Chapter Summaries

Su Can spent a lonely night at the Grand Hyatt Shanghai, reflecting on the life and relationships his rebirth had changed, then caught up with his family and friends by phone. Lin Luoran ended their call by teasing him about rumors of his time at Exeter High School.

• Su Can looked over Shanghai from his hotel room and thought about the friends and past relationships he had left behind after his rebirth.
• Su Can called Su Licheng and Zeng Ke, who told him their businesses had continued to grow while he was away.
• Su Can called Wang Weiwei and the others, and Lin Zouwen complained about senior-year extra classes before handing the phone to Lin Luoran.
• Lin Luoran teased Su Can about Ginny and rumors of his American school life, while Su Can denied that the story was what she thought.

Su Can and Tang Wu returned to Rongcheng after their stay in America, where they reunited with family and friends and faced the approaching end of senior year. Mu Xuan accepted their relationship more calmly, but believed June would separate them as they each went on to new futures.

• Su Can and Tang Wu said goodbye to Ning Dong, Pang Yiran, and Cao Ze in Shanghai, then discussed friendship and their time apart on the flight home.
• Mu Xuan picked up Su Can and Tang Wu in Rongcheng, questioned them about their life in America, and urged Su Can to do his best in his final semester.
• Su Can returned home to Zeng He and Su Licheng, then reunited with his extended family and learned that Zeng Zhaoding and Zeng Yuan had moved to Rongcheng after Zeng Zhaoding's divorce.
• Wang Weiwei, Lin Luoran, and Lin Zouwen met Su Can at a bar, teased Wang Weiwei about Li Xue's confession, and discussed their university plans.
• Su Can and his friends drank together and reflected on graduation and the futures awaiting them as the second semester began.

Su Can returned to No. 27 Middle School after his exchange in America and rejoined Class Three as the Gaokao approached. He gave a speech at the senior-year pledge rally and learned that stories and photographs of his time at Exeter High School had reached Rongcheng through a university magazine.

• Su Can watched Zack's video of Exeter High School classmates visiting the White Mountains, then submitted his exchange report to Yuan Chaoyin and returned to Class Three.
• Su Can's classmates caught him up on school events, including Sun Man's arts festival award and No. 27 Middle School students' preparations for the International Science and Engineering Fair.
• During the school's broadcast mock defense, Sun Man adjusted Yang Cheng's bow tie, prompting Jiang Mingjun to suggest that she was challenging Su Can.
• Wang Guiwen asked Su Can to represent the boys at the senior-year pledge rally after Yang Cheng left for America, and Su Can delivered a speech about strength, nobility, beauty, and innocence.
• Sun Man told Su Can that Rongcheng Universities Joint Magazine had published accounts and a photograph of his activities in America.

As No. 27 Middle School’s seniors entered the final hundred-day Gaokao sprint, Su Can reflected on his growing influence and discussed Pineapple Media’s plans with Lin Guangdong. Lin then unexpectedly encountered his former lover and her husband in the school parking lot, but left without confronting them.

• Su Can saw Sun Man treat him with polite indifference at the pledge rally as the students began their final hundred-day preparation for the Gaokao.
• Lin Guangdong visited the Morning Flowers Society to recruit young writers for Pineapple Media’s planned youth literary magazine.
• Su Can met Lin and privately discussed Pineapple Media’s strategy and its potential to develop Rongcheng’s leisure and entertainment industry.
• Lin encountered his former lover and her husband, Zhao Chengyan’s paternal uncle, beside their cars in the parking lot.
• Lin asked about the damage to his Audi, declined to argue with his former lover’s husband, and drove away while Su Can watched them react.

Su Can and Tang Wu joined their friends to watch Lin Zouwen’s football match, where the group reflected on graduation and joked about Su Can’s place in the school’s history. Zhang Feifei hinted at her feelings for Wang Weiwei and later admitted she envied Su Can and Tang Wu for having a shared future at university.

