Chapter Summaries

Jiang Hao prepared for the Axis setbacks by converting his money to US dollars, stockpiling supplies, and supplying cigarettes to German troops in Sicily. As Allied bombing began again on Christmas, he and Malena watched from the manor.

• Jiang Hao exchanged his lira and the organization’s funds for US dollars and British pounds, refusing to buy German Marks.
• Jiang Hao ordered his organization to stockpile tobacco and stored weapons as the Battle of El Alamein ended in German defeat and German troops arrived in Sicily.
• Jiang Hao agreed to supply cigarettes at a German military reception, and he instructed Basali to deliver them to every unit and record each delivery.
• Luca reported that the Allied offensive in Tunis had intensified and that the Italian Navy had blockaded the Strait of Tunis, so Jiang Hao’s smuggling ships stopped.
• Jiang Hao and Malena spent Christmas at the manor and watched as Allied air-raid sirens sounded again.

Jiang Hao negotiated an alliance with American intelligence, offering extensive intelligence and assistance for the Allied invasion of Sicily in exchange for authority over the island and support for his future business in the United States. The Americans approved his terms, and Jiang Hao revealed that his network could provide information on Sicily’s towns, military units, and navy.

• Luca told Jiang Hao that American intelligence had contacted him through Adi and wanted the organization’s help.
• Jiang Hao met American agent Jensen and agreed to cooperate, asking for authority over Sicily after its capture and government support for his business in the United States.
• Jiang Hao gave Jensen German troop deployment records and cigarette delivery figures as proof of his organization’s value.
• After Jensen submitted the intelligence and demands, General Eisenhower approved Jiang Hao’s requests and invited him to meet after the war.
• Jiang Hao told Jensen that his black market network covered all of Sicily and could provide local guides, military intelligence, and information about the Italian navy.

As the Allies prepared to invade Sicily, Jiang Hao’s Mafia network helped American intelligence gather information and guided the landing forces. The invasion began with little resistance in the southwest, while Montgomery’s British troops faced fierce German opposition, and Jiang Hao stayed at his estate with Malena under heavy guard.

• Jiang Hao agreed to help Jensen and assigned Davy, Luca, and Sacadu to organize Mafia support for the American intelligence agents.
• The Mafia helped the agents gather intelligence across Sicily, and the Allies kept them working after all of them survived their initial mission.
• Montgomery rejected the offer of Mafia guides, while the Allies set sail for Sicily and began their landing on the night of July 9.
• The American forces quickly secured the southwestern coast with help from local guides, while the British advance met fierce German resistance.
• Patton ordered his troops to advance north and west and said he hoped to meet Jiang Hao after the war.
• Jiang Hao remained at his estate outside Palermo with Malena, Sacadu, two team leaders, and one hundred guards.

Jiang Hao met General Patton and promised to help the Americans take Palermo without a fight. He persuaded Palermo’s commander, General Flavio, to consider surrendering to save the city and its people, and Flavio asked what terms he could retain.

• Jensen told Jiang Hao that General Patton wanted to meet him, and Jiang Hao traveled to the American camp in Corleone Town.
• Patton asked Jiang Hao to help capture Palermo with fewer casualties, and Jiang Hao promised that the city’s people might welcome the Americans with fruit and flowers.
• Jiang Hao secretly entered Palermo and asked General Flavio whether he could resist the American advance.
• Jiang Hao warned Flavio that continued resistance would bring needless deaths and destroy Palermo’s historic buildings, then offered to honor him for surrendering.
• General Flavio struggled with the choice and asked Jiang Hao what treatment he could retain.

Jiang Hao arranged General Flavio’s surrender and helped Italian officers move their valuables and military supplies out of Palermo before the Americans took control. The chapter ended with Jiang Hao telling General Patton that Flavio’s 48,500 soldiers would surrender outside the city at eleven that morning.

• Jiang Hao offered General Flavio safe surrender and a country estate, and Flavio chose to stay with his soldiers.
• General Flavio convened his officers, who accepted Jiang Hao’s surrender terms without objection.
• Hundreds of Italian trucks carried the officers’ valuables to the Madame Malena estate and military supplies to Jiang Hao’s cigarette factory.
• Jiang Hao arranged for grooms to care for the army’s horses and dogs after the troops surrendered.
• Jiang Hao agreed with the generals and Mayor Alonzo to assemble the soldiers outside Palermo and prepare a welcoming display for the Americans.
• Jiang Hao told General Patton that Flavio would surrender 48,500 soldiers at eleven that morning and asked him to honor the promised treatment.

