Recaps

Dong Xuebin remained preoccupied with Geng Yuehua after their night together and attended a district dance with Wang Yuling, hoping to understand Geng’s attitude. Geng arrived but ignored him, and Dong learned she had never danced at one of these events.

• Dong Xuebin called Geng Yuehua to ask about her snakebite, but she rebuffed him and hung up.
• Wang Yuling invited Dong Xuebin to be her dance partner at the District Committee dance, and he agreed to ease tensions and see Geng Yuehua.
• Dong Xuebin arrived with Wang Yuling and saw that other cadres avoided him because he had offended Wang Anshi and Geng Yuehua.
• Zhou Yanru and her husband joined Dong Xuebin and Wang Yuling, and her husband thanked Dong for helping their daughter Chengcheng with school.
• Geng Yuehua arrived at the dance, announced its start through Ma Jian, and sat apart while Dong Xuebin danced with Wang Yuling.
• Wang Yuling told Dong Xuebin that Geng Yuehua had never danced at a district gathering and that people had stopped asking her.

Dong Xuebin was left without a dance partner for the ballroom’s final number as the other cadres watched and mocked him. He invited Geng Yuehua, who unexpectedly accepted, leaving the room stunned.

• Dong Xuebin sat alone while cadres avoided dancing with him because of his reputation and political conflicts.
• As the final dance began, Wang Yuling was kept from leaving her partner, and Dong Xuebin found himself the only person without a partner.
• Several cadres watched and teased Dong Xuebin as he stood alone, while Geng Yuehua frowned at the commotion.
• Dong Xuebin ignored the onlookers and invited Geng Yuehua to dance.
• Geng Yuehua placed her hand in Dong Xuebin’s and agreed, surprising everyone in the ballroom.

Dong Xuebin danced with Geng Yuehua after she accepted his invitation, surprising officials who knew she usually refused to dance. After the ball, people remained puzzled by her actions, while the story spread that Dong Xuebin had stolen the spotlight again.

• Geng Yuehua danced with Dong Xuebin, leading him as he struggled to follow her steps and accidentally stepped on her foot.
• Dong Xuebin thanked Geng Yuehua and asked her to dinner, but she refused and said she had no time.
• Geng Yuehua ended the ball and left with Secretary Ma, while officials speculated about why she had danced with Dong Xuebin.
• Wang Yuling apologized to Dong Xuebin for failing to join him as his dance partner, and he reassured her.
• Dong Xuebin offered Zhou Yanru and her husband a ride back to the Street Dormitory, while other officials continued to avoid him.
• The story of Dong Xuebin dancing with Geng Yuehua spread that evening, and he stole the spotlight again.

Dong Xuebin returned Geng Yuehua’s clothes, but she shut the door on him before they could discuss their relationship. Later, Geng Yuehua came to his apartment after one in the morning to return his clothes, dressed in a striking red dress, and asked him to watch the news with her, leaving Dong Xuebin wondering what she meant.

• Dong Xuebin ironed Geng Yuehua’s borrowed clothes and returned them to her apartment, but she took the bag and shut the door without inviting him in.
• Dong Xuebin worried that Geng Yuehua wanted to pretend nothing had happened between them, then went to bed.
• A little after one in the morning, Geng Yuehua repeatedly rang Dong Xuebin’s doorbell until he opened the door.
• Geng Yuehua entered Dong Xuebin’s apartment and said she had come to return the clothes he had left at her place.
• Dong Xuebin turned on the light and saw Geng Yuehua wearing a bright red dress, then made tea for her.
• Geng Yuehua asked Dong Xuebin to watch the news with her, and he wondered whether she was hinting at something.

Dong Xuebin tried to determine whether Geng Yuehua wanted to be intimate with him, then told her he already had someone and expected to marry. Geng Yuehua stayed in his bedroom, let down her hair, and left his question about whether she was really going through with this unanswered.

• Dong Xuebin watched television with Geng Yuehua, who gave him terse replies and stayed late into the night.
• Dong Xuebin touched Geng Yuehua's thigh and leg while claiming he was checking her old injury, but she eventually pulled away.
• Dong Xuebin took a shower as a test, then mistakenly thought Geng Yuehua had left when he found the living room empty.
• Dong Xuebin discovered Geng Yuehua reading a newspaper in his small bedroom and told her he already had someone and expected to marry.
• Dong Xuebin got into bed and put his arms around Geng Yuehua, who set aside the newspaper and removed her hairpin.