• Su Can and Tang Wu returned to school together and joined Wang Weiwei and the others at Lin Zouwen’s football match.
• Zhuang Zhiyu and Zhang Feifei praised Su Can’s growing fame, and the friends discussed how they might remember their high school days after graduation.
• Zhang Feifei teased Tang Wu about taking Su Can for herself, and Tang Wu said she did not mind if he agreed.
• After Lin Zouwen finished the match, the group headed back, and Zhang Feifei apologized to Tang Wu for her teasing.
• Zhang Feifei reflected on her feelings for Wang Weiwei and felt anxious about graduation, while envying Su Can and Tang Wu’s shared university plans.

No. 4 students began visiting No. 27 after Lü Xianming openly declared that he liked Tang Wu, and Tang Wu rebuffed Wang Qinglin and Qumu Zhuoya when they approached her. At a joint basketball game, Lü Xianming’s mother, Zhou Rong, tried to give Tang Wu a jade bracelet and then forcibly held her wrist, insisting she come to dinner.

• Zhang Feifei told Tang Wu that No. 4 students were visiting because Lü Xianming had publicly confessed that he liked her.
• Wang Qinglin and Qumu Zhuoya approached Tang Wu, but Tang Wu refused to make friends with them and walked away.
• After the incident spread through the students’ circles, Tang Wu glanced at Su Can, who remarked that Lü Xianming would not give up.
• At a friendly basketball game between No. 4 and No. 27, Zhou Rong watched Lü Xianming play and tried to give Tang Wu a jade bracelet.
• Zhang Feifei suggested that Tang Wu leave, but Zhou Rong grabbed Tang Wu by the wrist and insisted on taking her to dinner, claiming Tang Wu’s mother would agree.

Su Can learned that Zhou Rong had taken Tang Wu to the Mangshan Hotel and confronted them after Zhou Rong urged Tang Wu to choose Lü Xianming for the wealthy future he could offer. He took Tang Wu away, leaving Zhou Rong furious and the jade bracelets smashed.

• Zhang Feifei told Su Can that Zhou Rong had taken Tang Wu to lunch and tried to give her expensive jade bracelets.
• Su Can learned Tang Wu was at the Mangshan Hotel and went there despite his classmates' warnings.
• Zhou Rong offered to arrange Tang Wu and Lü Xianming's education and future, then argued that Lü Xianming could provide her with a comfortable life.
• Tang Wu told Zhou Rong that even if her future partner could offer none of those luxuries, she would stand by him.
• Su Can arrived, took Tang Wu's hand, and smashed the jade bracelets after asking whether Zhou Rong or Mu Xuan had sent them.
• Su Can told Zhou Rong to give him and Tang Wu peace and freedom, then led Tang Wu away as Zhou Rong shouted after them.

Su Can prepared to face legal and school pressure over smashing Zhou Rong’s jade bracelet, while his friends pledged their support. At the school gates, Mu Xuan confronted the situation and learned that Zhou Rong had offered Tang Wu a university place alongside Lü Xianming, leaving Mu Xuan questioning Zhou Rong’s motives.

• Wang Yue told Su Can that Hailida Law Firm would handle any legal dispute over the bracelet and advised him to say he had known nothing about it beforehand.
• Zhang Feifei and Wang Weiwei backed Su Can, while Lin Luoran urged him not to keep making his friends worry during senior year.
• After evening study, Su Can and Tang Wu found Zhou Rong and Mu Xuan waiting outside the school gates.
• Zhou Rong threatened Su Can with an eighty-thousand-yuan claim and accused him of taking Tang Wu from the Minshan Hotel and smashing her bracelet.
• Tang Wu told Mu Xuan that Zhou Rong had offered to arrange for her and Lü Xianming to attend the same university, even abroad.
• Mu Xuan questioned Zhou Rong about what she had told Tang Wu and asked whether she had ever said she disliked Lü Xianming.

