Recaps

After estimating a score of 575, Chen Fan’s parents celebrated his prospects and supported his plan to attend Cloudsea University. The next morning, Chen Fan took five thousand yuan from them under the false pretense of paying for computer lessons and rode into the city to promote his domain-name website.

• Chen Fan told Chen Jianye and Li Jinqiu that he estimated his Gaokao score at 575, and they celebrated his chances of attending a first-tier university.
• Over dinner, Chen Fan said he planned to study international trade at Cloudsea University, and Chen Jianye urged him to act with integrity and make something of himself.
• The next morning, Chen Fan asked his parents for five thousand yuan, claiming he would use it for a summer computer course.
• Chen Fan took the cash his mother gave him and rode into the city to promote his domain-name website.

After the Gaokao, Chen Fan spent his savings on advertising his website and registered valuable QQ numbers. On July 12, he and his friends submitted their university choices and shared a farewell meal, leaving Guo Shuai drunk and Chen Fan and Su Ruochu promising to stay together.

• Chen Fan demonstrated his touch typing at Zhou Honghai's computer school, impressing prospective students and checking the traffic on his website.
• Chen Fan negotiated three Sina.com ad placements for 5,400 yuan, then registered fifteen five-digit and ten six-digit QQ numbers.
• Chen Fan paid for the ads and mailed the signed contract, leaving his savings spent while he waited for the campaign to begin.
• On July 12, Su Ruochu chose Cloudsea University's international trade program and filled in Chen Fan's application with the same choice.
• Chen Fan, Su Ruochu, Guo Shuai, and Li Na shared a farewell meal, where Guo Shuai drank too much and Chen Fan supported him on the way back.

Chen Fan’s Domain Name Network gained users through Sina.com ads, but Easy Domain Network’s heavier promotion threatened its lead. With Guo Shuai’s eight thousand yuan and money from computer repair jobs, Chen Fan kept advertising as he waited for the Gaokao results.

• Chen Fan’s Sina.com ad drove a surge in Domain Name Network traffic and registrations.
• Chen Fan saw Easy Domain Network advertising across Sohu and NetEase and realized the competition had begun in earnest.
• Guo Shuai lent Chen Fan eight thousand yuan and explained that he had chosen a university near Chen Fan’s so they could stay close.
• Chen Fan spent the money on a new Sina.com advertising contract after bargaining for homepage and secondary-page placements.
• Chen Fan and Guo Shuai visited internet cafés and computer shops in Luo City to earn money repairing computers, and Chen Fan reinvested the proceeds in ads.
• Domain Name Network held a slight traffic lead over Easy Domain Network as July 23, the day Gaokao results were released, arrived.

Chen Fan’s family waited anxiously for his Gaokao results at Chen Meiyun’s house, where they learned he had scored 603. The family celebrated, and Chen Fan confirmed he still wanted to attend Cloudsea University.

• Li Jinqiu repeatedly called the results hotline while Chen Jianye and Chen Fan waited with Chen Meiyun’s family.
• After the hotline connected, Li Jinqiu found Chen Fan’s admission ticket number and heard that he had scored 603.
• Chen Jianye called again several times and confirmed Chen Fan’s total score was 603.
• Chen Jianye celebrated with Li Jinqiu, while Chen Fan said he would still choose Cloudsea University.
• Chen Meiyun urged Chen Jianye to celebrate that night, so he decided to invite Jian Zhong and Jian Long over for drinks.

After celebrating Chen Fan’s Gaokao score of 603 with his family, he rushed to see Su Ruochu and learned she had scored 584. The two walked hand in hand, and as Chen Fan leaned toward her, Su Ruochu wondered whether he was about to kiss her.

• Chen Jianye and Chen Fan’s family decided to celebrate his exam result at home with close relatives.
• Chen Fan hurried to Su Ruochu’s residential complex and waited until she came downstairs to meet him.
• Chen Fan told Su Ruochu he had missed her, and they went for a walk while Lin Wanxiu watched them from the balcony.
• Chen Fan and Su Ruochu held hands as they shared their Gaokao scores: he had earned 603 and she had earned 584.
• Su Ruochu asked whether Chen Fan regretted choosing Cloudsea University with her, and he assured her that attending the same university mattered most.
• Chen Fan began lowering his head toward Su Ruochu, who grew nervous and wondered whether he was going to kiss her.

