Recaps

Xiang Xingchang, Huang Ningna, and Lu Ao finalized plans for a coral restoration project, and Lin Qiyan joined as its volunteer photographer. The team reached the offshore reef with 12,361 coral fragments, ready to begin planting.

• Xiang Xingchang and Huang Ningna agreed to start coral planting in three days, with Lu Ao providing his boat and offering Lin Qiyan the photographer role.
• Lin Qiyan agreed to document the project for three months and traveled to Qianyong City to join Huang Ningna's team.
• Lu Ao brought his twenty-seven-meter fishing boat to Qianyong City, and Huang Ningna arranged to load the coral seedlings and planting equipment.
• Huang Ningna's team and the volunteers loaded all 12,361 coral fragments onto the boat late at night.
• Lu Ao sailed the team to the offshore reef, where Xiang Xingchang praised the planting location as the volunteers began bringing the corals onto the deck.

Lu Ao and the others surveyed a coral reef that had died after seawater temperatures rose, then compared it with footage of the reef when it was alive. Huang Ningna revealed that the coral had once become unusually vivid before it bleached and died, leaving the cause of that change in question.

• Lu Ao learned from Huang Ningna that rising seawater temperatures had killed the reef’s coral, and he prepared to dive and assess the seabed.
• Lu Ao and the other divers found a vast field of dead coral skeletons covered in yellow-green algae, with almost no fish or shrimp remaining.
• Back aboard the boat, Lu Ao gave Huang Ningna his photographs, and Huang Ningna compared the dead reef with footage of its former colorful abundance.
• Lin Qiyan asked Huang Ningna to replay the old footage, and Lu Ao noticed that the coral had become especially vivid partway through it.
• Huang Ningna confirmed Lu Ao’s observation and rewound the video to show the unusually vivid coral.

Huang Ningna explained that corals had tried to protect themselves from heat by producing chemical sunscreens, but they still died. Lu Ao and the volunteers worked through exhaustion to plant the corals, finishing the task by evening and celebrating Lu Ao’s contribution.

• Huang Ningna told Lu Ao and the others that corals had evolved chemical sunscreens to resist sunlight and heat, but the effort had failed.
• Lu Ao, Xiang Xingchang, and the volunteers installed metal frames underwater and began planting the corals, with Lu Ao quickly taking on most of the frame installation.
• Huang Ningna urged the group to rest at lunch, but Lu Ao and Xiang Xingchang insisted on continuing so the temperature-sensitive corals could be planted sooner.
• Lin Qiyan filmed the work underwater as Lu Ao kept working despite repeated calls to rest.
• Lu Ao glued the final coral onto a metal frame after seven in the evening, and the volunteers surfaced and celebrated their completed work.
• Xiang Xingchang praised Lu Ao for completing more than half the workload, and a volunteer grabbed Lu Ao’s hand and lifted him onto his shoulders.

After Coral was planted, Lin Qiyan stayed with Huang Ningna’s team to monitor its growth while Lu Ao returned home. Lu Ao learned that the Coral was doing well, refused to sell his goose eggs despite a fan’s offer, and the fan joined his auction group to contact him directly.

• The volunteers returned to their jobs after planting Coral, while Lin Qiyan remained with Huang Ningna’s team to monitor it.
• Worried about the unusually warm October weather, Lu Ao asked Lin Qiyan how the Coral was doing and watched a video showing it growing well among small fish.
• Lin Qiyan asked whether Lu Ao would sell goose eggs after a fan praised their effects, but Lu Ao refused because he wanted to keep them for his family.
• The wealthy fan obtained the number for Lu Ao’s Billionaire Auction Group, joined it with Weng Qian’s approval, and sent Lu Ao a friend request.

Lu Ao fed his geese, collected their eggs, and gave the developing goslings a small infusion of vitality. He left the eggs with their anxious mothers and continued upstream to feed the rest of the flock.

• Lu Ao declined a stranger’s request to add him as a friend while carrying feed to his geese.
• Lu Ao fed the flock, collected seventeen unfertilized eggs, and considered hatching one more batch before dealing with the male geese.
• Lu Ao checked the eggs beneath a mother goose and found that most of the goslings were close to hatching.
• Lu Ao infused the eggs with a little vitality, and the goslings inside responded by moving.
• Lu Ao left the eggs for the mother geese and headed upstream with his bucket.

