Recaps

Pu Yu celebrated the New Year and Yuan Su’s birthday on a mountaintop, giving him her precious red cord and the tiramisu she had carried for him. Yuan Su accepted the gifts and promised not to remove the cord, while Pu Yu pressed him to make a wish as the chapter ended.

• Pu Yu borrowed Yuan Su’s phone to watch the time reach midnight and welcome the New Year.
• Pu Yu tied her treasured red cord around Yuan Su’s wrist and wished him a happy birthday and lasting safety.
• When Yuan Su offered to return the cord after Pu Yu joked about missing it, she covered the knot and insisted he keep the gift.
• Pu Yu offered Yuan Su the misshapen tiramisu she had carried up the mountain, and he ate it and said it was sweet.
• Pu Yu urged Yuan Su to make a wish on the stars, and he began packing the telescope instead.
• Pu Yu stared at Yuan Su without giving up until he slowed and met her gaze.

Yuan Su and Pu Yu returned to Whitebank Town after stargazing, sharing a quiet walk and promising to use the telescope again. Near Wind Chime Alley, Yuan Su spotted armed men waiting for his father and hid Pu Yu before revealing who had entered the alley.

• Yuan Su teased Pu Yu with talk of snakes, then walked her down the dark hill as she held his sleeve.
• Yuan Su told Pu Yu he had made a good wish and agreed to return with her to look through the telescope.
• At the entrance to Wind Chime Alley, Yuan Su spotted several men with motorcycles and a switchblade as a middle-aged man hurried into the alley.
• Yuan Su pulled Pu Yu into a concealed gap between houses and ordered her to stay quiet and hidden.
• Yuan Su told Pu Yu that the man in the alley was his father and that the men were looking for money.

Yuan Su tried to protect the money set aside for his mother’s medical care from his gambling-addicted father, Yuan Hongzheng. After Yuan Hongzheng summoned the casino enforcers, Yuan Su faced a fight to keep the money.

• Yuan Su hid Pu Yu in an alley and told her to run to the police station if he failed to return.
• Yuan Su climbed over the wall and entered his home, where Yuan Hongzheng searched for money.
• Yuan Hongzheng found Yuan Su’s hidden three thousand yuan and took it despite Yuan Su’s warnings.
• Yuan Hongzheng tried to flee with the money, but Yuan Su caught and beat him.
• Yuan Hongzheng screamed for Brother Dao and the enforcers to come help him.

Yuan Hongzheng took the money meant for Yuan Su’s mother’s medicine and left after Brother Dao’s men beat Yuan Su. Pu Yu found Yuan Su in the wrecked courtyard and held him as he broke down over his father’s betrayal.

• Brother Dao and his men entered the courtyard, and Yuan Su charged them to stop Yuan Hongzheng from taking the money.
• The thugs beat and pinned Yuan Su, who begged Yuan Hongzheng to leave money for his mother’s medicine.
• Brother Dao urged Yuan Hongzheng to take the money for a gambling game, and Yuan Hongzheng left without looking back.
• Pu Yu arrived after the men departed and found Yuan Su bleeding among the wreckage.
• Yuan Su said he could not save his mother or himself, and Pu Yu embraced him and told him his father’s actions were not his fault.

After Yuan Su was beaten and his home was ransacked, Pu Yu helped him inside and tended to his wounds. Though Yuan Su tried to send her away, Pu Yu returned and held him, insisting that her birthday had still been unforgettable.

• Pu Yu helped the injured Yuan Su into the wrecked main room and refused to leave him alone.
• Yuan Su tried to return the bloodstained red cord, but Pu Yu stopped him and said it had protected him.
• Pu Yu cleaned Yuan Su's wounds, and he apologized for letting her see his misery.
• Yuan Su told Pu Yu to go home, and she reluctantly left after urging him to rest and stay safe.
• Pu Yu turned back, ran to Yuan Su, and held him as she told him that her birthday had not been awful.

Li Suhua used money she had saved for Pu Yu’s college tuition to help Yuan Su pay for his mother’s medical care. She left Yuan Su with food and money, insisting he accept it as a debt and warning him not to ruin his future.

