Chapter Summaries

Ji Yanzhi took Ji Ting to see fireworks, where Ji Ting shared his childhood wish to have his aunt as his mother. Back home, Ji Ting surprised Ji Yanzhi by building and launching a homemade missile-like device, leaving him stunned.

• Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting joked about feeling like each other's child as they rode toward the lake.
• Ji Yanzhi revealed that their new home was in a zone where fireworks were permitted during the New Year period and set off a spectacular display with Ji Ting.
• Ji Ting told Ji Yanzhi that his childhood wish from ages eight to fourteen had been for his aunt to become his mother, and Ji Yanzhi comforted him.
• Ji Ting dismantled their surveillance robot and fireworks, then built a cardboard rocket guided by a phone program.
• Ji Yanzhi operated the rocket as it struck the frozen lake with an explosion, and Ji Ting offered to build an even larger missile, leaving Ji Yanzhi shocked.

Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi visited the Jiang family for Lunar New Year despite Ji Ting’s mild cold, and Ji Ting met Ji Yanzhi’s relatives as his boyfriend. The visit ended with Ji Ting unveiling his high-tech chessboard, astonishing everyone with its holographic pieces.

• Ji Ting woke with a blocked nose, but persuaded Ji Yanzhi to take him to the Jiang family home after agreeing to see a doctor if his symptoms worsened.
• Jiang Shuoyuan welcomed Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi, and Ji Yanzhi explained that Jiang Yuchen had helped reveal their relationship to his uncle’s family through Bai Yanxue and Cheng Yingyu.
• Ji Yanzhi introduced Ji Ting to the gathered relatives as his boyfriend, and they welcomed him warmly.
• Ji Ting presented the chessboard he had made for Jiang Mingde, and Ji Yanzhi suggested that Jiang Mingde play his younger brother before lunch.
• Ji Ting activated the chessboard with his fingerprint, and its glowing holographic pieces transformed into elaborate themed figures, leaving the family stunned.

Ji Ting gave Jiang Mingde a futuristic chessboard that secretly helped him win, and the family celebrated the New Year together. Ji Yanzhi took Ji Ting home early after revealing that Shen Lin had invited them to Xiao Lan’s blind date the next day.

• Ji Ting demonstrated the chessboard’s projection effects, then secretly enabled assistance features that helped Jiang Mingde beat the great-uncle three games in a row.
• Ji Yanzhi praised Ji Ting for making Jiang Mingde happy, and the family welcomed Ji Ting warmly over New Year’s lunch and gave him gifts.
• Jiang Mingde gave Ji Ting a document envelope, while Ji Yanzhi declined an invitation to stay longer so they could spend time alone.
• Ji Yanzhi showed Ji Ting Shen Lin’s message inviting them to a meal for Xiao Lan’s blind date the next day.

Ji Ting accepted the shares Ji Yanzhi’s grandfather gave him, and the couple visited the Shen family for New Year’s lunch. Shen Mu Lan’s blind date arrived, leaving Ji Ting, Ji Yanzhi, and Team Leader Sun surprised to see one another.

• Ji Ting accepted the equity gift agreement, saying he would take good care of Ji Yanzhi.
• Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi visited the Shen family on the second day of the Lunar New Year, where Old Mr. Shen and Shen Lin spoke with them separately.
• Shen Mu Lan woke late and learned Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting were visiting, but he did not know his family had arranged a blind date for him.
• Shen Mu Lan cooked lunch while Shen Lin went to pick up the blind date.
• Shen Lin’s guest arrived, and Ji Ting, Ji Yanzhi, and Team Leader Sun recognized one another in surprise.

Ji Yanzhi realized that Sun Ye had likely disclosed his sexuality to the Shen Family because he had fallen for Shen Mu Lan at first sight and wanted to become his blind date. While Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting stepped out, Sun Ye and Shen Mu Lan talked and discovered they were both single men who liked men.

• Sun Ye introduced himself to Shen Mu Lan, who remembered him from the opening of Ji Ting's Steamed Bun Shop.
• Ji Yanzhi took Ji Ting outside and explained that Sun Ye had probably told the Shen Family he liked men so he could be considered as Shen Mu Lan's blind date.
• Ji Ting realized Ji Yanzhi meant Sun Ye had fallen for Shen Mu Lan at their first meeting at the shop.
• Sun Ye talked with Shen Mu Lan about his restaurant and their mutual friends, then explained that he had inferred Shen Mu Lan was single and liked men.
• Sun Ye told Shen Mu Lan that he was also single and had always liked men.

Ji Yanzhi, Ji Ting, Shen Mu Lan, and Sun Ye spent New Year’s together before agreeing to try a horror escape room. Ji Yanzhi warned Sun Ye not to hurt Shen Mu Lan if he pursued him, and the four entered the room in two teams.