Lu Ao cared for his geese and vegetables, then learned from Lin Qiyan that the Coral restoration project was failing. The chapter ended with Huang Ningna’s prediction confirmed: the planted Coral had bleached again because of the temperature.

• Lu Ao checked his fish traps, fed his growing geese, and harvested vegetables and watermelons.
• Lu Ao learned that Lin Qiyan had removed Qinxin from the WeChat group after she argued with members over buying goose eggs.
• Lin Qiyan told Lu Ao that tests showed the Coral had begun expelling its zooxanthellae, and the research team could not identify the cause.
• Lu Ao searched for Huang Ningna’s papers while the team worked overtime, but the Coral bleached again because of the temperature.

After extreme heat caused the Coral planted by Huang Ningna’s group to bleach irreversibly, Lu Ao decided to travel to Qianyong City with Song Zhou to inspect the site and see whether he could help. He postponed clearing his hillside, and Lin Dawu insisted on supervising the workers in his place.

• Nineteen days of high temperatures left Huang Ningna’s Coral bleaching, and a week of surveys confirmed the damage could not be reversed.
• Lin Qiyan returned early from his photography work, and Lu Ao noticed from his Moments posts that he was depressed.
• Lu Ao told Song Zhou he wanted to visit Qianyong City, and Song Zhou agreed to go with him.
• Lu Ao told his fishing group he would be away and postponed the hillside-clearing work he had arranged with Lin Dawu.
• Lu Ao offered to compensate the workers for the delay, but Lin Dawu refused to let him pay and volunteered to supervise them.

Lu Ao arranged for Old Chen to manage work on his mountain while he was away, then traveled with Song Zhou to retrieve his boat and inspect the Coral. Huang Ningna warned that the Coral would likely die after another fifteen days of high temperatures, with no cyclone expected to bring relief.

• Lin Dawu and Old Chen visited Lu Ao to discuss preparations for the mountain, and Old Chen revealed that he knew Lu Ao had donated money for his wife's surgery.
• Lu Ao hired Old Chen as the mountain's foreman for two hundred yuan a day and gave him and Lin Dawu instructions for clearing the land and planting fruit trees.
• Lu Ao reserved an open area on the mountain and asked the workers to cut the grass instead of using herbicide.
• Lu Ao and Song Zhou met Huang Ningna in Qianyong City to retrieve the boat and inspect the Coral.
• Huang Ningna told Lu Ao that continued high temperatures and the lack of a forming cyclone meant the Coral might not survive another fifteen days.

Lu Ao and Song Zhou went to inspect the badly bleached coral bed, where Lu Ao carried Song Zhou underwater in dragon form. They found that most of the coral was dead or rotting, with only a few pieces still apparently alive.

• Lu Ao asked Huang Ningna and Lin Qiyan to let him inspect the coral, and they agreed that there were no precautions to follow.
• Lu Ao and Song Zhou sailed to the coral bed, and Lu Ao transformed into a dragon to take Song Zhou underwater on his back.
• Lu Ao and Song Zhou reached the seabed and saw that the coral had severely bleached, with some pieces fallen off and rotting.
• Lu Ao circled the coral bed with Song Zhou and found only a few corals that appeared to remain alive.

Lu Ao and Song Zhou treated a bleached patch of Coral with life force, and the Corals soon began feeding again. After seeing the improvement on video, Huang Ningna returned to inspect them at night and witnessed their recovery, leaving the chapter with him overcome by emotion.

• Lu Ao infused a bleached patch of Coral with life force, and Song Zhou helped him treat the rest.
• Lu Ao and Song Zhou recorded the Corals’ condition and returned to Qianyong City, where Huang Ningna watched their video and saw signs of improvement.
• Huang Ningna decided to return to the Coral area that evening, and Lu Ao and Song Zhou accompanied him.
• Huang Ningna examined the Corals underwater and saw nearly all of them extending their tentacles to feed, then burst into tears.
• Lu Ao helped Huang Ningna back to the boat while his students waited anxiously on deck.

