Chapter Summaries

Xia Xu’s teacher, Liu Xiulan, discovered that he owned Star Sea Venture Capital and was behind its investment in Flying Boat Studio. After Xia Xu explained how he earned his first money by helping fight crime, the group headed into the meeting room to discuss business.

• Liu Xiulan was surprised when Chen Leyao greeted Xia Xu as her boss, revealing that he owned Star Sea Venture Capital.
• Xia Xu told Liu Xiulan he had founded a company after taking her advice to build wealth himself, but she doubted his account.
• Xia Xu explained that he earned his money through police rewards after finding criminals and fighting crime.
• Chen Leyao praised Xia Xu’s exploits, while Xia Xu blamed her for exposing him before he could bluff his way through.
• Fang Dahai urged everyone into the meeting room, and Xia Xu and Fang exchanged businesslike jokes as Liu Xiulan marveled at Xia Xu’s composure.

Xia Xu sold his shares in Flying Boat Studio to Zhonghai Investment and received seventy million yuan after taxes. He planned to expand Star Sea Venture Capital and fund new companies, but worried that the money would not stretch far enough, then decided he needed a luxury car for business.

• Xia Xu completed the sale of his seventy percent stake in Flying Boat Studio to Fang Dahai and Liu Xiulan, receiving seventy million yuan after taxes.
• Chen Leyao reassured Xia Xu about the taxes and asked what he planned to do next.
• Xia Xu told Chen Leyao to rent a larger headquarters and recruit staff, while having the investment and risk control departments begin small investments.
• Xia Xu directed Chen Leyao to pursue shares and Xia Kingdom publishing rights for Hero Glory from Hammer Company, with Hong Bo operating the game.
• Xia Xu considered the costs of setting up biotechnology and machinery companies and worried that seventy million yuan would not be enough.
• On the taxi ride, Xia Xu decided to buy a luxury car for business appearances.

Xia Xu set aside his plans to buy a car and went to the university town to recruit Zhang San, a lawyer who could protect his business. He accepted the risks of poaching Griffin Jones’s contacts because Leyao’s value and the chance to build a competing company outweighed them, then stood outside the Political Science and Law College preparing to approach Zhang San.

• Xia Xu abandoned his immediate car-buying plans and sent Chen Leyao to contact recruitment and headhunting firms while he searched for talent around the university town.
• Xia Xu went to the Political Science and Law College to approach Zhang San, whom he hoped to recruit as legal protection for his business.
• Xia Xu considered that poaching Zhang San after Chen Leyao could alert Griffin Jones, but judged Griffin Jones less dangerous than the Andra Group.
• Xia Xu weighed the risks of provoking Andra against the value of building a company that could compete with Griffin Jones’s projected business empire.
• Xia Xu resolved to take the gamble for Leyao’s Five-Star Business Administration talent and stood at the college entrance before meeting Zhang San.

Xia Xu approached Professor Zhang San outside the College of Political Science and Law to recruit a lawyer for his company. After learning that Xia Xu was still in high school and owned Star Sea Venture Capital, Zhang San was left astonished.

• Xia Xu stopped Zhang San outside the campus and asked whether he knew how to handle lawsuits.
• Zhang San boasted that his legal work had put criminals, lawyers, and even people in a courtroom audience behind bars.
• Zhang San introduced himself as Professor Zhang San and asked why Xia Xu wanted to find a teacher.
• Xia Xu said he had started a company and wanted to recruit Zhang San or find promising legal talent.
• Xia Xu explained that he was a high school student who had built Star Sea Venture Capital himself, leaving Zhang San bewildered.

Xia Xu offered Zhang San the position of legal director at his company and explained his belief in the power of corporate rules to recruit and organize talent. Zhang San accepted after negotiating an unusually generous advance payment, while Xia Xu’s special interest in hiring him became clear.

• Xia Xu explained that he had founded a company and offered Zhang San the legal director position.
• Xia Xu reflected on how companies create rules and authority that help organizations recruit and retain people.
• Zhang San asked about compensation, and Xia Xu offered an annual salary of 1.2 million plus bonuses.
• Zhang San asked to receive his annual salary in advance, and Xia Xu agreed on the condition that he provide no legal services to anyone else while employed.
• Zhang San guessed Xia Xu had specifically come to recruit him, and they joked about whether doing so broke any laws.

