Chapter Summaries

Ji Ting arranged for Xu Ren to develop monitoring software for Lu Yanchu and realized he had instinctively understood Ji Yanzhi’s sarcasm. The next morning, Ji Ting gave Ji Yanzhi fifteen minutes to get ready before they left to meet Lu Yanchu and Xu Ren.

• Ji Yanzhi claimed Xu Ren needed his permission to work for Lu Yanchu, then joined Ji Ting for dinner.
• Ji Ting realized he had understood Ji Yanzhi’s sarcastic remark without analyzing it and wondered if Ji Yanzhi was helping him become normal.
• Ji Yanzhi said he might meet Lu Yanchu the next day, and Ji Ting arranged a call with Xu Ren about the monitoring software.
• Ji Ting told Xu Ren that Lu Yanchu and Ji Yanzhi were romantic rivals and asked him to act as Ji Ting’s friend during their meeting.
• Lu Yanchu apologized for involving Ji Ting and promised to accommodate Ji Yanzhi when they met.
• The next morning, Ji Ting told Ji Yanzhi to get changed within fifteen minutes so they could pick Xu Ren up and go to Chantilly.

Ji Ting brought Xu Ren to meet Ji Yanzhi and Lu Yanchu, who discussed evidence that a company might be plotting to tamper with Lu Yanchu’s film. Ji Yanzhi discovered that Lu Yanchu could hear Ji Ting’s unspoken thoughts, and the chapter ended with Lu Yanchu smiling after hearing that Ji Ting had already decided to help him.

• Ji Ting picked up Xu Ren, who was impressed by Ji Yanzhi’s appearance and excitedly discussed his journal submission.
• At the Chantilly Club, Ji Ting introduced Xu Ren to Lu Yanchu, and Xu Ren marveled at the two handsome men competing over the same person.
• Lu Yanchu showed Ji Yanzhi evidence linking the visual effects company Mengli to outside financing and explained his suspicions about plans to tamper with his film.
• While Ji Yanzhi and Lu Yanchu discussed the case, Lu Yanchu heard Ji Ting think that he was hungry and suggested they eat.
• Ji Yanzhi tested whether Lu Yanchu could hear Ji Ting’s thoughts, and Lu Yanchu heard Ji Ting decide that he would help him before smiling at Ji Yanzhi.

Ji Yanzhi grew resentful when he realized Lu Yanchu could hear Ji Ting’s thoughts, then angered Lu Yanchu by offering help in exchange for Ling Xi. Their argument drew Ji Ting into the dispute, and Ji Yanzhi ended by challenging Lu Yanchu to hand Ling Xi over to Ji Ting.

• Ji Yanzhi wondered why Lu Yanchu could hear Ji Ting’s thoughts and grew jealous and irritated with him.
• Lu Yanchu tried to discuss business with Ji Yanzhi, but Ji Yanzhi’s hostility made him suspect that Ji Yanzhi was mentally unwell.
• Ji Yanzhi offered to help Lu Yanchu, then revealed that he expected Ling Xi in return.
• Lu Yanchu accused Ji Yanzhi of treating Ling Xi like an object, and Ji Yanzhi criticized him for keeping Ling Xi hidden.
• Ji Yanzhi dragged Ji Ting into the argument, and Ji Ting thought that both men had lost their sense of reason.
• Ji Yanzhi challenged Lu Yanchu to hand Ling Xi over to Ji Ting if he truly respected Ji Ting.

After Ji Ting left the club with Xu Ren, he explained that Ling Xi was his first love and that Ji Yanzhi and Lu Yanchu had both loved Ling Xi. Xu Ren learned that Ling Xi had broken up with Ji Ting while Lu Yanchu was already in love with him, and Ji Ting suspected Ling Xi had left because he seemed useless at the time.

