Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• A story recounts Chen Xi’s tragic first life: while pregnant, she catches Chu Xuewen with Jiang Xiuying, but he beats Chen Xi and convinces her the scene was innocent. Under the plot’s influence, Chen Xi even apologizes to Jiang and becomes familiar with her.
• At Jiang’s birthday party, Chen Xi is pushed face-first into a cake and suffocates. Her premature baby survives delivery but is frail and expensive to care for.
• Chu abandons the infant outside Wang Ermazi’s home. After Wang reports him, the family learns Jiang was Chu’s former high-school love and that he had promised to marry her.
• Unable to manage the child and hoping Jiang will help, Chu is rebuked by her. In a rage, he kills her and is caught disposing of her body. He is executed; afterward, the system reverses time.
• In the new timeline, Chu—remembering his previous life—goes to Wang’s home to approach Chen Xi and preserve his access to the family’s future wealth and generosity.
• Wang refuses to bring Chen Xi to the door and shuts Chu out. Chu leaves, confused by the changed circumstances. Chen Xi hears the account and decides to avoid him.

Character developments and interactions

• Chu Xuewen is exposed as calculating, cowardly, and self-serving: he relies on Chen Xi, neglects their child, and ultimately kills Jiang when she challenges him. Reborn, he still sees Chen Xi and her relatives as useful.
• Chen Xi is manipulated into trusting Chu in her first life, with devastating consequences. In the new life, she has not met him yet, but the narrator’s revelations make her wary.
• Jiang Xiuying is not the helpless or devoted woman Chu imagined; she looks after her own interests and openly condemns him.
• Wang Ermazi protects his family by refusing Chu’s request, while Chen Fuyu and the household accept the narrator’s seemingly supernatural warning as guidance.
• Wenren Luoshui, after reading the story, mocks Chu’s lack of courage and habit of hiding behind women.

Significant themes

• The contrast between appearance and reality: Chu presents himself as upright while exploiting and harming others.
• Self-interest and entitlement, particularly in Chu’s assumption that he can reclaim past relationships and benefits.
• Consequences and second chances: time reversal offers the possibility of changing Chen Xi’s fate, while Chu’s continued selfishness suggests the past may repeat.
• Family protection and agency: Wang’s intervention and Chen Xi’s new resolve begin to disrupt Chu’s plans.

Plot points and events

• Wang Cuicui, disgraced and hungry after losing her fortune-telling income, tries to get food from her second uncle, Wang Ermazi, by loudly pleading outside his gate.
• Busybody Auntie Lü takes pity on her and urges Wang Ermazi to help. Wenren Luoshui warns Auntie Lü that Wang Cuicui plans to abduct young village children and sell them to traffickers—and that Lü’s grandson will be among the victims.
• Terrified, Auntie Lü slaps Wang Cuicui and drags her to the Brigade Leader. He cannot punish her severely without proof, but warns her and asks villagers to watch her closely.
• Later, Chen Xi, Yunjian, and Wenren Luoshui go out to explore the village. Chu Xuewen intercepts Chen Xi, ignores her rejection, and tries to give her candy while reaching for her hand.
• Yunjian and Wenren Luoshui loudly call him out for harassment, drawing the other educated youths. Chu acts innocent, but Wenren Luoshui exposes his secret habit of putting sand in the rice when he cooks. The others realize he has been sabotaging their meals.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Cuicui is increasingly desperate and manipulative: she relies on looking pitiful to win sympathy, while privately intending to abduct children. The Brigade Leader’s warning and surveillance may constrain her.
• Auntie Lü shifts from championing Wang Cuicui to attacking her after learning her grandson is in danger.
• Wenren Luoshui again uses her mysterious source of knowledge to expose hidden schemes, while she and Yunjian act decisively to protect Chen Xi.
• Chu Xuewen’s mild, “unassuming” image begins to crack: he disregards Chen Xi’s boundaries and is revealed to be spiteful toward his fellow educated youths.
• Chen Xi clearly rejects Chu’s advances, while Yunjian and Wenren Luoshui back her up publicly.

Significant themes

• Appearances versus reality: Wang Cuicui’s victim act and Chu Xuewen’s gentle persona conceal harmful intentions.
• Community vigilance and accountability: Warnings prompt villagers to watch over children and expose misconduct, even when formal proof is lacking.
• Consent and solidarity: Chen Xi’s refusal is ignored, but her companions ensure the behavior is challenged rather than dismissed.

Key plot points and events

• After Chu Xuewen tries to hide behind Chen Xi, Wenren Luoshui and Yunjian shove him away. Chen Xi makes clear that she and Chu have no relationship and that her children did nothing wrong.
• The girls’ thoughts reveal Chu’s future scheme: when college entrance exams return, he will put laxatives in the Educated Youth Courtyard’s water so his rivals miss the exam. The educated youths hear this and turn against him.
• They ostracize Chu, exclude him from shared meals, and retaliate with petty pranks. Within a week, he has fought with the men and argued with the women, exposing that his supposedly mild, “chrysanthemum-like” manner was really indifference while others bore the consequences.
• Chu begins visiting Chen Xi almost every day, loudly declaring that he misses her. Wang Ermazi repeatedly threatens him to leave.
• When Chu tries to blackmail Wang Ermazi by threatening to expose his black-market dealings, he can only make ducklike quacking sounds. Wang takes him to the Brigade Leader, complaining about his harassment of Chen Xi’s niece.

Character developments and interactions

• Chu Xuewen shifts from self-pitying, evasive behavior to open conflict once his own interests are affected. He then becomes fixated on Chen Xi, ignoring repeated attempts to drive him away.
• Chen Xi firmly rejects any association with Chu and supports Wenren Luoshui and Yunjian.
• Wenren Luoshui and Yunjian expose Chu’s future selfishness through their thoughts and openly disdain him. Their warning prompts the educated youths to isolate him.
• The educated youths move from suspicion to collective hostility, enforcing social consequences for Chu’s behavior.
• Wang Ermazi protects Chen Xi’s household and confronts Chu, while the increasingly exasperated Brigade Leader is left to deal with yet another complaint about him.

