Recaps

Su Can learned that the Yi family was using its connections to escalate the Xiling clash into a political fight against Wang Bu and Su Licheng. Tang Wu arranged a dinner with Yucheng Deputy Mayor Sun Changjie to seek help for Su Can’s side, though Mu Xuan resented her daughter’s involvement.

• Tang Wu confronted Su Can for not inviting her to Snow Mountain Hot Spring, then told him that her mother, Mu Xuan, had invited him to dinner.
• Lin Zouwen said Yi Jiashun had rallied political allies and taken the dispute to the Provincial Party Committee, while Wang Bu worked behind the scenes to resist him.
• Su Can learned that Mu Xuan had reserved a table at Hailing Pavilion, and Lin Luoran teased him about the invitation.
• Su Can and Tang Wu joined Tang Zongyuan and met Yucheng Deputy Mayor Sun Changjie and his son, Sun Lei, at dinner.
• Tang Wu had proposed inviting Sun Changjie so he could pressure Yi Jiashun and help Wang Bu and Su Licheng’s camp, despite Mu Xuan’s reluctance to involve their family.

Tang Wu brought Su Can to dinner with her parents and Sun Changjie, where Mu Xuan used her connection to Minister Zhao Qinian to shift the balance in the family’s negotiations. Afterward, Tang Wu and Su Can walked hand in hand toward her neighborhood, recalling their high-school days and drawing closer.

• Tang Wu thoughtfully ordered dishes suited to everyone at the table, while Sun Lei grew jealous of her attentiveness to Su Can.
• Mu Xuan received a call from Minister Zhao Qinian and explained their longstanding family connection to Sun Changjie, who became eager to cooperate with her.
• Sun Changjie promised to host another dinner and asked Mu Xuan to invite Minister Zhao, while Tang Wu’s parents prepared to leave for work.
• Su Can told Tang Wu he had guessed the gathering concerned her, and she teased him about seeming to live off a woman before laughing with him.
• Su Can and Tang Wu walked hand in hand to her neighborhood, remembering their furtive high-school romance as Tang Wu felt her longing return.

Su Can realized that the clash with the Yi Family had become part of a larger political contest, while Wang Yue tried to build him support by inviting influential provincial officials to dinner. He rejected their overture and explained that their connections could not withstand the forces behind the conflict, leaving Wang Yue reassured but still teasing him.

• Su Can reflected on his uncertain future, his growing business ventures, and how much he still lacked to become a powerful entrepreneur.
• At home, Su Can heard Zeng Ke worry about his exhausted father and the political struggle surrounding his position at the company.
• Wang Yue invited Su Can to dinner with a provincial General Office deputy director, a Provincial Party Committee secretary, and a television station director.
• Wang Yue hinted at Su Can's connection to Wang Bu, prompting the officials to offer friendship and a chance to meet Wang Weiwei, but Su Can declined.
• After dinner, Wang Yue accused Su Can of looking down on her and offered herself to him, but he comforted her and explained that the officials could not help against the larger political forces.
• Wang Yue stopped crying and joked that if they went back a few years, Little Su Can would have been in danger.

Yi Jiashun and his allies pressed their campaign against Su Licheng, while Su Can wrote an article criticizing the reduction of state-owned shareholdings and arranged for its publication in internal bulletins. On August 23, the State Council halted the policy for domestic listed companies, triggering a stock-market recovery and leaving Yi Jiashun’s faction facing a reversal.

• Yi Lihuan urged Yi Jiashun to use the Xiling incident and business interests to undermine Su Licheng’s family, but Yi Jiashun ordered him to keep quiet and warned him to choose better friends.
• After officials pressed Big Banyan Construction to produce an internal restructuring plan, Su Can gave Su Licheng an article arguing against the current measures to reduce state-owned shareholdings.
• Su Can sent the article to Wang Bu, who endorsed it for publication, and major Southwest China internal reference bulletins printed it under Su Can’s name.
• Yi Jiashun and Guo Jiangtiao interpreted the article as Wang Bu’s challenge, while Su Can remained confident that his opponents would fall harder when events turned against them.
• On August 23, the State Council halted reductions of state-owned shareholdings through the securities market for domestic listed companies, and the stock market began to recover.

