Recaps

Su Qiao made Wang Zhiyao feel insecure by criticizing his weight and appearance and saying she worried about how his looks would affect their future child. She left to meet Chris, while Wang Zhiyao stayed at the gym, still determined to carry out the purpose of his visit.

• Su Qiao told Wang Zhiyao that he looked heavier than his stated weight and was no longer the boy she remembered.
• Su Qiao said her friends thought Wang Zhiyao was getting uglier and urged him to manage his figure.
• Su Qiao said she worried their future child might inherit his appearance, deeply offending Wang Zhiyao.
• Su Qiao saw Chris waving beside the boxing ring and left Wang Zhiyao to go to him.
• Wang Zhiyao considered leaving but went to sit in the lounge area and stew in his anger.

Su Qiao practiced boxing with Cen Mohan, who warned her against staying involved with her ex-boyfriend. She told him she had only spoken to the man to vent her anger, leaving Cen Mohan curious about what else he had done.

• Chris greeted Su Qiao warmly, but Cen Mohan pulled her away and led her to the punching bags.
• Cen Mohan asked whether the man with Su Qiao was her boyfriend and sharply criticized him.
• Su Qiao told Cen Mohan that the man was her ex-boyfriend, and Cen Mohan sounded pleased.
• When Cen Mohan asked what her ex had done, Su Qiao gave a vague excuse about him having too many legs and not trimming them.
• Cen Mohan told Su Qiao not to waste more energy on a man like that.

Su Qiao and Cen Mohan traded teasing remarks as he tried to flirt with her, but she answered his hints with deadpan concern. The conversation ended with Su Qiao advising him against plastic surgery.

• Su Qiao said she was narrow-minded and would not easily forgive people, and Cen Mohan agreed with her.
• Cen Mohan hinted that his heart had not been doing well, but Su Qiao treated it as a possible medical problem.
• Cen Mohan changed the subject and asked whether Su Qiao was a Face-Con, then asked if his looks passed muster.
• Su Qiao called Cen Mohan barely acceptable and warned him that plastic surgery could ruin his natural face.

Su Qiao and Cen Mohan discussed his sleep problems and her reasons for provoking Wang Zhiyao. Cen Mohan accepted that she could do what she wanted, then called himself her friend when she questioned his concern.

• Su Qiao told Cen Mohan not to get cosmetic surgery and noticed his dark circles and bloodshot eyes.
• Cen Mohan said he had a long-term sleep disorder that had recently improved.
• Cen Mohan realized Su Qiao had used the pretty boy's looks as an excuse to get rid of him and objected to her continuing to deal with Wang Zhiyao.
• Su Qiao said she wanted revenge and was bored, while Cen Mohan agreed to let her do as she pleased.
• Su Qiao asked who Cen Mohan was to her, and he replied that he was a friend.

Su Qiao refused Cen Mohan’s invitation and went to leave with Wang Zhiyao, while Cen Mohan restrained his jealousy and let her go. After she left, Cen Mohan returned upstairs and paused by the window with his phone.

• Cen Mohan invited Su Qiao to eat with him, but she refused so he would have to put more effort into pursuing her.
• Cen Mohan warned Su Qiao not to let Wang Zhiyao take things too far, and she confidently said she could handle him.
• Su Qiao decided to go home early and left Cen Mohan, who made no attempt to stop her.
• Su Qiao told 444 that Cen Mohan’s restraint came from knowing he had no standing to control her.
• Cen Mohan went to his room, removed his shirt, picked up his phone, and walked toward the window.

Su Qiao taunted Wang Zhiyao about his stinginess and dependence on his family after he grew jealous of her conversation with a boxing coach. She let him walk ahead, then caught up to him, leaving their argument unresolved.