Jiang Hao secured Palermo’s surrender without a battle, became the city’s interim mayor, and helped stabilize Sicily while the war continued. He later summoned imprisoned Mafia members, including Enzo, who recognized him as Renato.

• Jiang Hao arranged General Flavio’s surrender, and General Patton took Palermo without firing a shot.
• Palermo’s people welcomed the American troops, and Mussolini was removed from office three days later.
• Jiang Hao remembered Malena’s fate in the film and reassured her that they could live peacefully together.
• Patton appointed Renato Bonanno interim mayor of Palermo, and Jiang Hao appointed Enzo deputy mayor and stabilized the city’s administration.
• Jiang Hao ordered Luca to separate political prisoners from criminals and gather the Mafia members for a meeting.
• Prison guards took Enzo and eight former subordinates to a factory, where Jiang Hao greeted him as Renato.

Jiang Hao welcomed Enzo and former Bonanno family members, then ordered Enzo to prepare revenge against the officials who had destroyed the family. After Sicily came under Allied control and Jiang Hao became its governor, Nino Scordia returned home and found Malena gone.

• Jiang Hao had Enzo and the rescued men wash, change, and eat before asking Enzo about the fate of his family.
• Enzo told Jiang Hao that the mayor of Naples had ordered the execution of Renato’s father and relatives, and that more than three hundred Bonanno family members had been targeted.
• Enzo pledged to serve Jiang Hao, who ordered him to kill the mayor, the officials involved, and Mussolini.
• Jiang Hao became Sicily’s temporary governor after the Allied capture of Messina, attended the September 3 armistice signing, and was officially appointed governor by the King of Italy.
• Nino Scordia returned to Syracuse and found his home dusty and empty, then asked his neighbor where Malena was.

Nino learned that Malena had moved on and was living happily with Renato Bonanno, so he chose not to disturb her. He accepted a warehouse job arranged by Bonanno, later built a new life with a young widow and her daughter, and Jiang Hao learned that Nino had made his choice.

• Nino went to Mayor Pia to find Malena and learned that she was alive, happily living with Renato Bonanno in Palermo.
• Nino struggled with whether to seek Malena out, then accepted a warehouse guard job at the Sicily Cigarette Factory offered by a government staff member.
• Nino asked Pia whether Bonanno had arranged his job and, after learning that he had, said he would leave Malena in peace.
• A month later, Nino moved in with a young widow and her three-year-old daughter and began an ordinary life with them.
• Jiang Hao heard Pia's report and felt relieved that Nino had chosen not to disturb Malena.

Jiang Hao completed his mission with Malena and received a World Key that let him revisit a previously completed movie world. He chose Red Sorghum, then delayed entering so he could study the history and knowledge of its era.

• Jiang Hao set aside his proposal for Sicilian autonomy and spent the day harvesting peanuts with Malena.
• Months later, Jiang Hao and Malena celebrated Christmas together, and the system declared his mission complete.
• Jiang Hao returned to the real world and claimed a World Key that could open one previously visited movie world for three months.
• Jiang Hao chose Red Sorghum over Malena's world and watched the key vanish as Jiu'er's icon appeared on the system's World tab.
• Jiang Hao decided to prepare before entering the 1935 world, bought more than two hundred thousand worth of books and media, and began studying.

After spending the New Year with his family, Jiang Hao returned to Binhai and used the system to reunite with Jiu'er, discovering that time in her world had stopped while he was away. He spent the morning with her and took her shopping in town, leaving her delighted with a new silk outfit.

• Jiang Hao inspected the family villa with his father, then stayed home through the fifteenth day of the first lunar month before returning to Binhai.
• Jiang Hao tapped Jiu'er's icon on the system panel and vanished from his room, reappearing beside her at the moment he had left her world.
• Jiang Hao told Jiu'er he had missed her, and he realized that time in her world had remained frozen during his absence.
• Jiang Hao reunited with Jiu'er in the morning and took her to explore the county town instead of visiting the distillery.
• Jiang Hao bought Jiu'er a silk skirt-and-blouse set with Shu embroidery, and she happily planned to wear it during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Jiang Hao spent a pleasant day shopping and dining with Jiu'er, impressing a restaurant owner by making Boiled Fish. The next day, he visited his distillery and traveled to Rongcheng to pursue ways of improving his liquor.