The Central First Inspection Group arrived in Southwest China to investigate problems in the provincial leadership, and Wang Bu gave Zhou Guotao a measured account of Guo Jiangtiao’s record. The investigation recommended further scrutiny of Zhou Zirong and an admonitory interview for Guo Jiangtiao, bringing down the Guo-Zhou Faction; Zhou later thanked Wang Bu.

• Zhou Guotao led the Central First Inspection Group into Southwest China and announced that its members would seek truthful accounts of the provincial leadership.
• The Guo-Zhou Faction secretly tried to learn where the inspection group’s other members were going and whom they were meeting.
• Zhou Guotao questioned Wang Bu about Guo Jiangtiao, and Wang Bu acknowledged Guo’s shortcomings while defending his contributions.
• The inspection group uncovered misconduct and public-interest problems, recommended investigating Zhou Zirong and admonishing Guo Jiangtiao, and the Guo-Zhou Faction crumbled.
• Zhou Guotao met Wang Bu outside a provincial symposium and thanked him.

Zhou Guotao invited Su Can’s family to dinner during the Central Inspection Group’s work in Southwest China, prompting Su Can to question the political meaning of the gesture. Zhou Guotao discussed the inspection and revealed that he knew Su Can through Mu Qin, leaving Su Can to recognize the official’s connections.

• Su Licheng and Zeng Ke prepared carefully for Zhou Guotao’s dinner invitation, while Su Can worried that the attention could draw unwanted political speculation.
• Zhou Guotao welcomed Su Can’s family and explained that he had paid for the meal himself because inspection rules barred him from accepting local hospitality.
• Zhou Guotao said the inspection group had decided to give Guo Jiangtiao only an Admonishment Talk, and he teased Wang Bu for being known as someone who stirred up conflict.
• Zhou Guotao identified Su Can as the writer of an Internal Reference article and called him a reckless youngster.
• Zhou Guotao mentioned Mu Qin, an Old Madam at the Central Party School, and Su Can realized which camp Zhou Guotao belonged to.

After dinner with Zhou Guotao, Su Can reflected on the political attention surrounding his family and his relationship with Tang Wu. At a farewell gathering, former classmates Gao Xiang, Liu Li, and Lu Yuexin looked down on Su Can and Tang Wu for choosing Nanjing University, while Su Can remained quietly focused on his path.

• Sun Jiayong warmly greeted Su Can and his parents, then left without asking Su Licheng about his dinner with Wang Bu.
• Zeng Ke and Su Licheng discussed Tang Wu's family and Zhou Guotao's interest in Su Can, while rumors spread that Su Licheng might receive a major personnel transfer.
• Lin Zouwen told the group at the Riverside Bar that Su Licheng might be promoted, and Lin Luoran teased him as the others joked about her reaction to Tang Wu.
• Gao Xiang, Liu Li, and Lu Yuexin approached Su Can and Tang Wu, boasted about their universities, and Liu Li condescendingly questioned Guo Xiaozhong about his school.
• Tang Wu declined Gao Xiang's invitation to join his group, and Su Can walked her out of the bar.
• Gao Xiang watched Su Can and Tang Wu leave and thought they had settled for ordinary lives, while the chapter recalled Su Can's unassuming habits that summer.

Su Can saw Tang Wu and Tang Zongyuan off, then arrived in Shanghai and reviewed Facebook Chinese’s growth and investor prospects with Qiao Shuxin. The company led China’s social-networking sites but faced weak recognition and funding obstacles, leaving its future expansion uncertain.

• Su Can and Tang Wu shared a private moment at the airport before Tang Wu and Tang Zongyuan boarded their flight to Shanghai.
• Su Can arrived in Shanghai a few days later and joined Qiao Shuxin in reviewing Facebook Chinese’s reports.
• Qiao Shuxin reported that Facebook Chinese ranked first among domestic social-networking sites despite placing far lower among internet companies overall.
• Su Can and Qiao Shuxin discussed the company’s poor PageRank and the difficulty of attracting investors without stronger business metrics.

