Chapter Summaries

Zhou Yi welcomed Lan Kun and provincial officials to Anping to inspect its booming cultural tourism industry, then discussed the city’s success and showed them the Top Scholar Tower. The visit ended with Lan Kun impressed by Anping’s crowds and Zhou Yi’s approach to attracting tourists.

• Zhou Yi greeted Lan Kun, Qian Jin, He Bin, and the visiting officials, then briefed them on Anping’s cultural tourism and winter tourism plans.
• Lan Kun visited Zhou Yi’s office, congratulated him on Anping’s success, and praised the work behind the city’s achievements.
• Zhou Yi joined Lan Kun for lunch and accompanied him and Li Yang to the Top Scholar Tower, where Zhou Yi explained its history.
• Lan Kun remarked on the large crowds despite the late-autumn off-season, and Qian Jin and Zhou Yi explained that Anping drew visitors with its food, service, and attractions.

Travel blogger Xiao Shuai came to Anping to uncover dirt but was caught in a deadly street brawl, leaving the city facing a public-relations crisis. After Director Cai Xiaobo learned the details, Secretary Zhou called, and Cai feared the consequences.

• Mayor Li Yang praised Anping’s surge in tourism while acknowledging that the city had struggled to accommodate visitors.
• Xiao Shuai arrived at a barbecue stall on Food and Entertainment Street, determined to find evidence of Anping’s bad food, service, and nightlife.
• Sun stabbed several people during a brawl, then stabbed Xiao Shuai when he mistook him for an opponent; the stall owner disarmed Sun and stabbed him in the chest.
• Patrol officers arrived, subdued Sun’s accomplices with help from bystanders, and the victims were taken for treatment.
• Li Linsen reported that the fight began when Sun assaulted a woman and her companions; three victims were slightly injured, one was seriously injured, and Sun died on the way to the hospital.
• Cai Xiaobo feared the incident would damage Anping’s image, especially with a provincial inspection underway, and became alarmed when Secretary Zhou called.

Zhou Yi reassured Cai Xiaobo and urged a swift investigation, while preparing Anping’s publicity department to counter online attacks over a fatal assault at a food stall. As misleading reports spread, Anping Public Security and Anping Release responded with unusually casual, witty posts that began to draw attention.

• Zhou Yi called Cai Xiaobo, reassured him, and told him to assign a team to investigate quickly and publish the results.
• Zhou Yi considered how the case could damage Anping’s reputation and decided the Publicity Department needed to respond swiftly to online rumors.
• Yao Xin posted a misleading report claiming tourists had been attacked by an organized crime gang, and hostile comments flooded the story.
• Anping Public Security and Anping Release replied promptly, promised an official bulletin, and drew attention with their irreverent, conversational style.

After Anping Public Security released a detailed account of the food-stall assault, online discussion turned against Yao Xin’s report and focused on the police response. The debate then shifted to whether Guan Sheng would be judged to have acted in legitimate self-defense or exceeded its limits.

• Yao Xin opened Anping Public Security’s bulletin, which described Sun Wei’s assault, his fatal stabbing by food-stall owner Guan Sheng, and the police response five minutes after the incident began.
• Commenters defended the police and attacked Yao Xin’s report, while the Anti-China Faction and internet trolls lost control of the discussion.
• Lin Fang, Sun Yuan, and Wu Sheng published commentary praising Anping’s handling of the case and redirecting attention toward Guan Sheng’s legal situation.
• Lin Fang and Wu Sheng raised concerns that Guan Sheng might face criminal charges if investigators deemed his fatal blow excessive self-defense.
• Yao Xin watched the debate shift toward whether Guan Sheng had performed a heroic intervention or exceeded the limits of self-defense.

Online debate erupted over whether food-stall owner Guan Mousheng had used excessive self-defense when he killed Sun Mouwei while stopping a stabbing. Anping authorities ruled that Guan had acted in justifiable self-defense and would face no criminal charges, leaving Yao Xin’s misleading commentary discredited.

• Yao Xin claimed an unnamed source said Anping would hold Guan Mousheng legally accountable, prompting a wave of comments criticizing the law.
• Secretary Zhou discussed Yao’s commentary with his secretary Ren Ziqiang and argued that self-defense should be judged by the facts and law, not by whether someone died.
• The Anping Public Security Bureau announced that Guan’s actions constituted righteous intervention and justifiable self-defense, so it would not open a criminal case.
• The Anping Municipal Procuratorate explained that Guan had acted to protect Yuan Mou from an ongoing knife attack, and that the law imposed no criminal responsibility for the assailant’s death.
• Yao Xin saw the official announcement and watched commenters praise Anping’s handling of the case.

