Chapter Summaries

Wei Zijin explained Zhou Qiang’s success and told Wang Xiaoliang how her parents’ deaths and a predatory relative destroyed her childhood security. She recounted how her high school teacher helped her reach university, then began describing the mistake she made before the welcome gala.

• Wang Xiaoliang told Wei Zijin he had laughed at Zhao Shengkai and Ouyang Hai for mocking Zhou Qiang, not at Zhou Qiang himself.
• Wei Zijin revealed that Zhou Qiang was a successful entrepreneur who had donated a laboratory building and funded study visits for a hundred students.
• At East Lake, Wei Zijin told Wang Xiaoliang that her father’s death brought crushing debts, her family’s collapse, and her mother’s death after a long struggle with depression.
• Wei Zijin described how an uncle offered her money in exchange for sleeping with him, and how she fled in despair.
• Wei Zijin said her high school teacher sheltered her, helped her obtain a student loan, and supported her enrollment at the university.
• Wei Zijin recalled volunteering to organize, host, and sing at the welcome gala, then said she had made a serious mistake before the show began.

Wei Zijin told Wang Xiaoliang how he had rescued the freshman welcome show by writing a replacement banner, and how she had quietly admired him ever since. Wang Xiaoliang realized they had both secretly loved each other for four years, and the chapter ended with him finally speaking her name.

• Wei Zijin recounted how someone ruined the welcome-show banner and how Wang Xiaoliang wrote a replacement backstage.
• Wang Xiaoliang remembered helping with the banner without realizing Wei Zijin had watched him and later learned his name.
• Wei Zijin revealed that she had watched Wang Xiaoliang in a campus park on Saturdays and worried about him when she heard rumors that he had given up on his studies.
• Wei Zijin explained that seeing Wang Xiaoliang reading at the Library inspired her to introduce herself after four years of hidden feelings.
• Wang Xiaoliang realized he had loved Wei Zijin for the same four years and, overwhelmed, addressed her by name.

Wang Xiaoliang told Wei Zijin how long he had secretly loved her, and she explained that her ambitions and worries kept her from wanting a relationship. After she said goodbye, he pleaded for time to make her happy, and she asked whether five years would be enough without promising she would wait.

• Wang Xiaoliang recounted falling for Wei Zijin at the freshman welcome show and secretly watching her at the campus park every weekend.
• Wei Zijin revealed that she did not want a relationship because she was focused on building a career and considered finding a rich husband as a possible shortcut.
• Wang Xiaoliang asked whether Wei Zijin's parents would want her to exhaust herself, but she challenged him to say whether he could make her happy.
• Wei Zijin said their feelings were pure, embraced Wang Xiaoliang, kissed his cheek, and walked away after saying goodbye.
• Wang Xiaoliang shouted that he loved Wei Zijin and could make her happy if she gave him time.
• Wei Zijin asked whether five years would be enough, then warned that she might be older or married by then and made no promises.

After Wei Zijin ended their budding relationship because Wang Xiaoliang could not promise her a secure future, he resolved to change his life. The Book of Fate’s sixth teaching led him to realize that a person’s smooth path lay in skills they found natural and enjoyable, and he began searching for his own.

• Wang Xiaoliang returned to his dorm after Wei Zijin explained that love alone could not overcome their uncertain future, and he resolved to stop losing people because he lacked money.
• Alone in the dorm, Wang Xiaoliang opened the Book of Fate and read its sixth teaching about finding a broad path in work that felt natural and enjoyable.
• Wang Xiaoliang considered how Wang Fen, Li Lanxiang, and Zhao Shengkai had pursued shortcuts, then questioned whether Wei Zijin’s difficult life could count as her smooth path.
• Wang Xiaoliang realized that the teaching referred to particular skills, and recognized Wei Zijin’s ease with hosting and singing as talents she had used to support herself.
• Wang Xiaoliang rejected selling drinks as his own smooth path because the work was exhausting and temporary, and began searching his past for a skill he could enjoy and use to earn money.

