Chapter Summaries

Zhou Yi called Tan Yanzhong to thank him for helping his parents’ neighbors, prompting Wang Jinyu to seek a direct connection with Zhou. Wang proposed that Tianlai City and Anping establish a sister-city relationship, and the chapter ended with Zhou yet to answer.

• Shan Wenxu told Zhou Yi that Tan Yanzhong wanted to contact him, and Zhou asked for Tan’s number so he could thank him.
• Zhou Yi called Tan Yanzhong, while Wang Jinyu and Jing Fei overheard and felt overlooked for their role in the matter.
• Jing Fei suggested that Tianlai City add Anping as a sister city, giving Wang Jinyu a reason to contact Zhou Yi directly.
• Wang Jinyu called Zhou Yi and tentatively proposed a sister-city relationship between Tianlai City and Anping.

Wang Jinyu arranged a sister-city relationship between Tianlai and Anping, while Zhou Yi’s help brought swift aid to the Fu family. In Liaoyang, Shen Mo raised a rape allegation from twenty years earlier, but Director Guo said the statute of limitations had expired.

• Wang Jinyu and Zhou Yi agreed to pursue a sister-city relationship between Tianlai and Anping, and Tan Yanzhong approved putting the proposal before a meeting.
• Yao Qingyan thanked Teacher Guo and said Zhou Yi’s intervention had helped secure treatment for Fu Ning and the arrest of the driver who injured him.
• Guo Dongmei reflected on how much influence Zhou Yi wielded after seeing how quickly Tianlai’s officials responded to the Fu family’s plight.
• Director Guo Yong welcomed Shen Mo and told her he was looking out for her because she was Zhou Yi’s younger sister.
• Shen Mo reported that a woman said her neighbor had raped her when she was seven, and Director Guo explained that twenty years had passed and the statute of limitations had expired.

Shen Mo found a way to pursue a sexual assault case that had seemed barred by the statute of limitations, but her next investigation uncovered a case involving the relatives of powerful officials. The chapter left her team confronting two boys whose family connections made the arrest politically dangerous.

• After Director Guo reminded Shen Mo that she had to follow the law, she called Jian Shuyue for advice.
• Jian Shuyue suggested investigating the suspect for other crimes, and Shen Mo realized that a later crime could restart the limitation period for the earlier offense.
• The Criminal Investigation Detachment found that the suspect, Cao, had caused casualties in a 2003 traffic offense, so they opened a case and sought his arrest.
• Chu Bai called Shen Mo to report big trouble after investigators caught Chang Yuan and Duan Lang with a high-school-aged girl.
• The officers learned that Chang Yuan was Chang Zhili's nephew and Duan Lang was the son of Cloudrise Group board member Duan Baocheng.

Shen Mo defied pressure from Captain Jiang and had Chang Yuan and Duan Lang brought in to investigate their alleged assault of Song Qiaoqiao. Chang Zhili advised his family to coordinate the suspects’ stories and pay off the victim’s family, while Chang Yuan denied raping her during Shen Mo’s questioning.

• Shen Mo ordered the police to bring the suspects and Song Qiaoqiao back to the bureau despite Captain Jiang’s attempt to send her on leave.
• Shen Mo reminded Jiang Daoli that she would return to Anping with her sister-in-law, and he agreed to let her handle the case.
• Chang Yuan and Duan Lang were handcuffed and taken to the police station after the lead officer received further instructions.
• Chang Zhili told Chang Zhixin and Tian Haiyan that Guo Yong would not interfere, then advised them to get the suspects’ stories straight and pay Song Qiaoqiao’s family.
• Shen Mo questioned Chang Yuan, who claimed Song Qiaoqiao had willingly joined them and denied raping her.

Shen Mo returned to the Zhou family home for the holiday while Secretary Zhou confronted officials over a fatal clash between Anping Urban Management Officers and a street vendor. He sent them to report to the responsible vice mayors, leaving the handling of the high-profile incident unresolved.

• Shen Mo returned to Dongji County with her sister-in-law and shared a family meal with her godparents and Jian Shuyue.
• Cai Xiaobo and Zhu Jianping faced Secretary Zhou over the death of enforcement officer Meng Deyang during a confrontation with vendor Liu Haitao.
• Liu Haitao's family alleged that Urban Management Officers had assaulted him and Zhang Lian before he attacked Meng Deyang, and Beijing News coverage pushed the dispute onto trending lists.
• Secretary Zhou rebuked Cai Xiaobo and Zhu Jianping for failing to report the incident promptly to Vice Mayors Yan Xiangyu and Liu Wei.
• Secretary Zhou ordered the two officials to work with Yan Xiangyu and Liu Wei, warning them they would be held responsible if they failed to resolve the matter.