Mu Xuan dismissed Zhou Rong’s scheme to bring Tang Wu and Lü Xianming together and trusted Su Can to accompany Tang Wu home. Back at home, Tang Wu’s father discovered the newspapers and magazines she had collected about Su Can, leaving Mu Xuan amused by her daughter’s devotion.

• Mu Xuan questioned Zhou Rong’s interference in the students’ lives, then told Su Can he could continue taking Tang Wu home after school.
• Zhou Rong objected, but Mu Xuan urged her to give the children room to grow and offered to replace the bracelet Zhou Rong had demanded from Su Can.
• Mu Xuan reassured Su Can that Zhou Rong meant well, then took Tang Wu home and told her to come home with Mom.
• Zhou Rong privately criticized Mu Xuan for trusting Su Can, but Mu Xuan said she trusted Tang Wu and wanted to give the couple space.
• Tang Wu returned home and noticed that the newspapers and magazines she had collected about Su Can had been moved.
• Tang Wu’s father found the publications about Su Can, and Mu Xuan teased that Tang Wu was taking his side.

As Su Can entered the second semester of his final year, Tang Wu’s parents worried that young love and uncertain futures could leave the post-80s generation heartbroken. At No. 27 Middle School, Su Can and his friends discussed their university plans and wondered whether any of them would ever become famous.

• Mu Xuan told Tang Wu’s father that she feared Tang Wu and Su Can were too young to make lasting promises before their futures were settled.
• In January 2001, Su Can began the second semester of his final year as the collision between Chinese and American aircraft shook the world.
• Zhang Feifei said she planned to pursue arts admissions and might travel to Hangzhou for intensive training, while Zhuang Zhiyu said he also hoped to attend Rongcheng University.
• Zhang Xian questioned whether any of the friends could become famous nationwide, and the group fell silent as they considered their uncertain futures.

Su Can urged Lin Guangdong to prepare for the launch of “Fashion Culture” by studying leading American fashion magazines and building professional expertise. He predicted that China would join the WTO that year and argued that the magazine should establish itself early as Chinese readers’ appetite for fashion media grew.

• After lunch, Tang Wu returned to class to study, while Zhang Feifei went to the art studio and Lin Luoran and Wang Weiwei returned to their classes.
• Su Can met Lin Guangdong and Wang Yue at UCC Coffee and learned that the Provincial Newspaper Group planned to give Lin Guangdong control of “Fashion Culture” through a partnership with Pineapple Media.
• Su Can told Lin Guangdong to go abroad and learn how top American fashion magazines operated, explaining that “Fashion Culture” needed substance and expertise beyond the advertising-focused “Campus Consumption” model.
• Lin Guangdong worried that China’s fashion industry lacked the market to support the magazine, but Su Can said China would join the WTO that year and readers’ demand for such publications would grow.
• Lin Guangdong agreed to do his best and joked about Su Can’s confidence, while Su Can privately thought that his predictions made him sound like a grandmaster of bluffing.

Su Can helped Wang Yue and Ren Ying counter Wangfujing’s aggressive promotion by exposing its deceptive discount practices, allowing Dunhuang Mall to regain momentum. Wang Yue planned an expansion beyond the province, while Su Can ended the chapter watching Tang Wu through his telescope as she watched him too.

• Wang Yue told Su Can that Ji Yujie had taken over Rongcheng Wangfujing and was probing Dunhuang Mall through its managers.
• Su Can urged Wang Yue to tighten internal discipline and involve Pineapple Media in Dunhuang’s response.
• Ji Yujie launched a two-week, storewide thirty-percent-off promotion that stalled Dunhuang Mall’s sales and drew crowds to Wangfujing.
• Negative reports accused Wangfujing of raising prices before its discounts, and Ji Yujie faced refund demands and growing public criticism.
• Ji Yujie admitted that some counters had changed prices without authorization, while Wang Yue told Su Can the counterattack had worked and discussed opening another branch.
• Su Can told Wang Yue not to push Wangfujing further, then watched Tang Wu through his telescope as she watched him from her home.