Wang Xiaoliang laid out a plan for Wei Zijin to build an online interview show and explained the principles he believed it should follow. Wei Zijin accepted the idea and asked him to be her first interviewee.

• Wang Xiaoliang messaged Wei Zijin and arranged to meet her near the TV station, saying he could point her toward a way forward.
• Wang Xiaoliang took Wei Zijin to lunch and then explained that online content could help her gain experience and build her own audience.
• Wang Xiaoliang proposed an interview series featuring ordinary people and their everyday lives, with Wei Zijin as the host and guide.
• Wang Xiaoliang urged Wei Zijin to avoid unethical tactics and to present interviewees without judging or lecturing them.
• Wei Zijin sincerely asked Wang Xiaoliang to be the first person she interviewed.

Wang Xiaoliang agreed to be Wei Zijin’s first interview subject, and she filmed him selling drinks around campus before interviewing him and asking him to write calligraphy for her video. After his makeup exams, Wei Zijin sent him the finished video link, titled “Song of Ordinary People,” and Wang Xiaoliang opened it.

• Wang Xiaoliang agreed to let Wei Zijin film his daily life and meet him outside his dorm the next morning.
• Wei Zijin filmed Wang Xiaoliang selling drinks near the Library while Liu Xinyu was startled to see them together and questioned Wang Xiaoliang about calling her Zijin.
• Wei Zijin interviewed Wang Xiaoliang about his past, family, and future, then asked him to write a piece of calligraphy for the end of her video.
• Wang Xiaoliang spent the following weeks selling drinks and studying, then felt confident he had passed both makeup exams while Li Jun feared he had failed.
• Wei Zijin sent Wang Xiaoliang a link to her video, “Song of Ordinary People,” and he opened it.

Wang Xiaoliang watched Wei Zijin’s interview video about his life as a graduating student, his anxieties about the future, and his calligraphy. The video revealed that Wei Zijin had also filmed him helping an injured woman after a traffic accident, and he realized she had been there that day.

• Wei Zijin introduced her project to interview 100 graduating university students and presented Wang Xiaoliang as her first interviewee.
• The video showed Wang Xiaoliang delivering drinks around campus while studying during breaks and explained that earning money gave him a sense of security amid graduation and career worries.
• Wei Zijin asked Wang Xiaoliang to write something for her, and he created a calligraphy piece titled “Green, Green Is My Collar.”
• Wei Zijin revealed footage of Wang Xiaoliang treating an injured woman at a traffic accident and staying until the ambulance arrived.
• Wang Xiaoliang recognized the accident footage and found Wei Zijin’s account, where an earlier video had also documented his actions at the scene.

Wang Xiaoliang watched Wei Zijin’s interview videos gain popularity, drawing both vicious comments and praise for his calligraphy and their supposed romance. After the third video, he continued delivering drinks to the Library until someone stopped him at the entrance.

• Wang Xiaoliang read the first video’s comments, where viewers argued over his relationship with Wei Zijin and offered to commission his calligraphy.
• Wei Zijin released her second video, featuring Wang Fen singing about her dream of becoming a singer and her parents’ disapproval.
• Wei Zijin’s third video featured Li Lanxiang’s volleyball skills, athletic-student life, and plans to marry her boyfriend after graduation.
• Wang Xiaoliang made watching Wei Zijin’s videos and reading their comments a daily hobby.
• Wang Xiaoliang arrived at the Library with drinks for postgraduate exam students, but a stern voice stopped him at the entrance.

Wang Xiaoliang was reported for selling drinks in the Library, but Teacher Zheng intervened after recognizing him as the student who had helped an injured girl. After learning that viewers wanted to commission his calligraphy, Wang Xiaoliang saw a new way to earn money.

