Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: A Heavenly Court Fashion Show

Key Plot Points and Events

• The immortals gather in the Starry Sky to analyze the recent conflict involving Ma Liang, Cangjie, the Luo Writing, and the River Diagram.
• They conclude that the Jade Emperor orchestrated the entire affair:
  • He wanted the Luo Writing.
  • He used a Fortune artifact to gain Lord Lao’s support.
  • He manipulated the Yellow Emperor into cooperating with him.
  • He arranged for the Queen Mother and Haitian to intervene under the pretense of protecting Cangjie.
• The Yellow Emperor cooperated because he had lost an important artifact and needed the Jade Emperor’s backing to maintain his position as the foremost of the Three Sovereigns.
• Qin Fen unexpectedly disrupted their alliance. His disappearance of the River Diagram made the Yellow Emperor suspect that the Jade Emperor intended to betray him, causing the two rulers’ cooperation to collapse.
• Qin Fen then reinforced the Yellow Emperor’s suspicions, leaving the Jade Emperor and Yellow Emperor distrustful of one another. They ultimately gained neither the Luo Writing nor the River Diagram and instead became enemies.
• Cangjie remains unharmed, though the tense situation leaves him frustrated. The Jade Emperor believes Cangjie is lying on the Yellow Emperor’s orders, while the Yellow Emperor believes Cangjie’s claim that he does not know the River Diagram’s location.
• After the political conflict ends, Qin Fen decides to launch a fashion show in the Heavenly Court, beginning with clothing for the female immortals.

Character Developments

• Qin Fen demonstrates that he is capable of manipulating powerful immortals despite lacking their formal status. His bluff regarding the River Diagram succeeds beyond his expectations, allowing him to dismantle the Jade Emperor and Yellow Emperor’s alliance.
• He also reveals a more constructive ambition: rather than merely competing for power, he wants to modernize the stagnant Heavenly Court by encouraging creativity, fashion, and new ways of thinking.
• The Jade Emperor suffers a major political setback. His carefully arranged plan fails, he loses the Luo Writing, and he creates an enemy in the Yellow Emperor.
• The Yellow Emperor also loses both desired artifacts and becomes embroiled in suspicion and conflict with the Jade Emperor. However, he no longer needs to worry about competing directly with the Yan Emperor.
• Cangjie remains loyal and honest, refusing to betray Wu Daozi and Ma Liang. Although his name becomes entangled in the dispute, he escapes punishment.
• The Queen Mother recognizes the political potential of Qin Fen’s fashion plan. She realizes it could increase her influence among the female immortals and indirectly challenge the Jade Emperor.
• Lord Lao sees that the struggle for the Luo Writing is effectively over and withdraws, regarding the Jade Emperor and Yellow Emperor as having failed.

Significant Themes

• Political manipulation and mistrust: The conflict is driven by layered schemes, strategic alliances, and the fear of betrayal. Qin Fen succeeds by exploiting existing distrust between the Jade Emperor and Yellow Emperor.
• Loyalty and integrity: Cangjie’s refusal to compromise contrasts with the rulers’ manipulative behavior, highlighting his moral steadfastness.
• Power through indirect influence: Qin Fen realizes that influence does not always require direct confrontation. Fashion and culture can gradually reshape alliances and expand political power.
• Modernization versus stagnation: The proposed fashion show represents Qin Fen’s desire to introduce innovation and change into the unchanging Heavenly Court.
• Unexpected consequences: Qin Fen’s improvised bluff produces far greater effects than he anticipated, showing how small interventions can destabilize powerful institutions.

Character Interactions

• The gathered immortals collectively analyze the Jade Emperor and Yellow Emperor’s scheme, revealing that many of them understood the situation but had remained silent.
• The Queen Mother questions Qin Fen about how he caused the Yellow Emperor to abandon the Jade Emperor, while Qin Fen jokingly refuses to reveal the full truth.
• The Jade Emperor and Yellow Emperor later glare at each other in silence, each convinced that the other has betrayed him.
• Cangjie’s explanation that he does not know the River Diagram’s location is accepted by the Yellow Emperor but rejected by the Jade Emperor.
• The Queen Mother and Qin Fen form a tacit partnership. She understands that his fashion show could strengthen her authority, while Qin Fen suggests that his gains will also benefit her. Their playful exchange shows mutual understanding, suspicion, and strategic cooperation.

Plot and events

• With Cangjie’s trouble settled for now and Ma Liang still unexplained, Qin Fen leaves Capital City. He wonders how the Stylus, the mysterious River Diagram, and his slowly changing phone may relate to the Heavenly Dao’s larger plan.
• On the flight, Qin Fen meets Huang Lei, a chef who complains repeatedly about airline food. Hungry and unconcerned with culinary pretensions, Qin Fen happily eats multiple meals—even after revealing that he is a chef himself.
• Huang Lei says he has returned from abroad to settle in Yiling, partly because his girlfriend is from there. He hopes to apprentice under Master Rogers at the Lotus Pavilion, which he considers beneath Rogers’ talents. Qin Fen privately knows Rogers’ move was encouraged by the “Female Hooligan,” but says nothing.
• Back in Yiling, Qin Fen goes to his parents’ home, feeling guilty that he has not visited much. He finds his parents and Auntie Liu’s family gathered there, including Liu Li, his childhood friend, who has recently returned from studying abroad. She offers him a foreign specialty to assess; it turns out to be a can.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Fen remains practical, humble, and appetite-driven: his reputation as a celebrated chef does not make him fussy about food. He also feels some guilt about neglecting his parents and discomfort at being reminded of his poor academic record beside Liu Li’s.
• Huang Lei comes across as sociable but snobbish and opinionated about food. His assumptions about Qin Fen’s taste—and later discovery that Qin is also a chef—create the chapter’s main comic exchange.
• Liu Li re-enters Qin Fen’s life as a childhood friend, with no romantic history established between them. Her visit sets up a new, unexplained family gathering.

