Chapter Summaries

Su Can returned to the summer when he was sixteen, just before the high school entrance exam. He faced a chance to overcome the regrets of his past and shape a different future.

• Su Can returned to the summer when he was sixteen.
• He realized the high school entrance exam would begin the next day.
• Su Can prepared to face the past and reclaim his regrets.

After losing his job and returning to his hometown, Su Can experienced time stopping and running backward, then found himself in his younger body on June 13, 1998. He realized he had returned to the days before his high school entrance exams, leaving him surrounded by schoolgirls who mocked the idea that he was a top student.

• Su Can reflected on his failures and his recent defeat by a rival at work as he walked through his hometown.
• Time stopped around Su Can, then reversed, transforming the neighborhood into the version he remembered from more than a decade earlier.
• Time resumed, and Su Can found himself as a schoolboy among students leaving school, wearing his old clothes and backpack.
• Su Can checked his reflection and saw that he had returned to his younger body.
• Su Can asked a young woman at the grocery store for the date, and she told him it was June 13, 1998, three days before the high school entrance exams.
• The young woman called Su Can a top student, prompting groups of girls to exchange mocking smiles.

After returning from 2009 to his sixteen-year-old self in 1998, Su Can recognized his classmates and faced the approaching middle school graduation examination as his first chance to change his future. He asked Dong Qingyun to let him copy a set of advanced practice problems, while Dong Qingyun privately expected the difficult material to overwhelm him.

• Su Can recognized Cheng Yun, Cheng Lan, and Tang Wu, and recalled his old crush on Tang Wu as he calmly met her gaze.
• Dong Qingyun arrived and invited Tang Wu to study with him, then indirectly challenged Su Can by emphasizing their academic standing.
• Su Can examined Dong Qingyun's advanced practice paper and realized his later education gave him confidence with many of its problems.
• Su Can asked to photocopy the paper, and Tang Wu showed concern while Dong Qingyun agreed, believing the exercises would confuse Su Can.

Su Can remembered Tang Wu’s tragic future and returned home to his parents, newly resolved to change his prospects and spare them future hardship. Over dinner, his parents encouraged him about the high school entrance exams as he struggled to hold back tears.

• Su Can realized Tang Wu would become a successful investment broker who was murdered by her boyfriend, and he watched her leave with Cheng Yun and Cheng Lan.
• Dong Qingyun resented Su Can for staring at Tang Wu but decided to let him be, believing he would fail to get into a good high school.
• Su Can walked home through the familiar residential compound and remembered his family’s financial struggles after he had failed the entrance exams.
• Su Can arrived home to find his parents preparing chicken stewed with shiitake mushrooms and encouraging him to do well on his exams.
• Su Can ate dinner with his parents and wept into the chicken broth as he remembered their later hardships.

With three days left before the high school entrance exam, Su Can used his memories from eleven years in the future to review and prepare for a fresh start. After solving a hundred difficult middle-school math problems overnight, he planned to check his answers and borrow challenging exercises for the other subjects.

• Zeng Ke saw Su Can studying and told Su Licheng that their son was finally working hard, while Su Licheng worried he had started too late.
• Su Can reviewed Chinese and English, found much of the material familiar, and set his sights on getting into the city's top high school.
• Su Can worked through a hundred difficult math problems, consulting his textbooks to refresh forgotten concepts.
• After finishing the problems at one in the morning, Su Can realized he had no answer key to verify his work and planned to borrow one at school.
• Su Can decided to borrow difficult exercises for the other exam subjects and hoped three days would be enough.

Su Can used his second chance to prepare for the high school entrance exam and reunited with his childhood friend Xue Yiyang, whom he had lost in his previous life. After Xue Yiyang doubted he could get into City No. 1 High School, Su Can challenged him to a bet.