• Master Zhang took Wang Xiaoliang to Teacher Sun, who confronted him about selling drinks in the Library and demanded to know how much he had earned.
• Wang Xiaoliang refused to disclose his earnings, and Teacher Sun threatened him with discipline.
• Teacher Zheng recognized Wang Xiaoliang as the student who had helped the injured girl and persuaded Teacher Sun to drop the thousand-word self-criticism.
• Teacher Zheng explained that the university had banned outside food deliveries after the accident, then connected with Wang Xiaoliang on WeChat so she could put him in touch with the girl's grateful parents.
• Wei Zijin told Wang Xiaoliang that viewers wanted his contact information to commission calligraphy, and he realized it might offer him a new source of income.

Wang Xiaoliang studied how to make calligraphy videos and decided to keep selling drinks while exploring the new business. After Liu Xinyu agreed to deliver Library orders, the wholesale shopkeeper showed Wang Xiaoliang how to turn his WeChat contacts and Moments into a broader marketplace.

• Wang Xiaoliang researched calligraphy creators, paid for a short-video course, and ordered basic filming equipment.
• The Book of Fate warned Wang Xiaoliang not to abandon his drink business before a new livelihood was secure.
• Wang Xiaoliang arranged for Liu Xinyu to deliver Library orders, with the two splitting the profits.
• Wang Xiaoliang found that Library sales fell after Liu Xinyu stopped actively pitching drinks to students.
• The wholesale shopkeeper told Wang Xiaoliang to use his WeChat contacts and Moments to sell more goods and offer deliveries.

After being barred from the Library, Wang Xiaoliang realized his WeChat contacts could become his market and earned his first money by writing commissioned calligraphy. He concluded that calligraphy could bring in some income but would not be his main business, then accepted a friend request from a customer whose nickname startled him: A Good-For-Nothing.

• Wang Xiaoliang accepted a friend request from S, who commissioned four calligraphy characters for four hundred yuan.
• Wang Xiaoliang wrote “I love Xiaoxiao,” photographed it for S, and received payment.
• S met Wang Xiaoliang, asked him to take photos and a video with the calligraphy, and explained it was a romantic gift for his girlfriend.
• Wang Xiaoliang received more calligraphy requests through Wei Zijin, charged one hundred yuan per character, and completed an order for “idiot.”
• Wang Xiaoliang decided to focus on turning his Moments into an online grocery store and accepted a friend request from a customer named A Good-For-Nothing.

Wang Xiaoliang met Zhou Qiang to discuss selling him recyclable bottles and cardboard, then learned how collecting recyclables had helped Zhou survive his first year at university. Zhou Qiang began to explain his unlikely rise, and Wang Xiaoliang asked how it had led to his Maybach.

• Wang Xiaoliang accepted a WeChat request from “A Good-For-Nothing” and met the person, who turned out to be Zhou Qiang.
• Zhou Qiang offered to buy Wang Xiaoliang’s empty drink bottles and cardboard at better prices and collect them himself.
• Over dinner at a cheap Sichuan restaurant, Zhou Qiang explained that recycling had been the starting point of his career.
• Zhou Qiang described growing up without parents, struggling to afford university, and earning money by collecting bottles and cardboard across campus.
• Zhou Qiang recalled using his first recycling profits to buy a lavish meal at the restaurant, which gave him diarrhea because his stomach was unaccustomed to rich food.
• Wang Xiaoliang toasted Zhou Qiang and asked how collecting recyclables had enabled him to buy a Maybach.

Zhou Qiang explained how he built his fortune by collecting graduates’ unwanted belongings, selling them online, and eventually entering cross-border e-commerce. He also told Wang Xiaoliang that his donation of a university building was not repayment for kindness but what the university deserved, leaving Wang impressed by his straightforward accounting of the past.