After Coral recovered, Huang Ningna returned to the seafloor with Lu Ao and Lin Qiyan to document and study it. Back at the hotel, Lu Ao proposed using Dragon intervention to cool the seawater, and he and Song Zhou decided to try making a typhoon first.

• Huang Ningna insisted on diving again to photograph Coral and collect samples, so Lu Ao took him and Lin Qiyan back underwater.
• Huang Ningna recorded and analyzed Coral until after ten, and the group returned to the hotel past midnight.
• Song Zhou took the exhausted Lu Ao to a five-star hotel, where they ate a late-night barbecue meal.
• Lu Ao proposed making a typhoon or redirecting a cold ocean current to cool the Coral cultivation area.
• Song Zhou and Lu Ao agreed to try making a typhoon first and planned to set out after their meal.

Lu Ao tried to create a typhoon to cool the sea, then checked on the Coral he and Song Zhou had helped save. The Coral was improving, and after returning home, Lu Ao met with Lin Dawu and Old Chen.

• Lu Ao and Song Zhou went to the tropical sea at night, where Lu Ao worked alone to begin forming a typhoon before exhaustion forced him to rest.
• Lu Ao woke late the next morning and found no reports of a tropical cyclone; Song Zhou told him it could take two or three days to form and be reported.
• Lu Ao and Song Zhou infused Coral with life force, and Huang Ningna told them the bleaching had lessened and the Coral was improving.
• Lu Ao and Song Zhou teleported home, and that evening Lu Ao met Lin Dawu and Old Chen for tea and conversation.

Lu Ao finalized the work plan and fencing arrangements with Old Chen, then shared an intimate evening with Song Zhou. The next day, he found that the goose eggs had hatched and discovered a healthy flock of friendly goslings.

• Lin Dawu and Old Chen reported progress clearing the land, and Old Chen marked the completed and planned areas on a map.
• Lu Ao agreed to have the workers install the wire fencing, signed a detailed contract with Old Chen, and transferred contingency funds.
• Lu Ao returned home, where Song Zhou was reading, and the two shared an intimate night together.
• Lu Ao woke late to the breakfast Song Zhou had prepared, then went to check on the geese and their eggs.
• Lu Ao found the flock upstream with a group of newly hatched goslings and gently picked one up before returning it to the flock.

Lu Ao let Forest Police search his home after someone reported him for illegally raising rare birds. They took goose eggs for testing and told him to stay in the county, while the search exposed the novelty underwear hidden beneath his pillow.

• Lu Ao checked on his geese and returned home, where Forest Police confronted him over a report that he was illegally raising rare birds.
• Lu Ao allowed the officers to search his home, and they found the novelty underwear hidden beneath his pillow.
• The officers found a basket of large goose eggs in the kitchen and took more than half for testing.
• Forest Police told Lu Ao to remain in the county until the test results were available within three working days.
• After the officers left, Lu Ao hurried back to his bedroom and confirmed the black underwear was still beneath the pillow.

Lu Ao learned that Lin Qiyan’s pregnant fan Qinxin had reported his goose eggs as suspicious, and Lin Qiyan’s attempt to confront her spiraled into a public feud. After Qinxin accused him online and the post surged in popularity, Lin Qiyan called Lu Ao for advice, but remained furious and wanted to sue her.

• Lu Ao told Song Zhou that police had visited after receiving a report, then asked Lin Qiyan whether he knew who had reported him.
• Lin Qiyan called Qinxin and learned she had reported Lu Ao, arguing with her over whether the eggs were goose eggs and whether she should have contacted him first.
• Lin Qiyan posted an explanation online, prompting fans to argue over Qinxin’s report and his defense of Lu Ao.
• Qinxin published a tearful post accusing Lin Qiyan of selling her eggs that were not goose eggs and claiming his call had upset her during her unstable pregnancy.
• Qinxin’s post surged to second place on trending searches, and Lin Qiyan discovered that users were attacking him and his fans.
• Lin Qiyan called Lu Ao, who urged him to leave the controversy alone, but Lin Qiyan insisted that Qinxin was slandering him and said he would sue her if she were not pregnant.

