Chapter Summaries

Wang Xiaoliang recounted his past to Fan Qishan, from his struggles in school and his love for Wei Zijin to Old Third’s death and his later business setbacks. Fan Qishan said Wang was his fated opportunity, then warned him that Liu Xinyu had impure motives for inviting him over.

• Wang Xiaoliang told Fan Qishan how failing his first-year finals drove him to study relentlessly until he entered Jiang University, where he first saw Wei Zijin and fell in love with her.
• Wang Xiaoliang recalled his dormmates and revealed that Old Third jumped off a building on the day he received the Book of Fate.
• Wang Xiaoliang described dating Wei Zijin, partnering with Li Laifu, and later restarting a campus business with Zhou Qiang and Huang Xueli before the university ordered them to leave.
• Wang Xiaoliang asked Fan Qishan why he treated him differently, and Fan said Wang was his fated opportunity.
• Fan Qishan said he had hurried over because he felt uneasy, then warned Wang Xiaoliang that Liu Xinyu had impure motives for inviting him.

Wang Xiaoliang resumed work at Chengyou Labor Service and discovered that its small staff was surrounded by powerful relatives and lavish company cars. After learning that Liu Xinyu had halted plans to redevelop the site, Wang Xiaoliang suspected the company’s leadership was designed to undermine him.

• Wang Xiaoliang built up his standing practice, read classics, and settled into a cautious routine of calls with Wei Zijin while Zhao Nan sent him updates about her.
• Wang Xiaoliang cooked three dishes, and Fan Qishan ate them eagerly.
• On the fifteenth day after waking, Wang Xiaoliang drove to Chengyou Labor Service to take up his post, accompanied by Fu Zhaojun’s support.
• Fu Zhaojun explained that Chengyou’s site was where Chengyu Group began and that Liu Xinyu had stopped plans to rebuild it as the group headquarters.
• Fan Jingbang welcomed Wang Xiaoliang and introduced deputy general managers Xie Hui and Gu Junhao, while Wang Xiaoliang noticed the company’s expensive cars and influential family ties.
• Wang Xiaoliang concluded that Liu Xinyu had placed relatives and allies around him to undermine his position.

Wang Xiaoliang arrived at the labor services company and found Gu Junhao treating the legal representative’s office as his own. After taking Gu Junhao’s key, Wang Xiaoliang cleaned the filthy office himself and settled into it.

• Gu Junhao welcomed Wang Xiaoliang and led him to the luxurious but smoke-filled, messy office.
• Gu Junhao pretended to scold the cleaner and threatened to fire her, but Wang Xiaoliang asked for the office key instead.
• Wang Xiaoliang took Gu Junhao’s key and began cleaning the office while Gu Junhao removed a box containing cash and personal belongings.
• Wang Xiaoliang cleaned the room, discovered an empty safe, and then relaxed in the executive chair beside the aquarium.

Wang Xiaoliang questioned the administrative section employees and discovered that its storeroom was inaccessible to its own chief but controlled by Gu Junhao. At lunch, Gu Junhao tried to open the storeroom for liquor, while Wang Xiaoliang declined to drink.

• Wang Xiaoliang questioned Chen Jiye about drinking at work and the administrative section's duties, then learned that Chen could not access its storeroom because Old Wu held the key.
• Wang Xiaoliang questioned Li Shumei about her duties and sent her away when she began asking about his marital status.
• Fan Jingbang showed Wang Xiaoliang the canteen and explained that a locked garage held the car of former general manager Liu Xinyu.
• Gu Junhao welcomed Wang Xiaoliang at lunch with an extra dish, then handed Chen Jiye a key to fetch Moutai from the storeroom.
• Wang Xiaoliang refused the liquor, and Gu Junhao told Chen Jiye to bring it for the others to drink.

On his first day as general manager, Wang Xiaoliang watched Gu Junhao use liquor, food, and a gambling game to display his influence over the compound’s employees. After declining to join the game, Wang Xiaoliang returned to his office and weighed how to address the gambling without provoking an open conflict before he understood the workplace.

• Wang Xiaoliang introduced himself to the employees and said he would speak with each of them over the next two days.
• Gu Junhao invited Wang Xiaoliang to play Bull, but Wang Xiaoliang refused and left the cafeteria with Fan Jingbang following him.
• Wang Xiaoliang spoke with the gatehouse attendant, Mr. Sheng, then went out to buy a notebook and pen.
• Wang Xiaoliang returned and saw Gu Junhao gambling with employees for large sums of cash in the cafeteria.
• Wang Xiaoliang used the massage chair in his office and considered how to stop the gambling without immediately clashing with Gu Junhao.

Wang Xiaoliang reviewed personnel records and attendance at his new company, discovering that Wu Zeyou had been marked on personal leave for three months. He then called Uncle Wu to learn how labor companies operate and asked what a company must consider when dismissing an employee.