• Su Can asked his mother, Zeng Ke, for twenty yuan to photocopy study materials, and she gave it to him.
• Su Can saw Xue Yiyang on the way to school and hugged him, remembering his friend’s death in 2008.
• Xue Yiyang invited Su Can to play video games, but Su Can refused and asked about City No. 1 High School’s admission cutoff.
• Xue Yiyang teased Su Can about his grades and guessed he wanted to attend City No. 1 High School to pursue Chen Lingshan.
• Su Can bet that he would get into Xue Yiyang’s school, with the loser agreeing to be kicked at the school gate.

Su Can returned to middle school and asked Tang Wu to photocopy her practice papers, then stunned Dong Qingyun and their classmates by producing a fully completed set of elite math exercises. Dong Qingyun accused him of copying the answer key, and Su Can stayed silent rather than explain his sudden ability.

• Su Can found his seat and asked Tang Wu to photocopy her practice papers after school.
• Tang Wu wondered why Su Can wanted difficult exercises but agreed to help him.
• Dong Qingyun challenged Su Can to show how many of his math exercises he had completed.
• Su Can revealed that he had answered all one hundred questions, and Dong Qingyun checked them against the key.
• The answers showed Su Can had scored 97 percent, but Dong Qingyun accused him of copying, and Su Can offered no explanation.

On the final day of junior high, Su Can collected his examination slip and relived the emotional farewell with his classmates, while noticing that events seemed to be repeating as he remembered them. After school, he realized Tang Wu had already left, leaving him uncertain whether he would get the practice exercises he needed to prepare for the entrance exam.

• Su Can predicted that his deskmate would be assigned to First Middle School, and her admission slip confirmed his guess.
• Su Can collected his own slip and found that he was also assigned to First Middle School, as he had been eleven years earlier.
• Su Can's deskmate remarked that he seemed different, and he reflected on how his future experience had changed his outlook.
• Su Can and his classmates sang their class song and said an emotional farewell to their junior high years.
• Su Can packed his books after their homeroom teacher, Mr. Zhou, dismissed the class and discovered that Tang Wu had already left.

Su Can borrowed Tang Wu’s test papers and walked through their junior high school with her on the final day, while she encouraged him to keep studying. As they parted, Su Can resolved to change the future in which Tang Wu would be murdered, and Tang Wu realized they would attend different high schools.

• Tang Wu waited at the school gate with love letters from rejected suitors until Su Can arrived carrying his books.
• Tang Wu lent Su Can her test papers, and after they had them photocopied, she asked him to walk around the school with her.
• On the campus lawn, Tang Wu praised Su Can’s ability and urged him to study for the entrance exam; he decided he would change her future.
• Mr. Zhou saw Su Can and Tang Wu leaving together and mistakenly concluded they had been a secret couple.
• Su Can walked Tang Wu across the street before they said goodbye, and she felt sad knowing they would attend different high schools.

Su Can reunited with his extended family at Bamboo Pavilion and reflected on the old tensions and affection between them. As his relatives discussed his poor grades and the upcoming entrance exams, he calmly promised to work harder, leaving Zeng Na briefly at a loss for words.

• Su Can recalled how his uncles’ careers and attitudes shaped the family’s rivalries, and felt guilty remembering how his parents had borne the family’s disdain.
• Zeng Qu anming urged Su Licheng and Zeng Ke to support Su Can’s education so he could improve their fortunes.
• Zeng Ke expressed hope in Su Can, while Zeng Na mocked his mock-exam score and questioned whether he could enter Third Middle School’s senior high division.
• Su Can smiled and said he would study properly and do his best, surprising Zeng Na with his calm response.
• Zeng Ke defended Su Can’s recent efforts, and Zeng Na could only insist that studying would not help someone with such poor grades.

At a family dinner, Su Can watched his uncles promise rewards for school success and recalled how Xiao Fei’s report would later damage Zeng Qu anming’s career. When Xiao Fei arrived and boasted about his daughter, Su Can resolved to change his uncle’s future misfortunes.