• Cen Mohan ordered someone to investigate Wang Zhiyao's job and family in detail.
• Su Qiao left the lounge and told Wang Zhiyao that she had been discussing fitness and boxing with a coach.
• Wang Zhiyao questioned Su Qiao jealously, and she mocked his finances by offering to pay for his gym membership.
• Wang Zhiyao sulked and expected Su Qiao to comfort him, but she refused and let him walk ahead.
• Su Qiao caught up with Wang Zhiyao as he slowed his pace.

Su Qiao challenged Wang Zhiyao over the unfair expectations his mother placed on her, arguing that both of them would have responsibilities toward their aging parents. She left him facing her accusations that he avoided the issue and did not consider her perspective.

• Su Qiao told Wang Zhiyao that their obligations to their respective parents made marriage difficult and that her mother wanted her to marry into a family with several sons.
• Su Qiao pointed out that Wang Zhiyao was also an only child and suggested his parents could have more sons to share their future caregiving burden.
• Su Qiao invoked Wang Zhiyao's mother's demand that she abort any girl and keep trying for a boy, asking whether that would not endanger her.
• Wang Zhiyao angrily said the matter was over and warned that another pregnancy could be dangerous for his mother.
• Su Qiao accused Wang Zhiyao of not loving her or considering her feelings, and insisted that she was raising the issue for his sake.

Su Qiao challenged Wang Zhiyao over the financial burden of supporting his family and used her mother's objections to criticize his parents. Wang Zhiyao grew angry and defended his mother as Su Qiao questioned whether marriage into his family would make her life harder.

• Su Qiao argued that Wang Zhiyao's salary would leave little money after loan payments and family support, while her parents could provide for themselves in the countryside.
• Su Qiao said her mother believed city people were unreliable and that marrying a countryman would offer a more dependable future.
• Wang Zhiyao asked whether Su Qiao's mother opposed their relationship, and Su Qiao said her mother thought his parents were old-fashioned, poor, and overly particular.
• Wang Zhiyao demanded to know how his mother was particular and refused to let Su Qiao speak ill of her.

Su Qiao told Wang Zhiyao that her family would respect his family’s refusal to give a bride price, meaning there would be no dowry house or car, and that his parents’ names should be on their house. She then began explaining her mother’s concerns about his divorced sister, leaving Wang Zhiyao anxious about what she would say next.

• Su Qiao reminded Wang Zhiyao that his mother’s insistence on having a grandson was serious, then said her family would respect their customs and give no bride price.
• Su Qiao explained that her parents would not provide the promised dowry house or car because Wang Zhiyao’s family had refused a bride price.
• Su Qiao said her mother believed Wang Zhiyao’s parents should own the house they had paid for and would only help renovate a future home the couple bought themselves.
• Wang Zhiyao regretted his family’s decisions as Su Qiao encouraged him to work toward buying a home of his own.
• Su Qiao raised Wang Zhiyao’s divorced sister, Wang Lingxi, and said her mother worried that his sister’s situation might make him view divorce as acceptable.

Su Qiao used Wang Zhiyao’s family’s demands about marriage and having a son to argue that they needed to plan for the cost and risks of raising a child. Wang Zhiyao grew overwhelmed by her repeated references to what her relatives said and demanded to know what she wanted.

• Wang Zhiyao snapped at Su Qiao for repeating her mother’s views about their marriage.
• Su Qiao said her mother had consulted fortune-tellers who predicted she would have a son, and she did not object to Wang Zhiyao’s mother demanding one.
• Su Qiao raised concerns about whether Wang Zhiyao could afford to give a child the best life and education.
• Su Qiao said her aunt preferred daughters and warned that childbirth could affect a woman’s appearance and lead a man to change his mind.
• Wang Zhiyao complained about her repeated references to her relatives and asked what she wanted.

Su Qiao ended her relationship with Wang Zhiyao after confronting his expectation that she would bear children, then planned to undermine his career and raise funds for her growing operations. She also accepted overseas information requests under strict limits, while Cen Yue and the search for shares remained part of her plans.