• Wang Xiaoliang summoned Cui Wanqiu and examined the employee files, contracts, and attendance records she brought him.
• Wang Xiaoliang noticed that Wu Zeyou had been listed on personal leave every workday for three months, while Cui Wanqiu stayed silent about the situation.
• Wang Xiaoliang learned from Cui Wanqiu that many employees had been transferred from the group because the company offered good pay and benefits with little work.
• Wang Xiaoliang called his father, got Uncle Wu's number, and asked him to explain labor dispatch and construction labor companies.
• Uncle Wu described the labor costs, contracts, and fees involved in construction labor companies, and Wang Xiaoliang asked what to consider before dismissing an employee.

Wang Xiaoliang questioned the finance section about its procedures and learned that Gu Junhao controlled the company’s online banking token and had lent the debt-free company eleven million. Li Yongling ended the chapter by explaining that Gu had transferred the money as loans, leaving Wang to investigate why.

• Wang Xiaoliang reviewed the staff roster, called finance chief Xiao Ziting to his office, and questioned her responsibilities and control of the company’s banking tokens.
• Xiao Ziting claimed Gu Junhao had taken her token, while Li Yongling arrived and offered Wang her own transaction-entry token.
• Wang called Gu Junhao and demanded the authorization token, but Gu refused, claiming he needed it because much of the money in the company account was his.
• Wang questioned Li Yongling about the company’s finances, and she explained that its management fees covered expenses and left money for bonuses.
• Li Yongling told Wang that Gu had transferred eleven million into the company account as loans, and, when Wang asked why, she answered, “Lending.”

On his first day at the company, Wang Xiaoliang learned from Li Yongling that Gu Junhao was secretly lending contractors personal money at interest through company accounts. Wang began taking steps to gain control of the company’s finances, while Fan Jingbang agreed to bring him the company seals and business license.

• Li Yongling explained how Gu Junhao routed personal loans to contractors through company accounts and concealed the interest payments.
• Li Yongling said Gu Junhao benefited from contractors’ gifts and meals, and that his lending had increased after the group banned company borrowing.
• Li Yongling told Wang Xiaoliang she trusted him because he had refused Gu Junhao’s hospitality and immediately sought online banking access.
• Wang Xiaoliang asked Li Yongling who held the company seals and told her to take personal leave the next morning.
• Wang Xiaoliang told Fan Jingbang he needed the official company seal, the legal representative’s personal seal, and the business license for a contract and commitment letter with Ruiwen Construction.

Wang Xiaoliang met Fang Dongxu at Chengyou and learned that Gu Junhao may have arranged for Fang to win him over. After settling into his new life in Fucheng, Wang Xiaoliang watched Wang Fen’s viral singing video and received her heartfelt thanks.

• Wang Xiaoliang found Fang Dongxu blocking his Lexus and learned Fang was surprised he had become Chengyou’s general manager.
• Fang Dongxu invited Wang Xiaoliang to meet Gu Junhao, then questioned why Wang had joined Chengyou; Wang said he planned to polish his résumé before transferring to Chengyu Group.
• Wang Xiaoliang suspected Gu Junhao had told Fang about his arrival and was using him to draw Wang in.
• Wang Xiaoliang had dinner with Fan Qishan, spoke with Wei Zijin, and then watched Wang Fen’s viral performance of “The Taste.”
• Wang Fen messaged Wang Xiaoliang about her successful video and thanked him, saying she felt free.

Wang Xiaoliang attended a group middle-management meeting where Fu Zhaojun introduced him as a chairman-backed recruit, then arranged for him to meet someone in his office. Wang Xiaoliang was shocked when the visitor entered.

• Wang Xiaoliang brought the lunch box Wei Zijin had sent and shared lunch with Gu Junhao, who shifted from challenging him to warmly calling him brother.
• Fu Zhaojun called Wang Xiaoliang and asked him to attend a group middle-management meeting that afternoon.
• Fu Zhaojun introduced Wang Xiaoliang to the group’s middle and senior managers as a talented recruit brought in by the chairman.
• After the meeting, Fu Zhaojun asked Wang Xiaoliang to stay and led him to his office to meet someone.
• A visitor entered Fu Zhaojun’s office, and Wang Xiaoliang was shocked by the person’s face.

Wang Xiaoliang reunited with Chen Xiaoying, who had changed her name to Chen Zhifei and rebuilt her life as an accountant at Chengyu Group. He invited her to dinner with Fang Dongxu, where they began to reconnect before Fang arrived.

