Chapter Summaries

Zhou Cheng drew attention with his overwhelming table-tennis skill as Liu Xian and Wang Jianping discussed the possibility of recruiting him. The national youth championship’s qualifying rounds began the next morning, where a reporter singled Zhou Cheng out for an interview.

• Liu Xian told Wang Jianping to honor his bet by buying Bawangsi Soda, while privately accepting that Zhou Cheng might eventually leave the Suzhou City Team for a stronger team.
• Wang Jianping treated the team to Bawangsi Soda and later Kragus Sausage, then asked Zhou Cheng to help study his power; Zhou Cheng agreed, but Wang Jianping found no special technique to learn.
• Zhou Cheng played Wang Jianping’s young players that afternoon and overwhelmed them, prompting stories about his powerful smashes to spread among the competing teams.
• Liu Xian arrived with Zhou Cheng and the other players for the qualifying rounds and learned that a record 123 teams were competing.
• A television reporter approached Liu Xian’s team and chose Zhou Cheng for an interview because his appearance and youth made him stand out.

Zhou Cheng dominated his first match at the national youth table tennis tournament, then deliberately gave his overwhelmed opponent a chance to keep playing. As the Su City Team advanced through the preliminaries, rival teams studied how to face him ahead of the fourth round.

• A young Su Provincial Team player told a reporter he was aiming for second place because he could not beat Zhuang Jingcheng, leaving the reporter and Wang Jianping stunned.
• Zhou Cheng entered his first match against an older Provincial Team player and overwhelmed him with his powerful shots.
• When his opponent tried to withdraw in tears, Zhou Cheng offered to let him win a game, and the match ended 3-1 in Zhou Cheng's favor.
• The umpire shared Zhou Cheng's ability with colleagues, drawing coaches, players, officials, and other umpires to watch him in later rounds.
• Fourteen of the sixteen teams that advanced, excluding the Su Provincial Team and Zhou Cheng's Su City Team, began studying how to play against him as the fourth preliminary round approached.

Zhou Cheng reached the National Junior Table Tennis Championships final and faced Du Han, whose unusual Over-the-Net Shots briefly exploited Zhou Cheng’s short reach. Zhou Cheng copied the tactic, scored against Du Han, and left the match’s momentum in his hands.

• Zhou Cheng defeated his opponents through the preliminary rounds and secured a place in the finals, while the Su City Team and Su Provincial Team both advanced.
• Zhou Cheng won through the semifinals and reached the grand final, where he faced Du Han, a fourteen-year-old provincial-team player.
• Du Han returned Zhou Cheng’s fast attacks through seven exchanges before his reaction faltered on the eighth.
• Du Han admitted he wanted the championship and then used difficult Over-the-Net Shots to keep Zhou Cheng from reaching the ball.
• Zhou Cheng answered with an Over-the-Net Shot of his own, and Du Han sprawled across the table but failed to return it, losing a point and his composure.

Zhou Cheng won the Youth Table Tennis Championships singles and team titles, then bluntly rejected the idea of joining the National Youth Team in a televised interview. He began the journey home as news of his victory spread, while Huang Ling and Song Ying eagerly awaited his return.

• Zhou Cheng defeated Du Han three-zero to win the singles title, then helped the Su City Team secure the team championship with two guaranteed victories.
• During a CCTV interview, Zhou Cheng said he would probably refuse the National Youth Team and preferred studying, adding that he played table tennis for prize money rather than for the sport.
• Zhou Cheng received his medals and prizes, bought twenty jin of Kragus Sausage, and boarded the train home with Liu Xian and the team.
• Newspapers and television reports praised Zhou Cheng, though their accounts distorted his interview; he laughed at the articles during the journey south.
• Huang Ling told Song Ying that Zhou Cheng had called to say he won the championship and would arrive home the next evening.

Huang Ling and the neighbors watched Xinwen Lianbo at the Zhang family’s house, hoping to see news of Zhuang Jingcheng’s table tennis victory. The report showed him winning the national junior championship, leaving his family and the alley celebrating while Zhuang Tunan felt overshadowed.

