Chapter Summaries

Dong Xuebin shocked the mahjong players by declaring another Heavenly Hand after drawing a seemingly hopeless set of tiles. The chapter ended with Zhang Longjuan, Shen Xiaoyan, and Shen Xiaomei discovering that his tiles had transformed into Pure One Suit Magnificent Seven Pairs, leaving everyone baffled and afraid.

• Song Yuhu, Director Wei, and Director Leng replaced the tiles, dice, table, and chairs to rule out cheating, while Zhang Longjuan and the Twin Sisters watched Dong Xuebin closely.
• Director Wei and Director Leng asked Dong Xuebin to stand his tiles up as soon as he drew them, and he agreed.
• Shen Xiaoyan and Shen Xiaomei saw that Dong Xuebin had drawn a terrible set of disconnected tiles and assumed he could not win.
• Dong Xuebin turned his tiles face-down, pushed them forward, and declared a Heavenly Hand: Pure One Suit Magnificent Seven Pairs.
• Shen Xiaoyan and Shen Xiaomei checked the revealed tiles and found a complete set of Wan pairs, including four Nine of Wan, while the onlookers reacted with fear at Dong Xuebin's fourth Heavenly Hand.

Dong Xuebin won a massive Mahjong hand, emptied Song Yuhu, Director Wei, and Director Leng of their chips, and frightened everyone at the casino away from playing him. He left the table to smoke while Zhang Longjuan and the others questioned his impossible winning streak, and he insisted it was luck.

• Dong Xuebin had the dealer confirm his Pure One Suit Magnificent Seven Pairs hand and collect the chips from Song Yuhu, Director Wei, and Director Leng.
• Director Wei and Director Leng admitted defeat, while Song Yuhu and the others paid what they owed and left the game broke.
• Dong Xuebin counted roughly ninety-eight million in chips and invited others to play, but no one dared take the vacant seats or challenge him at cards.
• Dong Xuebin gave up waiting for players and went to join Zhang Longjuan and the others for a cigarette.
• Zhang Longjuan praised Dong Xuebin's hidden skill, while Shen Xiaoyan and Shen Xiaomei questioned his repeated Heavenly Hands and roulette win.
• Dong Xuebin claimed it was luck, and the others remembered that he had once won one hundred First Prizes in the lottery.

After Dong Xuebin’s astonishing Mahjong wins, Zhou Hu challenged him to a two-player card game, prompting the gambling ship’s staff and guests to anticipate a showdown. Zhang Longjuan warned Dong Xuebin that Zhou Hu was a legendary card expert who might cheat, but Dong insisted he would not lose and accepted the challenge.

• Guests on the Gambling Ship speculated about Dong Xuebin’s Mahjong victories and wondered whether he could also play cards well.
• Old Zhou asked Song Yuhu about Dong Xuebin, then challenged him to a game of Zha Jin Hua.
• Casino staff and guests recognized Old Zhou as Zhou Hu, the retired Card God, and expected him to defeat Dong Xuebin.
• Zhang Longjuan stopped Dong Xuebin and warned him that Zhou Hu’s card skills were formidable and his methods might be impossible to detect.
• Dong Xuebin told Zhang Longjuan he would not lose, and she let him proceed with caution.

Dong Xuebin faced Zhou Hu, the Card God, in a Zha Jin Hua match that became a contest of cheating techniques. After trading several wins, Dong Xuebin forced Zhou Hu to fold and admit defeat.

• Zhou Hu chose a deck, and the dealer shuffled and dealt while neither player looked at his cards.
• Zhou Hu won the first round by changing his hand into three of a kind, while Dong Xuebin revealed a straight flush.
• Dong Xuebin won the next round with three aces against Zhou Hu’s three kings, bringing his chips back to one hundred million.
• Dong Xuebin beat Zhou Hu’s three aces with 235, the only hand that could defeat three of a kind.
• Zhou Hu folded when Dong Xuebin revealed three aces in the fourth round and admitted there was no need to continue.

Dong Xuebin defeated Old Zhou at cards and refused his offer to stop gambling, determined to keep winning money for Zhang Longjuan’s company. Old Zhou warned Song Yuhu that Dong Xuebin’s skills were beyond anyone’s and that Song had brought a dangerous man down on them.