• Chen Xiaoying introduced herself to Wang Xiaoliang as Chen Zhifei, an accountant in Chengyu Group's finance department, and asked him to wait for her after work.
• Wang Xiaoliang invited Chen Zhifei to join Fang Dongxu's dinner, and she agreed to come after finishing her work.
• Fu Zhaojun praised Chen Zhifei's professionalism and discussed Wang Xiaoliang's adjustment to his new job with him.
• Wang Xiaoliang and Chen Zhifei arrived at the restaurant before Fang Dongxu and spoke about her parents and the knife wound on Wang's hand.
• Chen Zhifei leaned closer to inspect Wang Xiaoliang's hand just as Fang Dongxu entered the private room.

Wang Xiaoliang and Chen Zhifei met Fang Dongxu, who described his business services and tried to recruit Wang into a risky acceptance-bill scheme. Chen Zhifei warned Wang to stay away, and he thanked her as a new friend before driving off.

• Fang Dongxu was startled to see Chen Zhifei, and she asked him to stop calling her Chen Xiaoying.
• Fang Dongxu explained how he left Chengyou Labor Service and built a business handling company registrations, qualifications, bookkeeping, and other services.
• Fang Dongxu warned Wang Xiaoliang about opposing Mr. Gu and offered him a job, then proposed that Wang invest in reselling acceptance bills.
• Wang Xiaoliang questioned the legal risks and learned that Fang Dongxu planned to use multiple companies and accounts to cash bills for clients.
• Fang Dongxu asked Wang Xiaoliang to arrange a meeting with Fan Qishan, but Wang refused.
• After Wang Xiaoliang drove Chen Zhifei home, she warned him that reselling acceptance bills was illegal, and he thanked her as his new friend.

Wang Xiaoliang learned why Liu Xinyu was shutting down Chengyou Labor Service and discussed Liu Xinyu's plans for the company and its staff. Unable to sleep, he read the Book of Fate's forty-first Fate-Changing Art and finally settled down.

• Wang Xiaoliang called Liu Xinyu and worked out that he was following Third Uncle's example by winding down Chengyu Group.
• Liu Xinyu explained that he halted Chengyou Labor Service because its name reflected his father's favoritism toward his younger brother, Liu Xinyou, and he would not let him live off the Comprehensive Building.
• Liu Xinyu told Wang Xiaoliang that he had placed Chen Zhifei in Finance to monitor the company's accounts and had assigned Fang Dongxu to Chengyou so Gu Junhao would keep an eye on him.
• Liu Xinyu said his father was recovering after Third Uncle introduced an expert.
• Wang Xiaoliang read the Book of Fate's forty-first Fate-Changing Art, reflected on its advice to act without hesitation or fear of ridicule, and fell asleep.

Wang Xiaoliang investigated the company’s staff and business practices while questioning Chen Jiye, a business development employee, and Fan Jingbang. After Gu Junhao celebrated a profitable subcontract, police arrived at Wang Xiaoliang’s office and ordered him to come with them.

• Wang Xiaoliang summoned Chen Jiye and learned that the company had no spare computers, then questioned two business development employees about their duties and the company’s strengths.
• Wang Xiaoliang questioned Fan Jingbang about his work and heard him describe Fan Qishan’s academic promise, his choice to follow an old Daoist, and his family’s disappointment in him.
• At lunch, Gu Junhao announced that he had signed a sixty-million-yuan labor subcontract and invited Wang Xiaoliang to drink and play cards, but Wang declined.
• After Wang Xiaoliang rested in his office, two police officers arrived and told him to come with them.

After Gu Junhao served fifteen days in detention for organizing gambling, he rushed back to work to resolve an overdue loan payment and discovered Wang Xiaoliang had taken control of the company’s online banking. Gu Junhao went to confront Wang Xiaoliang, leaving the outcome unresolved as he opened the office door.

• Wang Xiaoliang told the police he had reported the company’s gambling himself, and Gu Junhao was sentenced to fifteen days in detention and fined 5,000 yuan.
• Gu Junhao was released and went through his wife’s cleansing rituals before checking his phone and finding a bank notice that his loan repayment was three days overdue.
• Gu Junhao rushed to the company, but the bank’s website said his U-Shield had been deactivated.
• Xiao Ziting told Gu Junhao that Wang Xiaoliang had fired her and the other gambling participants, and Gu Junhao cut ties with her after learning they had blamed him to the police.
• Li Yongling told Gu Junhao that Wang Xiaoliang had reported the old online banking access lost and applied for new access on his second day at the company.
• Gu Junhao steadied himself, knocked on Wang Xiaoliang’s office door, and opened it.

Gu Junhao confronted Wang Xiaoliang after his release, demanding access to company funds and challenging his dismissal. Wang exposed Gu’s legal and financial vulnerabilities, then offered him a chance to recover his money and use his own construction labor company, leaving Gu to consider whether to trust him.