Chen Fan and Su Ruochu agreed to date, and Su Xuecheng discovered their relationship and promised to keep it from her mother for now. Meanwhile, the Easy Domain Network overtook Chen Fan’s site through heavy advertising, and Su Ruochu arrived at the computer school with an envelope for him.

• Su Xuecheng interrupted Chen Fan and Su Ruochu as they prepared to kiss, then learned Chen Fan was her classmate.
• Su Ruochu told her father she liked Chen Fan and had agreed to date him, and Su Xuecheng agreed not to tell her mother yet.
• Su Ruochu told Su Xuecheng that Chen Fan had scored 603 on the Gaokao, higher than her.
• The Easy Domain Network’s increased advertising erased Chen Fan’s traffic lead and pushed his site behind in August.
• Chen Fan struggled to find a way to compete with Boss Yao’s greater resources as Su Ruochu arrived at the computer school and placed an envelope before him.

Su Ruochu offered Chen Fan her savings to support his website, but he explained that the money was too little to compete with a rival's promotion budget. He admitted he had no alternative strategy yet, and Su Ruochu insisted that he take her money as a loan.

• Su Ruochu confronted Chen Fan for hiding his financial troubles and offered him her 6,782 yuan in savings.
• Chen Fan refused the money, reassuring Su Ruochu that he was not rejecting it out of pride and explaining that the amount would not help his current plans.
• Chen Fan showed Su Ruochu his website and explained that he hoped to beat a rival website in traffic before selling to investors.
• Chen Fan told Su Ruochu that the rival's promotion budget was too large to match and admitted he had not found another approach.
• Su Ruochu pushed the bankbook back into Chen Fan's hand and demanded that he accept it as a loan.

Chen Fan rejected Su Ruochu's offer to buy him a computer, then found a new way to fight Boss Yao's campaign against the Domain Name Network. He recruited an internet café attendant to bring users into a QQ Group for fifty cents each.

• Su Ruochu offered Chen Fan her savings, and he accepted the money but declined to spend it on a computer.
• Chen Fan saw that Sina.com had replaced his expired advertisement with one for the Easy Domain Network.
• Chen Fan noticed newly created accounts posting coordinated smear comments on the Domain Name Network and realized he could use paid promotion through a QQ Group.
• Chen Fan offered the internet café attendant fifty cents for each customer he recruited into the group, and the attendant agreed.

Chen Fan recruited internet café attendants to build a paid online army for the Domain Name Network, then organized its members to post supportive comments. He launched the bounty campaign and left Guo Shuai still unsure whether the amateur-looking plan would work.

• Chen Fan borrowed Guo Shuai’s cash and explained that he planned to counter a competitor’s smear campaign by recruiting an online army.
• Chen Fan and Guo Shuai visited internet cafés, where Chen Fan gave staff separate QQ groups and offered payment for bringing in members.
• By the next morning, the twenty-four groups had grown far beyond Chen Fan’s expectations, and he paid the White Birch Grove attendant for recruiting more than 150 people.
• Chen Fan asked each group to nominate three managers, gave them administrator privileges, and gathered them to explain the bounty system.
• Chen Fan instructed the groups to post positive comments about the Domain Name Network, offering five cents per comment and ten cents per comment for administrators.

Chen Fan organized a paid-comment operation and put Guo Shuai in charge of managing its agents and payments. After workers received their first game-credit payments, participation surged, and comments flooded the Easy Domain Network the next day.

• Chen Fan explained to Guo Shuai how to pay commenters through internet café staff and game credits, verify posts with IP screenshots, and manage workers through group admins.
• Chen Fan asked Guo Shuai to run the operation, and Guo Shuai eagerly agreed, imagining he could use the commenters to fight rival game guilds.
• That evening, a group member shared proof that the commenters had been paid in game credits, prompting doubters and new recruits to ask how to participate.
• The next day, a flood of comments appeared on the Easy Domain Network forums.

Chen Fan used paid posters to turn the Easy Domain Network’s advertising and forum shutdowns into publicity for the Domain Name Network, driving a decisive surge in users and traffic. After the sale of tudou.com brought more attention to the site, hackers took it down, leaving Chen Fan ready to retaliate.

