Chapter Summaries

Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi conducted more intimate sensory experiments, then Ji Yanzhi sang Ji Ting a lullaby whose origins he could not remember. The morning ended with Lu Yanchu arriving to see Ji Ting about the upcoming release of And Then There Were None, and Ji Yanzhi asked whether Ji Ting wanted to meet him.

• Ji Yanzhi suggested testing other senses, and he and Ji Ting spent the afternoon taking turns as researcher and subject in several experiments.
• Ji Ting woke beside Ji Yanzhi and reminded him that he still owed him a song.
• Ji Yanzhi sang a lullaby but could not recall its name or where he had learned it.
• The butler told Ji Yanzhi that Lu Yanchu had come to see Ji Ting on business.
• Ji Yanzhi told Ji Ting that the first installment of And Then There Were None was due for the Spring Festival release season and asked whether he wanted to see Lu Yanchu.

Ji Ting agreed to help Lu Yanchu optimize the film’s rendering technology, despite Ji Yanzhi’s objections. While reviewing the teaser, Ji Ting learned the romance had been cut from the story, and Lu Yanchu asked whether realizing one’s feelings at the very end would be too late.

• Ji Ting decided to meet Lu Yanchu about the rendering problem, and Ji Yanzhi reluctantly accompanied him.
• Lu Yanchu explained that new Shili photonic chips could now support the Dynamic Spectral Scattering module, and asked Ji Ting to optimize it for the film.
• Ji Yanzhi offered to send an engineer instead, but Ji Ting chose to go because he had created the specialized algorithm.
• Lu Yanchu showed Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi the film’s effects previews, and Ji Ting questioned why the teaser omitted the leads’ romantic turning point.
• Lu Yanchu said the author had removed the romance and asked Ji Ting whether understanding one’s own heart only at the end would be too late.

Ji Ting agreed to help Lu Yanchu improve the film’s post-credits effects, then arrived at the studio with Ji Yanzhi the next morning. The director and producer were stunned to discover that Lu’s promised expert was the renowned Academician Ji Ting.

• Ji Ting told Lu Yanchu that his choices mattered more than imagined paths, then agreed to review the studio’s technical requirements and arrive at ten the next morning.
• Ji Yanzhi teased Ji Ting after Lu Yanchu left, praising his sharp mind while noting his cluelessness about romance.
• The director and producer worried that Lu Yanchu’s last-minute effects upgrade could not be completed before the deadline or release.
• Lu Yanchu waited at the studio entrance as a Rolls-Royce arrived carrying Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting.
• The producer choked on his cigarette and the director froze when Lu Yanchu introduced Ji Ting as the expert helping with the effects.

Ji Ting began advising the film studio on how to improve its visual effects, while Lu Yanchu and Ji Yanzhi waited outside. After Lu Yanchu clarified that Ji Ting had supported the project before Ji Yanzhi invested, he drew Ji Yanzhi into a private room and challenged him about Ji Ting’s old proposal.

• The director and producer decided to arrange a lavish lunch to thank Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi for their support.
• Ji Ting asked Ji Yanzhi and Lu Yanchu to wait in the lounge so he could focus on explaining technical changes to the visual effects team.
• Ji Ting identified redundant computations in the particle simulation and proposed a revised trigger-weight system to speed up rendering without sacrificing precision.
• In the lounge, Ji Yanzhi accepted the director and producer’s thanks, but Lu Yanchu corrected their assumption that Ji Yanzhi had invited Ji Ting to help the film.
• Ji Yanzhi criticized Lu Yanchu, who led him to a private conference room and asked why Ji Ting had not married him after proposing years earlier.

Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi discussed marriage after Ji Ting mistook Ji Yanzhi’s hesitation for cold feet, while Ji Yanzhi secretly rushed to finish a proposal plan. Wang Mian learned that the scene model he had been building for Ji Yanzhi was meant for a proposal, though he misunderstood whom Ji Yanzhi planned to propose to.

• Ji Yanzhi and Lu Yanchu argued over who had a place beside Ji Ting, and Lu Yanchu accepted Ji Yanzhi’s challenge to confess.
• Ji Ting finished his technical lesson and answered the visual effects team’s questions over boxed lunches.
• Ji Yanzhi joined Ji Ting for lunch, and Ji Ting asked why he kept avoiding marriage plans.
• Ji Ting suggested Ji Yanzhi might have cold feet and recommended therapy, so Ji Yanzhi agreed and left to call Wang Mian.
• Ji Yanzhi urged Wang Mian to finish the scene model because he needed it to propose, and Wang Mian mistakenly thought Ji Yanzhi meant proposing to another woman.

