Recaps

During Zack’s visit to Shanghai, he and Su Can discussed Facebook’s rapid growth, operational challenges, and the platform strategy behind acquiring a stake in World of Warcraft. Zack approved $15 million for the acquisition, leaving Su Can with the resources to pursue it as they aimed to make Facebook an indispensable social entertainment platform.

• Zack recalled his past clash with Sequoia Capital during a television interview and described Su Can as his best friend.
• Zack arrived in Shanghai and toured Facebook, where Su Can explained the company’s workforce and its relaxed but productive workplace.
• Zack warned Su Can that Facebook’s rapid growth and fragile software made technical mistakes and infrastructure failures serious risks.
• Zack told Su Can he would secretly allocate $15 million from Facebook’s funding to support Su Can’s purchase of a stake in World of Warcraft.
• Zack explained that the acquisition supported their goal of building a social entertainment platform that would secure Facebook’s long-term position.

Su Can confronted a workplace harassment incident at Facebook Chinese and used humor to correct the manager’s behavior without publicly naming him. Later, he warned Zack about Facebook’s privacy risks and internal conflicts, but Zack insisted he could handle the problems in California.

• Su Can reflected on the businesses and relationships he had built and the growing responsibilities he faced as their leader.
• Su Can addressed the Facebook Chinese staff about a manager’s crude comment toward a receptionist, prompting laughter and leaving the manager ashamed and subdued.
• Zack described his plan to build Facebook’s App Platform, and Su Can shared ideas drawn from his knowledge of the future.
• Su Can warned Zack that Facebook faced infrastructure and organizational risks, that News Feed’s Broadcast project threatened privacy, and that acquisition talks were unsettling the team.
• Su Can told Zack that Doug was weakening other executives’ authority, while Zack said he had hired Doug for a purpose and would handle the situation himself.

Tang Wu worked at Facebook Chinese and acknowledged her relationship with Su Can, while Zack discussed Facebook’s future and its internal turmoil before leaving Shanghai. As Su Can and Tang Wu prepared to travel to Rongcheng, alarming news arrived and revealed a more complicated situation.

• Tang Wu learned business operations from Zhao Yanbin, who discovered that she was Su Can’s girlfriend and told her Facebook Chinese was poised for major investment.
• Zack told Su Can he would handle Facebook’s internal conflicts and build himself into a leader capable of running a vast company, then left Shanghai for London.
• Su Can and Tang Wu prepared to return to Rongcheng as Su Licheng’s appointment as deputy mayor of Huangcheng was approved and he went ahead to take up the post.
• Zeng Ke waited in Rongcheng to travel with Su Can to Huangcheng, but alarming news arrived and confronted Su Can with a more complicated situation.

Wang Bu’s political rise and the 2003 leadership reshuffle set the stage for Su Licheng’s appointment as Huangcheng deputy mayor, where a street-racing crash and its unequal aftermath exposed tensions with Xu Changcheng. As Su Can and Zeng Ke traveled to Huangcheng, Su Can recognized that his father’s senior ranking threatened Xu Changcheng’s ambitions.

• Old Wang advised Wang Bu to pursue provincial leadership experience rather than return to Beijing, and Wang Bu later emerged as a leading figure in the Wang Faction.
• A street-racing convoy caused a chain-reaction crash involving the provincial Organization Department vehicles escorting Su Licheng, though no one was injured.
• Zeng Ke told Su Can that Zhang Changping was detained after the crash while Xu Dong and the other privileged racers avoided substantive punishment.
• Su Can and Wang Weiwei discussed their former classmates’ reunion plans and the rumors surrounding Su Can at Nanjing University.
• Tang Wu told Mu Xuan that she wanted to visit Huangcheng with friends, and Mu Xuan connected the trip to Su Licheng’s new post.
• Su Can realized Su Licheng’s high ranking in Huangcheng’s government had displaced Xu Changcheng and likely fueled his resentment.

Su Can and Zeng Ke arrived in Huangcheng as Su Licheng began his new post amid rumors about the road incident that had earned him the nickname “car-crash mayor.” At the Municipal Government guesthouse, Su Can’s reflections on remembering what was close at hand changed secretary Cheng Ruinian’s impression of him.