Su Can visited Facebook Chinese and laid out a plan to boost its growth with instant messaging, social applications, and Machine Dog. After returning to Nanjing University for the new term, he unexpectedly met Song Zhen, who teased him about their last encounter as Tang Wu appeared nearby.

• Su Can toured Facebook Chinese's headquarters and told Qiao Shuxin that entertainment and social interaction were key to making the site more engaging.
• Su Can appointed Zhang Guo and Victor deputy technical directors and ordered them to develop an instant-messaging client and an open marketplace for social applications.
• Su Can overruled Qiao Shuxin's privacy concerns and ordered Facebook Chinese to revive Machine Dog technology.
• Su Can left the company and returned to Nanjing University, where Lin Guangdong called and reflected on his past and the demands of business.
• Song Zhen met Su Can on campus, teased him about thinking she had been interested in him, and exchanged contact details with him.
• Su Can walked away from Song Zhen, who saw Tang Wu standing in his path.

Tang Wu reunited with Su Can at Nanjing University, where they discussed Facebook Chinese and left campus together. Song Zhen watched them go, then concealed her interest in Su Can from her second uncle and university officials, who recognized his growing influence.

• Zhang Xiaozhu praised Tang Wu’s beauty, while Song Zhen reacted sharply after seeing her with Su Can.
• Tang Wu asked Su Can about Facebook Chinese’s advertising and communications feature as they walked across campus.
• Su Can invited Tang Wu to stay at the Hilton, and she let him lead her away by the hand.
• Tang Wu and Song Zhen exchanged a pointed glance as they parted.
• Song Zhen told her second uncle that Su Can was a friend, while university officials noted his standing and discussed warning people who had opposed him.

Su Can and his friends spent an evening at the Rolling Stone Bar, where Zhang Xiaoqiao described Nanjing University's most successful student entrepreneurs. The arrival of Sun Lei, a powerful bar owner connected to Qian Zhongyuan, drew attention, and Zhang Xiaoqiao identified Su Can as the university's richest student.

• Su Can and his friends went to the Rolling Stone Bar with Tang Wu and her roommates, where they talked, joked, and played cards.
• Zhang Xiaoqiao told the group stories about Nanjing University students who had made fortunes through businesses and online ventures.
• Zhang Xiaoqiao described Sun Lei's bar chain, media company, properties, and influence, and explained his high standing among student wealth creators.
• Qian Zhongyuan, Qian Feng, and their companions arrived and sat nearby, watching Su Can's group warily.
• A man arriving in a red Ferrari entered the bar, and Qian Zhongyuan and his friends rose to greet him.
• Zhang Xiaoqiao declared that Su Can was Nanjing University's richest student.

After publicity about Facebook’s financing made Su Can a topic of discussion at Nanjing University, Sun Lei approached him at the Rolling Stone Bar and sought his friendship. The chapter ended with Sun Lei impressed by Facebook Chinese’s employee incentives and recognizing that befriending Su Can could be more valuable than opposing him.

• Media attention about Su Can and Zack’s supposed billionaire status forced Su Can to accelerate Facebook Chinese’s development in China.
• At the Rolling Stone Bar, Li Han contrasted Facebook Chinese’s recruiting success with the difficulty of attracting talent to the bar.
• Sun Lei left Qian Zhongyuan’s group and joined Su Can’s table, offering to cover everyone’s tab and saying he wanted to make friends.
• Sun Lei praised Facebook Chinese’s salaries, benefits, and stock options, while Su Can explained the company’s people-centered ideals.
• Sun Lei concluded that Su Can’s potential made friendship a better choice than becoming his enemy.

After drinking with friends, Su Can took Tang Wu to the Hilton to admire Shanghai’s night view, and their private evening grew increasingly intimate. The chapter ended with Tang Wu removing her bathrobe and settling naked beside him beneath the covers.