Dong Xuebin and Geng Yuehua were alone in his bedroom late at night, where he took the initiative to undress and kiss her despite her stern objections. After Geng Yuehua stopped him, Dong Xuebin remembered to put on a condom, and she allowed him to continue.

• At two in the morning, Dong Xuebin and Geng Yuehua moved to his bedroom, where she told him to turn off the light.
• Dong Xuebin carried Geng Yuehua onto the bed and kissed her as she initially turned away and remained silent.
• Dong Xuebin turned the light back on to look at her, but Geng Yuehua demanded that he switch it off again.
• Dong Xuebin undressed Geng Yuehua, but she shut her legs and ordered him to get off when he was about to proceed.
• Dong Xuebin retrieved a box of Condoms and put one on, after which Geng Yuehua made no further objection as he resumed.

Dong Xuebin woke beside Geng Yuehua and went to her apartment to fetch clothes, where he was caught off guard when her mother arrived. While Dong Xuebin hid beneath the bed, Mother Geng called Geng Yuehua and asked what was going on with him.

• Dong Xuebin and Geng Yuehua woke after spending the night together, and Geng Yuehua got up to fetch work clothes.
• Dong Xuebin went to Geng Yuehua's apartment with her key and searched her bedroom for something suitable for work.
• Dong Xuebin found Geng Yuehua's provocative underwear and took a set along with her work clothes as a joke.
• Dong Xuebin heard someone unlock Geng Yuehua's door, hurried back into her bedroom, and hid under the bed.
• Mother Geng entered the bedroom and called Geng Yuehua, who said she had gone to work early.
• Mother Geng asked Geng Yuehua what was going on with Dong Xuebin while he listened from beneath the bed.

Dong Xuebin hid under Geng Yuehua’s bed and overheard her mother criticize him and urge Yuehua to transfer him away. After an awkward breakfast and a tense conversation, Yuehua insisted her personal feelings would not affect her work, while allowing Dong Xuebin to keep an arm around her.

• Dong Xuebin overheard Mother Geng tell Geng Yuehua to avoid him and find a way to transfer him out.
• After Mother Geng left, Dong Xuebin crawled out from under the bed and made breakfast at home.
• Dong Xuebin brought Geng Yuehua her clothes, and she angrily confronted him after seeing that he had found her underwear.
• Geng Yuehua used Dong Xuebin’s toothbrush and ate breakfast with him, though she stayed cold when he discussed her mother and Xin Ke.
• Dong Xuebin asked whether Geng Yuehua planned to send him to the People's Congress or Political Consultative Conference, and she said her personal opinion would not affect her work.
• Geng Yuehua told Dong Xuebin to remove his arm from her waist, but she did not object further when he kept holding her.

Dong Xuebin discovered a new command, Forward, while searching for additional powers during a quiet stretch at the Guangming Street Office. He confirmed that it accelerated time for objects and began considering how its effect differed from his other commands.

• Dong Xuebin spoke with Yu Meixia, confirmed that Qian Qian could attend a key city high school, and urged Yu Meixia to tell her daughter about her biological parents.
• Bored at work, Dong Xuebin tested time-related English words but found no new commands until he tried saying “Forward.”
• Forward instantly burned through Dong Xuebin’s cigarette, scorching his hand, so he canceled the command and realized it had affected the cigarette’s time.
• Dong Xuebin used Forward on a clock for one minute and watched it advance exactly one day.
• Dong Xuebin concluded that Forward was a new command and wondered why advancing an object’s time consumed more of his remaining time than reversing it.

Dong Xuebin tested his time commands and thought advancing an object forward was useless, until he advanced his newspaper box and found tomorrow’s Nanqi Morning News inside. He was left stunned by the discovery.

• Dong Xuebin reviewed his time commands and concluded that moving objects forward in time seemed to have little use.
• Yu Meixia told Dong Xuebin that she and Qian Qian had decided to acknowledge Yu Meixia’s parents, and Dong arranged to help them meet the next day.
• Dong Xuebin found the morning newspaper in his box and advanced the box by nearly a day with forard.
• Dong Xuebin reopened the box, found another newspaper inside, and realized it was tomorrow’s Nanqi Morning News.

Dong Xuebin discovered that foraro could advance a newspaper box in time and produce tomorrow’s paper, then learned from it that Yu Meixia’s mother, Qian Lihua, would die in a drunk-driving crash that night. With the accident less than forty minutes away, he was left racing against time to prevent it.