Significant themes

• Hypocrisy and self-interest: Chu’s image of being unobtrusive collapses when his own comfort and prospects are threatened.
• Collective judgment and consequences: Once the educated youths learn what Chu intends to do, they withdraw their support and retaliate.
• Protection and boundaries: Chen Xi and Wang Ermazi both make clear that Chu’s persistent attention is unwelcome.
• Comic supernatural intervention: Chu’s inability to threaten Wang—reduced to quacking—turns his attempted blackmail into farce.

Key plot points

• Chu Xuewen has recently been shunned by the other educated youths after earlier trouble with the Brigade Leader. While alone on a mountain outing, he overhears Wang Cuicui arranging with five traffickers to abduct Wenren Luoshui and Yunjian.
• When the traffickers notice him, Chu leads them toward the gathered educated youths to save himself. All ten are injured; Chu suffers only a minor scrape after using Wu Meili as a shield.
• At the clinic, Chu shows no remorse and argues that the attack was the group’s bad luck. Wu Meili accuses him of colluding with the traffickers and explains how he endangered her.
• Wenren Luoshui receives guidance that the traffickers are wanted criminals and have become trapped in animal snares. The Brigade Leader mobilizes villagers, and the men are captured.
• The traffickers’ testimony confirms Wang Cuicui arranged the planned abduction, hoping to remove her uncle’s children so he would support her instead. She is sent to a farm. The trafficking ring is arrested, and its members are executed.
• The Brigade Leader reports Chu’s conduct, and the educated youths file a joint complaint. Chu is also sent to a harsh farm.

Character developments and interactions

• Chu Xuewen reveals himself as selfish and callous: he sacrifices others to escape danger, then refuses to accept responsibility. His repeated claim that the victims were merely unlucky further alienates the Brigade Leader and the educated youths.
• Wu Meili directly challenges Chu, describing how he pulled her into the knife’s path. Her anger reflects the group’s loss of trust in him.
• The Brigade Leader initially hears everyone out rather than judging hastily, but acts decisively once Wenren Luoshui’s warning identifies the traffickers’ location.
• Wang Cuicui justifies her betrayal as self-preservation, showing how completely she places her own needs above the children’s safety.
• The other educated youths move from exclusion of Chu to formally reporting him, while villagers and officials cooperate to capture the traffickers.

Significant themes

• Self-interest versus responsibility: Chu and Wang both excuse harming others as necessary for their own survival or comfort.
• Consequences and accountability: Their actions ultimately bring serious punishment, while collective action protects the threatened children and helps capture the criminals.
• Trust and community: Chu’s betrayal destroys his standing among the educated youths; the villagers’ cooperation proves essential when danger emerges.

Key plot points and events

• After earning 1,500 merit points, Wenren Luoshui jokes with her Salty Fish System about wanting a larger reward from the next protagonist.
• A new group of educated youths arrives at Eagle Brigade after dark. As spring brings more work, Wang Ermazi considers using his savings to find Chen Fuyu a respectable town job, but she persuades him that it is unnecessary.
• The family shares a rare meal of white steamed buns and homemade pickles. Newly arrived educated youth Xu Miaomiao visits with a homemade cold salad, but its overwhelming seasoning makes it nearly inedible, so the family throws it away.
• Xu Miaomiao is revealed to have been reborn after dying at age seventy. Determined to prove she can succeed without relying on Sui Yun, she plans to become a businesswoman again, encouraged by her own system.
• Wenren Luoshui’s system identifies Xu as the third protagonist and tells her that Xu’s story centers on her and Sui Yun. Sui, an army-family heir, gave up enlistment to follow Xu to the countryside.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Ermazi and Chen Fuyu show practical judgment and a comfortable family partnership: he considers improving their circumstances, while she discourages a risky move into town.
• Wang Ermazi is protective when Xu arrives, accepting her gift cautiously. The family’s joking reactions to the salad show their closeness and ease around one another.
• Xu Miaomiao is ambitious and self-assured, but her past is marked by neglect and insecurity. She misread the attention she received in high school as recognition of her own qualities rather than as a result of Sui’s interest.
• Sui Yun, though absent from the scene, is established as deeply devoted to Xu and willing to make major sacrifices for her.
• Wenren Luoshui learns that another protagonist has entered the story, setting up her involvement with Xu and Sui.

Significant themes

• Self-made success versus dependence: Xu is determined to prove her achievements were her own, despite the role Sui played in her earlier life.
• Recognition and self-perception: Xu’s confidence grew through attention she misunderstood, raising questions about how others shape identity.
• Scarcity and domestic security: The family’s unusually plentiful meal contrasts with the hardships of the era.
• Practicality and ambition: Chen Fuyu’s cautious view of town employment contrasts with Xu’s grand plans for renewed success.

