Chapter Summaries

Bai Congming believed his mother’s wish for him to find a wife had come true when Ding Ding rescued him and they spent the night together. Ding Ding woke in Bai Congming’s room, realized it had not been a dream, and began questioning Bai about what happened.

• Bai Congming remembered his mother telling him to save money and find a wife, and believed she had sent one to rescue him from the flower nursery.
• Bai Congming watched the sleeping Ding Ding and quietly promised to treat him well as his wife.
• Ding Ding woke hungover in an unfamiliar room and realized the events of the previous night had really happened.
• Bai Congming called Ding Ding his wife and said he was twenty-two, prompting Ding Ding to suspect he was not quite normal.
• Ding Ding dressed, washed his face, and asked Bai Congming how he had ended up there.

Ding Ding learned that Bai Congming had rescued him while he was drunk, then mistaken their night together for marriage, and fled after leaving him money. Bai Congming decided to be good to Ding Ding and went to work, where his coworkers argued over how he had escaped their prank.

• Bai Congming told Ding Ding that he had carried him home after finding him drunk in the road.
• Ding Ding confirmed Bai Congming had chosen to sleep with him willingly, then left money as compensation and hurried away.
• Bai Congming marked down that he had found a wife and wrote that he should be good to Ding Ding.
• Bai Congming's coworkers found the nursery door open and argued over who had let him escape.
• Bai Congming arrived at work and cheerfully greeted his arguing coworkers.

Bai Congming worked at the flower nursery, where Granny Sun and Auntie Zhou looked after him while coworkers discussed his past. When Aunt Xie asked if he wanted a wife, Bai Congming insisted that he already had one and spent the rest of the day thinking about her.

• Granny Sun stopped the workers from crowding Bai Congming, gave him two boiled eggs, and sent him back to work.
• Auntie Zhou assigned Bai Congming to water the hydrangeas in Greenhouse Three and later brought him lunch and a blanket.
• The workers told Aunt Xie that Bai Congming had been raised by a woman on Hongfang Street after she lost her husband and son, and that she had died a few years earlier.
• Aunt Xie asked Bai Congming if he wanted a wife, and he said that he already had one before lying down to rest.
• Bai Congming thought about his wife, counted the seven days until his day off, and felt his heart was filled with her.

Ding Ding sold his home to raise money for his failing textile business and went to confront Li Hao, the former protégé he blamed for his downfall. He promised his creditors he would pay when the house-sale money arrived, but they questioned how he could repay them.

• Ding Ding agreed to sell his home below market value and asked Xiao Li to complete the paperwork quickly.
• Ding Ding reflected on his failing textile business and answered a call from Li Hao, who summoned him to the company.
• Ding Ding recalled how he had trained Li Hao and helped him rise from factory worker to salesman.
• Ding Ding met Li Hao at the company and joined a room full of factory managers and creditors.
• Ding Ding told the creditors he would pay as soon as the sale money came through, and one creditor challenged his ability to repay.

Ding Ding faced suppliers and workers demanding money, while Li Hao orchestrated the confrontation to seize his factory. Bai Congming took a blow meant for Ding Ding, and Ding Ding drove him away as Li Hao prepared to pursue the factory through the courts.

• Suppliers and workers confronted Ding Ding over unpaid debts and wages, but he insisted they would be paid in a couple of days.
• Li Hao encouraged the workers' leader to threaten Ding Ding as the suppliers waited for him to give up the factory.
• When the workers' leader swung his stick, Bai Congming stepped in front of Ding Ding and was struck on the head.
• Ding Ding threatened to involve the police, then took the bleeding Bai Congming and left the office.
• Li Hao told the others to prepare to sue Ding Ding so they could take control of his factory and its machinery.
• In the car, Bai Congming worried about Ding Ding despite his injury, while Ding Ding told him not to call him wifey.

After taking Bai Congming to the hospital for his head wound, Ding Ding learned that Bai Congming had found him using a business card and had come because he wanted to be good to him. As they shared a meal, Ding Ding felt his recent burdens briefly lift, and the chapter ended with him wishing he had met Bai Congming sooner.

