Recaps

As the Gaokao approached, Chen Zhu planned to use his university celebration-banquet red envelopes as startup capital and make his first fortune trading stocks. He decided to bring Huang Bohan and Zhao Yuanyuan into the plan, while preparing to visit SYSU the next day.

• Huang Bohan worried that he would fail the Gaokao, and Chen Zhu joked with him about their future plans.
• Chen Zhu told Huang Bohan he wanted to use their celebration-banquet red envelopes as capital for a summer business.
• Chen Zhu teased Huang Bohan with an internet-café promotion before revealing that he intended to profit from the 2007 stock market and sell before its 2008 crash.
• Chen Zhu decided to recruit Zhao Yuanyuan as well because the banquet money from the three of them would provide more capital.
• Mao Xiaoqin gave Chen Zhu a clean school uniform and reminded him that he was visiting SYSU the next day.

Chen Zhu accompanied his classmates to SYSU’s South Campus for an event and used tactful encouragement to comfort Cao Jingjun on the coach. After they arrived, Cao left with Qi Zheng and put Chen Zhu in charge of the students, while Kang Liangsong questioned the meeting plan.

• Chen Zhu boarded the coach with Deng Qian, Song Shiwei, Kang Liangsong, Sun Xueyong, and Cheng Mengyi for the visit to SYSU.
• Chen Zhu kept Cao Jingjun’s stories going with supportive remarks, then reassured him that high school teachers made a greater contribution to students than university teachers did.
• The group arrived at SYSU’s South Campus, where Cao Jingjun met his old classmate Qi Zheng.
• Cao Jingjun went with Qi Zheng to his office and told Chen Zhu to keep the students together.
• Chen Zhu confirmed that everyone would meet back at the coach drop-off point at eleven thirty if they got separated, and Kang Liangsong asked when Cao Jingjun had arranged that.

Chen Zhu left SYSU's admissions speech with Song Shiwei, Cheng Mengyi, and Deng Qian to explore the campus library. He asked Song Shiwei why she had chosen SYSU over Tsinghua or Peking University, but she avoided answering, and he responded by imitating her silence.

• Chen Zhu tactfully covered for Cao Jingjun after Cao left with his old classmate Qi Zheng, then joined the students on a tour of SYSU's South Campus.
• During Tang Zhaohua's admissions speech, Chen Zhu invited Song Shiwei and the other students to see the library and teaching buildings; Cheng Mengyi and Deng Qian agreed, while Sun Xueyong and Kang Liangsong stayed behind.
• Chen Zhu led Song Shiwei, Cheng Mengyi, and Deng Qian to the library, where Song Shiwei drew the attention of several students.
• Chen Zhu asked Song Shiwei whether she planned to attend SYSU and why she was not choosing Tsinghua or Peking University; she avoided answering.
• Song Shiwei asked why Chen Zhu planned to attend SYSU despite his grades, but he imitated her silence, making her blush and walk away.

Chen Zhu toured SYSU with the other students and found the Flying Insects Club on the verge of disbanding, seeing its members as a potential technical team for his future plans. Song Shiwei misread his attempt to get her QQ contact as a romantic scheme, and the story left Chen Zhu heading to lunch with the group.

• Chen Zhu and the others toured SYSU’s teaching buildings, where he overheard the Flying Insects Club president announce its dissolution after all eight members voted to disband.
• Chen Zhu tried to persuade the club members to reconsider and asked the short-haired president to exchange contact details, hoping to recruit the experienced group for his future internet plans.
• When Chen Zhu asked Song Shiwei to help him connect with the president through QQ, Song Shiwei suspected he was using it as an excuse to get her contact information.
• At 11:30, Cao Jingjun gathered the students and invited them to lunch with his old classmate Qi Zheng at Pinewave Garden cafeteria.
• Cao Jingjun asked Chen Zhu whether the morning tour had gone well, and Chen Zhu answered that it had, more or less.

