Chapter Summaries

After returning home, Chen Shi'an shared Li Wanyin's mung bean sweet soup and chatted with her about food from their childhoods. The evening ended with Chen Shi'an giving some soup to Fat Ink and going to get another bowl.

• Chen Shi'an checked his messages on the way home and replied to Li Wanyin and Wen Zhixia.
• Chen Shi'an found Fat Ink watching television and questioned the cat about sneaking out, then discovered Li Wanyin had filled its food bowl.
• Li Wanyin welcomed Chen Shi'an home and served him the mung bean sweet soup she had made.
• Chen Shi'an and Li Wanyin praised the soup and reminisced about adding dicliptera to mung bean soup.
• Chen Shi'an mixed the remaining soup into Fat Ink's food and went to fetch himself another bowl.

After sharing sweet soup and chatting about work, school, and money, Li Wanyin asked Chen Shi'an to read her fortune. He read her face and palm, leaving her delighted by his prediction of future wealth.

• Chen Shi'an washed the dishes and told Li Wanyin he had learned to cook as a small child on the mountain.
• Li Wanyin chatted with Chen Shi'an while Shi Mo watched television, then joined her former classmates' group chat and declined their offer to pass along Senior Ou's contact details.
• Chen Shi'an returned from his shower, hung up his hand-washed clothes, and talked with Li Wanyin about his classes and her flyer job.
• Li Wanyin asked Chen Shi'an to read her financial luck, and he praised her face as auspicious and her prospects as wealthy and successful.
• Chen Shi'an held Li Wanyin's right hand to examine her palm, and his prediction made her laugh and forget her gloomy mood.

After chatting with Li Wanyin, Chen Shi'an settled into his new routine in the city and went out for an early morning run with Fat Ink. He left the residential compound on foot while the cat used its uncanny agility to descend the building and follow him.

• Li Wanyin ended her late-night conversation with Chen Shi'an, and they each returned to their rooms to sleep.
• Chen Shi'an woke at five, meditated away his fatigue, and released a butterfly from his room through the window.
• Chen Shi'an decided to run before class and took the stairs down, while Fat Ink sprang down the building's wall and balconies.
• At the compound gate, Chen Shi'an spoke with security guard Zheng and introduced himself as a student at Yunqi No. 1 High School.
• Zheng recognized Chen Shi'an as the Taoist he had seen earlier, and Chen Shi'an ran off with the black cat following him.

Chen Shi'an explored the neighborhood on an early-morning run, then met Wen Zhixia on the way to school and received the English grammar notes she had prepared for him. After he massaged her acupoints to dispel her sleepiness, Wen Zhixia headed to class refreshed and eager to learn his technique.

• Chen Shi'an ran through the neighborhood’s alleys and streets for half an hour, then returned home to wash, eat, and leave for school.
• Chen Shi'an met Wen Zhixia at their agreed intersection and took her breakfast while she cleaned spilled soy milk from her hand.
• Wen Zhixia gave Chen Shi'an printed notes covering middle school English grammar that she had stayed up late preparing.
• Chen Shi'an showed Wen Zhixia how to press several acupoints, then massaged her forehead and temples when her own attempts did not help.
• Wen Zhixia’s sleepiness disappeared after Chen Shi'an’s massage, and she eagerly followed him toward school.

Wen Zhixia and Chen Shi'an walked to school together, where she helped him practice English and gave him soy milk. At school, Chen Shi'an and Lin Meng Qiu struggled to coordinate while carrying out their shared cleaning duty.

• Wen Zhixia taught Chen Shi'an to pronounce English words on their walk to school and gave him soy milk before they parted.
• Lin Meng Qiu picked up Chen Shi'an's fallen math worksheet and told him they were both on cleaning duty.
• Chen Shi'an tried to take the classroom trash out alone, and Lin Meng Qiu insisted on helping him.
• Chen Shi'an and Lin Meng Qiu wrapped tissues around the trash bin handles and carried the bin out together.
• Chen Shi'an and Lin Meng Qiu walked at mismatched speeds and tried to turn in opposite directions before Lin Meng Qiu explained the route to the back gate.