Su Can learned that he had passed Nanjing University’s preliminary recommended-admission review, while Tang Wu chose the same university despite being eligible for Tsinghua or Peking University. The chapter left them united in their university plans, though Tang Wu expected her mother to disapprove.

• Zhang Feifei received her Central Academy of Fine Arts specialist entrance qualification, while Wang Weiwei awkwardly dealt with a girl openly pursuing him.
• Su Can returned home to find Zeng He and Su Licheng enjoying their growing business and professional success, and Zeng He asked whether girls at school liked him.
• Su Can told his parents that he had passed Nanjing University’s preliminary review and would face a written test and interview.
• Tang Wu chose Nanjing University instead of Tsinghua or Peking University, despite a school official urging her to reconsider.
• Su Can embraced Tang Wu in a shadowy corner of the Administrative Building, and she said she wanted to study somewhere she chose, even if her mother disapproved.

Su Can balanced his growing business ventures with the final stretch of senior year, where a water fight with Lin Luoran and two other girls turned into a corridor chase. As graduation approached, the final exams loomed over the students.

• Lin Guangdong told Su Can about Pineapple Media's plans for a fashion magazine and his trip with Jiang Ming to the University of Missouri, while dismissing a proposed writing competition as unrealistic.
• Wang Guiwen cautioned Su Can against skipping class after he qualified for recommended admission to Nanjing University.
• Tang Wu visited the Morning Flowers Society to get the latest issue featuring Su Can as the school's most inspiring student.
• Zeng He expanded Shushan Stationery's distribution network as the factory's products gained popularity across China.
• Lin Luoran splashed water at Su Can, and he retaliated, soaking her and Xiao Yunyun and Wu Shirui; the three girls chased him through the corridor, soaking Lin Zouwen when he tried to defend Su Can.

As No. 27 Middle School’s seniors approached graduation, Su Can joined Wang Weiwei and the others in a StarCraft match against a girls’ team from Yude Middle School, while Tang Wu chose Nanjing University. Sun Man’s farewell broadcast named Su Can before she left, and the students departed for the Gaokao break as their high-school years ended.

• In the last month before the Gaokao, Wang Guiwen confronted Su Can for skipping evening study, and Su Can apologized.
• Lin Zouwen asked Su Can to help after his group lost to Yude Middle School’s girls’ StarCraft team; Su Can played the deciding match, but his team lost.
• At McDonald’s, Wang Weiwei clarified that the story about humiliating Kong Qi had been exaggerated, while Su Can declined to join the celebration.
• Tang Wu told Mu Xuan she had chosen Nanjing University and admitted Su Can planned to apply there; Mu Xuan accepted her decision and urged her to prepare for university.
• On the final day before the Gaokao break, Sun Man requested “When You Say Nothing at All,” wished everyone happy graduation, named Su Can, and left No. 27 Middle School.
• Su Can and the other seniors carried their books out of school, with Su Can due to return for the graduation ceremony and group photographs.

On the final day before the Gaokao break, the seniors said goodbye to school as Lin Luoran destroyed her English textbook and their teachers visited the class. Wang Guiwen returned Su Can’s essays and revealed he had secretly photocopied them, leaving the class on the eve of graduation and the exam.

• Lin Luoran tore her English textbook into scraps and scattered them from the corridor while Su Can watched.
• Sun Man gave her final broadcast for her friends and Su Can, then vanished from No. 27 Middle School.
• Wang Guiwen visited the graduating class, and the students thanked him before he gave them his final Gaokao advice.
• Wang Guiwen returned Su Can’s Chinese test papers, saying he had kept them because Su Can’s essays were well written.
• Wang Guiwen told Su Can he had photocopied the essays, surprising the class before he left to greet other students.