• Huang Ling and Song Ying discussed keeping Jingcheng’s championship quiet and arranged to borrow money so Song Ying could buy a television.
• Huang Ling and Zhuang Chaoying brought their family to the Zhang family’s house to watch Xinwen Lianbo, and Song Ying arrived soon after.
• Xinwen Lianbo reported that ten-year-old Zhuang Jingcheng had won the boys’ singles title at the National Junior Table Tennis Championships.
• Song Ying recognized Jingcheng on screen and excitedly announced his victory, prompting the neighbors to erupt in celebration.
• Zhuang Chaoying proudly accepted congratulations, while Zhuang Tunan smiled but privately felt bitter about being outshone by his younger brother.

Zhou Cheng’s national table tennis championship was announced twice on Xinwen Lianbo, filling his family and neighbors with pride and envy. After returning to Su City with a Snowflake refrigerator awarded for his victories, he was welcomed home by a crowd as Huang Ling tearfully greeted him.

• Xinwen Lianbo announced that Zhuang Jingcheng had won both the team and singles championships, astonishing the neighbors gathered at the Zhang family’s home.
• Wang Yong questioned the competition prizes, and Zhuang Chaoying and Huang Ling kept the larger rewards private until Zhou Cheng returned.
• Song Ying told Lin Wufeng and Lin Dongzhe that Zhou Cheng had appeared on television, and Lin Wufeng promised to get a television so Lin Dongzhe could watch him next time.
• Zhou Cheng arrived at the Youth Palace with Liu Xian, who had obtained a Snowflake refrigerator using the city’s reward for Zhou Cheng’s championships.
• Liu Xian pedaled the refrigerator and Zhou Cheng into the lane, where neighbors gathered and marveled at the reward.
• Huang Ling came out to welcome Zhou Cheng, embraced him, and wiped away tears before Liu Xian asked the neighbors to help carry the refrigerator inside.

After Zhou Cheng returned home with a refrigerator and gifts, Liu Xian told the family that his championship qualified him for the National Youth Team, with Beijing household registration and a government post. Zhou Cheng refused, but Huang Ling and Zhuang Chaoying remained torn and planned to decide together.

• Liu Xian and several neighbors carried the refrigerator into the kitchen, where Huang Ling and Song Ying made room for it.
• Liu Xian told Huang Ling that Zhou Cheng could join the National Youth Team, move to Beijing, receive a government post, and earn a monthly allowance.
• Zhou Cheng firmly refused to join, while Huang Ling postponed the decision until Zhuang Chaoying could discuss it with the family.
• News of Zhou Cheng's possible Beijing household registration and government post spread through the alley before Zhuang Chaoying returned home with the children.
• Zhou Cheng shared the local specialties he had brought back, and the Zhuang and Lin families ate together in the courtyard.
• Huang Ling explained the offer to Zhuang Chaoying, who felt torn between Zhou Cheng's wish to study and the security of the opportunity.

Zhou Cheng returned to school, excelled in his final exams, and spent a sweltering summer discovering that his New Human talent kept him cool. As Zhuang Tunan celebrated his admission to No. 1 Middle School, he compared his hard-won success with Zhou Cheng’s effortless abilities.

• Zhou Cheng listened as Zhuang Xiaoting recounted Lin Dongzhe’s snake gourd prank, which ended with Lin Dongzhe being punished and compensating her with two fried eggs.
• After returning to school, Zhou Cheng was praised by teachers for his achievements and later placed first in his year’s final exams.
• Zhuang Chaoying’s parents demanded that he host his nephews and hand over half his salary, but he delayed answering until he was called away to mark college entrance exams.
• Lin Wufeng obtained a television and electric fan, while Zhou Cheng’s talent made him feel cool enough for the neighborhood children to crowd around him.
• Zhuang Tunan learned that he had been admitted to No. 1 Middle School, and Zhou Cheng’s success left him feeling that his own achievement paled beside his younger brother’s.

Zhou Cheng watched the adults discuss the changing times and believed the changes ahead could only be good, while Lin Dongzhe and Zhuang Xiaoting looked for ways to earn pocket money. He decided to find the children something to sell, leaving his plan to unfold.

