Chapter Summaries

Wang Bin accepted Wang Mian’s proposal, and the two reunited after years apart. Ji Yanzhi then teased them with the story of his own marriage to Ji Ting and offered them diamonds for wedding rings, leaving them stunned.

• Wang Bin nodded through tears, embraced Wang Mian, and apologized for making him wait years before agreeing to spend his life with him.
• Wang Mian sobbed, struck Wang Bin’s back, and scolded him for never speaking up about his feelings.
• Ji Yanzhi prepared to leave for New Year’s Eve dinner with Ji Ear, but Wang Mian stopped him to ask how much cash he would give as a wedding gift.
• Ji Yanzhi revealed that he and Ji Ting had a legally recognized marriage certificate, obtained through Ji Ting’s special state approval.
• Ji Yanzhi had Wang Bin activate the laboratory’s holographic display and showed Wang Mian a diamond-rain spectacle before offering the couple diamonds from his garden for wedding rings.

Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting spent New Year's Eve with the Jiang family, sharing a family photo and stories about military equipment. Shen Lin then told Ji Ting that Qin Zaiye had left him a letter, and asked him to come over if he was in Jing City.

• Ji Yanzhi returned to the Jiang family's residence, where Ji Ting had been waiting for him with Chestnut.
• Ji Yanzhi told Ji Ting that therapy had eased his anxiety and suggested they attend the next session together; Ji Ting agreed.
• The Jiang family took a courtyard photo and gathered around the television, where Ji Ting explained the old military equipment shown in the New Year's greetings.
• Ji Ting amused Jiang Mingde and Ji Yanzhi with a story about an army unit recruiting his institute director using Soviet motorcycles with sidecars.
• Shen Lin told Ji Ting that Qin Mingzhong had left a letter from Qin Zaiye, and asked him to come over if he was in Jing City.

Ji Ting went to the Shen family home alone to receive a letter Qin Zaiye had left for him. The letter revealed that Ji Yanzhi and Qin Zaiye had heard Ji Ting’s thoughts from the very beginning, leaving Ji Ting stunned.

• Shen Lin told Ji Ting to come alone and keep his visit secret from Ji Yanzhi.
• Ji Ting left home on New Year’s Eve despite Ji Yanzhi’s offer to accompany him, promising to return for dinner.
• At the Shen home, Shen Gongda questioned Ji Ting about how his relationship with Ji Yanzhi had changed before giving him Qin Zaiye’s letter.
• Shen Gongda warned Ji Ting that reading the letter could overturn everything he thought he knew, but Ji Ting chose to read it.
• Qin Zaiye’s letter said that Ji Yanzhi and he had heard everything Ji Ting thought from the very beginning, and Ji Ting was left frozen in shock.

Ji Ting learned that the authorities had once suspected his mind-reading ability was a sound-wave biological weapon and reacted with overwhelming distress. After taking time alone in Shen Gongda’s courtyard, he acknowledged his anger toward Ji Yanzhi but decided to let it go because he still wanted to protect him.

• Shen Gongda told Ji Ting that Shen Lin had examined Qin Zaiye’s letter and gone to verify its claims.
• Shen Lin found an interrogation transcript in which Qin Zaiye said he could hear Ji Ting’s voice without seeing his mouth move.
• Shen Lin confirmed that the Garrison District had commissioned testing of Ji Ting as a suspected carrier of a sound-wave-based biological weapon.
• Ji Ting suffered a bout of dry heaving, then asked to be alone in Shen Gongda’s courtyard.
• After standing in the cold for over half an hour, Ji Ting recognized his anger at Ji Yanzhi but decided to let it go and protect him.

Ji Ting developed a research plan to stop his thoughts from leaking and narrowed the possible receivers to Lu Yanchu and Qin Zaiye. After reassuring Ji Yanzhi about their relationship, he went to the Qin Family home to verify Qin Zaiye's letter and summon him in person.

• Ji Ting considered detecting the physical carrier of his thoughts or encrypting them with consciousness-level technology, then identified Lu Yanchu and Qin Zaiye as the best subjects for comparison.
• Ji Ting told Ji Yanzhi he could not return for New Year's Eve and asked whether Ji Yanzhi had ever considered breaking up when Ji Ting left for several years.
• Ji Yanzhi firmly said he had never wanted to break up, and Ji Ting confessed that he liked him too and promised to resolve the current problem soon.
• Ji Ting asked Shen Lin about Qin Zaiye's whereabouts and said he intended to verify the letter before conducting experiments.
• Ji Ting arrived at the Qin Family home and mentally asked Qin Zaiye to come out; Qin Zaiye immediately opened the door.

