Chapter Summaries

Ding Ding struggled to identify why a client kept rejecting their Roman fabric shipment, putting his and Jeff’s investment and future orders at risk. After Bai Congming noticed the original sample smelled old, Ding Ding realized the fabric’s warehouse history might explain the difference.

• Bai Congming gave Jeff only one cup of coffee because he considered him a bad guy for bringing Li Hao to Ding Ding.
• Ding Ding told Jeff they would submit another shipping sample, then worried that repeated rejections could ruin their twenty-ton order and their investment.
• Ding Ding examined the original and new fabric samples while Bai Congming visited him and said Xiangxiang had invited him to a flower shop the next day.
• Ding Ding playfully asked Bai Congming to compare the fabrics, and Bai Congming said the original had an old smell.
• Ding Ding began explaining that the original fabric had been stored for a long time and rained on at the docks, then suddenly realized this might be the key.

Ding Ding realized that moisture absorbed by the stored Roman fabric might explain its low weight, and a simple water-and-drying test restored it to match the sample. He credited Bai Congming with spotting the difference, while Sun Xiangxiang took Bai away for a day out and planned to introduce him to her boyfriend.

• Ding Ding realized the Roman fabric may have absorbed moisture in the warehouse and asked Zhang Dashun to wet a bolt and leave it sealed overnight.
• Ding Ding praised Bai Congming for helping him solve the fabric problem, and Bai said he only wanted Ding Ding to be happy.
• Ding Ding tested the dampened fabric overnight, and the next morning it nearly matched the original sample.
• Sun Xiangxiang whisked Bai Congming away from Ding Ding and complained that work kept him from visiting her.
• Sun Xiangxiang planned to show Bai the flowers, have lunch with her boyfriend, and visit a dessert shop, while Bai focused on hearing that she had a boyfriend.

Bai Congming met Sun Xiangxiang’s boyfriend, Chen Xin, at the flower shop, where Chen Xin’s jealous watching led Sun Xiangxiang to make him apologize and join them on a shopping trip. The chapter left Bai Congming answering Ding Ding’s call as Ding Ding asked when he would return and whether he was enjoying himself.

• Sun Xiangxiang introduced Bai Congming to Chen Xin, who awkwardly greeted him after she scolded him for staring.
• Chen Xin repeatedly hovered over Bai Congming until Bai Congming showed him his money and asked him to stop watching.
• Sun Xiangxiang kicked Chen Xin out, and he returned within five minutes with desserts and an apology to Bai Congming.
• Chen Xin offered to drive Sun Xiangxiang and Bai Congming, then carried their shopping bags while they browsed the mall.
• Sun Xiangxiang noticed Ding Ding’s repeated calls, and Bai Congming answered as Ding Ding asked when he would come back and whether he was having fun.

Ding Ding joined Bai Congming, Sun Xiangxiang, and Chen Xin for lunch and a trip to a nail salon, where he helped Bai Congming feel comfortable trying a manicure. Sun Xiangxiang confronted Chen Xin about their relationship and asked to break up.

• Ding Ding left work early to find Bai Congming and joined him, Sun Xiangxiang, and Chen Xin at a restaurant.
• Ding Ding peeled shrimp for Bai Congming, while Chen Xin repeatedly peeled shrimp for Sun Xiangxiang in a quiet contest.
• Bai Congming showed Ding Ding the book he had bought, titled "How to Be a Good Good Wife."
• Ding Ding encouraged Bai Congming to get his nails painted, telling him that he would sit for a manicure too.
• Sun Xiangxiang reflected that Chen Xin had not made her a priority during their five years together and asked him to break up.

Sun Xiangxiang ended her five-year relationship with Chen Xin, exhausted by always coming second to his career and interests. Back home, Ding Ding prepared a romantic bath for Bai Congming, and the two flowers bloomed under the midnight moonlight.

• Bai Congming noticed Sun Xiangxiang was unhappy, while Ding Ding and Bai Congming kept their afternoon cheerful.
• Sun Xiangxiang told Chen Xin she was tired and ended their relationship, packing his belongings and offering to move out and return the car and flower shop.
• Chen Xin left with his suitcase, and Sun Xiangxiang watched him go before breaking down in tears.
• Ding Ding let Bai Congming finish watching television and prepared a flower-petal bath by candlelight for him.
• Ding Ding and Bai Congming settled on the sofa, where one flower turned red and the other glowed white as they bloomed at midnight.