Plot

• Sui Yun supports Xu Miaomiao throughout their years in the countryside, tutors her into university, and later buys her a braised-meat recipe so she can start a business.
• Xu’s early attempts fail because she is arrogant and inexperienced. Sui Yun repeatedly steps in, first helping her establish a shop and then managing it. The business eventually becomes a nationwide chain and a major company.
• Xu takes the public credit for the company’s success, cultivating an image as a hardworking entrepreneur while Sui Yun does most of the work. After online investigations and former employees expose her, she retaliates by ordering mass firings.
• While Sui Yun is abroad receiving treatment, Xu’s reckless management wrecks the company, which is acquired by a foreign firm. When he returns, she asks him to restore her control. Exhausted, he refuses.
• Xu turns to argue while driving and crashes. Sui Yun is killed; Xu survives, but later dies after a night of online feuding and no sleep.
• The story ends with Yunjian reacting to Wenren Luoshui’s tale, criticizing Xu and wondering why Sui Yun remained devoted to her for so long without marrying her.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Miaomiao grows from an insecure young woman into a wealthy but increasingly entitled and irresponsible boss. She relies on Sui Yun’s labor while claiming the public spotlight, and responds to criticism with hostility rather than reflection.
• Sui Yun is a tireless, self-sacrificing supporter who enables Xu’s ambitions, rescues her business repeatedly, and remains loyal even after his family casts him out. Years of devotion leave him exhausted; his first refusal comes only when he no longer has the strength to help.
• Their relationship is profoundly unequal: Xu treats Sui Yun as indispensable support, while he puts her above his family, career, and well-being.
• Yunjian and Wenren Luoshui frame the story as a conversation. Yunjian is bewildered by Sui Yun’s “second male lead” devotion and bluntly questions why the pair never married.

Themes

• The story contrasts public image with reality, as Xu’s polished interviews conceal her lack of contribution.
• It highlights the dangers of entitlement, poor leadership, and dependence on an unseen supporter: Xu’s company succeeds through Sui Yun’s competence but collapses under her unchecked control.
• It also satirizes self-sacrificing devotion, asking whether loyalty is admirable when it enables another person’s worst behavior.

Plot points and events

• Xu Miaomiao wakes early to make grilled gluten, hoping to use recipes from her system and build wealth through food in this life.
• Though the system carefully explains the spices and method, Xu misunderstands basic ingredients. The system also distorts her perception, so she believes her cooking is excellent; in reality, the dish turns into a blackened, unrecognizable mess.
• When the educated youths gather for breakfast, Xu proudly offers the food. Wang Hongqin asks where she got the grain, since food is scarce and Xu has only just arrived. Xu takes the question as an insult and reacts angrily.
• Xu assumes Sui Yun will pay for any grain she may have wasted. When he refuses, she appeals to a supposed promise that he would protect her and share his money.
• Sui Yun denies making that promise, points out they are only former classmates, and reminds her that he has already asked her to repay years of money she borrowed. He kept a record of the debts.

Character developments

• Xu Miaomiao is confident but oblivious: she mistakes her terrible cooking for talent and carries over the entitlement of her former wealthy life, treating others’ resources and money as hers to command.
• Sui Yun shows a striking change in attitude. He no longer indulges Xu, speaks calmly but firmly, and makes clear that their relationship does not entitle her to his money.
• The other educated youths are practical and unwilling to humor Xu. Their concern about scarce grain outweighs her claims that she was trying to do something generous.

Character interactions

• The system guides Xu through the recipe while privately recognizing how incompetent her cooking is.
• Xu’s offer of breakfast turns into a confrontation with Wang Hongqin and the group over the food’s source and possible waste.
• Xu tries to make Sui Yun clean up the situation financially, but he rejects her command and challenges her version of their relationship. His reminder of the debt ledger leaves her unsettled.

Significant themes

• Entitlement versus scarcity: Xu’s wealthy-person assumptions clash with the educated youths’ need to conserve food.
• Appearance versus reality: Xu believes she is a culinary prodigy, while everyone else can see the disastrous result.
• Changing relationships and accountability: Sui Yun’s refusal to keep supporting Xu signals a break from their former dynamic and forces her to face her debts.

Key plot points

• Xu Miaomiao clashes with Wu Meili and Wang Hongqin after insisting that Sui Yun should let her move into his family’s house. When she threatens him, Sui Yun simply leaves, unmoved by her demands.
• Wenren Luoshui and Yunjian watch the events through a special “Privacy-Free Player” supplied by the system. Yunjian claims her best friend matters more than a man, but keeps watching Sui Yun.
• Xu skips fieldwork after her argument with the other educated youths. The Brigade Leader comes to find her and remind her of her duties.
• Hoping to gain his favor, Xu prepares Big Plate Chicken using her system’s “Secret Recipe Condition.” Just as the Brigade Leader is about to eat, Wenren Luoshui’s warning snaps him out of the food’s influence. He reprimands Xu for neglecting work and leaves.
• Xu blames her system for the failed attempt and insists she can rebuild the business success she had in her previous life. Wenren explains that Xu’s food contains poppy extract and other addictive ingredients: people who eat it may become unable to enjoy ordinary food and could even starve without it.

Character developments and interactions

• Sui Yun shows clear distance from Xu, ignoring her threats and refusing to play the role she expects of him.
• Xu Miaomiao remains entitled and manipulative, treating others as servants or potential business contacts. Her confidence in her former success clashes with repeated failures in her new circumstances.
• Wu Meili and Wang Hongqin physically restrain Xu when she tries to strike Wu, making clear that the other educated youths will not tolerate her behavior.
• The Brigade Leader initially falls under the dish’s appeal but regains his judgment after Wenren intervenes; he responds by enforcing work rules rather than indulging Xu.
• Yunjian professes loyalty to Wenren but appears drawn to Sui Yun, while Wenren remains curious about romance but considers it less worthwhile than her studies and talisman-making.
• Wenren, Yunjian, and the system watch the story together, with Wenren explaining the dangerous effects of Xu’s recipe and casually sharing snacks with the system.

Significant themes

• The chapter contrasts Xu’s entitlement and fixation on status with the practical demands of communal life and labor.
• It highlights the danger of exploiting addiction to manipulate others, while suggesting that outside intervention can break that influence.
• Yunjian’s words and actions hint at a tension between friendship and romantic attraction.

