Recaps

Wang Bu reflected on his transfer to Xiahai City and the political setback it represented, while hoping to rely on his estranged son Wang Weiwei. At school, Su Can helped Xue Yiyang avoid punishment for missing homework by approaching Tang Wu, whose action and the classmates’ reactions left Su Can awkwardly aware of their closeness.

• Wang Bu arrived at the family compound in Xiahai City and considered whether his transfer had ended his prospects for political advancement.
• Wang Bu planned to bring Wang Weiwei and the other children to live with him, using his son's reduced pocket money to overcome Wang Weiwei's resistance.
• Xue Yiyang asked Su Can to persuade Tang Wu to remove his name from the missing-homework list so his mother would not be called to school.
• Su Can awkwardly approached Tang Wu, who crossed out Xue Yiyang's name without waiting for him to ask.
• Xue Yiyang celebrated his escape and told classmates what had happened, prompting Chen Lingshan to scold him for neglecting his homework.

Su Can joined Wang Weiwei, Lin Zouwen, and Lin Luoran at an internet café after learning Wang Weiwei was fighting with his father over moving in with him. As Wang Weiwei won match after match, a bespectacled gamer challenged him to a wager that targeted Lin Luoran.

• Su Can found Wang Weiwei, Lin Zouwen, and Lin Luoran drinking at the soccer field, where Wang Weiwei complained that his father wanted him to move in with him.
• Lin Zouwen explained that Wang Weiwei's father had moved their belongings and asked him to persuade Wang Weiwei to go back, while Wang Weiwei refused to give in.
• Wang Weiwei invited Su Can to spend the night gaming with them, and Su Can agreed; afterward, Xue Yiyang searched for Su Can and found he had left.
• At Benteng Computers, Su Can paid for food and drinks while Wang Weiwei dominated a StarCraft tournament and attracted a crowd.
• A bespectacled young man challenged Wang Weiwei to a wager, proposing that if he won, Lin Luoran would have to play while he destroyed her base and workers.

Su Can took over Wang Weiwei’s StarCraft wager against the bowl-cut player and won the final two games with unexpected strategies and precise control. The opponent quit after Su Can’s Terran forces overwhelmed his Zerg army, leaving the crowd impressed and Wang Weiwei remembering that he had promised Su Can a favor.

• Lin Luoran accepted the bowl-cut player’s wager and challenged Wang Weiwei to beat him, but Wang Weiwei lost the first game after the Zerg player harassed his workers and overwhelmed his forces.
• Su Can took Wang Weiwei’s place, and his double proxy Gateway rush destroyed the bowl-cut player’s Zerg base to even the match.
• In the deciding game, Su Can used fast Vultures to attack the Zerg player’s workers and distract him with a feint.
• Su Can moved his Terran tanks and mechanized forces to the Zerg main base, where they destroyed the opponent’s army and Hatchery until he quit.
• The crowd praised Su Can’s play, and Wang Weiwei remembered that he had promised to agree to one of Su Can’s conditions.

Su Can confronted Wang Weiwei about breaking his promise to go home, then persuaded him to return despite the tension among their friends. Wang Bu welcomed his son back while concealing how worried he had been, and began to assess the classmate who had brought him home.

• Su Can urged Wang Weiwei to go home and reminded him of his promise, prompting Wang Weiwei to accuse Su Can of not understanding his conflict with his father.
• Lin Zouwen moved closer to Wang Weiwei, while Lin Luoran hesitantly suggested they all go back for the night.
• Wang Bu waited anxiously at home, reflecting on how his controlling approach had strained his relationship with Wang Weiwei.
• Wang Weiwei, Lin Zouwen, Lin Luoran, and Su Can arrived at Wang Bu's home, and Wang Weiwei went to his room after a cold exchange with his father.
• Su Can noticed Wang Bu's hastily changed pajamas and socks and realized that Wang Bu had been waiting anxiously for Wang Weiwei to return.
• Wang Bu invited Su Can inside and studied the classmate who had persuaded his son to come home.

Su Can spoke with Wang Bu late at night, earning his respect and learning hints that Zhong Jianjun and Engineering Division Four might be targeted by the construction group’s headquarters. Wang Bu invited Su Can’s family to dinner, but in the following days Wang Weiwei barely acknowledged Su Can at school.