• Zhou Qiang refused to reveal his business secrets at first, but offered to explain if Wang Xiaoliang told him how he won Wei Zijin over.
• Wang Xiaoliang declined to claim he had won Wei Zijin and asked Zhou Qiang to continue his story instead.
• Zhou Qiang described how collecting graduates’ books, lamps, and other unwanted belongings earned him his first fortune, then led him to online secondhand sales and cross-border e-commerce.
• Wang Xiaoliang asked whether Zhou Qiang had donated a building to the university, and Zhou confirmed it.
• Zhou Qiang said the donation was what the university deserved for providing the environment where he began his business, and explained that he had refused to let the building bear only his name.
• Wang Xiaoliang praised Zhou Qiang’s perspective, and Zhou replied that he was simply telling the truth.

Wang Xiaoliang learned why Zhou Qiang still collected scrap despite his immense wealth and applied the lesson to his own work selling drinks. Later, he discovered that the book’s ninth art of fatechanging matched Zhou Qiang’s words about trusting first impressions, leaving him convinced the book was uncanny.

• Zhou Qiang told Wang Xiaoliang that Zhao Shengkai made him uneasy, while Wang Xiaoliang made him feel relaxed and open.
• Zhou Qiang explained that collecting scrap kept him grounded, and Wang Xiaoliang understood it as the foundation that sustained him even after his business grew.
• Wang Xiaoliang flattened his leftover cartons and went to collect empty bottles from classmates, resolving to promote his drinks more actively and gather scrap.
• Wang Xiaoliang connected Zhou Qiang’s continued scrap collecting to the eighth art of fatechanging, which advised maintaining an old trade while establishing a new one.
• Wang Xiaoliang read the ninth art of fatechanging and realized its advice about trusting or avoiding people matched Zhou Qiang’s remarks about his first impressions.

Wang Xiaoliang improved his calligraphy videos and called Zhou Qiang to clear the recyclables piling up in his dorm. As they rode the loaded tricycle off campus, they passed Zhao Shengkai, Chen Xiaoying, Ouyang Hai, and Wang Fen, whose mockery left Wang Xiaoliang unfazed.

• Wang Xiaoliang shortened his videos and began writing trending phrases in calligraphy, drawing more views, followers, and comments.
• After two weeks without Zhou Qiang visiting, Wang Xiaoliang sent him photos of the recyclables filling the dorm, and Zhou Qiang agreed to come that afternoon.
• Zhou Qiang sorted and bought Wang Xiaoliang's recyclables for eighty yuan, then accepted his offer to help deliver them.
• Wang Xiaoliang and Zhou Qiang loaded the recyclables onto Zhou Qiang's electric cargo tricycle and headed toward the west gate.
• They passed Zhao Shengkai, Chen Xiaoying, Ouyang Hai, and Wang Fen, who stared at the loaded tricycle and mocked Wang Xiaoliang and Zhou Qiang.
• Wang Xiaoliang smiled and stayed untroubled as Zhou Qiang drove on without stopping.

Wang Xiaoliang watched Wei Zijin’s interview with Nono, a terminally ill college student who spoke about her regrets and urged viewers to live well. The video went viral, and Wang Xiaoliang ended by encouraging Nono to confess her feelings to the person she liked.

• Wang Xiaoliang watched Zhao Shengkai and Chen Xiaoying boast about their jobs, marriage plans, and future together, and decided to keep his distance from them.
• Wang Xiaoliang opened Wei Zijin’s latest video and watched Nono explain her illness, her regrets, and the things she still loved.
• Nono broke down while talking about her parents, then listed her greatest regrets, including never having experienced a real relationship.
• Nono urged viewers to stop worrying over ordinary troubles and live well while they could.
• Wei Zijin’s video attracted a flood of emotional comments and rapidly gained views and followers.
• Wang Xiaoliang liked and shared the video, then commented that Nono should confess to the person she liked.

Wang Xiaoliang rented a small room near campus as graduation approached and attended a farewell dinner with Li Jun and Liu Xinyu. Liu Xinyu revealed that he would help with his family’s business but dreamed of building a venture from nothing, and Wang Xiaoliang toasted that ambition with him.