• Su Licheng’s road incident damaged his political standing, while Huangcheng’s leaders gave him responsibility for the economy and urban development.
• Su Can and Zeng Ke traveled to Huangcheng in a car driven by Li Pengyu and stayed at the Municipal Government guesthouse while their assigned apartment was being vacated.
• Cheng Ruinian welcomed them and explained that Municipal Party Committee Secretary Li Yinliang had placed urban development and the economy under Su Licheng’s authority.
• Su Can looked out over Huangcheng’s busy shopping district and remembered his childhood in Xiahai City and the people he had not returned to see.
• Su Can told Cheng Ruinian a story about a man who never visited the mountain beside his home, then said he hoped he would never take his mother’s presence for granted.
• Cheng Ruinian reconsidered his assumptions about Su Can and wondered whether the young man was as composed inside as he appeared.

Cheng Ruinian endured another round of petty demands from Guo Huai but began to hope that serving Deputy Mayor Su Licheng might offer him a way out of his dead-end career. As Su Can spent time with his parents in Huangcheng, Zhao Lijun called to reaffirm his support for the family.

• Guo Huai ordered Cheng Ruinian to rewrite a report and continued the long-running workplace persecution rooted in their rivalry over Yang Li.
• Cheng Ruinian reflected on his stalled career and hoped Su Licheng would rise in Huangcheng and keep him as his secretary.
• Su Can accompanied his parents through the Municipal Government Family Compound as Su Licheng settled into his new deputy mayor post.
• Su Can and Li Pengyu spent their evenings at a seafood street stall while Su Can waited for his visit to Huangcheng to end.
• Zhao Lijun called Su Can, joked with him about his business and studies, and promised to protect Su Licheng’s interests in Huangcheng.

Su Can and Li Pengyu discussed Facebook Chinese’s investment in Blizzard Entertainment and met Zhang Shen and Yao Ming in Huangcheng. After Su Can accidentally splashed a young woman, they learned she was Tian Qu, the daughter of Municipal Party Committee Secretary-General Tian Gang, and the girlfriend of Xu Dong, the deputy mayor’s son.

• Su Can and Li Pengyu discussed using Facebook Chinese’s twenty-five million dollars to invest in Blizzard Entertainment and the pressures facing Vivendi.
• Su Can accidentally splashed a passing girl with pond water, and she summoned the compound guards before leaving.
• Lin Zouwen arranged a meeting, and Zhang Shen and Yao Ming introduced themselves to Su Can and Li Pengyu.
• The group saw the girl leave in a BMW with a young man, and Zhang Shen identified them as Tian Qu and Xu Dong, a prominent Huangcheng couple.

Su Can toured Barrier Lake with Zhang Shen, Li Pengyu, and Yao Ming and learned how Xu Changcheng and Zhou Zhaofeng had profited from the redevelopment of Huangcheng’s historic villas. Unable to ignore the corruption and public resources being appropriated, Su Can decided to return to the city and act.

• Zhang Shen drove Su Can and Li Pengyu to Huangcheng’s hillside district and showed them Barrier Lake and its surrounding villas.
• Su Can questioned the expensive lakeside clubhouses and asked how private companies and officials used the historic villas.
• Zhang Shen explained that Xu Changcheng and Zhou Zhaofeng had arranged for Qingshan Real Estate to buy and resell more than a dozen heritage villas for huge profits.
• Yao Ming described the officials’ powerful backers and how Qingshan Real Estate benefited from Huangcheng’s development plans.
• Su Can concluded that he could not remain uninvolved, stood up, and told the others to return to the city.

Su Can advised Su Licheng on how to exploit divisions among Huangcheng’s local power brokers and target Xu Changcheng’s interests, while Su Can planned to pursue a separate breakthrough himself. As the city prepared for an official banquet, Tian Tian and her friends spotted Su Can and judged him from their car.

• Zhou Zhaofeng and Xu Changcheng discussed Su Licheng’s investment proposals and vowed to keep him in check.
• Su Licheng’s family moved into the municipal compound, and Su Can shared what he had learned about Huangcheng’s local interests.
• Su Can urged Su Licheng to revive competing barrier-lake proposals from Xu Changcheng and Huang Yu to divide their allies.
• Su Can decided to expose Xu Changcheng’s dealings himself so his father would not be seen as politically disruptive.
• Tian Tian drove past Su Can with two friends, who discussed his appearance and called him dim-witted.
• Two days later, Huangcheng’s banquet for leading officials and their families arrived.

