Chapter Summaries

After helping Zhou Yanru and Chengcheng, Dong Xuebin paid for their hotel rooms and drove Xie Hao home, where he met Xia Yanzhen, Xie Huilan’s eldest aunt. Xia revealed that she had returned to the Capital City after a promotion, leaving Dong Xuebin reflecting on the Xie Family’s powerful standing.

• Dong Xuebin refused to let Xie Hao drink, then paid for hotel rooms for Zhou Yanru and Wang Yuling after Zhou Yanru thanked him for helping Chengcheng.
• Dong Xuebin left the hotel with Xie Hao and drove him to the Xie family compound.
• Dong Xuebin entered Xie Guojian’s home with cartons of cigarettes and found Xia Yanzhen there instead of Xie Hao’s parents.
• Xie Hao introduced Dong Xuebin as Xie Huilan’s boyfriend, and Xia Yanzhen welcomed him as her nephew-to-be.
• Xia Yanzhen said her temporary post had ended and she had returned to the Capital City at vice-ministerial level.
• Dong Xuebin considered the Xie Family’s influence and imagined Xie Huilan becoming the Republic’s first female Premier.

Dong Xuebin reunited with pregnant Qu Yunxuan at the Qu Family home and spent the evening teasing and doting on her. After he told her about trouble in Nanshan District, Qu Yunxuan agreed to make an exception and be intimate with him.

• Dong Xuebin picked Qu Yunxuan up downstairs after she slipped out of her parents’ home and drove her to their apartment.
• Qu Yunxuan told Dong Xuebin that the doctor had revealed they were expecting a girl.
• Dong Xuebin fussed over Qu Yunxuan and teased her, while she warned him to be gentle because she was pregnant.
• In bed, Qu Yunxuan asked Dong Xuebin whom he had offended in Nanshan District, and he complained about Xue Qingrong and others.
• Qu Yunxuan took the initiative and agreed to be intimate with Dong Xuebin, telling him not to be too rough.

Dong Xuebin took Zhou Yanru and Wang Yuling to submit Guangming Street Office’s Respect-the-Elderly Model Unit materials in Beijing, but Ministry officials sent them between offices without accepting them. Director Liu clarified that the Ministry of Civil Affairs had to file the materials, leaving Dong Xuebin frustrated and back where he started.

• Dong Xuebin woke at the Zhai residence, shared breakfast with Zhai Yunxuan, and left to meet Zhou Yanru and Wang Yuling.
• Dong Xuebin and his colleagues went to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, where they waited two hours before Director Ling told them to submit the materials to the Respect-the-Elderly Office.
• Dong Xuebin took Zhou Yanru and Wang Yuling to the National Respect for the Elderly Office, where Director Liu said the Ministry of Civil Affairs was responsible for filing the materials.
• Dong Xuebin realized Director Liu had sent them back to the same ministry office and grew angry at being passed between departments.

Dong Xuebin and Zhou Yanru struggled to submit supplementary materials for their Street Office’s Model Unit nomination, as officials at the Ministry of Civil Affairs repeatedly sent them away. Dong Xuebin finally lost his temper and confronted Director Ling after Ling rejected the materials and told them to start over.

• Dong Xuebin called Cheng Yandong, who confirmed that the Ministry of Civil Affairs handled the filing, so Dong returned there with Zhou Yanru and Wang Yuling.
• Dong told Wang Yuling to wait in the car while he and Zhou Yanru went inside to see Director Ling.
• Ministry staff made Dong and Zhou Yanru wait for hours before Director Ling finally called them upstairs.
• Director Ling left his office, sent them back to the Respect-the-Elderly Office, then rejected their materials as incorrectly formatted and sealed.
• Dong blocked Director Ling’s way and angrily told him to fix his grandfather.

Dong Xuebin confronted Director Ling at the Ministry of Civil Affairs over his mishandling of the Respect-the-Elderly Model Unit filing and grabbed him after he trampled the application papers. The confrontation stopped when Minister Xia recognized Dong and he called her “Auntie.”

• Dong Xuebin angrily accused Director Ling of making him and Zhou Yanru wait, sending them to the wrong office, and only later rejecting their filing materials.
• Director Ling threw the application papers onto the floor and ordered Dong and Zhou to rewrite them.
• Dong demanded that Director Ling pick up the papers, then grabbed him by the collar when he walked over them.
• Minister Xia entered the lobby, and Director Ling claimed Dong had come to cause trouble.
• Minister Xia recognized Dong, who stared in surprise and called her “Auntie.”

