Chapter Summaries

Dong Xuebin feared Xie Huilan would confront him about the embarrassing incident with her stockings, but she invited him to lunch and treated him warmly. At Wangfu Restaurant, he saw how influential she was when the hotel staff and a senior city official greeted her with special deference.

• Dong Xuebin anxiously answered Xie Huilan's call and agreed to meet her for lunch.
• Dong Xuebin expected Xie Huilan to criticize him, but she thanked him for saving and caring for her and acted as though nothing had happened with the stockings.
• Xie Huilan drove Dong Xuebin to Wangfu Restaurant, where the manager greeted her and arranged a table in Bamboo Garden.
• Xie Huilan toasted Dong Xuebin and asked about his family, and he learned she had invited him to thank him for saving her.
• Feng Xueliang, a member of the Capital City Municipal Party Committee Standing Committee and Director of the Public Security Bureau, greeted Xie Huilan warmly, leaving Dong Xuebin stunned by her influence.

Dong Xuebin used BACK to discover that a street-stall bowl was genuine Qing Qianlong imperial porcelain, then sold it for seven hundred thousand yuan and reached two million in savings. He told Qu Yunxuan he would entrust her with their money, while Xie Huilan learned how skilled he was at spotting antiques.

• Xie Huilan took Dong Xuebin to Liulichang, bought him a two-thousand-yuan cricket gourd, and browsed antique stalls with him.
• After failing to identify a blue-and-white bowl, Dong Xuebin smashed it to inspect its clay body, confirmed it was genuine, and used BACK to return to the moment before Xie Huilan left.
• Dong Xuebin bought the bowl for forty-two thousand yuan and took it with Xie Huilan to Rongbaozhai for authentication.
• Rongbaozhai experts confirmed the bowl was valuable, and Dong Xuebin sold it for seven hundred thousand yuan after haggling.
• Dong Xuebin deposited the check, realized his assets totaled two million yuan, and told Qu Yunxuan he would transfer his money to her to manage.

On the first workday after the Spring Festival, Dong Xuebin clashed with Yan Lei over the secretary’s treatment of Wang Xin, a new General Office employee. Dong defended his staff and left the branch bureau watching to see how the conflict with Director Zhen’s secretary would unfold.

• Yan Lei ordered Dong Xuebin to prepare meeting materials and warned him that Director Zhen had assigned the task.
• Dong learned that Xu Yan had arranged Sun Zhuang’s transfer and welcomed Wang Xin, a nervous new Civil Servant, to the General Office.
• Yan Lei scolded Wang Xin for not typing a document quickly enough, and she began to cry.
• Dong confronted Yan Lei, blamed him for failing to specify the deadline, and ordered him to stop shouting at his staff.
• Dong reassured Wang Xin and asked Chang Juan to finish the document as word of his argument with Yan Lei spread through the Chengxi Branch Bureau.

Dong Xuebin apologized to Xu Yan and Zhen Anguo after clashing with Yan Lei, but Yan Lei’s account swayed Zhen Anguo and Dong was excluded from the Jiangzhe Province exchange while Yan Lei received a slot. Xu Yan challenged the decision, while Dong left furious after seeing Yan Lei celebrate.

• Chang Juan told Dong Xuebin that the Branch Bureau’s study exchange slots usually went to leaders, high achievers, or people with connections, and Dong worried his dispute with Yan Lei might affect his chances.
• Dong Xuebin admitted his impulsive behavior to Xu Yan, who urged him to keep the peace with Yan Lei and warned that the conflict could trouble Zhen Anguo.
• Yan Lei complained to Zhen Anguo and portrayed Dong Xuebin as unreasonable, leading Zhen to believe Dong had provoked the confrontation.
• Dong Xuebin apologized to Zhen Anguo, who said both men were responsible and sent him back to work.
• Dong Xuebin learned that Yan Lei had received an exchange slot while he had been left off the list, then confronted Xu Yan about the unfair decision.
• Xu Yan asked Zhen Anguo to reconsider, but Zhen said he had removed Dong from the list to temper him and keep a capable worker available; Dong then saw Yan Lei celebrating his selection.

