Chapter Summaries

Song Ning stole a bicycle to reach Yakou Village and searched Yang Yindi’s house for the household registration booklet, but she could not find it. When Song Jinbao returned, she knocked him out, hid him in the cellar, and left Yang Yindi a ransom note while waiting to see what she would do.

• Song Ning ambushed Song Caijuan and her boyfriend on their bicycle, beat them, and rode off with it.
• Song Ning hid the bicycle near Yakou Village and sneaked into Song Chengbing and Yang Yindi’s house to search for the household registration booklet and money.
• Song Ning heard someone return, waited with a hoe, and knocked Song Jinbao unconscious when he entered.
• Song Ning tied up Song Jinbao and hid him in the cellar, then overturned the furniture and left a note demanding two hundred yuan for his release.
• Song Ning hid in the storage room with Yang Yindi’s pastries and waited for Song Chengbing and Yang Yindi to discover the note.

Song Ning tricked Song Chengbing and Yang Yindi into revealing where they hid their money, then took it and discovered that Yao Qianjin had taken her household registration booklet to prevent her from marrying. After overhearing Song Chengbing vow to report her and learning the family had given her booklet to Mayor Yao, she headed to retrieve the bicycle.

• Song Chengbing and Yang Yindi found their ransacked home and a threatening note, then decided to leave two hundred yuan for Song Ning’s captors rather than raise an alarm.
• Song Ning watched Yang Yindi retrieve the money from a basket on the main room’s beam, then searched it herself and found that her household registration booklet was missing.
• Song Ning took the remaining money and Song Chengbing’s household booklet, hid the basket’s other contents, and put the bound and gagged Song Jinbao in Yang Yindi’s bed.
• Song Ning found Song Chengbing and Yang Yindi waiting by the old locust tree, then took the money they had hidden in its hollow after they left.
• Song Ning overheard Song Chengbing say that Mayor Yao had her household registration booklet and had reported her missing, then went to retrieve the bicycle.

Song Ning went to Yao Qianjin’s family home at night and stole her household registration booklet from Zhang Fen’s locked drawer. As she fled, she saw smoke and flames rising from the direction of Yao Qianjin’s house.

• Song Ning hid her bicycle outside Luyuan Town and went to Yao Qianjin’s disabled younger brother Erniu’s home, where she persuaded him to ask Zhang Fen for her household registration booklet.
• Erniu demanded the booklet from Zhang Fen, who gave him a decoy and went after him when he ran off.
• Song Ning used the distraction to pry open Zhang Fen’s locked drawer and take her real household registration booklet.
• Song Ning escaped over the courtyard wall and headed away, relieved that she could register the next day.
• Song Ning heard passersby notice smoke and saw flames rising from the direction of Yao Qianjin’s house.

Song Ning returned to Yao Qianjin’s burning house and rescued Zhang Fen and Erniu before the building collapsed. After secretly leaving, she planned to register for the National College Entrance Examination in the county seat, while Gu Zheng and Yang Qi discussed why her behavior seemed so different from her past.

• Gu Zheng told Yang Qi that Song Ning had not started the fire, and Song Ning rushed back to Yao Qianjin’s house when she realized it was burning.
• Song Ning and Zhang Fen pulled Erniu out of the smoke-filled room, but Zhang Fen collapsed inside.
• Song Ning carried Zhang Fen toward the window and escaped just before a burning beam crashed down, then disappeared before the crowd could thank her.
• Song Ning booked a room under Song Caijuan’s name and planned to register for the entrance examination in the county seat the next day.
• Gu Zheng and Yang Qi checked into the neighboring room, and Gu Zheng asked whether Song Ning was suspicious because her actions contradicted her investigation report.

Song Ning registered as an independent candidate for the National College Entrance Examination, rented a quiet apartment for a month, and went to meet Gu Zheng. At the Yanling County Public Security Bureau, Gu Zheng invited her to meet Li Zekun.

• Gu Zheng wondered whether someone from the K organization would care about the lives of a man with an intellectual disability and a rural woman.
• Song Ning traveled to Yanling County and registered for the National College Entrance Examination as a self-taught independent candidate.
• Song Ning asked an elderly man for a quiet place to rent and then declined Zhang Mingtao's suggestion that they study together.
• Song Ning rented a one-bedroom apartment from Zhang Xuemei for twenty yuan a month.
• Song Ning went to the Yanling County Public Security Bureau, where Gu Zheng and Yang Qi were waiting, and Gu Zheng proposed that they meet Li Zekun.