• Wang Xiaoliang chose a south-facing room in the university staff compound and agreed to pay fifteen hundred yuan a month.
• Li Jun took Wang Xiaoliang to a campus job fair, where both returned disappointed by the available prospects.
• Liu Xinyu invited Wang Xiaoliang and Li Jun to a small farewell dinner, explaining that he preferred gathering a few people to make each guest feel specially invited.
• Liu Xinyu said he would help with his family’s business after graduation and admitted that he wanted to build a business of his own.
• Wang Xiaoliang raised his glass to Liu Xinyu’s dream, and they toasted to building something from nothing.

After Li Jun drunkenly revealed that he had coerced Feng Yuan into helping him pass a makeup exam, Wang Xiaoliang discussed his plans to stay in Jiangcheng and earn money. Liu Xinyu praised Wang Xiaoliang’s recent efforts and predicted that good luck was coming, leaving them to toast to that hope.

• Li Jun complained about his prospects after graduation and admitted that he had threatened Feng Yuan over the makeup exam and false testimony about Third.
• Liu Xinyu tried to change the subject, but Li Jun angrily left the private room despite Wang Xiaoliang’s attempt to stop him.
• Wang Xiaoliang told Liu Xinyu he had rented a room in the university staff housing compound and planned to support himself by selling drinks, collecting recyclables, and selling calligraphy.
• Liu Xinyu admitted he had once thought poorly of Wang Xiaoliang and his dormmates for lacking plans, then said Wang Xiaoliang had impressed him in recent months.
• Wang Xiaoliang explained that Third’s death had made him reconsider his life and stop drifting, while keeping the Book of Fate secret.
• Liu Xinyu told Wang Xiaoliang that his good luck had arrived, and Wang Xiaoliang refilled his glass and toasted, “May your words come true.”

Wang Xiaoliang turned down Liu Xinyu’s offer to join his family business and chose to keep building his own ventures. Later that night, he learned Li Jun had been arrested, helped pay his fine, and returned to the dorm to watch over him, but awoke to find Li Jun gone.

• Liu Xinyu offered Wang Xiaoliang a job in his family business, but Wang Xiaoliang declined and said he wanted to try making it on his own first.
• A campus security officer woke Wang Xiaoliang and took him to the police station, where he learned Li Jun had been arrested for soliciting a prostitute.
• Wang Xiaoliang paid Li Jun’s two-thousand-yuan fine, and the security officer explained that Vice Principal Song had arranged to keep the matter quiet and have Li Jun withdraw from school.
• Back at the dorm, Wang Xiaoliang saw Li Jun crying and decided to stay awake to watch over him, but exhaustion overcame him.
• Wang Xiaoliang woke in the morning and found Li Jun’s bed empty.

After Li Jun left school, Wang Xiaoliang feared what might have happened if they had stayed close and moved out of their dorm. Over lunch with Liu Xinyu, he realized Liu had a knack for spotting business opportunities and wondered if he could now tell fortunes, before Liu asked whether he had a secret crush.

• Wang Xiaoliang found Li Jun's farewell message saying he had left school after losing his graduation and degree certificates and feeling unable to face anyone.
• Wang Xiaoliang, frightened by the dorm's recent tragedies and imagining how he might have followed Li Jun into trouble, decided to move out immediately.
• Wang Xiaoliang asked Liu Xinyu to help move his belongings, and they cleared out his dorm in one trip.
• Wang Xiaoliang treated Liu Xinyu to Sichuan food at Fly Restaurant despite having less than three hundred yuan left.
• Liu Xinyu complained about the restaurant's poor rice, prompting Wang Xiaoliang to recognize his business-minded outlook and conclude that he had a fortune ahead.
• Liu Xinyu asked Wang Xiaoliang whether he had a secret crush on someone.