Yao Xin tried to criticize Anping for letting public opinion influence its handling of a street-stall assault case, but readers attacked her for contradicting her earlier claims. A trending report and video of Zhou Yi’s rule-of-law meeting reinforced Anping’s position that the law must not yield to lawlessness.

• Yao Xin wrote that Anping had catered to public sentiment and warned that it might be compromising judicial impartiality.
• Readers flooded Yao Xin’s comments with criticism, accusing her of changing her position and stirring up controversy for attention.
• A report about Anping’s citywide rule-of-law meeting went viral and quoted Zhou Yi’s insistence that the law must not yield to lawlessness.
• Zhou Yi praised Anping’s public security bureau and procuratorate for recognizing courageous intervention and legitimate self-defense in the street-stall assault case.
• Viewers applauded Zhou Yi’s speech and praised his leadership in comments on the meeting video.

Zhang Shuang tried to persuade Sun Mouwei’s parents to challenge the official findings, but Sun Danian rejected her and recognized her attempt to manipulate them. After Zhang Shuang left, Sun Danian’s wife wondered whether the family could seek compensation, and he invoked Xiao Fan’s connection to Secretary Zhou’s wife to insist they follow her advice.

• Zhang Shuang interviewed Sun Mouwei’s parents and asked whether they accepted the authorities’ findings about Guan Mousheng’s actions.
• Sun Danian rebuked his wife when she nearly asked Zhang Shuang what rights the family could assert, then told the reporter to leave.
• Zhang Shuang planned to edit the interview to suggest the family had been threatened into silence.
• Sun Danian told his wife that Xiao Fan had warned them reporters wanted to exploit the family, while his wife wondered whether they could seek compensation for Sun Mouwei’s widow and child.
• Sun Danian told his wife that Xiao Fan had shared a dorm room with Secretary Zhou’s wife.

Sun Danian’s family rejected attempts by reporters to exploit their situation, and Zhou Xiaofan arranged a Provincial Daily Newspaper interview that helped counter misleading coverage. Anping’s open letter boosted support for the city’s winter tourism, while Zhou Yi planned for Mayor Li Yang to attend Ice and Snow Century’s ribbon-cutting because he would be away.

• Sun Danian told his wife that their niece Zhou Xiaofan knew Secretary Zhou and warned her not to let reporters use the family; he called Xiaofan about the reporters’ visits.
• Zhou Xiaofan offered to arrange a Provincial Daily Newspaper interview with Sun Danian’s family, and the Liaodong Daily Publishing House and Television Station published an interview in which Sun Wei’s parents rejected false claims and apologized to injured tourists.
• After Zhang Shuang posted her edited news video, internet users criticized her coverage and pointed to the interview with Sun Wei’s parents.
• Anping Release published an open letter to residents and tourists that helped quell the controversy and drew attention to the approaching winter tourism season; Secretary Zhou praised the letter, which Ren Ziqiang said Zhou Xiaofan had written.
• Ren Ziqiang reported that Ice and Snow Century’s ribbon-cutting was tentatively set for Monday, but Zhou Yi, who would be attending a provincial meeting, decided to ask Mayor Li Yang to attend for him.

Anping's winter tourism drew record crowds after a celebrity-backed promotional film, bringing new prosperity and excitement to the city. Zhou Yi strolled through the festive streets with Jian Shuyue, then reflected on his happy life as their car crossed the intersection and continued onward.

• Feng Baozhen made a promotional film for Anping, and celebrity recommendations helped draw record-breaking winter tourism crowds.
• Dazhuang and Xiaomei watched a Northeast Yangge troupe perform and praised Anping's distinctive, welcoming atmosphere.
• Zhou Yi and Jian Shuyue strolled through the crowded food street, welcomed tourists, and posed for photos with them.
• Zhou Yi and Jian Shuyue shared a bowl of spicy noodles before heading home hand in hand.
• At the intersection where he recalled his past life, Zhou Yi told Jian Shuyue that marrying her was his greatest blessing and reflected on his happy future.