• Zhuang Tunan celebrated his admission to No. 1 Middle School with the Zhuang and Lin families, while Zhuang Chaoying took pride in having tutored him.
• Zhang Amei dismissed Wu Jianguo's suggestion that their children study for No. 1 Middle School and made clear she opposed spending money on Wu Shanshan's university education.
• Zhuang Chaoying returned from the Old Zhuang family home in high spirits but avoided Huang Ling's gaze awkwardly.
• Huang Ling, Song Ying, Zhuang Chaoying, and Lin Wufeng discussed door-to-door scrap buyers and sensed that rules were loosening.
• Zhou Cheng assured the adults that change would be good, then decided to help Lin Dongzhe and Zhuang Xiaoting earn pocket money by selling goods.

Zhou Cheng bought enamel washbasins and mugs for himself and the other children, then helped arrange a private room for Zhuang Xiaoting and a way for the children to earn money selling ice pops. When school began, Zhuang Chaoying urged Zhou Cheng to aim for City No. 1 Middle School, but Zhou Cheng kept his own plans to himself.

• Zhou Cheng bought three enamel washbasins and three mugs, giving a set to himself, Zhuang Tunan, and Zhuang Xiaoting.
• Huang Ling told Song Ying she wanted to partition a small room for Zhuang Xiaoting, and Song Ying arranged for Lin Wufeng to help obtain materials.
• Lin Wufeng obtained timber and windows, and the three households built Zhuang Xiaoting a tiny room in the East Side Room.
• Zhou Cheng had Wu Jianguo make a box for selling ice pops, and Lin Dongzhe and Zhuang Xiaoting began earning pocket money from the work.
• Wu Shanshan agreed to watch the younger children when Zhou Cheng was busy, and accepted payment only after he mentioned Wu Xiaojun.
• When school started, Zhuang Tunan entered City No. 1 Middle School, while Zhou Cheng advanced to fifth grade and kept quiet about his plans for next year.

Zhou Cheng proposed a way to help Zhuang Tunan get enough to eat at school without wasting his lunch break traveling home. After the family discussed the difficulty of buying a bicycle, Zhou Cheng suggested they could get a used one, though Zhuang Chaoying doubted one could be found.

• Zhuang Chaoying was transferred to a graduating senior high class and received a half-grade pay raise for his experience grading college entrance examination papers.
• Zhuang Tunan told Huang Ling that his school meal coupons were running out because cafeteria portions gave him too little rice, and he asked to come home for lunch.
• Zhuang Chaoying argued that traveling home would exhaust Zhuang Tunan and hurt his studies, while Huang Ling acknowledged the family was short of food and let him try coming home if he wished.
• Zhou Cheng suggested Huang Ling pack Zhuang Tunan a lunch so he could eat at school, and the family agreed that cold food would solve the immediate problem.
• Huang Ling mentioned that a bicycle would let Zhuang Tunan ride home for hot meals, but Zhuang Chaoying explained that purchase coupons were nearly impossible to obtain.
• Zhou Cheng said the family could get a used bicycle without a coupon, but Zhuang Chaoying replied that finding one for sale was also difficult.

Zhou Cheng assembled a sturdy bicycle from secondhand parts for Zhuang Tunan, who was thrilled to receive it and ride it around. Lin Wufeng asked to assemble one too, but Zhou Cheng warned him that sourcing the parts himself could cause trouble.

• Zhou Cheng persuaded Huang Ling to give him fifty yuan to try assembling a bicycle from parts.
• Zhou Cheng found the parts with Lin Dongzhe’s help and assembled a bicycle with Lin Wufeng in the courtyard.
• Zhuang Tunan tested the bicycle, and Zhou Cheng told him to use it while claiming he had bought it secondhand.
• Lin Wufeng asked Zhou Cheng for a parts list so he could assemble a bicycle, but Zhou Cheng warned that collecting the parts himself could lead to trouble.

Zhou Cheng assembled a bicycle for less than fifty yuan, and Lin Wufeng abandoned his own plan after Zhou Cheng warned that his engineering job could make the project risky. After neighbors learned about the cheap bicycle, they gathered at the Zhuang home to ask Zhou Cheng how he had done it.

