Chapter Summaries

Jiang Linyuan recognized Zhao Qiuluo’s attempt to draw her into a scheme that could undermine both her relationship with Li Wang and Jiang Linyuan’s relationship with Su Muzhi. She woke Su Muzhi and urged her to help, but Su Muzhi was still sleepy.

• Jiang Linyuan discovered that Shen Wanyu had cameras in the rooms and learned that they were normally turned off.
• Zhao Qiuluo argued with Li Wang over the phone, hung up in tears, and asked Jiang Linyuan to stay with her.
• Jiang Linyuan suspected Zhao Qiuluo planned to use a misunderstanding to create distance between Jiang Linyuan and Su Muzhi.
• Jiang Linyuan went to wake Su Muzhi and told her Zhao Qiuluo was trying to lure her in.
• Su Muzhi admitted she was sleepy, and Jiang Linyuan rubbed her cheeks to try to wake her up.

Jiang Linyuan and Su Muzhi plotted to make Zhao Qiuluo believe she had control before turning the tables on her. When Zhao Qiuluo's boyfriend Li Wang called to break up, Jiang Linyuan spoke to him and openly said Zhao was unfaithful, leaving Li Wang stunned.

• Su Muzhi and Jiang Linyuan discussed how to manipulate Zhao Qiuluo's feelings and agreed on a plan.
• Jiang Linyuan brought tea to Zhao Qiuluo, who spilled it on her shirt and remained alone with him in her room.
• Zhao Qiuluo answered Li Wang's call and showed him her room after he demanded proof of where she was.
• Li Wang accused Zhao Qiuluo of cheating with Jiang Linyuan, and the two argued about their relationship.
• Jiang Linyuan took the phone and told Li Wang that Zhao Qiuluo was not a good person and that they should break up amicably.
• Li Wang froze and asked Jiang Linyuan if he knew about Zhao Qiuluo's behavior.

Jiang Linyuan and Su Muzhi confronted Zhao Qiuluo after she tried to seduce him, and Zhao Qiuluo challenged Su Muzhi over her controlling behavior and the expulsion of Xiao Ling. Su Muzhi left with Jiang Linyuan after warning Zhao Qiuluo to stay away from him.

• Su Muzhi entered the room, took Jiang Linyuan's phone, and joined his confrontation with Zhao Qiuluo.
• Zhao Qiuluo accused Jiang Linyuan of indulging her advances, while Su Muzhi insisted he had only acted as she wanted.
• Zhao Qiuluo condemned Su Muzhi for making Xiao Ling transfer after Xiao Ling confessed to her.
• Su Muzhi defended her reaction to Xiao Ling's public confession and warned Zhao Qiuluo to stay away from Jiang Linyuan.
• Su Muzhi took Jiang Linyuan by the hand and left, while Zhao Qiuluo scoffed that love could not be forced.

Jiang Linyuan and Su Muzhi discussed Shen Wanyu’s cameras and speculated that Li Wang’s scheme was meant to bring Xia Tao and Li Wang together. Su Muzhi then urged Jiang Linyuan to date someone, even offering to take the blame for a breakup, while he asked her to stop.

• Jiang Linyuan and Su Muzhi teased each other after leaving the courtyard house and discussed Shen Wanyu’s cameras, which Su Muzhi had helped place.
• Jiang Linyuan told Su Muzhi that Shen Wanyu had used a camera to watch him, and explained that Zhao Qiuluo had visited her.
• Su Muzhi proposed that Li Wang’s actions were meant to make Xia Tao pity him, and Jiang Linyuan considered whether Li Wang was trying to win Xia Tao’s affection.
• Su Muzhi encouraged Jiang Linyuan to find a girlfriend and suggested Xiao Yilin, offering to let him blame her if he later broke up with Xiao Yilin.
• Jiang Linyuan sighed and asked Su Muzhi to stop suggesting that he date someone.