Shen Mo investigated whether Chang Yuan and Duan Lang had raped Song Qiaoqiao, and Jian Shuyue and Zhou Yi advised her to follow the evidence and anticipate pressure on the victim. After Song Qiaoqiao retracted her accusations, Jian Shuyue unexpectedly challenged Zhou Yi to a fight before he left for work.

• Shen Mo told Zhou Yi and Jian Shuyue about the rape case and the evidence involving Chang Yuan, Duan Lang, and Song Qiaoqiao.
• Jian Shuyue urged Shen Mo to stay impartial and warned that the suspects' families might pressure Song Qiaoqiao to change her account.
• Zhou Yi said an unintentional crime was still a crime and an imperfect victim was still a victim, relying on his gut instinct.
• Song Qiaoqiao returned to the detachment with her parents, changed her story, and said she no longer wanted to pursue criminal charges.
• Jian Shuyue took a Wing Chun stance and asked Zhou Yi to spar, leaving him bewildered.

Jian Shuyue told Zhou Yi that Ruyi Law Firm would represent the vendor accused of killing an urban management officer, prompting Zhou to support a fair investigation and address enforcement practices. As the city’s Standing Committee discussed the case, online criticism continued to intensify.

• Jian Shuyue explained that Zhen Ruyi wanted her firm to take the vendor’s case, and Zhou Yi agreed that the matter should be judged on the facts rather than treated as a contest with the city government.
• Zhou Yi discussed Chen Zhong’s possible transfer to Westwind and learned that Chen and Qiu Guoguo planned to settle their wedding arrangements after the Spring Festival.
• Mayor Li Yang told Zhou Yi that Deputy Mayor Xiang Yu had ordered an expedited investigation, and Zhou instructed that it be fair, transparent, and free of favoritism.
• At the Standing Committee meeting, Zhou condemned violent urban management enforcement and called for civil, people-centered methods and stronger prevention.
• As the meeting proceeded, online criticism of the case grew more intense.

Jian Shuyue followed the investigation into Liu Haitao’s case while public comments attacked the authorities and inflamed social divisions. Xia Mingyue gained access to surveillance footage, and Song Qiaoqiao, overwhelmed by abuse over her changed rape accusation, decided she had no choice but to die.

• Jian Shuyue criticized divisive online comments and instructed Xia Mingyue to keep pursuing the surveillance footage in Liu Haitao’s case.
• The Municipal Public Security Bureau agreed to let Xia Mingyue review the footage, and she went to collect it.
• Xia Mingyue worried that Jian Shuyue might recognize her as the author of The Happy Life of Zhou Yi, which she had stopped writing to avoid censorship.
• Song Qiaoqiao recalled agreeing to have sex with Duan Lang for money, discovering Chang Yuan during the encounter, and accusing both men of rape after police arrived.
• Song Qiaoqiao remembered the Duan Family offering her three hundred thousand yuan to change her statement and the female officer warning her about the abuse she would face.
• Unable to bear the public mockery and humiliation, Song Qiaoqiao concluded that death was her only choice.

Shen Mo struggled to keep the case against Chang Yuan and Duan Lang moving after Song Qiaoqiao withdrew her testimony and their families paid her compensation. The case took an unexpected turn when Duan Lang’s father brought him to the police to turn himself in, leaving Chang Zhili’s family stunned.

• Shen Mo worried that Song Qiaoqiao’s changed testimony and fragile mental state left her unable to prove the families had paid for the retraction.
• Ruoyun called Shen Mo about a director’s son being involved in the case.
• Chang Zhixin brought Chang Yuan to a family dinner and told him to thank Chang Zhili for helping secure his release.
• Chang Zhili assured the family that the case would be dropped if Song Qiaoqiao maintained her retraction.
• Jiang Daoli called Chang Zhili to report that Duan Lang had come to the Criminal Investigation Detachment with his parents to turn himself in.
• Duan Baocheng argued that Duan Lang would face lenient treatment as a minor and did not need to worry about a criminal record.

Duan Lang confessed after Li Ruoyun pressured his father, allowing investigators to secure the arrests of Duan Lang and Chang Yuan in the rape case. Zhou Yi then turned his attention to the still-trending death of an urban management officer, as Zhu Jianping and Cai Xiaobo faced pressure to handle that case properly.

• Duan Lang’s parents told him that Li Ruoyun had forced Duan Baocheng to choose between prison for himself or his son, and Duan Lang agreed to turn himself in.
• Duan Lang confessed and implicated Chang Yuan, while Shen Mo persuaded Song Qiaoqiao to admit she had changed her statement after accepting a settlement from the Duan family.
• The procuratorate approved the arrests of Chang Yuan and Duan Lang, and Shen Mo thanked Li Ruoyun for helping resolve the case.
• Zhou Yi reflected on the case and its public controversy before meeting chamber of commerce chairman Hao Huaizhong.
• Zhu Jianping worried about public anger over Meng Deyang’s death, while Cai Xiaobo reprimanded the traffic police captain for refusing the Ruyi Law Firm access to surveillance footage.

