Chapter Summaries

Lin Fengmian rejected Xia Qinghe’s demand to share an intimate arrangement, leaving their friendship strained as Xia took his refusal as a betrayal. Elsewhere, a young man plotted around Xia Qinghe and Lin Fengmian, while Lin Fengmian returned home sick and was cared for by Song Su.

• Lin Fengmian refused Xia Qinghe’s request, and Xia grew furious and hurt as Lin walked away.
• Lin Sui worried that Lin Fengmian and Xia Qinghe might not reconcile, while Secretary Su offered no reassuring answer.
• A young man in a southern town learned that Lin Fengmian had left Lanhai and said their next move depended on how far Li Yang would go for Xia Qinghe.
• The young man told his associate to leave Yu Youyou and Feng Chuyue alone and let them fight among themselves.
• Lin Fengmian caught a bad cold, and Song Su brought him herbal medicine and cared for him.

Lin Fengmian coordinated with Xia Qinghe to bring Feng Chuyue down while recovering from a fever and a falling-out with Xia Qinghe. Feng Chuyue was arrested after a police raid, Yu Youyou was caught trying to flee, and Xia Qinghe ordered compensation for an injured colleague.

• Song Su asked Lin Fengmian about the women whose WeChat contacts she had sent him and wondered why Xia Qinghe had not visited.
• Lin Fengmian secretly messaged Xia Qinghe about Feng Chuyue, warning that he must not die before his shares could be secured.
• Chen Xiaohua monitored Feng Chuyue at a villa as police arrived and arrested him after finding him surrounded by people and incapacitated.
• Chen Xiaohua's team protected Feng Chuyue during his transfer to the hospital, while one subordinate staged a collision to stop a van from interfering.
• Yu Youyou tried to flee after learning Feng Chuyue had survived and been arrested, but police stopped her at the airport.
• Xia Qinghe told Chen Xiaohua to keep following the case and give their injured colleague a million in compensation.

Li Yang teased Xia Qinghe about his relationship with Lin Fengmian, then discussed the Lanhai wetlands survey and the effort to overturn the suspension order. Xia Qinghe went to bed after learning that Lin Fengmian was secretly still in contact, but his dream began to trouble him.

• Li Yang found Xia Qinghe sitting alone in the dark with bruises around his eyes and learned that Lin Fengmian had hit him.
• Li Yang questioned Xia Qinghe about what he and Lin Fengmian had done, leaving Xia Qinghe flustered and distracted.
• Li Yang reported that Feng Chuyue had taken the money and that the Lanhai wetlands still could not support migratory Far Eastern Curlews.
• Xia Qinghe thanked Li Yang for his team's survey work and said he could rely on Lin Fengmian and the Lin Family against anyone obstructing him.
• Xia Qinghe explained that Lin Fengmian had returned to Shengjing, but had secretly contacted him to warn him, and then went to bed after bathing and icing his eyes.

Xia Qinghe struggled to control his desire for Lin Fengmian and stayed in Lanhai to avoid him. Back in Shengjing, Lin Fengmian recovered from his cold while Song Su learned about their fight and accidentally fueled online speculation by liking posts praising his singing.

• Xia Qinghe tried to cool himself down and concluded that he needed to stay away from Lin Fengmian while his body still craved him.
• Xia Qinghe visited Li Yang at the Wetland and said he could come there because the Wetland belonged to him.
• Lin Fengmian mistook Chen Mu’s excited call about his rising popularity for a warning about a fire, then returned upstairs after realizing there was no emergency.
• Song Su asked Qian Yulan about Xia Qinghe and learned he was in Lanhai, then called Lin Sui and heard that Lin Fengmian and Xia Qinghe had fought.
• Song Su watched edits of Lin Fengmian’s performance on “Empire Singer” and liked thousands of posts from her main account, prompting her PR manager to warn that people were investigating her relationship with the guest singer.

After being scolded by Lin Qixiu for going viral as an anonymous guest singer, Lin Fengmian accepted Chen Mu's referral and landed a flexible drum-teaching job. He went to Xia Qinghe's office afterward and found that the private elevator still required a spoken request before it would open.

• Lin Qixiu questioned Lin Fengmian about becoming a popular backing singer, and Lin Fengmian realized that Song Su had exposed his identity.
• Lin Fengmian told Chen Mu he was unemployed, and Chen Mu offered to refer him for a music-store teaching job.
• Lin Fengmian auditioned for Huang Yaqin by playing drums, passed, and signed a contract to start a one-week trial the next day.
• Lin Fengmian rode a shared bike to the Xia Corporation building and used the president's private elevator to reach Xia Qinghe's floor.
• Lin Fengmian prompted the elevator to open with a spoken request, then met Xia Qinghe, who remarked on his dark circles.