At a banquet by Barrier Lake, Su Can met Huangcheng officials’ children and heard Xu Dong boast that he could use a special Facebook account to access users’ private information. Su Can contacted Qiao Shuxin and had the account suspended pending investigation, leaving Xu Dong and the group stunned.

• Su Can attended the Lakeside Hotel banquet with his father and met Tian Tian, Xu Dong, and other officials’ children.
• Zhu Cheng introduced Su Can and Li Pengyu to Tian Tian’s group during a walk along the lake.
• Xu Dong claimed that his special Facebook account let him view users’ albums and private information, while Wang Jie explained how an advertiser’s access tokens could enable it.
• Li Pengyu recognized the security vulnerability, and Su Can called Qiao Shuxin to investigate Huayun Real Estate and Xu Dong’s account.
• Su Can told Xu Dong that the account had been suspended pending investigation.

At the Barrier Lake gathering, Su Can claimed he had gotten Xu Dong’s online account banned with a phone call, but everyone dismissed him as a braggart. The chapter ended with Xu Dong calling Wang Jie in the middle of the night to say he could no longer log in to the special account Wang Jie had given him.

• Su Can told Xu Dong that he had made a call and gotten Xu Dong’s account banned, prompting disbelief and tension among the guests.
• Zhu Cheng and others steered the conversation away, and the guests later laughed about Su Can’s claim after he left.
• Xu Dong went to the Huanhu Clubhouse with Wang Jie and their friends, but he remained angry about Su Can’s public challenge.
• Wang Jie returned home and wondered whether Su Can might have enough ability and backing to become another powerful figure in Huangcheng.
• Xu Dong called Wang Jie in the middle of the night and said he could no longer log in to the special account Wang Jie had given him.

After his confrontation with Xu Dong stirred Huangcheng’s social circles, Su Can returned from sightseeing and navigated invitations from people hoping to get close to him. He told Li Pengyu that his next move was to widen the divisions around Xu Changcheng and weaken the officials protecting him.

• Zhang Shen and Yao Ming took Su Can and Li Pengyu sightseeing and fishing, while people in Huangcheng tried unsuccessfully to find Su Can.
• Zhu Cheng called Su Can, asked about Xu Dong’s suspended Facebook account, and invited him to meet with Yang Ning, Zhang Qian, and others.
• Zhang Shangwu and Luo Guiying invited Su Can’s family to dinner, where Zhang Qian tried to draw closer to Su Can while her parents probed his background.
• Li Pengyu explained that people viewed Su Can’s conflict with Xu Dong as a private feud, and Su Can said this would keep others from readily supporting Xu Changcheng.
• Su Can told Li Pengyu that he intended to exploit divisions among Huangcheng’s officials and expand his gains against Xu Changcheng’s allies.

Su Licheng’s dispute with Xu Changcheng over Barrier Lake’s eastern shore stalled the development plans and sharpened tensions within Huangcheng’s government. Su Can gained Cheng Ruinian’s trust by discussing the political fallout, then encountered Tian Tian, who tried to explain Xu Dong’s behavior while nervously approaching him.

• At the mayors' coordination meeting, Yang Wanli rejected both Xu Changcheng’s and Huang Yu’s plans for Barrier Lake’s eastern shore and ordered a new review and public tender.
• Xu Changcheng complained to Zhou Zhaofeng, who suspected Su Licheng or Su Can had helped provoke the conflict, and Xu decided to make the newcomer follow local rules.
• Zeng Ke welcomed Cheng Ruinian at home, and Su Can questioned him about municipal affairs and warned that Xu Changcheng might retaliate against Su Licheng.
• Cheng Ruinian shared his concerns about Xu Changcheng and began to lower his guard toward the Su family, while Su Can saw him off as a promising new ally.
• During a morning run, Tian Tian approached Su Can and Li Pengyu, defended Xu Dong, and admitted through her actions that she was too nervous to speak comfortably with Su Can.

