Chapter Summaries

Bai Congming started his first day at Ding Ding’s textile company, where Ding Ding introduced him as his partner and assigned him the job of tea attendant. After welcoming him, Ding Ding held a business meeting and distributed work to the employees.

• Bai Congming dressed in a new suit and went to work with Ding Ding, who praised his appearance.
• Ding Ding introduced Bai Congming to the employees, and Bai greeted them while they introduced themselves.
• Ding Ding told the employees that Bai Congming was his partner and asked them to look out for him.
• Ding Ding called Bai Congming the company’s new tea attendant, and Bai eagerly went to fetch water.
• Ding Ding assigned work on fabric orders and samples, then watched the conference room door and told everyone to have water before working.

Ding Ding taught Bai Congming to use the office coffee machine, then encouraged him to learn basic work tasks. Jeff arrived with a contract for a twenty-tonne order, leaving Ding Ding eager to take the profitable deal.

• Ding Ding noticed Bai Congming was bored and offered to teach him to use the coffee machine after lunch.
• Ding Ding and Bai Congming tried to figure out the machine, but Jeff arrived and showed them how to make coffee.
• Bai Congming made Jeff two cups of coffee and enthusiastically agreed to learn how to prepare a packing list from Fang Yun.
• Ding Ding met with Jeff, who presented a contract for a twenty-tonne order of Roman fabric.
• Ding Ding accepted the contract and agreed with Jeff that they would get rich together.

Ding Ding and Jeff discussed orders as Jeff revealed that his Roman fabric had won a major brand’s order after Zixin’s and Mingpin’s bulk shipments failed. Zixin’s general manager ordered Manager Liu to find a way to keep the client, while Ding Ding watched Bai Congming and Fang Yun play a game at work and let them be.

• Jeff offered Ding Ding a sixty-percent deposit, and Ding Ding agreed to get the new order started while explaining that the previous polar fleece order could not ship until next month.
• Jeff told Ding Ding that his Roman fabric order was for a well-known brand that had been Zixin’s client, and he explained that his bulk shipment had arrived successfully after rival shipments failed.
• Zixin’s general manager scolded Manager Liu over the failed Roman fabric order and told him to do whatever it took to keep the brand as a client.
• Bai Congming and Fang Yun played a matching-fruit game at their desks and agreed to keep it secret from Ding Ding.
• Ding Ding watched Bai Congming and Fang Yun on the security monitor and decided not to interrupt them as long as Bai Congming was happy.

Manager Liu arrived in M City to try to win back Jeff’s business for Zixin Textiles, while Ding Ding and Bai Congming enjoyed their affectionate routine at work. The chapter ended with Bai Congming joining Fang Yun and Auntie Huang to refold sample fabric.

• Manager Liu arrived in M City burdened with gifts for Jeff, hoping to secure an order and protect Zixin’s client relationship.
• Ding Ding and Bai Congming shared a meal and recalled how Bai Congming had adapted to helping at Ding Ding’s company.
• Fang Yun prepared to take leave for her thesis defense, and Ding Ding suggested bringing Bai Congming to visit her university.
• Bai Congming worried that school might make him wet his pants, so Ding Ding teased him about wetting the bed and then coaxed him back into a good mood.
• Bai Congming joined Fang Yun and Auntie Huang in folding fabric samples for storage.

Manager Liu visited Ding Ding to discuss a rayon jersey order and find Jeff, while Ding Ding revealed he had already received Jeff’s twenty-ton specialty-yarn order. Ding Ding agreed to notify Manager Liu when Jeff returned to M City, leaving Manager Liu waiting for a chance to meet him.

• Manager Liu brought gifts and a rayon jersey sample to White Gardenia Textiles, where Ding Ding greeted him and praised Bai Congming.
• Ding Ding showed Manager Liu a matching rayon-spandex jersey he had developed and arranged for a half-meter sample to be cut.
• Wu Huan called to report that the specialty yarn had reached the greige fabric mill, and Ding Ding told him to promise the factory manager a deposit within half an hour.
• Ding Ding revealed that Jeff had placed a twenty-ton specialty-yarn order with him, prompting Manager Liu to ask for an introduction.
• Manager Liu admitted that he wanted Jeff’s order under Zixin’s name and apologized after Ding Ding challenged his claim that Jeff’s actions were unethical.
• Ding Ding told Manager Liu that Jeff was away from M City and promised to let him know when Jeff returned.