• Wang Bu recognized Su Can’s reportage and discussed Wang Weiwei’s behavior and Su Can’s family with him.
• Su Can recounted the fraud-ring case involving Zeng Qu anming, and Wang Bu praised Zeng’s appointment as construction commission director.
• Wang Bu’s remarks about Engineering Division Four led Su Can to suspect that the group’s headquarters planned to remove Zhong Jianjun and threaten the division.
• Wang Bu invited Su Can’s family to dinner and asked him to help keep Wang Weiwei in line.
• Su Can’s parents questioned him about his late return, and Wang Weiwei later ignored him at school while Lin Luoran signaled she could not help.

Su Can’s family received a surprising apology and two replacement parasols from Liu Zheng, while Wang Ming suspected Su Can had arranged the change. Teacher Ma then asked Su Licheng to help reconnect Wang Guangming with a vocational-school teacher who had once rejected him, and left pleased with the favor.

• Wang Ming continued learning the family business from Zeng Ke and insisted retail could lead to success.
• Liu Zheng brought the Su family two parasols as compensation for the one his officers had damaged, apologizing and promising more careful enforcement.
• Wang Ming noticed Liu Zheng’s glance at Su Can and privately suspected he had influenced the bureau’s sudden change of attitude.
• Teacher Ma arrived and asked Su Licheng to speak with Wang Guangming about reuniting with a vocational-school teacher who regretted ending their relationship.
• Su Licheng agreed to talk to Wang Guangming, and Teacher Ma left feeling delighted by the favor.

Su Can followed his father, Su Licheng, to a protest by unpaid workers and watched him calm the crowd by promising to find a solution and appealing to their shared history. The workers dispersed, but Li Yuhe and Mao Nan planned to keep the project funds delayed so the workers would turn against Su Licheng and Zhong Jianjun again.

• Su Licheng received word that workers were protesting two months of unpaid wages and hurried to the company compound, with Su Can following him.
• Mao Nan’s allies accused Su Licheng and other managers of pocketing project money as the crowd gathered outside the compound.
• Su Licheng pushed through the crowd, denied embezzling wages, and explained that the Xinghai Square project payment had not been released.
• Su Licheng appealed to the workers’ pride in Engineering Division Four and promised to address their wages, persuading them to end the protest.
• Li Yuhe told Mao Nan that he had arranged for the project payment to be held up for months, and they expected the workers’ anger to return.

Su Can recognized his father Su Licheng’s leadership potential and began planning for him to turn Engineering Division Four into a real estate business. When protests threatened the Xinghai Square Project, Su Can realized the project’s completion was crucial to his family’s future, and Chen Lingshan offered to ask her father about investing.

• Su Can reconsidered Su Licheng’s abilities and envisioned him leading Engineering Division Four into real estate after the company separated from its parent group.
• Classmates asked Xue Yiyang about news reports that funding problems and protests were threatening Xinghai Square.
• Su Can worried that delays would deprive Engineering Division Four of the experience and resources it needed to grow after separating from headquarters.
• Li Weimei suggested Chen Lingshan ask her father to invest, and Chen Lingshan agreed to speak with him.

Su Can reassured Tang Wu that his family’s troubles would pass, and they shared a playful promise about his growing taller. Meanwhile, Chen Lingshan’s parents warned her that investing in Xinghai Square was risky and ordered her to keep her distance from Su Can, leaving her questioning their decision.

• Su Can left school and walked with Tang Wu, who teased him about his height and promised to look up to him if he grew taller.
• Tang Wu asked about Su Can’s family, and he told her that the problem involved his father’s generation and would be resolved.
• Chen Lingshan’s father asked whether Su Can had prompted her to suggest investing in Xinghai Square, and she said the idea had come up in conversation.
• Chen Lingshan’s father explained that Engineering Division Four faced political and funding troubles, while her mother warned that the project might collapse.
• Chen Lingshan’s mother told her to spend less time with Su Can, but Chen Lingshan asked why before her mother sent her to practice guzheng.

Chen Lingshan told Su Can that her father would not support the Xinghai Square project, while Su Can’s family and Zhong Jianjun discussed the company’s withheld payments and their lack of influence. Su Can revealed that he had met Municipal Party Committee secretary Wang Bu, and Wang agreed to meet Zhong that afternoon.

• Chen Lingshan apologized to Su Can after her father declined to invest in Xinghai Square.
• At dinner, Su Licheng and Zhong Jianjun discussed the withheld project payments and Zhong’s failed attempts to reach the Finance Bureau.
• Zhong Jianjun hesitated to ask his old army friend Wang Bu, now the Municipal Party Committee secretary, for help.
• Su Can told Zhong Jianjun that he had met Wang Bu and that Wang remembered him and had offered to meet.
• Wang Bu’s secretary, Li Yangbo, called about Zhong Jianjun, and Wang scheduled a meeting with him for three that afternoon.

