Arc 21Chapters 502–526
No recap yet.
No recap yet.
Xiao Mo and Nuomi refused He Rumeng and Li Zhenglu’s request to give Nuomi a kidney to save her half-brother, and Xiao Mo defended the family he had built with her. Afterward, Nuomi broke down over her birth mother’s motives, but Xiao Mo comforted her and helped her accept that the old hope was gone.
After Nuomi’s risky attempt to punish He Rumeng, Xiao Mo explained why avoiding a deal with Li Zhenglu was the best outcome. Li Zhenglu then ordered He Rumeng to force Nuomi into matching tests and threatened both his wife and son.
Nuomi proposed turning Li Le’s fruit-cutting skills into a creator business for Wang Xiaoliang’s night market, while Wang Xiaoliang reflected on Nuomi’s painful history with He Rumeng. After reading a new line in the Book of Fate, he connected Li Le’s and Nuomi’s suffering to their expectations of family and wondered whether letting go of those hopes would protect them.
Ma Yuanyuan visited Chengyou with her parents, spotted a job advertisement, and persuaded her father to ask Liu Xinyu for help returning to the company. Liu arranged an interview with Wang Xiaoliang for Monday, while Ma Yuanyuan agreed to attend a blind date next week.
Ma Yuanyuan went through Wang Xiaoliang’s recruitment process and, after he assigned her to film a night-market video, learned to edit and worked through the night to submit one. Wang Xiaoliang asked Cui Wanqiu about Ma Yuanyuan’s character and then began watching her video.
Wang Xiaoliang agreed to hire Ma Yuanyuan after seeing the distinct perspective in her video, but required her to resolve the transfer with Gu Junhao. After Ma Yuanyuan secured Gu Junhao’s approval, Liu Xinyu called Wang Xiaoliang with news that might anger him.
Wang Xiaoliang learned that Xie Hui would be promoted and considered Liu Xinyu’s plan to fold Chengyou into the Property Management Company. He reaffirmed his wish to return to Jiangcheng to start a media company and find Brother Qiang, then reluctantly agreed to consider hiring Liu Xinyu’s cousin Ma Yuanyuan.
Ma Yuanyuan returned to Chengyou and joined the office team as Wang Xiaoliang reorganized responsibilities. Xie Hui was promoted to general manager of Fucheng Chengyu Property Management Company and prepared to leave his current post.
Wang Xiaoliang offered Ma Yuanyuan a job filming videos for Li Le’s fruit stall, along with a ten-percent stake, after recognizing her talent in a video she had made. Ma Yuanyuan remained unsure about accepting until Cui Wanqiu revealed that she herself owned a ten-percent stake in the busy Luckin Coffee shop.
Wang Xiaoliang brought Ma Yuanyuan into Li Le’s fruit-stall partnership and laid out their roles, pay, and profit shares. After the three signed an agreement, he gave Ma Yuanyuan a detailed plan for Li Le’s short-video account, and she admitted she needed to improve her filming and editing skills.
Wang Xiaoliang discussed Luo Bisheng’s prospects with Li Yongling, who wanted to match him with Yi Jiahui. He explained that Luo Bisheng already had a girlfriend, then worried that Luo’s relentless work and study were signs that he was struggling with love.
At his farewell banquet, Xie Hui looked back on how Liu Xinyu had placed him at Chengyou to observe Gu Junhao and how working with Wang Xiaoliang had restored his sense of purpose. After Liu Xinyu confirmed Wang Xiaoliang approved his return to property management, Xie Hui left Chengyou grateful for Wang Xiaoliang and hopeful they could become true friends.
After returning to the property management company, Xie Hui removed former colleagues who had mistreated him and settled into his new role. A farewell calligraphy gift from Wang Xiaoliang delighted him, and Liu Xinyu showed him another piece Wang had written for her, leaving Xie Hui joking that the chairman should not be jealous between brothers.
After Xie Hui left, Wang Xiaoliang made calligraphy gifts for him and Fu Zhaojun, then gave Liu Xinyu's mother a third piece that prompted her to call him her son. While practicing calligraphy afterward, Wang Xiaoliang realized he could begin building a media company before returning to Jiangcheng, though he had not yet decided where to start.
Wei Zijin surprised Wang Xiaoliang at home, where they shared a meal with Luo Bisheng and Fan Qishan and discussed her plans to visit more often. Later, Wang Xiaoliang offered to help Luo Bisheng see Cheng Huan, but Luo Bisheng chose to wait until after retaking the graduate school exam.
Ma Yuanyuan filmed Li Le during a sudden rainstorm and an angry customer’s confrontation, then stopped Li Le from escalating matters after the customer insulted his mother. Though she had planned to quit, Li Le asked her to stay, and she agreed on the condition that he do something for her.
Ma Yuanyuan edited and posted a video of Li Le’s knife skills, which went viral and drew crowds to his stall and the night market. Wang Xiaoliang told her to focus on building the account’s following, while she began developing new ideas and remained distracted by her upcoming blind date.
As the fruit stall grew busier, Ma Yuanyuan filmed more content and learned that Li Le was saving money because his mother needed a kidney transplant, though he was not a match. Her feelings toward him shifted, but the chapter ended with her seeing him arrive hand in hand with a tattooed woman.
Ma Yuanyuan saw Li Le arrive at the hotel holding hands with a woman, then learned the next day that she was his best friend and had emigrated. As rain emptied the night market, Ma Yuanyuan persuaded Li Le to stop selling for the day, and they went upstairs to eat and drink with the remaining vendors.
Ma Yuanyuan filmed Li Le’s exhausting workday, and a video showing his efforts to pay for his mother’s surgery went viral, leading Wang Xiaoliang to plan livestreaming for the stall. When Wang later called Li Le and Ma Yuanyuan in to discuss their accounts and future plans, they asked to end their agreement and leave him.
Cui Wanqiu confronted Ma Yuanyuan over quitting her job and cutting Wang Xiaoliang out of the video account’s earnings, while Wang Xiaoliang examined the account and realized how much money Li Le and Ma Yuanyuan had made. He began to suspect that Ma Yuanyuan and Li Le were together.
Wang Xiaoliang used the Book of Fate to reconsider his expectations of Li Le and Ma Yuanyuan and decided to let their choices go. After Li Le revealed that Ma Yuanyuan was pregnant, Wang congratulated him but declined his offer to return and work together.
Wang Xiaoliang reflected on Li Le and Ma Yuanyuan’s choices and kept his distance after they left his company. He accepted their wedding invitation but refused to be their witness, leaving it on his desk as their relationship entered a new phase.
After Huanhuan cut contact under pressure from her mother, Luo Bisheng accepted that their relationship was over and leaned on Wang Xiaoliang’s advice as he began considering what to do next. He remained prepared to feel hurt for a while but reaffirmed his plans to open another store and reconsidered whether he still wanted graduate school.
Wang Xiaoliang reunited with old friends during Golden Week, and Li Xiaoman’s remarks about his success prompted Fang Dongxu to defend him. The dinner ended with Fang arguing that Wang’s success came from recognizing and seizing opportunities, not merely from influential connections.