• Ji Ting pulled Xu Ren out of the club, while Ji Yanzhi and Lu Yanchu resumed arguing after hearing Ji Ting's private thoughts.
• Ji Ting told Xu Ren that Ling Xi was a man and had been his first love, but that they were no longer together.
• Ji Ting explained that Ji Yanzhi had probably fallen for Ling Xi before he did and that Ji Yanzhi's dislike of him had another cause tied to a wealthy-family feud.
• Xu Ren asked whether Lu Yanchu had liked Ling Xi while Ling Xi was dating Ji Ting, and Ji Ting confirmed that the timelines overlapped.
• Ji Ting told Xu Ren that Ling Xi may have broken up with him because he had been a spoiled rich kid who seemed useless.

Ji Ting finished the monitoring program for Lu Yanchu and tried to keep a low profile, while Ji Yanzhi reconsidered how he treated his younger brother. Their breakfast conversation turned into an argument over Ji Ting’s nickname for him, which was interrupted by Xu Ren arriving early.

• Xu Ren got out near a subway station after telling Ji Ting he was staying at his advisor’s place, and Ji Ting asked him to return around noon to check the monitoring program.
• Ji Yanzhi returned home, dismissed the butler’s offer to fetch Ji Ting, and decided to stop being harsh with him after recalling Lu Yanchu’s advice.
• Ji Ting finished and repeatedly tested the monitoring program overnight, then went to breakfast after staying up all night.
• Ji Yanzhi told Ji Ting to eat and sleep, then asked why he had nicknamed him Tasmanian Devil.
• Ji Ting explained that the nickname referred to irritable Tasmanian devils competing for mates and compared Ji Yanzhi’s argument with Lu Yanchu to their behavior.
• Liao Kai announced that Xu Ren was waiting at the front gate, and Ji Ting wondered why he had come before their agreed noon meeting.

Xu Ren told Ji Yanzhi and Ji Ting that a burglary at his advisor’s home had taken his devices and experimental data, prompting Ji Yanzhi to suspect the theft was orchestrated. Ji Ting offered to recover the stolen items and tried to reassure Xu Ren, who was left sobbing even harder after Ji Yanzhi promised him a place at Shili.

• Ji Yanzhi allowed Xu Ren into the dining room, where Xu Ren tearfully reported that his computer, phone, external drive, and experimental data were gone.
• Xu Ren explained that he had spent the previous day working at his advisor’s home, then woke to find the house ransacked and valuables stolen.
• Ji Yanzhi questioned why Xu Ren’s advisor had sent him away before the police arrived, and grew suspicious of the circumstances.
• Ji Ting asked about the lab server and learned its NAS was being upgraded, while Ji Yanzhi ordered Xu Ren to go to the Public Security Bureau with the group’s legal team and bodyguards.
• Ji Ting took Xu Ren’s advisor’s address and device details, promised to help recover the stolen items, and tried to comfort him about the possibility that the technology had leaked.
• Ji Yanzhi returned and found Xu Ren crying; after promising Xu Ren he could join Shili, he made Xu Ren sob even harder.

After Attorney Liu took Xu Ren to address the theft accusation, Ji Yanzhi learned that Ji Ting had asked Unit One’s creator to write a surveillance program and eagerly tested it. The program’s speed suggested its creator had access to a supercomputer more powerful than Shili’s Deep Blue.

• Attorney Liu told Ji Yanzhi he would retrieve surveillance footage and agreed to find grounds to have Xu Ren’s advisor detained without revealing the suspected research theft.
• Ji Ting reassured Ji Yanzhi that Xu Ren had sent him the finished program, then revealed that Unit One’s creator had written it at his request.
• Ji Yanzhi scolded Ji Ting for involving the valuable creator, accepted the USB drive with the program, and sent it to Wang Bin for testing.
• Wang Bin told Ji Yanzhi that the program had been written in forty-three minutes and indicated that its creator’s laboratory had a supercomputer likely more powerful than Deep Blue.

Ji Yanzhi learned that Xu Ren had a powerful military-affiliated contact and moved quickly to protect him from the theft accusations. At the police station, he confronted Xu Ren’s advisor, Wang Jianming, and warned that whoever stole Xu Ren’s computer could face charges for trade-secret theft.