Zhu Jianping offered Meng Deyang’s family contract jobs for his siblings, while Cai Xiaobo watched online anger over the case grow. The chapter ended with Zhu Yu, an online provocateur, being confronted by a drunk outside a restaurant.

• Zhu Jianping offered Meng Deyang’s younger siblings contract jobs at the Urban Management Bureau and urged them to keep trying for permanent positions.
• Cai Xiaobo read online comments accusing officials of delaying the case and weighed whether to identify and detain the account called “Pretty Lady.”
• Zhu Yu, who used the account “Pretty Lady” to post inflammatory comments for money and out of spite, left home to eat at a restaurant.
• Two drunks bumped into Zhu Yu outside the restaurant, and one grabbed him by the collar and demanded to know what he was looking at.

Zhu Yu was beaten by two drunks and rescued by police, while the investigation into Liu Haitao’s fatal stabbing revealed that he had attacked the wrong officer. The Anping City Public Security Bureau held a press conference presenting the evidence, and the public praised its transparent account.

• Zhu Yu was attacked by two drunk men, fled to a police car, and called for help; two officers subdued his attackers.
• Xia Mingyue watched surveillance footage showing that Meng Deyang had not struck Zhang Lian, while another officer had slapped her, complicating Liu Haitao’s defense.
• Xia Mingyue’s boss told her to attend the Public Security Bureau’s upcoming press conference.
• Secretary Zhou approved the investigation report and supported holding a press conference to clarify the case.
• At the October 11 press conference, Li Linsen presented the footage and explained how Liu Haitao mistook Meng Deyang for the officer who struck Zhang Lian before stabbing him fatally.
• Online viewers praised the Anping City Public Security Bureau’s handling of the press conference and Secretary Zhou’s leadership.

Jian Shuyue watched Zhu Jianping accept responsibility for the Urban Management Officers Bureau’s failures, while Zhou Yi advanced plans for Anping’s tourism promotional film. Li Ruoyun visited Zhou Yi and Jian Shuyue for lunch and offered to support Anping’s development with funding.

• Zhu Jianping publicly apologized for the bureau’s enforcement failures, promised corrective measures, and invited the public to report misconduct.
• Jian Shuyue judged that Zhu Sanbao and Cai Big Treasure’s handling of the case had helped calm the online controversy.
• Lin Shuo presented Zhou Yi with a proposal for an Anping tourism film costing just over six hundred thousand yuan, and Zhou Yi told him to negotiate while protecting quality and saving money.
• Jian Shuyue stayed home to welcome Li Ruoyun, who joined her and Zhou Yi for a home-cooked lunch.
• Zhou Yi thanked Li Ruoyun for her past investments and for offering to provide money for Anping’s development.

Li Ruoyun donated a top-tier cultural tourism promotional film to Anping City, and Zhou Yi and Jian Shuyue discussed the defense strategy for Liu Haitao’s case. Feng Baozhen arranged to join the film crew so he could meet Zhou Yi.

• Li Ruoyun offered to fund Anping City’s cultural tourism promotional film and recruit a top-tier team.
• Zhou Yi and Jian Shuyue discussed Liu Haitao’s case, with Jian Shuyue planning to argue for excessive self-defense or heat of passion rather than self-defense.
• Jian Shuyue explained that Xia Mingyue had been hired by the firm after Ruyi approved her résumé and interview.
• Feng Baozhen called Peng Hua and asked to join the promotional film as supervising producer to get acquainted with Zhou Yi.
• Peng Hua agreed to bring Feng Baozhen onto the team, and Feng Baozhen offered to bring cinematographer Liu Daguang and actors Chen Fei and Bai Yu.

Qi Xiu learned Anping had assembled an all-star team for its cultural tourism promotional film, while Liu Haitao’s trial ended with a seven-year sentence for causing death through excessive self-defense. After critics accused the court of yielding to public opinion, Anping released interviews explaining the verdict, leaving the critics unable to sustain their claims.

• Qi Xiu offered to make Anping’s promotional film for free, but Lin Shuo told him Yunyi Media Group had already assembled a star-studded production team.
• Zhou Yi reviewed the promotional film proposal and welcomed the attention the project could bring to Anping.
• The Anping City Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Liu Haitao to seven years in prison, and Liu Haitao and the victim’s family accepted the verdict.
• You Diansong and other commentators criticized the sentence as too lenient, claiming the court had bowed to public opinion.
• Judge Wang Lie and defense lawyer Xia Mingyue gave detailed interviews explaining the evidence and the court’s finding of excessive self-defense.
• Tian Tian praised Xia Mingyue’s interview, and Zhou Yi commended his wife for countering the criticism through transparency.