• Jiang Hao took Jiu'er to a restaurant, where he prepared Boiled Fish after learning the dish was not on the menu, and the other diners were drawn to its aroma.
• Jiu'er enjoyed Jiang Hao's cooking, and the restaurant owner joined them for a drink and praised the dish.
• Jiang Hao and Jiu'er watched an opera, returned home, and spent a quiet evening together.
• The next morning, Jiang Hao considered using additives to improve the aroma and taste of his distillery's liquor, then visited the distillery and saw Brother Luohan supervising the workers.
• Jiang Hao hired a horse-drawn carriage and arrived in Rongcheng around noon.

Jiang Hao bought chemicals and equipment in Rongcheng, set up a crude laboratory at home, and began making additives to improve his family’s liquor. After teaching Fang Dazheng how to cook Boiled Fish for thirty Silver Dollars, Jiang Hao successfully prepared the additives, leaving him ready to put them to use.

• Jiang Hao found George Chemical Supplies Store, ordered available chemicals and laboratory equipment, and learned that George had connections to Professor Rohato, an adviser to Chairman Chang.
• Jiang Hao bought lipstick and other supplies in Rongcheng, then returned to the county town and turned the eastern side room into a laboratory.
• Fang Dazheng offered Jiang Hao thirty Silver Dollars to learn Boiled Fish, and Jiang Hao gave him the recipe before hinting he could also teach Pickled Fish.
• Jiang Hao experimented with liquor additives, failed twice, and eventually succeeded while Jiu'er took care of him.
• After a week, Jiang Hao finished making all the additives he needed.

Jiang Hao improved his liquor with additives and began making lipstick, then brought samples to George and proposed going into business together. George showed interest in the idea, leaving their partnership undecided.

• Jiang Hao added a secret recipe to the liquor, and the workers praised its fragrance and flavor before he arranged for it to age in the cellar.
• Jiang Hao made lipstick in his laboratory, and Jiu'er tried it and liked its color and moisturizing feel.
• Jiang Hao ordered custom colored-glass lipstick cases and traveled to Rongcheng with workers and a larger chemical-supply order.
• Jiang Hao showed his lipstick to George and George’s wife, Xu Lin, who liked it and took the samples.
• Jiang Hao proposed that he and George start a lipstick business, and George’s eyes lit up at the prospect.

Jiang Hao and George founded Lizzi Cosmetics, and Jiang Hao’s lipstick quickly became a major success through aggressive advertising and promotions. As production expanded, Jiang Hao gave Jiu'er a pair of expensive jade bracelets, leaving her delighted and moved.

• Jiang Hao and George negotiated a 75–25 ownership split and registered American Lizzi Cosmetics Company, with George as legal representative and general manager.
• Jiang Hao organized a small lipstick workshop with Jiu'er, Sister-in-law Wang, Da Zhuang, Er Zhuang, and other workers while George arranged advertising and department-store sales.
• Jiang Hao persuaded George to price Lizzi lipstick at 6.88 Silver Dollars and use commissions, promotions, and advertising to attract customers.
• Lizzi lipstick sales surged, prompting Jiang Hao to expand the factory, buy the county town's glass factory, and train Jiu'er to help manage production.
• Jiang Hao took Jiu'er to the jewelry counter and bought her a pair of jade bracelets priced at 5,500 Silver Dollars.

After returning from Jiu’er’s world, Jiang Hao resumed his life in Binhai and reconnected with Zhou Xinyan, who asked him to pose as her boyfriend at a company dinner. He arrived at the hotel to pick her up, where her colleague Gao Tian saw them together.

• The system sent Jiang Hao back from Jiu’er’s world and locked him out of it for a year.
• Jiang Hao ran into Zhou Xinyan, who had just returned from abroad, and declined her suggestion that he apply to her company.
• Jiang Hao began studying independently at the city library and received an unexpected WeChat message from Zhou Xinyan.
• Zhou Xinyan explained that she had claimed to have a boyfriend to fend off Gao Tian and asked Jiang Hao to pick her up at Baiyujiahua Hotel.
• Jiang Hao arrived at the hotel, introduced himself as Zhou Xinyan’s boyfriend, and left Gao Tian facing the pair.