Chen Zhu used a well-chosen compliment to win Qi Zheng’s attention during lunch at SYSU, then learned the section chief controlled campus activity funding. Back at school, Mou Jiawen mistook Chen Zhu’s request for Song Shiwei’s QQ number as a clumsy attempt to get her contact information, while Chen Zhu realized his memory might be worse than other students’.

• Qi Zheng hosted Cao Jingjun and the students for lunch, and Chen Zhu got him talking by asking about his study.
• Cao Jingjun explained that Qi Zheng headed SYSU’s Budget Management Section and said the Marxism School professor was unavailable that day.
• Mou Jiawen asked Song Shiwei about Chen Zhu, and Song Shiwei told her that he had asked for her QQ number.
• Chen Zhu collected the senior’s QQ number from Song Shiwei, and Mou Jiawen teased him for supposedly making an excuse to get her contact information.
• Chen Zhu asked Huang Bohan whether he could remember a seven-digit number for several hours and realized his own memory seemed unusually poor.

As the Second Mock Exam approached, Chen Zhu agreed to accompany Yu Xian to visit her mother's grave on Qingming Festival. A classroom dispute then revealed that Chen Zhu and Song Shiwei had added each other on QQ, leaving Huang Bohan questioning Chen Zhu's intentions toward Yu Xian and Song Shiwei.

• Chen Zhu encouraged the exhausted Huang Bohan to keep studying and remembered that Yu Xian's mother had died as Qingming Festival approached.
• Chen Zhu told Yu Xian to take care of herself and offered to accompany her to her mother's grave; he agreed to meet her at five in the morning.
• Huang Bohan teased Chen Zhu that he and Yu Xian would become a couple, but Chen Zhu insisted they were only friends.
• Mou Jiawen accused Luo Feng of unfairly lowering her physics score to attract Song Shiwei's attention and revealed that Chen Zhu and Song Shiwei had added each other on QQ.
• Huang Bohan asked Chen Zhu whether he planned to pursue Yu Xian or Song Shiwei.

After rumors spread that Chen Zhu and Song Shiwei were dating, Kang Liangsong reported them to their homeroom teacher, Yin Yanqiu, who decided to verify the claims and wait for their Second Mock Exam results. Chen Zhu remained unaware of the report and went to wait outside Yu Xian’s building in the early hours of Qingming Festival.

• Chen Zhu explained that he had asked Song Shiwei to add an older schoolmate on QQ, while Song Shiwei silently gathered Mou Jiawen’s torn exam paper.
• Huang Bohan worried that Chen Zhu was getting involved with Song Shiwei and Yu Xian, while Kang Liangsong grew jealous and saw Chen Zhu as a threat.
• Kang Liangsong told Yin Yanqiu that Chen Zhu and Song Shiwei were dating and urged her to punish Chen Zhu.
• Yin Yanqiu told Kang Liangsong she would look into the matter, but planned to judge any intervention by the students’ Second Mock Exam results.
• Unaware that Kang Liangsong had reported him, Chen Zhu continued his routine and waited outside Yu Xian’s building in the chilly mist before dawn on April 5.

Chen Zhu accompanied Yu Xian to visit her mother’s grave, sharing an early-morning taxi ride and breakfast before waiting for her at the cemetery steps. Afterward, Yu Xian went home to wash up while Chen Zhu headed back to school, and they parted with a quiet sense of attachment.

• Yu Xian met Chen Zhu before dawn, and he carried her offerings as they left for the cemetery.
• Chen Zhu and Yu Xian teased each other while waiting for a taxi, then shared the breakfast Yu Xian had prepared.
• Yu Xian fed Chen Zhu a peeled egg, and she fell quiet after his lips brushed her fingertips.
• At the cemetery, Yu Xian visited her mother alone while Chen Zhu waited above the steps.
• Yu Xian returned with red eyes, and after they left the cemetery, she went home while Chen Zhu headed back to school.

