Chapter Summaries

After Dou Guozhong disappeared, Zhou Yi and Qu Hongying searched for him while Rong Jinxiu mobilized the Shanhai Group and Sui Jianchang to find him first and silence him. Several powerful organizations joined the search, leaving Dou Guozhong feeling unexpectedly important as everyone hunted for him.

• Zhou Yi reassured Qu Hongying and sent the Auspicious Three Treasures, Li Linsen, Yu Xiao, and Meng Shen to search for Dou Guozhong.
• Qu Hongying told Zhou Yi that Dou Guozhong had vanished after leaving home, with his phone switched off.
• Rong Jinxiu ordered Zhang Quan to watch Cao Jia and investigate the Xinguang Factory as possible leads to Dou Guozhong.
• Rong Jinxiu called Sui Jianchang and ordered the Municipal Public Security Bureau to find Dou Guozhong before Zhou Yi and Qu Hongying, then hand him over to Zhang Quan.
• The Provincial Procuratorate, Provincial Public Security Department, Municipal Public Security Bureau, and Shanhai Group security department all searched for Dou Guozhong, who felt overwhelmed by the attention.

Dou Guozhong decided to seek protection from Zhou Yi and called him from Xinguang Factory, where he was hiding with Huai Guangkuo. Zhou Yi arranged to pick him up, just as Qu Hongying learned the Procuratorate was sending help to find him.

• Dou Guozhong told Huai Guangkuo he did not trust the Provincial Procuratorate or Shanhai Group and chose to contact Zhou Yi for protection.
• Huai Guangkuo gave Dou Guozhong Zhou Yi's number, and Dou called Zhou directly instead of calling the police.
• Zhou Yi and Qu Hongying discussed clues suggesting Dou Guozhong might be hiding at Xinguang Factory, but worried a search would alert him.
• Dou Guozhong called Zhou Yi from Xinguang Factory and asked him to send someone to pick him up.
• Zhou Yi told Qu Hongying that Dou Guozhong had been found, while Jiang Bolin called to say the Procuratorate was sending Wu Daojun and two others to help.

Zhou Yi organized the effort to retrieve Dou Guozhong, while Rong Jinxiu learned that Provincial Public Security officers had found him and ordered her men to intercept them. Yu Xiao fought off the guards who blocked their car, allowing Dou Guozhong to leave with the officers.

• Zhou Yi assigned the operation, and Qu Hongying realized the Provincial Procuratorate had been deeply infiltrated.
• Li Linsen contacted Dou Guozhong and brought him out of the abandoned warehouse at Xinguang Factory, where Dou asked Huai Guangkuo to look after his family.
• Rong Jinxiu ordered Zhang Quan to watch the officers and stop them if Dou Guozhong was in their car.
• Qian Cheng and four security guards blocked Li Linsen's car and demanded payment after staging a collision.
• Yu Xiao threw Qian Cheng and subdued all five guards, then rejoined the car as Shao Mingbao drove them onward with Dou Guozhong.

Rong Jinxiu arranged to intercept Dou Guozhong and ordered his wife kidnapped as a backup plan, while Zhou Yi’s men brought him toward the provincial authorities. Chuanhai officials tried to arrest Dou Guozhong on a warrant, but Li Linsen refused to hand him over, and the two sides faced off.

• After Qian Cheng reported his defeat, Rong Jinxiu told Zhang Quan to have Dou Guozhong’s wife kidnapped in case they could not stop Dou Guozhong.
• As Li Linsen’s vehicle entered the city, Chuanhai police cars surrounded it, and Ji Feng and Hu Sheng presented a warrant to arrest Dou Guozhong.
• Li Linsen checked the warrant and called Zhou Yi, who ordered him to take Dou Guozhong to the Public Security Department at the Provincial Procuratorate’s request.
• Ji Feng ordered his officers to seize Dou Guozhong despite Zhou Yi’s refusal, and Yu Xiao and Shao Mingbao blocked them.
• Li Linsen challenged Ji Feng and Hu Sheng, asking whether they were trying to outnumber the Provincial Public Security Department.

