Chapter Summaries

Li Xiude secured Feng Yuan’s two million and prepared to flee with Situ Hui, while becoming increasingly fixated on Li Lanxiang. On the night before his planned disappearance, he left Situ Hui alone and headed out after receiving Li Lanxiang’s suggestive message.

• Feng Yuan gave Li Xiude two million to invest in Sanmu’s private fund despite Li Xiude’s warnings about the risk.
• Li Xiude reflected on his growing obsession with Li Lanxiang, who kept refusing to meet him while sending him alluring photos.
• Li Xiude lectured about trust and keeping one’s word, announced a hundred-day retreat, and told investors the fund was closed to new contributions.
• Li Xiude met Fang Dongxu to collect the loan he had arranged, then celebrated with Situ Hui and discussed their plans to flee after Chinese New Year.
• Situ Hui prepared for an intimate evening, but Li Xiude left and claimed by phone that he had gone to collect a large final payment.
• Li Xiude opened Li Lanxiang’s message inviting him to meet and stared at her revealing photo as his taxi traveled through the night.

Li Lanxiang lured Li Xiude into a private meeting while he claimed to enter a hundred days of seclusion. When his fraudulent investment scheme collapsed, investors confronted Sanmu Group as its leaders tried to distance themselves from the missing suspects and the lost money.

• Li Lanxiang saw that Li Xiude had suspended classes for a hundred days and arranged to meet him privately, insisting that she would stay in control.
• Li Xiude failed to return after his promised seclusion, and investors learned that the person staying at the temple had been paid to impersonate him.
• Zhao Shichang told investors that their transfers to Li Xiude’s personal account had nothing to do with Sanmu Group, while Zhao Shengkai discovered that Ouyang Hai had concealed attendance figures and that a fake APP had diverted fees into personal accounts.
• Investors protested outside Sanmu Headquarters and Three-Wash Pavilion, demanding their money back and arguing over whether Sanmu’s executives should be arrested.
• Authorities identified the case as illegal fundraising, a Ponzi scheme, and fraud, and reported that the suspects surnamed Si and Ouyang had left the country while Li Xiude was missing.

After Li Xiude disappeared with their escape plan in motion, Situ Hui suspected he intended to abandon her and turned to Ouyang Hai as her backup partner. She persuaded Ouyang Hai to flee with her and share her billion, and they planned to leave after Chinese New Year's Eve.

• Situ Hui found the safe untouched after Li Xiude stopped answering her calls and messages, but he still had not returned by Chinese New Year's Eve.
• Situ Hui called Ouyang Hai and asked whether he had obtained the passport she told him to prepare.
• Situ Hui offered Ouyang Hai half of her billion and a life with her if he helped her escape, warning that he could face prison over the bank loan scheme.
• Ouyang Hai agreed to flee with Situ Hui through Hong Kong and eventually settle in the United Kingdom.
• Situ Hui refused to show Ouyang Hai the cryptocurrency password before they left, and he accepted that they would divide the money into two accounts abroad.

After quitting her job, Li Lanxiang celebrated with her friends and learned that Wei Zijin was nearly three months pregnant. Wei Zijin later reunited with Chen Zhifei, who introduced her fiancé Lin Yue and invited everyone to her National Day wedding in Fucheng, while Li Lanxiang tried to recruit Wang Fen for a May Day trip.

• Li Lanxiang resigned, saying she wanted to pursue her dreams, and invited Wei Zijin, Zeng Haiyan, and Wang Fen to celebrate.
• Wei Zijin revealed she was almost three months pregnant, shocking her friends as Li Lanxiang jokingly claimed the baby as her godchild or future daughter-in-law.
• Wei Zijin invited Chen Zhifei to record Not Yet · Zijin, where Chen introduced her fiancé and coworker, Lin Yue.
• Chen Zhifei explained that Lin Yue had accepted her past and asked to date with marriage in mind, and she invited her friends to her National Day wedding in Fucheng.
• Li Lanxiang proposed a May Day trip abroad, and Wang Fen said she would try to go while Zeng Haiyan was unsure.

