Recaps

At dinner, Mu Xuan made clear that she accepted Su Can and Tang Wu’s relationship, while Zhao Xiayu tried to draw Su Can closer to Li Ying. The evening ended with Su Can reaffirming his commitment to Tang Wu as they held hands beneath the table.

• Su Can declined Zhao Xiayu’s offer to stay with Li Ying’s family, and Mu Xuan asked how he had earned guaranteed admission to Nanjing University.
• Su Can explained that he had qualified during an exchange program with Tang Wu, prompting Zhao Xiayu and Li Ying to praise his abilities.
• Mu Xuan spoke of Su Can and Tang Wu studying abroad together and entering Nanjing University, indirectly recognizing their closeness and urging them to focus on their studies.
• Zhao Xiayu asked Su Can to help Li Ying improve her English, and he reluctantly agreed.
• Mu Xuan invited Su Can and Tang Wu to use the family’s Shanghai home and washing machine, while Li Ying said she was glad to see them again.
• Su Can felt grateful to Li Ying’s parents but remained committed to Tang Wu, whose hand held his tightly beneath the table.

After Tang Wu’s parents left Nanjing, Mu Xuan and her husband discussed whether Tang Wu and Su Can’s relationship would endure, deciding not to interfere and to let the young couple find their own way. Su Can returned to his dorm, where his fellow students greeted him as the rival who had won Tang Wu’s attention.

• Li Lan told Su Can how Tang Wu’s father had personally paid the debts of a failing company and offered to help Su Can in the future.
• Tang Wu’s parents discussed their daughter’s feelings for Su Can and agreed to watch their relationship without either encouraging or stopping it.
• Tang Wu’s parents left the city after spending their final night in Shanghai, and Tang Wu’s dormmates gossiped about her and Su Can being caught together at the Swimming Center.
• Su Can returned to his dorm, where Wang Dongjian and the other students surrounded him and accused him of winning Tang Wu, making him the enemy of his fellow students.

Su Can balanced the rapid expansion of Shushan Stationery with his demanding university studies, then joined his freshman class’s election for class monitor. After a brief speech, he received thunderous support, leaving the vote’s outcome unresolved.

• Su Can assessed the scale of Tang Wu's father's business success and directed funding toward Shushan Stationery's national expansion, despite delays to Ren Ying's and Lin Guangdong's plans.
• Su Can selected a heavy course load at Nanjing University and attended the first class meeting for Class Four of the 2001 intake.
• Su Yiyi organized an open election for class committee positions, and Li Han and Xiao Xu lost their bids after facing opposition from Qin Lu's circle.
• Qin Lu gave an inspirational speech in the class monitor election, and Zhang Xiaoqiao and the others urged Su Can to run.
• Su Can wrote his name on the blackboard, gave a short speech about getting to know his classmates, and received thunderous applause.

Su Can became the monitor of his Nanjing University class and settled into dorm life, while Tang Wu reflected on how he had remained beside her through the years. Her unusually bold reply to his late-night text left Su Can too excited to sleep.

• Su Can won the class monitor election with overwhelming support and told his roommates he would leave much of the work to deputy monitor Qin Lu.
• Wang Dongjian sent the visitors away, and the roommates spent the evening studying, exercising, and drawing; Su Can noticed clues to Zhang Xiaoqiao's private connection with a girl and Qian Zhongyuan.
• Tang Wu remembered Su Can's tactful support when they met her parents and felt grateful that he had never disappeared from her life.
• Tang Wu replied to Su Can's teasing message by describing her pajamas and saying she would let him see them if he were beside her.
• Su Can sprang out of bed and asked his roommates to go downstairs for drinks because he could not sleep.

Su Can drew attention at Nanjing University, where students speculated about his ordinary family background and campus connections. Fan Qiyi invited him to a Student Union event, but Su Can remained uninterested in pursuing status and preferred spending his time as he pleased, including with Tang Wu.

• Freshmen investigated Su Can's background and concluded that his family was comparatively ordinary, while others found him approachable and wanted to know him.
• Su Can met Fan Qiyi, Zheng Rong, and Yang Yang near the campus entrance, where Fan Qiyi offered him tickets to a Student Union speech and debate event.
• Su Can accepted the tickets and later explained the encounter to Li Han, Zhang Xiaoqiao, and Xiao Xu, who wondered whether the invitation had an ulterior motive.
• Zhang Xiaoqiao described Yang Yang's famous Golf and the influence of his wealthy family, and explained how Fan Qiyi had gained prominence through his connections and fundraising.
• Su Can decided that he would attend the event only if he wanted to, preferring ordinary pleasures such as reading, sleeping, and spending time with Tang Wu.