• Su Qiao told Wang Zhiyao she did not want children, and he revealed that he had married her expecting her to bear children for his family.
• Su Qiao declared their relationship over and left in a taxi, leaving Wang Zhiyao confused and unable to stop her.
• Su Qiao felt relieved and decided to avoid Wang Zhiyao, while planning to crush his confidence through his work and career.
• Su Qiao told Xiao Si to withdraw stock funds and pursue horse-race and sports bets and lottery tickets to raise money.
• Su Qiao accepted overseas requests to buy information as long as they did not involve her country, harm Cen Mohan’s interests, or provoke war.

Su Qiao ran into Cen Mohan after signing her first investment contract and getting revenge, and agreed to have dinner with him. She chose hotpot, while Cen Mohan took her playful remark as a possible sign that she liked him.

• Su Qiao got out of a taxi at a busy intersection and looked for a restaurant where she could treat herself to a meal.
• Cen Mohan arrived by car and invited Su Qiao to eat with him; she checked herself and her bag for a tracker but found nothing.
• Su Qiao agreed to let Cen Mohan accompany her and said he would have to pay, prompting him to joke that she should treat him so he could invite her next time.
• Su Qiao teased Cen Mohan about getting another chance to invite her out, and he wondered if she liked him too.
• Su Qiao chose the hotpot restaurant, and Cen Mohan agreed to eat there with her.

Su Qiao and Cen Mohan shared a hotpot meal, and Cen Mohan learned that the dishes could be prepared without spice. At home, Wang Zhiyao lashed out at his mother over her interference and blamed her demands for driving Su Qiao away, while his father scolded him.

• Su Qiao ordered separate hotpot dishes and explained the different kinds of hotpot to Cen Mohan.
• Cen Mohan followed Su Qiao's lead as they cooked and ate.
• Wang Zhiyao returned home dejected, and Wang Lingxi and Mother Wang pressed him for details about Su Qiao.
• Wang Zhiyao shouted that his mother should stop interfering and said her demands had driven Su Qiao away.
• Mother Wang collapsed onto the sofa in distress, and Father Wang scolded Wang Zhiyao for his words.

Wang Zhiyao argued with his parents over their demands for his relationship with Su Qiao, while they defended their decisions about the house and having a son. After his mother urged him to explain what happened, he revealed that Su Qiao’s family would accept their names on the deed but would not pay for renovations.

• Wang Lingxi accused Su Qiao of driving a wedge between Wang Zhiyao and his mother, but Father Wang told her to stop interfering.
• Father Wang and Mother Wang told Wang Zhiyao to stay with Su Qiao if they were compatible or end the relationship if they were not.
• Wang Zhiyao protested that Su Qiao had already broken up with him and said she would never see or speak to him again.
• Father Wang defended asking Su Qiao’s family to help pay for renovations, furniture, and appliances, and defended the family’s wish for a son.
• Mother Wang admitted she bore some responsibility for the breakup and urged Wang Zhiyao to explain what had happened.
• Wang Zhiyao said Su Qiao’s family would accept his parents’ names on the house deed but would not pay for renovations.

Wang Zhiyao told his parents that Su Qiao did not want children and that her mother looked down on his family and finances. His family became firmly opposed to the relationship, leaving Wang Zhiyao caught between his feelings and his relatives’ anger.

• Mother Wang questioned whether Su Qiao’s family would pay for renovations and learned that Su Qiao did not want children.
• Wang Zhiyao insisted that he liked Su Qiao, but told his parents her mother had criticized his family, income, sister, and prospects.
• Mother Wang grew furious that Su Qiao’s family had belittled Wang Zhiyao and their household.
• Wang Lingxi came out and angrily defended herself and city people against Su Qiao’s mother’s remarks.
• Mother Wang joined Wang Lingxi in firmly opposing Wang Zhiyao’s relationship with Su Qiao.