Li Lanxiang lured Li Xiude to his hidden villa and restrained him, revealing that she knew he was planning to flee. She confronted him about when he would leave, and his fear showed that her guess had hit close to the truth.

• Li Lanxiang slipped out after telling Dong Hongmei she was going on a date and drove to a villa where Li Xiude was waiting.
• Li Xiude welcomed Li Lanxiang into his secret hideout and led her to the soundproof basement.
• Li Lanxiang had Li Xiude clean up, then used ropes disguised as stockings to tie him to the iron bed.
• Li Lanxiang questioned Li Xiude about his escape date and guessed he would flee between the first and third days of the new year, most likely the first.
• Li Xiude stopped struggling and asked Li Lanxiang what she wanted.

Li Lanxiang confronted Li Xiude about his investment scam and refused his offer of hidden cash, then frightened him into surrender by describing how she had imprisoned her ex-husband. Li Xiude wet himself, and Li Lanxiang asked whether he was ready to talk properly.

• Li Lanxiang revealed that she had uncovered Li Xiude's scam by studying a finance lecture and learning about it from Wang Xiaoliang.
• Li Xiude offered Li Lanxiang cash from hidden safes and proposed transferring her money, but she said she already had over thirty million and demanded to know how much he planned to take.
• Li Xiude admitted he intended to take about two hundred million and offered to transfer it in daily installments.
• Li Lanxiang told Li Xiude how she had kept her ex-husband tied up and fed him baijiu until he lost his mind, warning that she could keep Li Xiude captive too.
• Li Xiude wet himself, and Li Lanxiang asked whether they could talk properly now.

Li Lanxiang restrained Li Xiude until he revealed his cryptocurrency fortune and plan to flee the country with Situ Hui. After learning that Situ Hui did not know about Li Xiude’s visit, Li Lanxiang began planning how to take the money without risk.

• Li Xiude panicked at Li Lanxiang’s threats and offered her his three billion in cryptocurrency in exchange for being released.
• Li Xiude explained that his Ledger Nano X held the private key, and Li Lanxiang found the device and his El Salvador passport in his jacket.
• Li Xiude described his escape plan with Situ Hui, including traveling through Hong Kong and moving their cryptocurrency into local accounts abroad.
• Li Lanxiang learned that Situ Hui had two billion of her own and was waiting to leave with Li Xiude on New Year’s Day.
• Li Xiude admitted that Situ Hui did not know he had gone to see Li Lanxiang, and Li Lanxiang began considering how to claim the fortune safely.

Li Lanxiang kept Li Xiude tied up, took his phone and cold wallet, and returned home to act as if nothing had happened. After resting, she used his phone and her own to fabricate an intimate exchange that would lure Situ Hui to the house.

• Li Lanxiang rejected Situ Hui’s call and used Li Xiude’s phone to reply that he was busy, then learned the couple’s plan for turning off their phones and keeping their disappearance hidden.
• Li Lanxiang took Li Xiude’s phone and cold wallet, left him bound, checked the door lock, and drove away from the compound.
• Li Lanxiang bought breakfast and ate with Dong Hongmei, maintaining her usual manner while claiming she was on annual leave.
• After Dong Hongmei took Guoguo out, Li Lanxiang wrote in a notebook, locked it in her safe, and slept.
• Li Lanxiang woke in the afternoon and staged a flirtatious conversation between her phone and Li Xiude’s, sending Situ Hui the front door code and inviting her to bring food.

Li Lanxiang kept Li Xiude bound in the basement, tending to his needs while making him help her access the cold wallet containing three billion. After days of deprivation, she returned on New Year's Day and gave him liquor, leaving him realizing she had poisoned his water again.