• Pu Yu woke before dawn and told Li Suhua that Yuan Su’s father had taken all the money, leaving Auntie Lu’s medical bills unpaid.
• Li Suhua took more than a thousand yuan from her savings, though the money had been intended for Pu Yu’s college tuition.
• Pu Yu and Li Suhua crossed to Yuan Su’s courtyard, where they found he had cleaned up the wreckage and was preparing to go to work.
• Li Suhua brought Yuan Su porridge and buns, then pressed the money into his hand despite his refusal.
• Li Suhua warned Yuan Su not to turn to loan sharks or sell his blood, and said he and Pu Yu would repay her by buying her a house and sewing machine and cooking her braised pork.

After Yuan Su borrowed money to pay for Lu Zhen’s hospitalization, he worked himself into exhaustion while Pu Yu focused on writing and her grades slipped. Though Yuan Su scolded her for neglecting her studies, he left detailed solutions to her exam paper at her doorstep, and Pu Yu recognized his awkward care.

• Yuan Su gave Li Suhua an IOU for the money she lent him to pay for Lu Zhen’s hospitalization.
• Pu Yu received her published article and a payment of 160 yuan, then devoted much of her free time to writing.
• Yuan Su worked long hours and returned to school for final exams looking exhausted.
• Yuan Su confronted Pu Yu about ranking sixteenth in her year and third in her class, then scolded her for putting writing ahead of studying.
• Pu Yu wrote an article comparing Yuan Su to a wary stray dog that wanted kindness but kept people away.
• Yuan Su left detailed solutions to Pu Yu’s combined science exam outside her gate, and she called him an awkward little puppy.

Pu Yu discovered that a story she had written in a burst of frustration, featuring a fierce puppy named Yuanyuan, had been published in the Nanhua Daily. Xu Suiran’s questions about the puppy made Yuan Su suspect that the story was about him, and the chapter ended with him repeating the name Yuanyuan while looking at Pu Yu.

• Xu Suiran brought Pu Yu the latest Nanhua Daily and showed her that her story, “Yuanyuan the Puppy,” had been published.
• Pu Yu realized that her hastily written story about a fierce puppy inspired by Yuan Su had been selected instead of her carefully revised piece.
• Xu Suiran praised the story and brought sausages, hoping to meet and feed Yuanyuan.
• Pu Yu tried to convince Xu Suiran that the puppy had disappeared and steered her toward doing homework.
• Xu Suiran asked Yuan Su whether he had seen a puppy named Yuanyuan, and he stopped working and questioned Pu Yu about the name.

Yuan Su discovered Pu Yu’s essay about a fierce, scruffy puppy was really about him, and Pu Yu admitted she had written it because he had hurt her by pushing her away. He bent down and let her pet his hair, leaving them in a moment of quiet trust.

• Yuan Su took Xu Suiran’s newspaper and recognized himself in Pu Yu’s essay about a stray puppy.
• After Xu Suiran left, Yuan Su asked Pu Yu about the essay, and she confessed that she had written it because he had been mean and ignored her.
• Yuan Su explained that he had been overwhelmed at the time, and Pu Yu said that was why she had written the essay.
• Yuan Su asked Pu Yu what she had written in the last paragraph, then bent down and invited her to pet him.
• Pu Yu gently stroked Yuan Su’s hair as he relaxed, and he told her she had touched it.

Pu Yu protected Yuan Su from debt collectors who harassed him and tried to force him to repair a rice cooker for his father’s debt. She made Two Pockmarks pay for the repair, while the red paint and unpaid debts still left Yuan Su’s shop in disarray.

• Pu Yu and Yuan Su shared an awkward, tender moment while she studied and he repaired an electric motor.
• During winter break, Yuan Su faced mounting pressure as creditors came to his repair shop demanding repayment for Yuan Hongzheng’s debts.
• A man splashed red paint on Yuan Su’s shop shutter and Two Pockmarks demanded that Yuan Su repair his rice cooker against the debt.
• Pu Yu arrived and challenged Two Pockmarks to put the debt arrangement in writing or take the dispute to the police.
• Two Pockmarks threw down five yuan for the repair and left, while the crowd dispersed and the shop remained covered in paint.

Pu Yu refused to let Yuan Su push her away because of his debts and the red paint on his shop. After she covered the hateful words with white paint and promised to stay by his side, Yuan Su pulled her into an embrace and accepted that she would not leave him.