After the fabric shipment went out, Ding Ding took his employees and Jeff’s group on a team outing while Li Hao’s business at Famous Brand collapsed under factory disputes, unpaid wages, and a harassment scandal. Li Hao wondered whether Ding Ding would help him, while Ding Ding stayed focused on playing cards with Bai Congming.

• Ding Ding shipped the approved Roman fabric sample and took the team on a picnic, where Fang Yun tried flying a kite with Bai Congming.
• A former Famous Brand employee told the gathered workers how Li Hao had withheld wages, and how a colleague’s harassment complaint led to damages against him.
• Factories refused Li Hao’s sample-development requests or demanded payment, while employees pressed him for months of unpaid wages.
• Li Hao faced unpaid invoices and a warehouse full of unapproved samples, and wondered whether Ding Ding would advise him.
• Ding Ding refused to help Jeff cheat Bai Congming at cards, then let Bai Congming pull him away to eat meat.

Ding Ding took Bai Congming to the seaside, where memories of his difficult arrival in M City and years working at the docks resurfaced. After riding a jet ski together, they left the beach with Ding Ding reassuring Bai Congming that he would always return to their shared home.

• Ding Ding declared a two-day holiday and took Bai Congming on a seaside trip.
• On the drive, Ding Ding remembered arriving in M City, struggling through his first jobs, and eventually earning a living as a dock laborer.
• Ding Ding showed Bai Congming the dock where he had once worked and promised to take him out to sea.
• Ding Ding and Bai Congming rode a jet ski, and Ding Ding promised to return to the sea if Bai Congming was there, or to their shared home if he was not.
• At the commercialized beach, Ding Ding kept Bai Congming in a life jacket before agreeing to replace it with a pink swan swim ring.

Ding Ding and Bai Congming spent a romantic night at the seaside before Bai Congming spotted someone falling from a cliff. They found Chen Xin alive on the beach and contacted Sun Xiangxiang, who initially dismissed Ding Ding’s warning as a scam.

• Ding Ding and Bai Congming returned to their room after reserving diving equipment, showered together, and Ding Ding fitted Bai Congming with an anti-loss wristband for their dive.
• Bai Congming woke in alarm, saying he had seen Streetlight fall from the cliff, and persuaded Ding Ding to investigate.
• Ding Ding spotted a person lying below the cliff, called for help, and led Bai Congming down another route to the beach.
• Ding Ding checked that the man was breathing, and medical workers carried Chen Xin to an ambulance while Ding Ding and Bai Congming went along.
• Ding Ding recognized Chen Xin as Sun Xiangxiang’s boyfriend and called her, but she accused him of trying to scam her and hung up.
• Chen Xin’s phone rang with Sun Xiangxiang calling, and Ding Ding told her to come to the hospital.

After Chen Xin fell at the shore, Sun Xiangxiang rushed to the hospital and waited anxiously with Ding Ding and Bai Congming. Chen Xin recovered, and Sun Xiangxiang accompanied him to his hotel, where he stopped her from leaving by saying he had a gift for her.

• Sun Xiangxiang learned that Chen Xin had fallen from a height at the shore and went to the hospital, where Ding Ding and Bai Congming were waiting with him.
• Sun Xiangxiang accepted that Chen Xin was being treated alongside more seriously injured patients and waited with Ding Ding and Bai Congming.
• Chen Xin walked out of the emergency department apparently unharmed, hugged Sun Xiangxiang, and asked whether she would return to him if the fall had made him an idiot.
• Sun Xiangxiang let Chen Xin join her taxi and accompanied him to his hotel, where he said he had only fainted from low blood sugar.
• As Sun Xiangxiang tried to leave Chen Xin at the hotel, he embraced her and told her he had a gift for her.

Chen Xin tried to persuade Sun Xiangxiang not to break up by showing her a feather from a rare bird, but she left without changing her mind. After a seaside date, Bai Congming and Ding Ding went looking for Sun Xiangxiang and learned she had not been at the hospital or flower shop, so they headed to her home to check on her.

• Chen Xin offered Sun Xiangxiang a golden feather from a Manman bird and said he did not want to break up, but she walked out without replying.
• Bai Congming and Ding Ding spent the day at the seaside, then Bai Congming admitted he wanted to visit Sun Xiangxiang after their date.
• Ding Ding and Bai Congming asked at the hospital about Chen Xin and learned he had left despite critically low blood sugar.
• Bai Congming and Ding Ding went to Sun Xiangxiang's flower shop, where the manager said she had not come in for a long time.
• Bai Congming asked Ding Ding to take him to Sun Xiangxiang's home because he feared something serious had happened.