Wang Bu met with Zhong Jianjun, Su Licheng, and their families, then intervened to resolve the funding problems holding up the Xinghai Square project. His public inspection and speech secured the release of the project money, while Su Can’s role in setting events in motion went unnoticed.

• Wang Bu joined Zhong Jianjun, Su Licheng, Zeng He, and the young people for dinner and discussed the Xinghai Square project.
• Zhong Jianjun and Su Licheng explained that the Municipal Finance Bureau had withheld project payments and left workers unpaid.
• Wang Bu promised to coordinate the departments and said project funds could not be withheld without valid grounds.
• Wang Bu inspected Xinghai Square and publicly ordered departments to advance construction and release project installments on time.
• The Municipal Finance Bureau sent thirteen million yuan, including ten million to Dage Construction’s project team and three million to Engineering Division Four.
• Mao Nan and Li Yuhe wondered how Wang Bu’s intervention had changed the situation as Su Can’s influence remained unnoticed.

Su Can’s classmates celebrated the turnaround for Engineering Division Four, while Tang Wu wondered how Su Can had anticipated it. After Su Can walked past Chen Lingshan and her father without stopping, Mr. Chen wondered whether he was getting old.

• Xiao Rihua fought with veteran teachers to secure a Three-Good Student nomination for Su Can.
• Xue Yiyang told classmates that Engineering Division Four’s troubles had been resolved and Xinghai Square would be completed.
• Tang Wu exchanged glances with Su Can, then was called on by Ren Cao to answer a question.
• Chen Lingshan greeted Su Can outside school, but he waved and continued walking without greeting Mr. Chen.
• Mr. Chen asked Chen Lingshan whether he was getting old, and she reassured him that he would never be old to her.

Mao Nan and Li Yuhe were removed after Engineering Division Four secured funding and paid its employees, while Su Can’s family business continued to prosper. At school, Chen Lingshan decided to meet Su Can privately, and the chapter ended with her standing on a bridge, preparing to confess her feelings.

• Mao Nan drove toward his new assignment in poor, remote Wu County after losing the employees’ support, while Li Yuhe returned to Ge City in disgrace.
• Engineering Division Four’s employees rallied behind Feng Jianjun and Su Licheng after receiving overdue wages and benefits, and Su Licheng urged them to live with dignity.
• Su Can’s family’s two branch stores increased their sales under Wang Ming’s management.
• Chen Lingshan regretted turning away from Su Can at Xiao Yunyun’s house and resolved to speak with him.
• Su Can scored for Class Five after Xue Yiyang passed him the ball during their match against Class Three.
• Li Weimei directed Su Can to Chen Lingshan, who waited for him on a garden bridge and wondered if she would confess.

Chen Lingshan struggled to understand her growing feelings for Su Can and tried to find out whether he was angry with her family. Their conversation turned into a painful misunderstanding, and Su Can walked away as she silently wished he would come back.

• Chen Lingshan recalled how her feelings for Su Can had grown since she learned he once liked her, and decided she wanted to become closer to him.
• Su Can asked Chen Lingshan how Uncle Chen was, and she tentatively asked whether he was angry.
• Su Can teased Chen Lingshan that whether he stopped being angry depended on how she behaved, and she fought back tears.
• Su Can tried to comfort Chen Lingshan, but she retorted that she could claim she was only joking when she said she looked down on his family.
• Su Can turned and walked away, while Chen Lingshan could not bring herself to call him back.

After Su Can rejected Chen Lingshan, Li Weimei blamed him and rallied their friends to ignore him while Chen Lingshan maintained a composed front. The chapter ended with Xue Yiyang telling Su Can that Zhao Chunyang was pursuing Chen Lingshan, but Su Can insisted that her choices were her own.

• NATO began bombing Yugoslavia, while the distant war reached Xiahai City only through television reports.
• Su Can greeted Li Weimei, who angrily accused him of hurting Chen Lingshan after learning she had cried following his rejection.
• Li Weimei confronted Su Can and vowed that Chen Lingshan would find someone better, while Chen Lingshan acted as though nothing had happened.
• Li Weimei urged Chen Lingshan and their friends to ignore Su Can, and the two girls began avoiding him.
• Xue Yiyang told Su Can that Zhao Chunyang from No. 2 High School was waiting outside school to pursue Chen Lingshan, but Su Can said she could make her own choices.

Su Can intervened when Zhao Chunyang and his friends cornered Chen Lingshan and Li Lumei, but the confrontation shifted when the No. 2 High School students recognized Su Can from Liu Rui’s stories. As Yang Mu pushed for a fight, Wang Weiwei, Lin Zouwen, and Lin Luoran arrived to back Su Can, and Lin Zouwen called them “Su Can’s Army.”