• Dong Xuebin used foraro on a newspaper box and retrieved a printed copy of the next morning’s Nanqi Morning News.
• Dong Xuebin realized foraro could let him read news from the future and celebrated by cooking dinner and drinking.
• Dong Xuebin called Liu Chenglong to arrange a meal with him and Qian Lihua for Yu Meixia’s friend.
• Dong Xuebin read that Qian Lihua would be killed when a drunk driver crashed into a café at 8:10 that night.
• Dong Xuebin checked the time and realized it was only 7:30, with the fatal crash less than forty minutes away.

Dong Xuebin raced to save Qian Lihua from a car that was about to crash into the Coffee Shop. He rescued her at the last moment, though both of them were injured in the collision.

• Dong Xuebin failed to reach Liu Chenglong and urgently told Yu Meixia to bring Qianqian to the city, then sped toward Qian Lihua's location.
• At the Coffee Shop, Liu Chenglong asked Qian Lihua to remarry, but she refused unless he found their missing daughter, Tong Tong.
• A silver Jetta veered toward the Coffee Shop, trapping Qian Lihua between her chair and the table as Liu Chenglong tried and failed to reach her.
• Dong Xuebin smashed through the glass, pulled Qian Lihua clear, and dove aside as the Jetta crashed into the Coffee Shop.
• Liu Chenglong tended to the bleeding Qian Lihua while Dong Xuebin, injured nearby, pushed himself up and noticed everyone staring at him.

Dong Xuebin saved Qian Lihua and Liu Chenglong from a drunk driver’s crash, then took them to the hospital. He called Yu Meixia and asked Qian Lihua and Liu Chenglong to wait for her and another important guest to arrive.

• Dong Xuebin pulled Qian Lihua and Liu Chenglong out of the way as a drunken man crashed his Jetta into the Coffee Shop.
• Dong Xuebin dragged the driver from the car and beat him while bystanders condemned the drunk driving.
• Liu Chenglong recognized Dong Xuebin, and Dong took him and Qian Lihua to the hospital for treatment.
• Dong Xuebin learned that Qian Lihua had only superficial injuries, and Liu Chenglong thanked him for saving his ex-wife.
• Dong Xuebin told Yu Meixia that Qian Lihua was safe and asked her and Qian Qian to come to the hospital.
• Dong Xuebin persuaded Qian Lihua and Liu Chenglong to wait for two friends, whom he said they would want to see.

Dong Xuebin reunited Yu Meixia with Liu Chenglong and Qian Lihua after revealing that a DNA test confirmed she was their missing daughter, Tong Tong. The chapter ended with the family embracing and welcoming Yu Qianqian as their granddaughter.

• Dong Xuebin brought Yu Meixia and Yu Qianqian into the hospital ward to meet Liu Chenglong and Qian Lihua.
• Liu Chenglong and Qian Lihua recognized Yu Meixia’s resemblance to Qian Lihua’s younger self and asked Dong Xuebin to explain.
• Dong Xuebin recounted how he had connected Yu Meixia to the old photograph and arranged a DNA test using Liu Chenglong’s cup.
• Dong Xuebin showed Liu Chenglong the positive test result confirming Yu Meixia was his and Qian Lihua’s daughter.
• Qian Lihua and Liu Chenglong embraced Yu Meixia, apologized for losing her, and heard her call them Dad and Mom.
• Dong Xuebin introduced Yu Qianqian as their granddaughter, and Qian Lihua embraced her too.

Yu Meixia and Yu Qianqian reunited with Qian Lihua and Liu Chenglong, and the family shared the hardships they had endured while apart. The chapter ended with Qian Lihua inviting Liu Chenglong to stay the night, while Dong Xuebin prepared to leave.

• At Qian Lihua's home, Liu Chenglong and Qian Lihua reunited with Yu Meixia and Yu Qianqian and listened to their stories of hardship.
• Liu Chenglong and Qian Lihua thanked Dong Xuebin for helping Yu Meixia and Yu Qianqian, then argued over who should repay the money Yu Meixia had borrowed from him.
• Yu Qianqian cried when her grandparents argued, prompting them to reassure her and make peace.
• Dong Xuebin refused Qian Lihua and Liu Chenglong's offer of two hundred thousand yuan, and Yu Meixia said she would repay him herself over time.
• Qian Lihua invited Yu Meixia and Yu Qianqian to stay with her, and Dong Xuebin explained that he had booked them a hotel before the reunion.
• When Liu Chenglong prepared to leave because there was no room for him, Qian Lihua told him he could stay, and he happily returned inside.