Yan Li and Pang Bo stopped Hu Sheng and Ji Feng from taking Dou Guozhong, escorting him to the Provincial Public Security Department instead. Just as Dou Guozhong reached safety, kidnappers threatened his wife Cao Jia to force him to stay silent, and he concealed the call from Li Linsen.

• Yan Li arrived with Pang Bo and ordered Ji Feng and Hu Sheng to leave Dou Guozhong in the Provincial Public Security Department's custody.
• Ji Feng and Hu Sheng agreed to accompany Yan Li and pursue custody through official channels after consulting their superiors.
• Li Linsen escorted Dou Guozhong safely into the Provincial Public Security Department compound.
• A strange man called Dou Guozhong from Cao Jia's regular phone number and threatened to harm her unless Dou Guozhong kept silent.
• Dou Guozhong promised not to talk, demanded daily proof that Cao Jia was safe, and hid the threat from Li Linsen.

Guo Qingqian and Li Jun held Cao Jia captive and tried to move her after threatening her into calling Dou Guozhong. A supposed debt collector and a young man broke in, leaving Li Jun unconscious and Guo Qingqian facing a weapon.

• Guo Qingqian and Li Jun threatened Cao Jia and forced her to call Dou Guozhong, warning him to keep quiet.
• Li Jun prepared a luggage bag to carry Cao Jia away, but a man claiming to collect a debt began pounding on the door.
• Li Jun opened the door and tried to send the man away, but the man shoved past him and entered.
• A young man held the door open as Li Jun tried to shut it, then rushed in and knocked Li Jun unconscious with a blow to the abdomen.
• Guo Qingqian hesitated over whether to fight or seize Cao Jia, and the debt collector aimed a black weapon at him.

Meng Shen and Cai Xiaobo rescued Cao Jia and arrested the fake police officers, while Zhou Yi and Qu Hongying faced a push by the Municipal Public Security Bureau and Municipal Procuratorate to take Dou Guozhong. The chapter ended with Zhou Yi challenging Ji Feng and Hu Sheng to justify their attempt to block his team and seize Dou Guozhong.

• Meng Shen handcuffed the two impostors after Cai Xiaobo freed Cao Jia and reported the rescue to Zhou Yi.
• Zhou Yi and Qu Hongying went to a meeting with Tian Zhengbing, Gan Yongsheng, Gou Hongtao, Ji Feng, and Hu Sheng to discuss Dou Guozhong.
• Tian Zhengbing said Cheng Zhixing had asked them to discuss the matter calmly and report back after reaching a conclusion.
• Hu Sheng argued that the Municipal Procuratorate was entitled to take Dou Guozhong for interrogation, but Zhou Yi said the request should be directed to Qu Hongying.
• Zhou Yi demanded that Ji Feng and Hu Sheng explain why they had blocked his official vehicle and tried to take Dou Guozhong by force.

Qu Hongying blocked Hu Sheng and Ji Feng from taking Dou Guozhong, then negotiated terms allowing the Municipal Procuratorate to interrogate him after she questioned him first. During her questioning, Zhou Yi deduced that someone had threatened Dou Guozhong’s wife to keep him silent.

• Hu Sheng and Ji Feng apologized and asked to take Dou Guozhong, but Qu Hongying refused, citing his importance as a witness in a Supreme People's Procuratorate case.
• Han Dong proposed that the Municipal Procuratorate question Dou Guozhong, and Qu Hongying secured agreement to question him first, supervise the interrogation, and have him placed under residential surveillance if needed.
• Hu Sheng and Ji Feng consulted their superiors and accepted Qu Hongying’s conditions.
• Qu Hongying and Zhou Yi questioned Dou Guozhong, who denied knowing anything about the case.
• Qu Hongying told Dou Guozhong that Cao Jia was safe, and Zhou Yi inferred that someone had threatened her to stop Dou Guozhong from talking.