• Sun Lei challenged Li Han to drink, and Tang Wu drank three glasses on Su Can’s behalf.
• Su Can and Tang Wu left the bar together and took a taxi to the Hilton, where they booked a room with a city view.
• Su Can showered first while Tang Wu waited, then Tang Wu went into the bathroom as he watched the city and listened to her shower.
• Tang Wu emerged in a bathrobe and made Su Can promise they would only watch television, enjoy the view, talk, and sleep.
• Tang Wu slipped off her bathrobe and nestled naked against Su Can beneath the covers.

After returning to Nanjing University, Su Can upgraded his dorm and enjoyed the return to campus life while Warcraft III swept through university gaming circles. Watching his friends play, he recognized that his limited companies and technical resources could not support his larger ambitions and began considering their next stage of growth.

• Su Can returned to Nanjing University, leaving behind the conflicts with the Yi Family and the political turmoil in Rongcheng.
• Su Can lent Li Han and Xiao Xu laptops, improved Room 602 with new appliances, and arranged for water heaters in his and Tang Wu's dorm rooms.
• Lin Luoran told Su Can that Wang Weiwei and Lin Zouwen wanted to challenge him at Warcraft III, and she planned to beat him herself.
• Su Can reflected on the coming success of Blizzard's games and realized his businesses lacked the resources to build something on the scale of World of Warcraft.
• Su Can recognized that Dunhuang Mall and Shushan Chain could no longer adequately support his cash flow and considered preparing for the next stage of growth.

Su Can learned that Su Licheng was undergoing an assessment that could lead to a new government post, while supporting Zhao Hao’s expansion of Shangmai Music and joining negotiations with a mobile value-added service provider. The meeting ended with Su Can and the company’s representative, Song Zhen, recognizing each other.

• Zeng Ke told Su Can that Su Licheng was being assessed by the Provincial Party Committee’s Organization Department and that the decision might take one to three months.
• Zeng Ke described relatives’ requests to borrow money, and Su Can agreed to help his uncles’ families buy property.
• Zhao Hao told Su Can that Shangmai Music had spent heavily acquiring digital music rights and asked for another two-million investment in exchange for twenty percent of the company.
• Zhao Hao brought Su Can to the Grand Hyatt Shanghai to discuss cooperation with Xuntong Technology’s representative.
• The representative turned out to be Song Zhen, and she and Su Can recognized each other and laughed while Zhao Hao asked whether they knew one another.

Su Can and Zhao Hao negotiated with Xuntong Technology over distributing Shangmai Music’s song rights as paid ringback tones, while Su Can and Song Zhen navigated their personal tension. The meeting reached revenue-sharing talks, but when Zhang Xiaozhu arrived, Song Zhen hurriedly hid Su Can in the men’s restroom.

• Su Can and Zhao Hao met Song Zhen and Liu Li at the Jin Mao Hyatt to discuss cooperation between Shangmai Music and Xuntong Technology.
• Song Zhen challenged Zhao Hao’s claim that Shangmai’s two thousand songs made it indispensable, and Su Can argued that Xuntong needed Shangmai’s copyright resources and industry connections.
• Song Zhen revealed that she had been teasing them and began negotiating a revenue-sharing arrangement, with the carriers taking fifteen percent of the revenue.
• Su Can encountered Song Zhen outside the restroom, where she questioned him about Facebook’s executives attending parties with models.
• Zhang Xiaozhu arrived looking for Song Zhen, and Song Zhen pushed Su Can into the men’s restroom to keep her from seeing them together.

Song Zhen and Su Can were trapped together in a men’s restroom stall while Zhang Xiaozhu searched for her, and their tense exchange nearly turned into a confrontation. Su Can backed away after Song Zhen warned him she would remember any harm for the rest of her life, then left her alone in the stall.