Dong Xuebin confirmed that FORWARD could reveal the next day’s newspaper and that changing its reported events altered the future. After saving Qian Lihua, he studied the updated paper and considered how to use his ability.

• Yu Meixia told Dong Xuebin she planned to stay with her parents and asked to borrow money to buy them gifts, so he offered her fifty thousand yuan.
• Dong Xuebin concluded that FORWARD was genuine and that he could change events it revealed.
• A newspaper deliveryman brought the current day’s paper, and Dong Xuebin found that the report about Qian Lihua’s fatal accident had been replaced on the front page and her name was absent from the story inside.
• Dong Xuebin realized FORWARD had advanced the newspaper box only at the moment he used it, so it returned to the present after the deliveryman inserted that day’s paper.
• Dong Xuebin burned the newspaper that had predicted Qian Lihua’s death and resolved to make good use of FORWARD.

Dong Xuebin struggled under pressure from both district factions and realized he needed a major political achievement to escape his deadlock. He began considering how to use FORWARD to find an opportunity, then remembered Guangming Street Office had its own internal electronic newspaper.

• Dong Xuebin arrived late at a district greening-work meeting and ignored Geng Yuehua’s speech while studying her appearance.
• Geng Yuehua called on Dong Xuebin to repeat her remarks, and when he could not, she reprimanded him in front of the officials.
• Dong Xuebin reflected on how both district factions were obstructing Guangming Street Office and feared Wang Anshi’s return would worsen his position.
• Dong Xuebin decided that a major political achievement was his best path out of the deadlock and considered using FORWARD to look ahead for an opportunity.
• Dong Xuebin rejected using citywide newspapers because they might not cover his Street Office, then remembered its internal electronic newspaper.

Dong Xuebin used FORWARD on his office drawer to obtain future issues of the Guangming Subdistrict Office’s electronic newspaper, hoping to find a chance to improve the office’s fortunes. The issue he retrieved carried a shocking headline about the Fenzhou earthquake being reclassified as magnitude 8.0.

• Dong Xuebin asked Zhou Yanru about the office’s internal electronic newspaper and learned that it was printed periodically.
• Dong Xuebin instructed Zhou Yanru to have the newspaper updated every two or three days and delivered to his office.
• After Zhou Yanru left, Dong Xuebin used all his accumulated FORWARD time on the drawer.
• Dong Xuebin opened the drawer and found a newspaper from more than a month in the future.
• Dong Xuebin read the front-page headline: “Fenzhou Earthquake Reclassified as Magnitude 8.0!”

Dong Xuebin read a future electronic newspaper revealing that a magnitude 8.0 earthquake would devastate Fenzhou in about a month, killing hundreds of people in his jurisdiction and costing him his position. He resolved to use what he knew to prevent the disaster.

• Dong Xuebin read that a magnitude 8.0 earthquake had struck Fenzhou, with its epicenter in Dafeng County, causing nearly 90,000 deaths and widespread destruction.
• Dong Xuebin checked a map and realized Guangming Street would be among the hardest-hit areas because it was near the epicenter.
• Dong Xuebin learned that the future earthquake would kill 827 people and injure 2,100 within Guangming Street, which ranked fifth in casualties across Fenzhou.
• Dong Xuebin saw that the newspaper said he would resign as Secretary and Director of Guangming Street Office to take responsibility.
• Dong Xuebin realized the earthquake was still a month away and vowed to do everything he could to prevent it.

Dong Xuebin worried about a possible major earthquake in Beihe Province and asked Yang Zhaode to raise earthquake preparedness at a Municipal Standing Committee meeting. Yang questioned the rumor and whether he could bring it up, leaving Dong’s request unresolved.

• Dong Xuebin arrived late at the Street Office cafeteria and ate a meal the chef had reheated for him.
• Concerned about a possible magnitude-eight earthquake, Dong Xuebin called Yang Zhaode from the cafeteria.
• Dong Xuebin told Yang Zhaode he had heard rumors from a friend at the National Earthquake Administration and urged the city to plan for disaster prevention.
• Yang Zhaode said he had heard no official forecast and questioned why Dong expected him to raise earthquake preparedness at the Standing Committee meeting.