• Zeng Yuan praised Su Can for standing up to Zeng Na, and Zeng Zhaoding promised him a Game Boy if he scored ninety in both subjects.
• Zeng Qu anming promised Su Can a bicycle if he entered Third Middle School and did better than usual, though Su Can remembered that neither cousin would receive their promised reward.
• Xiao Fei greeted Zeng Qu anming, and Su Can recalled how Xiao Fei’s future report over a public-funds stock-trading incident would damage his uncle’s career.
• Xiao Yunyun recognized Su Can and watched him closely as Xiao Fei and Zeng Qu anming compared their daughters’ grades and prospects.
• Xiao Fei mocked Su Can by asking whether he had earned the title of “Model Student of the Year.”

Su Can impressed his family with his exam preparation and agreed to take a break with his childhood friends, Xue Yiyang and Liu Rui. The two told him they had been humiliated at their gaming parlor and wanted him to help them win a rematch.

• Xiao Fei urged Su Can to try for First High School, then left after Su Can answered modestly and Zeng Zhaoding smoothed over the tense dinner.
• Su Can completed his Chinese, mathematics, English, and biology review, then reassured his parents with his progress.
• Su Can decided to focus the next day on physics and chemistry, leaving history and politics for a rough review.
• Xue Yiyang and Liu Rui arrived and persuaded Su Can to go out for a while before his entrance exams.
• Xue Yiyang and Liu Rui explained that a group of skilled newcomers had beaten them at the console gaming parlor and asked Su Can to help defend their circle's pride in a rematch.

Su Can and his friends met Wang Weiwei’s group at a gaming room, where the newcomers’ skill and Lin Luoran’s beauty drew everyone’s attention. Wang Weiwei defeated Liu Rui and offered to pay the room’s bill if anyone could beat him.

• Liu Rui spotted Wang Weiwei’s group leaving the International Hotel, and Su Can noticed the beautiful girl among them.
• At the gaming room, the group’s presence unsettled the regulars, while Xue Yiyang and Liu Rui explained that Su Can was only there to play casually.
• After Little Wu insulted the local players, Wang Weiwei called the girl Lin Luoran and challenged everyone, promising to cover the bill if anyone beat him.
• Su Can judged that Wang Weiwei and his companions likely came from official families, then watched Wang Weiwei beat Liu Rui three-one.

Wang Weiwei challenged Xue Yiyang to beat him at Pro Evolution Soccer, wagering drinks and cigarettes against calling him “trash.” Xue Yiyang fought to defend his group’s dignity, but Wang Weiwei exploited a game bug to score, leaving Xue Yiyang with little time to equalize.

• Wang Weiwei prepared his own polished controller while Su Can reflected on how much video games had changed since this older version of Pro Evolution Soccer.
• Xue Yiyang took Liu Rui’s controller and prepared to face Wang Weiwei again, determined to use the strategies he had devised.
• Wang Weiwei raised the stakes, promising to pay for everyone’s drinks and cigarettes if Xue Yiyang won, but threatening to call him “trash” if he failed to win a match.
• Xue Yiyang attacked with Verón, but Wang Weiwei used a sliding tackle that the game’s referee ignored, then broke through the defense and scored.
• Wang Weiwei taunted Xue Yiyang as the crowd reacted angrily, and Xue Yiyang restarted the game with little time left to equalize.

After Xue Yiyang lost to Wang Weiwei, Su Can challenged Xiao Wu and then Wang Weiwei at Pro Evolution Soccer, using his future experience to defeat them. The gaming room erupted as Wang Weiwei lost four-one, and Su Can called him trash.

• Lin Luoran noticed Su Can staring at her and asked what was wrong with him.
• Wang Weiwei defeated Xue Yiyang, then prepared to leave with Xiao Wu and the others.
• Su Can insulted Wang Weiwei and challenged Xiao Wu to a match, defeating him three goals to none.
• Wang Weiwei challenged Su Can, but Su Can used advanced techniques to beat him four-one.
• Su Can called Wang Weiwei trash as Xue Yiyang, Liu Rui, and the crowd celebrated.