• Ding Ding took Bai Congming to the hospital, where a nurse treated his head wound and complimented his appearance.
• Bai Congming showed Ding Ding the business card he had used to find him and explained that he had come to see him.
• Ding Ding withdrew the money in his account, returned Bai Congming's cash, and took him to a restaurant for lunch.
• Bai Congming said he had skipped breakfast because he was in a hurry to find Ding Ding.
• Bai Congming told Ding Ding he had come to find him and be good to him, leaving Ding Ding touched as they prepared to leave.

Ding Ding accompanied Bai Congming home, learned that Bai’s mother had told him she watched over him from the blooming bougainvillea, and stayed when Bai asked him not to leave. After sharing Bai’s elaborate “water” and falling asleep in his bed, Ding Ding left Bai beside him, calling him “wifey.”

• Ding Ding walked with Bai Congming through Hongfang Street and learned Bai believed his mother watched him from the bougainvillea when it bloomed.
• Bai Congming brought Ding Ding into his neat courtyard, and Ding Ding asked him to call him Brother Ding.
• Bai Congming served Ding Ding a bowl of water filled with dried flowers, red dates, and goji berries, then kissed him and said he liked him.
• Ding Ding asked to nap, fell asleep before finishing his promise not to bully Bai, and Bai washed before climbing into bed beside him.
• Bai Congming covered his belly with the quilt and murmured that his wifey smelled good.

Ding Ding spent the day at Bai Congming’s home, where they bought a light bulb, shared a simple meal, and grew closer. When Ding Ding tried to leave, Bai Congming gave him a gold piggy bank so bad people could not bully him.

• Ding Ding woke from his nap, realized Bai Congming had gone out, and washed up in his bathroom.
• Bai Congming returned, hugged Ding Ding, and urged him not to cry.
• Ding Ding and Bai Congming went to buy a light bulb, and Ding Ding paid for it and replaced the broken one.
• Ding Ding stayed for Bai Congming’s potato rice and ate a bowl of the salty meal with him.
• When Ding Ding tried to leave, Bai Congming pulled him back inside and gave him a gold piggy bank, saying the money would keep bad people from bullying him.

Ding Ding refused Bai Congming’s savings but accepted a single yuan before kissing him and agreeing to stay the night. After defending Bai Congming to a grocery-store owner, Ding Ding returned to find him waiting and promised to buy him a phone later.

• Bai Congming offered Ding Ding all the money from his piggy bank, but Ding Ding returned most of it and kept one yuan.
• Ding Ding kissed Bai Congming, who offered him another one-yuan note and called him his wife.
• Ding Ding agreed to stay with Bai Congming for the night and went out to retrieve his phone charger.
• At the grocery store, Ding Ding challenged the old man for warning him to keep away from Bai Congming.
• Ding Ding returned to find Bai Congming waiting with his jacket, checked his bandage, and promised to buy him a phone later.

Ding Ding grew closer to Bai Congming and worried about the hardships he faced at work, while Bai Congming quietly tried to keep Ding Ding from leaving. Ding Ding woke to find his underwear missing, and Bai Congming carried it in his bag to work.

• Ding Ding accepted 874 yuan from the sale of his rosewood desk and learned that Bai Congming worked at a flower nursery.
• Bai Congming told Ding Ding that he had opened a door for him on the night they met, then fell asleep before explaining more.
• Bai Congming bought three meat buns for breakfast and left them under the covers for Ding Ding before going to work.
• Ding Ding woke at noon, found the buns, and discovered that his underwear was missing.
• Bai Congming worked at the nursery with Ding Ding's underwear hidden in his bag so Ding Ding would not leave.

Ding Ding learned that a fire had broken out at the dyeing factory and rushed there to face the workers and the media. He promised to pay the workers’ wages by the weekend and offered to sell his car to help a worker whose husband needed hospital treatment.