Plot and key events

• Xu Miaomiao continues trying to win favor and make money by cooking snacks with the system’s “Secret Spice.” The villagers avoid her food, so she decides to try selling in the city and approaches Sui Yun for help, claiming she is willing to forgive him.
• Sui Yun rejects her coldly. When Yunjian arrives to take him to dinner with her family, his manner immediately softens, and the pair leave together.
• Xu Miaomiao reacts possessively, accusing Sui Yun of breaking their promise to be friends forever. Wang Hongqin and Wu Meili confront her, criticizing her for exploiting Sui Yun and mistreating the other educated youths. They also recall how she locked the women out of their dormitory, leaving Xu ostracized and sleeping on the common-room floor.
• Xu cries, hoping Sui Yun will comfort her as he once did, but the other youths ignore her. Yunjian and Sui Yun depart hand in hand.
• At the Wang family home, Yunjian finds Old Master Wang’s younger sister—her grand-aunt—and the woman’s daughter, Feng Xiying. Yunjian and Wenren Luoshui privately suspect the visit has an ulterior motive. Feng, accustomed to wealth and servants, is visibly disgusted by the village home.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Miaomiao remains entitled and manipulative, treating Sui Yun as if she belongs to her and expecting his old affection to persist. Her past behavior has alienated the educated youths, and her tears no longer gain sympathy.
• Sui Yun makes clear that he has moved on: he is cold toward Xu but openly caring and affectionate toward Yunjian.
• Yunjian calmly asserts her closeness to Sui Yun by taking his arm and leaving with him. She also shows suspicion and curiosity about her newly arrived relatives.
• Wang Hongqin and Wu Meili openly defend Sui Yun and criticize Xu’s selfishness and disregard for others.
• Feng Xiying is introduced as privileged and disdainful of village life, suggesting tension with the Wang family.

Significant themes

• Consequences and social accountability: Xu’s selfish conduct has cost her the support of those around her.
• Moving on and changing relationships: Sui Yun’s former devotion to Xu has been replaced by his love for Yunjian.
• Boundaries and possessiveness: Xu mistakes past closeness for a claim over Sui Yun, while Yunjian’s natural intimacy with him exposes that assumption.
• Class and rural–urban contrast: Feng Xiying’s discomfort highlights the gap between her sheltered wealth and village life.
• Suspicion and family motives: Yunjian’s questions hint that the grand-aunt’s return may involve more than a family visit.

Plot points

• Feng Xiying despises the Wang family’s humble home and complains openly, while her mother—the Wang family grandaunt—tries to persuade her to stay in the countryside for a while.
• Wang Ermazi and the grandaunt keep up a cheerful conversation, though both are only pretending. He realizes his aunt may have returned to hide after Feng Xiying caused trouble in the city.
• Wenren Luoshui catches a small resentful spirit perched on Feng Xiying and puts it in Soul-Nurturing Wood.
• Feng Xiying demands to go home. Her mother refuses, hoping to keep her out of further trouble after she reported Old Master Shen to the authorities.
• Feng Xiying’s eldest brother, Feng Zhengming, arrives and indulges her. She asks him to take her home, despite her mother’s warning.
• Wenren Luoshui reveals that Feng Yan, Feng Xiying’s twin, is dead. Feng Xiying once pushed her sister in front of an assassin’s blade, and the Shen family is now searching for Feng Xiying.

Character developments and relationships

• Feng Xiying is shown as entitled, self-centered, and accustomed to having her wishes met. She resents her mother’s refusal and treats the Wang family with contempt.
• The grandaunt appears loving and indulgent toward Xiying, but is trying to protect her from the consequences of her actions. She hears Wenren Luoshui’s account of Feng Yan’s mistreatment but dismisses it as unbelievable.
• Feng Zhengming is affectionate and protective toward Xiying, reinforcing her belief that she should always get her way.
• Feng Yan is revealed to have been made to serve and protect her twin, blamed for Xiying’s misbehavior, and ultimately killed after Xiying used her as a shield.
• Shen An’nan remains devoted to Feng Yan and is now driven to find Xiying and hold her accountable.

Themes

• The chapter contrasts entitlement and humility, as Xiying looks down on the Wang family while benefiting from her own family’s indulgence.
• It explores favoritism and scapegoating: Xiying is treated as a “little princess,” while Feng Yan bears the blame and consequences.
• Deception and appearances shape the family’s polite conversation, while hidden resentment and past wrongdoing surface through Wenren Luoshui’s revelations.
• The chapter also raises the theme of consequences: Xiying’s manipulation of the Shen family has led to upheaval and now puts her in danger.

Key plot points and events

• Wenren Luoshui’s narration exposes Feng Xiying’s past cruelty toward her twin, Feng Yan: Xiying allegedly had Yan come retrieve her, then pushed her into the path of a knife meant for Xiying. The chapter also reveals that Xiying, not Yan, ruined Feng Zhengming’s graduation project and blamed her sister.
• Feng Zhengming begins to question the family’s old assumptions. When he asks Xiying about Yan and his graduation project, Xiying lies about not knowing Yan’s whereabouts and dismisses the project as irrelevant.
• Xiying leaves Wang Ermazi’s home impatiently and insults the village children gathered around Zhengming’s car.
• Xu Miaomiao approaches Xiying with homemade sushi containing a system-provided “Secret Seasoning.” After tasting it, Xiying abruptly becomes affectionate, calls Xu her little sister, and proposes that they open a shop together.
• The Wang Family grandaunt remains protective of Xiying despite her anger, fearing that the Shen Family may retaliate after Xiying reported Old Master Shen. She believes the countryside may be the safest place for her.

Character developments

• Feng Zhengming starts reconsidering whether Feng Yan was unfairly blamed, prompted by Wenren Luoshui’s revelations and Xiying’s careless response.
• Feng Xiying is shown as selfish, contemptuous of villagers, and indifferent to her twin’s fate, though she becomes instantly enthusiastic about Xu Miaomiao after tasting the sushi.
• Xu Miaomiao uses the system’s seasoning to win Xiying’s favor, apparently hoping to build a useful friendship and business partnership.
• The Wang Family grandaunt is conflicted: she disapproves of Xiying’s actions but remains determined to protect her from the consequences.

