Chapter Summaries

Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi went to dinner after Ji Ting called to accept his invitation, but their unresolved tension surfaced as they discussed Ji Ting’s anger and their silence. Ji Yanzhi explained why he had hidden the reason he needed to take responsibility for Ling Xi and said he wanted to live honestly and peacefully with Ji Ting.

• Ji Ting called Ji Yanzhi and agreed to meet for a meal after realizing he wanted Ji Yanzhi to keep talking to him.
• Ji Yanzhi chose an expensive restaurant, and Ji Ting met him there for dinner.
• Ji Ting apologized for breaking their agreement to sleep together, while Ji Yanzhi insisted that he was the one at fault for not explaining himself.
• Ji Yanzhi admitted that their silence had kept him awake and that he was angry both about Ji Ting’s reaction yesterday and his indifference today.
• Ji Yanzhi told Ji Ting he had no reason to hide why he had to take responsibility for Ling Xi and said he wanted to live peacefully and honestly with him.

Ji Yanzhi revealed why he had taken responsibility for Ling Xi, and Ji Ting comforted him over the neglect he had suffered as a child. The two embraced, and Ji Yanzhi returned to the conversation with Ji Ting, who admitted he had delayed their meal to make him explain.

• Ji Yanzhi told Ji Ting that he cared for him because he was Ji Ear, then explained that he had taken care of Ling Xi because his dying mother had asked him to.
• Ji Ting asked who had cared for Ji Yanzhi, prompting him to recall how his mother had treated him as a disappointment.
• Ji Ting praised Ji Yanzhi for raising himself and told him that many people were grateful he existed, and Ji Yanzhi broke down and hugged him.
• Ji Yanzhi went to the restroom to compose himself, then returned and asked Ji Ting whether he was hungry.
• Ji Ting revealed that he had scheduled their meal to be delayed for an hour so he could learn why Ji Yanzhi took responsibility for Ling Xi.

Ji Yanzhi grew curious about Ji Ting’s past and worried that asking about it might make him disappear. After Ji Shize plotted to get Ling Xi into the Old Residence, Ji Yanzhi asked Ji Ting how old he would want to be when he got married.

• Ji Yanzhi challenged Ji Ting to ask him anything, then fled when Ji Ting asked if he had gone to the restroom to hide that he had been crying.
• Ji Yanzhi offered to hire the restaurant’s chef, and Ji Ting drove them back to the Old Residence.
• Ji Yanzhi wondered about Ji Ting’s true age and identity but kept his questions to himself.
• Ji Shize learned Ling Xi had failed to reach the Qin Family and planned to find a way to send him inside.
• Two days later, Ji Yanzhi told Ji Ting about the upcoming meeting concerning Shili’s cooperation with the Thirteenth Institute and asked how old he would want to be when he got married.

Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting discussed marriage, and Ji Yanzhi’s feelings surfaced when their eyes met. The next day, Ji Yanzhi negotiated new government support for Shili and offered to introduce Ji Ting to Minister Jiang and Director Chang.

• Ji Ting said he was unsuited to marriage, and Ji Yanzhi pressed him about whether he would marry someone he liked.
• Ji Ting suggested Ji Yanzhi still had a responsibility toward Ling Xi, but Ji Yanzhi objected and draped himself over Ji Ting to make him continue talking.
• When Ji Yanzhi met Ji Ting’s eyes, his heart fluttered, and he abruptly ended the conversation and went to sleep.
• Ji Yanzhi negotiated with Minister Jiang and Director Chang, discovering that the government had added major support for Shili’s overseas expansion after the Solid Powder Scramjet Engine’s successful test.
• Director Chang asked about Ji Ting, and Ji Yanzhi said Ji Ting was nineteen and offered to bring him to meet the delegation.

Ji Yanzhi brought Ji Ting to a luncheon with Director Chang and Minister Jiang, who both tried to recruit him for their research institutes. On the way home, Ji Ting rejected both options and revealed that his dream was to open a steamed bun shop.

• Ji Ting met his newly assigned bodyguard, Feng Lei, and went with Liao Kai to the restaurant where Ji Yanzhi was waiting.
• Ji Yanzhi introduced Ji Ting to Director Chang and Minister Jiang, who soon became distracted by him during their luncheon.
• Director Chang and Minister Jiang argued over which institute had more to offer Ji Ting while Ji Yanzhi served him food.
• Ji Yanzhi arranged for Director Chang and Minister Jiang to leave together, keeping Ji Ting by his side.
• Ji Yanzhi asked Ji Ting what he would choose to do, and Ji Ting said he wanted to make and sell steamed buns in his own shop.

Ji Ting visited the 13th Institute and discussed his plans with Director Chang, while explaining why he kept his achievements from Ji Yanzhi. He asked the institute to help arrange a laboratory building that would ultimately be donated to the state, with its equipment and data left to his eldest brother.