• Chen Fan paid posters led by Guo Shuai to flood the Easy Domain Network’s forum and ads with criticism and praise for the Domain Name Network.
• The Easy Domain Network repeatedly shut down its forum, and its users and traffic shifted to the Domain Name Network.
• Business observers discussed Chen Fan’s comeback strategy and speculated about the Domain Name Network’s mysterious owner.
• A mystery buyer purchased tudou.com for fifty thousand yuan, drawing fresh attention to the Domain Name Network.
• Hackers took down the Domain Name Network, and Chen Fan vowed to answer his opponent’s escalation.

After his rival hired a hacker to attack the Domain Name Network, Chen Fan hacked the Easy Domain Network and outmatched the rival’s hacker. Through the hacker, he learned the Easy Domain Network’s founder wanted a truce, and Chen Fan countered with a demand for 50,000 yuan and a promise of fair competition.

• Chen Fan used Zhou Honghai’s office to hack the Easy Domain Network and found that its traffic had fallen amid the forum’s toxic atmosphere.
• A hacker hired by Chen Fan’s rival attacked the Domain Name Network, but Chen Fan defended it, broke into the hacker’s system, and withdrew before tracing the hacker’s identity.
• The hacker, Desert North Swordsman, contacted Chen Fan and revealed that the Easy Domain Network’s owner had paid him 10,000 yuan to attack the Domain Name Network.
• Desert North Swordsman told Chen Fan that the Easy Domain Network’s founder wanted peace and offered 10,000 yuan in compensation for a promise to stop using hacker attacks.
• Chen Fan passed back a counteroffer of 50,000 yuan for restoring the website and a commitment from both sides to compete fairly, and Desert North Swordsman went to ask.

Chen Fan received payment after ending his attack on Easy Domain Network, and Domain Name Network continued to outpace its rival as he prepared for a possible acquisition. Before university began, he took Su Ruochu to a movie, where his advances were rebuffed, but she later hinted that she might have welcomed them if he had persisted.

• Desert North Swordsman told Chen Fan that Easy Domain Network had agreed to pay, and Chen Fan sent a bank account number for the transfer.
• After the fifty thousand yuan arrived, Chen Fan withdrew his attack and erased every trace, and Easy Domain Network returned to normal by noon.
• Domain Name Network grew to more than five thousand registered members and far surpassed Easy Domain Network, while Chen Fan resolved to keep the business strong through September or longer.
• Chen Fan took Su Ruochu to see A Sigh, held her hand, and then put his hand on her thigh, prompting her to slap him and warn him to behave.
• After the movie, Chen Fan apologized for being too forward, and Su Ruochu blushed as she hinted that she might have let him continue if he had insisted.

Chen Fan and Su Ruochu spent the afternoon teasing each other and shopping, then discussed whether love could survive marriage and temptation. Su Ruochu officially agreed to be Chen Fan’s girlfriend and gave him a blessed red cord bracelet, while asking him to be honest if his feelings ever changed.

• Chen Fan and Su Ruochu chased each other along the street, and she kissed his cheek before running away shyly.
• They explored the shopping street together, where Chen Fan bought Su Ruochu accessories and snacks.
• Su Ruochu asked Chen Fan what he thought of Xi Yazhou’s affair and worried that success and married life could change his feelings.
• Chen Fan promised that he would love only Su Ruochu for his whole life.
• Su Ruochu gave Chen Fan a red cord bracelet blessed at a temple and officially agreed to be his girlfriend.
• Su Ruochu told Chen Fan that if he ever fell for someone else, she wanted him to tell her so she could leave on her own.

Chen Fan reaffirmed his love for Su Ruochu after she gave him a red cord bracelet, but her mother Lin Wanxiu caught them together and demanded he end the relationship. Chen Fan refused, declaring he would marry Su Ruochu, while Lin Wanxiu remained unconvinced and angry.

• Chen Fan recognized the red cord bracelet as the same token of love Su Ruochu had given him in his previous life and promised he would never leave her.
• Lin Wanxiu arrived, scolded Su Ruochu for lying about where she was, and ordered her to wait in the car.
• Lin Wanxiu questioned Chen Fan about his relationship with Su Ruochu and told him to stay away from her.
• Lin Wanxiu cited Chen Fan’s modest background and offered to pay his university tuition if he left Su Ruochu.
• Chen Fan refused to break up with Su Ruochu, said he would marry her, and left Lin Wanxiu insisting he would prove himself.