Dong Xuebin watched the branch bureau’s attempt to clear students from its gate turn into a crisis after officers cuffed them and discovered their powerful family connections. The students refused to leave even after the bureau ordered their release, leaving the situation on the verge of escalating.

• Dong Xuebin found the General Office upset that he had been excluded from the Jiangzhe Province study tour while Yan Lei was included, and he told everyone to return to work.
• After students returned to the branch bureau gate to seek out a female civil servant, Li Qing and Guo Panwei failed to persuade them to leave, so Zhen Anguo sent Sixth Division officers to intervene.
• The officers handcuffed all six students and confined them in a storage room after they refused to go, but Zhen Anguo soon learned that one was related to a central leader and ordered their release.
• Officials and associates called Zhen Anguo, Xu Yan, and Cheng Haimei to protest the arrests because the students had influential family connections.
• When Sixth Division officers tried to remove the handcuffs, the students refused to cooperate and demanded an explanation, while Dong Xuebin watched the crisis unfold.

Dong Xuebin was called to resolve the standoff with six powerful students who refused to remove their handcuffs, after the Chengxi Branch Bureau’s leaders failed to persuade them. He discovered that their leader was Xie Hao, Xie Huilan’s younger brother, and got the students to unlock themselves and leave; the bureau’s staff watched in amazement.

• Zhen Anguo and the other leaders tried to persuade the handcuffed students to leave, but the students refused and demanded apologies.
• After Director Jiang gave Zhen Anguo twenty minutes to end the incident, Pang Bin suggested calling Director Little Dong, and Xu Yan promised to address Dong Xuebin’s recent grievance if he resolved the standoff.
• Dong Xuebin initially resented being summoned after the bureau had favored Yan Lei, but he went to the students after Xu Yan appealed to him.
• Dong Xuebin kicked open the room’s door and confronted the students, then recognized their leader as Xie Hao and threatened to tell Xie Huilan what he had done.
• Xie Hao persuaded the others to unlock their handcuffs, apologize to Dong Xuebin, and leave the Branch Bureau to return to school.
• Dong Xuebin reported that he had handled the matter, leaving the bureau’s leaders and staff astonished at how quickly the students had changed their attitude.

Dong Xuebin confronted Zhen Anguo over Yan Lei’s treatment of him and his clerks, leading Zhen Anguo to uncover Yan Lei’s lies and replace him with Dong on the Jiangzhe Province inspection team. Xu Yan and Zhen Anguo cleared up their misunderstanding, and Dong’s position on the trip was secured.

• After Dong Xuebin settled the crisis with the visiting students, Xu Yan told him to explain his dispute with Yan Lei directly to Zhen Anguo.
• Dong Xuebin told Zhen Anguo that Yan Lei had berated Wang Xin until she cried and had falsely claimed Dong refused to respond when summoned.
• Zhen Anguo verified Dong Xuebin’s account, reprimanded Yan Lei, and ordered him out of his office.
• Zhen Anguo apologized to Xu Yan and offered to replace Yan Lei with Dong Xuebin on the Jiangzhe Province inspection team.
• Xu Yan offered her own quota instead, but Zhen Anguo kept her as team leader and confirmed Dong’s place on the trip.
• News spread that Yan Lei had been removed from the inspection list and replaced by Dong Xuebin.

Dong Xuebin traveled to Lin'an and discussed opening an Auction Company with Qu Yunxuan, then used BAC to turn a discarded Chicken-Blood Stone rough into a valuable Big Red Robe. After selling it for seven hundred thousand yuan, he had two million seven hundred thousand yuan, enough to start the company.