Lu Ao and Lin Qiyan agreed to wait for the police lab results before responding to the allegations about eggs, while discussing Coral’s recovery and an approaching typhoon. Online outrage over the eggs intensified, and netizens began investigating Lu Ao’s background, uncovering a record of good deeds that clashed with their suspicions.

• Lu Ao told Lin Qiyan they could reserve the right to press charges and wait until the pregnant accuser gave birth, while Lin Qiyan said he would contact media friends about the backlash.
• Lin Qiyan reported that the Coral was recovering and had become unusually resilient, and Lu Ao celebrated its survival while privately taking credit for the approaching typhoon.
• Lu Ao and Lin Qiyan decided to avoid checking online discussions and wait for the police lab results before posting a response.
• Yandong County Forest Police announced that the eggs were being tested, but netizens kept criticizing Lu Ao and questioning his Outstanding Youth award.
• Netizens dug into Lu Ao’s background and found that he had been a top student, run a small supermarket, helped others, and donated an elementary school.

After online users uncovered Lu Ao’s charitable history, public opinion turned in his favor, and police tests confirmed that the eggs he gave away were goose eggs. The controversy faded, while Weng Qian and his father realized Lu Ao’s growing popularity would make his goods harder to buy.

• Netizens investigated Lu Ao’s past and found records of his donations and other charitable acts, leaving them unable to find any dirt on him.
• Lin Qiyan prepared a public response, but his public-relations friend advised him to stay quiet as online opinion shifted in Lu Ao’s favor.
• The Yandong County Forest Public Security Bureau published appraisal results confirming the eggs were goose eggs, backed by a second report from an authoritative company.
• Most netizens moved on after the results, though some people with ulterior motives continued to take note of Lu Ao’s online post.
• Old Weng praised Lu Ao’s character and urged Weng Qian to buy more from him, while Weng Qian predicted Lu Ao’s increased popularity would make his goods much harder to obtain.

After Lu Ao was cleared of suspicion, he learned that public opinion had turned in his favor and planned to visit Qianyong City to help the coral endure the heat. Meanwhile, Qinxin’s pregnancy rash worsened, and she regretted offending him because she believed only his goose eggs could ease it.

• Lu Ao read Little Du’s link and discovered that a blogger’s evidence had turned public opinion in his favor, while Song Zhou reassured him.
• The Forest Police cleared Lu Ao and confirmed his eggs were safe, so he planned to replenish the coral’s vitality that afternoon with Song Zhou.
• Lu Ao checked on his healthy goslings and put away the feed he had bought for them.
• Qinxin’s rash flared up in the hospital, and the doctor suggested she try goose eggs again while prescribing other treatments.
• After the medicine failed to ease her itching, Qinxin regretted offending Lu Ao and asked her husband to use another identity to buy his goose eggs.

Qinxin’s husband tried every avenue to buy goose eggs from Lu Ao’s farm, but Lin Qiyan refused and blocked him. Lin Qiyan then received a separate offer for Lu Ao to take people offshore fishing for Giant Trevally, and looked to Lu Ao for an answer.

• Qinxin begged her husband to buy goose eggs, so he contacted Lin Qiyan through another WeChat account.
• When Lin Qiyan ignored the request, Qinxin’s husband used his connections to reach him and repeatedly called, offering large sums for the eggs.
• Lin Qiyan explained that Lu Ao would not sell the eggs and blocked the persistent caller after Song Zhou identified him as Qinxin’s husband.
• Song Zhou told Lin Qiyan that a new caller was not connected to Qinxin’s family, so Lin Qiyan answered.
• Brother Kun’s friend asked Lin Qiyan to arrange a five-day offshore fishing trip with Lu Ao for Giant Trevally, offering three thousand yuan per day.

Lin Qiyan, Lu Ao, and Huang Ningna checked on Coral, whose recovery suggested the planted batch might survive if autumn arrived soon. After dinner, Lu Ao received a call from an elderly man asking for him, leaving the caller’s identity unknown.