• Zhou Cheng warned Lin Wufeng that assembling a bicycle himself could expose him to accusations of profiteering because he worked as an engineer, and Lin Wufeng gave up the idea.
• Zhuang Tunan rode Zhou Cheng's newly assembled bicycle with Lin Dongzhe, then told Wang Chaoyuan that Zhou Cheng had put it together for less than fifty yuan.
• Zhuang Chaoying and Huang Ling admired the bicycle, and Huang Ling agreed to give Zhou Cheng money to assemble another one.
• At dinner, Zhou Cheng said he planned to search for parts for another bicycle before word of his assembly work spread.
• Wang Chaoyuan, Wang Yong, Wu Jianguo, and several neighbors arrived at the Zhuang home to ask Zhou Cheng how he had assembled the bicycle.

After the neighbors’ attempt to assemble bicycles left them with piles of unusable parts, Wu Jianguo’s wife urged him to sell their parts to Zhou Cheng. Wu Jianguo refused, unwilling to take advantage of the boy, and the household was left to absorb the loss.

• Zhou Cheng refused the neighbors’ requests to assemble bicycles for them, while Zhuang Tunan admitted he had revealed the Zhuang family’s new bicycle.
• Zhou Cheng bought and assembled another bicycle, while the neighbors searched for parts and drove nearby repair stalls away.
• Wu Jianguo told Zhang Amei that the families could not pool their parts without one household gaining at everyone else’s expense.
• Wu Jianguo explained that a stallholder had refused Wang Yong’s attempted return and threatened to report them for speculation and profiteering.
• Zhang Amei urged Wu Jianguo to sell their parts to Zhou Cheng, but Wu Jianguo refused and said he would earn back the twenty yuan through overtime.

Wu Shanshan asked Zhou Cheng for help selling her family's bicycle parts, and he advised them to store the parts until prices rose. After Zhang Amei anonymously reported the Zhuang family for profiteering, Zhou Cheng used his reputation to avoid punishment and retaliated with a report against the neighbors who had stockpiled parts, leaving the alley wondering why Wu Jianguo's family escaped inspection.

• Zhang Amei pressured Wu Shanshan to ask Zhou Cheng to buy the bicycle parts, but Zhou Cheng advised her that her family should store them and sell them later.
• After Wu Shanshan repeated Zhou Cheng's advice, Zhang Amei dismissed it and secretly wrote a denunciation letter about the Zhuang family.
• Subdistrict Office clerks inspected the Zhuang home, but Zhou Cheng explained that the bicycles were for personal use, and they issued only a verbal warning.
• Zhou Cheng identified Zhang Amei as the likely tipster and secretly reported the neighbors who had stockpiled bicycle parts.
• The clerks confiscated parts from Wang Chaoyuan, Wang Yong, and other households, fined them, and left without inspecting Wu Jianguo's home.
• Wang Yong and the others questioned why Wu Jianguo's family had been spared, but no one dared name them in front of the clerks.

Zhang Amei was blamed for the neighborhood reports, and her hoped-for transfer was shelved. Months later, Zhuang Chaoying asked Huang Ling to care for his injured mother, but Huang Ling and Zhou Cheng challenged his family’s unfair demands, leaving him retreating under Huang Ling’s accusations.

• Wang Yong spread the rumor that Zhang Amei had reported her neighbors to advance her career, and her transfer was indefinitely shelved.
• Zhang Amei learned she had been blamed, cursed at home, and ordered Zhang Min to sell Wu Jianguo’s bicycle parts for scrap.
• After several months, Zhuang Chaoying told Huang Ling that his mother had injured her leg and that the family was expected to care for her.
• Huang Ling rejected the arrangement and argued that Zhuang Ganmei should care for their mother while their household cared for Zhuang Chaoying’s father.
• Zhou Cheng called out Zhuang Chaoying and Zhuang Ganmei for shifting an unwanted burden onto Huang Ling, and suggested hiring a caregiver.
• Huang Ling accused Zhuang Chaoying of giving his exam-marking allowances to his parents instead of supporting their household, and he backed away under her rebuke.