• Zhao Chunyang blocked Chen Lingshan and Li Lumei after school and pressured Chen Lingshan to go out with him that evening.
• Su Can stopped Zhao Chunyang from grabbing Chen Lingshan and told him to respect her refusal.
• Liu Rui recognized Su Can and explained that he did not approve of Zhao Chunyang’s harassment, while the other boys reacted to Su Can’s reputation.
• Yang Mu challenged Liu Rui to choose between Su Can and Zhao Chunyang, then insisted that Zhao Chunyang’s pursuit still had to be settled.
• Wang Weiwei, Lin Zouwen, and Lin Luoran arrived beside Su Can, and Lin Zouwen announced that they were Su Can’s Army.

Su Can stopped Yang Mu from turning the confrontation at No. 1 High School into a brawl by catching him off guard and knocking him down. After the crowd settled, Chen Lingshan thanked Su Can but left with Li Weimei, feeling that the distance between them had grown.

• Lin Zouwen told the No. 2 High School students that he and the others were Su Can's Army, while Wang Weiwei appeared and helped ease tensions.
• Yang Mu provoked Su Can's group and threatened Liu Rui when Liu tried to defuse the confrontation; Chen Lingshan stepped forward to keep the others from getting involved.
• Su Can called out Wang Haoran, then kicked Yang Mu into his path, allowing Wang Haoran to trample Yang Mu.
• Liu Rui calmed the No. 2 High School students as the No. 1 High School crowd rallied behind Su Can; Wang Weiwei showed displeasure at Su Can's sudden attack.
• Chen Lingshan thanked Su Can, then left with Li Weimei and wondered why she and Su Can seemed farther apart.

Su Can joined Wang Weiwei and their friends at a karaoke club, where he intervened after a man struck one of the girls working in a neighboring room. Meanwhile, Wang Bu worried that Jin Donghai’s appointment might be part of Liu Cheng’s political maneuvering.

• Liu Rui complained that rumors about Yang Mu’s bruised face had ruined his friendship with Yang Mu, and Su Can warned him to be careful around the school bathrooms.
• Jin Donghai proposed more police vehicles and funding at a Standing Committee meeting, but Wang Bu rejected his requests, prompting Hong Xiaotian to remark that the vote had been close.
• Wang Bu worried that Liu Cheng had helped place Jin Donghai in Xiahai City and might threaten his political position.
• Su Can joined Wang Weiwei, Lin Zouwen, and Lin Luoran at Ding Sheng Karaoke City after declining their earlier invitation to eat hot pot.
• A man from the neighboring karaoke room slapped one of the fleeing girls and threatened Cheng Lan, so Su Can stepped forward to confront him.

Su Can defended Cheng Lan after she fled harassment at Ding Sheng Karaoke City, and Wang Weiwei wrecked the venue’s equipment when its manager and security guards threatened them. The police arrived in force to investigate the KTV for suspected organized illegal prostitution, leaving its owner Zhao Pockmark realizing the raid was not what he had expected.

• Cheng Lan told Su Can that the KTV had trapped her with a contract and that a customer had groped her, so Su Can confronted the manager and defended her.
• Manager Yang and the middle-aged customer threatened Su Can, while Lin Zouwen and Wang Weiwei joined him and security guards smashed nearby glass.
• Run Junhao appeared from a neighboring room, and Wang Weiwei entered it and smashed its television before ordering Lin Zouwen to call his father.
• When the middle-aged man charged Wang Weiwei, Zhang Sheng knocked him down and restrained him as the security guards and Run Junhao’s group backed off.
• Zhao Pockmark welcomed arriving police, but armed police and plainclothes officers sealed the KTV and Zhao Lijun announced a full investigation into suspected organized illegal prostitution.

After helping Cheng Lan, Su Can urged her to decide what she truly wanted, while Wang Bu responded calmly to Wang Weiwei’s role in the Dingsheng Karaoke City crackdown. Wang Bu used the operation to strengthen his position in Xiahai and later visited Su Can’s family shop, leaving the political struggle and the family’s new public standing in motion.