• Ding Ding learned from the fire brigade that the Ding Sheng Dyeing Factory had suffered a warehouse fire, with no casualties but considerable losses.
• Ding Ding went to the nursery to find Bai Congming, but Wang Lao'er took his money and failed to pass along the message.
• Ding Ding drove to the factory and found workers, reporters, and onlookers gathered outside as smoke rose from the site.
• Ding Ding reassured the workers that he would pay their overdue wages and allowances by the weekend, saying he had sold his house.
• When a worker asked for money to pay for her husband's medication, Ding Ding offered to sell his car and apologized for owing her.

Ding Ding sold his Land Rover to pay some of his workers after a fire destroyed his factory, while Li Hao taunted him over his mounting debts. Ding Ding reflected on how Li Hao and a former documentation clerk had helped bring about his ruin, leaving him facing lawsuits, unpaid suppliers, and the need to start over.

• Ding Ding made Li Hao donate the cash in his wallet to an injured worker, then sold his Land Rover for 180,000 yuan to a factory supervisor.
• Ding Ding paid the injured worker’s outstanding wages and gave her another ten thousand yuan, then used most of the sale proceeds to pay some other workers.
• Ding Ding promised the remaining workers that he would settle their wages by the end of the week as they left the burned factory ruins.
• Li Hao mocked Ding Ding over his debts and offered to forgive the twenty-three thousand yuan Ding Ding owed him.
• Ding Ding recalled that a customs declaration error by his documentation clerk had delayed a shipment for Zixin Textiles, while Li Hao’s newly registered Mingpin Textiles supplied replacement samples and won the opportunity.

Ding Ding faced the collapse of his textile company, paid his employees what he could, and left the office after deciding not to renew the lease. Outside, a worker’s wife returned money her husband had borrowed, reminding Ding Ding that he had once helped him in a time of need.

• Ding Ding told the people demanding payment that he had applied for bankruptcy liquidation and paid his employees’ wages before the remaining creditors took items from his office.
• Ding Ding passed out in the office and told Ms. Chen he would not renew the lease, then slept there one last time before leaving with his belongings.
• A worker’s wife approached Ding Ding outside the building and returned a parcel of money on her husband’s behalf.
• The woman explained that Ding Ding had once carried her husband to the hospital and helped pay his medical costs, and she left him holding the returned money.

Bai Congming remained unhappy because Ding Ding had left, and he feared that being told to take a break meant losing his job. While helping pack flowers for Sun Xiangxiang, he told her Ding Ding was his wife and learned her version of how to court someone.

• Granny Sun and Auntie Zhou worried over Bai Congming's subdued mood and learned he was eating less.
• Auntie Zhou told Bai Congming to take a break, but he panicked and insisted he needed to keep working.
• Auntie Zhou sent Bai Congming to help pack flowers for Sun Xiangxiang's new shop, where he carefully prepared lilies and roses.
• Sun Xiangxiang praised Bai Congming, and he told her he liked flowers and Brother Ding, whom he called his wife.
• Bai Congming admitted Ding Ding had left, so Sun Xiangxiang gave him a bouquet and urged him to confess his love and ask for forgiveness.

Sun Xiangxiang’s careless speculation made Bai Congming cry because he feared his wife did not like him. Auntie Zhou comforted him, and Sun Xiangxiang later apologized with a comic meant to help him win his wife back.

• Sun Xiangxiang suggested Bai Congming’s wife might not like him, and Bai Congming began sobbing.
• Auntie Zhou took Bai Congming back to Greenhouse Three and reassured him that his wife might have had a reason to leave.
• Auntie Zhou reminded Bai Congming of a researcher who had once disliked him but later cared about him.
• Bai Congming stopped crying and returned to tending the gardenias.
• Sun Xiangxiang apologized to Auntie Zhou, learned Bai Congming’s name, and gave him a comic to help him win his wife back.

Bai Congming met Sun Xiangxiang, bought her comic book, and became engrossed in its story of Xiao Hua and Xiao Hu. The comic inspired him to try to win back his departed wife with flowers, while Auntie Zhou took him out to lunch and the chapter ended with Ding Ding finally relaxing at a restaurant.