Ding Ding spent the day with Bai Congming, first discussing a shipping change for Jeff’s order and then taking Bai Congming to a university campus for a graduation-day outing. The chapter ended with Fang Yun photographing them beside the lake before Ding Ding promised to take Bai Congming to buy watermelon.

• Jeff visited Ding Ding’s office with candied fruit for Bai Congming, and Ding Ding hinted that Zixin could handle shipping for the order.
• Ding Ding took Bai Congming home, where Bai Congming complained about cleaning and insisted that he did not want other people in their home.
• Ding Ding and Bai Congming visited Fang Yun’s campus on graduation day, and Fang Yun’s roommates teased Bai Congming while taking pictures.
• Ding Ding and Bai Congming strolled around campus, ate in the cafeteria, and sat through half of a class before Bai Congming needed the bathroom.
• Fang Yun borrowed graduation gowns and photographed Ding Ding and Bai Congming by the lake, and Ding Ding took Bai Congming to buy watermelon.

Ding Ding and Jeff discussed Li Hao’s attempt to sell Mingpin’s Roman fabric, while Li Hao’s efforts to secure orders collapsed and his unpaid assistant quit. After Manager Liu confirmed he had chosen Bai Zhi for his rayon order and warned that Li Hao would approach Ding Ding, Ding Ding agreed to contact Jeff about returning.

• Jeff told Ding Ding that Li Hao had offered him a car to buy Mingpin’s Roman fabric, but Jeff said he had refused.
• Li Hao learned that Jeff was unavailable and Manager Liu had placed his rayon order with Bai Zhi, then blamed his assistant for failing to deliver gifts.
• Li Hao threatened to deduct the gift costs from his assistant’s unpaid wages, so the assistant confronted him, quit, and went to the Arbitration Bureau.
• Li Hao appointed a young woman as his new assistant and told her to dress less heavily in the summer.
• Manager Liu discussed Li Hao’s gift attempts with Ding Ding and said he expected Li Hao to approach him next.
• Ding Ding promised to call Jeff, while Bai Congming complained that Ding Ding’s windowless lounge was terrible.

Ding Ding and Bai Congming shared a playful fruit-and-yogurt snack with the office, while Li Hao tried unsuccessfully to win Manager Liu’s favor and secure a development partnership. The chapter left Manager Liu silent after Li Hao offered to fund Famous Brand’s initial development and sample yardage.

• Jeff avoided Manager Liu at Ding Ding’s office, settled the outstanding payment with Ding Ding, and later gave Bai Congming his watch as thanks for the fruit and yogurt.
• Bai Congming shared fruit and yogurt with everyone in the office, gave Jeff’s watch to Ding Ding, and later let Ding Ding eat from his bowl.
• Li Hao met Manager Liu at a restaurant and tried to make conversation, but Manager Liu refused to drink or discuss business.
• Li Hao presented Manager Liu with gifts and explained Famous Brand’s financial troubles and his willingness to absorb the loss on the Roman fabric.
• Li Hao offered to fund Famous Brand’s initial development and cover the sample-yardage costs, but Manager Liu said nothing.

Manager Liu brought Bai Congming a cake, but Bai Congming later overheard coworkers insulting him and Ding Ding, then hid in the restroom until Ding Ding found him. Ding Ding took him home after Bai Congming apologized, though he remained shaken by Bai Congming’s outburst.

• Manager Liu brought Bai Congming a cherry blossom cake, but Bai Congming refused it because Brother Ding had warned him not to accept things from others.
• Bai Congming overheard coworkers making crude remarks about him and Ding Ding and hid in a restroom stall for nearly three hours.
• Ding Ding found Bai Congming, who burst out of the stall and shouted, “I don't like you! Go away!”
• Bai Congming clung to Ding Ding, apologized, and asked him to say something, while Ding Ding quietly cared for him.
• Ding Ding asked whether Bai Congming was still willing to go home, and Bai Congming said he wanted to go home.

Ding Ding discovered that Bai Congming’s anger came from an embarrassing misunderstanding about what Ding Ding had told the company visitors. After Bai Congming forgave the men who had spied on him, Ding Ding warned him about accepting gifts from strangers, and Bai Congming refused Manager Liu’s cake before another visitor arrived.