Wang Bin revealed to Wang Mian that Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting were lovers, inspiring Wang Mian to make Ji Ting an extraordinary proposal gift. At the studio, Ji Ting's DSS technology transformed the film's effects, and Ji Yanzhi accepted Lu Yanchu's premiere invitations for them before Ji Ting reassured him that he could make decisions on his behalf.

• Wang Bin told Wang Mian that Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting were lovers and that Ji Yanzhi planned to propose to Ji Ting.
• Wang Mian resolved to create a spectacular proposal gift for Ji Ting.
• The studio watched Ji Ting's DSS technology produce a groundbreaking three-second effects sequence, and Lu Yanchu thanked Ji Ting for his work.
• Lu Yanchu invited Ji Ting to the film premiere, but Ji Yanzhi took the tickets and accepted on their behalf.
• Ji Ting told Ji Yanzhi that, outside the Laboratory, he could leave every decision about himself to Tasmanian Devil.

Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting rescued a frightened tortoiseshell kitten and took it to a veterinary hospital, where they learned it needed careful care. Ji Yanzhi proposed that they raise the kitten together, and Ji Ting named it Chestnut.

• Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting agreed to attend the movie premiere, but their car stopped suddenly when a kitten ran beneath it.
• Zhang Jian rescued the kitten from under the car and released it into nearby bushes, but Ji Yanzhi turned back to find it when Ji Ting seemed worried.
• Ji Yanzhi retrieved the frightened kitten from the bushes, and Ji Ting calmed it by holding it gently.
• Ji Ting took notes as the veterinarian examined the kitten, treated its parasites, and explained its health issues and care needs.
• Ji Yanzhi asked Ji Ting if they could raise the kitten together, and Ji Ting named it Chestnut.

Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi brought the kitten Chestnut home, and Ji Ting coaxed Ji Yanzhi into feeding it, helping him grow more comfortable with the animal. When Ji Ting said he would sleep in the guest room to care for Chestnut overnight, Ji Yanzhi angrily objected to sleeping apart.

• Ji Yanzhi offered to keep Chestnut despite his earlier dislike of the kitten, but he panicked when Ji Ting tried to hand it to him.
• Ji Ting settled the sleeping Chestnut in a lined cardboard box and went to prepare formula.
• Ji Ting showed Ji Yanzhi how to hold and feed Chestnut, and Ji Yanzhi watched the kitten drink with growing tenderness.
• Ji Ting said he would sleep in the guest room and set alarms to feed Chestnut every two hours, prompting Ji Yanzhi to threaten to throw the kitten out the window.

Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi cared for their new kitten, Chestnut, through the night and began teaching it to use a litter box. Ji Yanzhi ended the chapter boasting to Shen Mu Lan that Chestnut had learned after one try and was far smarter than his cat.

• Ji Yanzhi successfully burped Chestnut, and Ji Ting teased him for treating the kitten like he had treated Ji Ting when they first met.
• Ji Yanzhi called Shen Mu Lan for advice about caring for Chestnut, and Ji Ting listened closely to the feeding and litter-training instructions.
• Ji Ting set an alarm for nighttime feedings, but Ji Yanzhi insisted on taking the first shift and fed and burped Chestnut when the alarm rang.
• Chestnut pooped in its box and tried to climb out, so Ji Yanzhi cleaned up and put its waste in a temporary litter box.
• Ji Yanzhi sent Shen Mu Lan a video of Chestnut using the litter box and bragged that it learned after one try, calling it ten thousand times smarter than Doujuan.

Ji Ting cared for Chestnut and remotely guided the special effects team until the film was approved for release. When Lu Yanchu asked to meet and share something in person, Ji Yanzhi muted Ji Ting’s phone and told him to go alone.

• Ji Ting found Ji Yanzhi’s feeding log for Chestnut, then moved the kitten into the Game Room and worked on the special effects footage.
• Ji Yanzhi cleaned Chestnut after it ate, and Ji Ting said he could guide the studio remotely as its effects improved; Ji Yanzhi kissed him.
• After five days of intensive revisions, the special effects team submitted the film for review and received approval to release it on schedule.
• Lu Yanchu called Ji Ting to celebrate the approval, realized their work-related bond had ended, and asked to meet him alone.
• Ji Ting began to refuse, but Ji Yanzhi muted the call and told him to meet Lu Yanchu on his own.