Xia Qinghe tried to hide his growing desire for Lin Fengmian, but Lin Fengmian noticed his strange behavior and coaxed him into confessing that he wanted to borrow his hand. After they bathed and fought, Lin Fengmian announced he would stay at Xia Qinghe’s place for work, leaving Xia Qinghe worried about sharing a bed with him.

• Xia Qinghe acted nervously around Lin Fengmian and kept trying to avoid him, but Lin Fengmian grew suspicious of his behavior.
• Xia Qinghe cooked for Lin Fengmian, then gave in when Lin Fengmian pretended to be hurt and promised not to repeat his bad behavior.
• Lin Fengmian invited Xia Qinghe to bathe with him, and Xia Qinghe touched him underwater despite his promise.
• Xia Qinghe and Lin Fengmian fought, and Xia Qinghe ended up with both eyes blackened again.
• Lin Fengmian climbed into Xia Qinghe’s bed and said he would stay at Xia Qinghe’s place while working nearby, leaving Xia Qinghe unsure where he could sleep.

Song Su and Lin Qixiu were relieved that Lin Fengmian and Xia Qinghe were getting along again, while Xia Qinghe struggled with his feelings as they shared a bed. The story then shifted to their school days, where Xia Qinghe grew jealous of Mimi’s attention to Lin Fengmian and tried to make up for leaving him hungry.

• Song Su and Lin Qixiu celebrated Lin Fengmian’s new job and planned to help him find a partner.
• Xia Qinghe tried to resist Lin Fengmian’s scent and restless sleep, then fled to the couch after Lin Fengmian kicked him off the bed.
• Xia Qinghe told his personal assistant to leave groceries at the door, and Secretary Su explained that Xia Qinghe had learned to cook in high school.
• At Shengjing International High School, Lin Fengmian praised Mimi’s pastries, prompting Xia Qinghe to push Mimi aside and warn Lin Fengmian not to eat them.
• Xia Qinghe wiped Lin Fengmian’s face and hands, then apologized for missing him while discussing basketball tactics and letting him go hungry.

Xia Qinghe tried to win Lin Fengmian over by learning to cook, then brought homemade pastries to a Xia family dinner and triggered a humiliating medical episode for Xia Chengye. The chapter ended with gossip about the five pastries spreading to Lin Fengmian.

• Xia Qinghe insisted on learning to cook for Lin Fengmian and demanded that Lin Fengmian stop eating food from other people.
• Xia Qinghe joined the cooking club, studied with a chef, and made pastries that left his grandfather Xia Chengye ill.
• At the family dinner, Xia Qinghe challenged Bai Qingwan's place in the family and brought out pastries made by himself and Qian Yulan.
• Xia Chengye praised Qian Yulan's pastries, then became sick; Xia Qinghe carried him to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis.
• Xia Qinghe stayed by Xia Chengye's bedside and helped him use a bedpan after sending the family away.
• By the next day, word that Xia Qinghe had laid Xia Chengye low with five pastries had reached Lin Fengmian.

Xia Qinghe’s homemade pastries gave him severe diarrhea, and Lin Fengmian had to carry him to the infirmary and fetch him food. Years later, Xia Qinghe became a skilled cook and brought Lin Fengmian congee, but his attempt to wake him was interrupted by an alarm.

• Xia Qinghe ate ten of his pastries, developed diarrhea, and Lin Fengmian carried him to the infirmary while he struggled to hold it in.
• Lin Fengmian bought Xia Qinghe congee and twenty boiled eggs from the crowded cafeteria, then returned to find him recovering on an IV.
• Lin Fengmian helped Xia Qinghe to the toilet twice more, and Xia Qinghe later resolved to learn cooking so his food would not make Lin Fengmian sick.
• Xia Qinghe secretly tested his cooking on Xia Weiting and Bai Qingwan until he could prepare food safely and well.
• Xia Qinghe brought bird’s nest congee to the sleeping Lin Fengmian and leaned close, but Lin Fengmian’s alarm rang before he could wake him.

Lin Fengmian noticed Xia Qinghe acting strangely because he was struggling with new romantic feelings for his best friend, so he brought him breakfast at work before heading to his first day teaching drums. The company staff identified Lin Fengmian as Xia Qinghe’s boyfriend and warned the new receptionist not to offend him.

• Lin Fengmian called Xia Qinghe during breakfast, while Xia Qinghe hid his growing desire to kiss him and ended the call quickly.
• Lin Fengmian brought soup dumplings and milk to Xia Qinghe’s office, where he noticed his friend was behaving unusually.
• Lin Fengmian rejected Xia Qinghe’s offer of an expensive car and left to take a shared bike to work.
• Two receptionists watched Lin Fengmian leave, and a longtime employee told the newcomer that he was Xia Qinghe’s boyfriend and should not be crossed.