• Lin Qiyan told Lu Ao about Xie Lingxun’s offer to rent their boat, but Lu Ao declined because of the costs and an approaching typhoon.
• Lu Ao and Lin Qiyan dived to film Coral and saw its colors returning as fish and shrimp gathered around it.
• Lu Ao stroked a sea turtle, while it swam away when Lin Qiyan tried to approach.
• Huang Ningna reviewed Lin Qiyan’s footage and said the batch of Coral would likely survive if autumn arrived soon.
• Lu Ao and Song Zhou had dinner in Qianyong City, then walked home hand in hand until an elderly man called Lu Ao.

Lu Ao received requests from the Southwest Agricultural Research Institute to study his unusual geese and from Xie Lingxun to take a fishing trip for Giant Trevally. Two days later, Professor Zhao Xingli and his colleagues arrived at Lu Ao’s home to discuss the geese.

• Lu Ao agreed to meet Zhao Xingli from the Southwest Agricultural Research Institute about his Lionhead Geese and arranged for the researchers to visit two days later.
• Xie Lingxun asked Lu Ao to take a group fishing for Giant Trevally, and Lu Ao offered to check his schedule for a trip near the end of the month.
• Lu Ao muted his phone and walked home with Song Zhou.
• Zhao Xingli and his colleagues arrived at Lu Ao’s courtyard carrying gifts and identification documents, and Lu Ao invited them inside.

Lu Ao hosted Zhao Xingli and three colleagues, who examined his unusual goose eggs and asked to take some for research. He led them toward the riverside goose shed, where they remained cheerful and unsuspecting as the overgrown path began.

• Lu Ao showed Zhao Xingli and his colleagues a basket of goose eggs while Song Zhou prepared breakfast.
• Zhao Xingli asked to take eggs back for research, and Lu Ao offered them some unfertilized eggs and promised to look for fertilized ones at the goose shed.
• Song Zhou left for work, and Lu Ao drove the professors toward the river before leading them on foot with a bucket of grain and a stick.
• Zhao Xingli and the professors admired the abandoned fields and exchanged poetry while Lu Ao tapped the path ahead.

Lu Ao led Zhao Xingli and the other professors through the wilderness to his goose pen, where the flock charged at them before stopping at Lu Ao’s command. The professors recovered and studied the unusually fierce geese, discussing their potential as guard animals.

• Lu Ao guided Zhao Xingli and the professors along the hot, remote path to the goose shed.
• The professors admired the secluded goose pen and took photographs as Lu Ao kept watch.
• Lu Ao spotted the approaching flock and warned the professors as the geese rushed toward them.
• The professors scattered and fell while Lu Ao ordered the flock to stop and return to its pen.
• Lu Ao locked the pen, and the professors discussed the geese’s fierceness and possible use as guard animals.

Zhao Xingli and the professors from the Agricultural Research Institute inspected Lu Ao’s well-raised geese and negotiated for eggs to use in research. After providing them with twenty eggs, Lu Ao suggested the exhausted group stay in town overnight.

• Zhao Xingli and the professors examined Lu Ao’s goslings and learned that the adult geese had raised them without his help.
• The professors inspected the flock’s free-range environment and discussed the geese’s potential survival rate.
• Lu Ao refused to sell his geese but agreed to provide twenty fertilized and unfertilized eggs for the researchers to hatch.
• Lu Ao gave the professors ten fertilized and ten unfertilized eggs and agreed to provide twenty eggs each month in exchange for their research findings.
• After the group finished their business and ate in town, the professors fell asleep at the table, and Lu Ao offered to book them rooms.

Zhao Xingli and the other professors prepared to return home, while an approaching typhoon prompted Lu Ao to bring his geese back from their exposed shelter. Song Zhou returned to accompany him, and they walked together toward the goose shed as the storm neared.

• Zhao Xingli told Lu Ao that the professors would return to the county seat and might come back with students if they began a research project.
• A red typhoon alert was issued, and Lin Manzhang and the fishing group hauled their boats in to prepare for the storm.
• Lu Ao called Huang Ningna, who confirmed that preparations were underway and asked about his boat; he said it could stay in the harbor.
• Lu Ao decided to herd the geese back from their riverside shelter before the typhoon brought strong winds and rising water.
• Song Zhou returned with extra dishes, changed into casual clothes, and joined Lu Ao in walking to the goose shed.