Jiang Linyuan agreed to pretend to be Su Muzhi’s boyfriend, while Su Muzhi treated the arrangement as a chance to get closer to him. Zhao Qiuluo called Jiang Linyuan and invited him to meet, hoping to use his resentment toward Su Muzhi for her own purposes.

• Su Muzhi accepted Jiang Linyuan’s request to pretend to be his girlfriend and called him her boyfriend as she left.
• Jiang Linyuan joked with Shen Wanyu and Shen Guoguo about becoming Su Muzhi’s plaything, and Shen Wanyu told him to think about how he would make things up to Su Muzhi.
• Su Muzhi joined Jiang Linyuan for breakfast and teased him about taking their pretend relationship too seriously.
• Zhao Qiuluo called Jiang Linyuan and urged him to get back at Su Muzhi, then invited him to meet at their old milk tea shop at four.
• Li Wang questioned Zhao Qiuluo about whether Jiang Linyuan would come, and Zhao Qiuluo left after telling Li Wang that their breakup made his next steps his own business.

Jiang Linyuan met Zhao Qiuluo, who tried to recruit him to help get back at Su Muzhi, but he refused to use another person as a tool. He opened up about feeling trapped in the relationship, and Zhao Qiuluo offered to listen again after asking Shen Wanyu to keep Su Muzhi busy.

• Jiang Linyuan asked Su Muzhi to stay nearby during his meeting with Zhao Qiuluo and wait for his signal.
• Zhao Qiuluo proposed using Jiang Linyuan to retaliate against Su Muzhi and said Shen Wanyu could help him escape Su Muzhi’s control.
• Jiang Linyuan said he felt unable to break up because Su Muzhi could threaten his family’s jobs and his younger sister’s future.
• Zhao Qiuluo suggested that Jiang Linyuan cheat on Su Muzhi, but he refused to involve another girl in their conflict.
• Zhao Qiuluo offered to ask Shen Wanyu to keep Su Muzhi busy and invited Jiang Linyuan to meet her again so she could listen.

Jiang Linyuan and Su Muzhi argued over whether their feelings were real, and he admitted to Shen Wanyu that he liked her while explaining why he had been provoking her. The next day, Jiang Linyuan met Zhao Qiuluo as planned, while Su Muzhi watched from a cat café and declared she would see the game through on her own terms.

• Jiang Linyuan joked with Su Muzhi about calling her Mom, and they teased each other back at the courtyard house.
• Su Muzhi asked whether Jiang Linyuan liked her or only liked taming her, then confessed that she liked him; Jiang Linyuan insisted their feelings were not real, and she ordered him out.
• Shen Wanyu told Jiang Linyuan that Zhao Qiuluo wanted him to take Su Muzhi out, and he admitted he was making Su Muzhi unhappy because he liked her.
• Jiang Linyuan explained to Shen Wanyu that Su Muzhi had been raised under controlling affection, and Shen Wanyu said he underestimated her before offering to handle Su Muzhi.
• The next day, Jiang Linyuan went to meet Zhao Qiuluo while Su Muzhi and Shen Wanyu watched from a cat café across the street.
• Su Muzhi said Jiang Linyuan would not be able to leave her after they had become physically intimate, while Shen Wanyu warned that he might ignore her as Yu Songsong had.

Jiang Linyuan admitted to Zhao Qiuluo that he was afraid of women, and she explained how her past cruelty had left a boy deeply hurt. After confessing she was the girl in that story, Zhao Qiuluo asked Jiang Linyuan to let her make amends, but he remained wary of her.

• Jiang Linyuan thanked Zhao Qiuluo for helping him avoid being taken away by Su Muzhi, and they discussed Shen Wanyu.
• Zhao Qiuluo asked how Jiang Linyuan had caught Su Muzhi’s eye, then noticed him recoil when she touched his hand.
• Jiang Linyuan admitted he was afraid of women, and Zhao Qiuluo explained the signs she had noticed.
• Zhao Qiuluo told Jiang Linyuan how she had once toyed with a boy who planned to confess to her, then humiliated him by accepting another boy’s confession.
• Zhao Qiuluo revealed that she had been the girl in the story and asked Jiang Linyuan to let her atone, but he gave her only a brief touch before pulling away.

