Arc 23Chapters 551–575
No recap yet.
No recap yet.
Xie Chenglin was stabbed while under investigation and remained in critical condition, alarming Jiangnan officials and Zhou Yi. Meanwhile, Xie Fangfei and Chen Yurong visited Jian Shuyue with gifts, and Xie Fangfei asked her to persuade Zhou Yi to spare her brother.
Xie Fangfei and Chen Yurong asked Jian Shuyue to help Xie Chenglin, but learned he had been stabbed and rushed into emergency treatment. As Xie Nanzheng demanded severe punishment for Qin Chuan, Xie Zheng revealed that Zhou Yi had proposed settling the matter.
The Xie family debated Zhou Yi’s proposal to settle the conflict between them and Qin Chuan, who had stabbed Xie Chenglin. Xie Nanzheng recognized that Zhou Yi was trying to contain the scandal for the greater good, and regretted that his own grandsons lacked Zhou Yi’s judgment.
Zhou Yi’s proposal pressured the Xie Family to forgive Qin Chuan, while improving Yan Huafeng’s relationship with Jian Wanyan’s circle. After the Xie Family agreed, Jian Wanyan decided to reassign Zhou Yi himself.
Jian Wanyan explained why Zhou Yi could be reassigned once Fu Xueqian left Qingning, while Yan Huafeng and Zheng Qisheng moved to restart the delayed Misty Rain Jiangnan gala. The chapter ended with Zhou Yi reading Wen Mosheng’s new online pieces, which tried to defend his affair and protest the banning of his work.
Zhou Yi attended a provincial literary and artistic symposium in place of the ill Xiang Chang'an and argued that virtue must come before artistic talent. The meeting ended with a participant asking him to address the online defense of Wen Mosheng, leaving Zhou Yi poised to respond.
At a symposium on morality and art, Gu Qitan challenged Zhou Yi over whether an author's moral failings diminished the value of his work. Zhou Yi questioned both the severity of Wen Mosheng’s conduct and the literary merit of the works being defended, leaving Gu Qitan to argue that My Hometown was unjustly banned.
At a symposium, Zhou Yi rejected Gu Qitan’s defense of Wen Mosheng’s literary merit and argued that Wen’s works were different from other accounts of the same era because they portrayed only darkness and disparaged their homeland. The chapter ended with Zhou Yi insisting that literature should expose social problems without becoming a means to denigrate one’s country for personal gain.
Zhou Yi rebutted Gu Qitan’s claim that he was prejudiced against a controversial book, distinguishing criticism of an individual’s conduct from sweeping claims about society and questioning the book’s intentions. His argument drew more sincere applause, while the chapter ended with his thoughts on people who praised foreign countries while disparaging their own.
At a literary symposium, Gu Qitan challenged Zhou Yi over the limits of creative freedom, but Zhou argued that creators had responsibilities to their own people. Back at the Provincial Guesthouse, Zhou learned that Lin Fang had won her online battle with Sun Yuan, who she called to tell him to give up.
Lin Fang defeated Sun Yuan in an online public-opinion battle and warned him against taking money to defend Wen Mosheng. Zhou Yi received tickets to the Misty Rain Jiangnan gala, considered its security risks, and spoke by phone with Tian Tian, whose relationship with him prompted speculation from Lin Fang and Zhou Xiaofan.
Lin Fang, Zhou Xiaofan, and Tian Tian were caught in a chaotic airport crowd after a celebrity entourage and fans shoved passengers aside. When Bao Lingxin insulted Zhou Xiaofan and refused to help clear the hall, Lin Fang recognized that she had offended Secretary Zhou’s close friend, leaving the confrontation poised to escalate.
Bao Lingxin challenged Lin Fang and tried to use her connections to obstruct the police as they cleared Yu Jingxuan and his fans from the airport. After her bodyguards tried to detain Tian Tian, Lin Fang, and Zhou Xiaofan, Gui Zhongdong intervened and escorted the reporters away.
Bao Lingxin learned that the reporters she had insulted were Zhou Yi’s close friends and was pressured to apologize. Zhou Yi accepted Zhu Changlei’s call but insisted Bao Lingxin apologize in person, leaving her facing a direct meeting with him and his friends.
Bao Lingxin apologized to Zhou Yi’s reporter friends and tried to resolve the online backlash against airport deputy director Gui. Yu Jingxuan, angry that his fans had backed down from defending him, challenged a commenter from an alternate account.
Yu Jingxuan reluctantly posted an apology for the airport incident after Bao Lingxin ordered him to, but a screenshot of his deleted comment mocking Director Zhou spread online and sparked a new scandal. Bao Lingxin had just persuaded Secretary Zhou’s friends to let the airport matter go when Yu Jingxuan’s call revealed that a bigger problem had begun.
Yu Jingxuan panicked after provoking Zhou Yi online, and Bao Lingxin told his team to issue a groveling apology while seeking help from her father. As Chu Yi and his colleagues publicly praised Zhou Yi as their idol, Yu Jingxuan realized his rival was using the scandal to promote his drama.
Zhou Yi’s Jiangnan inspection ended, and he returned to Capital City to discuss his next assignment with his father-in-law and mother-in-law. His father-in-law offered him three possible posts and asked which one he preferred.
Zhou Yi chose to become Municipal Party Secretary of his hometown, Anping, hoping to revive its declining economy. After taking office, he proposed developing cultural tourism, but Vice Mayor Liu Wei doubted the plan could overcome the city’s deep-rooted problems.
Zhou Yi discussed plans to revitalize Anping with his former superiors and colleagues, showing them affection through modest gifts. After they left, Jian Shuyue came home without the baby, leaving the couple alone for the night.
At a dinner with his former civil-service classmates, Jiang Xinting explained that Zheng Yifan had joined Zhou Yi’s meeting with local leaders, and the group resolved to show Zhou their willingness to serve Anping. Meanwhile, Li Yang backed Zhou Yi’s plans for the city, while Zhao Songhai questioned whether they could be implemented successfully.
Zhou Yi learned that his longtime neighbors’ grandson had been seriously injured by a minor whose family refused to pay, and that their son Fu Ning had now been hit by a car. As Zhou Yi wondered whom he could ask for help, Jian Shuyue offered to handle the matter.
Jian Shuyue called Chen Yurong to help arrange a favor, and Chen Yurong used the call to demonstrate her close relationship with Jian Shuyue to the people at a Capital City gathering. The chapter left Chen Qingyan facing an uncertain future while Chen Yurong and Xie Fangfei planned to visit Jian Shuyue during the National Day holiday.
Jian Shuyue asked Chen Yurong to use her family’s connections to help a neighbor of Zhou Yi’s parents, giving the Chen family a chance to ease tensions with the Jian family. Chen Yurong arranged the favor through Vice Governor Zhong, while Chen Qingyan accepted that he needed to adapt and agreed to take a job arranged by Zhang Hengyuan.
Mayor Wang Jinyu acted on Vice Provincial Governor Zhong Baixiang’s request to ensure the guardians of a thirteen-year-old who had brutally injured four-year-old Fu Ning faced civil liability. Zhou Yi learned that his wife had intervened for the family, then prepared to visit Dongji and Westwind Counties for a cultural tourism fact-finding tour.