Chapter Summaries

Team Leader Sun compared Ji Shize and Ji Yanzhi’s reactions during questioning and concluded Ji Yanzhi cared more about Ji Ting than about defending himself. Ji Ting refused further treatment unless he could see Ji Yanzhi, so Ji Yanzhi was ordered to the Military Hospital.

• Team Leader Sun ended Ji Shize’s questioning after noticing his composure and suspected something was wrong with him.
• During Ji Yanzhi’s interrogation, Team Leader Sun described Ji Ting’s injuries and observed that Ji Yanzhi closed his eyes and stopped listening when the possible witness came up.
• Team Leader Sun explained that Ji Yanzhi’s reactions showed guilt and concern for Ji Ting, unlike Ji Shize’s focus on finding flaws in the accusations.
• A messenger told Team Leader Sun that Ji Ting had refused treatment and insisted on seeing Ji Yanzhi, so the chief ordered Ji Yanzhi escorted to the Military Hospital.
• Shen Mu Lan’s Morse-code message had prompted Ji Ting to make a fuss, though Shen Mu Lan had not expected him to refuse treatment.

Ji Yanzhi was brought to the ICU to see Ji Ting, who was unable to speak after being intubated. Ji Yanzhi broke down apologizing for failing to protect him, and Ji Ting reached for his hand and promised he would recover.

• Minister Liao agreed to bring Ji Yanzhi to Ji Ting because Ji Ting's health took priority, despite lingering questions about how Ji Yanzhi had found him.
• Team Leader Sun had Ji Yanzhi's electronic cuffs removed before he entered the ward.
• Ji Yanzhi learned that Ji Ting could not speak and used a tablet to communicate with him in the ICU.
• Ji Ting teased Ji Yanzhi about his tears and promised not to get an ugly haircut again, prompting Ji Yanzhi to apologize for failing to protect him.
• Ji Ting placed his hand over Ji Yanzhi's and promised he would get better.

Ji Yanzhi stayed with Ji Ting at the hospital after Ji Ting agreed to treatment, and the two revealed how deeply they wanted to see each other. As Ji Ting slept through the treatment, Ji Yanzhi resolved that he would never leave his side again.

• Team Leader Sun left the hospital with State Security, concluding that Ji Yanzhi would not return to interrogation while Ji Ting was there.
• Ji Yanzhi confronted Ji Ting about resisting treatment, learned he had followed Shen Mu Lan’s advice, and blushed when Ji Ting asked whether he wanted to see him too.
• Director Liao let Ji Yanzhi stay with Ji Ting and agreed to have another bed put in the room.
• Doctors began Ji Ting’s treatment and warned Ji Yanzhi about possible medication side effects.
• Ji Yanzhi watched Ji Ting sleep, regretted his past actions, and decided he could never leave him again.

Ji Ting offered the brain-decoding technology to the country and defended his trust in Ji Yanzhi to Director Liao, who said he had one last thing to tell him before he chose. After Ji Yanzhi returned, he coaxed Ji Ting into eating porridge, while Shen Mu Lan grew alarmed when Shen Lin revealed their family knew about his relationship with Ji Yanzhi.

• Ji Ting told Director Liao he was voluntarily handing over the brain-decoding technology for Ji Yanzhi's sake.
• Ji Ting argued that Ji Yanzhi had never truly harmed him and would benefit more by protecting him, leaving Director Liao unable to refute him.
• Director Liao told Ji Ting he had one last thing to share before Ji Ting made his choice, then left the hospital room.
• Ji Yanzhi returned with light foods and playfully bargained with Ji Ting to get him to eat millet porridge.
• Shen Lin told Shen Mu Lan that Ji Yanzhi had been released and that their family accepted his relationship with him.
• Shen Mu Lan was shocked to learn that Shen Lin had told their grandfather about the relationship to persuade him to help Ji Yanzhi.

Shen Mu Lan dreaded visiting Ji Yanzhi with his brother Shen Lin, while Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting discussed what counted as acting cute. At the hospital, Shen Mu Lan embraced Ji Yanzhi with exaggerated affection as Shen Lin reminded them that Ji Ting was watching.