Jiang Linyuan told Zhao Qiuluo about his painful relationship with Su Muzhi, then went on a drive with her to clear his head. They ended up at an amusement park, where Jiang Linyuan asked Zhao Qiuluo to help him more from now on, leaving her startled and hopeful.

• Jiang Linyuan described how Su Muzhi’s affection turned into jealousy, control, and torment, and Zhao Qiuluo comforted him.
• Zhao Qiuluo took Jiang Linyuan out in her convertible, and they switched seats so he could drive.
• Jiang Linyuan drove smoothly, explaining that he was used to keeping his younger sister asleep in the car.
• Zhao Qiuluo fell asleep during the drive, and Jiang Linyuan took her to an amusement park and bought tickets.
• Jiang Linyuan asked Zhao Qiuluo to help him more from then on, and she wondered if he had finally chosen to rely on her.

Jiang Linyuan took Zhao Qiuluo on a Ferris wheel ride, where she rejected his proposal and resolved not to be his substitute, but he ended their relationship and reunited with Su Muzhi and Shen Wanyu. After Zhao Qiuluo left, Su Muzhi pressured Jiang Linyuan into another ride, and he received the Heart Slave skill.

• Jiang Linyuan recalled his past with Su Muzhi on the Ferris wheel and told Zhao Qiuluo he was using their time together to forget Su Muzhi.
• As the wheel neared the top, Jiang Linyuan presented Zhao Qiuluo with brass knuckles instead of a ring, and she refused to be Su Muzhi's replacement.
• Jiang Linyuan told Zhao Qiuluo they were nothing to each other, and the system awarded him a B-Rank Reward Pool Exchange Card for toying with her feelings.
• Su Muzhi and Shen Wanyu appeared, and Zhao Qiuluo accused Su Muzhi of mistreating Jiang Linyuan before leaving to help him later.
• Su Muzhi confronted Jiang Linyuan about the brass knuckles and his outing with Zhao Qiuluo, then made him ride the Ferris wheel with her.
• Jiang Linyuan drew the Heart Slave skill, which let him read another person's thoughts for one hour with a 24-hour cooldown.

Jiang Linyuan tested his new mind-reading ability on Su Muzhi during their Ferris wheel ride, where she demanded to know whether he wanted to be with her. He confessed that he liked her, then added that he liked everyone else too, leaving Su Muzhi wishing she could forget the ride.

• Jiang Linyuan activated Heart Slave and heard Su Muzhi's unspoken thoughts while they sat together on the Ferris wheel.
• Jiang Linyuan asked Su Muzhi about her relationship with the Department Head, and Su Muzhi told him not to talk about anyone else before kissing him.
• Su Muzhi pressed Jiang Linyuan for a clear answer about whether he wanted to be with her and privately considered what she would do if he rejected her.
• Jiang Linyuan said he could not accept her if she used tactics to pressure him, then admitted that he liked her.
• Su Muzhi asked if he was joking, and Jiang Linyuan clarified that he liked her and everyone else too.

Jiang Linyuan openly admitted that he wanted to keep relationships with multiple women, and Su Muzhi accepted while vowing to make him focus on her. After their confrontation, he received his first A-grade reward card and drew a skill that provided reports on future technology.

• Jiang Linyuan told Su Muzhi that he would not give up anyone he liked, and she teased him about wanting a boyfriend everyone could share.
• Jiang Linyuan asked Su Muzhi to be his girlfriend, and she refused while declaring that she wanted to possess him completely.
• Su Muzhi took Jiang Linyuan away for the night as Shen Wanyu watched them and chose to keep her distance from him.
• The system awarded Jiang Linyuan an A-grade reward-pool exchange card for being emotionally played by Su Muzhi.
• Jiang Linyuan drew the Gift of Mother's Eye, which provided a report on advanced technology from the future once every six months.