With one month left before the predicted earthquake, Dong Xuebin intensified his efforts to persuade officials and prepare Guangming Street. He began by targeting dangerous Health Wine advertising boards that he believed would cause 43 deaths, determined to prevent every casualty in his jurisdiction.

• Dong Xuebin refined his month-long earthquake plan and sent Xie Huilan and Geng Yuehua dozens of messages and emails about earthquake casualties.
• Geng Yuehua angrily told Dong Xuebin to stop, while Xie Huilan said she would consider his warning but asked him to stop bombarding her.
• Dong Xuebin sent earthquake materials to Xie Huilan, Geng Yuehua, and his mother, Luan Xiaoping, and asked Luan Xiaoping to show them to Old Yang.
• Dong Xuebin decided to conduct lawful disaster-prevention work in Guangming Street rather than spread earthquake rumors.
• Dong Xuebin identified the Health Wine advertising boards as his first target for rectification because he believed their collapse would cause 43 deaths.

Dong Xuebin confronted Health Wine Factory owner Song Qingming after a loose advertising card injured a woman in Willow Lane Community. Song refused to remove the factory’s other signs and ordered the damaged one put back up, leaving Dong ready to challenge him.

• Dong Xuebin rushed to Willow Lane Community after learning that a wind-loosened advertising card had injured a woman.
• Song Qingming denied responsibility, blamed a bankrupt advertising company, and tried to leave without resolving the dispute.
• Dong Xuebin told Song to compensate the woman and remove the dangerous sign, then ordered Zhou Yanru to check the factory’s advertising permits.
• Song refused, citing the factory’s contract, and Dong declared that all Health Wine Factory advertisements on Guangming Street should be removed.
• Song ordered an employee to have the advertising card put back up and insisted the Street Office could not remove it without authorization.

Dong Xuebin faced obstruction from the district, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and the urban management bureau over the Health Wine Distillery’s dangerous Advertising Cards. After Song Qingming refused his final request to remove them, Dong vowed that the Street Office would tear them down and said he would wait for Song to beg him to do it.

• Dong Xuebin sent Zhou Yanru and Wang Yuling home and decided to handle the Advertising Card dispute himself.
• Dong Xuebin drove to a restaurant and called Song Qingming to give him one last chance to remove the cards.
• Song Qingming met with Director Tang, who assured him that the distillery’s loan procedures would be handled the following week.
• Dong Xuebin warned Song Qingming that the Advertising Cards endangered residents and urged him to remove them.
• Song Qingming refused, and Dong Xuebin declared that the Street Office would tear down the cards and that Song would eventually beg him to do it.

After Song Qingming’s factory put the Health Wine billboard back up, Dong Xuebin asked Qian Lihua to intervene with the bank handling the factory’s loan. The loan was put on hold, and Song Qingming realized he had offended someone.

• Zhou Yanru told Dong Xuebin that Song Qingming’s factory was reinstalling the billboard, but Dong told her to withdraw their people and let him handle it.
• Dong Xuebin told Qian Lihua about the billboard dispute and asked her to check the factory’s loan application at the Municipal Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
• Qian Lihua identified Tang Ming as the likely loan officer and said she would look into the application.
• The branch president ordered Tang Ming to put the Health Wine Factory’s loan on hold because of the billboard’s serious quality problem.
• Tang Ming informed Song Qingming that the loan was halted, and Song realized he must have offended someone.

After Song Qingming’s bank loan was cut off, he realized Dong Xuebin had influenced the bank and went to Guangming Street to appease him. Dong made Song remove every Health Wine Distillery advertising card in the district, leaving onlookers stunned by the Plague God’s continued influence.

• Song Qingming connected his loan crisis to Dong Xuebin and rushed to the Guangming Street Office to see him.
• Dong Xuebin made Song wait, and Song called Captain Xia to arrange the removal of the advertising card at Willow Lane Community.
• Song apologized to Dong and said he had filed paperwork to remove the sign, but Dong demanded that all advertising cards under his jurisdiction be cleared.
• Dong told Captain Xia to turn back after learning the Urban Management Enforcement Team was already on its way.
• Song left afraid that Dong would prolong the dispute until his distillery went bankrupt.
• That afternoon, Song hired a crew to remove all five advertising cards in Guangming Street, surprising Dong Xuebin’s rivals and observers.