• Ji Yanzhi jokingly demanded twenty million from Shen Mu Lan for Ji Ting’s chip, while Sun Ye offered to treat it as repayment for a favor.
• The group shared a New Year’s meal, where Shen Mu Lan teased Ji Yanzhi about criticizing Ji Ting’s cooking.
• Shen Mu Lan suggested an outing, and the four chose a horror escape room after Ji Yanzhi ruled out skiing as too dangerous for Ji Ting.
• Ji Yanzhi asked Sun Ye what he liked about Shen Mu Lan, and Sun Ye said he was prepared to pursue him seriously.
• Shen Mu Lan teamed up with Sun Ye, while Ji Yanzhi paired with Ji Ting, and the four entered the ‘Bloody banquet’ escape room blindfolded.

Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting investigated a simulated corpse in the Ice Room while Shen Mu Lan and Sun Ye searched the banquet hall for clues. Ji Ting worked out the magnetic lock’s mechanism, and the chapter left the other pair still frightened and puzzling over a bleeding sheet of music as someone mocked Shen Mu Lan from outside the door.

• The four entered Count Lane’s dinner party in their assigned roles, and Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting were sent to investigate a maid’s fainting in the Ice Room.
• Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting found a realistic corpse, discovered a vibration device and magnetic powder inside it, and traced the powder to a prism mechanism and magnetic lock.
• Ji Ting calculated the Ice Room lock’s magnetic settings while staff watching the surveillance feed were astonished by his progress.
• In the banquet hall, Sun Ye identified blood spatter beneath a rug as the primary crime scene and deduced that the killer was left-handed.
• A self-playing piano frightened Shen Mu Lan into clinging to Sun Ye, and a mocking voice outside the door commented on their embrace.

After leaving the escape room, Sun Ye privately told Ji Yanzhi that Ji Shize claimed Ji Ting had been replaced, and that the authorities planned to request a psychiatric evaluation. The chapter ended with Ji Yanzhi noticing Ji Ting abruptly hanging up a phone call and wondering whether Ji Ting was keeping secrets from him.

• Sun Ye reassured Shen Mu Lan and suggested the group end the escape-room game, then accepted Shen Mu Lan's invitation to visit his home.
• At Mulan Cloud Residence, Sun Ye asked Ji Yanzhi to speak privately and revealed that Ji Shize insisted Ji Ting had been replaced and should be studied.
• Sun Ye told Ji Yanzhi that the authorities planned to seek a psychiatric evaluation for Ji Shize, whose claims could lead to a harsher sentence if deemed deliberate.
• Ji Yanzhi offered to answer Sun Ye's questions about Shen Mu Lan, but Sun Ye said he wanted to get to know Shen Mu Lan gradually.
• Ji Yanzhi found Ji Ting ending a phone call in the backyard and suspected that Ji Ting was keeping a secret from him.

Ji Yanzhi teased Ji Ting about a phone call, then spent the evening playing Monopoly and sharing dinner with Shen Mu Lan and Sun Ye. As they left, Ji Yanzhi decided they would visit the Old Residence, alarming Ji Ting because he feared Ji Yanzhi would discover what he was hiding.

• Ji Ting lied that Uncle Yang had called to ask whether they would come home for dinner, and Ji Yanzhi realized he had been caught in a lie.
• Ji Yanzhi told Ji Ting that Team Leader Sun had said Ji Shize would be sentenced after the New Year.
• Shen Mu Lan and Sun Ye went bankrupt during Monopoly, while Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting wagered a kiss on the game; Ji Yanzhi kissed Ji Ting and won his money.
• Sun Ye cooked dinner, and Shen Mu Lan joked that he could work at the restaurant if he ever lost his job.
• Ji Yanzhi said he and Ji Ting were going home, then announced they would visit the Old Residence; Ji Ting feared Ji Yanzhi would uncover his secret.

Ji Yanzhi teased Ji Ting about returning to the Old Residence, then spent the New Year with him before they went to retrieve Jiang Mingde from Director Chang’s home. Ji Ting promised to show Director Chang something he had hoped to see, setting up a later request for his help with a proposal.

• Ji Ting asked to spend time alone with Ji Yanzhi, who later revealed that kissing him was what he was addicted to.
• On the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, Ji Yanzhi found Ji Ting researching deep supercritical fluids and planets before Director Chang called about Jiang Mingde refusing to leave his house.
• Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting went to Director Chang’s home and found that Jiang Mingde had been visiting daily to play chess with his new chessboard.
• Director Chang confronted Ji Ting for making Jiang Mingde a chessboard but not him, while Jiang Mingde insisted the board was his alone.
• Ji Ting promised Director Chang he would show him something he wanted to see and planned to ask for his help with a proposal.