After activating [Gift of Mother's Eye], Jiang Linyuan read a vision of a future in which Shen Wanyu died by suicide and Su Muzhi became seriously ill, and he resolved to change that future. He left with Su Muzhi after taking Shen Wanyu’s Starry Sky Projector, hoping to give himself a reason to reconnect with her.

• Jiang Linyuan activated [Gift of Mother's Eye] and found a book titled Her Latter Half of Life in his mind.
• Jiang Linyuan read a future in which Shen Wanyu withdrew from him and later died by suicide, while Su Muzhi’s heart condition worsened and Xiao Yilin also suffered heartbreak.
• Jiang Linyuan asked Su Muzhi about her heart and told Shen Wanyu that they had a long life ahead of them, then decided he would prevent the future he had seen.
• Shen Guoguo pulled Shen Wanyu away from Jiang Linyuan and Su Muzhi when they arrived, then told Jiang Linyuan that Shen Wanyu would not ignore him unless he did something she truly hated.
• Jiang Linyuan learned that Shen Wanyu hated cats and asked to take her Starry Sky Projector; Shen Guoguo reluctantly agreed to pretend she had not seen him take it.

Jiang Linyuan puzzled over the unclear events in the book and Haile Bio’s connections before Su Muzhi teased him and they became intimate. The chapter ended with them discussing what they would do if Su Muzhi became pregnant.

• Jiang Linyuan reflected on Su Muzhi’s past hospitalizations and wondered whether they were connected to fertility issues.
• Jiang Linyuan suspected that Haile Bio’s young major shareholder had inherited her shares and that someone might have entrusted her to him.
• Su Muzhi teased Jiang Linyuan after her shower, and they became intimate.
• Afterward, Su Muzhi joked that she would keep pursuing him, and Jiang Linyuan asked what she would do if she became pregnant.
• Su Muzhi said she would have the baby and dismissed the idea of secretly raising a child without Jiang Linyuan.

Jiang Linyuan investigated Haile Bio and found its history tied to the collapsed Xu Group, while he tried to understand whether Shen Wanyu was connected to it. He stayed with Su Muzhi and arranged for Shen Guoguo to bring Shen Wanyu over, where Shen Wanyu planned to retrieve her missing Starry Sky Projector.

• Su Muzhi complained that Jiang Linyuan had worn her out, and he decided to stay home and look after her instead of visiting Shen Wanyu.
• Jiang Linyuan researched Haile Bio and learned it had been given to Xu Group's CEO's ex-wife, Zhang Zhu, in their divorce settlement.
• Su Muzhi explained that Xu Group had collapsed under nearly two trillion in debt, and Jiang Linyuan learned from Shen Guoguo that her father had once helped the group's CEO.
• Jiang Linyuan asked Shen Guoguo to bring Shen Wanyu over, claiming he was unwell, and she agreed.
• Shen Wanyu told Shen Guoguo she knew Jiang Linyuan was lying but agreed to go so she could retrieve her Starry Sky Projector.
• Shen Wanyu called her mother to say she would not return to Jinling that day and learned that Aunt Zhang was staying with her.

Jiang Linyuan tried to keep Shen Wanyu from taking back her Starry Sky Projector while Su Muzhi teased and challenged her. Shen Wanyu agreed to look at the stars with him in summer, and the chapter ended with Jiang Linyuan offering to visit Lin Yilin, while Su Muzhi hinted she wanted to come too.

• Shen Wanyu came to Jiang Linyuan's home with Shen Guoguo and demanded the return of her Starry Sky Projector, but Jiang Linyuan stalled and Su Muzhi defended him.
• After learning the projector held childhood meaning for Shen Wanyu, Jiang Linyuan proposed a trip to look at the stars before returning it, and Shen Wanyu agreed to go in summer.
• Jiang Linyuan joked about being called a father, prompting Shen Wanyu to scold Shen Guoguo over her phone use while he and Su Muzhi argued with Shen Wanyu about raising children.
• Jiang Linyuan offered to secretly buy Shen Guoguo a phone and encouraged her to contact him if Shen Wanyu was strict, hoping to stay connected to Shen Wanyu.
• Shen Wanyu told Jiang Linyuan that Lin Yilin knew he was in Yanjing and had been upset, so Jiang Linyuan offered to visit her and Su Muzhi indicated she wanted to join them.