Significant themes

• Humility and practicality: Qin Fen values eating when hungry over professional or social food standards.
• Cultural confidence: Huang Lei’s preference for Western cuisine prompts Qin Fen to reflect on the depth and worth of Chinese culinary tradition.
• Unanswered mysteries and new beginnings: Qin Fen’s thoughts about the Heavenly Dao’s artifacts remain unresolved, while his return home and Liu Li’s arrival introduce fresh developments.

Key plot points and events

• Qin Fen joins a family gathering, expecting the adults to brag about their children. His mother proudly describes his new job as a chef and his good income.
• Auntie Liu counters by boasting about her daughter Liu Li’s business venture: she and her boyfriend, Huang Lei, are bringing caviar to the Yiling market.
• Qin Fen recognizes Huang Lei as someone he met on a plane. Huang Lei presents the caviar as an expensive, top-grade delicacy and invites the family to try it.
• Qin Fen finds it too salty. Little Mingming bluntly says it looks like animal droppings and makes him feel sick, puncturing the guests’ pride in the product.

Character developments

• Qin Fen remains uncomfortable with adult bragging and responds honestly, rather than pretending to admire the caviar.
• His mother is proud of his work and earnings, though she becomes uneasy when the tasting turns awkward.
• Auntie Liu and Liu Li enthusiastically promote Liu Li’s business and Huang Lei’s connections, but their confidence falters when the caviar is criticized.
• Huang Lei is proud of the product and expects praise; Qin Fen’s and Mingming’s reactions leave him speechless.
• Mingming is innocently blunt, saying what the adults would avoid saying.

Significant themes

• Generational bragging: The adults compete indirectly by praising their children’s careers and achievements.
• Honesty versus social politeness: Qin Fen gives his genuine opinion, while the family must navigate the embarrassment of a child’s even harsher truth.
• Cultural taste and perspective: An expensive foreign delicacy does not necessarily suit local preferences.
• The power of blunt innocence: Mingming’s childish remark carries more weight—and is harder to challenge—than the same criticism from an adult.

Character interactions

• Qin Fen’s mother and Auntie Liu trade praise and boasts about their children.
• Auntie Liu introduces Huang Lei as Liu Li’s boyfriend and encourages Qin Fen to evaluate the caviar as a fellow chef.
• Qin Fen’s mild criticism prompts disagreement, but Mingming’s comparison to animal droppings silences everyone.
• Qin Fen is left observing the awkward aftermath, while his mother tries to maintain manners.

Key plot points and events

• During a family visit, Auntie Liu and her relatives serve expensive sturgeon caviar, hoping to impress. Qin Fen, his parents, and especially the child Little Mingming react without the reverence the guests expect.
• Qin Fen suggests adding soy sauce, vinegar, and chili oil. Little Mingming asks to mix the caviar with cream, then declares the caviar spoils the cream’s taste. Their blunt comments leave Huang Lei, Auntie Liu, and Liu Li mortified.
• Qin Fen leaves the awkward gathering to help his father cook. Sun Yating messages him about a liquor order and jokes that he should take her to dinner for her help with A Bite of China.
• Their teasing turns suggestive, but Sun Yating also reveals that she arranged to have Qin Fen’s villa cleaned. He thanks her, and their conversation trails off into a quiet, more sincere moment.
• Qin Fen checks his phone and adds a contact named “Moses.”

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Fen remains practical and unpretentious about food, ignoring the status attached to caviar. He is grateful for Sun Yating’s help, though he hides genuine warmth behind casual banter.
• Little Mingming innocently amplifies the guests’ embarrassment, judging the caviar by whether it tastes good with cream.
• Huang Lei is deeply offended by Qin Fen’s and the child’s responses, privately dismissing them as unsophisticated, but avoids confronting them.
• Sun Yating and Qin Fen exchange flirtatious, crude jokes that show their ease and closeness. Beneath the teasing, her practical care for him and his sincere thanks suggest a deeper bond.
• Auntie Liu and Liu Li are embarrassed as their attempt to impress with luxury food backfires.

Significant themes

• Status versus genuine taste: The guests value caviar as a sign of refinement, while Qin Fen and Mingming judge it simply by flavor.
• Class and social pretension: The scene humorously exposes the gap between performing sophistication and enjoying food.
• Affection beneath banter: Qin Fen and Sun Yating use teasing to express familiarity, while small acts of help reveal their care for each other.
• A turn toward a new plot thread: Qin Fen’s decision to add “Moses” as a contact sets up an unexplained development.

Chapter Summary: “Qin Fen Discovered the Secret of Shake”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Qin Fen avoids entering the living room and instead chats with a mysterious WeChat contact named Moses, whose identity he cannot determine.
• The chapter shifts to Moses’s world, where enslaved, starving people live under Pharaoh’s brutal rule. Moses is considering leading them in an escape, but the others hesitate.
• Qin Fen sends Moses a message, which WeChat automatically translates despite the apparent difference in time and world.
• Their conversation quickly becomes confused and suspicious:
  • Qin Fen tries to determine Moses’s gender and personality through casual questioning.
  • Moses interprets Qin Fen’s strange messages as supernatural communication.
  • Qin Fen’s statements about fate, identity, and God convince Moses that he may be a demon—or possibly a powerful being opposed to God.
• Qin Fen asks whether Moses is the famous biblical prophet. Moses denies it, claiming to be an ordinary man and insisting that he is not a holy figure.
• Qin Fen realizes that the mysterious person may not be the legendary Moses after all, though their circumstances strongly resemble the biblical story.
• The chapter ends with both men having completely misunderstood each other.