• Shen Mu Lan tried to avoid visiting Ji Yanzhi, but Shen Lin stopped him from pretending to fall down the stairs and drove him to the hospital.
• Ji Ting asked Ji Yanzhi for a book, then questioned whether acting cute or grossing someone out could get anyone what they wanted.
• Ji Yanzhi ended the discussion by agreeing to find Ji Ting a book, but Shen Lin and Shen Mu Lan arrived before he could leave.
• Shen Mu Lan tearfully hugged Ji Yanzhi and called him Yanzhi, prompting Ji Yanzhi to recoil at his exaggerated display of affection.
• Shen Lin watched with satisfaction, then told Shen Mu Lan to rein it in because Ji Ting was present.

Shen Mu Lan revealed to Ji Ting that he and Ji Yanzhi had claimed to be dating so Shen Lin would help investigate Ji Yanzhi’s case. Ji Yanzhi refused to keep up the lie, but Shen Mu Lan explained his whole family now believed it, and Ji Yanzhi’s reaction to the proposed cover story hinted that he had a secret crush.

• Shen Mu Lan dragged Ji Yanzhi out of Ji Ting’s room after Ji Yanzhi nearly exposed their lie in front of Shen Lin.
• Shen Lin told Ji Ting that State Security had mostly stopped suspecting Ji Yanzhi and revealed that Shen Mu Lan said he and Ji Yanzhi were dating.
• Ji Yanzhi confronted Shen Mu Lan, who explained he had used the fake relationship to persuade Shen Lin to help with inquiries.
• Shen Mu Lan said his family now knew about the supposed relationship and his grandfather was waiting to meet his grandson-in-law.
• Shen Mu Lan proposed that he and Ji Yanzhi pretend to date, then announce a breakup after a few months, but Ji Yanzhi refused.
• Shen Mu Lan guessed Ji Yanzhi had a secret crush, and Ji Yanzhi’s panicked reaction strengthened his suspicion.

Ji Yanzhi grew jealous when Ji Ting praised Shen Mu Lan and avoided telling Shen Lin what he had wanted to say. After Shen Lin and Shen Mu Lan left, Ji Ting asked how Ji Yanzhi had found him in Sunny Village, but Ji Yanzhi could not reveal that he heard Ji Ting’s thoughts.

• Ji Yanzhi reacted defensively when Shen Mu Lan questioned him about his crush, then grew jealous as he heard Ji Ting praise Shen Mu Lan in his thoughts.
• Ji Yanzhi and Shen Mu Lan returned to Ji Ting’s hospital room, where Shen Lin told Ji Yanzhi to care for his brother and bring him to meet their grandparents after he recovered.
• Ji Yanzhi stopped Shen Lin as he was leaving but changed what he intended to say after Shen Mu Lan silently pleaded with him, thanking Shen Lin for visiting Ji Ting instead.
• Ji Ting woke and asked Ji Yanzhi to find him books, and Ji Yanzhi agreed on the condition that Ji Ting explain what Shen Lin had said to him.
• Ji Ting told Ji Yanzhi that Shen Lin had talked about Shen Mu Lan, then asked how Ji Yanzhi had known he was in Sunny Village; Ji Yanzhi stayed silent because he could not explain that he heard Ji Ting’s thoughts.
• Ji Ting said there was something he would never tell Ji Yanzhi, and his unspoken thought revealed that he feared Ji Yanzhi would think him mad if he learned about his transmigration.

Ji Yanzhi explained how he had heard Ji Ting calling for help and found him, and Ji Ting believed him. Their conversation ended with Ji Ting secretly condemning himself for trying to find fault with Shen Mu Lan.