Ji Ting brought Director Chang to his laboratory and revealed that he had developed equipment for micro-scale controlled nuclear fusion. He then explained that he wanted to use it to propose to Ji Yanzhi, leaving Director Chang stunned by the plan Pork Knuckle displayed.

• Ji Yanzhi left with his grandfather and the chessboard while Ji Ting stayed behind with Director Chang.
• Ji Ting took Director Chang to his rudimentary laboratory and showed him the No. 49 Magnetic Confinement Nozzle.
• Ji Ting told Director Chang that he had developed the equipment as part of his work on micro-scale controlled nuclear fusion, and Director Chang reacted with overwhelming shock and emotion.
• Ji Ting said he had brought Director Chang there because he needed help using the equipment for something he had to do.
• Ji Ting revealed that he wanted to use the equipment to propose to Ji Yanzhi, and Pork Knuckle showed Director Chang the plan on a holographic screen.

Ji Ting arranged materials and staff for his laboratory, while Ji Yanzhi secretly upgraded its construction to prepare a surprise. As Haiti’s uprising began, Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi discussed protecting peacekeepers and learned Ling Xi was about to be released from prison.

• Ji Ting insisted on recording the borrowed laboratory materials as a personal debt, and Director Chang agreed to provide staff for the project.
• Ji Yanzhi learned from Uncle Yang that Ji Ting was building a laboratory, then secretly replaced the workers and materials with better ones.
• After an armed uprising began in Haiti, Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi discussed whether Qin Zaiye could avert casualties by using what he knew from the original novel.
• Ji Yanzhi told Ji Ting that Ling Xi was nearing release from prison, and Ji Ting said Ling Xi would have nothing to do with them afterward.

After leaving prison, Ling Xi learned that Ji Yanzhi was suing him for the return or value of the gifts and found that he could no longer enter the apartment he had called home. He went to see Ji Ting and claimed he knew the truth about the death of Ji Ting’s mother, but Ji Ting refused to meet him.

• Ling Xi was released from Jing City First Prison and broke down outside the gate, unsure where to go.
• Fang Jie delivered Ji Yanzhi’s lawsuit demanding the luxury gifts back or 2,137,000 yuan in compensation, along with 520,000 yuan in legal and appraisal fees.
• Ling Xi returned to the apartment, but property management told him its owner was surnamed Liu and made him leave.
• Ling Xi went to Ji Ting’s residence and offered information about the death of Ji Ting’s mother in exchange for a meeting.
• Ji Ting refused to see Ling Xi and ordered Uncle Yang to tell him to leave.

After Ji Ting told Uncle Yang that Ling Xi’s mother had helped cause Ji Yanzhi’s mother’s death, Uncle Yang confronted and struck Ling Xi at the Old Residence. Ling Xi then accepted Smart Cloud Technology manager Zong Ling’s offer to arrange a meeting with Ji Ting, unaware that the group had been waiting for his release from prison to reach him.

• Ji Ting told Uncle Yang that Ji Yanzhi had uncovered the truth about his mother’s death and that Ling Xi’s mother was involved.
• Uncle Yang angrily accused Ling Xi and his mother of betraying Madam, then slapped Ling Xi and threw him out of the Old Residence.
• Ling Xi left for Crane Garden, intending to give Ji Zhenting something his mother had left him, but Zong Ling approached him about meeting Ji Yanzhi.
• Zong Ling offered Ling Xi payment and legal help if he arranged a meeting with Ji Yanzhi, then suggested he approach Ji Ting instead.
• Ling Xi agreed to arrange a meeting with Ji Ting on condition that the compensation be written into an agreement, while Zong Ling revealed Smart Cloud Technology had been waiting for his release.

Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting learned that Ling Xi’s gambling-addict uncle was behind a threat to expose Ji Ting’s parentage, and they planned to catch him extorting money. Ji Yanzhi intended to accompany Ji Ting to the meeting and call the police.

• Ji Yanzhi learned that Butler Yang had slapped Ling Xi and went to comfort the upset butler.
• Ji Ting noticed suspicious material costs in a project manager’s report, while the manager dodged his questions and left.
• Ji Ting received a message threatening to reveal he was not Ji Shize’s biological son, and he traced the sender’s location with Ji Yanzhi.
• Ji Yanzhi sent Liao Kai to investigate, and Liao Kai identified the man at the address as Ling Xi’s gambling-addict uncle.
• Ji Yanzhi recognized the man and agreed to accompany Ji Ting to the meeting so they could gather evidence and report the extortion to the police.