Dong Xuebin’s application for a Respect-the-Elderly Model Unit was repeatedly stalled by Director Ling until Dong discovered that Vice Minister Xia Yanzhen was his aunt. Xia reprimanded Director Ling, and he promptly completed the filing while Dong and Zhou Yanru waited.

• Dong Xuebin recognized Vice Minister Xia Yanzhen as his aunt when she appeared in the Ministry of Civil Affairs lobby.
• Dong explained how Director Ling had delayed his application and thrown the materials on the floor, and Xia ordered Ling to come to her office later.
• Xia told Dong to wait and said she would arrange help with the filing, then left; the security guards withdrew when Director Ling told them nobody was causing trouble.
• The clerk brought Dong and Zhou Yanru water, while Director Ling picked up and sorted the documents before apologizing and offering to handle the filing.
• Dong challenged Director Ling over his shifting claims about the materials, and Ling hurried upstairs to complete the filing and arrange the remaining procedures.
• Director Ling returned two minutes later with the filing completed, and Dong and Zhou Yanru received a copy.

Dong Xuebin asked Xia Yanzhen to help Guangming Street Office secure the Respect-the-Elderly Model Unit title, and she agreed to speak with the officials handling the assessment. After Xia Yanzhen arranged to reduce Ling Feng’s workload, Dong returned to his colleagues and told them their business in the Capital City was nearly finished.

• Xia Yanzhen teased Dong Xuebin about his bold temperament and asked how his office had received an open quota for the Model Unit assessment.
• Dong Xuebin explained that the Beihe Province Inspection Team had offered Guangming Street Office the quota, and Xia Yanzhen promised to speak with Minister Liu about the assessment.
• After a call revealed Ling Feng was coming to see her, Xia Yanzhen contacted Director Sun and asked him to arrange a meeting to lighten Ling Feng’s workload.
• Dong Xuebin told Zhou Yanru that the Model Unit matter was more or less settled and asked her not to spread what had happened.
• In the car, Dong Xuebin told Wang Yuling that their business trip was nearly over, gave the group the next day off, and said they would leave on Monday.

Dong Xuebin spent the evening with pregnant Zhai Yunxuan at the Zhai residence after a tiring day handling matters in the ministries, and they discussed his work, their relationship, and their coming daughter. Zhai Yunxuan left to return to her mother, while Dong Xuebin cherished their final moments together and prepared to return to work.

• Dong Xuebin and Zhai Yunxuan rested together after an intimate encounter, and he told her that his work in the ministries had mostly been taken care of.
• Dong Xuebin teased Zhai Yunxuan about acting cute, and she playfully indulged him before telling him to rest while she handled the dishes.
• Dong Xuebin and Zhai Yunxuan discussed how they would raise their unborn daughter, with Dong Xuebin saying he wanted to spoil her.
• Zhai Yunxuan said she had to return to her mother that evening but would visit Dong Xuebin again the next day.
• Dong Xuebin carried Zhai Yunxuan to the balcony, where they watched the sunset and enjoyed their remaining time together.

Dong Xuebin returned to his Beijing apartment and learned that Luan Xiaoping was considering marrying Yang Zhaode. After overhearing Yang Zhaode’s family disparage Luan Xiaoping, he urged his mother to end the relationship, but she stopped him from calling Yang Zhaode.

• Dong Xuebin found Luan Xiaoping cleaning their old Beijing apartment and learned Yang Zhaode planned to visit the next day.
• Luan Xiaoping received a call saying Yang Zhaojuan and Old Lady Yang would come with Yang Zhaode.
• Dong Xuebin overheard Yang Zhaojuan and Old Lady Yang criticize Luan Xiaoping’s appearance, background, and finances, and discuss introducing Yang Zhaode to another woman.
• Luan Xiaoping cried, and Dong Xuebin angrily told her not to marry Yang Zhaode and offered to care for her.
• Dong Xuebin tried to call Yang Zhaode, but Luan Xiaoping took the phone away and ordered him not to interfere.

Dong Xuebin comforted Luan Xiaoping after Yang Zhaojuan insulted her, then decided to help his mother assert herself before her marriage to Old Yang. He took Luan Xiaoping on a lavish shopping and beauty-care spree, preparing her to impress Old Yang’s family the next day.

