Arc 8Chapters 176–200
No recap yet.
No recap yet.
Gu Zheng confessed his long-held feelings to Song Ning and asked whether he still had a chance with her. Song Ning told him she had chosen no one and was not considering romance, but Gu Zheng took this as a chance to compete fairly and drove off elated.
Song Ning settled into a room at Yu Zhengyang's dormitory before meeting Lu Changqing for lunch, where he probed her connections and asked her to secure him a place in Unit 331. Old Zhang arrived with Tian Yong, and Song Ning set aside her irritation to examine him.
Song Ning examined Tian Yong’s injured leg, prescribed medicine, and left the restaurant with Gu Zheng and Jiang Chengshi. As they drove away, Gu Zheng revealed that Lu Changqing had publicly announced his broken engagement to Song Ning after spending time with Elder Zhou, suggesting he had a reason for doing so.
Song Ning settled into her new lodgings and sent Jiang Chengshi to Yu City to finish a translation, while Gu Zheng was pleased to see him leave. On her way to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, Song Ning chased a bag thief into an alley and found herself trapped with a masked man blocking her escape.
Song Ning was kidnapped and tied up in an abandoned room, where two men were sent to assault her, but she calmly played along while authorities were alerted. Gu Zheng learned Song Ning was involved in an alleged hooliganism incident and rushed with Han Xiao and Chief Wang to Cat-Ear Alley.
Gu Zheng arrived at Cat-Ear Alley and found Ma Pingping and two men bound and beaten after Song Ning escaped their scheme. Song Ning explained what happened and identified Ma Pingping, then told Gu Zheng she suspected the man who grabbed her was from his Military District.
Song Ning identified the attacker as professionally trained, while Gu Zheng investigated the conspiracy and suspected Zhou Yunzhi. Song Ning discovered her news-forecasting ability reached only a few days ahead, then asked the newly returned Yu Zhengyang about flying to Flower City.
Song Ning and Yu Zhengyang prepared to leave Rong City for Flower City while Gu Zheng arranged their flight and briefed them on the kidnapping case. Gu Zheng saw them off with his contact numbers, and Song Ning agreed to call him after arriving, setting up an unexpected revelation.
Song Ning remembered that Du Mei had helped with the kidnapping and told Gu Zheng about her connection to a man serving in his Military District. In Flower City, Song Ning and Yu Zhengyang searched for overseas Chinese businessman Zhou Xingwang, and the chapter ended as the Friendship Store manager called him to verify Song Ning’s claim.
Song Ning bought nearly five hundred thousand yuan in overseas remittance certificates from Zhou Xingwang for her hundred and fifty thousand yuan, promising to help him find his family after she dealt with the certificates. The certificates had only three days before they expired, and Yu Zhengyang worried she would not be able to use them in time.
Song Ning went to the Three Great Yuan Restaurant to find Master Luo and warn him that his wife and son were in danger. Master Luo let her into his private room, where she began asking about their route to the restaurant.
Song Ning warned Limping Luo that his wife and son were in danger, and the explosion at Three Bays Bridge proved her right. In return, Limping Luo offered her passage and help reaching Harbor City, but Song Ning hesitated over whether to take his men.
Song Ning selected A Yuan from Limping Luo’s bodyguards and revealed that she knew his identity as Dong Yuan, a relative of Lei Ming’s undercover in Flower City. With A Qing and A Zhi joining them, she left for Shekou Pier with Yu Zhengyang and their bags, preparing to cross illegally to Harbor City.
Song Ning and A-Yuan crossed into Harbor City and searched for electronics factory owner Huang Yongfu, hoping to buy his surplus stock and save him from ruin. They found the Yongxing factory besieged by workers demanding unpaid wages, but Huang was nowhere to be seen.
Song Ning rallied unpaid factory workers to search for Boss Huang Yongfu, then followed a lead to his apartment building. She and A Yuan found him sitting on the rooftop edge, and Song Ning cautiously tried to get his attention.
Song Ning promised to buy Huang Yongfu’s goods and helped A Yuan save him after he slipped from a rooftop ledge. Huang Yongfu renewed his resolve to face his debts, and Song Ning offered to buy the factory’s entire stock, with the final payment due a week later.
Song Ning used Overseas Chinese Remittance Coupons to buy Huang Yongfu’s factory inventory and help restart his business, then took her companions to dinner before their return trip. At the restaurant, she stood up to an arrogant Young Master Hu, who left threatening revenge.
After Young Master Hu’s men slashed their tires, Song Ning and her bodyguards beat back two groups of attackers and continued toward Xingjie Pier. They arrived late at night to catch a boat back to Shekou, but something unexpected happened before it arrived.
Song Ning and her companions hid near the smuggling dock as an unusually large police operation disrupted their escape. A desperate criminal took Song Ning hostage, but police gunfire brought him down, leaving her safe in A Yuan’s arms.
After surviving a hostage situation in Harbor City, Song Ning and her companions were cleared by the police and escorted to a ship bound for Flower City Port. There, she called Gu Zheng to arrange a conversation with Lu Changqing and revealed that she had taken a blue teardrop-shaped badge she suspected was the “Blue Tears” he was searching for.
Song Ning called Lu Changqing to ask whether the blue, teardrop-shaped badge she had seen was Blue Tears, but he refused to confirm anything and warned her not to investigate. She then described the badge to Gu Zheng, who recognized its significance and asked for the three-digit number hidden inside; Song Ning found 055.
Song Ning secured military protection and went to Flower City's Gao Di Street to negotiate exclusive distribution for her Hong Kong electronics with Deng Yixing. Deng questioned the appeal of her offer, and Song Ning showed him a better price list for orders over one hundred thousand.
Song Ning persuaded Deng Yixing to buy Yongxing electronics by presenting competitive prices, product samples, and news of Chen Yawen’s upcoming endorsement. Deng agreed to become the mainland exclusive distributor, and Huang Yongfu planned to meet him the next day to finalize the contract.
Song Ning finalized a large deal with Deng Yixing and told Yu Zhengyang they could make a substantial profit. Gu Zheng arrived, identified the badge Song Ning found as belonging to a missing Blue Shield comrade, and left reassured that Song Ning’s engagement to Lu Changqing had been called off.
Song Ning navigated Gu Zheng’s advances and then went with her companions to Flower City Port to collect Yongxing’s first shipment. There, she helped Huang Yongfu review his distribution contract and asked whether he knew the domineering Young Master Hu.