• Yuan Su told Pu Yu to stop visiting his shop and called it dirty, trying to drive her away.
• Pu Yu left briefly, then returned with white paint and covered the red words on the shop shutter.
• Pu Yu told Yuan Su about the success of her story about Roundy the Puppy and said she would write an ending where the puppy and his kind friend stayed together.
• Yuan Su answered that he still wanted to send her away, then grabbed Pu Yu and held her tightly.
• Pu Yu embraced Yuan Su back and told him she could not leave someone behind; Yuan Su felt determined not to sink as long as she kept coming to him.

Yuan Su turned down a lucrative job offer so he could stay near his family, then helped Pu Yu and Li Suhua prepare for the New Year. He gave Pu Yu a secondhand smartphone, where she discovered he had saved his number as “AAA,” and teased him until he called himself a puppy.

• Yuan Su repaired a textile mill machine and declined Boss Zhao’s offer to move to Dongzhou, choosing to stay in school and care for his family.
• Pu Yu wrote New Year couplets while Li Suhua struggled with back pain, and Yuan Su gave Li Suhua an 800-yuan advance toward repaying their debt.
• Yuan Su and Pu Yu decorated the repair shop with her couplets.
• Pu Yu asked Yuan Su for a secondhand phone, and he gave her a tested smartphone with a SIM card and credit.
• Pu Yu found “AAA” as the phone’s only contact and pretended she would delete the number, prompting Yuan Su to say it belonged to “a puppy.”

Yuan Su promised Pu Yu she could contact him whenever she needed, and he brought his mother, Lu Zhen, home from the hospital to celebrate New Year’s Eve with both families. After the celebrations, Pu Yu asked Yuan Su to join her on North Mountain to look at the stars, and he agreed to meet her at the alley entrance.

• Yuan Su told Pu Yu she could call or text him at any time, and Pu Yu invited him to New Year’s Eve dinner.
• Yuan Su agreed to ask the doctor whether Lu Zhen could come home for the holiday.
• After the doctor approved, Yuan Su brought Lu Zhen home to Wind Chime Alley, where she was glad to be back.
• Pu Yu and Yuan Su celebrated New Year’s Eve with Lu Zhen, Li Suhua, and their families, sharing a meal and watching fireworks.
• Pu Yu messaged Yuan Su and asked him to go to North Mountain to look at the stars, and he told her he would wait at the alley entrance.

Pu Yu and Yuan Su climbed North Mountain to watch the sunrise, where Pu Yu asked about attending university in the same city and nearly confessed her feelings. Yuan Su avoided her confession, but the sunrise filled him with hope for a future together before an ominous storm threatened to follow.

• Pu Yu insisted on climbing North Mountain herself, and Yuan Su followed close behind, ready to catch her if she stumbled.
• At the summit, Pu Yu asked Yuan Su where he wanted to attend university and suggested they go to the same city, but he could not promise that his debts and family troubles would let him leave.
• Pu Yu began to confess her feelings, but Yuan Su interrupted her and suggested they wait to watch the sunrise.
• Pu Yu fell asleep against Yuan Su's shoulder, and he stopped himself from touching her as he worried he could not offer her a future.
• Yuan Su woke Pu Yu to watch the sunrise, and its light left him hopeful that he could one day take her hand.

At the start of senior year’s final hundred-day sprint, Pu Yu was chosen to speak at the school’s pledge rally and hoped her grandmother would attend the parent meeting afterward. After Pu Yu bought Li Suhua a new jacket, Li Suhua agreed to come.

• Cheng Siyi announced the hundred-day pledge rally and parent meeting, and named Pu Yu as the class’s student representative.
• Pu Yu told Li Suhua about the rally and parent meeting, but Li Suhua initially refused to attend.
• Pu Yu found Li Suhua searching for presentable clothes and decided to buy her a new outfit.
• Pu Yu and Xu Suiran shopped at the town’s clothing market, where Pu Yu chose a deep purple Chinese-style padded jacket for Li Suhua.
• Li Suhua tried on the jacket, praised it while pretending to scold Pu Yu for spending money, and agreed to attend the Friday event.

Pu Yu gave a speech at the senior-year pledge rally, then tied her and Yuan Su’s dream balloons together before they released them. As the balloons flew off side by side, Yuan Su silently wished for Pu Yu to have a bright future.