Character Developments

• Qin Fen is shown as curious, playful, and easily frustrated. He treats the conversation as entertainment at first, using his usual teasing methods to identify the other person’s gender. However, his curiosity becomes more serious when he recognizes the name “Moses” and considers the possibility that WeChat has connected him with a legendary figure.
• Moses is portrayed as a desperate but courageous leader. He is suffering emotionally because his people are starving and being tortured, yet he is preparing to risk everything by organizing an escape. His fear and caution increase when he receives Qin Fen’s mysterious messages, which he believes may come from a demon.
• Moses’s denial of being a prophet highlights his humility—or his inability to see how closely his situation resembles the legend associated with his name.

Significant Themes

• Miscommunication across cultures and eras: Qin Fen and Moses attach completely different meanings to the same words, especially references to fate, God, and identity.
• Faith versus uncertainty: Moses interprets the unexplained communication through his religious worldview, while Qin Fen approaches it from skepticism and curiosity.
• Legend and ordinary humanity: The chapter questions whether famous historical or mythical figures are inherently extraordinary or simply ordinary people placed in extraordinary circumstances.
• Fate and supernatural connection: The mysterious WeChat system links people across worlds or time, creating encounters that seem miraculous but are interpreted differently by each participant.
• Leadership under oppression: Moses faces the difficult choice of leading enslaved people to freedom when they are too frightened or uncertain to follow him.

Character Interactions

• Qin Fen repeatedly questions Moses, while Moses responds defensively and cautiously.
• Qin Fen’s playful remarks are perceived by Moses as evidence of demonic manipulation.
• Moses’s references to God frustrate Qin Fen, who does not share Moses’s religious assumptions.
• Both men attempt to assess the other’s identity, but their contrasting worldviews cause each to draw the wrong conclusion: Qin Fen doubts Moses is the biblical prophet, while Moses becomes convinced Qin Fen is a dangerous supernatural being.

Chapter Summary: “How a Prophet Was Born”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Qin Fen remains uncertain whether Moses is truly an ordinary human or some extraordinary being, remembering that others, such as Nie Xiaoqian and Ma Liang, had changed beyond their original identities.
• He considers using the Mysterious Light Technique, essentially a video call, to determine Moses’s location and nature. However, Huang Lei approaches him, forcing Qin Fen to postpone the call.
• Moses asks Qin Fen what someone should do when they have an important goal but lack public trust or support.
• Qin Fen advises him to shape public opinion, build confidence in his plan, and take advantage of people’s tendency to follow the prevailing trend.
• To illustrate his point, Qin Fen cites historical examples of creating legitimacy through apparent divine signs, including Chen Sheng and Wu Guang’s message hidden in a fish and Moses receiving the Ten Commandments at Mount Horeb.
• Qin Fen is then called away by his father to help prepare food, ending the conversation abruptly.
• Moses interprets Qin Fen’s references—especially the mention of Moses and the Ten Commandments—as a supernatural revelation. He concludes that he has been guided by God to find the sacred commandments.
• Through Qin Fen’s accidental advice and Moses’s misunderstanding, Moses effectively becomes a prophet.

2. Character Developments

• Qin Fen is shown as cautious, analytical, and resourceful. He questions Moses’s identity and devises a practical test, but his ordinary household responsibilities interrupt his plans. He also unintentionally gives advice that has enormous religious significance to Moses.
• Moses develops from a desperate and suspicious leader into someone convinced that he has received divine guidance. His concern for his people remains central, but his interpretation of Qin Fen’s words transforms his uncertainty into religious conviction.
• Huang Lei acts as an accidental obstacle to Qin Fen’s investigation. His friendly attempt to help in the kitchen prevents Qin Fen from making the video call.
• Qin Fen’s father reinforces the mundane domestic setting by calling Qin Fen away to cook, contrasting sharply with the extraordinary consequences unfolding through the phone conversation.

3. Significant Themes

• Miscommunication and unintended consequences: Qin Fen speaks casually and analytically, while Moses interprets his words as divine prophecy.
• The power of belief: Moses’s willingness to believe in a higher purpose allows ordinary advice to become a sacred revelation.
• Public opinion and manufactured legitimacy: Qin Fen explains how leaders can gain authority by shaping collective belief and presenting symbolic evidence of success or divine approval.
• The contrast between the ordinary and the miraculous: Qin Fen is merely cooking and chatting while, elsewhere, his words are being treated as supernatural guidance.
• Faith versus manipulation: Moses worries that Qin Fen may be a demon deceiving him, yet Qin Fen’s advice resembles the very methods used to create religious authority.

4. Character Interactions

• Qin Fen and Huang Lei interact casually in the kitchen, with Huang Lei offering help and asking to exchange contact information. His presence forces Qin Fen to hide the supernatural nature of his conversation.
• Qin Fen and Moses communicate through messages. Qin Fen offers practical advice about gaining public support, while Moses scrutinizes every statement for evidence of demonic or divine intent.
• Qin Fen’s father interrupts the exchange by ordering him to help with cooking, unknowingly ending the conversation at the moment Moses is reaching a major spiritual conclusion.
• Moses ultimately interprets Qin Fen’s words as God’s will, turning an accidental conversation into the beginning of his prophetic identity.

Key plot points and events

• While Big Chef cooks, Moses reflects on the words “I am who I am” and decides they are divine guidance. During mealtime, he slips out of the slave camp to pursue his plan to free everyone.
• Moses finds a cave on a mountain where he is sure none existed before. Taking its sudden appearance as a sign from God, he enters and discovers two faintly glowing, hinged stone tablets.
• The tablets show a war between humans and horned, monstrous beings, with prominent human leaders. Moses interprets the images as a record of a divine war and human ancestors, and wonders whether the tablets are the Ten Commandments. He finds no commandments, however, and neither Moses nor Qin Fen realizes what the tablets actually depict.
• Back in the present, Qin Fen remembers that Meow-Meow and Little Bean were left in his backpack. He finds the backpack open and learns that Little Bean went home because it was hungry. He tells Meow-Meow to stay put and “watch the house.”