Tang Wu joined Nanjing University's Student Union while her roommates discussed the coveted tickets to its guest debate. Su Can and his dormmates waited for Tang Wu and her roommates before the packed Friday event, which had not yet begun.

• Tong Tong asked Tang Wu about joining the Student Union, and Tang Wu confirmed it while texting Su Can.
• Cheng Congcong brought home four tickets to the guest debate and suggested Tang Wu ask Su Can to treat the roommates to a meal.
• Ruan Si'ou steered the dorm conversation toward Tang Wu's Student Union selection, which displeased Cheng Congcong.
• Su Can and his dormmates waited near the multipurpose hall, where Xiao Xu nervously anticipated meeting Tang Wu's roommates.
• A group of men and women came into view as the dormmates waited for the debate to begin.

Su Can joined Tang Wu and their friends for Nanjing University’s debate competition, where Liu Yang impressed the group with his argument about wealth and freedom. At the crowded venue, Liu Yang rushed off to the toilet and left Su Can holding his debate materials, while the others entered through a staff passage.

• Su Can met Tang Wu, her roommates, and their friends, and agreed to take Cheng Congcong’s group out for a meal on Monday.
• Cheng Congcong introduced Liu Yang, who explained the debate topic and argued that wealth did not necessarily bring greater freedom.
• Liu Yang warned the group that Shanghai International Studies University’s lead debater, Dong Xiaojia, was a formidable opponent.
• Liu Yang arrived late at the venue without his pass, but Zeng Chao gave him his materials and let the group enter.
• Mo Xue led Tang Wu and the others through a staff passage, while Liu Yang handed his materials to Su Can and hurried to the toilet.

Su Can was unexpectedly pulled into Nanjing University's debate team after Liu Yang abandoned his place, just as Shanghai International Studies University's Lin Luoran arrived to compete. The debate was about to begin, leaving Su Can at the table as Nanjing University's closing debater while his teammates wondered who he was.

• Liu Yang told Su Can that he could not compete because of an upset stomach and asked him to find a replacement.
• Su Can rejoined Tang Wu and their friends in the multipurpose hall, where they noticed the opposing team arriving.
• Lin Luoran appeared with Shanghai International Studies University's debaters and texted Su Can, teasing him to come see her compete.
• A Student Union officer mistook Su Can for Nanjing University's missing debater and pulled him into the competition area.
• Su Can explained that Liu Yang had withdrawn and suggested other replacements, but the officers assigned him to compete after he admitted he had debated before.
• Su Can took his place as Nanjing University's closing debater, and his three teammates looked at him without recognizing him.

Su Can unexpectedly joined Nanjing University's debate team against Shanghai International Studies University and faced Lin Luoran in a debate about whether wealth increased or decreased freedom. His confident opening argument backfired when Lin Luoran exposed that he had cited a crewed Shenzhou mission that had not happened yet.

• Su Can took the stage for Nanjing University, startling Tang Wu and his classmates, while Lin Luoran recognized him and taunted him from the opposing team.
• The debaters introduced themselves, and Fan Qiyi announced the topic: whether freedom was directly or inversely proportional to wealth.
• Nanjing University's first speaker argued that wealth expanded people's choices, and Dong Xiaojia criticized the argument for ignoring the constraints of pursuing and possessing wealth.
• Su Can answered by arguing that wealth was the foundation of freedom and cited scientific and technological progress, including Shenzhou 7's successful crewed spaceflight.
• Lin Luoran challenged Su Can's reference to Shenzhou 7, pointing out that the year was 2001 and that China had not yet completed a crewed spaceflight.

Su Can turned the opposition’s challenge about China’s space program into support for his case, then traded sharp arguments with Dong Xiaojia and Lin Luoran over whether wealth could be defined to include technology and spiritual values. Zhao Zhidong followed with a personal story and survey statistics arguing that wealth often came at the cost of freedom, leaving Su Can’s team to answer his strongest attack yet.