• Pu Yu spotted Yuan Su in the crowd before her speech and gained confidence as she spoke about uncertainty, perseverance, and waiting for sunrise.
• After Pu Yu finished speaking, her grandmother clapped proudly but looked away when Pu Yu noticed her.
• Pu Yu asked Song Jinnian for a second balloon, then brought the dark blue one to Yuan Su and urged him to write down a dream.
• When Yuan Su refused, Pu Yu wrote “Pursuing Light” on his balloon and “Sunshine and Rain” on her own, then tied their strings together.
• Pu Yu and Yuan Su released the linked balloons together, and Yuan Su watched them rise as he wished for Pu Yu’s skies to stay clear.

At Pu Yu’s parent meeting, Li Suhua defended Yuan Su against parents who insulted him and blamed him for his family’s troubles. Yuan Su overheard her defense, while Li Suhua hid her worsening back pain until she collapsed outside the classroom building.

• At the parent meeting, Cheng Siyi praised Pu Yu’s academic improvement and praised Yuan Su’s progress.
• A woman in a mink coat and other parents criticized Yuan Su, prompting Li Suhua to stand up and defend him.
• Xu Suiran’s mother supported Li Suhua and said Yuan Su and Pu Yu had helped her daughter study.
• Yuan Su overheard Li Suhua defending him from the corridor.
• After the meeting, Li Suhua walked out with Pu Yu despite severe back pain and collapsed outside the classroom building.

Yuan Su rushed Pu Yu’s collapsed grandmother, Li Suhua, to the hospital, where doctors said her severe spinal condition required risky surgery to prevent paralysis. After waking, Li Suhua refused treatment and harshly ordered Pu Yu to leave, insisting they were not family.

• Yuan Su stopped Pu Yu from taking Li Suhua to the nurse’s office and carried her to the hospital.
• A doctor diagnosed Li Suhua with a severely herniated disc and recommended urgent surgery at a better-equipped hospital, warning she could become paralyzed without it.
• Pu Yu blamed herself for overlooking Li Suhua’s worsening back pain, while Yuan Su comforted her.
• After waking in the hospital, Li Suhua learned she needed surgery and told Pu Yu to return to her parents.
• Li Suhua denied being Pu Yu’s grandmother and ordered her out, saying neither of them could afford the treatment.

Pu Yu begged Li Suhua to accept treatment, and Yuan Su helped convince the grandmother not to send her away. Li Suhua agreed to wait for county hospital tests, leaving Yuan Su and Pu Yu to prepare for the trip.

• Pu Yu knelt beside Li Suhua’s hospital bed and pleaded with her not to abandon her or refuse treatment.
• Yuan Su entered and warned Li Suhua that sending Pu Yu away could leave her homeless or force her into marriage for bride money.
• Pu Yu told Li Suhua that she was family, not a burden, and begged her to accept surgery.
• Yuan Su offered to cover the initial tests and hospital stay, claiming he could use money owed to him by the factory.
• Li Suhua relented and agreed to wait for the county hospital’s test results and estimate, then sent Yuan Su and Pu Yu out to let her rest.

Yuan Su comforted Pu Yu after Grandma Li urged her not to sacrifice her future for the cost of surgery, then promised to find the money so Pu Yu could focus on her entrance exam. He left Pu Yu reassured that he chose to carry her burdens and would not let her fall.

• Yuan Su led a tearful Pu Yu from Grandma Li's hospital room and gave her tissues as she explained her grandmother feared being a burden.
• Yuan Su took Pu Yu to a noodle shop and urged her to eat, transferring the beef from his bowl to hers.
• Pu Yu worried about paying for Grandma Li's surgery, and Yuan Su said he would use repair shop advances or six months of wages from Uncle Zhao to cover the fees.
• Pu Yu refused to let Yuan Su take on more burdens and regretted tying their balloons together, fearing she had made his life harder.
• Yuan Su told Pu Yu he had chosen to stay tied to her, promised he would not let her fall, and gently wiped away her tears.

Pu Yu sought help from Pu Zhiming to pay for Li Suhua’s urgent surgery, but he refused and struck her. She grabbed his infant son and demanded the money back, leaving the confrontation on the brink of violence.