After defeating Wang Weiwei’s group in the arcade soccer game, Su Can urged Liu Rui and Xue Yiyang to prepare for the entrance exams. He revealed that he planned to try for First Middle School, and the chapter ended with him reaffirming his bet despite his friends’ disbelief.

• Su Can shook hands with Wang Weiwei, who accepted defeat and promised to cover everyone’s expenses; Luo Ran looked away awkwardly when Su Can glanced at her.
• On the way home, Liu Rui and Xue Yiyang praised Su Can’s skills and asked about Luo Ran, while Su Can reflected on how his rebirth had changed events.
• Su Can urged Liu Rui and Xue Yiyang to study for the exams and offered to photocopy practice questions suited to their weak subjects.
• Xue Yiyang asked whether Su Can really intended to try for First Middle School, and Liu Rui reacted with shock.
• Su Can calmly reminded them that their bet still stood, leaving Liu Rui confused about what he and Xue Yiyang had wagered.

On June 17, 1998, Su Can woke fearing his return to the past was a dream, then prepared to take the high school entrance exams with renewed confidence. He rode to the exam venue with Xue Yiyang and Liu Rui, where Tang Wu greeted him, and the chapter ended with her watching him and feeling faintly disappointed when his attention stayed on the city outside.

• Su Can woke before the alarm, remembered his past failure, and confirmed that he had returned to June 17, 1998, the day of the entrance exams.
• Zeng Ke prepared breakfast and encouraged Su Can, who reassured her before leaving home with his exam supplies.
• Xue Yiyang and Liu Rui praised the detailed practice papers Su Can had given them and discussed their revision on the bus.
• Tang Wu boarded the bus, greeted Su Can first, and drew the attention of Xue Yiyang and Liu Rui.
• After Liu Rui got off at his exam venue, Tang Wu watched Su Can looking out at the city and felt a faint sense of disappointment.

Su Can took the 1998 junior high entrance mathematics exam at First Middle School and found it far easier than he expected. He left the exam unsettled by how quickly he had solved the paper.

• Su Can entered an exam room at First Middle School, where invigilators watched the Third Middle School students closely.
• Su Can scanned the difficult mathematics paper and realized the questions seemed simple compared with his recent practice problems.
• Xiao Rihua noticed Su Can writing fluently while First Middle School’s strong students struggled, but assumed Su Can was skipping questions.
• The girl in glasses finished and left the exam room before Su Can.
• Su Can checked his completed paper, waited before submitting it, and walked out of First Middle School feeling dazed.

Su Can completed the high school entrance exams with striking speed, though his history and politics answers remained weak. His essay about the coming Yangtze floods might be his only chance to warn people, but the chapter left its impact uncertain.

• Su Can wrote a hesitant essay for the Chinese exam and wondered whether his choice might affect the future.
• Su Can watched news of heavy rain in the Yangtze River basin and recalled the coming floods and damage to Xiahai City.
• Su Can easily finished the English exam and handed in his combined physics and chemistry paper after only forty minutes, astonishing the other students.
• Dong Qingyun and Tang Wu saw Su Can leave early and wondered whether he had given up.
• Su Can handed in his history and politics paper early, and Xiao Rihua judged his sparse answers to be poor.

Su Can urged his mother, Zeng Ke, to accept a buyout from her failing company and start a business rather than leave the family’s future in other people’s hands. His parents listened to his reasoning, though the chapter ended before Zeng Ke decided what to do.

• Su Can noticed that Zeng Ke had become increasingly troubled and helped her prepare dinner.
• Su Can overheard Zeng Ke and Su Licheng arguing about whether she should take a buyout from her struggling company or keep her job.
• Su Can recalled that the company would eventually collapse and that Zeng Ke would later regret not starting a business sooner.
• Su Can joined his parents and advised Zeng Ke to take the buyout, explaining that the family should not depend on other people to determine its future.
• Zeng Ke encouraged Su Licheng to let their son speak, and both parents were surprised by Su Can’s mature argument.