Ji Ting confronted Qin Zaiye about the mind-reading problem and insisted Ji Yanzhi would remain exempt from punishment before returning to the Old Residence. There, he revealed to Lu Yanchu that he knew Lu could hear his thoughts, leaving Lu stunned.

• Qin Zaiye resisted Ji Ting's order to get in the car, but Ji Ting warned that he could have Qin transferred somewhere far away if the problem remained unresolved.
• Ji Ting told Qin Zaiye that Ji Yanzhi would remain an exception, admitted he was angry with him, and said his feelings were none of Qin's business.
• During the silent drive back, Qin Zaiye heard Ji Ting thinking through possible scientific ways to block or encrypt thoughts.
• Near the Old Residence, Ji Ting asked Zhang Jian to stop and got out to meet Lu Yanchu, who had hurried over after receiving his message.
• Ji Ting silently told Lu Yanchu that he knew Lu could hear his thoughts, and Lu froze in shock while Qin Zaiye watched from the car.

Ji Ting brought Lu Yanchu and Qin Zaiye to his Laboratory after asking Liao Kai to keep their presence secret from Ji Yanzhi. He prepared to begin an unexplained procedure, while Qin Zaiye and Lu Yanchu took very different approaches to following his instructions.

• Qin Zaiye overheard Ji Ting accept Lu Yanchu’s explanation, and his anger sharpened at the contrast with Ji Ting’s treatment of him.
• Ji Ting told Liao Kai that Lu Yanchu and Qin Zaiye would stay at the Old Residence and asked him not to tell Ji Yanzhi.
• Ji Ting led Lu Yanchu and Qin Zaiye to the Laboratory, where Lu Yanchu said he could stay as long as needed for the procedure.
• At the Laboratory, Ji Ting asked about their education and told Qin Zaiye that his military command background would not help him understand what Ji Ting planned to do.
• Lu Yanchu admitted he lacked relevant scientific knowledge but agreed to cooperate, then gave Qin Zaiye a faintly provocative smile.

Ji Ting tested the range and interference effects of his inner voice on Lu Yanchu and Qin Zaiye, discovering that the two men reacted very differently to interference. After Ji Ting left the Laboratory, Lu Yanchu and Qin Zaiye argued about their feelings toward him and Ji Yanzhi.

• Ji Ting used EEG equipment to test how far Lu Yanchu and Qin Zaiye could hear his inner voice, finding that it remained clear until reception abruptly stopped beyond a limit.
• Ji Ting tested acoustic interference and found that it muffled Lu Yanchu's reception but barely affected Qin Zaiye.
• Ji Ting exposed the men to consciousness-level interference, which caused Qin Zaiye's brainwaves to fluctuate and left Lu Yanchu confused and in pain, so Ji Ting stopped the test.
• Ji Ting told Lu Yanchu and Qin Zaiye they could move around the Laboratory Building while he returned to the Main Building, and Liao Kai stayed behind to watch over them.
• Lu Yanchu and Qin Zaiye argued about Ji Yanzhi, Ling Xi, and why Qin Zaiye cared so much about Ji Ting's opinion of him.

Ji Ting activated the Silent Field, which blocked Lu Yanchu’s thought reception and weakened Qin Zaiye’s, revealing a physical medium behind their connection. His resulting bio-quantum neural field hypothesis and visions of its military uses shocked both men, and he left them wondering what he might do if such research were permitted.

• Lu Yanchu challenged Qin Zaiye over his hostility toward Ji Ting, and Liao Kai revealed he was watching over the Second Young Master.
• Ji Ting returned to the Laboratory Building and began the final plan after two failed attempts and a technical adjustment.
• Ji Ting activated the Silent Field, which stopped Lu Yanchu from receiving his thoughts and reduced Qin Zaiye’s signal without fully silencing it.
• Ji Ting concluded that their thought connection relied on a detectable physical medium and hypothesized that it was a bio-quantum neural field.
• Lu Yanchu and Qin Zaiye were horrified by Ji Ting’s ideas for military applications, and Ji Ting warned them they might not want to hear how he would expand the research.

Ji Ting, Lu Yanchu, and Qin Zaiye shared a New Year’s Eve meal after Ji Ting immersed himself in research, while Lu Yanchu and Qin Zaiye privately reflected on Ji Ting’s importance. A photo of the dinner led Wang Mian to suspect Lu Yanchu was at Director Ji’s house, and he messaged Director Ji to ask.

• Ji Ting saved his research leads and asked Lu Yanchu and Qin Zaiye to meet him for New Year’s Eve dinner.
• Lu Yanchu cooked dumplings, while Ji Ting prepared side dishes and Qin Zaiye washed vegetables.
• Lu Yanchu photographed the meal and posted it on Weibo for a New Year’s greeting.
• Wang Mian recognized the table and dishes in Lu Yanchu’s photo as belonging to Director Ji’s house.
• Wang Mian sent Director Ji the photo and asked whether Lu Yanchu was spending New Year’s at his place.