• Lin Luoran challenged Su Can’s claim about China’s progress in crewed spaceflight, and Su Can drew Zhao Zhidong into describing Shenzhou 2’s experiments as evidence of major advances.
• Su Can argued that future crewed spaceflight would inspire national pride and represent the pursuit of freedom, while the Nanjing University team recognized his trap.
• Dong Xiaojia questioned whether wealth or technology drove progress, and Su Can defended a broad definition of wealth that included technology.
• Lin Luoran challenged Su Can’s inclusion of spiritual wealth, and he answered with a joking compliment that made the audience laugh and left her blushing.
• Shi Guomin urged the debaters to relax, while Zhao Zhidong described traveling without his father and cited surveys of workplace stress to argue that wealth could restrict freedom.

Su Can led Nanjing University’s team to defeat Shanghai International Studies University in a debate about wealth and freedom, earning best debater. Afterward, Lin Luoran asked whether he would fight her if they ever became enemies, and they each promised to let the other win.

• Su Can countered Dong Xiaojia’s arguments by linking wealth to freedom and the ability to pursue love, while Lin Luoran challenged his team’s position on choice and marriage.
• Su Can’s arguments impressed the audience, and Nanjing University’s team won 20–18, with Su Can named best debater.
• Dong Xiaojia refused to shake Su Can’s hand, while Lin Luoran asked whether he would strike back if they ever became enemies.
• Su Can told Lin Luoran he would let her win once, and she replied that she would let him win no matter how many times.

Su Can won the debate against Shanghai International Studies University, then clashed with Dong Xiaojia over her accusations of poor sportsmanship. After celebrating with Tang Wu, Lin Luoran, and their friends, Su Can left Lin to spend three days at Nanjing University on her own, and she ended the chapter by messaging that she was hurt and leaving.

• Lin Luoran joked that she would accept defeat to help Su Can win, then asked him to treat everyone after his victory.
• Dong Xiaojia criticized Su Can and Nanjing University for using underhanded debate tactics, but Su Can rebutted her arguments and she angrily left the university.
• Su Can escaped the crowd celebrating his award and invited Tang Wu, Lin Luoran, and their friends to dinner at Spring Glory Restaurant.
• Lin Luoran told Su Can she would stay at Nanjing University for three days and asked him not to interfere with her plans; he sent her a brief good-night message but did not visit her.
• Three days later, Lin Luoran texted Su Can that she felt hurt by his neglect and announced she was leaving.

Su Can spent the day showing Lin Luoran around Nanjing University and shared a meal with her, Tang Wu, and Ruan Si'ou before walking Lin Luoran to her ride. Lin Luoran’s self-proclaimed fiancé, Wei Ding Ding, picked her up, and her anger at his introduction left her ordering him into the back seat.

• Su Can found Lin Luoran socializing with students at the School of Foreign Languages, and she pulled him away to explore campus and eat.
• Su Can and Lin Luoran ate meat-stuffed flatbreads and fish ball soup with Tang Wu and Ruan Si'ou, who discussed clothes and shopping.
• Tang Wu and Ruan Si'ou returned to class, while Su Can walked Lin Luoran down the street and said they would remain friends.
• Wei Ding Ding arrived in a Benz C200, introduced himself to Su Can as Lin Luoran’s childhood betrothed and fiancé, and drove her away.
• Lin Luoran rejected Wei Ding Ding’s claim and ordered him to stop the car so she could drive while he got in the back.

Su Can reflected on Shushan Stationery’s rapid growth while speaking with Wang Yue about the factory’s prospects and her recent visit home. At Nanjing University’s library, a chance collision brought him face-to-face with a proud girl carrying The Vagina Monologues, who insulted him before leaving.

• Su Can watched news about Shushan Chain’s expansion and considered the stationery industry’s potential.
• Wang Yue told Su Can that Zhao Mingnong was negotiating with an ink manufacturer and praised the factory’s progress.
• Wang Yue told Su Can she had visited her mother in Xiahai and was continuing an executive training course.
• Su Can went to the library after class and watched a young couple laugh at him before heading to the shelves.
• Su Can and a girl in blue knocked books to the floor, and she left after telling him to go back to jerking off.

Su Can reflected on his aimless previous life and appreciated how much more focused and successful his new university days had become. After Zhang Xiaoqiao accepted that his relationship would remain a friendship, the roommates shared beer on the balcony, and Su Can ended the night feeling optimistic about the future.

• Su Can saw Zhang Xiaoqiao talking with the girl who had intervened in his cafeteria fight, then went upstairs without interrupting them.
• Su Can watched the women's dorm from the balcony and remembered how unfulfilled and lonely his previous life had been after college.
• Su Can reflected on his improved ability to study and how his accumulated knowledge helped him keep up at university.
• Zhang Xiaoqiao returned with beer and told Li Han and Xiao Xu that his relationship with the girl would remain a friendship, though they planned to visit the Bund together on Sunday.
• Zhang Xiaoqiao hummed a song about Shanghai as he drank with Su Can, who felt his melancholy fade and looked forward to the stories still ahead.