Chen Zhu returned to school unaware that thugs planned to confront him, while Zhang Chao learned of the plot and argued with his mother about warning him. Zhang Chao agreed to tell Chen Zhu but delayed until the Second Mock Exam, hoping the news would hurt his rival’s performance.

• Xiao Li pointed out Chen Zhu to Brother Shan and Brother Cai, who planned to call him out and scare him over a stolen girlfriend.
• Zhang Chao told his mother that outside-school thugs planned to beat up Chen Zhu.
• Zhang Chao's mother urged him to warn Chen Zhu and try to recover the pledge and documents Chen Zhu had from their earlier police-station incident.
• Zhang Chao agreed to approach Chen Zhu but decided to wait until the Second Mock Exam to tell him.

Chen Zhu learned that Li Jianming had arranged for outside-school punks to meet him at the abandoned parking lot, so he reported the threat to his teachers. When Chen Zhu arrived with the school staff, they heard someone being beaten and the attackers accused their victim of being Chen Zhu, leaving Chen Zhu confused about who was actually fighting.

• After the math exam, Zhang Chao warned Chen Zhu that Li Jianming's friends wanted to meet him at the abandoned parking lot and asked for the evidence Chen Zhu held against him.
• Chen Zhu planned to report the threat to the school, then finished the remaining Second Mock Exam papers without trouble.
• Li Jianming summoned Chen Zhu to the parking lot at 7:45 and threatened him, but Chen Zhu went to tell Yin Yanqiu instead.
• Yin Yanqiu and Cao Jingjun gathered school security staff and went with Chen Zhu to the abandoned parking lot.
• Cao Jingjun and Chen Zhu heard a group beating someone and shouting that the victim was Chen Zhu, prompting Chen Zhu to wonder who he was.

Thugs mistook Wang Changhua for Chen Zhu and beat him, but Wang refused Cao Jingjun’s attempt to avoid police involvement and went to report the assault. When word of the beating spread through school, Huang Bohan, Song Shiwei, and others rushed to respond, leaving the night’s events unfolding.

• The thugs fled when people approached, and Chen Zhu discovered they had beaten Wang Changhua after mistaking him for him.
• Cao Jingjun tried to take Wang Changhua to the hospital, but Wang insisted on reporting the assault to the police, and Yin Yanqiu persuaded Cao to go with him.
• Huang Bohan learned that Chen Zhu had not returned from the parking lot and that a student had been beaten, while Li Jianming admitted he had summoned the thugs to scare Chen Zhu.
• Huang Bohan told the class that Chen Zhu had been beaten and left to find him, while Song Shiwei went to call her father.
• Huang Bohan called Auntie Mao, and Wu Yu urged Yu Xian to come with her after hearing that Chen Zhu had been beaten.

Chen Zhu arrived at the police station unharmed after attackers mistook Wang Changhua for him, while Wang Changhua was left bruised. Song Shiwei’s father came to thank Chen Zhu for protecting his daughter, but mistakenly addressed the injured Wang Changhua as Chen Zhu.

• Huang Bohan went to the police station and discovered Chen Zhu was unhurt while Wang Changhua had been beaten after being mistaken for him.
• Chen Zhu explained the mix-up to Huang Bohan, and Wang Changhua’s parents worried over his injuries and argued with the school staff.
• Chen Peisong and Mao Xiaoqin arrived, learned Chen Zhu was safe, and let Wang Changhua’s parents voice their complaints.
• Wang Changhua objected when his mother’s remarks implicated Chen Zhu, while school administrators gathered to handle the incident.
• Song Shiwei arrived with her father, and Wang Changhua mistakenly imagined she had come to see him.
• Song Shiwei’s father thanked the person he believed was Chen Zhu for protecting his daughter, then noticed that the supposed Chen Zhu’s smile had disappeared.

At the police station, Song Zuomin learned that Wang Changhua was not Chen Zhu and thanked Chen Zhu for protecting Song Shiwei. He pressed the school principal to deal with Li Jianming, while Yu Xian arrived and went to Chen Zhu instead of Wang Changhua.