Zhou Yi urged Dou Guozhong to cooperate with the prosecutors by explaining that doing so could earn leniency and protect his family, but Dou asked for time to decide. At Shanhai Manor, Rong Jinsheng warned Rong Jinxiu that Zhou Yi’s allies in the capital had erased her presumed advantage and threatened the Shanhai Group.

• Zhou Yi confronted Dou Guozhong with the risks to his wife and daughter and urged him to provide the prosecutors with evidence against the Shanhai Group.
• Dou Guozhong admitted he needed time to think, and Qu Hongying and Zhou Yi ended the questioning.
• Rong Jinxiu told Rong Jinsheng that the trouble with Zhou Yi and Qu Hongying was minor and that the main contest would be decided in the capital.
• Rong Jinsheng named Jian Wanyan, Wei Siqi, and Xiao Xiangqian, shocking Rong Jinxiu with the extent of Zhou Yi’s support.
• Rong Jinsheng urged Rong Jinxiu to build alliances to protect the family’s business empire in Linhai.

Rong Jinsheng persuaded Rong Jinxiu to bring Chen Yurong, Xie Fangfei, and Zheng Junhao into the Renxing District development project, forming an alliance of Zhou Yi’s enemies. Meanwhile, Qu Hongying told Zhou Yi that Xinguang Factory’s leaders had falsified asset records and bribed an appraisal agency, and he questioned how provincial oversight had failed to catch it.

• Rong Jinsheng explained that the Xinguang Factory controversy threatened the Shanhai Group and urged Rong Jinxiu to share the Renxing District project with Chen Yurong, Xie Fangfei, and Zheng Junhao.
• Rong Jinxiu recognized that the three new partners opposed Zhou Yi and agreed that sharing profits and risks would strengthen their position.
• Rong Jinsheng left Rong Jinxiu to discuss the deal with the three partners and went to play golf, where he improbably hit a hole-in-one.
• Zhou Yi stuck a scrap of white paper to his twitching right eyelid, and Qu Hongying teased him about the superstition.
• Qu Hongying told Zhou Yi that Wang Qing, Tian Yanbin, and He Rong had falsified Xinguang Factory asset information and bribed the appraisal agency; Zhou Yi asked why provincial spot checks had not detected it.

Qu Hongying planned to investigate the falsified valuation at Xinguang Factory while Zhou Yi and Wu Daojun worked to protect Dou Guozhong and his family from pressure by the municipal Procuratorate and Rong Jinxiu. As they arranged dinner with Gao Songzhi, Rong Jinxiu received a call saying Dou Guozhong’s daughter had been located and asking how to deal with her.

• Zhou Yi predicted that Qu Hongying would begin her investigation by targeting the falsified Xinguang Factory asset valuation and questioning Wang Qing, Tian Yanbin, and the others.
• Qu Hongying invited Zhou Yi and Wu Daojun to dinner with her husband, Gao Songzhi, and Zhou Yi chose the Auspicious Restaurant.
• Wu Daojun reported that the municipal Procuratorate had interrogated Dou Guozhong over a 200,000-yuan bank transfer without substantive evidence of embezzlement or corruption.
• Zhou Yi and Qu Hongying worried that Rong Jinxiu might retaliate against Dou Guozhong and his family, and they reconfirmed the protective measures.
• A man told Rong Jinxiu that Dou Guozhong’s daughter’s workplace and home had been found and asked whether to attack or abduct her.

Rong Jinxiu and her allies coordinated their plan to secure the Xinguang Factory deal and discussed how to handle Zhou Yi and Qu Hongying’s investigation. Rong Jinxiu admitted Zhou Yi had no exploitable weaknesses, leaving them to consider either eliminating him or arranging to send him elsewhere.

• Rong Jinxiu ordered an associate over the phone to dispose of a woman and send her pictures.
• Rong Jinxiu, Chen Yurong, Xie Fangfei, Zheng Junhao, and Rong Jinsheng agreed to pay Xinguang Factory workers and use their connections to influence officials and publicity.
• Xie Fangfei asked how they would deal with Zhou Yi and Qu Hongying, and Chen Yurong recalled how Zhou Yi had repeatedly defeated her.
• Rong Jinsheng proposed keeping Xinguang Factory leaders and officials from cooperating with Zhou Yi and Qu Hongying’s investigation.
• Rong Jinxiu explained that Zhou Yi had no obvious weaknesses and suggested eliminating him as a last resort or arranging to send him elsewhere with Hou Xiangyang’s and the Ministry of Public Security’s help.