Xia Xu hired Zhang San as his legal director and advanced him a year’s salary, giving Zhang San enough money to solve his family’s financial troubles. When Zhang San returned home, Griffin Jones offered to lend his family money and revealed that he wanted Zhang San to join his company, unaware that Zhang San had already secured a better-paid position.

• Xia Xu hired Zhang San as his legal director, signed a contract with him, and advanced him 1.2 million in salary.
• Zhang San wondered why Xia Xu had trusted him with so much money after only one meeting.
• Zhang San’s wife told him that Griffin Jones had offered to lend the family money for their son Xiao Hao’s marriage.
• Zhang San said he could cover the expenses himself, since Xia Xu’s advance was already in his bank account.
• Griffin Jones admitted that he wanted a favor and invited Zhang San to become the legal adviser or legal director of his company.

Zhang San declined Griffin Jones's offer to work part-time as a legal adviser because his new job contract barred him from helping anyone else. Griffin learned that Star Sea Venture Capital had hired Zhang San for an annual salary of 1.2 million paid a year in advance, and left defeated.

• Zhang San's wife urged him to accept Griffin's part-time offer, but Zhang San refused because his new contract prohibited outside legal work.
• Zhang San explained that he had accepted a job offer and received a year's salary in advance on his way home.
• Griffin Jones asked which company hired Zhang San, but Zhang San said his boss had asked him to keep it confidential.
• Zhang San told Griffin Jones that his annual salary was 1.2 million and had been paid in advance.
• Griffin Jones accepted the defeat, invited Zhang San to join Celestial Venture Capital if he ever resigned, and left with hostility rising inside him.

Griffin Jones discovered that Star Sea Venture Capital was competing with him for talent and began plotting against it, unaware that Xia Xu had already recruited eight of his future core staff. Xia Xu left Chen Leyao in charge of building the company before his exams and gave her contacts for additional support.

• After repeated setbacks in recruiting, Griffin Jones identified Star Sea Venture Capital as his main rival and realized Chen Leyao managed it.
• Griffin Jones decided to exploit the fact that Star Sea Venture Capital did not know his firm existed and considered targeting Chen Leyao.
• Xia Xu showed Chen Leyao the eight recruits he had poached, adding them to the team that included Zhang San.
• Xia Xu put Chen Leyao in charge of filling the remaining positions and preparing Star Sea Venture Capital to open while he focused on his exams.
• Xia Xu gave Chen Leyao Yang Bowen's number and explained that Nine Suns Consulting could help with investigations, cybersecurity, and limited physical protection.
• When Chen Leyao asked about stronger physical help, Xia Xu gestured toward A Tuo, whom she jokingly called his dog.

On the eve of the Gaokao, Xia Xu and Tang Youxin prepared for their exams, while Griffin Jones approached Chen Leyao to seek Star Sea Venture Capital’s help investing in Tonghe Pharmaceuticals. After the exams began, Chen Leyao reviewed the troubled company’s finances and its potentially valuable but risky new drug project.

• Liu Xiulan gave her graduating class final advice and wished them a bright future.
• On the morning of the Gaokao, Xia Xu met Tang Youxin in Luogu Alley, reassured her, and rode with her to the exam site in He Qing’s taxi.
• Griffin Jones visited Chen Leyao at Star Sea Venture Capital and proposed that the firms jointly invest in Tonghe Pharmaceuticals.
• Chen Leyao declined to decide before investigating the company and discussing the proposal with her investment department.
• Chen Leyao read Griffin Jones’s materials and learned that Tonghe Pharmaceuticals was nearing collapse after years of costly drug research, though its new drug might soon succeed.

Chen Leyao investigated Griffin Jones’s proposal to invest in Tonghe Pharmaceuticals and found that its nearly finished blood-pressure medicine could be highly profitable. After Yang Bowen sent her extensive intelligence and experts verified the documents, she concluded Griffin had told the truth and the project was viable with little risk.

• Chen Leyao reviewed Griffin Jones’s analysis and learned Tonghe Pharmaceuticals needed a patent license to complete its nearly finished blood-pressure medicine.
• Chen Leyao called Yang Bowen and asked him to investigate Tonghe Pharmaceuticals and Griffin Jones.
• Yang Bowen sent Chen Leyao detailed records on Griffin Jones and Tonghe Pharmaceuticals, explaining that his organization had already been monitoring Griffin and had gathered the company’s internal documents.
• Chen Leyao convened a meeting, consulted pharmaceutical experts, and had the documents verified.
• Chen Leyao concluded that Griffin Jones’s report was authentic and that Tonghe Pharmaceuticals was a promising, low-risk investment.