• Wang Changhua corrected Song Zuomin's mistaken identity, and Chen Peisong explained that Chen Zhu was his son and the student who had stood up to Li Jianming.
• Song Zuomin thanked Chen Zhu and demanded that Principal He address Li Jianming's harassment of Song Shiwei, mentioning that he had contacted the municipal education bureau.
• Mao Xiaoqin welcomed Song Shiwei and drew her into a conversation while Chen Zhu and Huang Bohan gave up their seats.
• Wang Changhua's mother questioned why no classmates had come to see him, and Wang claimed he could attract girls like Yu Xian.
• Yu Xian arrived at the police station and went over to Chen Zhu, prompting Wang Changhua's father to joke that his son was not the real Chen Zhu.

Yu Xian and Wu Yu rushed to the police station after hearing Chen Zhu had been hurt, only to find him unharmed and talking with his parents and other adults. Chen Zhu explained the incident, reassured Yu Xian about rumors involving Song Shiwei, and returned to find the Song family leaving as Mao Xiaoqin began questioning Yu Xian.

• Yu Xian and Wu Yu arrived at the police station and found Chen Zhu chatting with Huang Bohan, so Chen Zhu introduced Yu Xian to his parents as a friend from school.
• Chen Zhu took Yu Xian, Wu Yu, and Huang Bohan outside and explained how his dispute with Li Jianming had led to the night’s trouble.
• Chen Zhu showed them his QQ account and its single contact, a senior from SYSU, to refute the rumor that he had added Song Shiwei; Yu Xian then added him on QQ.
• Chen Zhu and the others returned to the police station as Song Zuomin and Song Shiwei prepared to leave, and Mao Xiaoqin asked Yu Xian about herself.

Mao Xiaoqin and Chen Peisong discussed Yu Xian and Song Shiwei as possible partners for Chen Zhu, but agreed that his Gaokao mattered most. Chen Zhu admitted to Huang Bohan that he was keeping both girls’ romantic possibilities open, while Song Shiwei returned home and was told not to tell her mother what had happened.

• Yu Xian told Mao Xiaoqin she was an art-track student, and Mao Xiaoqin politely praised her before privately saying she still preferred Song Shiwei.
• Chen Peisong and Mao Xiaoqin returned to the lobby to ask Chen Zhu’s homeroom teacher about his Second Mock Exam and college choices.
• Chen Zhu dropped Yu Xian and Wu Yu off, then Huang Bohan confronted him about pursuing two girlfriends.
• Chen Zhu admitted he was waiting until college to decide between Yu Xian and Song Shiwei, and Huang Bohan urged him to choose Yu Xian.
• Song Zuomin dropped Song Shiwei at her home and told her to go to bed early and keep the day’s events from her mother.

Song Shiwei returned to her lonely home and endured her mother Lu Man’s constant criticism and strict routines. Though Song Shiwei kept her distance, she revealed privately that she stayed in Yuecheng because she did not want Lu Man to be left alone.

• Song Shiwei came home late, and Lu Man questioned her before making a bitter remark about Song Shiwei’s father avoiding her.
• Lu Man prepared bird’s nest soup for Song Shiwei and watched neighboring families together, feeling lonely.
• Lu Man asked about Song Shiwei’s exam results and urged her to study abroad or attend a top university elsewhere, but Song Shiwei avoided answering and returned to her practice questions.
• After Lu Man told Song Shiwei to go to bed, Song Shiwei reflected that she stayed in Yuecheng for her mother’s sake.
• The next morning, Lu Man criticized Song Shiwei for getting up late, then carefully cleaned her daughter’s shoe and told her not to rush breakfast.

Song Shiwei returned to school amid rumors about Chen Zhu being beaten, while her classmates watched for clues about their relationship. The Second Mock Exam results showed Chen Zhu improving, and the school continued linking their names as Li Jianming stopped appearing near Class 11.