• Ding Ding watched the restroom surveillance footage and grew anxious when Bai Congming did not immediately answer whether he still liked him.
• Bai Congming explained that he was angry because Ding Ding had supposedly told people about his bottom, and Ding Ding denied sharing anything private.
• Bai Congming guessed that the men had peeked at him in the restroom, and Ding Ding agreed it was possible before comforting him.
• Two days later, the men apologized to Bai Congming, who forgave them after warning them not to do it again.
• Ding Ding warned Bai Congming that company visitors might be bad people, so Bai Congming decided to stop accepting gifts from others.
• Bai Congming refused Manager Liu’s cake, but a visitor speaking curry-flavored Chinese called out to him.

Ding Ding and Jeff rejected Manager Liu’s attempts to take over their Roman fabric order, while Manager Liu and Jeff discussed a possible arrangement. The group went to a mountain resort for dinner, where Ding Ding suspected the two men had gotten together, and both protested.

• Jeff chose to keep the order for his company, refusing Manager Liu’s offer of the goods’ value plus eight percent in compensation.
• Ding Ding refused to let Zixin use his production facilities, even after Manager Liu said Famous Brand would cover fabric development costs.
• After the meeting, Ding Ding invited Jeff and Manager Liu to dinner at a mountain resort, and Jeff asked to bring Bai Congming to see fireflies.
• Ding Ding brought Fang Yun along to keep Bai Congming company, and the five traveled to the resort in two cars.
• At dinner, Ding Ding asked Jeff and Manager Liu if they had gotten together, and both men reacted with alarm and denied it.

Ding Ding took Bai Congming and Fang Yun to a mountain resort meal, where Bai Congming was fussed over and later caught a firefly in the woods. The chapter left Ding Ding tending to Bai Congming after discovering a scratch on his arm and the firefly fading in its bottle.

• Ding Ding's companions repeatedly served Bai Congming food until Fang Yun led him outside to walk off the meal.
• Bai Congming gathered flowers and leaves while Fang Yun anxiously checked that he was unharmed.
• Manager Liu told Ding Ding that he could not pay the deposit for a rayon jersey order on time, but Ding Ding insisted on following the contract.
• Ding Ding called Bai Congming and found him dusty, with grass in his hair and a cut on his arm.
• Bai Congming showed Ding Ding the flowers, leaves, stones, and firefly he had collected in the woods.
• Ding Ding reassured Fang Yun and agreed to wait for the povidone-iodine she had ordered for Bai Congming's scratch.

Ding Ding worried over how to celebrate Bai Congming’s birthday, while Bai Congming’s simple affection left Ding Ding wondering how to love him in return. After work and money matters resumed, Ding Shu gave Ding Ding a pair of palladium rings and told him that he was what Bai Congming liked best.

• Ding Ding thanked Bai Congming for showing him a firefly, then carried him home while asking how he wanted to celebrate his birthday.
• Bai Congming woke in Ding Ding’s arms, washed off the medicine on his arm, and returned to their ordinary routine after the weekend.
• Zixin paid Ding Ding part of the deposit, and Ding Ding focused on Roman fabric orders until Jeff’s polar fleece shipment brought in money.
• Ding Ding visited Ding Shu and complained that he did not know how to celebrate Bai Congming’s birthday.
• Ding Shu gave Ding Ding the matching palladium rings she had made and told him that he was what Bai Congming liked best.

Ding Ding struggled to plan Bai Congming’s birthday, but Bai was happy to celebrate simply and received gifts from friends and coworkers. At home, Ding Ding began giving him twenty-three numbered presents, and Bai’s memory of being adopted at six surprised him.

• Ding Ding searched for birthday ideas and asked Auntie Zhou and Sun Xiangxiang for help, but Bai Congming kept saying he wanted cake.
• Bai Congming insisted on going to work, where coworkers and friends gave him presents, including a tablet, gloves, comics, snacks, and a villa from Zheng Xixi.
• On the way home, Bai Congming told Ding Ding that many people liked him and said he liked Ding Ding best.
• Ding Ding brought Bai Congming into the study and began giving him twenty-three numbered birthday presents.
• When Ding Ding said the first present was for Bai’s first birthday, Bai corrected him, saying his mother had told him he was six when she found and brought him home.

Ding Ding and Bai Congming burned offerings for Bai Congming’s mother, then Bai Congming made gifts for the people who cared about him. After a run of business successes, Ding Ding learned that the customer had not approved the Roman fabric shipping samples.

• Ding Ding took Bai Congming to burn paper offerings for his mother, and Bai Congming shared how happy he had been and how much he missed her.
• Bai Congming told Ding Ding he felt empty, then asked to go home and rode on Ding Ding’s back.
• Fang Yun taught Bai Congming to make fuse-bead gifts during lunch, and Bai Congming gave his first finished keychain to Ding Ding.
• Bai Congming planned more gifts for his friends, and Fang Yun continued helping him make them at the office.
• Ding Ding’s orders and payments went smoothly, but Jeff told him the customer had not approved the Roman fabric shipping samples.