Chen Fan left home for Cloudsea University, touched by his parents’ care and determined to give them a better life in this second chance. At the county bus station, he met Guo Shuai and revealed that Su Ruochu would not be traveling with them.

• Li Jinqiu and Chen Jianye prepared dumplings and gave Chen Fan advice before his departure, while Chen Fan reassured them he could travel independently.
• Chen Fan left the village bus stop alone after his parents saw him off, vowing to make them happy in this life.
• Chen Fan met Guo Shuai at the county bus station, where Guo Shuai had bought their tickets and brought only a backpack.
• Guo Shuai asked why Su Ruochu was not with them, and Chen Fan said her family was probably taking her to university.
• Guo Shuai noticed Chen Fan looked troubled and pressed him to explain what had happened.

Chen Fan traveled to Yunhai and registered at Cloudsea University, where he learned that a shortage of dormitories had placed male freshmen in part of a building shared with female students. The chapter left him facing teasing older women and an unexpected stay in the women's dorm.

• Chen Fan and Guo Shuai arrived in Yunhai, and Guo Shuai left with students from his university after spotting the girls welcoming freshmen.
• Chen Fan boarded the Cloudsea University bus, traveled to campus, and registered with the School of Economics and Management.
• Chen Fan recognized familiar campus landmarks from his previous life and made his way to Dormitory Eight.
• Two older female students told Chen Fan that male marketing freshmen had been assigned half of the third floor while the women's rooms were behind an iron door.
• The long-haired student teased Chen Fan about living near beautiful women and offered to introduce him to a girl, but he declined.

Chen Fan settled into Dormitory 318, met his roommates, and joined them for a welcome meal hosted by Ma Xiaoshuai’s father. As the roommates returned to campus, they learned they were temporarily staying in a women’s dormitory, and Wu Di joked that proximity to the older students gave them an advantage.

• Chen Fan met Mo Siyu and her friend, then found his assigned bunk in Dormitory 318.
• Chen Fan completed registration and returned with supplies, where Wu Di welcomed him and the roommates were surprised by Chen Fan’s Gaokao score of 603.
• Ma Xiaoshuai’s father treated the roommates and their parents to a meal, helping Chen Fan grow closer to the other students.
• After the parents left, Ma Xiaoshuai, Han Xu, Sun Hao, and Wu Di smoked or talked as they walked back with Chen Fan.
• Ma Xiaoshuai revealed that the freshmen were temporarily housed in a women’s dormitory, and Wu Di teased Han Xu about the advantage of living near older girls.

Chen Fan and his roommates met the flirtatious senior Mo Siyu and welcomed their outgoing new roommate, Luo Wenjie. After a freshman assembly and a dorm cleaning, the roommates found a box of unopened sanitary pads left by the previous residents.

• Mo Siyu invited Chen Fan to the pool, but he declined, while his roommates eagerly asked him to introduce them to her.
• Chen Fan and his roommates returned to their room and found Luo Wenjie chatting with two senior girls, who left after he said he had promised to buy each of them a phone card.
• Luo Wenjie introduced himself as a new roommate from Southern Yangcheng and quickly joined the group’s banter.
• The freshmen attended their first assembly, where their adviser appointed temporary class committee members and announced that military training would begin the next day.
• The six roommates cleaned their dorm and Luo Wenjie found a box of unopened sanitary pads left by the previous residents.

Chen Fan and his roommates settled into college life, then began their first day of military training. After searching unsuccessfully for Su Ruochu, Chen Fan headed to the girls' dorm, leaving his roommates wondering whether he already had someone in mind.

• Chen Fan showed his roommates how to use the sanitary pads from their senior's welcome gift to cushion their military boots, and the roommates divided them up.
• The roommates ranked themselves by birth date before military training began the next morning.
• Chen Fan searched his class and nearby formations for Su Ruochu but could not find her.
• After the morning's training, Luo Wenjie claimed his aching back came from breakup sex with his high school girlfriend, and the roommates teased him.
• Chen Fan left the cafeteria and told his roommates he was going to the girls' dorm, prompting them to speculate that he had already found someone he liked.