Character developments and interactions

• Moses grows more convinced that God is directing him. His confidence turns a mysterious cave and unfamiliar artifacts into apparent confirmation of his mission.
• Qin Fen remains unaware of the full significance of Moses’s discovery; the narration explains that his intervention has sent events off course.
• Meow-Meow reports Little Bean’s departure and cheerfully agrees to guard the house. Qin Fen responds with exasperation.
• Big Chef is focused on cooking and briefly forgets about the creatures in his backpack. Qin Jianjun mildly criticizes his haste.

Significant themes

• Faith and interpretation: Moses reads strange events as signs from God, even when he cannot understand what he has found.
• History disrupted by intervention: Qin Fen’s actions have altered the course of events, leaving the tablets’ identity and the real Ten Commandments unresolved.
• Work and exploitation: The camp’s unpaid overtime underscores the harsh conditions of Pharaoh’s laborers and the stakes of Moses’s escape plan.

Key plot points and events

• Qin Fen and his parents host a lively dinner for Liu Li’s family and Huang Lei. The guests praise Qin Fen’s cooking; Huang Lei offers professional advice about refinement, ingredients, texture, and learning from Western cuisine.
• Sun Yating arrives unexpectedly with Rogers, a celebrated European chef. Huang Lei recognizes Rogers as his idol and eagerly asks to become his apprentice.
• Rogers ignores the request and rushes to greet Qin Fen as his teacher. Huang Lei is stunned to discover that his idol is Qin Fen’s student.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Fen accepts Huang Lei’s critiques without taking offense, showing confidence and a commitment to improving his craft. He is also frustrated by the growing crowd and puzzled by Sun Yating’s motives.
• Huang Lei begins the evening as a knowledgeable, somewhat didactic colleague, but becomes an awestruck fan when Rogers appears. His admiration collapses into shock at the revelation about Qin Fen.
• Sun Yating makes an impulsive visit after learning Qin Fen is at home, seemingly wanting to reconnect with him.
• Rogers is confused by Huang Lei’s attention and clearly regards Qin Fen as his teacher.
• Qin Fen’s family and Liu Li’s family enjoy the meal and watch the increasingly surprising encounter unfold.

Significant themes

• Learning and mastery: Cooking requires continuous growth, attention to detail, and openness to ideas from other traditions.
• Appearance versus reality: Qin Fen’s modest manner conceals how highly regarded he is—even by a world-famous chef.
• Humor and social reversal: Huang Lei’s attempt to impress Rogers backfires when he discovers his idol is Qin Fen’s apprentice.

Chapter Summary: “What a Trap Really Is—This Is Truly Miraculous”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Rogers, a renowned foreign chef, publicly addresses Qin Fen as his “teacher,” shocking everyone present—including Qin Fen’s parents, Liu Li, Huang Lei, and the three elders.
• Qin Fen denies being Rogers’s teacher, explaining that Rogers specializes in Western cuisine while he focuses on Chinese cuisine.
• Rogers enthusiastically reveals that he came to Yiling specifically because of Qin Fen and begs for guidance, declaring himself Qin Fen’s devoted fan.
• To end the disruption and preserve the family’s peaceful meal, Qin Fen offers Rogers a few general principles about cooking:
  • Chefs must put sincerity and passion into their food.
  • They should understand ingredients and maximize their natural qualities.
  • They must value texture, flavor, ingredient selection, and innovation.
  • Traditional techniques should be preserved while also learning from foreign cuisines.
• Rogers treats these commonplace statements as profound instruction and gratefully accepts Qin Fen as his teacher.
• Huang Lei realizes that Qin Fen is repeating the same culinary principles Huang Lei had previously used to show off. However, Rogers had ignored Huang Lei’s words and now praises Qin Fen for saying essentially the same things.
• Overwhelmed by humiliation and frustration, Huang Lei collapses and loses consciousness.

Character Developments

• Qin Fen: Demonstrates his effortless, unintentional ability to outmaneuver others. He is lazy and only wants to dismiss Rogers quickly, yet his casual remarks are interpreted as expert guidance. His “trap-setting” ability is portrayed as almost supernatural.
• Rogers: Reveals intense devotion to culinary excellence and complete admiration for Qin Fen. He is highly receptive and treats even Qin Fen’s basic observations as invaluable wisdom.
• Huang Lei: Experiences a dramatic reversal of status. After previously using empty culinary platitudes to belittle Qin Fen, he watches those same ideas elevate Qin Fen in Rogers’s eyes. His jealousy, embarrassment, and helplessness culminate in his fainting.
• Liu Li, Qin Fen’s parents, and the elders: Remain stunned observers, gradually recognizing the irony of the situation and realizing that Qin Fen has unintentionally turned Huang Lei’s own words against him.

Significant Themes

• Unintended superiority: Qin Fen succeeds not through deliberate scheming but through natural confidence and an ability to speak at precisely the right moment.
• Humiliation and poetic justice: Huang Lei’s earlier arrogance and insincerity return to punish him when Rogers values Qin Fen for repeating the same ideas.
• Sincerity versus empty rhetoric: Although Huang Lei uses the principles merely to show off, Qin Fen frames them as genuine advice, and Rogers responds to the perceived sincerity.
• Status and perception: The meaning of advice depends heavily on who delivers it and who receives it; ordinary statements become “wisdom” when spoken by someone admired.
• Comedic reversal: The scene repeatedly mirrors Huang Lei’s earlier interaction with Qin Fen, but the roles are now reversed, intensifying the absurdity.

Character Interactions

• Qin Fen and Rogers: Rogers begs to become Qin Fen’s disciple, while Qin Fen reluctantly offers broad cooking advice simply to make him leave. Rogers interprets every statement as profound instruction.
• Qin Fen and Huang Lei: Qin Fen unknowingly repeats Huang Lei’s earlier words, turning them into evidence of his own authority and causing Huang Lei immense distress.
• Rogers and Huang Lei: Rogers previously ignored Huang Lei’s similar advice but enthusiastically praises Qin Fen, making Huang Lei feel completely undermined.
• The observers and Huang Lei: Liu Li, the elders, and Qin Fen’s parents silently recognize the irony, while their strange looks make Huang Lei’s humiliation even worse.