Rong Jinxiu warned her allies not to underestimate Zhou Yi, while Zheng Junhao dismissed her concerns. At dinner, Zhou Yi and his allies discussed the rival families joining forces and resolved to protect Dou Jingjing.

• Rong Jinxiu explained why she considered Zhou Yi a dangerous opponent and said she would not relax until Yu Tong's mission succeeded.
• Zheng Junhao mentioned that Gao Songzhi was coming to Chuanhai, and Chen Yurong abruptly changed the subject.
• Zhou Yi met Gao Songzhi at the Auspicious Restaurant, where Qu Hongying revealed that Chen Yurong had arrived with Rong Jinsheng and people from the Zheng and Xie Families.
• Zhou Yi, Gao Songzhi, Qu Hongying, and Wu Daojun recognized that their opponents were joining forces and agreed they needed to act faster.
• Qu Hongying stressed that Dou Guozhong's daughter, Dou Jingjing, had to be protected, and Zhou Yi assured her he knew the place where she was staying well.

Chen Zhong protected Dou Jingjing from Yu Tong and his men when they tried to abduct her, defeating them until SWAT officers arrived. After learning that Chen Zhong had no girlfriend, Dou Jingjing threw herself into his arms, leaving him struggling to heed his director’s warning to protect himself.

• After finishing overtime, Dou Jingjing left work and rode home with Chen Zhong as Huang Kai and his colleagues watched.
• Yu Tong and his men waited near Dou Jingjing’s home and attacked her and Chen Zhong when they arrived.
• Chen Zhong quickly defeated the attackers and sent Dou Jingjing into the building for safety.
• Yu Tong fled toward his car but found his way blocked by arriving SWAT officers.
• Dou Jingjing revealed that Chen Zhong was her assigned police bodyguard, then embraced him after he said he had no girlfriend.

Zhou Yi learned that Rong Jinxiu’s men had been captured in Yangcheng, while Rong Jinxiu and Rong Jinsheng shifted to stalling the investigation into Xinguang Factory. When Qu Hongying and Wu Daojun struggled to reach key witnesses, Zhou Yi suggested looking beyond the factory’s executives for leads.

• Zhou Yi spoke with Shan Wenxu and Sima Yanan, then learned from Li Pingwu that Yu Tong and five other men had been arrested in Yangcheng.
• Rong Jinxiu learned Yu Tong had been captured, and she and Rong Jinsheng decided to hold their position and try to get Zhou Yi sent away.
• Rong Jinxiu arranged to make Wang Qing, Tian Yanbin, He Rong, and Ma Gangyao unavailable for questioning by Qu Hongying.
• Qu Hongying and Wu Daojun told Zhou Yi that the four Xinguang Factory and state-asset officials could not be questioned soon.
• Zhou Yi suggested seeking leads from the officials’ relatives and associates, factory managers, workers, and respected retirees.

Zhou Yi’s suggestions sent Qu Hongying and Wu Daojun to investigate Wang Qing’s associates while he was tasked with questioning Huai Jinqi and Huai Guangkuo. Meanwhile, Gao Songzhi updated Guan Ruibo on the corruption investigations, then declined Chen Yurong’s dinner invitation by saying he already had plans with Zhou Yi.

• Qu Hongying and Wu Daojun agreed that Zhou Yi’s suggestions pointed toward Huai Guangkuo and Huai Jinqi, then split up the investigation, leaving Zhou Yi to question the two men.
• Gao Songzhi told Guan Ruibo that authorities had handled twenty-eight of the thirty-four lower-ranking corruption cases and expected to finish the remaining six by mid-October.
• Gao Songzhi described Liang Kejian’s case as especially grave, while Guan Ruibo inferred that Song Penghui might receive a less severe punishment.
• Guan Ruibo declined Gao Songzhi’s invitation for that evening after hearing that Zhou Yi would join the gathering, and scheduled dinner for the following day instead.
• Chen Yurong invited Gao Songzhi to dinner, but he declined by saying Zhou Yi had already made plans with him, angering her.