Wang Zhiyao grieved over Su Qiao rejecting him and begged his mother to help him win her back. Wang Lingxi suggested he earn more money and get Su Qiao pregnant, leaving him with a coercive plan to pursue.

• Wang Zhiyao cried to Mother Wang after recalling that Su Qiao had criticized his looks and no longer wanted him.
• Mother Wang and Wang Lingxi comforted Wang Zhiyao and insisted Su Qiao was not worthy of him.
• Wang Zhiyao said he only wanted Su Qiao and asked Mother Wang to help him.
• Wang Lingxi advised Wang Zhiyao to find a higher-paying job and get Su Qiao pregnant so she would be pressured to give birth.

Wang Lingxi and Mother Wang urged Wang Zhiyao to seek Cen Yue’s help finding a better job, and he began to reconsider. After dinner, Cen Mohan drove Su Qiao to her residential complex, where she realized he seemed to live there too.

• Wang Lingxi told Wang Zhiyao to get close to Cen Yue and ask her for help finding a well-paying job.
• Wang Zhiyao worried that Cen Yue’s involvement would further harm his chances of winning Su Qiao back, but Wang Lingxi and Mother Wang persuaded him to reconsider.
• Cen Mohan offered to drive Su Qiao home after they ate hot pot, but Su Qiao initially said she would take a taxi.
• Cen Mohan drove into Su Qiao’s upscale residential complex, surprising her and making her suspect that he lived there.

Su Qiao discovered that Cen Mohan had moved into the apartment next door, while he reflected on how meeting her had ended his decade of nightmares. His memories revealed the brutal family circumstances that had forced him to fight for himself and his twin sister.

• Cen Mohan drove Su Qiao home and revealed that he lived in apartment 1209 next door to her.
• Su Qiao questioned when he had moved in and declined his invitation to come inside.
• After Su Qiao shut her door, Cen Mohan entered his apartment and went to the balcony overlooking hers.
• Cen Mohan thought about how his nightmares had stopped on the night he saw Su Qiao.
• Cen Mohan recalled his mother's death after giving birth to him and his twin sister, and how he had fought to keep them from becoming tools of the Cen Family.

The chapter recounted how Cen’s recurring nightmare began when he was fifteen, causing years of sleeplessness and transforming him into the Cen Family’s ruthless head. After returning to Haishi to seek help, he got lost in an old residential complex before he could find a venerable monk, and the chapter ended as he approached his encounter with her.

• At a little over fifteen, Cen dreamed of falling through darkness while a woman told him, “In my heart, you are nothing.”
• Cen repeatedly had the nightmare, and his worsening sleep and violent temper led him to quietly eliminate people who angered him.
• Cen rose to power in the Cen Family, exiled his father to Africa, expelled his father’s mistresses, and outlasted his grandfather.
• After twelve years of sleep problems and failed treatments, Cen returned to the country at his older sister’s suggestion to consult a venerable monk.
• Cen got lost in an old residential complex in Haishi before he could find the monk, and he had not yet encountered her.

Cen Mohan recalled how thinking of Su Qiao had stopped his nightmares, while Su Qiao planned to keep their relationship ambiguous so he would not have an excuse to cling to her. After repeatedly running into each other in their building, Cen Mohan asked her to travel with him, and she remained unconvinced by his invitation.

• Cen Mohan remembered first seeing Su Qiao and realized that thinking about her before bed kept his nightmares away.
• Cen Mohan moved closer to Su Qiao and found that the thought of her sleeping nearby helped him sleep peacefully.
• Su Qiao ignored 444’s suggestion to reject Cen Mohan outright and decided to keep their relationship ambiguous.
• Su Qiao repeatedly ran into Cen Mohan while collecting deliveries and taking out the trash, and he claimed he was on vacation.
• Cen Mohan invited Su Qiao to travel with him, but she doubted they were close enough to go together.