• Dong Xuebin arrived in Lin'an with Xu Yan's inspection team and called Qu Yunxuan to discuss starting a business together.
• Qu Yunxuan proposed opening an Auction Company, and Dong Xuebin decided to seek more capital by gambling on stones in Lin'an.
• Dong Xuebin waited at a Chicken-Blood Stone shop but saw no exceptional stones until a mustached man tried to sell a badly cut rough for thirty thousand yuan.
• Dong Xuebin rewound time and bought the rough for ten thousand yuan before the employee cut its bloodless end and revealed rare Big Red Robe Chicken-Blood Stone.
• Dong Xuebin sold the stone to the shop owner for seven hundred thousand yuan, bringing his total assets to two million seven hundred thousand yuan.

Dong Xuebin used BACK to prevent a firecracker from detonating explosives in an abandoned mine, revealing valuable chicken-blood stone and prompting him to lease the mine with Qu Yunxuan. He left convinced the mine would bring them enough money to open a larger Auction House.

• Dong Xuebin told Qu Yunxuan he had earned another 700,000 yuan and agreed she would begin preparing their Auction Company.
• Xu Yan took Dong Xuebin to Changhua, where they toured chicken-blood stone shops and visited a mining area.
• A firecracker triggered explosives in the abandoned mine, exposing a vein of chicken-blood stone that Dong Xuebin recognized as a chance to make money.
• Dong Xuebin used BACK to return three minutes earlier and kicked away the firecracker before it could reach the explosives.
• Dong Xuebin summoned Qu Yunxuan and persuaded Old Yezi to lease them the mine for two months for two million yuan.
• Dong Xuebin told Qu Yunxuan to watch the mine and promised the first batch of chicken-blood stone would prove the lease was worthwhile.

Dong Xuebin’s chosen Chicken-Blood Stone Mine struck valuable rough stone on its first blast, while he considered how to advance his career. After Xu Yan told him he would need to wait years for another promotion, he decided to seek a transfer from national security to the Public Security System.

• Qu Yunxuan called Dong Xuebin to report that the mine’s first blast uncovered a large vein of Chicken-Blood Stone Rough Stone.
• Dong Xuebin returned to work and thought about setting a new short-term career goal.
• Xu Yan thanked Dong Xuebin for helping her choose a laptop and told him he could not expect another promotion for three years.
• Dong Xuebin concluded that he should try to transfer from the National Security System into the Public Security System.

Dong Xuebin sought Xie Huilan’s help transferring into the Public Security System, but dinner with her and Xie Hao turned into a contest with Wei Nan, the man her family wanted her to marry. Dong Xuebin won Xie Huilan’s promised company by using Back to identify a hidden 1992 one-yuan coin, leaving everyone amazed as they left the restaurant together.

• Dong Xuebin called Xie Hao to ask what Xie Huilan liked, hoping to find a way to ask her for help with his transfer.
• Xie Hao invited Dong Xuebin to dinner with Xie Huilan, where they met Wei Nan, who said he and Xie Huilan were about to get engaged.
• Xie Huilan proposed a magic contest between Wei Nan and Xie Hao, and Wei Nan impressed her by producing red roses from a handkerchief.
• Xie Hao challenged Dong Xuebin to identify what was inside a neighboring couple’s wrapped box, and Dong Xuebin said it held a 1992 one-yuan coin.
• The couple opened the box and confirmed the coin’s year, so Xie Huilan declared that she would go with Dong Xuebin, while Wei Nan watched in disbelief.

Dong Xuebin visited Xie Huilan and asked her to transfer him from the National Security System to the Public Security System. Xie Huilan promised to try to arrange him as Deputy Director of the County Public Security Bureau and told him to wait for her news.

• Dong Xuebin brought Xie Huilan an electric heater, and she repaid him for it.
• Xie Huilan praised Dong Xuebin for his recent accomplishments and asked what he wanted to discuss.
• Dong Xuebin asked Xie Huilan to help him transfer into the Public Security System.
• Xie Huilan offered to arrange a leadership position and asked Dong Xuebin to name a department.
• Dong Xuebin requested Deputy Director of the County Public Security Bureau, and Xie Huilan agreed to try to arrange it within a couple of days.

Dong Xuebin visited Xie Huilan’s family after she secured his grassroots transfer, but a confrontation with Wei Nan nearly derailed the visit. He then met Xie Huilan’s grandfather and discovered the old man was the Republic’s former General Secretary.