• Li Lanxiang brought supplies, fed Li Xiude, cleaned him, changed his bedding, and rebound him with bandages to hide his injuries.
• Li Lanxiang showed Li Xiude a laptop and made him instruct her on accessing the cold wallet, threatening him against trying anything.
• Li Xiude endured hunger and thirst until New Year's Day, when he thought of Situ Hui and feared Li Lanxiang would leave him to die.
• Li Lanxiang returned to the basement and brought a bottle to Li Xiude's mouth; he drank eagerly before recognizing the liquid as liquor.

Li Lanxiang secretly drugged and cared for the captive Li Xiude while staging messages that made their relationship seem consensual, then left him to escape. Two days before May Day, police arrested her at the airport after Zhou Qiang accused her of extortion.

• Li Lanxiang visited Li Xiude nightly, gave him alcohol and food, and used their phones to stage flirtatious messages about their supposed relationship.
• On the fifth day, Li Lanxiang cleaned the basement, removed evidence, and left Li Xiude; he later crawled toward the door before hearing a voice call him Li Jun and collapsing in pain.
• Two days before May Day, Li Lanxiang, Zeng Haiyan, and Wang Fen traveled to the airport to fly to Singapore, where Li Lanxiang was delayed by a security screening.
• After the three women boarded, police approached Li Lanxiang and said Zhou Qiang had reported her for extortion.
• Li Lanxiang protested that Zhou Qiang was making a false accusation, but the police told her to come with them and cooperate with the investigation.

Dong Hongmei grew wary of Li Lanxiang’s secretive nightly outings and decided to take Guoguo to their hometown. When she tried to leave with him, Li Le blocked them and said Zhou Qiang was on his way to collect Guoguo.

• Dong Hongmei watched Li Lanxiang leave at night and noticed the young man from across the hall repeatedly following her.
• At the reunion dinner, Dong Hongmei told Li Lanxiang she planned to take Guoguo to their hometown and enroll him in school there, and Li Lanxiang agreed.
• Li Lanxiang took Guoguo to meet Zhou Qiang, who argued with her about Guoguo moving away and agreed to visit him monthly.
• The morning after Li Lanxiang left, Dong Hongmei packed to take Guoguo away but found Li Le blocking the elevator and warning her to go back inside.
• Li Le identified himself as Wang Xiaoliang’s brother and said Zhou Qiang was coming to take Guoguo.

Zhou Qiang and his allies planned to expose Li Lanxiang by monitoring her, and Li Le caught her visiting a villa they suspected belonged to Li Xiude. They followed her away at daybreak, believing Li Xiude might be hiding there or preparing to flee.

• Zhou Qiang told Nuomi, Xiao Mo, and the others how Li Lanxiang had deceived him and revealed the apartment across the hall that he had bought.
• The group agreed to watch Li Lanxiang through people close to her, but decided to wait for Wei Zijin to wake up before acting.
• Xie Hui showed Wang Xiaoliang footage from her undercover investigation of Three-Wash Pavilion, and Wei Zijin spotted Li Lanxiang attending Li Xiude's Money-Making Principles course.
• Wang Xiaoliang recruited Li Le to watch Li Lanxiang, and Li Le moved into the apartment across the hall.
• After hearing Li Lanxiang leave her home at night, Li Le followed her to a villa and informed Wang Xiaoliang, who arrived with Zhou Qiang and Huang Xueli.
• At daybreak, Li Lanxiang drove away from the villa, and Wang Xiaoliang, Zhou Qiang, and Huang Xueli followed her while suspecting Li Xiude was hiding there or planning to flee.

Wang Xiaoliang and Zhou Qiang kept watch on Li Lanxiang and consulted Officer Zheng, who confirmed a connection between Li Xiude and the villa owner. After Li Xiude was found incapacitated inside the villa, they rushed him to the hospital and Officer Zheng arranged for police to secure the scene.