Significant themes

• Truth and accountability: Hidden wrongdoing begins to surface, challenging the family’s long-standing blame of Feng Yan.
• Favoritism and willful blindness: Feng Zhengming’s reflections suggest the family may have ignored how badly Yan was treated.
• Class prejudice: Xiying’s contempt for the village children contrasts with the grandaunt’s practical concern for her safety.
• Influence and opportunism: Xu Miaomiao’s magically appealing food creates instant intimacy, while her motives include gaining a valuable ally.

Character interactions

• Wenren Luoshui’s accusations shape Feng Zhengming’s suspicions, even though Feng Xiying cannot hear them.
• Feng Xiying responds impatiently to Zhengming’s questions and dismisses his concerns about both Feng Yan and his project.
• Xiying insults the children near the car, then responds warmly to Xu Miaomiao after tasting her sushi.
• The grandaunt tries to explain Xiying’s behavior to Wang Ermazi while weighing her anger against the need to protect her.

Key plot points and events

• From within the Soul-Nurturing Wood, Feng Yan reflects on her death and her unresolved feelings. She had hoped to ask Feng Xiying why she reported Grandpa Shen, but died before she could confront her. She longs to visit Silly Shen and asks that her ashes not be buried with the Feng Family.
• Feng Xiying brings Xu Miaomiao to Wang Ermazi’s home and announces that she wants her adopted as a goddaughter and treated like a younger sister. Feng Zhengming unexpectedly resists, though he cannot explain why.
• Feng Xiying casually suggests that Feng Yan could simply be thrown out, confirming how little she has ever valued her sister. Yunjian and Wenren Luoshui discuss Xu Miaomiao’s Secret Spice, which is addictive and causes severe withdrawal.
• The Wang family’s arrival disrupts Feng Xiying’s plans. She dislikes the Wang Family Old House and demands to stay elsewhere, but Wang Ermazi refuses her request. She ends up settling at the Wang residence, with Xu Miaomiao moving in alongside her.
• The educated youths are relieved when Xu Miaomiao leaves their courtyard, where she had repeatedly stirred up conflict.
• The next day, Old Master Shen is sent to the production brigade. Xu Miaomiao sees him as a chance to make a useful connection, while Feng Xiying recognizes him as someone she resents and plans to exploit his vulnerable position.

Character developments and interactions

• Feng Yan remains emotionally detached from the Feng Family but mourns what she has lost with Silly Shen and recognizes the Shen Family’s kindness toward her.
• Feng Xiying displays entitlement and cruelty, treating Feng Yan as a discarded servant and expecting others to indulge her. Her hostility toward Old Master Shen resurfaces when he arrives.
• Feng Zhengming surprises himself by objecting to Xu Miaomiao becoming his sister, perhaps because the proposal reminds him of Feng Yan’s neglect.
• Xu Miaomiao remains self-assured and scheming, viewing people as opportunities and plotting revenge against Sui Yun.
• Wang Ermazi calmly refuses to accommodate Feng Xiying, while his family’s presence limits her ability to dictate where she stays.

Significant themes

• Family favoritism and neglect: Feng Yan’s years of mistreatment contrast with the affection the Shen Family gave her.
• Entitlement and exploitation: Feng Xiying assumes others should obey her and targets vulnerable people for her own satisfaction.
• Addiction and manipulation: Xu Miaomiao’s Secret Spice binds its users through dependence and withdrawal.
• Irony and shifting fortunes: Those who once held power over others may become vulnerable themselves.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• Feng Xiying finds Old Master Shen working in the fields and taunts him for the Shen family’s downfall. When he ignores her, she tries to kick him but falls instead.
• She then offers local children money to throw stones at him. They refuse, and the Brigade Leader intervenes, sends them back to work, and questions Feng Xiying. She snaps at him and runs away.
• Feng Zhengming returns to the city, shaken by the news that Feng Yan has died. At the Shen family home, he finds her funeral already underway and sees a joyful photograph of her.
• Blaming Shen Qiunian for failing to protect Feng Yan, Feng Zhengming confronts him. Shen Qiunian punches him, condemning the Feng family for neglecting Feng Yan and indulging Feng Xiying.
• Mother Shen eventually separates them and tells Feng Zhengming to leave. She explains that Feng Yan had asked not to be buried with the Feng family. The Shens have obtained a marriage certificate for Feng Yan and Shen Qiunian, so she can be buried with them.

Character developments and interactions

• Feng Xiying displays open cruelty and entitlement, targeting Old Master Shen and trying to enlist children in tormenting him. Her rude response to the Brigade Leader shows how little she respects others’ authority.
• Old Master Shen remains composed and alert, calmly dodging Feng Xiying’s attempted kick rather than reacting to her taunts.
• Feng Zhengming arrives grieving and confused, but his grief becomes anger as he confronts Shen Qiunian. His visit also exposes how little he understood—or acknowledged—Feng Yan’s unhappiness.
• Shen Qiunian lashes out at Feng Zhengming, directing his fury over Feng Xiying’s actions and Feng Yan’s suffering toward the man he sees as representative of her family.
• Mother Shen reveals that she had long felt sympathy for Feng Yan, though she had stayed out of the Feng family’s affairs. She now firmly asserts Feng Yan’s wishes and her place in the Shen family.
• The Brigade Leader protects Old Master Shen from harassment, while the children’s refusal to take money to hurt him contrasts with Feng Xiying’s behavior.