Chen Yurong pursued a dinner invitation to meet Qu Hongying and Zhou Yi, while Zhou Yi focused on Huai Guangkuo’s role in helping Dou Guozhong evade the Shanhai Group. The chapter ended with Zhou Yi asking whether Huai Guangkuo had an informant inside the Shanhai Group.

• Chen Yurong called Gao Songzhi to apologize and ask him and Qu Hongying to dinner, but Gao Songzhi ended the call and directed her to Qu Hongying.
• Chen Yurong invited herself to Zhou Yi’s dinner at the Red Flag Restaurant after Qu Hongying extended the invitation, despite knowing Zhou Yi would be there.
• Qu Hongying asked Zhou Yi whether Chen Yurong could attend, and Zhou Yi agreed so they could learn her motives.
• Zhou Yi postponed his drinking appointment with Huai Jinqi until the next day and left with Huai Guangkuo.
• Zhou Yi confronted Huai Guangkuo about warning Dou Guozhong of the Shanhai Group’s kidnapping attempt, then asked whether Huai Guangkuo had an informant inside the company.

Zhou Yi persuaded Huai Guangkuo to cooperate with the investigation into the Shanhai Group, and Huai agreed on the condition that he be allowed to set one condition. That evening, Zhou Yi met Chen Yurong at dinner, where their polite exchange concealed her hatred of him.

• Zhou Yi guessed that Huai Guangkuo feared a mole in Qu Hongying’s office would expose his inside man in the Shanhai Group and put Rong Jinxiu on guard.
• Huai Guangkuo admitted his fears and, trusting Zhou Yi, agreed to cooperate with the investigation on one condition.
• Zhou Yi, Qu Hongying, Gao Songzhi, Wu Daojun, and Chen Yurong met for dinner at the Red Flag Restaurant.
• Chen Yurong exchanged courteous remarks with Zhou Yi while inwardly blaming him for her troubles and wishing she could kill him.

At a dinner hosted by Zhou Yi, Chen Yurong tried to smooth over her past with Gao Songzhi and Qu Hongying while probing them about their work and reasons for being in Linhai. Zhou Yi remained suspicious of her intentions as another knock sounded at the private dining room door.

• Zhou Yi traded barbed remarks with Chen Yurong, leaving her unable to answer without losing face.
• Chen Yurong toasted Gao Songzhi and Qu Hongying, spoke of putting the past behind them, and asked to renew their friendship, but the couple remained unmoved.
• Chen Yurong asked whether Gao Songzhi was in Linhai for work or to see Qu Hongying, and Gao said he had requested the assignment to visit his wife.
• Chen Yurong asked Qu Hongying why she had taken a position in Linhai and offered her help, while Zhou Yi suspected she was fishing for information.
• Another knock sounded at the private dining room door.

Zhou Yi was drawn into a dinner with Rong Jinsheng, Zheng Junhao, and Xie Fangfei, whose families had been harmed by him. He left the meeting on hostile terms after taunting Zheng Junhao and Xie Fangfei about their relatives.

• Sui Jianchang and Ji Feng visited Zhou Yi’s dinner to offer a toast and invited him to meet their companions.
• After Zhou Yi left, Chen Yurong suggested that Gao Songzhi and Qu Hongying meet a friend over tea.
• Sui Jianchang introduced Zhou Yi to Rong Jinsheng, Zheng Junhao, and Xie Fangfei in Tian Zhengbing’s private dining room.
• Zheng Junhao mocked Zhou Yi for leaving early, and Zhou Yi provoked him by asking about Zheng Peng.
• Xie Fangfei called Zhou Yi arrogant, and Zhou Yi brought up her brother Xie Chenglin, making her choke and cough.