Plot points and events

• Huang Lei faints after an unexpectedly intense conversation, alarming everyone. He soon recovers, and the group sits down to dinner.
• At the table, Sun Yating asks Qin Fen why his home is so messy. The remark makes his parents and the other guests assume the two are unusually close.
• Qin Fen realizes the house may have been searched while he was away. Since the disturbance does not seem like ordinary burglary, he suspects someone connected to the search for the Sea-Calming Divine Pearl—and wonders whether Chameleon has returned.
• Sun Yating offers help through her police connections, while Qin Fen avoids worrying his parents.
• Qin Fen sends Meow-Meow, the myna, to help Shorty protect the house. Meanwhile, Shorty explores the villa grounds, finds an unfamiliar scent, and marks the railing as its territory.
• The chapter ends with a shadowy figure approaching the house at night and gripping the railing Shorty has marked.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Fen stays focused on the possible intruder and the larger mystery, even as the dinner guests misread his relationship with Sun Yating.
• Sun Yating shows perceptiveness and concern: she notices that something is wrong and offers practical help without alarming Qin Fen’s parents.
• Qin Fen’s parents and Auntie Liu interpret Sun Yating’s familiarity with Qin Fen as evidence of a romantic relationship and warmly approve of her.
• Huang Lei recovers but remains awkward and overwhelmed by the conversation and by Rogers’s presence.
• Shorty is shown as playful, territorial, and eager to defend “his” home; Meow-Meow accepts the task of helping.
• The final image suggests that Shorty’s territorial display may soon matter, as an unknown visitor approaches the house.

Significant themes

• Misunderstanding and social perception: A casual remark about Qin Fen’s home sparks assumptions about his relationship with Sun Yating.
• Loyalty and protection: Qin Fen relies on his animal companions to guard the household.
• Suspense and hidden motives: The suspected break-in and the stranger’s nighttime arrival connect domestic events to the unresolved search for the divine pearl.

A shadowy intruder returns to Qin Fen’s house for one last search, while also being tasked with investigating nearby Dragon Pool Lake. Frustrated by earlier failures and wary of the guards, he slips over the fence—only to land on a patch of urine left by Little Bean, Qin Fen’s Chihuahua.
As the intruder approaches the house, Little Bean appears and urinates on his dropped lock-picking key, making an already unpleasant night worse. He tries to lure the dog away with a drugged steak, but Little Bean snatches it and runs without eating it. Once inside, the intruder discovers the dog has followed him and is tugging at his trousers. He kicks Little Bean, but the Chihuahua gets up unharmed and races away. The intruder is left with torn trousers and the growing suspicion that something is very wrong.
Character developments and interactions: The intruder begins confident in his skills but becomes increasingly rattled by a string of humiliating mishaps. Little Bean is mischievous, alert, and seemingly far tougher and cleverer than an ordinary Chihuahua: it marks its territory, avoids danger, rejects the poisoned food, and withstands a forceful kick. Their cat-and-mouse encounter turns the intruder’s break-in into comic chaos.
Themes: The chapter uses slapstick and dramatic irony to undercut the intruder’s confidence. It also hints at Little Bean’s unusual abilities, suggesting that the apparently ordinary dog may be a formidable guardian of Qin Fen’s home.

Key plot points

• A professional intruder enters a house, rattled after an earlier encounter with a Chihuahua but determined to finish his job.
• He reaches the stairs and hears a threatening voice behind him. Believing someone has caught him at gunpoint, he drops his stun baton and raises his hands.
• The “armed homeowner” turns out to be the television, which is playing an anti-Japanese war drama. The intruder realizes the house is empty—and that a Chihuahua, Little Bean, has been watching and changing channels with the remote.
• Embarrassed and angry at being mocked by the dog, the intruder decides to grab him. He creeps closer while Little Bean appears absorbed in the television.
• As the intruder reaches for the dog, the missing stun baton drops from above and strikes his face. A myna bird swoops down, revealing that the pets coordinated an ambush.

Character developments and interactions

• The intruder tries to rely on professional calm and experience, but becomes increasingly unnerved, first by the dog, then by the apparent threat, and finally by the pets’ clever trap. His confidence turns to panic and disbelief.
• Little Bean is portrayed as observant, mischievous, and capable of using the remote. He deliberately distracts the intruder and acts as bait.
• The myna bird works with Little Bean, hiding above and dropping the intruder’s own stun baton onto him.
• The pets communicate and cooperate in a way the intruder cannot understand; their teamwork outmaneuvers him.

Significant themes

• Appearances and misdirection: The intruder mistakes a television scene for a real person and misreads Little Bean’s apparent distraction.
• Overconfidence and comeuppance: His belief that animals are easy targets leaves him vulnerable.
• Animal intelligence and teamwork: The pets display planning, coordination, and a sense of mockery, turning the home into a trap.