After 9/11, Su Can wrestled with his inability to change world events and continued his ordinary life at university. As September ended, calls from old friends showed how their lives had changed, while Su Can remained busy with his own relationships and studies.

• Su Can heard university students analyze 9/11 and felt ashamed after a professor reminded them that innocent people had died beneath the rubble.
• Room 602 kept its usual routines as Xiao Xu mourned a crush, Zhang Xiaoqiao drew, Qian Zhongyuan avoided the room, and Su Can spoke with Tang Wu.
• Su Can heard that Xue Yiyang had joined a top StarCraft team in Changsha, Liu Rui rode a secondhand motorcycle in Chongqing, and Lin Zouwen had technical work at Information Engineering University.
• Wang Weiwei told Su Can he felt uncertain about his future at China Youth University, though Su Can believed Wang Bu's support would help him.
• Su Can heard that Lin Luoran was thriving at Shanghai International Studies University and chose not to pursue the many admirers surrounding her.

At Nanjing University, Cheng Congcong and Ruan Si'ou argued over wealthy boyfriends and what made a man worth choosing, while Cheng Congcong tried to undermine Tang Wu's relationship with Su Can. Su Can left a lecture to go see Tang Wu, leaving their next meeting unresolved.

• Cheng Congcong told her roommates about wealthy suitors, and Ruan Si'ou challenged her belief that money and family background made a boyfriend desirable.
• Tong Tong backed Ruan Si'ou, and Cheng Congcong cited Yang Mengjie's accomplished boyfriend as an example of a wealthy man with potential.
• Cheng Congcong asked Tang Wu whether she had slept with Su Can and suggested she could find a better boyfriend if they broke up.
• Su Can, missing Tang Wu because he had been busy, handed Xiao Xu his books and left the lecture hall.

Tang Wu skipped class to spend time with Su Can, and they wandered the campus before meeting senior Fan Qiyi at the Basketball Hall. Fan invited Su Can to join the Student Union, leaving him to consider the offer and Fan’s advice to pursue more women.

• Tang Wu left class to meet Su Can, holding his hand as Cheng Congcong and her classmates watched and discussed their relationship.
• Su Can and Tang Wu walked through campus, kissed, and playfully chased one another before reaching the Basketball Hall.
• Su Can and Tang Wu encountered Fan Qiyi and the team manager, who recognized them from the freshman welcome party.
• Fan Qiyi invited Su Can to become Deputy Minister of the Business Department in the Student Union and suggested the position would help him meet other women.

Su Can supported Lin Guangdong as he prepared to launch a fashion magazine and learned that Facebook was seeking venture capital. A financial report about Tang Corporation’s takeover of Donglin Group made him fear that Tang Wu’s family might be facing the same disaster he remembered from his previous life.

• Su Can declined Fan Qiyi’s offer to become a Student Union deputy minister, and Fan received news that the club festival’s sponsor had fallen through.
• Su Can reviewed Zack’s reports on Facebook’s growth and agreed that Zack should reject an offer to sell a seven-percent stake for eight million dollars.
• Su Can encouraged Lin Guangdong to define the magazine’s identity and protect its reader and advertiser data as the first issue neared completion.
• Su Can read that Tang Corporation had taken control of Donglin Group and recognized Li Lan’s name on a business card from Tang Wu’s family.
• Su Can wondered whether Tang Wu’s father had suffered a backlash and whether the tragedy he remembered from his previous life was beginning again.

Su Can learned that Tang Wu’s family faced a crisis after her father took over the debt-ridden Donglin Group, and he decided to investigate in person. He left for the company after Li Lan told him Donglin could not find the contract for its hundred-million-yuan debt.

• Su Can called Tang Wu about reports on her father, and she insisted that her family was fine and the papers were exaggerating.
• Su Can learned that Tang Wu’s father had taken over Donglin Group, which was burdened by debt and faced a creditor’s demand for repayment of one hundred million yuan and a possible asset freeze.
• Su Can considered selling his businesses to help Tang Wu’s family, then decided he needed more information before acting.
• Su Can called Li Lan and offered to consult a lawyer, but she told him Donglin could not find the debt contract despite searching its archives for two days.
• Su Can went to Donglin Group’s headquarters to meet Li Lan and learn more about the crisis.