Jiang Hao accepted a system mission to rescue 10,000 dolphins after learning about the slaughter depicted in The Cove. He vanished from his room to begin the mission, with no mandatory return and greater rewards promised for saving more dolphins.

• Jiang Hao picked up Zhou Xinyan after she rejected Gao Tian, then arranged to go running with her the next morning.
• Jiang Hao and Zhou Xinyan ran together, and a system notification offered him a mission to rescue 10,000 dolphins.
• Jiang Hao researched The Cove and Japan’s dolphin hunts, deciding to save the dolphins for Xiao Mi’s sake rather than to argue about morality.
• Jiang Hao and Zhou Xinyan ate dinner together and discussed the dolphin slaughter, the difficulty of stopping it, and her uneasy feelings about Gao Tian.
• Jiang Hao accepted the dolphin-rescue mission, and his figure vanished from his room.

Jiang Hao arrived in Japan in his own body and traveled to Taiji Town to investigate its dolphin and whale slaughterhouse. After witnessing the market and fishermen drive out foreign documentarians, he concluded that appeals to reason would not stop the slaughter while the fishermen depended on it for their livelihood.

• Jiang Hao discovered he had crossed over in his physical body and found a passport and ID arranged in his name.
• Jiang Hao confirmed that he was in Wakayama City, Japan, in March 2006, and learned he had booked a hotel for a week.
• Jiang Hao traveled to Taiji Town and found dolphin carcasses and Minke Whales being butchered at the fish market.
• Fishermen confronted European documentarians who were filming, kicked the cameraman, destroyed his memory card, and drove the group away.
• Jiang Hao watched the confrontation and decided that asking fishermen to stop killing dolphins would not work while their livelihood depended on it.

Jiang Hao cut through the nets holding dolphins in Taiji Town and helped 58 of them escape. The next day, he saw the European activists at his hotel as police questioned them about the release.

• Jiang Hao watched the dolphins trapped in The Cove, then bought diving equipment and tools in preparation for a nighttime rescue.
• Jiang Hao entered the bay at night, cut through three layers of nets, and opened a path for the dolphins to reach the open sea.
• A dolphin tried to push Jiang Hao to the surface, and he let it help him before sending it after its pod.
• The system told Jiang Hao that he had saved 58 dolphins, and he hid his equipment before returning to his hotel.
• Jiang Hao saw the four Europeans at the hotel the next day, where police questioned them about someone cutting the nets and releasing the dolphins.

Jiang Hao returned to Taiji Town and freed another pod of dolphins despite the fishermen’s heightened security. After the system confirmed he had saved 69 dolphins, he escaped and disposed of his diving gear.

• Jiang Hao realized the visiting animal protection activists opposed violence and returned to his room without approaching them.
• The next day, Jiang Hao heard fishermen discussing the previous release and planning to guard the bay and trails more carefully.
• Jiang Hao reached the bay by crossing steep wilderness, cut open the nets, and evaded fishermen who rowed out to catch him.
• Jiang Hao rocked the fishermen’s boats and dragged one man underwater, then opened the final net as the dolphins swam through the gap and escaped.
• The system confirmed Jiang Hao had saved 69 dolphins, and he swam away before stuffing a rock into his diving gear bag and throwing it into the sea.

After escaping Taiji Town and evading police scrutiny, Jiang Hao decided he needed money to help save dolphins. He traveled to Munich to prepare a sports-betting venture focused on the 2006 World Cup, leaving himself with 36,000 yuan to place his bets.

• Jiang Hao returned to Wakayama City, replaced his car’s license plate, and spent the night at a bar before going back to his room.
• Taiji Town fishermen reported Jiang Hao’s attack, and police searched for the suspect but could not trace his unplated white Nissan.
• After watching a news report about the incident, Jiang Hao decided money could help him save dolphins and traveled to Germany under the pretense of attending the World Cup.
• Jiang Hao arrived in Munich, rented an apartment, set up computers, and researched bookmakers and World Cup betting markets.
• Jiang Hao counted his remaining 36,000 yuan and planned to open bank accounts so he could begin betting on the World Cup.