• Ji Ting told Ji Yanzhi he dreamed of opening a steamed bun shop, and Ji Yanzhi joked that he would open a flour mill and invest in it.
• Ji Ting asked Ji Yanzhi to withdraw his bodyguard and then went by taxi to the 13th Institute instead of home.
• Director Chang welcomed Ji Ting and took him to the testing grounds, where Ji Ting assessed the hypersonic tracking system and said its decoy-identification accuracy needed to rise from 84.2 percent to at least 99.5 to 99.7 percent.
• Over dinner, Ji Ting explained to Director Chang and Director Liao that he concealed things from Ji Yanzhi to protect him from anxiety and political trouble.
• Ji Ting asked Director Chang to help register a laboratory building under the 13th Institute so it could later be donated to the state, while its equipment and operating data would go to Ji Yanzhi.

Ji Ting secured Director Chang’s approval to help him, while Feng Lei concealed Ji Ting’s visit to the 13th Institute from Ji Shize. At home, Ji Yanzhi discussed appointing Yu Lin and teased Ji Ting by wondering whether Xu Ren’s teacher might be interested in him.

• Director Chang agreed to seek approval for Ji Ting’s request, and Ji Ting promised to improve the accuracy of his missile trajectory-change analysis.
• Feng Lei accepted Liao Kai’s bank card to help pay for his daughter’s surgery, then told Ji Shize that Ji Ting had gone shopping instead of visiting the 13th Institute.
• Ji Shize decided to investigate Feng Lei’s daughter’s surgery rather than confront him directly.
• Ji Yanzhi showed Ji Ting Yu Lin’s résumé and said he planned to appoint her Chief Strategy Officer of the Intelligent Vehicle Division.
• Ji Yanzhi asked whether Xu Ren’s teacher might be interested in him, leaving Ji Ting caught off guard.

Ji Yanzhi explained to Ji Ting that Xu Ren’s teacher had earned his trust, then used a rotating-chairman proposal to weaken Ji Shize’s influence at the Shili Group. The chapter ended with Ji Yanzhi blushing after Ji Ting caught him tenderly touching his face.

• Ji Yanzhi clarified that he trusted Xu Ren’s teacher because the teacher had stood by him unconditionally, and Ji Ting told him his teasing joke had not been funny.
• The Shili Group and the Electronic Science and Technology Research Institute signed a cooperation agreement, and the government approved subsidies and tax incentives.
• Ji Yanzhi planned to introduce rotating chairmanships, a change Ji Zhenting had already accepted, to reduce Ji Shize’s power and distribute his influence among the directors.
• Ji Yanzhi joked that he would fund Ji Ting’s steamed bun shop, while Ji Ting guessed he really wanted to buy a flour mill.
• On Grain Rain, Ji Yanzhi secretly traced Ji Ting’s face while he slept, then fell off the bed when Ji Ting woke and asked what he was doing.
• Ji Ting warned Ji Yanzhi about microbes on the floor, prompting him to get up, and realized he had been embarrassed and shy.

Feng Lei abducted Ji Ting after Ji Ting uncovered the deception about being summoned to headquarters, while Ling Xi chose to continue the plan to free Qin Zaiye. Feng Lei brought the unconscious Ji Ting to the Qin Family, where Qin Mingzhong had contacted the Guard Office.

• After Ji Yanzhi left for work, Feng Lei claimed that Ji Yanzhi had urgently summoned Ji Ting to group headquarters.
• Ji Ting grew suspicious and tried to escape, but Feng Lei injected him with a syringe and rendered him unconscious.
• Feng Lei carried Ji Ting to the car, where Ling Xi chose to follow the plan rather than take Ji Ting back.
• At the Qin Family, Qin Mingzhong called the Guard Office as Ling Xi reported that Ji Ting was on the way.
• Feng Lei arrived at the Qin Family with Ji Ting unconscious on his back.

Qin Zaiye and Ling Xi tried to deal with the consequences after Ji Ting was drugged and brought to the Qin family, while Feng Lei forced Ji Ting awake by breaking his finger. Meanwhile, Ji Shize urged Ji Yanzhi to contact Ji Ting, whose silence left Ji Yanzhi increasingly uneasy.

• Qin Mingzhong struck Ling Xi and kicked Qin Zaiye as they argued over Ji Ting, who remained unconscious after being drugged.
• Qin Zaiye and Ling Xi urged Qin Mingzhong to return Ji Ting before he woke, but Feng Lei snapped Ji Ting's finger as Qin Mingzhong entered the living room.
• Ji Ting woke in pain, saw Qin Mingzhong, Ling Xi, and Qin Zaiye, then collapsed again as Feng Lei was subdued.
• Ji Shize met Ji Yanzhi in the elevator and invited him to dinner with Ji Ting, but Ji Yanzhi rejected him and left.
• Ji Yanzhi messaged Ji Ting and received no reply; Ji Shize advised him to call as he headed to the meeting podium.