Xia Xu left the Gaokao early and was interviewed by reporters, joking that he had more important things to do before explaining that he had finished checking his Chinese paper. Tang Youxin came out soon after, and the reporters began questioning her.

• Xia Xu submitted his Chinese exam early and emerged from Star City No. 1 High School.
• A reporter interviewed Xia Xu, who asked for his face to be blurred and joked about starting a company before explaining that further checking would not improve his score.
• The reporter advised Xia Xu to keep trying, then turned to interview another student as the school gates opened.
• Tang Youxin came out early, approached Xia Xu, and hid behind him when she saw the reporters.
• The reporter asked Tang Youxin why she had handed in her paper early and whether she had checked it or expected a certain score.

Xia Xu and Tang Youxin discussed their Gaokao scores, spent their midday break playing at a residential playground, and then took the math exam. The chapter ended with both estimating perfect scores in math, leaving the reporter stunned.

• Tang Youxin said she thought she had scored around 140 in Chinese, and Xia Xu teased her while estimating he had lost no more than five points.
• Xia Xu took Tang Youxin away from the reporter and asked that their faces be blurred, then took her to lunch and suggested visiting an amusement park.
• Xia Xu brought Tang Youxin to a residential complex playground, where she joined the children after he shared snacks with them.
• Xia Xu and Tang Youxin returned to the exam hall and took the math exam.
• After the exam, Xia Xu estimated he had scored 150 in math, and Tang Youxin announced that she had scored 150 too.

Xia Xu visited Star Sea Venture Capital, where Chen Leyao had quickly built the company into a functioning organization, and learned that Griffin Jones had proposed an investment project. Xia Xu recognized the proposal as a trap and told Chen Leyao to take the project without Griffin Jones’s participation.

• Chen Leyao met Xia Xu at Star Sea Venture Capital, where receptionist Xiao Yue mistook him for a visitor and the employees gossiped about their young boss in the company chat.
• Xia Xu toured the company and praised Chen Leyao for building its staff and departments in just a few days.
• Chen Leyao told Xia Xu that Griffin Jones had proposed an investment project, and that the departments and a consulting company had found no obvious problems with it.
• Xia Xu told Chen Leyao to accept the whole project but exclude Griffin Jones, explaining that the project contained a major trap and Griffin Jones wanted revenge for Xia Xu poaching people he had sought to recruit.

Xia Xu explained that Tonghe Pharmaceuticals’ project was threatened by a patent ownership dispute, not a flaw in its technology, and reassured Chen Leyao that Star Sea Venture Capital could still turn it into a profitable investment. He asked her to bring Zhang San in to prepare for resolving the dispute, then left to meet the company’s employees.

• Chen Leyao asked Xia Xu why he had accepted the Tonghe Pharmaceuticals project and whether he knew how to solve its problems.
• Xia Xu explained that the patent for a key technology was contested by another company, putting the drug’s eventual launch at risk.
• Chen Leyao realized the investment could have endangered Star Sea Venture Capital if the patent dispute had gone unnoticed.
• Xia Xu told Chen Leyao that the Legal Director could handle the dispute and asked her to bring Zhang San over to prepare.
• Xia Xu greeted the company’s employees and then left the office.

Xia Xu intervened when three men harassed Star Sea Venture Capital’s receptionist, Qu Xiaoyue, then beat them in a fight and had his legal director handle the police. He returned home while the company staff celebrated him in their group chat as a wealthy, high-school-aged “dream boss.”

• Xia Xu rejected three men who tried to force a business meeting and made lewd remarks to Qu Xiaoyue at reception.
• One man shoved Xia Xu, who fell into and broke the reception counter; Xia Xu then kicked all three men down.
• Xia Xu asked Qu Xiaoyue to summon Director Zhang and call the police, while he waited with the two conscious men.
• The young police officer arrived, and Zhang San explained that the men had caused a disturbance, harassed Qu Xiaoyue, and assaulted Xia Xu.
• Zhang San went to the police station as Star Sea Venture Capital’s representative, while Xia Xu went home.
• Company employees praised Xia Xu in the group chat after learning he was still in high school.