Su Can and Tian Tian discussed her doubts about marrying Xu Dong, joking about how they might build a life together despite having little money. Tian Tian admitted she had asked about Su Can’s intentions toward Zhang Qian and hinted there was still time for her own future, while Su Can’s distant gaze recalled an earlier love.

• Su Can rejected Tian Tian’s attempt to defend Xu Dong and told her not to judge whether Xu Dong was good or bad.
• Tian Tian said her relationship with Xu Dong did not define her own opinions and described her doubts about a life of comfort, marriage, and family expectations.
• Su Can argued that love needed material security, while Tian Tian said two people could work together to build wealth and a life.
• Tian Tian and Su Can joked about their imagined married life, and she pointed out that Su Can’s claims of poverty were mostly an act.
• Tian Tian asked how Su Can had gotten Xu Dong banned from Facebook, then asked whether he had considered settling down with Zhang Qian.
• Tian Tian studied Su Can’s distant gaze and suggested there was still time for him to accomplish things in Huangcheng, unaware that he recalled a girl from his past.

Su Can realized that Xu Changcheng’s side might be preparing a move against Su Licheng just as the vice mayor was about to make his first major public address in Huangcheng. When Su Can discovered that Su Licheng’s speech overlapped with provincial leader Geng Luoxiang’s remarks, he and Cheng Ruinian hurried to revise it before Su Licheng took the stage.

• Tian Tian urged Su Can to give Zhang Qian a chance, but Su Can told her he had a girlfriend.
• Su Can spent the Spring Festival in Huangcheng with his parents, exchanged greetings with friends and business associates, and learned that Tang Wu and Lin Luoran planned to visit.
• As Su Licheng prepared for his first public address, Su Can worried about the sudden quiet from Xu Changcheng’s side and discussed the political tensions with his father.
• Before the conference, Cheng Ruinian warned Su Can that Xu Changcheng had excluded him from preparing Su Licheng’s speech and arranged for someone else to write it.
• Su Can recognized that Su Licheng’s speech might repeat Geng Luoxiang’s remarks and told Cheng Ruinian to revise it during the brief transition before Su Licheng spoke.

Su Licheng foiled Xu Changcheng, Zhou Zhaofeng, and Guo Huai’s attempt to embarrass him by delivering a different speech, then gained Cheng Ruinian as his secretary. After Geng Luoxiang visited the Su family, the story shifted to Beijing, where Lin Luoran left for Rongcheng and messaged Su Can, “Here I come.”

• Xu Changcheng and Zhou Zhaofeng expected Su Licheng to repeat Geng Luoxiang’s speech, while Guo Huai hoped the mistake would ruin Su Licheng and give him grounds to punish Cheng Ruinian.
• Su Licheng delivered a fluent, different speech, earning thunderous applause and leaving Xu Changcheng, Zhou Zhaofeng, and Guo Huai shaken.
• Su Licheng asked the Secretariat to assign Cheng Ruinian to him, and Guo Huai became increasingly uneasy when Su Licheng continued treating him cordially.
• After the provincial supervision team’s three-day investigation, Geng Luoxiang visited Su Can’s home and brought gifts on Zhao Lijun’s instructions.
• Lin Luoran declined her Peking University classmates’ graduation dinner, gave one admirer a false phone number, and had Zhang Guoli drive her to the airport.
• Lin Luoran boarded a flight to Rongcheng and sent a final message to Su Can saying, “Here I come.”

Tang Wu picked up Lin Luoran in Rongcheng and brought her home, where Tang Wu’s parents warmly welcomed her. As the two women shared a bed and talked through the night, Lin Luoran realized that despite their friendship and similarities, they could not become true friends who fully trusted each other.

• Tang Wu spoke with Wang Wei at the airport, encouraged him to keep living with purpose, and waited for the arriving flight.
• Tang Wu greeted Lin Luoran, took her home, and called Su Can to say they would visit him the next day.
• Tang Wu’s parents welcomed Lin Luoran and took her to dinner, where she was moved by their warmth.
• Tang Wu and Lin Luoran discussed Su Can’s difficulties in Huangcheng, and Lin Luoran reflected on her persistent feelings for him.
• As they lay awake after talking, Lin Luoran recognized that she and Tang Wu could not reach deep into each other’s hearts and become true friends.