• Dong Xuebin told his mother he might be promoted again, then learned from Xie Huilan that her grandfather had approved his transfer and wanted to meet him.
• Dong Xuebin accompanied Xie Huilan to her family’s villa, where Wei Nan was waiting to play chess with her grandfather.
• After Xie Huilan stumbled while getting out of the car, Dong Xuebin caught her, and Wei Nan kicked him; Dong used BACK to rewind and dodged the attack before punching Wei Nan.
• Xie Huilan rebuked Wei Nan for attacking her rescuer, rejected their engagement, and declared that Dong Xuebin was closer to her than Wei Nan was.
• Xie Huilan led Dong Xuebin into the garden, where he saw her grandfather and realized the old man was the Republic’s former General Secretary.

Dong Xuebin met Xie Huilan’s powerful family, lost at chess to her and Old Xie, and became caught in a clash over her arranged engagement to Wei Nan. After Old Xie ordered Xie Huilan and Wei Nan to get engaged, Xie Huilan asked Dong Xuebin whether he wanted to date her.

• Dong Xuebin learned that Old Xie was Xie Huilan’s grandfather and that her father was the Capital City Municipal Party Secretary.
• Xie Huilan defeated Dong Xuebin at chess, and Wei Nan later humiliated him in a game before Old Xie invited him to play.
• Wei Nan told Old Xie that Dong Xuebin had taken advantage of Xie Huilan and attacked him, prompting Old Xie to order Xie Huilan and Wei Nan to get engaged the following week.
• Xie Huilan and Xie Hao defied Old Xie, while Xie Huilan revealed that Wei Nan had attacked Dong Xuebin and denied having a relationship with him.
• After Old Xie refused to reconsider his order, Xie Huilan told Dong Xuebin they should not accept the accusation against them and asked whether he wanted to date her.

Xie Huilan pretended to be dating Dong Xuebin to resist her arranged engagement to Wei Nan, and Dong Xuebin risked his career to stand by her. After Old Xie challenged him to a chess match, Dong Xuebin used BACK repeatedly to follow Zhang Wanxu’s advice and won, leaving Old Xie reconsidering the engagement and Dong Xuebin’s suitability.

• Xie Huilan announced that she and Dong Xuebin were dating and asked Old Xie to let her marry him instead of Wei Nan.
• Old Xie rejected them, threatened to exile Dong Xuebin to the Northwest, and finally offered to approve their relationship if Dong Xuebin beat him at Chinese chess.
• Xie Huilan agreed to get engaged to Wei Nan when Dong Xuebin appeared unable to win, but Dong Xuebin insisted on playing Old Xie.
• Dong Xuebin repeatedly conceded and used BACK to apply Zhang Wanxu’s advice until he defeated Old Xie in a decisive game.
• Old Xie praised Dong Xuebin’s play and reconsidered whether the alliance with Wei Nan’s family was a mistake, while Zhang Wanxu offered to take Dong Xuebin as a disciple.
• Xie Huilan said Old Xie would keep his word, and Xie Hao congratulated her and Dong Xuebin as Wei Nan hurried toward the villa in distress.

Dong Xuebin learned that Xie Huilan’s engagement to Wei Nan had effectively been called off and that his transfer to Yantai County Public Security Bureau was nearly settled. The chapter ended with him thrilled at the prospect of returning to his hometown as a deputy bureau chief.

• Xie Hao thanked Dong Xuebin for helping Xie Huilan and said his grandfather had promised to approve Dong’s transfer if he won their chess game.
• Xie Hao told Dong that his family had heard about the events at the Old Master’s home, leaving Dong worried about how they viewed him.
• Xie Huilan told Dong that the Old Master had refused to see Wei Nan and that Wei Nan’s father had taken him home, effectively ending the engagement.
• Xie Huilan said Dong’s transfer was basically no longer a problem and offered him the deputy bureau chief opening at Yantai County Public Security Bureau.
• Dong eagerly accepted the Yantai County post and thanked Xie Huilan, who said the appointment should come through within a few days.