• Song Zhen pushed Su Can into the men’s restroom to hide from Zhang Xiaozhu, then forced him into a stall when men entered the corridor.
• Song Zhen’s phone rang inside the stall, and she flushed it down the toilet to keep Zhang Xiaozhu from locating her.
• After the men left, Su Can and Song Zhen argued as they waited for Zhang Xiaozhu to stop searching for her.
• Song Zhen challenged Su Can to act on his desire, and he reversed their positions and pressed her against the stall partition.
• Song Zhen warned that she would hate him and remember any harm for the rest of her life, so Su Can stepped away and left the stall.

Zhao Hao finalized a provisional revenue split with Xuntong Technology and discussed his plans to reduce dependence on the company, while Su Can kept the details of his encounter with Song Zhen private. Later, Su Can received the handover notice for his Shanghai apartment and set out to collect his car, then headed to meet Lin Luoran after she called him.

• Zhao Hao told Su Can that their deal with Xuntong Technology would give them about forty percent of the revenue, while the company and carriers took the rest.
• Zhao Hao teased Su Can about Song Zhen and suggested their companies could eventually build their own carrier connections and break free of Xuntong Technology.
• Su Can received a handover notice for his apartment at Manhattan First Residence and inspected the property without telling Tang Wu.
• Lin Guangdong arranged for Su Can's Bentley to be parked near Nanjing University, and the car's owner became a subject of rumors at the neighboring company.
• Lin Luoran called Su Can from a café near Nanjing University and asked him to come get her, and Su Can agreed.

Su Can took Lin Luoran to inspect the apartment he had bought, and their visit stirred hopes in her for a shared home. As they drove away, Lin Luoran admitted that she was suddenly jealous of Tang Wu.

• Su Can arrived at a café in his Bentley and reunited with Lin Luoran, who agreed to help him inspect his new apartment.
• Su Can drove Lin Luoran to his ninety-square-meter apartment at Manhattan First Residence, where she suggested ways to arrange the kitchen.
• Their neighbors, Gu Jun and Wang Yan, introduced themselves, boasted about their careers and apartments, and asked about Su Can and Lin Luoran’s families.
• Su Can and Lin Luoran left the apartment after inspecting it, while Lin Luoran privately mourned the home she had imagined sharing with him.
• As Su Can drove away, Lin Luoran told him she was suddenly jealous of Tang Wu.

Su Can and Lin Luoran reminisced about their shared past as he drove her through Shanghai, and she revealed that Wang Weiwei’s mother had once encouraged her to consider him as a partner. After getting out of the car, Lin Luoran asked whether things might have been different if she had met Su Can before Tang Wu.

• Lin Luoran recalled their first meeting, while Su Can remembered her teasing him during his hospital stay.
• Lin Luoran told Su Can that Wang Weiwei’s mother had said she could accept him if she had feelings for him.
• Lin Luoran explained that she viewed herself as unsuitable for marriage, and Su Can replied that her standards were the real obstacle.
• Lin Luoran got out at the street corner, then asked Su Can whether their relationship might have changed if she had met him before Tang Wu.

Su Can discovered that Chen Lingshan had reached the final of Shanghai Television’s newcomer contest and later learned from a call home that Su Licheng was preparing to leave Big Banyan Construction. The chapter ended with Su Can reflecting on the changes in their lives as he sat beneath the autumn sun with a magazine showing Chen holding the Gold Cup.

• Su Can recognized Chen Lingshan competing in the live final of the Shanghai Television Festival’s Film and Television Newcomer Selection Contest.
• Su Can’s friends discussed the contestants, while he privately wished Chen Lingshan success and recognized that her new path differed from the future he remembered.
• Zeng He called Su Can and reported that Zhong Jianjun had taken charge of two more departments at Big Banyan Construction.
• Su Licheng and his colleagues shared a celebratory dinner, and Bie Jiayong relayed Su Can’s request that Su Licheng stop drinking.
• Su Can understood that the gathering might be the group’s last grand feast before Su Licheng’s new position and posting drew attention.
• Su Can sat on a lawn in the autumn sun with a magazine showing Chen Lingshan holding the Film and Television Newcomer Gold Cup.