Su Can waited impatiently in Huangcheng for Tang Wu and Lin Luoran to arrive, while the two women drove there from Rongcheng and were pursued by Xu Dong’s group after Lin Luoran kicked him. As Su Can left Barrier Lake to meet them, Tang Wu called and urgently told him to come quickly amid roaring engines and tire noise.

• Su Can spent the morning preparing for Tang Wu and Lin Luoran’s arrival and refused Zhang Qian’s invitation to a Barrier Lake cookout, angering Tian Qu.
• Tang Wu and Lin Luoran drove toward Huangcheng in Wang Yue’s Benz and encountered Xu Dong’s convoy at a gas station.
• Xu Dong grabbed a lock of Lin Luoran’s hair, and she kicked him before she and Tang Wu drove away.
• Xu Dong and his companions raced after Tang Wu and Lin Luoran in their cars.
• Su Can left Barrier Lake with Li Pengyu after his calls went unanswered, and Tang Wu finally answered amid the sound of speeding vehicles and told him to come quickly.

After a car collision left Tang Wu and Lin Luoran in danger, Su Can rushed to the scene and attacked Xu Dong, who had tried to blame them. Geng Luoxiang and the police arrived, arrested Xu Dong’s group, and left Su Can relieved to be reunited with the women.

• Tang Wu called Su Can to report that Xu Dong and his companions were chasing them after Lin Luoran kicked Xu Dong.
• Tang Wu and Lin Luoran’s car collided with Xu Dong’s BMW as they pulled over, and the impact cut off the call.
• Su Can raced to the scene, found both women shaken but alive, and embraced them.
• Su Can attacked Xu Dong while Li Pengyu restrained him, and the surrounding group called for help.
• Geng Luoxiang arrived, and Zhang Lucheng ordered Xu Dong, Wang Jie, and their companions arrested.
• Su Can relaxed as Tang Wu and Lin Luoran stood safely beside him.

Xu Changcheng learned that Xu Dong had been detained after clashing with Su Can, and his allies began seeking ways to intervene. Tian Qu heard that Su Can had beaten Xu Dong, confronted Su Can in anger, and ended the night crying and unable to sleep.

• Liu Chaoyang told Xu Changcheng that Xu Dong had been detained after a confrontation involving Su Can and Geng Luoxiang.
• Xu Changcheng left the dinner to call his contacts and try to get Xu Dong released.
• Tian Qu reassured Zhang Qian and asked around about Xu Dong's arrest, believing his father would likely resolve the matter.
• Zhang Qian told Tian Qu that Xu Dong had called from the detention center and that Su Can had beaten him.
• Tian Qu called Su Can, argued with him over his actions and her relationship with Xu Dong, then cried herself to sleep.

After Xu Dong’s attack left Tang Wu and Lin Luoran injured but alive, Su Can resolved to use the incident to undermine Xu Changcheng’s influence in Huangcheng. Back at the family home, the survivors recovered together, and Su Can and Tang Wu shared a secret, intimate moment while Lin Luoran lay awake upstairs.

• Su Can and Li Pengyu discussed how Xu Changcheng might use his connections to lessen Xu Dong’s punishment, and Su Can said his real aim was to bring Xu Changcheng down.
• Su Can returned home with Tang Wu and Lin Luoran, while Su Licheng refused to let officials question the exhausted young people that night.
• Zeng Ke treated Tang Wu’s and Lin Luoran’s injuries, then hosted them at dinner and arranged for both women to stay in the house.
• Lin Luoran thanked Su Can, joked that he resembled the lead in Scooby-Doo, and went upstairs to bed.
• Tang Wu came downstairs to kiss Su Can and share an intimate moment with him, telling him to live well after asking what would happen if she died.
• Lin Luoran lay awake in bed, listening as Tang Wu went downstairs and holding herself as she trembled in the night.

Tian Tian wrestled with doubts about her expected future with Xu Dong, while Su Can and his family dealt with the fallout from Xu Dong’s arrest and the pressure surrounding the case. The chapter ended with Tian Tian meeting Su Can outside the family compound as he arrived with Tang Wu and Lin Luoran.