• Dong Xuebin left the Platinum Room with about 120 million in chips after no one else agreed to play, then headed to the Outer Gambling Hall with Zhang Longjuan and the others.
• Old Zhou stopped Dong Xuebin and asked to speak privately, then offered him ten million in chips if he would end the dispute and stop gambling.
• Dong Xuebin rejected Old Zhou’s offer, saying Song Yuhu had nearly cost them their lives and that he could win his own money.
• Zhang Longjuan asked if Dong Xuebin would keep playing, and he agreed because her company needed more than 200 million U.S. dollars to recover.
• Song Yuhu asked Old Zhou how Dong Xuebin had beaten him, and Old Zhou admitted he had seen no trace of the cheating and warned Song that he had offended someone extraordinarily dangerous.

After Dong Xuebin defeated Zhou Hu and won heavily in the Platinum Room, the casino shut down every gambling table in the outer hall and announced that the ship would leave International Waters early. The guests learned why the casino had closed, and nearly a hundred people turned their attention to Dong Xuebin.

• Dong Xuebin returned to the outer hall with Zhang Longjuan and prepared to try baccarat and dice after learning their basic rules.
• Casino staff shut down the baccarat, dice, blackjack, and roulette tables, prompting angry guests to demand an explanation.
• The female manager and Old Zhou told the guests that equipment problems required maintenance and that the ship would leave International Waters early.
• Guests who had seen Dong Xuebin play told the others that he had made four Heavenly Hands in a row and defeated Zhou Hu at Zha Jin Hua.
• Word spread that Dong Xuebin had won 120 million US dollars and forced the casino to suspend operations, and the crowd turned to stare at him.

With the casino’s main gambling floor closed, Dong Xuebin and Zhang Longjuan were still more than eighty million short of their goal, so they turned to the slot machines. After learning about a recent jackpot on a newly installed machine, Dong Xuebin realized he had found a possible way forward.

• Zhang Longjuan said the group could settle for the money they had won, but Dong Xuebin insisted they still needed to raise two hundred million and refused to take a share.
• Zhang Longjuan explained that the casino had left the slot machines open because they relied on random chance and were difficult for guests to cheat.
• Dong Xuebin learned that players were queuing for newly installed machines because one had paid out a jackpot soon after being brought in the previous month.
• A woman explained that pulling the slot machine lever harder made no difference because touching and releasing it triggered a random result.
• Dong Xuebin connected what he had learned about the previous jackpot, the new machines, and the lever, and realized he had found a breakthrough.

Dong Xuebin challenged the casino’s remaining slot machines after defeating Old Zhou and winning a fortune at other games. He hit a hundred-million-dollar jackpot with one chip, leaving the casino and the crowd stunned.

• Old Zhou told the casino managers that Dong Xuebin had beaten him despite being badly injured, and warned that neither gambling nor fighting him was a safe option.
• Dong Xuebin proposed playing the slots, while Zhang Longjuan agreed and Shen Xiaomei and Shen Xiaoyan worried that he might lose their winnings.
• Dong Xuebin told Song Yuhu that Zhang Longjuan still needed eighty million dollars and sat at the slot machine that had paid out a jackpot the previous month.
• Dong Xuebin wagered a single ten-thousand-dollar chip, pulled the lever, and landed three sevens.
• The slot machine rang and dispensed a hundred million dollars' worth of chips, setting off an uproar throughout the casino.

Dong Xuebin hit a 777 jackpot with one chip, bringing his winnings to more than $219 million and leaving the casino unable to explain how he had won. He and Zhang Longjuan collected the money in cash and left with seven or eight huge cases.

• Dong Xuebin won $100 million in chips from the slot machine with a single chip, and Shen Xiaoyan and Shen Xiaomei gathered the payout.
• Dong Xuebin asked the casino to refill the machine so he could play again, prompting Song Yuhu to shut down every slot machine.
• Casino staff dismantled and inspected the machine but found no problem, and Old Zhou eventually ordered the guards to let Dong Xuebin's group leave.
• Dong Xuebin, Zhang Longjuan, Shen Xiaoyan, and Shen Xiaomei took their chips to the counter, where staff counted $219,820,000 in winnings.
• Zhang Longjuan chose cash instead of a transfer, and the casino packed the money into seven or eight huge cases.

After Dong Xuebin won more than two hundred million US dollars on the ship’s Slot Machine, he refused to take the money for himself and urged Zhang Longjuan to use it to save her company. Zhang Longjuan accepted it as an investment and made Dong Xuebin a shareholder with a twenty percent stake.