Anping City’s promotional film went viral for its striking scenery, famous performers, and celebrity cameos, drawing attention to the city and its Municipal Party Secretary, Zhou Yi. Behind-the-scenes footage showed Zhou Yi meeting the film’s crew and stars, while a flashback revealed prominent directors respectfully greeting him during the shoot.

• Tian Tian watched Anping City’s promotional film, which paired scenic views with period characters, celebrity appearances, and a dramatic imperial hunting scene.
• Viewers flooded the film’s comments with reactions, identified celebrities in the background, and discussed Anping City and Zhou Yi.
• The film’s credits revealed a high-profile creative team, while travel bloggers and film productions expressed interest in Anping’s locations.
• The behind-the-scenes footage showed Zhou Yi shaking hands with the film crew and the stars who had made cameo appearances.
• A month earlier, Zhou Yi had visited Two-Dragon Mountain with municipal leaders, where directors Peng Hua and Feng Baozhen set aside their work to introduce themselves to him.

Zhou Yi thanked the artists who came to film Anping’s promotional video, and the video soon drew visitors from across the country. As Dazhuang and Xiaomei arrived in Anping, a taxi driver explained the city’s attractions and warned that officials would crack down on businesses mistreating tourists.

• Zhou Yi warmly greeted the directors, veteran artists, and stars who had come to support Anping’s promotional video.
• Feng Baozhen suggested that Zhou Yi appear on camera, but Zhou Yi declined and joked with the stars.
• After the promotional video was released, visitors began streaming into Anping, boosted by Tianlai City’s sister-city ties and its leaders’ publicity.
• Dazhuang and Xiaomei arrived at Anping’s train station and mistook the free taxi service for an illegal cab.
• Master Kang drove Dazhuang and Xiaomei around, recommended local attractions, and told them to call the complaints hotline if businesses mistreated them, quoting Zhou Yi’s warning to offenders.

Dazhuang and Xiaomei toured Anping, where attentive staff, vigilant vendors, and friendly local celebrities made a strong impression. Before leaving, Dazhuang began writing a highly positive travelogue that rated the trip outstanding and strongly recommended it.

• Dazhuang and Xiaomei arrived at the Welcoming Spring Hotel, enjoyed its affordable room and warm service, and later met taxi driver Kang again, who reminded them to report anyone who fleeced tourists.
• Dazhuang and Xiaomei visited Top Scholar Tower, where Xiaomei watched Lin Zhisheng film Demon-Slaying Chronicles and Dazhuang noticed staff successfully mediating a visitor dispute.
• Vendors caught and restrained a thief who had stolen a visitor's phone and wallet, and police arrived to take him away.
• Lin Zhisheng greeted visitors, promoted Anping, and gave Xiaomei an autograph and a photo; Cao Chun also called himself Anping's son-in-law.
• Dazhuang and Xiaomei toured several Anping attractions over four days and felt reluctant to leave.
• Dazhuang began a travelogue that rated Anping's scenery six, service twelve, and experience ten, gave the trip an outstanding overall rating, and highly recommended it.

Travel blogger Dazhuang praised Anping’s hospitality after officials swiftly punished a restaurant that overcharged him, and his post drew widespread attention. Zhou Yi read the enthusiastic reactions and smiled as commenters across several cities praised him.

• Dazhuang published a travelogue praising Anping’s service and describing how officials made a restaurant refund his bill and close for rectification after it overcharged him.
• The next morning, Dazhuang discovered his post had received thousands of comments, shares, and likes, while other Anping travel posts were also gaining attention.
• Zhou Yi read Dazhuang’s post and wondered whether Tan Yanzhong had helped promote it.
• Readers praised Anping’s attractions and strict enforcement, repeated Zhou Yi’s sayings, and voiced support for him from multiple cities.
• Zhou Yi read the comments and smiled at the praise directed toward him.

Anping City’s tourism boom continued as online praise for its attentive service helped strengthen support for Secretary Zhou Yi’s tourism plans. On November 10, Provincial Party Committee Secretary Lan visited Anping and greeted Zhou Yi with unusual warmth.

• A video showing a once-stern restaurant owner changing his rules and smiling went viral, bringing praise for Anping’s response to tourists’ feedback.
• Zhou Yi chaired a municipal meeting that set plans to expand tourism promotion, exchange visitors with Eastern Guangdong and Jiangnan, and support tourism projects.
• Municipal officials credited Anping’s tourism surge to Zhou Yi’s planning, the Yunshui Group’s investment, and the Ice and Snow World project.
• On November 10, 2013, Lan arrived in Anping for an inspection, and Zhou Yi, Li Yang, and the municipal standing committee welcomed him.
• Lan shook hands with Zhou Yi and greeted him with a warm, familiar expression.