Song Ning and Gu Zheng questioned the supposedly dead Li Zekun, who claimed he had left the guesthouse before the fire because his sister was ill. Song Ning warned Gu Zheng that Li Zekun might be tied to the attack on Mike, and his factory’s photodiode research gave them a possible connection.

• Gu Zheng and Song Ning met Li Zekun at the County Public Security Bureau, where he explained that he had left the guesthouse to take Qiaoling to the hospital before the fire.
• Li Zekun presented Qiaoling’s medical record and said he had gone home with her that night, but the burned guesthouse staff and missing records left his account unverified.
• After Li Zekun left, Song Ning urged Gu Zheng and Yang Qi to investigate him thoroughly because she sensed something was wrong.
• Gu Zheng warned Song Ning that she might have been the fire’s target, and she asked whether Li Zekun could be connected to the attack on Mike.
• Yang Qi told Song Ning that Li Zekun ran a factory researching photodiodes, which Song Ning linked to CT equipment research and potentially to Mike.
• Gu Zheng realized Li Zekun might have an unexpected connection to the K organization, though he could not explain how.

Song Ning settled into a room near her own, stocked up on supplies, and began a structured study plan while Gu Zheng continued investigating the suspicious accidents and the Textile Factory Guesthouse fire. The chapter ended with Han Xiao reluctantly accepting orders to help monitor Song Ning as a possible person of interest.

• Song Ning arranged for Gu Zheng to rent a room next door and bought food and supplies without ration coupons, with help from Zhang Xuemei, Curly Hair, and Zhang Mingtao.
• Song Ning created a detailed revision schedule, concluded that most subjects would be manageable, and began studying while setting politics aside for later.
• Han Xiao reported that Mike had faced two suspicious car incidents in Shanghai City and Shenzhen City, but neither had caused injuries or produced other leads related to K.
• Gu Zheng ordered Han Xiao and Yang Qi to take turns watching Song Ning and said he would investigate the fire at the Textile Factory Guesthouse to determine whether Li Zekun was connected.
• Han Xiao admitted he could not accept that Song Ning might be involved, then saluted and agreed to carry out the mission.

Song Ning went for a walk with Han Xiao, then invited him to lunch after buying wild muntjac meat, and Gu Zheng joined them. While waiting for the meal, Gu Zheng found Song Ning’s notes linking people from their investigations and began reviewing what the names might mean.

• Song Ning spotted Gu Zheng talking with a young woman and quietly returned home with Han Xiao rather than interrupting them.
• Song Ning and Han Xiao visited Curly Hair, bought wild muntjac meat, and returned to Song Ning’s apartment to cook lunch.
• Gu Zheng arrived after following the smell of the food, and Song Ning put him and Han Xiao to work preparing ingredients.
• Han Xiao asked Gu Zheng about the young woman, and Gu Zheng identified her as Li Qiaoling, Li Zekun’s younger sister, whose knowledge of the case remained uncertain.
• While Song Ning cooked, Gu Zheng examined her investigation notes and recognized connections among several names, including He Biao’s associates and Li Qiaoling.
• Gu Zheng was surprised to see Lu Changqing listed in Song Ning’s notes.

Song Ning shared a meal with Gu Zheng and Han Xiao, discussed the people on her list, and told them about the men who had followed her. Gu Zheng noticed her reaction when he asked to borrow her map, and three days later he told her Zheng Zhenguo had come to Yanling and was at the County Public Security Bureau.

• Song Ning explained that she had listed people she had met to look for connections, and Gu Zheng reassured her that the fire investigation kept them on the move regardless of her.
• Gu Zheng showed Song Ning the newspaper report calling the Textile Factory Guesthouse fire an electrical accident, then asked about Brother Yang, prompting her to describe the two men who had followed her.
• Gu Zheng asked to borrow Song Ning's map of Hua Country, but she hesitated and said she would look for it; afterward, he gave Han Xiao money and ration coupons to buy her fruit and told him not to disturb her studies.
• Gu Zheng realized Song Ning had not wanted him to see the map and worried that something about her was suspicious.
• Three days later, Gu Zheng visited Song Ning and told her Zheng Zhenguo had arrived in Yanling and was at the County Public Security Bureau.

Gu Zheng visited Song Ning after a devastating body identification at the Public Security Bureau, fell asleep in her home, and ate the noodles she made. Song Ning later accompanied him to meet Zheng Zhenguo, whose friend Liang Shunsheng remained unidentified after the guesthouse fire.