• Wang Xiaoliang, Zhou Qiang, Huang Xueli, and Xiao Mo organized shifts to watch Li Lanxiang and the villa, but they lacked evidence to report their suspicions.
• Wang Xiaoliang, Zhou Qiang, and Huang Xueli met Officer Zheng, who warned them not to act without proof and later told them the villa owner was Li Xiude's younger cousin.
• Wang Xiaoliang left his stakeout shift to host Li Lanxiang at his home, then returned and told Zhou Qiang he could not tell whether she was acting suspiciously.
• Wang Xiaoliang and Zhou Qiang saw the villa door left ajar, entered, and found Li Xiude limp and unresponsive with dark lips and the smell of alcohol around him.
• Wang Xiaoliang and Zhou Qiang prepared to take Li Xiude to the hospital, while Wang Xiaoliang called Huang Xueli and Officer Zheng, who arranged for police to secure the villa.

The police tried to connect Li Xiude’s account of being robbed and restrained to Li Lanxiang, but the evidence against her remained weak. As Li Lanxiang attempted to leave the country, Zhou Qiang’s report gave the police grounds to bring her in, though searches found no Cold Wallet.

• The police found messages suggesting Li Xiude and Li Lanxiang had a consensual sexual relationship, while Li Xiude woke from his coma with signs of severe trauma and later identified Wang Xiaoliang as “Number Two.”
• Li Xiude told Officer Zheng that Li Lanxiang had taken a Cold Wallet containing three billion, but Officer Zheng warned Wang Xiaoliang that they lacked corroborating evidence and could not risk alerting her with a search.
• Wang Xiaoliang told Officer Zheng that Li Lanxiang might flee abroad, and the police prepared to stop her at the airport.
• Airport searches found no Cold Wallet, but Zhou Qiang and Kong Xiuyun reported Li Lanxiang using Zhou Qiang’s transfer documents and photographs, allowing police to bring her back for questioning.
• The police searched Li Lanxiang’s home and Dong Hongmei, opened a safe, and found property deeds, jewelry, cash, and intimate items, but no Cold Wallet or notebook.

Li Lanxiang burned her records, prepared for every outcome, and denied the accusations against her by claiming Wang Xiaoliang had helped frame her. As Zhou Qiang worried about losing Guoguo, he realized a clue about where Li Lanxiang might have hidden the cold wallet and rushed to dismantle the boy’s Lego train.

• Li Lanxiang destroyed her notebook and laptop, then hid intimate products in her safe to support her story if investigators searched her home.
• Li Lanxiang told the police that Wang Xiaoliang, Zhou Qiang, and Li Xiude had conspired to frame her, and she denied extorting or imprisoning the men.
• Zhou Qiang learned that the police had found no cold wallet and feared Li Lanxiang would soon be released and take Guoguo away.
• Guoguo completed the Orient Express Lego model while Zhou Qiang, Kong Xiuyun, and Yuanyuan praised him.
• After Kong Xiuyun said Li Lanxiang had helped Guoguo assemble the Lego set, Zhou Qiang abruptly dressed and went to take the model apart, and Kong Xiuyun followed.

Zhou Qiang found the Cold Wallet hidden inside Guoguo’s LEGO Orient Express and turned it over to the police, who matched Li Lanxiang’s fingerprints to it. After four days of silence, Li Lanxiang asked whether providing information that qualified as a meritorious contribution could earn her leniency.

• Zhou Qiang opened the Orient Express tender and found the Cold Wallet taped inside, then called Wang Xiaoliang to report it.
• Li Lanxiang recalled choosing the LEGO train to hide the wallet, confident Zhou Qiang would not take apart Guoguo’s completed toy.
• The police received the Cold Wallet, and fingerprint tests matched Li Lanxiang’s prints to its casing.
• Li Lanxiang remained silent during several days of interrogation, then asked whether giving information that counted as a meritorious contribution could bring leniency.