Ji Yanzhi suspected Ji Shize had taken Ji Ting and abandoned a board meeting to search for him, but the police unexpectedly arrested Ji Yanzhi and Ji Shize as suspects. Ji Ting’s location remained unknown as both men were taken to the bureau.

• Ji Yanzhi left the board meeting after Ji Shize repeatedly mentioned Ji Ting, then called the household staff and bodyguards to find out where Ji Ting had gone.
• Zhao Tian discovered that the West Building and garage surveillance cameras had been broken since the previous morning, leading Ji Yanzhi to suspect Ji Shize.
• Ji Shize taunted Ji Yanzhi about an anonymous message containing only a period, while Ji Yanzhi ordered Liao Kai to restrain Ji Shize and call the police.
• Ji Yanzhi asked Wang Bin to trace the unknown number and told the police that Ji Shize had kidnapped Ji Ting.
• Police officers arrived, handcuffed Ji Yanzhi as a kidnapping suspect, and then ordered Liao Kai to hand over Ji Shize as well.

Ji Ting was abducted by Feng Lei after the Qin Family argued over whether to pay him or call the police. Feng Lei left Ji Ting locked in a cold room set to -27°, convinced it was already too late to turn back.

• Feng Lei refused to name who had ordered the kidnapping and demanded three hundred thousand from the Qin Family in exchange for taking the blame.
• Qin Mingzhong let Feng Lei leave with Ji Ting, then tried to call the police, but Qin Mother smashed the landline and threatened to kill herself if anyone called.
• Feng Lei realized Ji Ting was awake in the car, and Ji Ting promised that Feng Lei's family would not be implicated.
• Feng Lei changed cars twice, carried Ji Ting into an abandoned slaughterhouse, and laid him in a low-temperature cold room.
• Feng Lei cut Ji Ting's bindings, locked the cold room at -27°, and chained its door shut.

Ji Ting disabled the cold storage room’s refrigeration and found its safety release, but an exterior chain and padlock kept him trapped as he ran out of air. At Shili Group, Captain Hu questioned Ji Yanzhi, but the location Wang Bin traced had already been searched without finding anyone alive.

• Ji Ting tore apart the cold storage room’s temperature-sensor wire, stopping the refrigeration, then struggled to the safety release as oxygen dwindled.
• Ji Ting opened the release and saw a chain and padlock securing the door from outside, leaving him trapped.
• Captain Hu questioned Ji Yanzhi about Ji Ting’s whereabouts and showed him a photograph of Feng Lei, who had been found dead.
• Wang Bin traced an unfamiliar number from Ji Yanzhi’s messages to an address that Captain Hu recognized as a slaughterhouse already searched by SWAT, where no living person had been detected.

Ji Yanzhi confessed that he had ordered Feng Lei to kidnap Ji Ting and led the police to the abandoned Slaughterhouse. After investigators found evidence that Ji Ting had been trapped in a cold storage room, Ji Yanzhi ordered everyone into a car, hoping to hear Ji Ting’s thoughts nearby.

• Captain Hu confronted Ji Yanzhi with evidence linking Feng Lei and Liao Kai to the kidnapping and a payment for Feng Lei’s daughter’s heart surgery.
• Ji Yanzhi confessed to ordering Feng Lei to kidnap Ji Ting and demanded that Captain Hu take him to the location Wang Bin had provided.
• Captain Hu and the officers arrived at the abandoned Slaughterhouse, where tactical officers searched for Ji Ting.
• A forensic doctor reported finding blood and skin tissue in a cold storage room, and Ji Yanzhi recognized the blood type as Ji Ting’s.
• Ji Yanzhi learned that someone had deliberately damaged the cold storage room’s temperature sensor and concluded Ji Ting might have escaped nearby.
• Ji Yanzhi ordered the police to drive around the area in silence so he could listen for Ji Ting’s thoughts.

Li Donghu and Wu Li defied Li Fenglong’s objections and tried to take the badly injured Ji Ting to the hospital, but police intercepted their van and found Ji Ting inside. Ji Yanzhi, restrained in a police car, begged Captain Hu to let him see Ji Ting.

• Li Fenglong argued that Li Donghu and Wu Li should abandon the injured man, while Wu Li insisted they save him.
• Li Fenglong’s interference caused Ji Ting to fall from Li Donghu’s back, and Ji Ting faintly tried to say “Ji... Yanzhi... 13... 6... Ji...”
• Wu Li and Li Donghu loaded Ji Ting into the van and drove toward the village entrance as Li Fenglong ran to fetch his father.
• Captain Hu and other officers stopped the van, identified the injured man as Ji Ting, and pulled Li Donghu out.
• Ji Yanzhi struggled against the officers restraining him and pleaded with Captain Hu to let him see Ji Ting.