• Gu Zheng told Song Ning about a newly married teacher who identified his wife by their badly burned wedding-day watch and collapsed in grief.
• Song Ning made Gu Zheng tea and noodles, and he fell asleep in her living room for nearly an hour before reflecting on how much he trusted her despite investigating her.
• Gu Zheng and Song Ning returned to the Yanling County Public Security Bureau and met Zheng Zhenguo, whose search for his friend had not succeeded.
• Zheng Zhenguo explained that Liang Shunsheng had stayed in room 201 above the electrical room, where the fire had destroyed most identifying belongings.
• Song Ning encouraged Zheng Zhenguo to wait for the forensic examiner's comparisons, noting that her own missing travel companions had survived by going to the hospital.

Song Ning and Han Xiao witnessed Zheng Zhenguo being abducted by a coordinated group, but the truck escaped before they could stop it. Back at the County Public Security Bureau, Gu Zheng found a folded paper marked with a large “K” inside Zheng Zhenguo’s otherwise empty briefcase.

• Song Ning took Zheng Zhenguo to dinner, where he explained that Liang Shunsheng was a longtime friend and said his mother had begun taking her medicine.
• A group of attackers ambushed Song Ning and Zheng Zhenguo in the street, knocked Zheng Zhenguo unconscious, and forced him into a truck.
• Han Xiao arrived and fought the attackers, but the truck drove off with Zheng Zhenguo, and the assailants scattered after a whistle.
• Song Ning and Han Xiao found Zheng Zhenguo’s briefcase and reported the kidnapping to Gu Zheng, who ordered an effort to track down the truck.
• Gu Zheng examined the empty briefcase and found a folded sheet of paper bearing a large “K.”

Song Ning analyzed the Textile Factory Guesthouse fire and connected its victims to metals research, giving Gu Zheng a new lead. After Han Xiao took her home, Gu Zheng worried that Song Ning knew too much.

• Gu Zheng and Han Xiao recognized the K mark on the paper, while Song Ning remained unaware of its significance.
• Yang Qi brought Liang Shunsheng's background report, revealing that he was an engineer from Factory 282 who had stayed at the Guesthouse for nearly a week.
• Song Ning connected Liang Shunsheng, Zheng Zhenguo, Li Zekun, and Mike through their work with metallic materials and reasoned that the fire had targeted Liang rather than her or Gu Zheng.
• Song Ning urged Gu Zheng to investigate whether earlier victims had also worked in metals research, and Gu Zheng thanked her for the new lead.
• Gu Zheng sent Han Xiao to take Song Ning home and ordered him to protect her carefully.
• After Song Ning left, Gu Zheng told Yang Qi that she knew too much.

Gu Zheng and Song Ning weighed what they knew and trusted about each other while Song Ning prepared for the National College Entrance Examination. After Gu Zheng told her that her uncle had reported her missing, she asked him to handle it and left him with a question about whether they could trust one another.

• Gu Zheng contacted Comrade 016, learned the investigation had reached a critical stage, and continued wondering about Song Ning’s role.
• Song Ning agreed to study politics with Zhang Mingtao in exchange for helping him with science, and Gu Zheng told Han Xiao to watch them without interrupting.
• Gu Zheng visited Song Ning and told her that her uncle had reported her missing to the County Public Security Bureau after learning her name was on the entrance-exam registration list.
• Song Ning told Gu Zheng she had fled an unwanted marriage and wanted to leave the area after the exam, then asked him to deal with her uncle’s report.
• As Gu Zheng prepared to leave, Song Ning asked whether she could trust him and whether he trusted her.

Song Ning discovered that her uncle and cousin were staging a public scandal to lure her out and force her home. She knocked Song Jinbao unconscious and carried him off on a tricycle, while Gu Zheng and Han Xiao followed, unsure whether to rescue him or help her.

• Zhang Mingtao told Song Ning that Yang Yindi and Song Caijuan were accusing her outside the Education Bureau, so she went to see what they were doing.
• Song Ning spotted Song Chengbing and another man waiting with a sack and rope, and found Song Jinbao hiding nearby as part of their plan to capture her.
• Song Ning borrowed a tricycle and asked Zhang Mingtao to block the two men's view while she approached Song Jinbao.
• Song Ning knocked Song Jinbao unconscious with a silver needle, loaded him onto the tricycle, and took him away.
• Gu Zheng ordered Han Xiao to follow Song Ning, leaving Han Xiao uncertain whether they should save Song Jinbao or help Song Ning.

Song Ning abducted Song Jinbao and stabbed both sides of his groin to warn his family against causing more trouble. After the Song family found him and learned he had narrowly escaped permanent injury, Song Ning returned home to study, where an unexpected visitor was waiting.