• Gu Junhao entered Wang Xiaoliang’s office and demanded access to online banking so he could make a payment, but Wang told him he had been fired.
• Gu Junhao threatened to disrupt Chengyou’s subcontracting work, sue the company, freeze its accounts, and bring workers to make trouble, while Wang countered each threat and revealed he had reported Gu’s gambling.
• Gu Junhao raised a Wall Street Bull as if to strike Wang, but put it down after Wang warned him that violence would further delay recovering his money.
• Wang offered Gu a chance to reclaim his money through his own construction labor company, and Gu demanded that Wang transfer some money first before he would trust him.
• Wang called Section Chief Li to bring the online banking device and said the transfer could proceed if it was reasonable and lawful.

Wang Xiaoliang offered Gu Junhao a chance to build his own company by transferring Chengyou’s projects, contracts, and clients to him in exchange for taking most of Chengyou’s staff. Gu Junhao accepted the deal, and Wang asked him to list the employees he did not want.

• Wang Xiaoliang asked Gu Junhao why he had delayed starting his own construction labor company and whether he feared being seen as ungrateful to the people who had helped him.
• Wang Xiaoliang proposed gradually returning Gu Junhao’s company funds and sending all future projects, existing contracts, and referred clients to Gu Junhao’s new company.
• Wang Xiaoliang required Gu Junhao to take nearly all of Chengyou’s staff, while Gu Junhao objected to keeping several employees and raised concerns about Fan Jingbang and his driver.
• Wang Xiaoliang told Gu Junhao to persuade the employees he wanted to take and write down the names of those he wanted to leave behind.
• Gu Junhao accepted the offer and said he already had an office space he could use for his new company.

Gu Junhao accepted his dismissal from Chengyou and reported on clients whose contracts would take years to settle, while Wang Xiaoliang discussed which employees would stay or join Gu’s new company. Wang Xiaoliang then asked sidelined deputy general manager Xie Hui for advice on converting the office building into rental units and shops, and Xie Hui began assessing the plan.

• Gu Junhao told his uncle to stop working at the gatehouse after the month ended, photographed his dismissal notice, and met Wang Xiaoliang.
• Gu Junhao reported that most clients would cooperate with contract terminations, but three state-owned enterprise projects would take about three years to settle.
• Wang Xiaoliang told Li Yuling, Yi Jiahui, and Cui Wanqiu about their options, and each chose to remain at Chengyou.
• Ma Yuanyuan asked Wang Xiaoliang for a day to decide whether to stay or join Gu Junhao’s new company.
• Xie Hui told Wang Xiaoliang he had no assigned duties and would accept whatever arrangement let him earn a living.
• Wang Xiaoliang described his plan to rent out the office building, and Xie Hui raised fire-safety, structural, and courtyard considerations.

Wang Xiaoliang finalized which employees Gu Junhao would take to his new company and explained how their wages would be handled. At lunch, Wang Xiaoliang discussed renovating Chengyou's office building with Engineer Zhang and Minister Feng, and Cui Wanqiu revealed that she had the original plans.

• Gu Junhao gave Wang Xiaoliang the list of eight employees he had chosen, and Wang Xiaoliang said Chengyou would pay their wages for the month before they moved onto Gu Junhao's company's payroll.
• Wang Xiaoliang told Gu Junhao he had been fired and offered him the solid-wood desk and chair set, explaining that he would move his office to the side building.
• Wang Xiaoliang returned to the company cafeteria, where Gu Junhao joined him for lunch and Xie Hui arrived with Engineer Zhang and Minister Feng.
• Xie Hui, Engineer Zhang, and Minister Feng discussed the structural drawings and fire-safety requirements for renovating the office building.
• Cui Wanqiu said she had the complete structural drawings and utility plans in her filing cabinet.

Wang Xiaoliang approved plans to renovate Chengyou Construction Engineering’s building and reassured the remaining staff that the company had rental income and three projects to rely on. As the company began adjusting to its smaller workforce, he agreed to open its cafeteria to nearby workers.

• Wang Xiaoliang reviewed the renovation plans with Engineer Zhang, Minister Feng, and Xie Hui, then approved storefronts, a parking lot, and an exterior fire escape.
• Twenty-five days later, Gu Junhao moved company equipment to his new office, and Ma Yuanyuan chose to join him; Gu’s company secured its first labor-service invoice and subcontract.
• Wang Xiaoliang kept Li Shumei in a worker position, paid severance to two drivers, and addressed the remaining staff’s worries about the company’s future.
• Wang Xiaoliang told the staff that the building would be rented out and that Gu Junhao had left three profitable projects for them.
• The plump Auntie proposed selling cafeteria meals to nearby workers, and Wang Xiaoliang approved a trial starting the next day with her and Li Shumei running it.