• Dong Xuebin angrily defended Luan Xiaoping against Yang Zhaojuan’s insults and learned that his mother still wanted to marry Old Yang.
• Dong Xuebin agreed to support his mother’s choice but vowed to make Old Yang’s family regret looking down on her.
• Dong Xuebin took Luan Xiaoping to Wangfujing and bought her luxury clothes, jewelry, shoes, and handbags worth over a million yuan.
• Dong Xuebin brought Luan Xiaoping to a beauty center and ordered extensive treatments and a new hairstyle for her.
• Dong Xuebin promised that Old Yang’s family would see how beautiful Luan Xiaoping was the next day.

Dong Xuebin dressed Luan Xiaoping in expensive clothes and jewelry before bringing her to meet Yang Zhaode’s family, who had doubts about their match. His mother’s stunning appearance shocked them, and Dong took her and the family somewhere other than her modest home to defend her dignity.

• Dong Xuebin picked up Luan Xiaoping at the Beauty Center and praised her elegant new look.
• Dong Xuebin put his Patek Philippe on Luan Xiaoping’s wrist and drove her to meet Yang Zhaode’s family.
• Old Lady Yang and Yang Zhaojuan discussed their doubts about Luan Xiaoping’s family circumstances as they waited for her.
• Yang Zhaode’s family mistook Luan Xiaoping for a wealthy, elegant stranger before recognizing her and marveling at her transformation.
• Dong Xuebin decided not to take the group to Luan Xiaoping’s small rented apartment, and she told Yang Zhaode that her son had dressed her up for the formal meeting.

Dong Xuebin brought Luan Xiaoping and her relatives to a luxury villa and claimed it was their home, leaving them skeptical. He then bought the villa on the spot with a check, proving his claim and stunning everyone.

• Yang Zhaojuan and the others followed Dong Xuebin and Luan Xiaoping to a high-end villa complex to see whether Luan Xiaoping’s family was truly wealthy.
• Dong Xuebin led the group into an unsold villa and told Yang Zhaojuan it was their home, while Luan Xiaoping quietly admitted they did not live there.
• A sales employee revealed the villa was still for sale and quoted a price of 19.8 million yuan, embarrassing Luan Xiaoping and angering her relatives.
• Dong Xuebin wrote a check for 19.8 million yuan and handed it to the employee, then told Yang Zhaojuan the villa was now their home.

Dong Xuebin bought a nearly twenty-million villa to stand up for Luan Xiaoping after Yang Zhaojuan insulted her family circumstances. The families later discussed Luan Xiaoping and Yang Zhaode’s marriage, and the meal ended amicably with Dong Xuebin leaving the decision to his mother.

• Dong Xuebin paid for the villa with a check and told Yang Zhaojuan it was his home, stunning her and the saleswoman.
• Luan Xiaoping accepted the house as her son’s gift after Dong Xuebin insisted, and they agreed to keep a key each.
• Dong Xuebin hosted Yang Zhaode’s family at a lavish Shangri-La Hotel meal, where Yang Zhaojuan was again struck by their wealth.
• Yang Zhaofen asked whether Luan Xiaoping and Yang Zhaode had set a date, and Old Lady Yang said she would decide the matter soon.
• Yang Zhaode proposed that they skip a wedding and have a family meal, while Dong Xuebin said he would follow Luan Xiaoping’s wishes.

Dong Xuebin settled into the villa he bought for his mother and spent the evening with Xie Huilan, who told him that officials implicated in Teacher Zhou’s rape and corruption had been investigated. The chapter ended with Xie Huilan kissing him and telling him to smoke less.

• Dong Xuebin explored the villa after his mother left for Fenzhou with the Old Yang Family, then called Qu Yunxuan and learned she could not meet him.
• Dong Xuebin invited Xie Huilan to the villa, bought household supplies, and helped her carry them inside.
• Dong Xuebin rested with his head on Xie Huilan’s legs, and she told him that Yu Zhengzhi and Hu Yiguo had been placed under Double Designation for suspected rape, corruption, and bribery.
• Dong Xuebin asked whether Qin Yong could become Executive Deputy Director of the Public Security Bureau, but Xie Huilan said his youth and temporary assignment made it unlikely.
• Dong Xuebin asked Xie Huilan for a celebratory kiss, and she kissed him before telling him to smoke less.

Dong Xuebin tried to persuade Xie Huilan to stay and lured her into swimming with him. After he caught her in the pool, she surrendered, leaving open whether she would stay the night.