Significant themes

• Family neglect and accountability: The chapter indicts the Feng family for favoring Feng Xiying while failing to protect or value Feng Yan.
• Cruelty and entitlement: Feng Xiying’s treatment of Old Master Shen shows that her behavior continues despite her family’s changed circumstances.
• Belonging and chosen family: Feng Yan’s wish to be buried with the Shens, and the marriage certificate secured for her and Shen Qiunian, make the Shen family her final home.
• Grief and belated recognition: Feng Zhengming sees too late the happiness Feng Yan found outside her birth family.

Plot points

• Feng Zhengming returns home and learns his father wants Feng Yan brought back to appease the Shen Family. Zhengming tells him that Feng Yan is dead and that the Shen Family’s current ceremony is her funeral.
• His father reacts with anger at losing the chance to use Feng Yan, not grief. Zhengming recognizes how self-righteous his family has been and withdraws to his room.
• Wenren Luoshui, now appearing about fourteen or fifteen after Yunjian took away the system, enjoys looking for river snails. Her relationship with Sui Yun is public, and he has moved into a small house nearby.
• Xu Miaomiao and Feng Xiying’s attempt to open a shop stalls because private businesses are not allowed. Xiying has invested much of her savings despite knowing little about the venture and supporting Xu without question.
• Xu makes a new noodle dish using a system recipe and sells it from a cart. She bumps into Ding Limin, whose interest in the food—and the system’s unusually excited warning—signals that he is important.
• Ding later says his younger sister can eat Xu’s food when she has little appetite. Though Xu refuses a job as their cook, they establish a regular arrangement. Learning Ding comes from a powerful Capital City family, Xu urges him to promote her food among his connections.

Character developments and interactions

• Feng Zhengming begins to see his family’s treatment of Feng Yan more clearly, while his father remains focused on family advantage and refuses to mourn her.
• Feng Xiying is devoted to Xu Miaomiao and contributes money and effort without assessing the risks; she also avoids confronting Old Master Shen directly, though she continues to taunt him with food.
• Xu Miaomiao remains ambitious and opportunistic. She shifts from seeking a shop to building a discreet food business through Ding Limin, treating their connection as a route to wider influence.
• Ding Limin is courteous and becomes a practical ally, linking Xu’s cooking to his family and social circle.
• Wenren Luoshui and Sui Yun are presented as settled into a known relationship, while her younger appearance marks a change after the system’s removal.

Significant themes

• The Feng family’s entitlement and emotional neglect contrast with Feng Zhengming’s dawning awareness.
• Ambition is constrained by the era’s restrictions on private enterprise, pushing Xu and Feng Xiying toward improvised alternatives.
• Loyalty can be generous but uncritical, as shown by Xiying’s unquestioning support.
• Systems, connections, and social status shape opportunity: Xu’s cooking gains traction through Ding’s powerful background.

Plot and key events

• During a heat wave, Yunjian brings chilled mung bean soup to Sui Yun at the fields. The system has reluctantly conjured a refrigerator to cool it. Wenren Luoshui takes some soup to the Cowshed, where the Lang and Shen elders have become friendly companions.
• Xu Miaomiao interrupts Yunjian and Sui Yun, knocks the soup from Sui Yun’s hand, and insults him for spending time with a village girl. She insists he likes her and offers to “forgive” him if he apologizes and becomes her friend again.
• When Sui Yun rejects her, Xu threatens that he will be cast out by the Sui Family and reduced to begging. Yunjian slaps Xu twice and warns that she will call the brigade leader over her public slander.
• Xu lunges at Yunjian, but Sui Yun kicks her away. He tells Xu she means nothing to him, then leaves with Yunjian and the remaining soup.

Character developments and interactions

• Yunjian shows care by bringing Sui Yun a homemade treat, but also stands up firmly when Xu humiliates him.
• Sui Yun openly rejects Xu’s possessive claims and defends Yunjian. His aristocratic upbringing is reflected in his cold composure, though he now acts directly rather than merely observing others.
• Xu Miaomiao grows increasingly arrogant as her food’s reputation spreads among Ding Limin’s social circle. Her entitlement and delusions of superiority worsen her already poor standing; Sui Yun’s rejection leaves her feeling exposed and humiliated.
• Wenren Luoshui helps distribute the soup, while the Lang and Shen elders’ easy companionship offers a quieter contrast to the confrontation.

Significant themes

• Care versus entitlement: Yunjian’s thoughtful gesture contrasts with Xu’s belief that she deserves Sui Yun’s attention.
• Status and prejudice: Xu looks down on villagers, while the episode exposes the weakness of her assumed superiority.
• Agency and rejection: Sui Yun refuses the role Xu assigns him, and Yunjian intervenes rather than letting her mistreat him.
• Humiliation and social consequences: Xu’s public behavior further isolates her and turns her attempt to dominate the scene into a spectacle.

Plot points and events

• Xu Miaomiao’s cooking reputation has grown so much that Ding Limin takes her to a town restaurant to cook for influential guests. Rather than make an elaborate dish, she reluctantly chooses boiled corn. The guests praise it enthusiastically, though she receives no concrete reward.
• Still buoyed by their compliments, Xu Miaomiao runs into Yunjian and Sui Yun. She boasts that she will soon be beyond their reach, but Yunjian sharply mocks her and walks away with Sui Yun, leaving Xu furious.
• Meanwhile, Feng Yan’s spirit—strengthened after spending the summer in the Soul-Nurturing Wood—wanders to the Wang family residence on the winter solstice. She observes the consequences of the past six months: the Shen family has nearly ruined the Feng family, Feng Zhengming has abandoned his responsibilities, and Feng Yan’s mother continues to seek the return of her ashes.
• Feng Yan’s mother questions Feng Xiying about an old accusation: five years earlier, Feng Xiying claimed Shen Qiunian had tried to assault her. Feng Yan listens as her mother revisits the incident that helped shape the family’s conflict.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Miaomiao grows increasingly arrogant from her success and the praise of powerful guests, but Yunjian’s blunt rejection punctures her self-importance. Ding Limin and the guests play along with her modest meal, maintaining the performance.
• Yunjian and Sui Yun appear comfortable and affectionate together; Yunjian defends their relationship and chooses to leave rather than prolong the argument.
• Feng Yan remains an unseen observer, now able to leave the Soul-Nurturing Wood and explore. She witnesses her mother’s distress and learns that old suspicions about Feng Xiying are being questioned.
• Feng Yan’s mother appears troubled and uncertain as she confronts Feng Xiying, while the wider Feng family is collapsing under pressure from the Shen family.