• Lu Man drove Song Shiwei to Zhixin Middle School, where Song overheard classmates gossiping that Li Jianming had beaten Chen Zhu over her.
• Mou Jiawen asked Song Shiwei about Chen Zhu's injuries, while Huang Bohan and then the uninjured Chen Zhu entered class under curious stares.
• Yin Yanqiu redirected the class to morning study and handed out the Second Mock Exam papers, with Chen Zhu scoring 145 in math and 148 in physics.
• Chen Zhu finished with 658 points, improving on his First Mock Exam score, while his class and year rankings stayed the same.
• Over the following days, the school increasingly linked Song Shiwei and Chen Zhu's names, and Li Jianming stopped loitering outside Class 11.

After the school quietly expelled Li Jianming and kept Chen Zhu’s assault secret, Chen Zhu comforted Wang Changhua and later advised Huang Bohan on choosing a university major. As the Gaokao approached, Chen Zhu’s friends gathered at the convenience store, where Zhao Yuanyuan asked about Wang Changhua before he arrived.

• Cao Jingjun asked Chen Zhu and Wang Changhua to keep the assault from their classmates, and Chen Zhu agreed while Wang Changhua resented the rumors giving Chen Zhu all the attention.
• Chen Zhu cheered Wang Changhua up by offering to treat him to fish ball noodles with Song Shiwei and Yu Xian.
• After the third mock exam, Chen Zhu advised Huang Bohan to consider electronics and information instead of applying to computing or law.
• Zhao Yuanyuan arrived at the convenience store, and Chen Zhu explained that she had skipped two grades in primary school.
• Zhao Yuanyuan asked who Wang Changhua was, and Chen Zhu described his habit of showing off with awkward wording.

Chen Zhu reassured Yu Xian that he planned to attend SYSU, and she happily arranged a hot pot dinner with their friends. Wang Changhua joined them at the convenience store, where the group talked about their futures before raising a toast to the Gaokao and their dreams.

• Yu Xian teased Chen Zhu about choosing a university, and he joked that he might follow her to the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts.
• Chen Zhu told Yu Xian that he planned to attend SYSU instead of risking Tsinghua or Peking University, and she was delighted he would stay nearby.
• Wang Changhua arrived at the convenience store with his guitar, showed off his knowledge of Jay Chou songs, and said he planned to attend Guangzhou University.
• Chen Zhu, Huang Bohan, Zhao Yuanyuan, Wang Changhua, Yu Xian, and Wu Yu chatted together about school and their hopes for the future.
• After work, the group went for hot pot and toasted to giving their best for the Gaokao and pursuing their dreams.

Chen Zhu asked his parents for the admission banquet cash gifts so he could trade stocks, and they agreed to let him use the money under Mao Xiaoqin’s supervision. He submitted his university preference for Lingnan College at SYSU and learned Song Shiwei had chosen it too, leaving them hoping to meet there after the Gaokao.

• Chen Zhu asked Chen Peisong and Mao Xiaoqin for the admission banquet cash gifts to trade stocks, and Mao Xiaoqin resisted until Chen Zhu threatened not to answer the English paper.
• Chen Peisong persuaded Mao Xiaoqin that Chen Zhu had a reason for wanting to trade stocks, and they agreed he could use the money under her supervision.
• Yin Yanqiu guided the senior students as they submitted their university preferences, and Chen Zhu confirmed his choice of economics at Lingnan College at SYSU.
• Mou Jiawen told Chen Zhu that Song Shiwei had chosen finance at Lingnan College too.
• Chen Zhu told Song Shiwei, “See you at Lingnan,” and she returned the greeting.

With the Gaokao less than a week away, Chen Zhu and his classmates received their exam assignments and attended their final lessons at Zhixin Middle School. Yin Yanqiu tearfully dismissed the graduating class, and Chen Zhu and Huang Bohan decided to walk around the school together before leaving.