Dong Xuebin brought Xie Huilan the heating-related newspaper reports she needed for an important speech, after hearing how badly her office had failed to obtain them. Xie Huilan insisted their relationship was real, then confronted him about what he had done with her stockings when he saved her.

• Dong Xuebin bought Xie Huilan cosmetics and visited her, where she explained that heating reports would be the most useful gift for her work.
• Dong Xuebin used his connection with Director Zheng to obtain and print heating reports from January and February.
• Dong Xuebin delivered the reports to Xie Huilan just as she was struggling to find materials for her speech.
• Xie Huilan told Dong Xuebin that she had never said their relationship was fake, while he protested that he was not worthy of her and denied having romantic feelings.
• Xie Huilan asked Dong Xuebin to explain what he had done with her stockings when he saved her, leaving him shocked that she knew.

Wang Lin searched the Soldier Immortal's memories and confronted the Immortal Venerate's seal within his sea of consciousness. He discovered a power that disintegrated anything approaching the seven-colored man, but remained determined to find a way through.

• Wang Lin seized the skinny old man and used his divine sense to search the Soldier Immortal's memories despite the old man's threats.
• The four ancient clan statues discussed Wang Lin's attempt, and Vermillion Bird acknowledged that Wang Lin had not been part of his plan.
• Wang Lin entered the fog sealing the old man's memories and encountered the seven-colored man who served as the seal.
• Wang Lin attacked the seven-colored man with a palm strike, a wave of air, and Ancient God-powered fingers, but each attack disintegrated within three inches of him.
• Wang Lin withdrew his damaged fingers, regrew them with Ancient God power, and considered how to overcome the seal.

Dong Xuebin expected to transfer from National Security to a deputy leadership post in the Public Security System, but a stranger accused him of owing gambling debts and the Chengxi Branch Bureau’s leaders blocked his departure. The chapter ended with Dong Xuebin furious after Zhen Anguo refused to approve the transfer and insisted he stay.

• Dong Xuebin’s colleagues learned he was likely to transfer, and Xu Yan supported his move while asking whom he would recommend to replace him.
• Dong Xuebin recommended Guo Panwei for the General Office deputy director position and told him he might take over.
• A middle-aged man shouted outside the branch bureau that Dong Xuebin owed him 254,000 in gambling debts, then fled when officers pursued him.
• Xie Huilan told Dong Xuebin that his transfer depended on Zhen Anguo’s approval, and Dong Xuebin suspected Wei Nan had arranged the accusation to frame him.
• Zhen Anguo used the disturbance as grounds to refuse Dong Xuebin’s transfer, offering instead to seek him a deputy-section-level post at the branch bureau.
• Dong Xuebin argued against being held back, but Zhen Anguo remained firm, leaving Dong Xuebin enraged and his transfer blocked.

Dong Xuebin learned that Zhen Anguo had blocked his transfer to a grassroots deputy director post, and attempts by Xu Yan and Xie Huilan to intervene failed. The chapter ended with Dong helping prepare lunch for Municipal Party Secretary Xie Guobang’s inspection while his conflict with Zhen Anguo worsened.

• Zhen Anguo refused Xu Yan’s appeal to release Dong Xuebin for the transfer, offering instead a future deputy section chief promotion.
• Xie Huilan asked Director Wang to intervene, but Zhen Anguo defended his decision by citing the gambling-debt incident and insisting Dong Xuebin be investigated.
• Yan Lei taunted Dong Xuebin about the canceled transfer, and Dong smashed a cup before being assigned to prepare for a municipal inspection.
• Dong Xuebin overslept and arrived late as Zhen Anguo reprimanded him in front of the bureau leaders.
• Xie Guobang arrived to inspect the aging Chengxi Branch Bureau buildings and chose to eat in the main cafeteria.
• Dong Xuebin moved tables and served dishes for Xie Guobang’s group while Yan Lei announced the dishes and tried to impress the visiting leaders.