Dong Hongmei was arrested and sentenced for her role in extorting and detaining Zhou Qiang, while Li Lanxiang received a life sentence and appealed. After the case ended, Wang Xiaoliang and Wei Zijin read a new passage in the Book of Fate about changing one’s role in life, leaving Wang wondering whether its earlier words had been written for him.

• Dong Hongmei signed the arrest warrant, then confessed to extorting Zhou Qiang while refusing to say anything beyond what she knew.
• The Jiangcheng City Intermediate People's Court sentenced Li Lanxiang to life imprisonment and Dong Hongmei to ten years, while the Li Xiude and Sanmu Group cases remained under examination.
• News reported that Situ Hui and Ouyang Hai had been taken into custody abroad over property bought with cryptocurrency and unaccounted-for funds.
• Wei Zijin and Wang Xiaoliang discussed Li Lanxiang, Guoguo, and how their actions had helped expose the truth.
• Wang Xiaoliang opened the Book of Fate and found a passage about changing one’s position and role to change fate.
• Wang Xiaoliang wondered whether the Taoist priest had written an earlier passage specifically for him.

Wang Xiaoliang and Wei Zijin added their reflections to the Book of Fate and considered its message about passing it on to someone in need. Later, their friends gathered to celebrate Zhou Qiang’s growing family and plan for the future, while Wang Fen weighed what to do after her first love contacted her.

• Wang Xiaoliang realized the Book of Fate’s final reflection had not been written specifically for him, and Wei Zijin shared her lesson about balancing confidence with humility.
• Wang Xiaoliang wrote three sayings in the Book of Fate, and Wei Zijin added her own reflection before they read the instruction to copy the book and entrust it to someone in need.
• Zhou Qiang hosted a dinner where Huang Xueli announced that Lu Sining was pregnant, and Zhou Qiang became emotional as he spoke about his brothers and children.
• Li Le accepted Zhou Qiang’s offer of support and signed with Xiaosheng Media through Wang Xiaoliang’s arrangements.
• The women gathered with Zeng Haiyan and Wang Fen, discussed Li Lanxiang, and advised Wang Fen to take her time after her first love contacted her following his divorce.

Wei Zijin and Wang Xiaoliang welcomed their son, while the family’s businesses grew and Zhao Nan shared news of trouble among her relatives. At Hongbin Little Tower, Zhou Qiang found the disgraced Fang Dongxu asking for work and gave him money and a place to sleep, but no job.

• Wei Zijin gave birth to a healthy boy, and Wang Keqin named him Wei Nianzu, prompting Wei Zijin to laugh and cry at the family’s hopes for another child.
• Zhou Qiang renovated and reopened Hongbin Little Tower with the same staff and higher wages, while he began renovating a Ruijing Phase Two unit for Suiyun Residence’s first branch.
• Wang Xiaoliang learned that Zhao Shengkai had gone to prison again, and Zhao Nan later told the family that her youngest uncle had been detained for breaking Zihang’s ribs.
• After Hongbin Little Tower reopened to strong business, Fang Dongxu arrived drunk and asked Zhou Qiang for work, explaining that debts had cost him his home and car.
• Zhou Qiang gave Fang Dongxu five hundred yuan, booked him a hotel room, and warned him not to cause trouble at the restaurant again.

Wang Xiaoliang met Fang Dongxu for a farewell meal and gave him money and an old book before he left for Fucheng to start over. At the train station, Fang Dongxu discovered the book was the Book of Fate.

• Fang Dongxu called Wang Xiaoliang and asked him to meet for lunch before leaving for Fucheng.
• Over their meal, Fang Dongxu explained that he owed more than 3.8 million yuan and planned to repay it while rebuilding his life.
• Wang Xiaoliang left Old Sichuan and returned with a bag for Fang Dongxu, then paid for their meal and saw him off.
• At the train station, Fang Dongxu opened the bag and found five thousand yuan and a note from Wang Xiaoliang urging him to treasure the book inside.
• Fang Dongxu unwrapped the old book, searched its seal-script title, and learned it was called the Book of Fate.