• Ji Yanzhi told Wang Bin to keep his discovery secret, then asked Lawyer Liu to arrange a drug test for Xu Ren and went to the police station.
• Liao Kai told Ji Yanzhi that Xu Ren had gone for a drug test and that Lawyer Liu planned to arrange bail while the police waited for fingerprint results.
• Ji Yanzhi and Lawyer Liu staged a conversation about the valuable data on Xu Ren’s missing computer, alarming Wang Jianming and revealing Ji Yanzhi’s status as president of the Shili Group.
• Ji Yanzhi questioned Wang Jianming about accusing Xu Ren of theft and learned that the recovered stolen property did not include Xu Ren’s computer.
• Ji Yanzhi warned that the computer’s data concerned a major group project and ordered charges for trade-secret infringement against whoever stole it, making Wang Jianming’s wife turn pale.

Wang Jianming tried to frame Xu Ren and pressure his university into a settlement, but Ji Yanzhi reported the suspected theft of company trade secrets. Meanwhile, Ji Ting traced Xu Ren’s phone to a rented apartment and began investigating the hidden laptop.

• Wang Jianming’s wife panicked when Lawyer Liu questioned her, and Wang Jianming hurried outside to make calls to the university and message a WeChat group.
• Liao Kai’s bodyguards learned that Wang Jianming had accused Xu Ren of stealing from his home and wanted the university to contact Xu Ren’s family about a settlement.
• Ji Yanzhi told his legal department to send people to the Capital University of Science and Technology, then reported the suspected theft of company trade secrets to the police.
• Ji Ting found evidence that surveillance footage had been tampered with and deduced that Wang Jianming and his wife had staged the evidence against Xu Ren in a rented fourth-floor apartment.
• Ji Ting arranged a video tour of the apartment and found a laptop hidden in a wardrobe; when he spoke with the landlord, he learned the current tenant was a professor at the Capital University of Science and Technology.

After Xu Ren was arrested, Ji Yanzhi rejected Wang Jianming’s attempt to shift blame and discovered that a mysterious figure had secretly assembled evidence clearing Xu Ren. Ji Yanzhi arranged to keep Xu Ren close after his release and suggested Ji Ting was the one who had helped him.

• Ji Yanzhi questioned Wang Jianming, who claimed he had discovered the material first and asked Ji Yanzhi to withdraw the complaint against Xu Ren.
• Ji Yanzhi refused to let Xu Ren avoid the consequences and left the police station.
• Ji Yanzhi opened an email containing videos and evidence that exposed Wang Jianming’s crime, along with a request to have Fang Jie sign a three-year rental contract.
• Ji Yanzhi forwarded the evidence, told Fang Jie to memorize his conversations in the videos, and learned from Lawyer Liu that Xu Ren had been released.
• Ji Yanzhi brought the dazed Xu Ren into his car and told him that Ji Ting had already sorted everything out for him.

After Xu Ren returned to the Ji residence, Ji Ting learned that the mysterious gentleman had sent him a message about Fang Jie and Ji Yanzhi. Ji Yanzhi realized he had misread the gentleman’s intentions, then learned Ji Ting had also been told to deliver a Program to Lu Yanchu and arrange monitoring of the Signal Log.

• Ji Yanzhi brought Xu Ren to the old family residence and told him to stay in a guest room.
• After waking, Ji Ting replied to Lu Yanchu and called Xu Ren, who said he had returned with President Ji and passed along the gentleman’s message about Fang Jie.
• Ji Yanzhi overheard Ji Ting mentioning Fang Jie and questioned him about what the gentleman had said.
• Ji Ting explained that the gentleman had used Fang Jie’s face because he looked most like a university counselor, not as a warning.
• Ji Ting told Ji Yanzhi that the gentleman wanted him to deliver the Program to Lu Yanchu and have technicians monitor the Signal Log.

Ji Ting sent Xu Ren to install a security program at Lu Yanchu’s villa while Xu Ren faced accusations of stealing his advisor’s research. Lu Yanchu revealed that Ji Ting was Ling Xi’s first love, then admitted he was disappointed not to see Ji Ting.