Ji Ting explained that Ling Xi’s hostility came from feeling that help was charity, while Ji Yanzhi grew angrier and resolved to intensify Ling Xi’s punishment. At the Yongjing Club, Assistant Chen revealed that Ling Xi had been recruited by the State Security Bureau to drug Ji Ting, whose work on Shili’s Miniature Lithography Machine had made him a target.

• Ji Yanzhi asked Zhang Jian to prioritize Ji Ting’s safety during the planned meeting with Ling Xi.
• Ji Ting explained recipient malice and why Ling Xi resented Ji Ting most, and Ji Yanzhi understood that their similar social standing fueled Ling Xi’s jealousy.
• Ji Yanzhi decided prison would not be enough punishment for Ling Xi.
• Ling Xi accepted two million yuan from Zong Ling for a job involving Ji Ting and went to the Yongjing Club after she summoned him.
• Assistant Chen told Ling Xi to get Ji Ting to drink a drugged beverage or make the liquid touch his skin, claiming the State Security Bureau had recruited him.
• Assistant Chen said Ji Ting’s role in developing Shili’s Miniature Lithography Machine made him a target and urged Ling Xi to help sabotage him.

Ling Xi was pressured by Assistant Chen to drug Ji Ting, and Lu Yanchu refused to lend him money, deepening his hatred. Ji Ting arrived at Yongjing Mansion to meet Ling Xi, while Ji Yanzhi and the State Security Bureau prepared to catch him; Ling Xi offered Ji Ting orange juice as their conversation began.

• Assistant Chen threatened Ling Xi with a three-million-yuan debt and urged him to drug Ji Ting, promising to send him abroad afterward.
• Ling Xi called Lu Yanchu for money, but Lu Yanchu refused and told him to ask Qin Zaiye, then ended the call with an insult.
• Assistant Chen suggested Ji Ting had turned Lu Yanchu against Ling Xi and again asked whether Ling Xi would carry out the plan.
• Ji Yanzhi accompanied Ji Ting to Yongjing Mansion, where Zhang Jian from the State Security Bureau guided them toward the private room.
• Ji Ting entered the room and confronted Ling Xi, who offered him a drink; Ji Ting chose orange juice.

Ji Ting confronted Ling Xi, who used a birth certificate to threaten him and tried to force him to drink drugged orange juice. Ji Ting revealed that the drug could cause hallucinations through skin contact and poured the juice over Ling Xi's face.

• Ji Ting rejected Ling Xi's accusations and called out his blackmail and criminal behavior.
• Ling Xi showed Ji Ting a birth certificate listing Lin Shaoheng as his father and Zhang Qin as his mother, then threatened to tell Grandpa Ji.
• Ji Ting agreed to verify the birth certificate at the hospital, but Ling Xi backed down and used the document to demand Ji Ting's obedience.
• Ling Xi ordered Ji Ting to drink the orange juice, which he believed was drugged.
• Ji Ting warned that the drug caused hallucinations upon skin contact and poured the orange juice over Ling Xi's face.

Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi saw Ling Xi arrested after the State Security Bureau stopped his plan to harm Ji Ting. Ji Yanzhi left Ling Xi terrified by promising that Qin Zaiye would handle his interrogation when he returned from Haiti.

• Ji Ting stopped Ji Yanzhi from attacking Ling Xi and led him out while Team Leader Liang's officers arrested Ling Xi.
• The State Security Bureau took Ling Xi into custody alongside Zong Ling and her accomplices, while the Narcotics Squad took the others for questioning.
• Sun Ye told Ji Yanzhi that Ling Xi had awakened and was asking for an antidote, and Ji Yanzhi chose to confront him without calming down.
• Ji Yanzhi threatened Ling Xi for calling him big brother and reminded him that he had once said he could forgive Qin Zaiye.
• Ji Yanzhi told Ling Xi that Qin Zaiye would take over his interrogation after returning from his mission in Haiti.

Ji Yanzhi arranged for Qin Zaiye to interrogate Ling Xi, then recovered at home while Ji Ting worked on a difficult experiment. The chapter ended with Ji Ting and his team successfully stabilizing a quantum entanglement signal in the laboratory.

• Ji Yanzhi told Ling Xi that Qin Zaiye would interrogate him, prompting Ling Xi to plead with him and fear Qin would learn his secrets.
• Sun Ye asked Ji Yanzhi whether he and Little Ji had ever liked Ling Xi, then spoke about seeing Mu Lan soon.
• Ji Yanzhi developed a sore throat, and Ji Ting cared for him while continuing to think through his laboratory work.
• More than a dozen young people arrived at the Manor, and a blast shook the building; the butler was told Ji Yanzhi was safe and that people would be free to leave in half an hour.
• Academician Miao, Professor Zhang, Chen Jianshu, and Ji Ting confirmed that the quantum entanglement signal was stable and the experiment had succeeded.