Chapter Summaries

Su Can attended a gathering with Tang Wu’s influential grandparents, whose presence shielded him and changed how powerful people viewed him as Facebook Chinese rose. After hiring its first fifty employees, Su Can received a conciliatory call from Gong Yaohui, who feared the consequences of offending him.

• Su Can met Tang Wu’s grandparents and learned about Mu Qin’s delegation and its plans for a cadre training institute in Pudong.
• Su Can reflected on Facebook Chinese’s rise and briefly shared a flirtatious hand squeeze with Tang Wu beneath the table.
• Facebook Chinese extended its interviews and hired its first fifty employees, forming the core of its founding team.
• Lin Guangdong told Su Can that he had given Gong Yaohui his number after Gong asked for it.
• Gong Yaohui apologized to Su Can for his relative’s misconduct and proposed meeting, then panicked when he realized he had not properly replaced the phone receiver.

Facebook Chinese opened its new headquarters, where Su Can addressed employees who doubted whether such a young founder could lead them. He called for a simple, politics-free workplace focused on helping every employee build a slightly better life, and the chapter left him receiving sustained applause.

• Facebook Chinese completed renovations at its Meiluo Building headquarters and welcomed fifty new employees, along with visitors from Facebook's United States headquarters led by Dustin.
• Qiao Shuxin told Su Can that some employees doubted his youth and experience, so Su Can agreed to address them at the company's first official briefing.
• Su Can admitted that many employees had more experience than he did and said he would serve the team by providing the resources they needed.
• Su Can set out his principle of simple working relationships without office politics and urged employees to focus their energy on their work.
• Su Can said Facebook Chinese should help employees afford homes, cars, and security for their families, then received growing, sustained applause.

Su Can oversaw Facebook Chinese’s growing staff and campus promotion plans while Tang Wu visited the company and saw how far it had come. The chapter ended with the two sharing a quiet moment on the Sky Garden balcony as Tang Wu told him, “I have you.”

• Zhang Lanzhi presented Facebook Chinese’s university promotion pilot plan, which targeted universities in Beijing, Nanjing, and Shanghai.
• Su Can continued coordinating company plans as Facebook Chinese’s technical team neared completion of its adaptation of the American site’s architecture.
• Su Can brought Tang Wu to the company, where employees noticed her and privately discussed Su Can’s youth, the company’s prospects, and its powerful connections.
• Su Can showed Tang Wu the Sky Garden and explained his ambitions for Facebook Chinese, while she praised his progress.
• Tang Wu told Su Can that she had him, and he said it was the most beautiful thing he had heard since starting the company.

Su Can and Tang Wu visited her grandparents, Mu Qin and Old Master Qian, whose presence had helped ease resistance to Facebook Chinese. The chapter ended with Old Master Qian inviting Su Can to play Chinese chess before dinner.

• Su Can reflected on his studies, Facebook Chinese, and how Mu Qin’s standing had helped blunt opposition from Liu Zhensheng and Zhan Hua.
• Su Can and Tang Wu went to Xuehai Yiju for dinner with her grandparents.
• Mu Qin welcomed them and returned to preparing dinner while Tang Wu helped her in the kitchen.
• Su Can greeted Old Master Qian, who was tending plants on the balcony, then sat beside the Chinese chess set.
• Old Master Qian finished tending the plants and invited Su Can to play Chinese chess.

Su Can attended a meal at Tang Wu’s home with Mu Qin and Old Master Qian, weighing the danger their influence posed to his relationship and businesses. Tang Wu openly praised his company, and Mu Qin asked about its early difficulties, leaving Su Can to wonder whether the elders were beginning to acknowledge or help him.

• Su Can played chess with Old Master Qian while Tang Wu and Mu Qin prepared dinner, and he reflected on his family and the elders’ formidable influence.
• Over dinner, Su Can considered how the Mu Family elders’ approval or disapproval could affect his future and Facebook Chinese.
• Old Master Qian criticized Su Can’s chess, and Mu Qin saw his embarrassment as evidence that he was an ordinary young man after all.
• Tang Wu placed a spare rib in Su Can’s bowl and told the elders that his company was doing very well.
• Mu Qin asked Su Can whether his company had faced difficulties when it first started, prompting him to wonder if she intended to help.