Chen Lingshan won the Shanghai Television Festival's newcomer competition and briefly visited Nanjing University before leaving for Beijing without seeing Su Can. Meanwhile, Su Can learned that Blizzard's World of Warcraft project faced cancellation for lack of funding, and he prepared to pursue a stake in it.

• Chen Lingshan won the newcomer championship, signed her first contract with Golden Harvest Media, and declined to meet her Shanghai friends before returning to Beijing.
• Chen Lingshan secretly visited Nanjing University, walked across campus without encountering Su Can, and left with a bittersweet feeling.
• Dustin told Su Can that Vivendi's debt crisis threatened Blizzard's projects and that World of Warcraft was only thirty percent complete and at risk of cancellation.
• Dustin reported that Blizzard executives had approached potential investors, including The Ninth City, but none had agreed to provide the required funding.
• Su Can recognized the opportunity to invest in World of Warcraft and set his forces in motion to pursue a stake in the company.

Su Can pursued a stake in World of Warcraft, rejecting the operating rights and negotiating with Blizzard and Vivendi despite the enormous price. Blizzard offered Facebook Chinese 30 percent of the shares for $27 million, leaving Su Can to find the funding for the deal.

• Su Can explained to Qiao Shuxin, Dustin, and Mark Zuckerberg why he wanted to invest in World of Warcraft.
• Bill Roper and Michael visited Facebook Chinese's Shanghai headquarters after unsuccessful talks with Zhu Jun of The9.
• Su Can challenged Michael's criticism of the company's appearance and said Facebook Chinese was interested in buying equity, not operating the game.
• Michael and Bill proposed selling 30 percent of World of Warcraft for $27 million, and Su Can asked them to finalize the price.
• A week later, Bill and Michael returned with a deal for Facebook Chinese to pay $27 million in three installments for the 30 percent stake, with the final payment due February 14 of the following year.
• Su Can faced the challenge of raising the required $25 million in development funding.

Su Can finalized a deal for Facebook Chinese to acquire a thirty-percent stake in World of Warcraft for $25 million, then set out to assemble the enormous sum through his business network and investors. With Dunhuang and Shushan pledging funds, the chapter left Su Can facing the challenge of raising the rest while resisting buyout offers from Google, Microsoft, and other giants.

• Su Can's representatives negotiated with Blizzard Entertainment and Vivendi for three days and nights before agreeing to acquire a thirty-percent stake in World of Warcraft for $25 million.
• Wang Yue called Su Can to complain about Dunhuang's funding demands and worried that the deal might be a fraud, while Zhao Mingnong offered Shushan's profits to support Su Can.
• Lin Guangdong met Su Can at Nanjing University and described money as the force that drives society, while wishing Pineapple Media could join the fundraising effort.
• Wang Yue's Dunhuang projected more than 40 million yuan in net profit, and Zhao Mingnong's Shushan expected to contribute 40 million yuan toward the acquisition.
• Su Can planned to raise the remaining 95 million yuan through Facebook's investment program, even as Google, Microsoft, and other corporations pursued stakes or offered to buy Facebook.

After returning to Nanjing University from negotiations over Facebook Chinese and Blizzard, Su Can was confronted by dormitory manager Guo Mingrui over his absences and accused of assaulting him. Su Can explained what happened to university officials, and Lu Chuanming dismissed the complaint, leaving Guo Mingrui chastened.

• Su Can returned to campus after completing negotiations with Blizzard and Vivendi, having missed repeated dormitory inspections.
• Guo Mingrui summoned Su Can and berated him for staying out overnight, then fell when Su Can pulled free and left.
• Guo Mingrui accused Su Can of assaulting a teacher and brought the complaint to the Academic Affairs Office.
• Su Can recounted the incident to Su Yiyi, Lu Chuanming, and the other officials, then offered them cigarettes and said he needed to leave for class.
• Lu Chuanming accepted Su Can's cigarette and let him go, then rebuked Guo Mingrui for making a fuss over a small matter.