Ding Ding investigated a Roman fabric shipment that failed the client’s quality checks and arranged urgent softening and preshrinking tests. At the factory, Li Hao spotted the fabric and secretly questioned a shift leader, learning that one roll had been sent for softening.

• Jeff told Ding Ding that the client found the Roman fabric insufficiently dense, rougher to the touch, and three percent lighter than the previous batch.
• Ding Ding tested the fabric, found that it shrank too much, and arranged for a roll to be softened and preshrunk before sending new samples.
• Ding Ding left the factory, unaware that Li Hao was watching him from a third-floor window.
• Li Hao asked Factory Director Zhu about Ding Ding, then went to the workshop and found a roll of Roman fabric.
• Li Hao gave the shift leader cigarettes and learned that the bulk order was finished and one roll had been taken for softening.

Ding Ding’s fabric was repeatedly delayed at the factory when Famous Brand’s order coordinator cut in line, so a shift supervisor took him to another factory where his wife processed the roll. Ding Ding then met the new factory’s salesperson, Little Screw, who refused even a cigarette because the boss prohibited employees from accepting anything from outsiders.

• Ding Ding left Bai Congming at home and went to the factory to collect his fabric roll.
• After delays, Ding Ding found a Famous Brand order coordinator had taken priority and left with his fabric instead of starting a confrontation.
• The shift supervisor returned Ding Ding’s cigarettes and offered to have his wife process the fabric at another factory.
• Ding Ding and the shift supervisor took the fabric to the wife’s factory, where she carefully started the machine and treated the roll.
• Ding Ding exchanged business cards with Little Screw, who explained that the factory boss forbade employees from accepting gifts.

After spending the night at Jinghe Dyeing Factory, Ding Ding returned home and slept beside Bai Congming before visiting the factory director to discuss future work. He agreed to send the factory orders without tight deadlines.

• Ding Ding came home near dawn and gently held Bai Congming while he slept on the sofa.
• Bai Congming woke up and urged Ding Ding to get ready for work, so Ding Ding dropped him at the company before driving to Jeff's Company with Roman fabric.
• Ding Ding visited Jinghe Dyeing Factory to thank its staff and discuss business with Director He Jing.
• He Jing recognized Ding Ding from an old newspaper story about him selling his car to pay his workers.
• Ding Ding agreed to send Jinghe Dyeing Factory orders on its normal schedule rather than requiring overtime.

Ding Ding learned why He Jing kept her struggling workers at the dyeing factory and decided to help her. After reflecting on how grateful he was to have met Bai Congming, Ding Ding got a gardenia tattoo so Little Bai could find him even if they were separated.

• He Jing told Ding Ding that she had inherited her parents’ dyeing factory and hired people who struggled to find work, while outdated machines and a lack of orders kept the business in a vicious cycle.
• Ding Ding resolved to help He Jing after hearing about her factory and the boy she was sheltering from his abusive father.
• On his way back, Ding Ding wondered what might have happened to Bai Congming if they had never met, then felt grateful that they had found each other.
• Ding Ding had a gardenia tattooed on his chest while Bai Congming waited and slowly counted to three thousand.
• Ding Ding showed the tattoo to Bai Congming and explained that it would help Little Bai find him if they were ever separated.
• Bai Congming worried that Ding Ding was hurting, so Ding Ding asked him to blow on the tattoo.

Ding Ding faced repeated rejections of the Roman fabric shipping sample as the delivery deadline approached. He rejected Li Hao and Jeff’s proposal to submit an old sample and ship mismatched goods, leaving himself two more days to find a legitimate solution.

• The customer rejected the second Roman fabric shipping sample because preshrinking widened it and reduced its weight, and Jeff urged Ding Ding to solve the problem quickly.
• After more sample attempts failed, Jeff brought Li Hao to meet Ding Ding, while Little Bai tried to keep Li Hao out of the office.
• Jeff proposed submitting a sample cut from Li Hao’s old fabric roll, and Li Hao suggested shipping the first batch before problems with the bulk goods were discovered.
• Ding Ding refused to misrepresent the goods, mocked Li Hao’s old fabric as trash, and rejected his proposal.
• Ding Ding apologized to Jeff and asked for another day to find a solution, and Jeff gave him two days before the deadline.