Chapter Summary: “Animals' Mockery Hurt Even More”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• The shadowy intruder awakens on the icy floor of Qin Fen’s house after being ambushed and subdued by the Chihuahua, Little Bean, and the talking myna, Meow-Meow.
• Believing the animals have become careless, he attempts to escape, only for Little Bean to shock and slap him back into submission.
• Meow-Meow throws him a steak and orders him to eat so he will have enough strength to continue running, claiming that the animals want to prolong their “fun.”
• Little Bean deliberately prepares and seasons her own steak in an elegant, humanlike manner, making the intruder feel inferior and increasingly frightened.
• The animals mock his filthy way of eating and demonstrate that they possess intelligence, awareness, and social sophistication far beyond ordinary animals.
• The intruder asks to meet their owner, hoping to confirm whether Qin Fen is a ghost. Meow-Meow refuses to summon him and instead offers to speak on his behalf.
• Meow-Meow analyzes the intruder’s body language, boasts that he knows more than ten languages, and further humiliates the man, who only knows five.
• Suspicious of the food, the intruder tries to stall and gather information while pretending to converse with Meow-Meow. However, after eating the steak, he becomes dizzy and assumes he has been drugged.
• Meow-Meow reveals that the steak was not drugged. The intruder fainted because of his own exhaustion, and the entire performance—including Little Bean’s careful eating—was staged to manipulate him.
• The animals admit that they were pretending to be careless and that the intruder’s excessive suspicion made him easy to deceive. He loses consciousness after realizing he has been outsmarted by two pets.
• Meanwhile, Qin Fen eats dinner uneasily while dealing with the crowded household and his mother’s intense interest in Sun Yating. After the guests leave, he notices that the Duty Star Officer has mysteriously appeared again.
• Qin Fen decides that, in addition to interfering with the fashion show, he may also cause trouble for the Jade Emperor.

2. Character Developments

• The shadowy intruder: Initially arrogant and convinced that human intelligence surpasses that of animals, he becomes increasingly frightened and humiliated. His caution turns into paranoia, and his attempts at manipulation fail because he underestimates the pets. He is ultimately defeated by his own assumptions.
• Little Bean: Demonstrates exceptional vigilance, intelligence, and practical skill. Her ability to use an electric baton, cook steak, and deliberately deceive the intruder presents her as highly sophisticated and far from an ordinary dog.
• Meow-Meow: Acts as the primary spokesperson and strategist. He is articulate, psychologically perceptive, multilingual, and relentlessly sarcastic. His mockery exposes the intruder’s confusion and lack of control.
• Qin Fen: Remains largely separate from the confrontation but is shown managing household tension and planning further schemes involving the Jade Emperor and the fashion show.

3. Significant Themes

• Underestimating others: The intruder assumes animals are intellectually inferior, and this prejudice becomes the main reason he is defeated.
• Intelligence versus appearance: Although Little Bean and Meow-Meow look like ordinary pets, their behavior and reasoning resemble those of highly capable humans.
• Psychological manipulation: The animals win not through direct force alone but by staging events that exploit the intruder’s fear and suspicion.
• Pride and humiliation: The intruder’s arrogance repeatedly causes him to misread situations, while the pets’ sarcasm turns his defeat into a source of comic humiliation.
• The uncanny and supernatural: The intelligent animals and rumors that Qin Fen’s home is haunted reinforce the mysterious nature of Dragon Pool Lake and its inhabitants.

4. Character Interactions

• Intruder and Little Bean: Their relationship is defined by physical domination and mockery. Little Bean repeatedly subdues him and silently ridicules his inferiority.
• Intruder and Meow-Meow: Meow-Meow controls the conversation, analyzes the intruder’s emotions, answers his questions evasively, and humiliates him with his intelligence and language skills.
• Little Bean and Meow-Meow: They cooperate closely, coordinating their staged behavior to deceive the intruder. Their teamwork reveals that both understand the plan and share the same playful cruelty.
• Intruder and Qin Fen: They do not directly meet in the chapter, but the intruder’s fear of Qin Fen as a possible ghost motivates his attempt to reach the owner.
• Qin Fen and the household: Qin Fen feels uncomfortable under his mother’s scrutiny and avoids becoming involved in the adults’ interactions, choosing instead to focus on his own plans and the Duty Star Officer.

Key plot points and events

• The Star Officer on duty is struggling with unruly groups of young immortals. The Heavenly Court’s new Academy has kept children in school, but after class they form large cliques and get into fights.
• Remembering that Qin Fen’s comics helped calm trouble at the Immortal Herb Garden, the Star Officer considers opening a library—but realizes he has no books.
• Qin Fen contacts him and enthusiastically praises the library idea, portraying it as a project that would benefit children and adults alike and bring lasting merit.
• Swept up by the flattery, the Star Officer commits to opening the library and starts taking pride in the idea as his own.
• Qin Fen then asks whether he has reading materials for children. The Star Officer’s enthusiasm collapses: acquiring books for young readers is the real obstacle, and he realizes Qin Fen has steered him into a trap.

Character developments

• The Star Officer shifts from weary and frustrated to exhilarated and self-important, then abruptly recognizes that he has been manipulated. His eagerness and vanity make him easy for Qin Fen to influence.
• Qin Fen (the Natural Daoist / Big Chef) shows himself to be a clever, strategic flatterer. He uses praise to secure the Star Officer’s commitment before revealing the practical problem his plan is designed to address.
• Matchmaker Yue, though absent, is presented as someone who would have recognized Qin Fen’s tricks and warned the Star Officer.

Significant themes

• Flattery as manipulation: Qin Fen’s praise makes the Star Officer receptive and clouds his judgment.
• Good intentions versus practical obstacles: The library seems valuable in principle, but it cannot serve its main audience without suitable books.
• Education and social order: The library is presented as a way to encourage reading, broaden knowledge, promote good values, and give children a constructive place after school.
• Credit and self-deception: The Star Officer begins claiming an idea Qin Fen has guided him toward, revealing his vanity.

Character interactions

• Qin Fen and the Star Officer communicate mentally, with the Star Officer reacting inwardly while Qin Fen types.
• Qin Fen repeatedly compliments the Star Officer and frames the library as his inspired, merit-worthy project. The Star Officer responds with growing enthusiasm and modest-sounding claims of credit.
• The exchange turns when Qin Fen asks about children’s reading materials. The Star Officer recognizes the hidden purpose behind the praise and curses himself for not being more cautious.

