot instead, while Wen Leyu admitted she enjoyed his compliments.

After dinner, Li Ye and his friends found Zhen Rongrong arguing with Cao Yuanmao, who had fired Ruan Shujun and refused to pay Zhen her wages. Li Ye recognized Cao from an old newspaper story and planned to hire a lawyer, leaving the dispute poised for legal action.

• Li Ye declined to take Ruan Shujun back to school, saying they should avoid intruding on her life.
• Li Ye, Wen Leyu, and Fu Yiruo arrived at the Cao family restaurant and heard Cao Yuanmao fire Ruan Shujun, insult Zhen Rongrong, and refuse to pay her wages.
• Li Ye confronted Cao and demanded that he pay what he owed, but Cao returned to the restaurant after his staff came outside.
• Li Ye explained that he recognized Cao Yuanmao from a news story about Cao abandoning his adoptive mother and fiancée, and learned that Cao's wife was Lin Qiuyan's cousin.
• Li Ye asked Fu Yiruo to contact Jeff about finding a lawyer, while Zhen Rongrong warned him that American lawyers were expensive and arrogant.

Li Ye’s lawyer Ilena secured back pay for Zhen Rongrong and helped Sister Zhen collect her wages before they left the restaurant. On the drive to Berkeley, Sister Zhen revealed how Chen Juming had taken control of the Cao family business and shared unsettling rumors about the family’s past.

• Li Ye introduced Ilena to Zhen Rongrong, and Ilena confronted Cao Yuanmao over labor violations and obtained a two-thousand-dollar check for Zhen Rongrong.
• Cao Yuanmao fired Sister Zhen, but she quit on her own terms and forced him to pay all her wages.
• Sister Zhen explained that Cao Yuanmao had planned to replace the women with undocumented male workers and said Chen Juming had driven away the restaurant’s senior staff.
• Sister Zhen told the group how Chen Juming built a trading business, won over Cao Yuanmao’s uncle, and seized control of the Cao family after his death.
• Sister Zhen described rumors that the Cao family’s earlier wealthy heiress had died under unclear circumstances, leaving Li Ye and the others shocked.

After driving Sister Zhen and Zhen Rongrong home, Li Ye reflected on repressed live-in sons-in-law while Zhen Rongrong worried about telling Ruan Shujun that the restaurant had fired her. Ruan Shujun accused Zhen Rongrong of keeping her money, and their confrontation ended with Zhen Rongrong slapping her and staying unmoved by her tears.

• Li Ye dropped Sister Zhen and Zhen Rongrong at school, then discussed marriage and money with Fu Yiruo and Wen Leyu on the drive back to San Francisco.
• Zhen Rongrong returned to the dormitory and told Ruan Shujun that Boss Cao had fired her for repeatedly missing work.
• Zhen Rongrong offered Ruan Shujun the $87.50 owed for her week of work and explained that the restaurant had replaced three women with two men.
• Ruan Shujun called the restaurant and learned that Cao Yuanmao had paid $2,000 to the lawyer, then accused Zhen Rongrong of keeping the money.
• Zhen Rongrong slapped Ruan Shujun when she threatened to accuse her of theft, and Ruan Shujun cried through the night while Zhen Rongrong remained unmoved.

Li Ye and Wen Leyu struggled to identify promising Silicon Valley investments, and Li Ye explained why unfamiliar ventures left him less confident than investments he understood. He jokingly revealed his mysterious ability to Wen Leyu, who laughed it off, while three patent-holder meetings awaited them that afternoon.

• Li Ye and Wen Leyu reviewed Silicon Valley investment materials for days but found only two uncertain opportunities, which they submitted to Jeff for risk analysis.
• Secretary Lisa told Li Ye and Wen Leyu that they would meet three patent holders and that their Bentleys would arrive in two weeks.
• Wen Leyu noticed Li Ye lacked confidence in the three projects, and Li Ye explained the risk of investing in ideas with no precedent.
• Wen Leyu asked why Li Ye had been so confident about Cisco, and Li Ye said he believed Posak's computer network could change the world.
• Li Ye told Wen Leyu he had a mysterious ability to spot opportunities, but she laughed and teased him about being Wenqu Star.

Li Ye and Wen Leyu watched Jeff negotiate with inventors seeking investment, including Pandit, whose claims of valuable wireless technology and Windows-like software made Li Ye suspicious. Wen Leyu called Pandit a swindler, and Jeff ended the meeting as Pandit repeatedly lowered his asking price.

• Jeff negotiated with Mr. Geer over a computer-data-reading patent, and Mr. Geer accepted eighty thousand dollars after initially demanding at least one million.
• Wen Leyu worried about the venture capital she had invested, while Li Ye encouraged her to trust the process and learn to bear the pressure.
• Li Ye reviewed the final project and let Jeff negotiate with Pandit, who claimed his unpatented digital wireless technology was sought by Motorola and Alcatel.
• Jeff refused to offer more than fifty thousand dollars for Pandit's research, and Pandit then claimed to have an operating system comparable to Microsoft's Windows.
• Li Ye asked Wen Leyu whether Pandit looked like a swindler, and she said he was one; Jeff ended the meeting as Pandit lowered his price to thirty thousand dollars.