Ji Yanzhi persuaded Ji Ting to meet Lu Yanchu, who confessed his feelings. Ji Ting rejected him and explained that only Ji Yanzhi had seen and accepted his flaws.

• Ji Yanzhi encouraged Ji Ting to meet Lu Yanchu, and Ji Ting left after promising to return early.
• Ji Yanzhi watched Ji Ting leave, then complained to Chestnut for not helping keep him home.
• Ji Ting met Lu Yanchu in a private room while his colleagues waited outside.
• Lu Yanchu confessed that he had feelings for Ji Ting and asked why Ji Ting could not return them.
• Ji Ting rejected Lu Yanchu and said that only Ji Yanzhi had seen his hollows and helped fill them.

Ji Ting explained why he believed Ji Yanzhi’s love was genuine and challenged Lu Yanchu to distinguish love from admiration. Lu Yanchu could not name a flaw in Ji Ting and broke down in tears, while Ji Ting questioned why he thought he should not cry.

• Lu Yanchu suggested Ji Yanzhi’s jealousy and respect for Ji Ting might reflect restraint or compromise, but Ji Ting rejected that interpretation.
• Ji Ting asked whether Lu Yanchu’s dismissal of Ji Yanzhi came from being rejected or from resenting Ji Ting’s choice, and Lu Yanchu admitted he resented losing to Ji Yanzhi.
• Ji Ting described Lu Yanchu’s affection as admiration for an ideal partner who met his requirements, then asked him to name a real flaw in Ji Ting.
• Lu Yanchu could not identify a flaw, and Ji Ting explained that he and Ji Yanzhi had grown close by confronting each other’s raw imperfections as enemies.
• Lu Yanchu covered his eyes and apologized as tears came, saying tears solved nothing, while Ji Ting replied that people did not cry to solve problems.

Lu Yanchu realized his feelings for Ji Ting had become genuine only after Ji Ting rejected him, while Ji Ting remained unaware of Lu Yanchu’s emotional shift. Lu Yanchu returned home and went to drink alone, telling himself he would be okay.

• Lu Yanchu teased Ji Ting by pretending to cry, then told him to remember the trick in case Ji Yanzhi tried it on him.
• Lu Yanchu asked Ji Ting if he would attend the premiere, and Ji Ting agreed before leaving.
• On the drive home, Lu Yanchu recognized that he had loved an idealized image of Ji Ting before becoming drawn to the real person.
• Lu Yanchu arrived at his villa, went to the wine cellar, and chose a bottle of strong vodka.
• Lu Yanchu asked his assistant to keep others from disturbing him and quietly told himself he would be okay.

Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi rebuilt Chestnut’s cat tree together before Jiang Mingde asked why they had postponed their wedding. Ji Yanzhi admitted that he had a particularly severe phobia of getting married.

• Ji Yanzhi found Ji Ting examining his crooked cat tree and agreed to rebuild it with him using the instructions.
• Ji Ting memorized the instructions and guided Ji Yanzhi as they assembled a sturdy cat-tree platform.
• Uncle Yang told Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi that Jiang Mingde had arrived, and they went downstairs to greet him.
• Jiang Mingde sent Ji Ting to fetch juice and privately asked Ji Yanzhi whether the couple had fallen out or changed their minds about marrying.
• Ji Ting told Jiang Mingde that they had decided to put the wedding on hold and asked him not to pressure Ji Yanzhi.
• Ji Yanzhi declared that his fear of getting married was particularly severe.

Ji Yanzhi pretended to suffer from pre-marital anxiety to delay marrying Ji Ting while secretly preparing a memorable proposal. After explaining his plan to Jiang Mingde, he revealed that he and Ji Ting would attend Lu Yanchu’s film premiere, hoping Lu would confess and Ji Ting would reject him.

• Ji Ting reassured Jiang Mingde that he would stay with Ji Yanzhi and keep his promise to grow old with him.
• Ji Yanzhi rushed off to seek treatment, then confessed to Jiang Mingde that his pre-marital anxiety was fabricated.
• Ji Yanzhi told Jiang Mingde he was secretly preparing a special proposal for Ji Ting and wanted it to be a private moment for them.
• Ji Yanzhi said he and Ji Ting would attend Lu Yanchu’s film premiere and hoped Lu would confess so Ji Ting could reject him.
• Jiang Mingde urged Ji Yanzhi to get his brain examined after hearing his plan.

Ji Yanzhi visited Wang Mian at Shili's R&D Center before returning to the Old Residence, where Ji Ting shared news of a breakthrough in uranium resources. When Ji Ting asked about his visit to the psychologist, Ji Yanzhi claimed the doctor had prescribed intimate support and a sense of security, then promised to explain how later.