• Dong Xuebin cuddled against Xie Huilan and tried to convince her not to leave that evening; she said she would return to her mother's home and leave in the morning.
• Dong Xuebin caressed Xie Huilan's feet, then turned on the backyard lights and brought out swimsuits to persuade her to swim.
• Xie Huilan accepted a swimsuit and changed into the black string bikini Dong Xuebin had bought for her.
• Dong Xuebin got into the pool and tried to touch Xie Huilan, but she pushed him away and swam off.
• Xie Huilan promised not to leave that night if Dong Xuebin could catch her, and he soon cornered her and embraced her in the pool.

Dong Xuebin spent the night with Xie Huilan at her villa, enjoying her teasing and closeness as she prepared for bed. He fell asleep with his head resting on her legs while she gently massaged his scalp.

• Dong Xuebin heard Xie Huilan's phone ringing and brought it to her while she showered.
• Xie Huilan answered a call from Huang Shizhong, the newly appointed County Education Bureau director, who wanted to visit her with his wife.
• Xie Huilan asked Dong Xuebin to dry her hair, and he learned Huang Shizhong had also visited Xiang Daofa.
• Xie Huilan read in bed while Dong Xuebin climbed under the covers and rested his head on her legs.
• Xie Huilan massaged Dong Xuebin's scalp, and he drifted off to sleep.

After learning that Yu Qianqian had called him while hiding her distress, Dong Xuebin discovered an online video showing her being bullied at Yantai County No. 1 Middle School. He raced toward Yantai County in fury to confront those responsible.

• Zhou Yanru told Dong Xuebin that Secretary Anshi had been hospitalized with appendicitis and that she and Wang Yuling had returned to the district.
• Dong Xuebin found Xie Huilan’s breakfast and note, then learned she had already set out for the county.
• Yu Qianqian called Dong Xuebin from school, sounding as though she had been crying, but insisted nothing was wrong.
• Dong Xuebin watched a video in which Huang Tingting and other students slapped, kicked, and struck Yu Qianqian with a basketball.
• Dong Xuebin threw down his laptop, got into his car, and sped toward Yantai County.

Dong Xuebin returned to Yantai County and found Yu Qianqian badly beaten by classmates. After she revealed that Huang Tingting, whose father was the Education Bureau director, had bullied her, Dong Xuebin took her to confront them.

• Dong Xuebin raced to County No. 1 Middle School and ordered Yu Qianqian to meet him at the gate.
• Yu Qianqian tried to hide her injuries, but Dong Xuebin saw her bruised face and the shoeprint on her uniform.
• Yu Qianqian admitted that Huang Tingting and several others had beaten and humiliated her after she accidentally bumped into Huang in the hallway.
• Yu Qianqian said Huang Tingting had threatened her into staying quiet and that Huang's father was the Education Bureau director.
• Dong Xuebin took Yu Qianqian toward the Teaching Building and vowed to make the bullies pay.

Dong Xuebin brought Yu Qianqian to confront the students who had bullied her and the teacher who had ignored it. He beat the homeroom teacher and Huang Tingting, then revealed that he was unafraid even of her father, Huang Shizhong.

• Dong Xuebin took Yu Qianqian to Grade Two, Class One, where she identified Huang Tingting, Lei Zi, and Xiao Fan as her bullies.
• Dong Xuebin argued with the homeroom teacher, who ordered him out instead of addressing the bullying.
• Dong Xuebin kicked the homeroom teacher into the podium and kicked him again as the class erupted in panic.
• Huang Tingting taunted Yu Qianqian and threatened to use her father's influence, so Dong Xuebin dragged her from her seat and slapped her.
• Dong Xuebin said he did not care who Huang Tingting's father was, even invoking Public Security Bureau Director Liang Chengpeng, and Teacher Li realized they had provoked someone powerful.

Dong Xuebin confronted Huang Tingting, Lei, Xiao Fan, and a biased homeroom teacher over their bullying of Yu Qianqian. After beating the bullies and condemning the teacher, he destroyed the phone used to record Qianqian being attacked.

• Huang Tingting threatened Dong Xuebin after he slapped her, while the homeroom teacher rushed to protect her and ordered students to summon security.
• Dong Xuebin kicked the homeroom teacher and criticized him for ignoring Huang Tingting's bullying of other students.
• Lei attacked Dong Xuebin with a chair, but Dong disarmed him, struck him, and confronted him about making Yu Qianqian kneel and bark like a dog.
• Dong Xuebin caught and threw back Xiao Fan's pencil case and stationery, injuring him as Yu Qianqian watched.
• Dong Xuebin identified the girl who had recorded Yu Qianqian's beating and crushed her phone underfoot.