Su Can learned that Tang Wu’s father’s Donglin Group faced a severe debt crisis and watched Chaoyue demand repayment while threatening to sue. After returning to campus, Su Can thought of a way to help Tang Wu’s father.

• Li Lan explained that Donglin’s debts and stalled projects had worsened after the former owner’s death, and that the group could not defend itself without finding its contract.
• Su Can followed Li Lan to a meeting with Tang Wu’s father and Chaoyue’s representatives, while Tang Wu worried about her family’s troubles from campus.
• Chaoyue’s Mr. Wang presented documents claiming Donglin owed 113.52 million yuan and refused to negotiate on easy terms.
• Tang Wu’s father concealed that Donglin lacked its copy of the contract, but Mr. Wang left a court complaint and demanded a repayment plan within days.
• Li Lan drove Su Can back to university, where he later realized he had an idea for helping Tang Wu’s father.

Su Can devised a smokescreen to help Tang Wu's father obtain a copy of the contract behind Donglin Group's disputed hundred-million-yuan debt. With the contract secured, they left Chaoyue for Shanghai to study their next move.

• Su Can joined Tang Wu's father and Li Lan as they traveled to Chaoyue to investigate the debt, but the court's enforcement director refused to show them the original records.
• After the court offered little help, Su Can proposed pretending they had come to repay the debt and arranging a hotel room to unsettle Wang Timing.
• Su Can and Tang Wu's father staged a smoky, chaotic hotel room, and Wang Timing arrived with the relevant documents.
• While Su Can distracted Wang Timing with tea, Tang Wu's father slipped the contract copy beneath the sofa, and Su Can retrieved it after Wang Timing left for the restaurant.
• Tang Wu's father told Wang Timing the contract was missing, then departed for Shanghai with Su Can and the others.

Su Can helped Tang Wu’s father secure a crucial contract and spotted a suspicious transfer to Hong Kong in Donglin’s repayment records. Back at Nanjing University, he reunited with Tang Wu, who had waited for him, and their teasing left him leaning closer to her.

• Tang Wu’s father told the group he had to return to Shanghai, while Li Lan praised Su Can for helping obtain the contract.
• Tang Wu’s father explained the pressures facing both sides and hinted that Su Can might have a place in Tang Corporation after graduation.
• The office director found that the contract covered a 48.25-million-yuan loan with substantial unpaid interest, and Su Can said its terms might still be legally enforceable.
• Su Can noticed that some of Donglin’s repayments had been transferred to Hong Kong, raising questions about the other party’s accounts.
• After Su Can was dropped off at Nanjing University, he found Tang Wu asleep on a bench; she said she had come hoping to run into him.
• Su Can joked that he wanted to be the third mosquito to bite Tang Wu, and she called him shameless.

Su Can attended a gathering with Zhang Xiaoqiao and their roommates, where he observed the social networks and privileged backgrounds among Shanghai university students. The evening took an unexpected turn when Du Dawei arrived with Lin Luoran, whom Su Can had recently encountered several times.

• Su Can decided to wait a few more days before asking Li Lan about Tang's father's progress, while he noticed Tang Wu's mood improving.
• Zhang Xiaoqiao persuaded Su Can, Li Han, and Xiao Xu to join Xu Haiqing at a gathering of university friends.
• At Melody KTV, Xu Haiqing introduced several guests and their influential family backgrounds, while Cheng Congcong greeted Su Can and then moved on.
• Du Dawei arrived with international students and introduced his childhood friend Wei Ding Ding, then welcomed Lin Luoran as the guest of honor.
• Su Can was surprised to see Lin Luoran again and wondered whether the world was simply too small.

Su Can attended Du Dawei’s gathering with his roommates, where Wujing Daolang criticized Chinese society and history. Su Can countered him in a heated debate, then left with his friends as Lin Luoran watched him with admiration.

• Su Can and his roommates met Lin Luoran at Du Dawei’s gathering, where she greeted Su Can coolly and kept her distance from an international student who made an unwelcome advance.
• Su Can overheard Japanese and Korean students discussing women at the party and told them to behave themselves.
• Wujing Daolang criticized Chinese football, education, and history, prompting Li Han to confront him and Wei Ding Ding to calm the gathering.
• Su Can challenged Wujing Daolang’s arguments about the Yuan and Ming dynasties and Japan, leaving him unable to respond.
• Su Can called his roommates to leave, and Lin Luoran sprang to her feet as the door closed behind him.