• Jiang Mingde warned Ji Yanzhi that his handling of Ji Ting's rejected admirer could leave the young man with lifelong regret, and Ji Yanzhi grew troubled.
• Ji Yanzhi went to Shili's R&D Center and pressured Wang Mian to keep working by reminding him of the ten million he owed, after tax.
• Ji Ting told Ji Yanzhi that a breakthrough in Inner Mongolia's uranium resources would secure domestic fuel supplies for his project.
• Ji Yanzhi invented a rumor about aliens on the far side of the moon to tease Ji Ting, who saw through the story.
• Ji Ting asked Ji Yanzhi about his psychologist visit, and Ji Yanzhi said his partner should give him intimate support and a sense of security.

Ji Ting agreed to follow the doctor’s relationship guidelines and initiated a good night kiss with Ji Yanzhi. Afterward, he asked whether Ji Yanzhi’s avoidance of full intimacy stemmed from his fear of marriage, leaving Ji Yanzhi stunned and struggling to explain himself.

• Ji Ting read Ji Yanzhi’s detailed guidelines, agreed to follow them, and asked to relax the requirement that his sweet talk always be fresh.
• Ji Yanzhi reassured Ji Ting about the guidelines, then held him with his head resting on his arm as they tried the human body pillow position.
• Ji Ting gave Ji Yanzhi a tentative good night kiss, which Ji Yanzhi deepened and guided into a passionate kiss.
• Ji Ting asked Ji Yanzhi to consult his therapist about whether avoiding full intimacy was another sign of his fear of marriage.
• Ji Yanzhi was shocked by Ji Ting’s interpretation, while Ji Ting ruled out a physiological issue and asked what the real reason was.

Ji Yanzhi pretended he did not understand same-sex intimacy, prompting Ji Ting to bring out books and conclude that he was the receptive partner. At the premiere of Deep Space Era, Lu Yanchu watched Ji Ting from afar and, when asked when he last cried, said it was probably when his confession was rejected.

• Ji Yanzhi told Ji Ting he did not understand how two men were supposed to be intimate, and Ji Ting agreed to teach him with books he had studied for years.
• Ji Ting concluded that he was the receptive partner and guessed that Ji Yanzhi was the insertive partner, while Ji Yanzhi resolved to study the books and determine his role.
• Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting dressed for the premiere of Deep Space Era and entered the theater discreetly, where a young actor recognized them.
• Lu Yanchu watched Ji Ting from the shadows, then quietly left the theater before the film ended.
• Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting stayed through the acclaimed film, and Lu Yanchu later noticed Ji Ting's positive assessment of it.
• Asked when he last cried, Lu Yanchu said it was probably the last time his confession was rejected.

At Lu Yanchu’s film premiere, Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi’s closeness stirred Lu Yanchu’s lingering heartbreak. On the drive home, Ji Ting reassured Ji Yanzhi about his jealousy, then warned that if Ji Yanzhi stopped loving him, the state might impose safety measures.

• Lu Yanchu joked about crying before redirecting attention to Cao Guangping’s performance, while Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi left the premiere.
• Yu Feng asked Ji Ting for a photo, and Ji Yanzhi helped take it.
• Yu Feng showed the photo to Lu Yanchu, who envied him for having a picture with Ji Ting.
• Ji Yanzhi admitted he had guessed why Lu Yanchu had confessed, and Ji Ting kissed him to comfort him about being jealous.
• Ji Ting said he trusted Ji Yanzhi to love him for life, then warned that the state might enact safety measures if Ji Yanzhi’s love did not last.

Ji Yanzhi reassured Ji Ting that he welcomed their lifelong commitment, then went to the laboratory to approve Wang Mian’s technology project. After it passed testing, Wang Mian gave Wang Bin his savings and investments and asked him to meet his parents so they could be together for life.

• Ji Yanzhi laughed at Ji Ting’s risk warning, embraced him, and promised to honor their lifelong commitment; Ji Ting promised to love him too.
• On Lunar New Year’s Eve, Ji Yanzhi told Ji Ting he had to handle final testing at the company and asked him to go to the Jiang family home without him.
• Ji Yanzhi arrived at the laboratory, where Wang Mian presented the finished technology integration project for testing.
• Ji Yanzhi completed the test and told Wang Mian that the project had passed, promising to transfer his payment.
• Wang Mian showed Wang Bin three bank cards containing his payment, savings, and investment funds, then asked him to meet his parents and be together for the rest of their lives.