Chen Shi'an and Lin Meng Qiu took the trash out together, talking about birds and wild raspberries as they walked through a quiet path. After emptying and rinsing the can at the north gate, they headed back to class, with Lin Meng Qiu telling Chen Shi'an to come earlier next time.

• Chen Shi'an identified white-faced tits and a Chinese hwamei for Lin Meng Qiu as they walked to the north gate.
• Lin Meng Qiu asked Chen Shi'an about red, thorny berries from her childhood, and he identified them as wild raspberries.
• Chen Shi'an and Lin Meng Qiu emptied the trash can together, and Lin Meng Qiu hurried away from the filthy runoff to catch her breath.
• Chen Shi'an rinsed the trash can while Lin Meng Qiu washed her hands, then they dried their hands and the can.
• Lin Meng Qiu told Chen Shi'an to come earlier next time he was on cleaning duty.

Chen Shi'an studied English with materials from his study buddy, stirring Lin Meng Qiu's jealousy and surprising Teacher Ye with how quickly he learned vocabulary. Teacher Ye left impressed, while Lin Meng Qiu offered to help him with English too.

• Lin Meng Qiu posted a warning against dumping soup in the classroom trash, and Liu Zhuoran asked Chen Shi'an to help him apologize for his noodles.
• Lin Meng Qiu noticed Chen Shi'an's grammar notes and grew jealous when he said his study buddy had given them to him.
• Teacher Ye advised Chen Shi'an to read English aloud and learned that he had memorized 473 words.
• Teacher Ye tested Chen Shi'an on words from his textbook, praised his progress, and left for the office.
• Lin Meng Qiu told Chen Shi'an that he could ask her about anything he did not understand in English.

Chen Shi'an asked Lin Meng Qiu to teach him English handwriting, and the two practiced together after morning reading. Their lesson ran past the start of morning exercises, leaving Lin Meng Qiu flustered as she hurried out of the classroom.

• Chen Shi'an finished memorizing 538 English words and decided to ask Lin Meng Qiu how to improve his English handwriting.
• Lin Meng Qiu showed Chen Shi'an his awkward lettering and began teaching him basic strokes, spacing, and handwriting styles.
• Lin Meng Qiu realized she had moved very close to Chen Shi'an and became flustered when he turned toward her.
• The grade head caught Chen Shi'an and Lin Meng Qiu in the empty classroom after morning exercises had begun.
• Lin Meng Qiu hurried downstairs, while Chen Shi'an explained that he had lost track of time practicing handwriting.

Li Wanyin discovered that Shi Mo could turn on the television and shared the news with Chen Shi'an before leaving for an interview. At school, Chen Shi'an continued racing through his studies and went to lunch with Wen Zhixia, while Lin Meng Qiu watched them leave together.

• Li Wanyin found Shi Mo watching television, confirmed the cat could switch it on, and sent Chen Shi'an a photo.
• Li Wanyin fed Shi Mo most of her egg, managed to pet the cat, and left for her interview; afterward, Shi Mo tightened the kitchen faucet, switched off the television, and went roaming.
• Chen Shi'an finished the first volume of seventh-grade mathematics, impressing Lin Meng Qiu, who felt pleased that he had studied her subject during other lessons.
• Lin Meng Qiu cleaned the blackboard while Chen Shi'an waited downstairs for Wen Zhixia.
• Chen Shi'an and Wen Zhixia headed to Cafeteria No. 1 together as Lin Meng Qiu watched them from the corridor.

Chen Shi'an and Wen Zhixia ate lunch at Cafeteria No. 1, where Wen was stunned by how quickly he was learning English and other subjects. When Chen mentioned that Lin Meng Qiu was helping him with math, Wen revealed that she and Lin had once been deskmates.

• Chen Shi'an and Wen Zhixia waited in line for saozi noodles and talked about cooking and their eating habits.
• Wen Zhixia and Chen Shi'an ate together, and Chen told her he had memorized over five hundred English words and textbook passages in a little over a day.
• Chen Shi'an said he was also studying Chinese and math, with help from his class monitor, Lin Meng Qiu.
• Wen Zhixia recognized Lin Meng Qiu and told Chen Shi'an that she and Lin used to be deskmates.