Chen Leyao followed Xia Xu’s instructions and cut Griffin Jones out of Star Sea Venture Capital’s Tonghe Pharmaceuticals deal, while Griffin privately welcomed the decision as part of his plan to damage the company. After finishing the Gaokao, Xia Xu took Tang Youxin to the amusement park, but the pair unexpectedly became a trending topic after their interview was posted online.

• Chen Leyao rejected Griffin Jones’s proposed partnership and told him he could compete for Tonghe Pharmaceuticals shares on his own.
• Griffin Jones left Star Sea Venture Capital acting furious, then admitted he had planned to use the deal to drag the company down.
• Xia Xu completed his Gaokao exams and spent the day at the amusement park with Tang Youxin as promised.
• Tang Youxin kissed Xia Xu before running home, then hurried back to tell him they had appeared in the news.
• Xia Xu discovered that the local station had posted their full interview online, making Tang Youxin’s exam claims and his joke about becoming a CEO into trending memes.

In De City, Luo Hongyun led an armed squad to raid a suspected target, only to find an apparently ordinary, frightened man. After the squad left, the man revealed himself as a Rat-faced Man and attacked Luo Hongyun, who subdued him alive after recognizing similarities to werewolves.

• Luo Hongyun and ten armed squad members breached a residence after receiving intelligence about a dangerous target.
• The squad found a terrified middle-aged man, and Luo Hongyun ordered his men to withdraw after concluding they had the wrong address.
• Luo Hongyun apologized and discussed repairs and compensation with the man while the squad left.
• The man revealed that he had seen through Luo Hongyun's attempt to pacify him, transformed into a Rat-faced Man, and attacked.
• Luo Hongyun countered with a powerful punch, subdued the Rat-faced Man, and kept him alive because he resembled a werewolf.

Luo Hongyun brought the captured Rat-faced Man to the De City branch, where headquarters ordered the Special Department to hunt down human-eating Werewolves. He tasked Zhang Qun with hiring Nine Suns Consulting to help investigate, leaving his motives quietly open to question.

• Luo Hongyun handed the captured Rat-faced Man over to his special operations soldiers and returned to the De City branch base.
• Luo Hongyun reprimanded the De City branch for learning about dangerous incidents only after they had caused harm.
• A Special Action Group member delivered headquarters' order to eliminate human-eating nonhuman beings such as Werewolves.
• Luo Hongyun ordered the branch to trace the Rat-faced Man's connections and eliminate any monsters they found.
• Luo Hongyun sent Zhang Qun to hire Nine Suns Consulting and bring its boss in to assist with the investigation.

Three armed agents from the Special Events Processing Department arrived at Nine Suns Consulting Company to commission a mission and demanded Xia Xu handle it personally. After Yang Bowen called him, Xia Xu recognized the department as the one Uncle Luo had mentioned and hurried over with A Tuo.

• Zhang Qun and two armed companions entered Nine Suns Consulting Company, startling He Qing and Yang Bowen.
• Zhang Qun identified the group as the Special Events Processing Department and asked to commission Xia Xu for an urgent mission.
• He Qing inspected the agents’ government IDs, accepted their credentials, and eagerly asked Yang Bowen about the company’s secret work.
• Yang Bowen called Xia Xu, who learned the visitors were from the Special Events Processing Department and suspected Uncle Luo had referred him.
• Xia Xu told Yang Bowen to look after the visitors and headed to the company with A Tuo on a leash.

Xia Xu was summoned by Luo Hongyun to help the Special Department track Beastmen, but Luo had left for an emergency before Xia arrived. The team treated Xia as a temporary consultant whose opinions took priority, leaving him to face a suspicious and uneasy squad alone.

• He Qing and Yang Bowen greeted Xia Xu at Nine Suns Consulting, while Zhang Qun privately doubted that the young company owner could help with the mission.
• Zhang Qun said Luo Hongyun had sent for Xia, and Xia agreed to go after confirming the request came from Uncle Luo and insisting that A Tuo accompany him.
• Zhang Qun and his team drove Xia and A Tuo to the Special Department's De City base, where they learned Luo Hongyun had gone to an emergency in Zhou City.
• A teammate explained that Xia was to serve as a temporary consultant and that his opinions should take priority when identifying Beastmen.
• After Zhang Qun left to fetch the mission documents, Xia overheard the squad questioning why they were expected to follow his advice and wondered why Luo had assigned him responsibility without being there.