• Song Ning tricked a passerby into directing Song Jinbao’s family toward Fengping Alley, then stabbed Song Jinbao on both sides of the thighs and left a warning note in his pocket.
• Gu Zheng told Han Xiao to watch how the Song Family reacted and make them behave if necessary.
• Song Chengbing and Yang Yindi found Song Jinbao and rushed him to the hospital, where the doctor said his wounds had narrowly missed severing his manhood.
• Yang Yindi slapped Song Chengbing and warned that continuing to provoke Song Ning could cost Song Jinbao his life, and Song Chengbing’s anger subsided.
• Song Ning returned the tricycle, declined Zhang Mingtao’s offer to study together, and found an unexpected visitor waiting at her rented room.

Li Zekun sought Song Ning out, saying he needed help with trouble beyond the regular police, but attackers ambushed them and abducted them both. Gu Zheng pursued the kidnappers’ truck while Yang Qi went to gather reinforcements.

• Li Zekun found Song Ning and asked to speak privately, then told her his sister had come to Yanling and asked whether her cousin could help him with a separate problem.
• Song Ning agreed that her cousin could help but questioned why Li Zekun had come to her first.
• Several men attacked Li Zekun and tried to drag him into a truck; when he clung to Song Ning’s ankle, they seized her too.
• Yang Qi told Gu Zheng that Song Ning had not been the kidnappers’ intended target, and Gu Zheng ordered him to gather everyone while he chased the truck.

Song Ning escaped from the locked storeroom where she and Li Zekun had been held, but found herself trapped inside a heavily guarded, abandoned factory complex. She followed signs of activity deeper into the buildings and was horrified by what she saw inside the lit one.

• Song Ning freed Li Zekun's mouth and blindfold, and he apologized before telling her about a notebook hidden in his factory office that could prove his family was uninvolved.
• Captors took Li Zekun away and left Song Ning locked in the storeroom, where she used a boning knife from her shoulder bag to cut her bonds.
• Song Ning escaped through a high window using the ropes, then discovered the factory complex was in a mountain valley and its gate was guarded.
• After deciding she could not force her way out, Song Ning marked her route with arrows and searched the abandoned buildings for a safer place to hide.
• Song Ning spotted a light inside one building, circled around, and looked through a window, where she saw something that horrified her.

Song Ning rescued Li Zekun from the molten iron vat after his captors left, then discovered a hidden underground passage in the factory. Li Zekun revealed that his captors were searching for a carbon fiber sample, leaving Song Ning to question whether she had understood him correctly.

• Song Ning watched the captors threaten to lower Li Zekun into molten iron, but an electric bell drew them away before they could finish.
• Song Ning reversed the cable and moved Li Zekun away from the vat, then found a hidden underground passage by flipping an unlabeled switch.
• Song Ning lowered Li Zekun, checked his faint breathing, and laid him on the floor before preparing to leave.
• Li Zekun weakly told Song Ning that his captors were looking for a carbon fiber sample, and Song Ning asked him to confirm.

After Li Zekun died, Song Ning realized the people seeking carbon fiber might have a connection to her missing grandfather, Old Man Song, and went underground to investigate. She searched an abandoned facility, but an iron plate sealed the stairs behind her, leaving her trapped with no apparent way out.

• Li Zekun told Song Ning that his actions had nothing to do with his family, then died, and Song Ning closed his eyes.
• Song Ning connected the organization’s interest in carbon fiber to Old Man Song’s research and worried that he might be in danger.
• Song Ning reopened the underground entrance, marked the switch, and descended through passages into a multi-level facility.
• Song Ning searched seven rooms, finding signs of a long-term operation but no people and little useful evidence.
• Song Ning discovered that the iron plate blocking the stairs had closed, and after searching the rooms for a way out, realized she was trapped underground.

Song Ning discovered a concealed ventilation duct and used Morse code to contact Gu Zheng, who crawled through and found her alive. Gu Zheng recounted tracking her to the underground facility and finding Li Zekun dead, leaving him terrified that Song Ning had suffered the same fate.

• Song Ning searched the underground rooms and uncovered a hidden ventilation opening beneath a mesh-covered patch of ceiling.
• Song Ning heard tapping inside the duct, exchanged Morse code with the person there, and recognized Gu Zheng’s reply.
• Gu Zheng crawled through the duct, checked Song Ning for injuries, and pulled her into a relieved embrace.
• Gu Zheng explained that he had tracked the kidnappers to the abandoned factory and followed Song Ning’s marked trail.
• Gu Zheng found Li Zekun dead at the building with the molten iron vessel and feared Song Ning was dead too.