Ji Yanzhi saw a photo of Lu Yanchu at the Manor and rushed there, furious that Ji Ting had brought him and Qin Zaiye. He confronted Ji Ting in the laboratory, where Ji Ting silently challenged him to read the answers in his thoughts.

• At the Jiang family home, Jiang Shuoyuan brought medicine for Ji Yanzhi, but found him asleep and left it undelivered.
• Wang Mian called Ji Yanzhi repeatedly and told him to check a photo Lu Yanchu had posted on Weibo.
• Ji Yanzhi recognized Uncle Yang’s dumplings in the photo, learned Lu Yanchu and Qin Zaiye were at the Manor, and rushed there.
• Liao Kai told Ji Yanzhi that Lu Yanchu and Qin Zaiye had gone to bed and that Ji Ting was in the Laboratory Building.
• Ji Yanzhi confronted Ji Ting in the laboratory, and Ji Ting thought that Ji Yanzhi could simply read the answers from his mind.

Ji Ting confronted Ji Yanzhi about secretly reading his thoughts and using them for personal and project-related advantage. After Ji Yanzhi admitted what he had done, Ji Ting said he would find a way to resolve the problem and had already answered for himself whether they would still be together.

• Ji Ting activated the Silent Field and asked Ji Yanzhi whether he had discovered he could read Ji Ting's thoughts early on and deliberately kept it secret.
• Ji Yanzhi admitted he had repeatedly used Ji Ting's thoughts to check whether he was lying and to identify breakthroughs in Wang Mian's team's research.
• Ji Ting said the thought-reading had caused him limited losses, and that he would seek a solution rather than let it threaten their relationship.
• Ji Ting told Ji Yanzhi he had answered the question of whether they would still be together without the thoughts, and called him the only person for whom he had done something so absurd.

Ji Ting tested how the silent force-field generator affected Ji Yanzhi’s ability to hear his thoughts and began planning further experiments to address the inner voices. The chapter ended with Lu Yanchu and Qin Zaiye arriving at the Laboratory to check on Ji Ting.

• Ji Yanzhi apologized for concealing the inner voices, and Ji Ting admitted that learning the truth had hurt him but that he had not considered ending their relationship.
• Ji Ting seated Ji Yanzhi in a 128-channel EEG system and explained that Qin Zaiye had told him about the inner voices.
• Ji Ting activated the silent force-field generator and found that Ji Yanzhi could no longer hear his thoughts.
• Ji Ting said he needed specialized equipment and planned to contact Uncle Chang after daybreak.
• Lu Yanchu and Qin Zaiye appeared at the Laboratory entrance and asked Ji Ting if they could come in.

Ji Ting brought Ji Yanzhi, Lu Yanchu, and Qin Zaiye together in the Laboratory to investigate why they alone could hear his inner voice. He left them with questionnaires about the day six years earlier when all four may have encountered the same unusual conditions.

• Ji Yanzhi objected to Lu Yanchu and Qin Zaiye entering the Laboratory, then hurt his back while rushing to Ji Ting's side.
• Lu Yanchu teased Ji Yanzhi about crying, and Qin Zaiye accused him of lashing out from embarrassment.
• Ji Ting defended Ji Yanzhi and told the others that provoking him could interfere with the experiment.
• Ji Ting explained his theory that a bio-quantum neural field might carry his inner voice and that a shared event could explain why the three men received it.
• Ji Ting handed out questionnaires about their health and surroundings six years earlier, then recalled each man's connection to that day, leaving all three stunned.

Ji Ting investigated the four men’s shared inner-voice connection but could not determine its cause with current technology. After Qin Zaiye left the laboratory, Ji Yanzhi asked Lu Yanchu whether Qin Zaiye also liked Ji Ting, and Lu Yanchu answered with an enigmatic metaphor.

• Ji Ting had Ji Yanzhi, Lu Yanchu, and Qin Zaiye fill out forms, then explained he had used them mainly to keep the men quiet while he prepared the laboratory.
• Ji Ting identified the four men’s shared connection to the novel and their past feelings for Ling Xi, but reasoned Ling Xi was unlikely to be the cause of their inner-voice link.
• Ji Yanzhi and Qin Zaiye began arguing, so Ji Ting’s laboratory chairs restrained them and silenced Qin Zaiye with a sensor probe.
• Ji Ting analyzed the forms with Pork Knuckle, tried several scientific approaches, and admitted he could not find the cause of the connection.
• Qin Zaiye left the laboratory, and Ji Yanzhi asked Lu Yanchu whether Qin Zaiye liked Ji Ting; Lu Yanchu replied with a metaphor about a moon that shone on everyone except Qin Zaiye.