• Bai Congming insisted on paying Sun Xiangxiang for her comic book, and she invited him to visit her flower shop and play with her again.
• Bai Congming read the comic about Xiao Hua and Xiao Hu overnight and decided to imitate Xiao Hu's efforts to win Xiao Hua back so his wife would return.
• Granny Sun gave Bai Congming eggs and urged Auntie Zhou to find out why he looked exhausted and whether he was being deceived.
• Auntie Zhou took Bai Congming out to lunch after he spent the morning carrying fertilizer through the greenhouses.
• Ding Ding ordered pork hock and bayberry wine at a small restaurant and felt relieved that everything was finally over.

After his bankruptcy, Ding Ding drifted through the city before choosing to walk toward a lake instead of returning to his inn. Meanwhile, Bai Congming found a way to get two days off and set out to look for Ding Ding, hoping to bring him home.

• Ding Ding accepted that bankruptcy had left him with no assets or reliable connections, then ate and drank before leaving the restaurant.
• Ding Ding bought a cheap pack of cigarettes and, after passing the inn where he had been staying, turned toward a large lake instead of going inside.
• Bai Congming identified insects infesting the nursery’s azaleas, and the fumigation required to treat them closed Greenhouse No. 3 for two days.
• Bai Congming used his unexpected time off to travel across the city in search of Ding Ding, upset that someone had bitten his meat bun.
• Bai Congming remembered the plastic bag of buns Ding Ding had left behind and resolved to find him so they could eat buns together every day.

Bai Congming went to Sun Xiangxiang’s flower shop to buy pink lily of the valley to take to Ding Ding and ask for a kiss. He left with the flowers after paying two hundred yuan, while the shop manager realized Sun Xiangxiang had sold their rare blooms far below their value.

• Bai Congming got lost on his way to Dragon City Plaza, and a security guard guided him to Sun Xiangxiang’s flower shop.
• Sun Xiangxiang welcomed Bai Congming, and he gave her dried roses to thank her for the comic she had lent him.
• Bai Congming chose the shop’s twelve pink lily of the valley stems and told Sun Xiangxiang he planned to find his wife.
• Bai Congming paid Sun Xiangxiang two hundred yuan for the flowers, explaining that he had checked their price at another shop first.
• The shop manager confronted Sun Xiangxiang for selling the rare flowers so cheaply, but she said she was not worried.

Bai Congming went to the former Ding Sheng Textiles office to find Ding Ding, only to learn the company had gone bankrupt and Ding Ding was gone. A worker tricked him into an alley and stole his money, leaving Bai Congming frightened, injured, and unable to find his way home.

• Bai Congming arrived at the renovated office and learned from the workers that Ding Ding's company had gone bankrupt and Ding Ding had disappeared.
• Bai Congming shouted for Ding Ding, then remained outside after the workers sent him away.
• A worker noticed Bai Congming's wallet and promised to take him to Ding Ding if he paid.
• The worker led Bai Congming into a dark alley, shoved his head against a wall, and stole his money.
• Bai Congming screamed in fear, searched for Ding Ding, and ran from the alley with a bump on his head, saying that Brother Ding was gone.

Bai Congming found Ding Ding badly injured and unconscious outside his home, then cleaned and cared for him through the night. After Bai brought Auntie Zhou and a doctor to examine Ding Ding, the doctor prescribed medicine and said his swollen foot needed an X-ray, leaving Bai to watch over him while he slept.

• Bai Congming walked through the city asking for directions until he reached home and found Ding Ding collapsed outside his door.
• Bai Congming carried Ding Ding inside, laid him on the bed, and prepared food and a towel to care for him.
• Bai Congming cleaned Ding Ding and changed his bedding, but Ding Ding remained unconscious.
• Bai Congming went to fetch Auntie Zhou and a doctor, first dressing Ding Ding in his underpants before leaving.
• The doctor examined Ding Ding, prescribed herbal medicine, and said his badly swollen foot needed an X-ray.
• Auntie Zhou left with the doctor to collect medicine and told Bai Congming to stay home and watch over Ding Ding.