Su Qiao and Cen Mohan discussed traveling together, though Su Qiao was focused on her graduate school entrance exam. The system then told Su Qiao that Wang Zhiyao had caused a costly car accident and had no valid insurance.

• Cen Mohan suggested that he and Su Qiao travel together and asked her about famous temples.
• Su Qiao said she could not travel until she had handled her studies and other responsibilities, but agreed to join Cen Mohan for food.
• The system told Su Qiao that Wang Zhiyao had hit a man with his car, leaving him with a broken leg.
• The system explained that Wang Zhiyao's insurance had lapsed and the accident could cost nearly three million yuan, while his car was impounded.
• Su Qiao welcomed the news that Wang Zhiyao would face the financial burden.

Su Qiao and Cen Mohan grew closer through shared meals and workouts, while the Wang family sold their home to pay compensation and struggled financially. Wang Zhiyao became increasingly depressed as he failed to find Su Qiao.

• Su Qiao changed and went next door for lunch, where Cen Mohan invited her to work out with him.
• Su Qiao and Cen Mohan went to the gym, and Cen Mohan led her to his private training room after noticing her exposed waist.
• Su Qiao and Cen Mohan began regularly cooking and eating together before working out in his private training room.
• Mother Wang and Father Wang listed their house for a cheap sale to pay compensation, forcing the family to rent a home and live on Father Wang's modest salary.
• Wang Zhiyao failed to find Su Qiao and became more depressed under renewed pressure from his family.

After waking in Cen Yue's room following a drunken night, Wang Zhiyao learned that they had both drunk too much and insisted he had done nothing wrong because he respected his girlfriend, Xiao Qiao. He left embarrassed and suspicious that Cen Yue had also set up their earlier meeting at the Western restaurant.

• Wang Zhiyao woke hungover in Cen Yue's room and was shocked to see her doing yoga on the balcony.
• Cen Yue explained that their companies' employees had dinner together and that both of them drank too much.
• Wang Zhiyao tried to leave wrapped in a bedsheet, and Cen Yue stopped him to point out that he was naked.
• Cen Yue teased Wang Zhiyao about whether it was his first time and asked if he had a girlfriend.
• Wang Zhiyao said his mother taught him to wait until marriage and that he respected Xiao Qiao.
• Wang Zhiyao remembered that Cen Yue's earlier invitation to the Western restaurant had left him alone with her, and suspected she had arranged it deliberately.

Cen Yue confronted Wang Zhiyao about their drunken night and demanded that he date her, but he refused and insisted he would return to Su Qiao. The chapter ended with Cen Yue threatening to tell Su Qiao about what happened, leaving Wang Zhiyao asking what she wanted.

• Cen Yue challenged Wang Zhiyao's claim that their night together meant nothing and raised the possibility that she was pregnant.
• Wang Zhiyao asked whether Cen Yue wanted money, but she told him to date her and criticized Su Qiao's commitment to him.
• Wang Zhiyao defended Su Qiao, saying she loved him and would return after he reconciled with her.
• Wang Zhiyao tried to leave and refused to take responsibility for the night, prompting Cen Yue to threaten to tell Su Qiao.
• Wang Zhiyao demanded to know what Cen Yue wanted.

Cen Yue offered Wang Zhiyao a high-paying job at her company, hoping to distance him from his girlfriend, and he went home to discuss it with his family. She then invited Su Qiao to a café, where she sized her up and began their conversation.

• Cen Yue offered Wang Zhiyao a project manager position with a high salary, and he hesitated because he did not want to become entangled with her again.
• Wang Zhiyao considered his family's debts and financial hardship, then told Cen Yue he needed to discuss the offer with his family.
• Cen Yue invited Su Qiao to meet her, and Su Qiao arrived at the café and sat across from her.
• Cen Yue appraised Su Qiao's appearance and asked whether she needed to introduce herself, while Su Qiao privately dismissed her arrogance.