• Ji Ting accepted that Ji Yanzhi could not share his secret, and Ji Yanzhi asked whether he believed in unexplained connections and supernatural abilities.
• Ji Yanzhi explained that he had heard Ji Ting calling his name and phone number in his mind, which led him and Captain Hu to Sunny Village and the van where Ji Ting was being held.
• Ji Ting believed Ji Yanzhi because the words he had heard matched what Ji Ting had wanted to say while trapped.
• Ji Ting explained that he had relied on Ji Yanzhi both for his money and because he trusted Ji Yanzhi would keep searching for him, while Ji Yanzhi asked him to establish a scientific basis for what had happened.
• Ji Ting asked why Ji Yanzhi kept investing in Shen Mu Lan's struggling restaurant, then thought that trying to find faults in Shen Mu Lan made him petty and despicable.

Ji Yanzhi learned that Ji Ting believed he and Shen Mu Lan were lovers, and angrily clarified that they had never been together. Ji Ting persuaded him to keep the misunderstanding from Shen Mu Lan's family for now, but his final remark about Shen Mu Lan's cooking left Ji Yanzhi unsure of what he meant.

• Ji Yanzhi realized Ji Ting had criticized Shen Mu Lan because he believed Ji Yanzhi loved him, then denied ever having a relationship with Shen Mu Lan.
• Ji Yanzhi explained that Shen Mu Lan had falsely claimed they were together to persuade the Shen Family to help save him.
• Ji Ting reminded Ji Yanzhi that Shen Mu Lan had acted for his sake, while Ji Yanzhi grew jealous and complained that Ji Ting did not care about him.
• Ji Yanzhi said he planned to visit Shen Mu Lan's grandparents and clear up the misunderstanding, but Ji Ting argued they should keep it quiet to help Shen Mu Lan and his brother.
• Ji Yanzhi asked whether Ji Ting wanted him to pretend to be affectionate with Shen Mu Lan, and Ji Ting replied by asking whether he truly thought Shen Mu Lan's cooking was delicious.

Ji Ting recounted evidence about his kidnapping to Team Leader Sun, exposing inconsistencies in the accounts given by Feng Lei and the Qin Family. The investigation turned toward the Qin Family and Ling Xi, whose choices had helped Feng Lei continue his crimes.

• Ji Yanzhi asked whether Ji Ting's dislike of Shen Mu Lan was because of him, but their conversation was interrupted by Director Liao and Team Leader Sun.
• Team Leader Sun told Ji Ting that Wang Yongye had disabled surveillance and conspired with Feng Lei to kidnap him for ransom, and that the investigation had uncovered a human trafficking gang.
• Ji Ting claimed he had evidence against Ji Shize and explained that he had struggled to believe his older brother would order the kidnapping.
• Ji Ting said he had overheard the Qin Family during his captivity and identified lies in their statements, including when Ling Xi arrived and why they had not called the police.
• Ji Ting reasoned that Feng Lei may have wanted him to discover the Qin Family's involvement, but said the family was still responsible for letting Feng Lei continue his crimes.

Ji Ting told Ji Yanzhi how the Qin Family and Ling Xi had been involved in his kidnapping, and Ji Yanzhi vowed to stop mocking him. After returning to the Ji Family Old Residence to gather evidence, Ji Ting invited Ji Yanzhi into the Game Room, opening his private world to him.

• Team Leader Sun returned Ji Yanzhi’s confiscated belongings and said he was waiting for Ji Ting’s evidence.
• Ji Ting explained the Qin Family’s and Ling Xi’s roles in his kidnapping, and Ji Yanzhi burned with anger over his suffering.
• Ji Ting said his sense of morality did not require him to repay cruelty with kindness, and Ji Yanzhi promised to stop being snide with him.
• Ji Ting persuaded Director Liao to let him return to the Ji Family Old Residence with Ji Yanzhi and an escort to organize evidence and confidential materials.
• At the Old Residence, Ji Ting invited Ji Yanzhi into the Game Room, and Ji Yanzhi understood the invitation as Ji Ting opening his world to him.

Ji Ting introduced Ji Yanzhi to the Supercomputer and its Holographic AI Assistant, Pork Knuckle, then gave Ji Yanzhi shared ownership of the AI. The chapter left Ji Yanzhi curious about what Pork Knuckle could do after Ji Ting explained its programming abilities.

• Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi entered the room containing the Supercomputer, and Ji Ting summoned Pork Knuckle.
• Pork Knuckle appeared as a pufferfish, then scanned Ji Yanzhi and became a black-footed cat after Ji Ting granted him shared ownership.
• Ji Ting explained that Pork Knuckle changed its simulated form to complement its owner's personality, prompting him and Ji Yanzhi to joke about the result.
• Ji Yanzhi asked how Pork Knuckle could help, and Ji Ting said it could write programs and update its own code while running them.

Ji Ting explained his plan to use brain-decoding chips to prove Ji Yanzhi’s innocence, while Ji Yanzhi worried the chips might expose his private thoughts. As they worked with Pork Knuckle and Ji Ting’s Laboratory tools, Ji Ting said he wanted to share them because his feelings had reached a certain height.

• Ji Ting proposed connecting his and Ji Yanzhi’s brains with chips that would exchange information within five kilometers, and Ji Yanzhi asked to activate them only for the demonstration.
• Ji Yanzhi admitted he was worried about Ji Ting discovering his thoughts, and Ji Ting teased him about having obscene thoughts.
• Ji Ting told Ji Yanzhi he had already been anything but aloof with him, making Ji Yanzhi flustered.
• Ji Yanzhi and Pork Knuckle began writing the chip program while Ji Ting retrieved carbon nanotubes with help from Number 3.
• Ji Ting invited Ji Yanzhi to try his inventions and said he wanted to share them when his feelings reached a certain height.

Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi assembled and tested brain-decoding chips, and Ji Ting asked why Ji Yanzhi only responded to his gentle touch. Ji Yanzhi thought that Ji Ting mattered most to him, but the two-way transmission test had just begun.

• Ji Ting asked Ji Yanzhi to assemble chips with a Mechanical Arm, and Ji Yanzhi agreed.
• Ji Ting attached the Mechanical Arm to Ji Yanzhi and activated visual interaction so he could perform precision work.
• Ji Yanzhi asked whether he could join Ji Ting's next experiment, and Ji Ting said he could unless his abilities proved unsuited to technological development.
• After Pork Knuckle loaded and tested the program, Ji Ting injected the chips into Ji Yanzhi and himself.
• Ji Ting started the first two-way transmission test and asked Ji Yanzhi why he only responded to Ji Ting's gentle touch.

Ji Ting tested Pork Knuckle’s brain-decoding chip on Ji Yanzhi and accidentally exposed his hidden thoughts, including how important Ji Ting was to him. After Ji Yanzhi explained his fear of expressing his feelings, Ji Ting comforted him, and they embraced as Ji Yanzhi admitted Ji Ting was the most important person to him.

• Ji Ting used Pork Knuckle to transmit Ji Yanzhi’s thoughts and showed him the test results, embarrassing and upsetting him.
• Ji Ting stopped the connection and apologized for testing the chip without warning Ji Yanzhi.
• Ji Yanzhi told Ji Ting he was afraid to express his feelings because he feared rejection, ridicule, or insincere reassurance.
• Ji Ting promised to wait for Ji Yanzhi whenever he was ready to open his heart, and embraced him when he asked for a hug.
• Ji Yanzhi told Ji Ting the chip was completely accurate and that Ji Ting was the most important person to him, and Ji Ting said he was happy to hear it.

Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi searched for evidence of Ji Shize’s crimes and uncovered a secret lead hidden in Lin Qing’s wardrobe. Their search ended with a photograph found inside a watch cushion.

• Ji Ting found no digital traces of Ji Shize and wondered why he had targeted him, so Ji Yanzhi explained that Ji Shize suspected Ji Ting was helping him.
• Ji Yanzhi remembered a message sent on the morning of Ji Ting’s kidnapping, and Pork Knuckle recovered its corrupted attachment as two hand-drawn maps.
• Ji Ting traced the message to a one-use SIM card registered in Malaysia, and the two brothers went to the East Building to investigate the marked room.
• Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi found the room in Lin Qing’s walk-in wardrobe and searched the watch cabinet marked on the map.
• Ji Ting discovered something inside a watch cushion and used Ham Sausage to extract a photograph.

Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting uncovered old photographs, hair samples, and papers in watch cushions, linking a boy to a woman and suggesting the papers recorded Ji Yanzhi’s childhood. Their search identified the woman as actress Cheng Yingyu, whose agency was Lu Yanchu’s Xinglai Media, prompting Ji Yanzhi to grow jealous of Ji Ting’s familiarity with Lu Yanchu.

• Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting found photographs, receipts, papers, and hair with follicles hidden in the watch cushions.
• Ji Ting compared photographs of a boy and a girl, found that neither image had appeared on the public internet, and suggested the boy and woman were related.
• Ji Ting read journal-like entries about Ji Yanzhi’s infancy, but Ji Yanzhi said the handwriting did not belong to his mother.
• Ji Ting identified the woman in the photographs as actress Cheng Yingyu and discovered she was represented by Xinglai Media.
• Ji Ting connected Xinglai Media to Lu Yanchu, and Ji Yanzhi questioned why Ji Ting remembered Lu Yanchu’s business so well.

Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi connected the surveillance photos of Cheng Yingyu, the travel itineraries, and her public appearances, uncovering a possible long-running affair involving Ji Shize. The clues led them to suspect that Cheng Yingyu, rather than Lin Qing, may have been the woman Ji Shize was involved with while Ji Yanzhi’s mother was gravely ill.

• Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi sorted photographs of Cheng Yingyu and realized they had been taken secretly over a span of twenty years.
• Ji Ting compared Lin Qing and Ji Shize’s travel itineraries and found that Ji Shize’s destinations matched Cheng Yingyu’s film festival appearances.
• Ji Yanzhi assumed Lin Qing had investigated Cheng Yingyu because Ji Shize was cheating on her, but Ji Ting questioned why Lin Qing wanted him to discover the evidence.
• Ji Ting pointed to the DNA-test hair, the two children, and the long-running surveillance, noting that the earliest photograph dated to when Ji Yanzhi’s mother was still alive.
• Ji Yanzhi realized that the woman Ji Shize had been involved with during his mother’s illness might have been Cheng Yingyu, not Lin Qing.

Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi demonstrated their thought-sharing chips to State Security officials, who were eager to use the technology. Ji Ting agreed to lend it to the bureau on the condition that his third chip be implanted in Ji Shize.

• Ji Ting calmed Ji Yanzhi after he became upset over his mother's handwritten notes, and they finished packing up before heading to the State Security Bureau.
• Ji Ting asked Team Leader Sun to separate him and Ji Yanzhi so they could demonstrate how Ji Yanzhi had known Ji Ting was in Sunny Village.
• Ji Ting explained Brain Decoding Technology to Team Leader Sun, and Ji Yanzhi correctly recited passages transmitted through their chips.
• Director Shi tested the technology with a newly issued document, which Ji Ting recited without making a single mistake.
• Director Shi sought to borrow the technology, and Team Leader Sun reported that Ji Ting agreed on the condition that the third chip be implanted in Ji Shize.

Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting used Ji Ting’s technology to expose Ji Shize’s thoughts during an interrogation. Ji Yanzhi confronted Ji Shize with evidence that he had ordered Feng Lei to kill Ji Ting, then named Cheng Yingyu as someone Ji Shize had mentioned while delirious.

• The deputy director approved using Ji Ting’s technology on Ji Shize after Team Leader Sun urged him to seize the opportunity.
• Ji Yanzhi spoke privately with Ji Ting, then met with Director Shi before Ji Shize was taken for a supposed medical examination.
• After taking a pill, Ji Shize lost consciousness and woke in the Interrogation Room, where Team Leader Sun pressed him to answer a question.
• Ji Shize accused the bureau of violating procedure, but Ji Yanzhi appeared in the room and asked whether he had ordered Feng Lei to kidnap and kill Ji Ting.
• Ji Shize’s thoughts revealed that Feng Lei had failed to kill Ji Ting, and Ji Yanzhi repeated the thought aloud.
• Ji Yanzhi told Ji Shize that he had mentioned Cheng Yingyu while delirious, leaving Ji Shize alarmed that his thoughts were being exposed.