Plot points

• Qin Fen reveals that his praise of the duty star official was deliberate: it flattered the official into embracing the idea of a Heavenly Court Library, making him easier to persuade.
• The official tries to avoid committing too quickly, but Qin Fen keeps highlighting the Library’s potential benefits—especially the gratitude and connections it could earn by helping Heavenly Court children.
• Qin Fen offers books for the Library, then suggests they would be better used to win favor for the earth god of the Immortal Herb Garden. The official resists, hoping he can obtain copies later.
• When the official proposes using Journey to the West and Investiture of the Gods, Qin Fen points out that their portrayals could offend the Jade Emperor. The official realizes these books are unsuitable for wide distribution and may need Qin Fen’s help after all.
• Qin Fen ends by implying that his real purpose is larger than earning merit: he is determined to make the Library happen.

Character developments

• Qin Fen demonstrates his skill at reading people and adapting his tactics. He combines flattery, selective information, and carefully timed promises to keep the official interested while maintaining control of the conversation.
• The duty star official recognizes the trap but remains tempted by the Library’s benefits. He becomes increasingly frustrated and conflicted, trying to stall without offending Qin Fen, yet repeatedly finding his options narrowed.

Significant themes

• Vanity and temptation: The official’s pride makes him vulnerable to Qin Fen’s praise, while the Library’s potential rewards keep drawing him in.
• Power through insight: Qin Fen’s ability to anticipate the official’s thoughts lets a physically weak mortal outmaneuver an immortal.
• Influence and personal connections: The Library is presented not only as a place for books, but as a way to earn gratitude, build alliances, and gain standing in the Heavenly Court.
• Manipulation and negotiation: Qin Fen’s shifting offers show how information, timing, and emotional pressure can be used to steer someone toward a desired outcome.

Key plot points and events

• The Star Officer on Duty realizes that distributing Qin Fen’s picture books could embarrass the Jade Emperor by reopening the humiliating story of his defeat by a monkey.
• Trapped by Qin Fen’s pointed questions and his own fear of the consequences, the Star Officer asks for advice. Qin Fen reassures him that he can still complete the Heavenly Court Library and avoid blame by promoting a different kind of book.
• Qin Fen redirects the conversation toward the Star Officer’s ambition to become a Golden Immortal, persuading him that the Library’s educational impact could earn him merit, advancement, and a place in history.
• The Star Officer reluctantly agrees to buy Qin Fen’s books, balks at an initial price of 20,000 merit, and insists on knowing what he will be promoting. After rejecting a story that could revive conflicts among immortals, he accepts the unfamiliar title Doraemon.
• Once the deal is made, Qin Fen reveals his larger strategy: Doraemon will introduce modern ideas gradually, influencing children first and adults later. He intends the books to prepare the Heavenly Court for further cultural changes, challenge traditional rules, and support his planned fashion show.

Character developments and interactions

• The Star Officer on Duty shifts from confident project organizer to anxious, cornered negotiator. His desire for promotion and fear of angering the Jade Emperor make him vulnerable to Qin Fen’s persuasion; despite recognizing that Qin Fen is selling books, he ultimately accepts the deal.
• Qin Fen (Big Chef) displays calculated, playful manipulation. He uses the Star Officer’s worries and ambitions to secure a buyer, while concealing that his real goal is to introduce modern thought into the Heavenly Court.
• Their interaction is a contest of leverage: the Star Officer tries to avoid financial and political risks, while Qin Fen anticipates his objections and guides him toward the outcome he wants.

Significant themes

• Ambition and influence: The Star Officer’s wish for greater status makes him receptive to Qin Fen’s appeal to merit and legacy.
• Cultural change: Books are presented not just as entertainment but as a means of gradually reshaping society’s ideas.
• Power, tradition, and innovation: Qin Fen plans to use modern notions of equality and creativity to unsettle the Heavenly Court’s old order.
• Manipulation and persuasion: Qin Fen turns a practical library project into an opening for a much broader cultural campaign.

Plot points and events

• Chef Qin plans to expand his influence in the Heavenly Court by introducing Doraemon through his Library project, believing the series could shift how immortals think and create difficulties for the Jade Emperor. He recognizes that the gadgets may cause complications but decides to proceed.
• Qin negotiates with the Daily Duty Star Officer, who wants to buy goods but is short on merit. Qin lowers the price only slightly, settling at 18,000.
• The Star Officer offers an unhatched, supposedly exceptionally rare creature as collateral. Qin suspects a scam, but learns it is Nian, the divine beast associated with the legend of New Year’s Eve and Xi.
• Nian was created by the Heavenly Dao to counterbalance Xi, but now sleeps through most of the year because of the separation between the immortal and mortal realms. Qin realizes Nian’s connection to the laws of the Heavenly Dao could be valuable to WeChat.
• Qin accepts the deal, demanding Nian plus 10,000 merit. The Star Officer is furious, believing they had agreed that Nian would cover the payment.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Fen comes across as strategic, ambitious, and cautious about exposing his secrets. He is also intrigued by Nian’s potential but negotiates relentlessly, turning a simple sale into an unexpected acquisition.
• The Daily Duty Star Officer is financially strained and hopes to use Nian as collateral. His initial confidence gives way to desperation, then outrage when Qin adds an extra 10,000 merit.
• Their interaction is a comic battle of bargaining: the Star Officer appeals to friendship and offers a rare creature, while Qin resists every emotional appeal and focuses on the deal’s value and risks.

Significant themes

• Ambition and unintended consequences: Qin believes he has his plans under control, yet his schemes keep leading into unexpected territory.
• Bargaining and scarcity: Merit is precious to both characters, shaping their choices and fueling the chapter’s humor.
• Heavenly order and mortal custom: Nian and Xi are explained as opposing forces ordained by the Heavenly Dao, linking mythological tradition to the chapter’s larger supernatural world.
• Power and potential: Though Nian is currently dormant and seemingly useless, his eternal nature and connection to cosmic rules make him far more significant than an ordinary creature.