• Yuan Su and Pu Yu took Li Suhua to the county hospital, where a doctor warned that her severe spinal condition required surgery and at least ten thousand yuan upfront.
• Yuan Su agreed to arrange the surgery, while Pu Yu requested an extended leave from Cheng Siyi and worried that her savings were far short of the cost.
• Yuan Su told Pu Yu he had a way to get the money and asked her to wait at the hospital, but she secretly traveled to South Hua City the next morning.
• Pu Zhiming refused to help with Li Suhua’s surgery, blamed her for keeping him from his birth parents, and slapped Pu Yu when she raised her claim to the apartment.
• Pu Yu demanded the two thousand yuan of high school tuition that Pu Zhiming had given her in counterfeit bills, then rushed into the kitchen and returned with a fruit knife.
• Pu Yu scooped He Shuowan and Pu Zhiming’s baby from the stroller, prompting them to scream at her to put him down.

Pu Yu threatened her family with a knife to reclaim the money Pu Zhiming owed her, then escaped after leaving her baby brother safely downstairs. Back in Tingyuan County, she ran into Yuan Su, who confronted her about disappearing and demanded that she remove her mask.

• Pu Yu held her baby brother at knifepoint and demanded that Pu Zhiming return the two thousand yuan he had given her in counterfeit bills.
• He Shuowan threw real cash onto the floor, and Pu Yu made Pu Zhiming pick up each bill before she checked and pocketed it.
• Pu Yu ordered Pu Zhiming and He Shuowan to stand at the balcony, then carried the baby downstairs and left him safely on a bench before running away.
• Pu Yu hid in a crowded mall before returning to Tingyuan County, where she spotted Yuan Su at the bus station.
• Yuan Su confronted Pu Yu about her phone being off, caught her wrist when she tried to leave, and trapped her against his chest behind a pillar.

Yuan Su discovered that Pu Yu had been slapped while collecting two thousand yuan owed for her grandmother’s hospital bill, and he treated her injury. Pu Yu explained why she went alone, then reached for Yuan Su’s hand and nuzzled against his palm.

• Yuan Su removed Pu Yu’s mask and saw the five finger marks on her swollen cheek.
• Yuan Su bought ice and ointment, then treated Pu Yu’s injury at a bus stop.
• Pu Yu admitted she had gone into the city to collect two thousand yuan for her grandmother’s hospital bill.
• Pu Yu explained she wanted to help pay for the surgery and ease Yuan Su’s burden.
• Pu Yu took Yuan Su’s hand and gently nuzzled her uninjured cheek into his palm.

Yuan Su and Pu Yu reconciled after he worried over her dangerous attempt to get money, and he gave her the funds for Li Suhua’s surgery. The chapter ended with Yuan Su writing an IOU that required Pu Yu to send him one message every day as interest.

• Yuan Su admitted he was worried about Pu Yu and promised to go with her if she insisted on doing something dangerous.
• Pu Yu told Yuan Su she had returned safely with money, and he handed her a bulging envelope for Li Suhua’s surgery.
• Pu Yu feared Yuan Su had signed himself away, but he said he had gathered money from friends and sold saved parts.
• Yuan Su urged Pu Yu to prioritize Li Suhua’s surgery and wrote her an IOU for ten thousand yuan, with one daily message as interest.

Pu Yu accepted Yuan Su’s money for Li Suhua’s surgery and promised to work for him for the rest of her life if she could not repay him. As the operation approached, Li Suhua entrusted Pu Yu with her savings and house deed and warned her not to trust anyone claiming to be her biological grandparents.

• Yuan Su gave Pu Yu money for Li Suhua’s surgery, and Pu Yu accepted it as a loan, agreeing to work for him for the rest of her life if she could not repay him.
• Pu Yu stayed by Li Suhua in the hospital as they waited for the surgery scheduled for the following Thursday.
• Li Suhua asked Pu Yu how she had obtained the money, and Pu Yu said she had borrowed it from a wealthy former classmate.
• Li Suhua gave Pu Yu her house deed and funeral savings, telling her to keep the house unless she had no other choice.
• Li Suhua asked Yuan Su to care for Pu Yu if she died, but he said he had to look after his mother and could not take responsibility.
• Li Suhua warned Pu Yu not to go with anyone claiming to be her biological grandparents, and Pu Yu promised to refuse them.