• Ji Yanzhi told Ji Ting that Lu Yanchu owed Xu Ren ten million for the program and arranged for Xu Ren to go to the villa.
• After Wang Jianming’s accusations triggered a wave of abuse, Xu Ren decided to turn off his phone and accepted Ji Ting’s offer to go install the program.
• Xu Ren and technician Li arrived at Lu Yanchu’s villa, where Lu Yanchu agreed to pay the ten-million fee.
• Kong Yu asked why Ji Ting had not come, and Lu Yanchu explained that Ling Xi was Ji Ting’s first love.
• Lu Yanchu assured Kong Yu that Ji Ting no longer liked Ling Xi and admitted he was unhappy because he had not seen Ji Ting.

Ji Ting learned that January 23 was the anniversary of Ji Yanzhi’s mother’s death and prepared a mirror as a gift for him. When Ji Yanzhi came home, Ji Ting explained how the bones in his ear carried a record of what his mother ate while pregnant with him, leaving Ji Yanzhi overcome with emotion.

• Xu Ren told Ji Ting that he had picked up a foreign signal from the UTC+5 zone, and Ji Ting instructed him to trace it carefully.
• Ji Ting found that Ji Yanzhi’s phone was switched off and later asked Uncle Yang why Ji Yanzhi was absent from dinner.
• Uncle Yang told Ji Ting that January 23 was the anniversary of Madam’s death, and Ji Ting asked him for a handheld mirror and gift wrap.
• After midnight, Ji Ting waited in the dark and offered Ji Yanzhi a wrapped gift, but Ji Yanzhi knocked it away and grabbed him by the collar.
• Ji Ting told Ji Yanzhi that the otic capsule preserved a record of what his mother ate while pregnant and compared it to the hands she had held out to help him walk.

Ji Ting tried to comfort Ji Yanzhi with a handmade gift, and Ji Yanzhi invited him to watch a movie before a misused theater chair trapped and pummeled him. Ji Ting returned to find Ji Yanzhi hanging upside down in the chair, furious and humiliated.

• Ji Yanzhi questioned whether Ji Ting had lied about the gift, and Ji Ting admitted that the otic capsule could not be seen in an ordinary mirror while insisting the rest was true.
• Ji Yanzhi accepted the gift, criticized its wrapping, and told Ji Ting to expect to give him another present for his birthday.
• Ji Yanzhi brought snacks to the theater and told Ji Ting to focus on eating while he prepared a movie.
• Ji Ting pressed the wrong controls, causing his seat to rise and massage Ji Yanzhi until he switched off the theater power.
• Ji Ting restored the power and returned to find Ji Yanzhi trapped upside down in the chair, accusing Ji Ting of laughing at him.

Ji Ting repaired the massage chair after accidentally trapping Ji Yanzhi upside down, exposing his unexpected programming skills. Once freed, Ji Yanzhi questioned whether Ji Ting had changed and ended by asking if he liked Lu Yanchu.

• Ji Ting opened the massage chair's control panel and connected his laptop to inspect its smart system while Ji Yanzhi urged him to stop.
• Ji Ting ran a program to disable the chair's free-rotation mode, and Ji Yanzhi saw the code on his screen.
• Ji Ting lowered the chair and freed Ji Yanzhi, who grabbed his wrist and asked if he had anything to confess.
• Ji Ting apologized for the accident, and Ji Yanzhi abruptly asked him to set up a movie instead.
• After the movie began, Ji Yanzhi asked Ji Ting whether he had fallen for someone else and liked Lu Yanchu.

Ji Yanzhi questioned Ji Ting about his new habits and programming skills, but Ji Ting’s candid answers only deepened Ji Yanzhi’s confusion. As Ji Yanzhi tried to make Ji Ting watch a movie with him, Lin Qing returned and found them together in the hallway.

• Ji Yanzhi asked Ji Ting why he had stopped spending time with Zhang Xu and the others, and Ji Ting said he no longer wanted to waste time.
• Ji Ting told Ji Yanzhi that he studied for himself and had taught himself to modify the massage chair’s control program.
• Ji Yanzhi insisted that Ji Ting watch the rest of Lu Yanchu’s movie with him that night, but Ji Ting refused because he planned to play games.
• Ji Yanzhi hooked an arm around Ji Ting’s neck and demanded that he agree to watch the movie.
• Lin Qing returned, saw Ji Yanzhi holding Ji Ting, and called out to Ting.