Jiang Linyuan saw Shen Wanyu and Shen Guoguo off after spending time with Su Muzhi, and he tried to draw closer to Shen Wanyu as they walked. Shen Wanyu accepted the idea of catching up as friends, leaving their relationship unresolved but open to the future.

• Shen Wanyu said she did not want romantic entanglements to interfere with the External Relations Department and explained she planned to prepare for graduate school.
• Jiang Linyuan joked with Su Muzhi about studying with Shen Wanyu and supporting a family of five before Shen Wanyu decided to leave with Shen Guoguo.
• Su Muzhi made Jiang Linyuan kiss her and told him to return within an hour before he went after Shen Wanyu and Shen Guoguo.
• Jiang Linyuan teased Shen Wanyu about taking something from him in return for the projector, and she reflected that their shared memories often included Su Muzhi.
• Jiang Linyuan told Shen Wanyu he hoped they could someday talk through the things they could not say, and she agreed they could catch up as friends.

Jiang Linyuan visited Shen Guoguo before leaving Yanjing for Minnan and learned she had fought with her mother. Shen Guoguo chose to spend the day with him, though she worried that he would soon leave and her life would return to how it was before.

• Jiang Linyuan returned to Su Muzhi after seeing the Department Head off, and Su Muzhi kissed him to check whether he had kissed the Department Head.
• Jiang Linyuan and Su Muzhi stayed in Yanjing for a few more days, and he took Shen Guoguo out because the Department Head refused to join them.
• Jiang Linyuan went to the courtyard house to say goodbye to Shen Guoguo and found her there with red eyes after a fight with her mother.
• Shen Pingyan told Jiang Linyuan that his AI project had been included in a national innovation project and advised him to take things slowly with Wanyu.
• Shen Guoguo explained that she had hidden at the courtyard house overnight after arguing with her mother, then agreed to go out with Jiang Linyuan.

Shen Guoguo told Jiang Linyuan about the painful history behind Shen Wanyu’s strained relationship with her father and her family. The chapter ended with Jiang Linyuan remembering that the Book of Future said Shen Wanyu’s mother died of an illness.

• Shen Guoguo took Jiang Linyuan to the riverside and gave him a red envelope.
• Shen Guoguo asked Jiang Linyuan not to blame Shen Wanyu if she ever left him, and he teased her about compensating him in Shen Wanyu’s place.
• Shen Guoguo explained that Shen Pingyan wanted to divorce her mother and remarry Aunt Xueyun after his death, while the family argued over Shen Wanyu’s place in the Shen family.
• Shen Guoguo said Shen Wanyu and Aunt Xueyun had been bullied by Grandpa and her mother before Shen Pingyan’s divorce, and that Aunt Xueyun had taken Shen Wanyu to Jinling afterward.
• Jiang Linyuan recalled that the Book of Future said Shen Wanyu’s mother died of an illness.

Jiang Linyuan said goodbye to Shen Guoguo, then traveled with Su Muzhi to Xiao Yilin’s hometown and messaged her from a hotel. Lin Yilin invited them to visit the next day, while Su Muzhi spent the night with Jiang Linyuan.

• Jiang Linyuan promised Shen Guoguo he would return and bought her a phone before Shen Pingyan took her inside.
• Jiang Linyuan and Su Muzhi arrived in Xiao Yilin’s hometown during the rain and decided to stay at a hotel.
• Jiang Linyuan messaged Lin Yilin, who offered to have her parents pick them up and prepare rooms for them.
• Lin Yilin learned Su Muzhi had come with Jiang Linyuan and felt jealous and conflicted as she prepared the guest room for their visit.
• Su Muzhi invited Jiang Linyuan to sleep with her, and she became the Time Phantom Thief that night.