Ji Ting explained that his audible thoughts had strengthened his bond with Ji Yanzhi, and the two fell asleep together. The next morning, Ji Ting revealed evidence of a bio-quantum neural field to Director Chang, who recognized its scientific and military significance and began planning research and international regulations.

• Ji Yanzhi asked Ji Ting if he could stay the night, and Ji Ting agreed.
• Ji Ting told Ji Yanzhi that his audible thoughts had brought them closer and helped form their bond.
• Ji Ting contacted Director Chang and reported evidence of a highly specific bio-quantum neural field.
• Director Chang examined Ji Ting's data, promised equipment and support, and proposed using a United Nations framework to oppose weaponized brain-computer interfaces.
• Ji Yanzhi recalled how Japan's artificial islands had been undermined by starfish, and Director Chang called it the Art of War.

Ji Ting arranged to spend three days at a research center studying the quantum neural field and chose Qin Zaiye as the ideal subject for further tests. After Ji Ting and Ji Yanzhi left to prepare, Lu Yanchu admitted to Qin Zaiye that he loved Ji Ting for the patient, tender way he shared his knowledge.

• Director Chang arranged for Ji Ting to use the Huake Academy of Sciences research center, and Ji Ting promised Ji Yanzhi he would be away for only three days.
• Ji Ting selected Qin Zaiye for the research because his brain activity and resistance to the Silent Field made him an ideal subject; Ji Yanzhi and Lu Yanchu were not suitable for the tests.
• Qin Zaiye agreed to go with Ji Ting after asking whether the authorities would notify his unit.
• Ji Yanzhi took Ji Ting to the Main Building to pack, leaving Lu Yanchu and Qin Zaiye in the laboratory.
• Lu Yanchu openly told Qin Zaiye he liked Ji Ting and explained that Ji Ting's patient way of teaching him was what moved him most.

Ji Ting finished his work at the institute, delivered his research materials, and announced that he would pause research for a year because he planned to marry Ji Yanzhi. After Ji Yanzhi picked him up, they agreed to go on a date the next day.

• Ji Ting completed his experiments and gave Director Chang a detailed bill for the materials and instrument use.
• Ji Ting sealed a portable Neural Field Inhibition Module and uploaded his data, reports, designs, and algorithms to the institute’s top-secret database.
• Ji Ting told Dean Wei and Academician Xu that he was getting married and would take a year off from research.
• Ji Ting advised the scientists to explore Neural Field-Quantum Field Coordinated Modulation before leaving the institute.
• Ji Yanzhi picked Ji Ting up, and they agreed to go on a date the following day.

Ji Ting reunited with Chestnut and Ji Yanzhi at the Jiang family's Old Residence, then assessed Liang Wangshu and arranged for her to study under Academician Cao Hengzhi. That night, Ji Yanzhi nervously rehearsed how to confess his feelings to Ji Ting and stayed awake until dawn.

• Ji Ting greeted Chestnut and cooked red-braised ribs and other dishes for the family, while Ji Yanzhi teased him and shelled king crab for him at lunch.
• Jiang Shuoyuan asked Ji Ting to recommend Liang Wangshu to Academician Gu Zhaofeng, and Ji Ting requested her application and research materials.
• Ji Ting reviewed Liang Wangshu's materials, questioned her in a video call, and declined to recommend her to Gu Zhaofeng while offering to recommend her to Academician Cao Hengzhi instead.
• Ji Ting revealed that Cao Hengzhi had agreed to take Liang Wangshu as his final doctoral student, delighting Liang Wangshu and her family.
• Ji Yanzhi rehearsed a confession to Ji Ting while he showered, then pretended he had been preparing a work message and stayed awake until dawn.

Ji Yanzhi brought Ji Ting to a virtual recreation of Ji Ting’s childhood home, where Ji Ting was overwhelmed by the memories. Ji Yanzhi’s mother greeted him from the kitchen, offering the soy milk she used to make him.

• Ji Ting found Ji Yanzhi’s note directing him to the Agricultural Bureau Family Compound and traveled there with Liao Kai.
• At his old apartment, Ji Ting accepted the neural interface band Zhang Jian gave him and hesitated outside the door.
• Ji Yanzhi opened the door, took Ji Ting inside, and revealed a lifelike recreation of his childhood home.
• Ji Ting became tearful as the apartment’s familiar details brought back buried memories.
• Ji Yanzhi called out that Ji Ting was home, and his mother replied that she would add two spoonfuls of sugar to the soy milk.