On Lunar New Year’s Eve, Wen Leyu called home and sought Teacher Ke’s advice about Li Ye’s worries over his business in the Beacon. Li Ye explained his ambitions and his concern about future restrictions, leaving Teacher Ke astonished by the scale of his plans and wealth.

• Wen Leyu finally reached Teacher Ke by phone and told her that she and Li Ye would celebrate the New Year with overseas students in California.
• Teacher Ke reminded Wen Leyu to focus on her work and asked what had been keeping Li Ye worried, so Wen Leyu handed him the phone.
• Li Ye told Teacher Ke he feared invisible restrictions on advanced technology and risks to moving the company’s profits, and said he hoped to receive national support if his company grew large enough.
• Teacher Ke asked how long Li Ye thought that would take, and he estimated eight or ten years, or possibly fifteen or sixteen.
• When Teacher Ke joked that strong support required several hundred million dollars, Li Ye revealed he already had several hundred million U.S. dollars.
• Li Ye teased Wen Leyu about what Teacher Ke had supposedly said, then promised he would never lie to her; Wen Leyu embraced him and said she was willing to believe him.

Li Ye joined Zhen Rongrong and other international students at a New Year’s Eve gathering at UC, bringing food and helping prepare dumplings and chickens. The gathering grew tense when Ruan Shujun objected to the chicken being killed, and Li Ye’s exchange with Boeing employee Xia Zemin ended with their competing claims about universities and where they would work.

• Li Ye, Wen Leyu, and Fu Yiruo arrived at UC and found more than a hundred mainland international students gathering for New Year’s Eve.
• Li Ye unloaded meat and vegetables with Zhen Rongrong, then joined the students preparing dumplings and helped chop filling.
• A girl asked Li Ye to kill chickens, and he killed two before Ruan Shujun cried out that he was being cruel.
• Wen Leyu rebuked Ruan Shujun, and Tian Xizhen challenged her by pointing out that she had shown no such concern for a human life.
• Xia Zemin arrived from Seattle and introduced himself as a Boeing employee and former Qing University student.
• Li Ye said he had studied at Beijing University and would work in the mainland, making Xia Zemin’s eyelid twitch.

At a New Year’s Eve gathering, Li Ye and Sister Zhen’s group outshone Xia Zemin’s with Chinese food, and Jiao Yaqiang revealed why he distrusted Xia Zemin. When Jiao Yaqiang said he might return to China, Xia Zemin argued that America was the only place for their talents, prompting Li Ye to take notice.

• Xia Zemin bragged about his connections and invited Sister Zhen to join him and Ruan Shujun, but she refused and criticized Ruan Shujun’s cooking and motives.
• Li Ye cooked chicken with Sister Zhen’s group, and Wen Leyu objected when others compared them with Xia Zemin and Ruan Shujun.
• At dinner, Li Ye noticed Jiao Yaqiang’s impatience with Xia Zemin and correctly predicted that Jiao Yaqiang would join their group when Sister Zhen called him.
• Jiao Yaqiang said Xia Zemin was recruiting him for Boeing, but he did not trust him because Xia had taken Jiang Minzhi’s research project and used it to get a job there.
• Sister Zhen explained Xia Zemin’s betrayal of Jiang Minzhi, and Jiao Yaqiang told Xia he might return to China; Xia insisted that America was the only stage for their talents.

Li Ye confronted Xia Zemin after he argued that returning to the mainland would waste talented researchers’ lives and defended staying in America. Li Ye challenged Xia Zemin’s view of American prosperity and defended the researchers’ right to honor their promises, leaving Xia Zemin stunned by Li Ye’s threats of legal support.

• Jiao Yaqiang rebuked Xia Zemin for discouraging researchers from returning to the mainland, and Xia Zemin mocked their old oaths and described the hardships he had faced.
• Jiao Yaqiang reminded Xia Zemin that Jiang Minzhi had ranked ahead of him, then Xia Zemin demanded to know why he should return to a poorer country.
• Li Ye threw a bowl at Xia Zemin’s feet, pulled Jiao Yaqiang back, and challenged Xia Zemin’s claims about America’s workweek and wages.
• Li Ye argued that America’s prosperity had been built on generations of harsh labor and urged Xia Zemin not to stop others from honoring their oaths.
• Li Ye slapped Xia Zemin and offered him Ilena’s lawyer’s contact information after Xia Zemin threatened to sue him.

Li Ye confronted Xia Zemin at a UC Berkeley gathering, then recruited Jiao Yaqiang’s interest by learning he wanted to return to China and work within a strong organization. The chapter ended with Li Ye considering how Teacher Ke and the education system could support Jiao Yaqiang.