Significant themes

• Status and empty praise: Xu mistakes flattering words for genuine achievement, though the guests offer her no tangible benefit.
• Pride and humiliation: Her boastfulness invites Yunjian’s ridicule, exposing the gap between Xu’s self-image and how others see her.
• Family betrayal and consequences: The Feng family’s ruin and the renewed questioning of Feng Xiying’s accusation show how past actions continue to damage multiple families.
• Truth and unresolved history: Feng Yan’s mother’s question suggests that the story behind the old accusation may not be settled.

Key plot points

• Feng Xiying recalls the accusation she made five years earlier: she claimed Shen Qiunian tried to assault her while they were alone. Shen denied it, and Feng Yan stood by him. Feng Yan’s family sided against her, leaving her relationship with them nearly broken.
• The narration reveals that Feng Xiying had deliberately tried to undermine Shen and Feng Yan’s relationship, hinting to Shen that Feng Yan was unsuitable. Shen did not believe her.
• After Feng Yan’s death, Shen gave the Feng family two of her diaries. Reading them, Feng Yan’s mother, the Wang family’s married daughter, sees how consistently the family favored Feng Xiying and neglected Feng Yan.
• The diaries recall Feng Yan’s response when her mother once demanded that she give Shen to Feng Xiying: Shen was an adult with his own choices, and Feng Yan would not surrender the person she loved.
• In the present, Feng Xiying refuses to discuss the old accusation. Her mother recognizes that Feng Xiying had lied, but Feng Xiying angrily points out that her parents had once supported her and only care now that Feng Yan is dead.
• Feng Xiying strips her mother of her valuables and throws her out. Only afterward does the mother collapse in grief, realizing that her remorse cannot bring Feng Yan back.

Character developments and interactions

• Feng Yan: Though present only as a remembered figure, her diaries reveal a capable, high-achieving woman repeatedly overlooked by her family. She had set a clear boundary with her mother and refused to let Feng Xiying control her relationship.
• Feng Xiying: Her resentment and entitlement become unmistakable. She refuses accountability for the false accusation and treats her mother cruelly, despite having benefited from the family’s favoritism.
• Feng Yan’s mother: The diaries and Feng Xiying’s admission shatter the excuses she had made for her favored daughter. Her belated grief turns into helpless regret.
• Shen Qiunian: He had trusted Feng Yan and rejected Feng Xiying’s attempts to separate them. His gesture of holding Feng Yan’s hand in the remembered confrontation showed his support.
• Wenren Luoshui and Yunjian: They observe the Feng family through a system broadcast, with Wenren providing insight into Feng Xiying’s past manipulation.
• The central interaction shifts from the old family accusation to a confrontation between mother and daughter: the mother seeks the truth, while Feng Xiying blames her for caring too late.

Significant themes

• Parental favoritism and neglect: The family consistently prioritized Feng Xiying, even when Feng Yan excelled or was hurt.
• Accountability and manipulation: Feng Xiying’s false accusation damaged Feng Yan and Shen, yet she long avoided responsibility.
• Regret after loss: Feng Yan’s mother recognizes her failures only after Feng Yan is gone.
• Love versus possession: Feng Yan’s refusal to “give” Shen to her sister affirms that he has agency and that love is not something one person can hand over to another.
• The irreversibility of death: The chapter closes on the painful truth that remorse and tears cannot restore Feng Yan.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Miaomiao announces plans to build a cannery in the Eagle Brigade and makes hiring conditional on people turning against Wang Ermazi’s family. Instead of begging her to reconsider, Wang Ermazi moves his family to the city, finds them work, and sends Wenren Luoshui to school.
• That June, Xu Miaomiao and Feng Xiying are arrested. Authorities take over Xu’s factory and also bring in Elder Lang, his grandson, and Old Master Shen.
• Interrogators discover that Xu’s system came from a hostile foreign source and was intended to make people across the country addicted to drugs. Xu initially resists, but agrees to cooperate after learning that Ding Limin’s apparent interest in her was part of an operation: the food she prepared for him had been sent to a laboratory.
• The Feng Family collapses. Feng Xiying is held for study because the system controlled her through food; Feng’s eldest brother becomes a deranged beggar, Father Feng dies by suicide, and the family’s grandaunt becomes a grave sweeper.
• On the day the Feng Family falls, Feng Yan appears to Shen Qiunian, strengthened enough by the Soul-Nurturing Wood to speak to him. She urges him to let her go, gives him a pink paper crane, and disappears.
• Wenren Luoshui eventually earns enough points to return to the Li Kingdom with Yunjian, Sui Yun, and the emperor. Their departure allows the world to repair itself.
• In later years, Wang Ermazi and his daughters build a successful nationwide ice-cream business. Elder Lang returns to Capital City, and his grandson follows his academic path, eventually surpassing him.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Miaomiao shifts from a confident would-be tycoon to a prisoner cooperating with investigators. Her hopes of being rescued by Ding Limin collapse when she learns he was part of the authorities’ plan.
• Wang Ermazi responds to Xu’s retaliation by protecting his family and starting over in the city, where they later prosper.
• Feng Xiying remains confined while researchers investigate how the system influenced her.
• Feng Yan and Shen Qiunian share a final, tender farewell. Shen lets her go and devotes himself to his work; he never marries, though he says he is already married, and lives to ninety-seven.
• Elder Lang and his grandson return to public life, with the grandson inspired by his grandfather’s teaching.