Ji Ting was taken to a hospital for emergency surgery while Ji Yanzhi and the other kidnapping suspects were questioned. Investigators began to suspect Ji Shize and wondered how Ji Yanzhi had located Ji Ting, though Captain Hu believed Ji Yanzhi’s anguish was genuine.

• Captain Hu had Ji Yanzhi restrained and placed in a van as officers carried the unconscious Ji Ting away, and Ji Yanzhi struggled when he saw him.
• A medical helicopter took Ji Ting to an undisclosed location, where doctors performed two operations to treat his crushed finger and injuries from oxygen deprivation.
• State Security questioned the kidnapping suspects, while Ji Shize was released after several hours and told not to leave Jing City for two months.
• Director Li ordered Ji Shize placed under surveillance because he had asked little about Ji Yanzhi despite his elder son's suspected role in the kidnapping.
• Captain Hu told Director Li that Ji Yanzhi had listened as they drove and then led them to Sunny Village, where he identified the van carrying Ji Ting.
• Captain Hu said Ji Yanzhi's distress at seeing Ji Ting injured appeared genuine.

Ji Ting woke in the ICU and insisted on seeing his older brother, whom authorities suspected of kidnapping him. After Ji Ting asked to see Shen Mu Lan, Shen Lin told him Ji Yanzhi might have been responsible, but Shen Mu Lan concluded Ji Yanzhi could not be the kidnapper because Ji Ting wanted to see him.

• Minister Wei reprimanded Director Liao over the bureau's failure to protect Ji Ting and learned that Ji Ting had regained consciousness.
• Ji Ting wrote that he wanted to see his older brother, but Director Liao told him Ji Yanzhi was injured and could not visit yet.
• Ji Ting asked to see Shen Mu Lan, and Minister Wei ordered officials to find out who he was.
• Shen Lin told Shen Mu Lan that Ji Ting had been kidnapped and that Ji Yanzhi might have done it, then said Ji Ting wanted to see him.
• Shen Mu Lan insisted Ji Yanzhi could not have kidnapped Ji Ting because Ji Ting would not want to see him otherwise.

Shen Mu Lan visited the badly injured Ji Ting in the military hospital and learned that Ji Ting had evidence against Ji Shize. Ji Ting begged him to help get Ji Yanzhi out of danger.

• Shen Lin led Shen Mu Lan to suspect that Ji Yanzhi had been framed and warned him not to mention Ji Yanzhi during the hospital visit.
• Shen Mu Lan passed the hospital’s security checks and entered the ICU to see Ji Ting.
• Ji Ting asked whether his brother had been arrested, and Shen Mu Lan secretly signaled that Ji Yanzhi was in danger.
• Ji Ting wrote that he had evidence against Ji Shize and asked Shen Mu Lan to get his brother out.
• Ji Ting tapped a plea for help into Shen Mu Lan’s hand.

Shen Mu Lan told Shen Lin that he and Ji Yanzhi had been together for a year, hoping his brother would help him support Ji Yanzhi. Meanwhile, Ji Shize tried to consolidate control of Shili Group, but police arrived at the company and took him in for questioning.

• Shen Mu Lan showed Director Liao Ji Ting's written statement, which gave police grounds to arrest Ji Shize, and Director Liao said he would handle the case.
• Shen Mu Lan told Shen Lin that he and Ji Yanzhi had been together since last year and asked for his help; Shen Lin agreed to do his best.
• Ji Shize told Shili Group's directors that the company would accelerate its new car launch and postpone the rotating chairmanship proposal, winning their votes.
• Captain Hu Tianshuo arrived with police officers and handcuffed Ji Shize despite his objection that the summons did not permit it.

Ji Shize was taken from a police summons into State Security custody, where Team Leader Sun confronted him with the possibility that Ji Ting was not his biological son and laid out the kidnapping plot. The interrogation ended with Sun asking whether Ji Ting or Feng Lei’s wife was the key witness.

• Captain Hu handed Ji Shize over to three plainclothes officials, who took him to the State Security Bureau despite Lawyer Zhao’s protests.
• Team Leader Sun asked Ji Shize about Ji Ting’s kidnapping and suggested that learning Ji Ting was not his biological son could have given him a motive.
• Ji Shize denied the blood-type implication and insisted that he had not arranged the kidnapping.
• Team Leader Sun described how Ji Ting had been locked in a freezing cold-storage room and suggested Feng Lei might have disobeyed orders or left evidence behind.
• Team Leader Sun asked Ji Shize to guess whether the key witness was Ji Ting or Feng Lei’s wife.