Chen Fan waited outside Su Ruochu’s dormitory and grew suspicious after seeing her with an older male student, then spent the day in military training and settled into dorm life with his roommates. The chapter ended with the roommates crowding around binoculars to spy on a girl across the dormitory courtyard.

• Chen Fan waited outside Building 7 for Su Ruochu, but the dorm supervisor mistook him for a pervert and ordered him to leave.
• Chen Fan saw Su Ruochu chatting and laughing with an older student who brought her fruit, then followed him to Dormitory Building 10.
• Chen Fan learned from Wu Di that Building 10 housed sophomores and juniors from the School of Economics and Management, and wondered how Su Ruochu knew the student.
• Chen Fan spotted Su Ruochu’s company during military training but went to dinner with his roommates instead of approaching her.
• Chen Fan slipped a pack of cigarettes to the instructor and claimed his newly folded quilt for himself.
• Luo Wenjie called the roommates to look at a girl across the courtyard, and Wu Di grabbed his binoculars to take a closer look.

Chen Fan spotted Su Ruochu outside the boys’ dorms and learned that Tian Yuan, her childhood friend, had been a potential match her mother favored. Su Ruochu assured Chen Fan that she only liked him.

• Chen Fan saw Su Ruochu near the boys’ dorms and hurried outside to meet her.
• Su Ruochu introduced Chen Fan to Tian Yuan as her boyfriend, and Tian Yuan concealed his disappointment.
• After Tian Yuan left, Chen Fan admitted he was jealous and asked about Su Ruochu’s relationship with him.
• Su Ruochu explained that Tian Yuan was her childhood friend and that her mother had wanted to set them up.
• Su Ruochu told Chen Fan she did not like childhood sweethearts and only liked him.

Chen Fan balanced military training and his growing relationship with Su Ruochu while waiting for a buyer for the Domain Name Network. After checking the site’s rapid growth at an internet café, he received an email from its first prospective buyer.

• Chen Fan and Su Ruochu reunited on campus, explained their recent misunderstandings, and began spending their evenings together.
• Chen Fan became a model cadet during military training and admitted to his roommates that Su Ruochu was his girlfriend.
• Chen Fan went to an internet café and discovered that the Domain Name Network’s figures had at least doubled, far surpassing the Easy Domain Network.
• Chen Fan found no buyer inquiries in the site’s admin inbox and worried that his plan to sell the Domain Name Network would fail.
• A new email arrived, and Chen Fan realized the first prospective buyer had contacted him.

Chen Fan rejected several low offers for the Domain Name Network while waiting for HiChina, then finished military training and wondered how else to invest his money. As he returned to his dorm, senior Tian Yuan appeared and said he had come to see him.

• A technology company offered Chen Fan 300,000 yuan for the Domain Name Network, but he demanded at least five million and blocked them after they argued.
• Chen Fan bought phone cards and called Su Ruochu, while Sun Hao anxiously waited to use the phone and Ma Xiaoshuai and Luo Wenjie teased Chen Fan about the call.
• Chen Fan rejected offers from three more companies, including one for 880,000 yuan, and continued waiting for HiChina to contact him.
• Chen Fan led his formation in the final military parade, where the Third Company placed second, then helped it earn third place in the singing competition.
• Chen Fan left the welcome party to check his email, found no messages, and considered how to use his 50,000 yuan as startup capital.
• Tian Yuan met Chen Fan outside his dorm and said he had come to see him.

Tian Yuan tried to bribe and threaten Chen Fan into giving up Su Ruochu, but Chen Fan refused and returned to his dorm. There, he relaxed with his roommates until student council members barged in and ordered him down from his bunk.

• Tian Yuan offered Chen Fan student council benefits in exchange for leaving Su Ruochu, then warned him about the council's power when he refused.
• Chen Fan dismissed Tian Yuan's threats and went back to the dorm, where he considered how to use his fifty thousand yuan.
• Wu Di and the other roommates returned and joked about the evening's performances, easing Chen Fan's anxiety.
• Student council members kicked open the dorm door, criticized the room and its occupants, and ordered Chen Fan to get down from his bunk.