Ji Ting corrected Lin Qing’s misunderstanding about Ji Yanzhi and told her that Ji Yanzhi had saved him from Ji Zhenting’s attempt to shift blame. Lin Qing left the West Building in a hurry without telling Ji Shize she had returned, while Ji Ting chose not to investigate her suspicious behavior.

• Lin Qing shielded Ji Ting from Ji Yanzhi, but Ji Ting told her they had only been roughhousing and asked her to apologize for misunderstanding him.
• Lin Qing asked whether Ji Zhenting had suspected Ji Ting, and Ji Ting said Ji Zhenting had wanted him to take the blame for Ji Liping.
• Lin Qing broke down in remorse over how Ji Ting had been treated and learned that Ji Yanzhi had saved him from Crane Garden.
• Lin Qing said she would leave without telling Ji Shize she had returned, then hurried out after receiving a message.
• Ji Ting decided not to investigate Lin Qing’s suspicious return, and Ji Yanzhi startled him by appearing and mocking his lack of courage.

Ji Ting decided to leave the Ji household and buy a place to move his belongings from the game room, while Ji Yanzhi grew suspicious about what he was hiding. Ji Yanzhi had Wang Mian reset the West Building door lock, then opened it with Liao Kai beside him.

• Ji Ting planned to leave the house and used property listings to look for a place to buy.
• Ji Yanzhi learned that Ji Ting had gone out and summoned Wang Mian to open the West Building door.
• Wang Mian found that the door’s access key had been changed on the eighteenth of last month and reset the lock.
• Wang Mian restored Ji Ting’s, Xu Ren’s, and Ji Yanzhi’s access information, and Ji Yanzhi opened the door.

Ji Yanzhi discovered that Ji Ting had built a supercomputer and realized he needed to protect him from Ji Shize. He kept the discovery secret and told Wang Mian just how extraordinary Ji Ting’s intelligence was.

• Wang Mian entered the former recital hall, found Ji Ting’s supercomputer, and marveled at it until Ji Yanzhi stopped him from touching it.
• Ji Yanzhi realized Ji Ting had created the supercomputer and feared Ji Shize would exploit him if he discovered it.
• Ji Yanzhi told Liao Kai to silence everyone who had seen Wang Mian, then warned Wang Mian to keep the discovery secret.
• Wang Mian guessed that Ji Ting owned the supercomputer, and Ji Yanzhi confirmed that Ji Ting had also made Unit One.
• Ji Yanzhi told Wang Mian that Ji Ting was a supergenius whose intelligence reached higher than the clouds visible from the window.

Wang Mian failed to persuade Ji Yanzhi to let him use the supercomputer, and Ji Ting’s unexpected return left Ji Yanzhi embarrassed about speaking for him. As Ji Yanzhi arranged for Xu Ren to tutor Ji Ting, he realized Ji Ting had guided Xu Ren’s research and wondered how his younger brother had mastered so many fields.

• Ji Yanzhi refused Wang Mian’s request to use the supercomputer, then offered his team a month on Deep Blue instead.
• Ji Ting arrived as Wang Mian complained that Ji Yanzhi was being stingy, and Ji Yanzhi hurriedly sent Wang Mian away when he tried to address Ji Ting.
• Ji Yanzhi changed the subject when Ji Ting asked what Wang Mian wanted, then left before Ji Ting could question him further.
• Ji Ting considered moving out to find a place with faster internet, but decided to wait until that afternoon because Ji Yanzhi was home.
• At lunch, Ji Yanzhi announced that Xu Ren would tutor Ji Ting and realized Ji Ting had helped guide Xu Ren’s research.
• Ji Yanzhi wondered how Ji Ting had become so accomplished in several technical fields, and Ji Ting explained that peripheral vision let him notice Ji Yanzhi watching him.