Su Can celebrated the end of school with Wang Weiwei, Lin Zouwen, and Lin Luoran, then waited through the Gaokao while his friends took it. After the graduation photo, he spoke with Li Qingyang about Tang Wu and his plans for university, and Zhang Feifei invited Su Can to a gathering that night.

• Su Can helped Wang Weiwei, Lin Zouwen, and Lin Luoran bring their schoolbooks back to their villa and gave them his revision notes before the Gaokao.
• Su Can stayed home during the rainy exam days and called Tang Wu instead of seeing his friends off.
• At school for graduation photos, Li Qingyang tore up the letter he had planned to give Tang Wu and told Su Can he had chosen Tongji University's television and film directing program.
• Su Can told Li Qingyang that his feelings for Tang Wu were not a matter of winning or losing, then encouraged him to keep pursuing his goals.
• Su Can joined his classmates for the graduation photo, and Zhang Feifei invited him to a large evening gathering, saying many people planned to attend because she promised he would be there.

Su Can and Tang Wu spent their graduation day revisiting No. 27 Middle School before joining classmates for a night of celebration at Starlight KTV. The gathering left them facing the reality of parting ways, as Wang Weiwei, Lin Zouwen, and Lin Luoran revealed where they would attend university.

• Su Can and Tang Wu walked around No. 27 Middle School together, then left for lunch as classmates gathered to celebrate graduation.
• Su Can joined classmates at Zhang Feifei's gathering at Starlight KTV, where students crowded around to drink with him.
• Tang Wu offered to drink in Su Can's place, and Lin Luoran took on the crowd when they kept pressing the group to drink.
• Su Can left with Tang Wu when it was time to take her home, while Wang Weiwei, Lin Zouwen, and Lin Luoran joined them for fresh air.
• Wang Weiwei revealed he would attend China Youth University, Lin Zouwen said he would attend Rongcheng University, and Lin Luoran said she had applied to Shanghai International Studies University.

Su Can reflected on keeping a low profile as he watched factional conflict at Darong Construction worsen over an international project dispute. As Mu Kai moved against Xu Jianchuan and Old Master Xu, Su Licheng faced mounting pressure, and Su Can realized he could not change his father’s career troubles.

• Su Can considered how his businesses could attract suspicion and resolved to stay concealed while they grew.
• A Greek residential project dispute exposed failures and handover problems within Zhongsen Construction Group, prompting a claim for nearly two hundred million US dollars.
• Mu Kai’s faction blamed Xu Jianchuan and Su Licheng for the project’s failures, while Mu Kai used the dispute to try to displace Old Master Xu and secure the top post at Darong Construction.
• Su Can noticed Su Licheng’s worry and overheard Zhong Jianjun discuss the poor outlook for their side amid pressure from Mu Kai’s supporters.
• Xu Jianchuan told Su Licheng he was investigating Mu Kai’s overseas actions, while Su Can learned that Old Master Xu’s health had worsened.
• Su Can considered offering to help his father start a business but understood that he could not alter Su Licheng’s impending career setback.

Su Can discussed Big Banyan Construction’s future with Old Xu, who firmly opposed breaking up the state-owned group as he considered retirement. Meanwhile, Lin Guangdong’s Fashion Culture attracted attention from investors and Xiao Zhaoxu, who proposed a forced partnership with Pineapple Media, leaving Su Can furious.

• Old Xu praised Su Can, then spoke about his possible retirement and his determination to keep Big Banyan Construction intact and state-owned.
• Su Can considered how Old Xu’s retirement and the company’s factional struggle could affect Su Licheng’s prospects.
• Lin Guangdong’s Fashion Culture drew notice from media professionals and investors after Lin presented his vision for the magazine.
• Lin Guangdong told Su Can that Xiao Zhaoxu wanted to use Sharp Edge magazine as an equity contribution to co-publish Fashion Culture.
• Su Can said he wanted to slap Xiao Zhaoxu twice.