Zhuang Chaoying left to care for his injured mother after his family refused to send Xiaoting to serve her, convinced he alone was upholding filial duty. Zhou Cheng explained to Zhuang Tunan and Xiaoting why their mother opposed bringing Granny into their home, leaving the children to consider how that burden would fall on Huang Ling and the family.

• Zhuang Chaoying proposed that Xiaoting stay with Granny Zhuang for a month or two, but Huang Ling and Zhou Cheng refused, and Xiaoting tearfully said she wanted to stay home.
• Zhuang Chaoying packed his things and left on his bicycle to care for Granny Zhuang, while Huang Ling stopped Zhuang Tunan from following him.
• Zhuang Tunan questioned why Huang Ling would not let Granny move in, and Zhou Cheng argued that the work and expense would fall mostly on Huang Ling and the children.
• Zhou Cheng explained to Xiaoting that Granny’s presence would take her room, strain the family’s food supply, and disrupt everyone’s rest and studies.
• Xiaoting agreed that Huang Ling was refusing Granny’s move for the children’s sake.

Zhuang Chaoying returned home after five miserable days caring for Granny Zhuang, then went back after two days because filial duty and fear of neighborhood judgment still bound him. At the Old Zhuang family home, his relatives unexpectedly treated him kindly, leaving him surprised and cautiously warmed by their change in attitude.

• Zhuang Tunan apologized to Huang Ling after realizing she had tried to protect him, and Huang Ling comforted both him and Zhuang Xiaoting.
• Zhuang Chaoying returned home after five days of exhausting care work and pressure from the Old Zhuang family, and Huang Ling welcomed him and offered to make him food.
• After resting at home for two days, Zhuang Chaoying returned to care for Granny Zhuang because he still felt compelled to fulfill his filial duties and feared being shamed by the neighbors.
• Zhou Cheng expected Zhuang Chaoying to keep enduring the ordeal, believing that changing his ingrained thinking would take more than a few lessons.
• Father Zhuang, Granny Zhuang, Zhuang Ganmei, and his wife treated Zhuang Chaoying warmly when he returned, even saving and reheating food for him.

As Zhuang Chaoying continued to suffer under his family's manipulative demands, Zhuang Tunan prepared for a New Year's Day performance by learning accordion from Song Ying. Wu Shanshan practiced alongside him and, after Zhou Cheng praised her playing, asked him to give her pointers on a new piece.

• Granny Zhuang's leg healed, while Zhuang Chaoying grew gaunt from caring for her and enduring his family's renewed coldness.
• Zhuang Tunan impulsively signed up to perform an accordion solo and began learning from Song Ying, with Huang Ling also encouraging him.
• Wu Shanshan and Zhang Min joined the lessons, but Zhang Min soon quit while Wu Shanshan practiced diligently.
• Zhuang Tunan learned to play a complete piece and began rehearsing at school as New Year's Day approached.
• Wu Shanshan mastered complete pieces through regular practice, and Zhou Cheng praised her performance before she asked him for pointers on a new one.

Zhou Cheng astonished Lin Wufeng and Song Ying by playing the accordion after only listening to others practice, while taking care not to undermine Zhuang Tunan. As the country entered a period of change, Zhuang Tunan performed at No. 1 Middle School’s New Year’s show, and street peddlers began appearing more openly.

• Wu Shanshan struggled with a difficult piece, so Zhou Cheng picked up her accordion and played it smoothly despite never having practiced before.
• Lin Wufeng arrived and was shocked to learn that Zhou Cheng had played the piece after listening to lessons for two months; Zhou Cheng said he had avoided direct lessons to keep from pressuring Zhuang Tunan.
• Lin Wufeng told Song Ying about Zhou Cheng’s performance, and the couple agreed to keep his ability secret.
• A major conference convened in December and issued a document that set a new direction for the country.
• Zhuang Tunan’s accordion solo received widespread praise at No. 1 Middle School’s New Year’s variety show.
• By mid-January, more peddlers were selling goods in the streets as local departments differed over whether to arrest them.