• Zhang Longjuan, Dong Xuebin, Shen Xiaoyan, and Shen Xiaomei hauled the suitcases of cash into the VIP room aboard the ship.
• Shen Xiaomei pressed Dong Xuebin to explain his Slot Machine win, but he claimed it was luck and kept the truth about Reversing to himself.
• After the ship announced it would dock in forty minutes, Zhang Longjuan arranged a vehicle to transport the money.
• Shen Xiaoyan and Shen Xiaomei left Zhang Longjuan and Dong Xuebin to discuss what to do with the winnings.
• Dong Xuebin refused to keep the money, citing his position as a cadre and insisting Zhang Longjuan use it to rescue her company.
• Zhang Longjuan agreed to take the money in exchange for shares, and settled on giving Dong Xuebin a twenty percent stake.

Dong Xuebin and Zhang Longjuan left the cruise ship with the more than $200 million he had won, and later said goodbye to Shen Xiaoyan and Shen Xiaomei at the airport. Zhang Longjuan departed with a surprise kiss, leaving Dong Xuebin flustered as he waited for his own flight.

• Dong Xuebin, Zhang Longjuan, and the Twin Sisters worked with casino staff to move the heavy cases of money off the ship and load them onto a truck.
• The casino bosses watched the truck leave, deciding not to provoke Dong Xuebin and his companions.
• At the airport, Shen Xiaoyan and Shen Xiaomei thanked Zhang Longjuan and Dong Xuebin before departing to report back to State Security.
• Dong Xuebin exchanged phone numbers with the sisters and said goodbye to Zhang Longjuan before she went through security.
• Zhang Longjuan kissed Dong Xuebin, called it his reward, and left him blushing.

Dong Xuebin boarded a flight back to the Capital City after finishing his business in Hong Kong and spoke with his family and Yu Meixia by phone. He unexpectedly reunited with Yu Meixia, Yu Qianqian, Liu Chenglong, and Qian Lihua on the plane, and the story left them seated together as the flight took off.

• Dong Xuebin called home and told his family he planned to rest in the Capital City before returning to Fenzhou City.
• Dong Xuebin called Yu Meixia and learned that she, Yu Qianqian, Liu Chenglong, and Qian Lihua were hurrying to catch a flight back to the Capital City.
• Dong Xuebin recognized the group as they boarded his plane and invited them to sit near him, switching seats with another couple.
• Yu Meixia worried over Dong Xuebin's bandaged injuries while Yu Qianqian fell asleep beside her.
• Dong Xuebin held Yu Meixia's hand as the plane took off, and she blushed but stayed quiet.

On the flight to the Capital City, Dong Xuebin secretly caressed Yu Meixia while she showed him photos from her family’s trip to Sanya. Before landing, they agreed to go to her hotel together, and Yu Meixia said she would try to sneak away that night.

• Yu Meixia covered her and Dong Xuebin’s clasped hands when Yu Qianqian stirred beside them.
• Yu Meixia showed Dong Xuebin photos from her family’s trip to Sanya while he secretly touched her beneath her jacket.
• Dong Xuebin learned that Yu Meixia and her family were staying at a hotel and asked her to meet him that night.
• Yu Meixia agreed to go to the hotel with Dong Xuebin after landing and said she would try to sneak away.
• As the plane prepared to land, Dong Xuebin stopped touching Yu Meixia, and she pulled her skirt back down.

After arriving in the Capital City with Yu Meixia’s family, Dong Xuebin grew impatient waiting for a chance to see her and climbed down from his hotel room into hers. The chapter ended with him embracing Yu Meixia while her parents and Yu Qianqian remained in the adjoining room.

• Dong Xuebin and Yu Meixia traveled with Liu Chenglong, Qian Lihua, and Yu Qianqian to a hotel in the Eastern District.
• Dong Xuebin waited for Yu Meixia to visit his room, but she told him her family was still awake.
• Dong Xuebin climbed out of his window and dropped to the floor below, where he tapped on Yu Meixia’s window.
• Yu Meixia let Dong Xuebin into her room and calmed down after he startled her.
• Dong Xuebin persuaded Yu Meixia to lock the door, then embraced her while her family chatted outside.

Dong Xuebin secretly met Yu Meixia in her hotel room, and the two were intimate while he hid his injuries and avoided being discovered. He ended the night beneath her bed as Yu Meixia welcomed Yu Qianqian and Qian Lihua into the room.

• Dong Xuebin took off his clothes and showed Yu Meixia his bandaged injuries, then persuaded her to be intimate with him on the carpet.
• Yu Meixia and Dong Xuebin were intimate for a while, then dressed and tried to clear the room of signs of what they had done.
• Yu Meixia prepared a coat under the bed for Dong Xuebin and aired out the room while he hid beneath the bed.
• Yu Qianqian and Qian Lihua knocked and entered, and Yu Meixia claimed she was hot when they noticed her flushed face.