Plot points

• Qin Fen refuses to accept the Star Official on Duty’s attempt to treat their earlier conversation as a settled deal. After bargaining, he sells the Library idea for 9,500, claiming he has already given a generous discount.
• The Star Official pays, and Qin Fen is relieved to receive the money. The Star Official then asks for the promised books.
• At the same time, Painting Sage Wu Daozi sends Qin Fen 10,000. Qin Fen celebrates the Merit windfall and praises his own kindness, though he is actually referring to helping Cangjie—not to the Star Official.
• Qin Fen accidentally downloads the image of Nian’s egg, spending 5,000 Merit. Its listing calls it a unique divine beast born from Mortal Realm customs, but says virtually everything about it—including its strength and incubation period—is unknown.
• Qin Fen is annoyed by the vague description and assumes the egg is a poor bargain. In reality, Nian’s Fortune makes it extraordinarily valuable, but its usefulness to the Heavenly Court has declined since the Immortal-Mortal Separation.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Fen remains shrewd, self-interested, and shamelessly self-congratulatory. He insists he never agreed to the deal, then negotiates hard while presenting himself as principled and generous. His accidental purchase of Nian reveals how little he understands the treasure’s real value.
• The Star Official on Duty is frustrated by Qin Fen’s evasions but ultimately accepts the price, reasoning that the Library idea is valuable and that the Jade Emperor may reimburse him. He becomes more direct about demanding the books.
• Their exchange is a comic clash between Qin Fen’s bargaining tactics and the Star Official’s bureaucratic experience. The Star Official recognizes Qin Fen’s hypocrisy but still decides the transaction is worthwhile.
• Qin Fen’s message about helping those in trouble briefly sounds like a boast aimed at the Star Official, who has just been charged heavily. The misunderstanding highlights the gap between Qin Fen’s self-image and how others see him.

Significant themes

• Merit and money: Qin Fen measures practical value in payment and Merit, while the chapter hints that Nian’s true worth cannot be captured by its low transfer price.
• Self-interest dressed as virtue: Qin Fen frames his choices as acts of principle, even as he bargains aggressively and celebrates his rewards.
• Misjudged value and uncertainty: Nian’s “five-unknown” description makes it seem unimpressive, but the reader learns that its Fortune was once priceless to the Heavenly Court.
• Comedic bureaucracy and negotiation: The Star Official’s benefits, complaints, and calculations parody office politics, while Qin Fen’s hard bargaining turns a supposedly friendly deal into a transaction.

• Key events: Qin Fen takes possession of Nian’s egg, which is far smaller than he expected, and wonders how to hatch it. He suspects WeChat does not want the egg as a law, unlike the Sea-Calming Divine Pearl and River Diagram, and sets aside the puzzle while reflecting on how those items may fit into a larger design. Meanwhile, the Star Officer on Duty grows anxious about the deal, believing Qin Fen has ignored him and may not deliver what was promised.
• Character developments: Qin Fen is distracted by the egg and his theories about WeChat, but his irritation at the Star Officer’s insult turns into playful retaliation. He presents himself as principled and magnanimous while deliberately prolonging the other man’s discomfort. The Star Officer shifts from frustration and suspicion to fear and desperate flattery once Qin Fen responds.
• Character interactions: After the Star Officer complains that Qin Fen is indecent, Qin Fen reveals he heard him, then teases him by quoting his own words about trust and honesty. The Star Officer repeatedly apologizes and praises Qin Fen, who eventually appears to let the slight go—only to hint that he has sacrificed something by giving up Nian, leaving the Star Officer worried another trick is coming.
• Significant themes: The scene plays comedy off the gap between lofty reputations and self-interested behavior. It explores trust, bargaining, and status in the Heavenly Court, where even powerful figures rely on flattery and careful face-saving. Qin Fen’s apparent generosity is also shown as a tool for asserting control and getting even.

Summary

Key plot points

• After a drawn-out negotiation, the star officer reluctantly accepts Qin Fen’s terms and apologizes for his impatience. Qin Fen insists he does not care about keeping Nian, letting the officer believe the exchange is settled—though both understand the deal has benefited Qin.
• The officer asks when Qin’s books will arrive. Qin says he will send them through the Immortal Herb Garden Land Deity, reassuring the officer that the books will not be copied.
• Qin offers advice on the Heavenly Court’s Library: make it welcoming and enjoyable, combining reading and study with leisure, entertainment, and discussion. The star officer finds the idea genuinely insightful.
• After their conversation ends, Qin realizes he forgot to ask how to hatch Nian. The officer says Nian usually emerges on his own, since no one knows how to raise a creature born from the Heavenly Dao.
• Still troubled by the negotiation, the officer decides to make amends and transfers Qin 5,000. Qin is delighted to have acquired Nian without spending anything and then received money as well.

Character development

• Qin Fen remains playful and opportunistic, but he sees himself as principled: he believes his advice and the arrangement offer real value. His unexpected insight into making the Library more appealing earns him sincere respect.
• The star officer moves from resentment and anxiety to gratitude and guilt. Qin’s Library advice changes his view of him, and his final payment reflects both his tact and a desire to restore goodwill.

Significant themes

• Bargaining and reciprocity: A deal can feel unfair to one party even when both receive value; the officer’s final payment complicates the idea of who owes whom.
• Learning through enjoyment: Qin argues that reading should be inviting and relaxing, not merely formal or school-like.
• Appearance versus intent: The officer mistakes Qin’s teasing and unusual behavior for unreliability, while Qin believes he is acting within his own principles.

Character interactions

• Qin needles the officer throughout their negotiation, while the officer struggles to remain polite and protect his standing.
• Their relationship shifts when Qin offers practical advice about the Library, prompting the officer to feel genuine respect and later send him money.
• Qin and the officer briefly reconnect over the mystery of hatching Nian, but neither knows the answer.