Ding Ding and Bai Congming visited Sun Xiangxiang, who revealed that her flower shop was not hers and that she was moving out after her relationship with Chen Xin ended. After their holiday, they returned to work, where Jeff brought Ding Ding a new fabric order that looked familiar.

• Ding Ding and Bai Congming visited Sun Xiangxiang at her apartment and found her packing to move.
• Sun Xiangxiang told Bai Congming that the flower shop belonged to someone else and that she had nowhere to work now.
• Ding Ding fixed Sun Xiangxiang's flickering balcony light, and she said she was moving out after Chen Xin had left her with few belongings.
• Bai Congming sensed that Sun Xiangxiang had changed, and he and Ding Ding wondered whether she and Brother Streetlamp had fought.
• Ding Ding and Bai Congming returned to the company after their two-day holiday, where Ding Ding learned President Li had visited and Jeff brought him a new order with a familiar-looking fabric sample.

Jeff arranged for Ding Ding to take most of Famous Brand’s polyester jersey bulk order after Zixin had used Li Hao’s development work, leaving Li Hao with only a share and no factory capacity. Enraged, Li Hao confronted Ding Ding and was driven outside, where Bai Congming charged into him to protect Ding Ding.

• Jeff told Ding Ding that he had arranged the order through Zixin and that Li Hao held only twenty percent of it, while Ding Ding received the lion’s share.
• Li Hao learned that the factory had no room for Famous Brand’s fabric because it was running Ding Ding’s polyester jersey order, and the factory manager refused to make space for him.
• The factory manager revealed that Ding Ding’s order was the one occupying the machines, prompting Li Hao to call Manager Liu and discover that Zixin had given him only a small portion under a contract full of traps.
• Li Hao drove to Ding Ding’s company, shoved Bai Congming to the floor, and was punched by Ding Ding before Ding Ding dragged him outside and told the others to call the police.
• Bai Congming rushed outside and rammed Li Hao in the chest, then clung to Ding Ding and cried.

Li Hao barged into Ding Ding’s company, where a fight left Bai Congming with a bump on his head and Li Hao under arrest. After the police took Li Hao away, Ding Ding brought Bai Congming to the hospital, then learned the boy was already eager to buy carrots.

• Fang Yun called the police after Li Hao forced his way into the company and a fight broke out.
• The officers reviewed the surveillance footage and took Li Hao away for five days of detention.
• Ding Ding warned Bai Congming not to put himself in danger again, and Bai Congming said he wanted to protect him.
• An officer reminded Bai Congming to seek help from the police instead of acting impulsively.
• Ding Ding sent the employees home with red envelopes and took Bai Congming to the hospital for an examination.
• After the hospital confirmed his injuries were superficial, Bai Congming tugged Ding Ding toward the car to go buy carrots.

Sun Xiangxiang moved into her own studio apartment and prepared to open the flower shop she had always dreamed of, with Ding Ding and Bai Congming helping her. When Chen Xin appeared outside her building, she walked away without speaking and cried alone, still grieving the years she had spent with him.

• Bai Congming brought carrots to Sun Xiangxiang every day because he believed she was a rabbit spirit, and Ding Ding eventually discovered their secret visits.
• Sun Xiangxiang worried over Bai Congming’s head injury, but he defended Ding Ding and insisted he wanted to stay with him.
• Sun Xiangxiang moved to her own studio apartment near Ding Ding and Bai Congming’s company, and they helped her carry her belongings.
• At a housewarming meal, Sun Xiangxiang showed Bai Congming the storefront for her flower shop and explained that she wanted to be close to the happiness flowers brought people.
• Chen Xin waited outside Sun Xiangxiang’s building and took her cigarettes, but Sun Xiangxiang walked past him and went upstairs.
• Sun Xiangxiang cried as she unpacked, mourning the years she had given to the wrong person and hoping for a fresh start.

Li Hao came to see Ding Ding after leaving detention, hoping to confront him over the failed factory deal, but Ding Ding rejected his excuses and warned him to stay away. The chapter left Li Hao shaken as Ding Ding walked out, confident that he could withstand whatever trouble Li Hao caused.