• Tian Tian argued with herself about whether to get up, regretted her harsh words to Su Can, and went jogging but did not see him.
• Lin Luoran told Lin Zouwen that she and Su Can had slept together, leaving Su Can startled when she greeted him afterward.
• Su Can arranged for Guo Changsheng and the Provincial Newspaper Group to support the response, while he and his family gave statements to the Provincial Inspection Team.
• Lin Luoran spoke with her parents, and news spread throughout Huangcheng that Xu Dong had been detained over deliberately ramming another car.
• Su Can rejected another call from Tian Tian, then encountered her outside the compound as she stood with Zhang Qian and others.

Tian Tian gathered her friends to meet Su Can and mediate his conflict with Xu Dong, but Su Can said Xu Dong’s arrest was beyond his influence. Over dinner, Tian Tian learned that Tang Wu was Su Can’s wife, leaving her hopes of growing closer to him shattered.

• Tian Tian met Su Can with Tang Wu and Lin Luoran, then invited them and her friends to eat barbecue together.
• During dinner, Tian Tian asked about Tang Wu and Lin Luoran’s backgrounds, and their arrival from Rongcheng helped the group piece together how Xu Dong’s actions had led to his detention.
• Guo Shuran’s husband urged Su Can to let the conflict end, but Su Can said the Provincial Inspection Team had arrested Xu Dong for breaking the law and that neither he nor his father could interfere.
• Tian Tian asked whether Xu Dong would be punished heavily, and Su Can told her that Xu Dong’s reckless disregard for others made trouble inevitable.
• Tian Tian realized Su Can had missed camping to pick up Tang Wu and Lin Luoran, then learned Tang Wu was his wife; Zhang Qian’s wineglass fell and shattered.

Su Can outlined a plan to acquire and modernize Huangcheng’s coal, charcoal, and coking businesses to reduce pollution and recover valuable by-products, while seeking help from Su Licheng. The chapter left Su Licheng weighing the plan against the political struggle with Xu Changcheng and considering whether Xu’s actions would bring about his downfall.

• Su Can told Lin Guangdong to establish Phoenix companies and prepare to acquire Li Jin Sheng’s charcoal factory and Huangcheng coal and coking businesses.
• Su Can explained to Li Pengyu, Lin Luoran, and Tang Wu that modernizing Huangcheng’s inefficient, polluting industries could bring visible improvements, though the project would require substantial funding.
• Su Can and Su Licheng discussed acquiring Qingshan Carbonization Industrial Company, retaining its workers, removing its managers, and relocating the plant to the planned Bonded Zone.
• Su Can asked Su Licheng to help secure municipal or commercial funding for industrial upgrades and described Li Jin Sheng’s more efficient charcoal-making machines.
• Su Licheng considered the proposed reforms and wondered whether Xu Changcheng’s efforts to suppress information about Qingshan Real Estate might cause Xu to fall.

Xu Changcheng expected his connections to protect him, but Du Wei’s confession and a provincial investigation exposed his corruption and led to his detention, while Xu Dong faced prosecution. Back with Su Can’s family, Li Pengyu recounted the collapse of Xu Dong’s planned wedding and teased Lin Luoran about Su Can calling her his wife.

• Xu Changcheng told Zhou Zhaofeng he would use Deputy Department Head Li to remove Geng Luoxiang and ease pressure on Xu Dong’s case.
• Zhou Zhaofeng secretly criticized Xu Changcheng to a woman on the phone, then Xu Changcheng learned that a provincial team would investigate Xu Dong and that Fu Xinren had been removed from the case.
• Du Wei voluntarily reported Xu Changcheng to the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, accusing him of abusing his office and taking bribes, and Xu Changcheng was placed under disciplinary detention.
• Investigators exposed Xu Changcheng’s bribery, mistresses, and favors for his relatives, while Xu Dong faced prosecution and the Xu family’s influence crumbled.
• Zhou Zhaofeng visited Xu Changcheng in detention and urged him to cooperate, then Xu Changcheng asked what would happen to Xu Dong.
• Li Pengyu told Tang Wu and Lin Luoran about Xu Dong’s ruined wedding prospects and Su Can’s actions, then teased Lin Luoran about Su Can calling her his wife.