Dong Xuebin visited Xie Guojian and Ci Lifen, who told him that Xie Guoliang was set to become Minister of Finance and Xie Guojian would become a Deputy Chief of the General Staff. They thanked Dong Xuebin for the hard drive he had brought back, which helped Xie Guojian secure his new post.

• Yu Meixia told Dong Xuebin that she and her parents had already left for Fenzhou City.
• Ci Lifen invited Dong Xuebin to lunch at the Xie family's new residence, and he went after checking out of his hotel.
• Dong Xuebin arrived at the military district compound and met Ci Lifen and Xie Guojian, while Xie Hao was out with classmates.
• Xie Guojian told Dong Xuebin that Xie Guoliang was expected to become Minister of Finance and that he would become a Deputy Chief of the General Staff overseeing the Second Department.
• Ci Lifen explained that the hard drive Dong Xuebin had brought back from an American research institute had helped Xie Guojian's transfer, and Xie Guojian invited him to celebrate over drinks.

Dong Xuebin ate with Xie Guojian and Ci Lifen, celebrated Xie Guojian’s promotion, and learned about Zhong Lizhen’s rapid rise in the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the military. After Xie Guojian discussed Dong Xuebin’s classified file, Ci Lifen suggested assigning him a bodyguard, but he refused.

• Dong Xuebin toasted Xie Guojian’s promotion and thanked him and Ci Lifen for their hospitality.
• Xie Guojian and Ci Lifen said Zhong Lizhen had joined the Chinese Academy of Sciences as an academician and received the rank of Major General.
• Dong Xuebin asked about Xie Guojian’s new post in the General Staff Department Second Department, and Xie Guojian said he had reviewed Dong Xuebin’s highly classified file and knew about his recent trip to Hong Kong.
• Ci Lifen suggested that Xie Guojian arrange a bodyguard for Dong Xuebin, but Xie Guojian said he needed the Old Master’s approval.
• Dong Xuebin declined a bodyguard, and Ci Lifen agreed that his combat ability made one unnecessary.

Dong Xuebin returned to his old apartment, cleaned it, and prepared to host Xu Yan, who was coming to Capital City to discuss custody of her son. At the vegetable market, he caught up with old neighbors who celebrated his rise to deputy county chief.

• Dong Xuebin said goodbye to Xie Guojian and Ci Lifen, then went to the old apartment he had shared with his mother.
• Xu Yan called and thanked Dong Xuebin for helping Zhang in Hong Kong; she said she was coming to Capital City to discuss custody of Chao Chao and planned to visit him.
• Dong Xuebin cleaned the apartment, changed the bedding, and went to the vegetable market to buy groceries for Xu Yan’s visit.
• Dong Xuebin met Aunt Liu, Grandma Chen, and other old neighbors, who praised his success and recalled how Section Chief Xu’s family had once looked down on him.

Dong Xuebin waited hours for Xu Yan, who arrived late after dealing with her custody case and found comfort in his care. As they went to bed, Xu Yan offered to compensate him for waiting by pleasuring him.

• Dong Xuebin cooked dinner and waited for Xu Yan, who called to say she might not come because something had come up.
• Xu Yan arrived near midnight, and Dong Xuebin reheated the food so they could eat together.
• Xu Yan told Dong Xuebin that her custody case was being handled and would go to court in a few months.
• Dong Xuebin and Xu Yan prepared for bed in his small apartment, and Xu Yan asked him to turn off the light.
• Xu Yan returned Dong Xuebin's kiss, then offered to compensate him for waiting and began pleasuring him.

After spending the night together, Dong Xuebin and Xu Yan cautiously adjusted to their relationship while sharing breakfast. Xu Yan revealed that her ex-husband had punched her during an argument over custody of their son, Chao Chao, and Dong Xuebin reacted angrily.

• Dong Xuebin woke beside Xu Yan and tried to overcome their awkwardness by showing her affection before getting up.
• Dong Xuebin cooked silky egg and beef congee, and he and Xu Yan ate together while discussing work and a shake-up at the provincial State Security Department.
• Dong Xuebin asked about the swelling at Xu Yan's mouth, and she explained that she had argued with her ex-husband over custody of Chao Chao.
• Xu Yan said her ex-husband punched her during the argument and that the incident made her more determined to win custody of Chao Chao.
• Dong Xuebin jumped to his feet after hearing that Xu Yan had been hit.