• Li Hao returned to Ding Ding's company with pastries and apologized to Bai Congming for scaring him, while Bai Congming refused to acknowledge him.
• Ding Ding took Li Hao to a malatang shop, where Li Hao recalled their past and asked whether the factory's all-polyester yarn had belonged to Zixin.
• Ding Ding told Li Hao the yarn had belonged to Jeff and accused him of blaming Ding Ding because he could not find a flaw in his contract with Old Liu.
• Li Hao insulted Ding Ding and Bai Congming, so Ding Ding overturned the table and paid the shop owner for the damage.
• Ding Ding warned Li Hao to stay out of his way and said he had grown up by the sea, leaving Li Hao frozen with the thought that he might be finished.

Ding Ding met with factory managers to persuade them to stop taking unprofitable orders, then drank enough that a hired driver had to call Bai Congming to find his home. After reassuring Bai Congming, Ding Ding gave the driver his correct address and headed home.

• Ding Ding left Bai Congming at home and went to a club to meet factory managers, refusing a companion and accepting their toasts.
• Ding Ding discussed the managers’ businesses and persuaded them to give up small, unprofitable orders, promising they would not go hungry while he was around.
• Ding Ding left the club drunk, gave the driver an incorrect address, and mumbled Bai Congming’s name when asked where he lived.
• The driver called Bai Congming, who refused to tell a stranger his address and asked to speak to Ding Ding.
• Ding Ding reassured Bai Congming, gave the driver his correct address, and promised to come home soon.

Bai Congming waited anxiously for Ding Ding to come home after drinking, and Ding Ding reassured him that he would not abandon him or drink again. Meanwhile, Ding Ding undermined Li Hao’s business, and Bai Congming announced he wanted to visit Xiangxiang’s new flower shop.

• Bai Congming waited by the gate with Gouzai until Ding Ding returned late in a car, then scolded him for drinking and making him worry.
• Ding Ding explained that he had slept in the car, let Bai Congming bite his hand, and promised he would not drink again or leave him.
• Ding Ding told Bai Congming that he had been taken to Hongfang Street and recalled that he had first fallen asleep after meeting Bai Congming because he trusted him.
• Ding Ding used information from Li Hao’s former assistant to disrupt Li Hao’s pending deals, leaving Famous Brand unable to secure even small orders.
• Bai Congming told Ding Ding he would not go to work the next day and wanted to visit Xiangxiang’s new flower shop.

Ding Ding brought Bai Congming to Sun Xiangxiang’s flower shop opening, where Bai delighted in the flowers and Sun invited him to work there. Bai chose to stay with Ding Ding and keep helping him at the company.

• Ding Ding and Bai Congming attended Sun Xiangxiang’s flower shop opening with a cake.
• Bai Congming wandered among the flowers, admiring them and introducing them to Ding Ding.
• Sun Xiangxiang asked Ding Ding whether Bai could work as her shop assistant, and Ding Ding said the choice was Bai’s.
• Sun Xiangxiang invited Bai to work at the flower shop, and Bai considered the offer.
• Bai refused, saying the company would have no Tea Server without him and that he wanted to help Ding Ding.

On the Qixi Festival, Ding Ding collected Bai Congming from Sun Xiangxiang’s flower shop and took him to the flower and bird market, where Bai Congming turned down everything Ding Ding offered to buy. Meanwhile, Sun Xiangxiang was confronted by Chen Xin, who said he had missed her and revealed that half his stomach had been removed.

• Ding Ding found Bai Congming at Sun Xiangxiang’s flower shop, where Bai had been helping with the Qixi Festival rush and reading a comic with her.
• Sun Xiangxiang remembered a past Qixi Festival with Chen Xin before he appeared at the shop and told her he had missed her.
• Chen Xin said doctors and nurses had kept him from visiting and revealed that he had been sick and had half his stomach removed.
• Ding Ding took Bai Congming to the flower and bird market and repeatedly offered to buy him rocks, hamsters, and other things, but Bai refused.
• Bai Congming collected unwanted Yuhua Stones while Ding Ding bought a cactus, then begged Bai to spend some money.

Ding Ding and Bai Congming argued over spending money, while Ding Ding learned how badly Li Hao’s business had collapsed. Bai Congming offered Ding Ding his savings, and they made up as Ding Ding reassured him that he spent money to make him happy.

• Bai Congming stopped Ding Ding from buying more things and insisted they eat at home.
• Ding Ding overheard renovation workers describe Li Hao’s failing business and learned that Li Hao had been evicted from his office.
• Bai Congming worried about the expensive rock in their yard and gave Ding Ding his wallet, telling him to use the money for himself.
• Ding Ding told Bai Congming that he bought things to make him happy, and Bai Congming admitted he was still unhappy about the wasteful spending.
• Bai Congming ate a tomato, then reminded Ding Ding that they had to save money.