• Su Can refused Cheng Lan’s offer and comforted her, telling her to think about what she wanted from life before choosing a path.
• Wang Bu welcomed Wang Weiwei, Lin Zouwen, and Lin Luoran home with tea, then told Wang Weiwei to learn from his impulsive actions and make sure future opponents felt the consequences.
• Wang Bu revealed that the crackdown on Dingsheng Karaoke City was a counterattack against Jin Donghai and a way to raise Zhao Lijun’s standing in the public-security system.
• Su Can followed signs of growing political tension between Wang Bu’s allies and provincial interests while Wang Bu planned visits to local businesses.
• Wang Bu visited Su Licheng and Zeng He’s cultural supplies shop, and his public outreach helped spread his reputation as the “People-Friendly Secretary.”

Su Can showed his parents that their institutional supply business had reached its practical limit, while their retail shops held less than one percent of Xiahai City's stationery market. He urged them to expand through more branches, and Zeng He agreed to consider borrowing money for another shop, though the family still lacked capital.

• Wang Bu's public visits boosted the reputation of the Su family's stationery shop and brought it more institutional orders.
• Su Licheng calculated that their institutional sales might reach 1.4 million yuan for the year, while Zeng He estimated the two storefronts brought in about 1.2 to 1.3 million yuan annually.
• At a family meeting, Su Can asked his parents to estimate their shares of Xiahai City's institutional and retail stationery markets.
• Su Can explained that institutional sales had little room to grow, but expanding retail to ten percent of the market could bring annual sales of ten million yuan.
• Zeng He agreed to look for another branch location and said she could borrow from Su Can's eldest uncle, while Su Can recognized that lack of capital remained their main obstacle.

At the City First Middle School awards assembly, Su Can kissed Tang Wu on the cheek in front of the assembled students, shocking the school. He told her it was all for her, and Tang Wu was moved by his words.

• Su Can and Tang Wu stood together among the City Model Students during the flag-raising ceremony.
• Su Can teased Tang Wu until her nervousness eased, then kissed her cheek as she turned toward him.
• Students across the field erupted in surprise, while Principal Ding Juntao noticed Su Can and Tang Wu and turned away.
• Yue Zijiang, Li Weimei, Chen Lingshan, and Xue Yiyang reacted with shock to the kiss.
• Su Can told Tang Wu, “It's all just for you,” and she looked at him with reddened eyes.

After Su Can and Tang Wu kissed publicly at the school assembly, Xiao Rihua defended them against teachers who wanted to punish them. Su Can walked home with Tang Wu, then joined her and Zeng Na for fried potatoes, where he realized how happy the simple moment made him.

• Xiao Rihua dismissed criticism of Su Can and Tang Wu's public kiss, while other teachers threatened to report him.
• Su Can and Xue Yiyang discussed how Xiao Rihua and Yin Xiaotian had reacted to the incident.
• Su Can waited for Tang Wu after school, and they walked together while she teased him about the kiss.
• Zeng Na invited Su Can and Tang Wu to eat fried potatoes at a roadside stall.
• Tang Wu enjoyed the snack, and Su Can felt moved by sharing the ordinary moment with her.

NATO intensified its bombardment of Yugoslavia, and Lin Guozhou witnessed the danger facing the embassy staff before returning home as negotiations continued. Meanwhile, Su Can’s family opened a third shop in Xiahai City with support from Zeng Qu anming, who increasingly trusted Su Can’s judgment.

• NATO expanded its attacks on Yugoslav government offices and civilian infrastructure, plunging Belgrade into darkness and destroying the Serbia Socialist Party headquarters.
• Lin Guozhou visited the embassy rooftop, where a cruise missile struck a nearby hotel, and urged the staff to stay safe before leaving Yugoslavia.
• Lin Guozhou asked Ambassador Pan about negotiations; Pan said the Red Berets were cooperating and expected a satisfactory result soon.
• Su Can’s family opened a third store near City First Middle School, and Zeng He persuaded Yin Shuying that the location and professional approach would make it successful.
• Zeng Qu anming supported the expansion and reflected that Su Can’s achievements had changed how he viewed his nephew and his future.

Su Can and Tang Wu grew closer as they walked to school together, while their classmates began gossiping about them. At home, Su Can recalled NATO’s coming bombing of the Chinese embassy and considered how he could use the media to warn people and possibly prevent it.

• Tang Wu waited for Su Can beneath a banyan tree, and they went to a stationery shop together.
• Su Can repaired Tang Wu’s fountain pen and bought her stationery from his family’s shop, then explained that the purchase would be charged to his mother’s account.
• Tang Wu agreed to spend time with Su Can on weekends, and the two entered school together as students watched them.
• On the bus home, Chen Jie and Zhang Miao asked Xue Yiyang about Su Can, and Su Can identified himself.
• Su Can recalled the May 8, 1999 bombing of the Chinese embassy and considered using the media to warn people and change what happened.