• As the Gaokao approached, teachers shared last-minute test-taking tips, and the seniors received admission tickets listing their exam locations.
• Chen Zhu learned he would take the exam at Provincial Experimental High School, while Huang Bohan was assigned to Guangya High School.
• On June 3, Yin Yanqiu found flowers and a cake waiting in the classroom and wept as the students said goodbye.
• Yin Yanqiu gave the class final exam reminders, then dismissed them after wishing them success.
• As the students packed up and left, Chen Zhu reminded Huang Bohan of their first-year plan to walk around the school, and they decided to do so again.

Chen Zhu and Huang Bohan eased their Gaokao nerves by visiting a temple, and Chen Zhu then completed the exams from June 7 to June 9. After the Gaokao ended, he told his parents he wanted to get his driver's license before buying a computer or phone.

• Chen Zhu took Huang Bohan to pray at a temple on White Cloud Mountain, and Huang Bohan felt less anxious afterward.
• Chen Zhu spent the days before the Gaokao revising at home while Mao Xiaoqin and Chen Peisong carefully supported him.
• Chen Zhu arrived at Provincial Experimental High School on June 7 and sat the Chinese exam, writing an essay about passing on Chinese civilization through the Olympic spirit.
• Chen Zhu completed the math, physics, English, and chemistry exams over the next two days, then left the exam room feeling calm but empty.
• Chen Zhu told Mao Xiaoqin and Chen Peisong that he wanted to get his driver's license before getting a computer or phone.

After graduating from high school, Chen Zhu signed up for driving lessons and planned to invest money in China Shipbuilding stock. At Anshun Driving School, he ran into his former middle school deskmate Bian Xiaoliu and remembered that boys used to bully him to get her attention.

• Chen Zhu persuaded Mao Xiaoqin and Chen Peisong to let him enroll at Anshun Driving School, and Chen Peisong paid the discounted tuition.
• Chen Zhu met Huang Bohan to play arcade games and realized he had no way to contact Yu Xian except through QQ.
• Chen Zhu began driving practice at Anshun Driving School and waited beneath the shade canopy with the other students.
• Bian Xiaoliu recognized Chen Zhu as her former deskmate from 16th Middle School and introduced him to the boy accompanying her.

At driving school, Chen Zhu ran into his former classmate Bian Xiaoliu and her boyfriend, Ji Haixing, who looked down on him and deliberately tried to make him crash while practicing. Chen Zhu grew angry and hinted that he would retaliate by summoning an innocent high-school girl.

• Bian Xiaoliu introduced Ji Haixing as her boyfriend, and Chen Zhu noticed her hesitation and Ji Haixing's jealousy.
• Chen Zhu said he hoped to attend Guangdong University of Finance, while Ji Haixing bragged about Guangdong University of Finance and Economics and Bian Xiaoliu said she expected to enter SYSU's School of Foreign Languages.
• Ji Haixing told Chen Zhu to keep reversing during practice, nearly causing him to hit the shelter, and Bian Xiaoliu reprimanded her boyfriend.
• Chen Zhu finished the maneuver, realized Ji Haixing had deliberately put him at risk, and resolved to summon an innocent high-school girl.

After the Gaokao, Chen Zhu missed Yu Xian when he went to the convenience store, but found her messages on QQ and began chatting with her while she was visiting her hometown. As Yu Xian prepared to return to Yuecheng, Chen Zhu decided to buy a phone so he could meet her.

• Chen Zhu went to the convenience store hoping to find Yu Xian, but learned she had returned to Sichuan-Chongqing for summer vacation.
• Chen Zhu found Yu Xian's QQ messages, replied to her, and learned she had left because he had not answered her earlier notes.
• Chen Zhu chatted with He Yu about the Flying Insects Club and learned it had disbanded because its members would not compromise.
• Chen Zhu and Yu Xian exchanged daily messages about their ordinary routines while she was away.
• Yu Xian told Chen Zhu she would return the next day and had brought local specialties for him and his parents.
• Chen Zhu told Mao Xiaoqin to give him money so he could buy a phone.