Significant themes

• Power, betrayal, and consequences: Xu’s influence and schemes unravel, while the Feng Family faces the consequences of its downfall.
• Resilience and self-reliance: Wang Ermazi’s family refuses to submit to ostracism and rebuilds successfully.
• Love and letting go: Feng Yan’s farewell shows that devotion can mean releasing someone, while Shen carries her memory throughout his life.
• Legacy across generations: Elder Lang’s influence shapes his grandson’s future, and the chapter closes on lives continuing beyond personal loss.

Plot points and events

• After nearly two years away in another world, Wenren Luoshui returns to Capital City, where time has not advanced. She discovers that everyone accepts the sudden existence of an “eldest sister,” Wenren Ruoshui, as if she had always belonged to the family.
• Wenren Ruoshui welcomes Luoshui and immediately urges her to marry Cui San, a disreputable steward’s son who once sneaked into Luoshui’s courtyard and left a personal item on her bed. Luoshui had punished him and beaten him, but he remains obsessed with her.
• Ruoshui argues that Luoshui should bring a large dowry while accepting only token betrothal gifts, insisting that Cui San’s supposed devotion matters more than money or status. Luoshui rejects the match and leaves.
• At dinner, Ruoshui silently performs distress, then tells their parents that Luoshui is supposedly immoral, fickle, and responsible for leading Cui San on. Luoshui hears Ruoshui’s thoughts and is bewildered by the fabricated accusations.
• The prince and Princess Consort remain relaxed and dismiss Ruoshui’s attempt to discipline Luoshui. Ruoshui then criticizes Luoshui for appearing in public, but the prince points out that the emperor himself took them on the trip.
• Yunjian arrives at the residence after learning that Sui Yun has gone to the palace. She hears Ruoshui’s affected voice, setting up a likely confrontation.

Character developments and interactions

• Wenren Luoshui is startled by the altered family situation and distrusts Ruoshui’s mismatched aura. She stays blunt and self-assured, rejecting both the matchmaking and the false allegations.
• Wenren Ruoshui presents herself as a caring, proper elder sister, but her private thoughts reveal a hostile, manipulative agenda. She tries to control Luoshui’s marriage and recruit their parents to condemn her.
• The prince and Princess Consort show little inclination to interfere with their daughters. Though Ruoshui seeks their approval, they seem more comfortable with Luoshui.
• Yunjian arrives seeking Luoshui’s company and may become a witness to Ruoshui’s behavior.

Significant themes

• Contrasts between appearance and intention: Ruoshui’s sweet, selfless manner conflicts with her spiteful inner thoughts.
• Control of women’s lives: Ruoshui invokes modesty and propriety to restrict Luoshui and push her into an exploitative marriage.
• Family favoritism and belonging: The household accepts Ruoshui’s inexplicable presence, yet the parents feel closer to Luoshui.
• Comic misunderstanding and irony: Luoshui’s disbelief at being branded a seducer undercuts Ruoshui’s melodramatic accusations.

Plot points and events

• Yunjian asks the system and Wenren Luoshui to identify the mysterious Wenren Ruoshui, but neither can explain where she came from.
• The next morning, they discover that Wenren Ruoshui is also a court lady and must attend court.
• Court learns that a severe snow disaster in the Northwest has killed or injured roughly a hundred people. While officials debate sending relief grain and funds, Wenren Ruoshui proposes sending paper cranes instead.
• When the emperor objects, she offers a second plan: cut officials’ salaries in half and bury the savings as a prayer for the victims. The emperor orders her beaten with rods.
• As she is taken away, Wenren Ruoshui urges Wenren Luoshui to continue admonishing the emperor. Luoshui refuses to defend her and calls her mad; the emperor endorses that judgment and removes her from her court position.
• News of Wenren Ruoshui’s supposed madness spreads through the capital. Back at the residence, she accuses Luoshui of framing her out of jealousy and over the unrelated matter of Cui San, never considering that her own disastrous proposals caused the punishment.

Character developments

• Wenren Luoshui remains practical and self-protective. Though she dislikes getting up for court, she recognizes Wenren Ruoshui’s recklessness could endanger the whole household and refuses to keep rescuing her.
• Yunjian shares Luoshui’s irreverent humor and complains about being dragged to work, but is also curious about the newcomer’s origins.
• Wenren Ruoshui is portrayed as dangerously clueless, stubbornly self-righteous, and incapable of recognizing the consequences of her own actions. She casts herself as a courageous truth-teller and blames others when things go wrong.
• The emperor moves from controlled displeasure to open anger, eventually using Luoshui’s “madwoman” characterization to end Wenren Ruoshui’s court career.

Significant themes

• Practical aid versus empty gestures: The chapter contrasts urgently needed food and money with symbolic proposals that cannot help disaster victims.
• Accountability and self-deception: Wenren Ruoshui refuses to connect her punishment to her own conduct and invents motives for Luoshui instead.
• Power and political risk: A reckless act at court can threaten not only the speaker but also her family and household.
• Satire of foolish governance: Wenren Ruoshui’s absurd ideas turn a serious disaster-relief debate into sharp political comedy.

Character interactions

• Luoshui and Yunjian tease the system and trade complaints about court, establishing their easy, joking friendship.
• Luoshui and Wenren Ruoshui clash over the latter’s court behavior: Luoshui distances herself from her sister’s recklessness, while Wenren Ruoshui tries to implicate her.
• The emperor and Wenren Ruoshui confront one another as she persists in defending her proposals despite his anger.
• Afterward, Wenren Ruoshui accuses Luoshui of betrayal, while Luoshui sees her as a liability rather than someone she can keep protecting.