Chapter Summaries

After Chen Zhu helped Yu Xian secure evidence against Zhang Chao, her strained relationship with her father came to light at the convenience store. Chen Zhu used a joke about food to ease the tension among the group.

• Chen Zhu returned to the convenience store with Yu Xian and gave her an envelope containing the evidence against Zhang Chao.
• Chen Zhu asked Huang Bohan and Zhao Yuanyuan to copy and sign witness statements, then organized the evidence for Yu Xian.
• Yu Xian's father arrived with money for her living expenses, but she rejected it and told him not to visit again unless he needed something.
• Chen Zhu suggested fish ball noodles, and the food joke helped ease the awkward mood in the store.

After learning why Yu Xian refused her father’s financial support, Chen Zhu shared dinner with her in the dark convenience store and teased her about kissing a dog. Yu Xian stopped short of kissing him, then asked him to walk her home.

• Yu Xian cooked dinner for Huang Bohan and Zhao Yuanyuan, and Chen Zhu arranged for Huang Bohan to walk Zhao Yuanyuan home.
• Chen Zhu asked Yu Xian about her family and learned that her mother had died and she refused money from her father to protect her mother from her stepmother’s insults.
• The convenience store lost power at nine thirty, and Yu Xian made stir-fried noodles for herself and Chen Zhu.
• Chen Zhu joked that Yu Xian might someday kiss a dog, and Yu Xian asked whether he wanted to be one.
• Yu Xian told Chen Zhu to close his eyes, flicked his lips with a finger instead of kissing him, and asked him to walk her home.
• Chen Zhu refused, joking that his wife was having a baby and he had to hurry home.

Chen Zhu walked Yu Xian home after she threatened to spread a rumor about him, then returned to school the next morning in the wet weather. During chemistry paper marking, Kang Liangsong traded with Jin Hui for Song Shiwei’s paper, while Mou Jiawen was excited to receive Chen Zhu’s paper.

• Yu Xian threatened to spread a story about Chen Zhu unless he walked her home, then watched him leave with a happy smile.
• Chen Zhu returned home without his parents knowing he had spent part of the previous day at the police station.
• Huang Bohan asked Chen Zhu about walking Yu Xian home and speculated that she might like him, but Chen Zhu turned his attention to studying.
• Feng Jie handed out chemistry papers for classmates to mark, and Kang Liangsong persuaded Jin Hui to swap papers so he could mark Song Shiwei’s.
• Mou Jiawen exclaimed that she had received Chen Zhu’s paper and saw it as a chance to talk to him.

Chen Zhu received a high score on his chemistry paper and charmed Mou Jiawen with a joke, while Kang Liangsong tried to impress Song Shiwei with elaborate explanations. Afterward, Chen Zhu noticed Song Shiwei had quietly circled one of his mistakes, leaving him thinking about her subtle attention.

• Mou Jiawen gave Chen Zhu's chemistry paper a score of 143, and Song Shiwei quietly circled a mistake in his formula.
• Mou Jiawen delivered Chen Zhu's paper, and he made a joke that made her laugh.
• Kang Liangsong showed Song Shiwei the extensive explanations and extra questions he had written on her paper, then offered to teach her more methods.
• Song Shiwei declined Kang Liangsong's offer so she and Mou Jiawen could go eat, while Mou Jiawen complained about his arrogance.
• Chen Zhu returned from lunch, spotted the pencil circle on his paper, and realized Song Shiwei had marked it.

Yu Xian told Wu Yu how Chen Zhu had protected her from Zhang Chao and admitted she felt a small spark of affection for him. When break-time exercises returned, she greeted Chen Zhu and Huang Bohan, while Huang Bohan privately decided Yu Xian was Zhizhong High School’s school beauty.

• Yu Xian and Wu Yu walked past Class 11 while Yu Xian looked for someone, but the person she sought was not there.
• Zhang Chao saw Yu Xian in the corridor and left without confronting her, surprising Wu Yu.
• At a bubble tea shop, Yu Xian recounted how Chen Zhu had stopped Zhang Chao from threatening her and confessed that Chen Zhu’s concern had stirred affection in her.
• Yu Xian told Wu Yu she would greet Chen Zhu normally if they met again, rather than pretend they were strangers.
• Three days later, Yu Xian greeted Chen Zhu during break-time exercises and also thanked Huang Bohan with a friendly greeting.
• Huang Bohan felt honored by Yu Xian’s attention and decided she had become his school beauty.

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.