• Onlookers pulled Xia Zemin away from his confrontation with Li Ye, while Jiao Yaqiang and Sister Zhen warned Li Ye to avoid a fight.
• Jiao Yaqiang explained that he had lent his bonus to Liu Dongsheng to help him buy a car, and the international students sang “My Chinese Heart” together.
• Li Ye invited Jiao Yaqiang and others to Chinatown, where Ruan Shujun mocked Li Ye for using a rented company Bentley.
• Li Ye visited an antique shop in Chinatown and bought a jade pendant and a Qing dynasty scholar’s purported calligraphy scroll.
• Jiao Yaqiang told Li Ye he planned to return to the mainland because he believed people could accomplish more by relying on a strong organization, and Li Ye considered seeking support from Teacher Ke.

Li Ye, Jiao Yaqiang, and Sister Zhen watched Xia Zemin and Ruan Shujun enter an inn, and Jiao worried Xia might exploit her under the guise of X Liberation. The group decided not to interfere, then watched Chinatown’s lion dance parade, where they learned about Li Ye’s history of taking on criminals.

• Sister Zhen spotted Xia Zemin and Ruan Shujun entering an inn, and Jiao Yaqiang urged her to bring Ruan out because he suspected Xia was an X Liberationist who avoided responsibility.
• Sister Zhen challenged Jiao’s attempt to intervene, and Li Ye advised the group to help others only when they shared the same values.
• A lion dance parade entered Chinatown, and Fu Yiruo explained how the lions competed as the group watched traditional performances.
• Wen Leyu questioned whether a martial artist’s brick-breaking feat was real, and Li Ye said he was stronger than the performer.
• Zhen Rongrong told Sister Zhen and Jiao that Li Ye had received an Act of bravery commendation after helping three people subdue twenty-eight criminals.

On Lunar New Year in Chinatown, Zhen Rongrong rejected Cadill after he came looking for her and asked about Ruan Shujun. When police arrived and Liu Dongsheng disappeared, Li Ye suspected Liu had gone to the Chaozhou Hotel, and Wen Leyu called his feelings for Ruan selfish possession.

• Xia Zemin and Ruan Shujun hid from the firecrackers, while Li Ye, Sister Zhen, and Jiao Yaqiang watched them from across the street.
• Liu Dongsheng joined the group on its way to a Cantonese opera performance, after keeping watch on Xia Zemin and Ruan Shujun.
• Cadill found Zhen Rongrong, who told him Ruan Shujun had been the one seeking news of him and rejected his offer to spend the holiday together.
• Cadill left to search for Ruan Shujun, and Zhen Rongrong cursed him after he was gone.
• Police entered Chinatown, and the group realized Liu Dongsheng had disappeared; Li Ye suspected he had gone to the Chaozhou Hotel, while Wen Leyu said his feelings were selfish possession.

Li Ye and his companions witnessed the aftermath of Xia Zemin's arresting confrontation with Cadill, then discovered Lu Gang working illegally at the Cao Family Restaurant. After Li Ye insulted Lin Qiuyan and challenged Chen Juming over the restaurant's treatment of its workers, Chen rehired Ruan Shujun, while Li Ye kept watching Lu Gang and wondered what would happen next.

• Li Ye learned that Xia Zemin had taken Cadill's punches without fighting back, and the police let both men go while Ruan Shujun was left without a partner.
• Li Ye recognized Lu Gang working as a waiter at the Cao Family Restaurant and realized he had entered America illegally.
• Ruan Shujun asked Cao Yuanmao and Chen Juming for her job back, but they initially turned her down.
• Lin Qiuyan confronted Li Ye, who told her she was mistaken about his looking at her, and Chen Juming tried to defend the restaurant against his accusations.
• After Zhen Rongrong explained how Cao Yuanmao had tried to withhold wages, Chen Juming offered Ruan Shujun a full-waiter position and suggested jobs to Zhen Rongrong and Tian Xizhen.
• Li Ye watched Lu Gang and wondered who he might kill in America.

After Chen Juming’s threats cost Zhen Rongrong and Sister Zhen their restaurant jobs, Li Ye offered them a possible path into business intelligence work. Back at GF Investment Company, Wen Leyu analyzed how tipping shifts resentment from employers to customers, leaving Li Ye worried about being seen as a black-hearted boss.

• Sister Zhen reassured Zhen Rongrong that Chen Juming could not ruin their prospects and urged her to focus on studying.
• Li Ye returned to offer Sister Zhen a contact for a business intelligence job, and she agreed that she and Zhen Rongrong would call after preparing.
• Sister Zhen guessed that Li Ye had consulted Wen Leyu before offering the job lead, and Zhen Rongrong fell silent as she considered his care for Wen Leyu.
• On the second day of Lunar New Year, Lisa brought coffee to Li Ye and Wen Leyu and gave them New Year blessings, so Li Ye handed her red envelopes.
• Wen Leyu argued that tipping lets employers pay low wages while customers take the blame for servers’ low incomes, and Li Ye resolved to set higher base salaries in his future businesses.