Su Can explained Facebook Chinese’s challenges and plans to Tang Wu’s grandparents, who grew more receptive to him and discussed how to help him. As Su Can balanced company work with final exams, district officials singled out Facebook Chinese during their visit to the Meiluo Building, and Liu Changsheng wrote the company an encouraging inscription.

• Su Can discussed his company’s difficulties and plans with Tang Wu’s grandparents, and they offered advice while considering his situation.
• After Su Can left, Tang Wu hoped her grandparents would accept and support him, and Old Madam Mu said she would raise his case with Deputy Secretary Liu.
• Su Can juggled Facebook Chinese’s growing workload with studying for his final exams.
• Qiao Shuxin told Su Can that district officials and a television crew would visit Facebook Chinese at the Meiluo Building.
• Liu Changsheng visited the Meiluo Building and wrote Facebook Chinese the inscription “Great potential ahead!”

As finals ended, Su Can celebrated Facebook Chinese’s growing recognition at Nanjing University with a large dinner attended by friends and classmates. He then planned the company’s first university expansion, sending teams to recruit campuses in Beijing and Shanghai.

• Su Can’s reputation rose after publicity about Facebook Chinese and visits from city officials, and his roommates teased him when he complained that admirers still did not ask for autographs.
• Su Can treated a crowd of friends and classmates to dinner, where they discussed his company and he reassured them that Facebook Chinese was still in testing.
• Su Can reflected that Tang Wu’s family had helped secure a valuable period of calm for his business, giving the company time to develop.
• Su Can divided the university recruitment effort between a team led by Qiao Shuxin heading to Beijing and staff targeting campuses in Shanghai.
• Su Can committed Facebook Chinese to building its first foothold among university students before expanding to the wider public.

Su Can’s gathering at Nanjing University’s snack street turned tense when a group of older male students targeted the women with lewd jokes. After Cheng Congcong and Tong Tong returned from their table, Cheng retaliated against a man who insulted her, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Su Can treated his friends and classmates to dinner at the crowded snack street as they reflected on the school year and the approaching summer vacation.
• Tong Tong recognized several older students at a nearby stall, including Qian Feng, and the men began making crude remarks about the women.
• One senior approached Tong Tong and Cheng Congcong, then persuaded them to join his group despite Cheng’s misgivings.
• The men plied Tong Tong and Cheng Congcong with drinks, but the two returned to Su Can’s table without being overwhelmed.
• After hearing a man make a lewd remark, Cheng Congcong threw hot tea over him and shouted that her body did not give him permission to insult or assault her.

Cheng Congcong threw hot tea at Qian Feng after he made a lewd remark, and the confrontation escalated as campus figures abandoned her and one man slapped her. Su Can intervened, confronted Ren Weiming for disowning her, and kicked over Qian Feng’s table after offering to pay double for the damage.

• Cheng Congcong threw hot tea in Qian Feng’s face, and both groups prepared to fight as the crowd gathered.
• Ren Weiming denied that Cheng Congcong was his woman, and his companions ignored her when a man slapped her.
• Li Han and Wang Dongjian rushed in to retaliate, but Fan Qiyi stopped the brawl when Su Can’s group arrived.
• Su Can demanded that Ren Weiming admit he knew Cheng Congcong, then told him she no longer knew him and called him no man.
• Su Can told Li Han to promise the stall owner double compensation and kicked over Qian Feng’s table.

Su Can ended the campus confrontation by overturning Qian Feng’s table and leaving with Tang Wu, then met Zhao Hao in Shanghai before departing for summer vacation. At dinner, Su Can shared his predictions about digital music and urged Shangmai to adapt to technological change.

• Su Can kicked over Qian Feng’s table, scattering food and stunning Qian Feng and his companions.
• Fan Qiyi and other students intervened to calm the crowd, and Su Can left with Tang Wu, Li Han, Zhang Xiaoqiao, and their friends.
• Su Can traveled to Shanghai and met Zhao Hao, Shangmai’s vice president, and newly signed singer Nie Xiao for dinner.
• Zhao Hao discussed the recording industry with Su Can, who predicted that online digital music and portable audiovisual devices would eventually displace records.
• Su Can told Zhao Hao that Shangmai should embrace change and become a pioneer rather than resist new technology.

Su Can urged Zhao Hao to build Shangmai into a digital music industry leader by investing in emerging music copyrights and preparing for mobile ringback tones. After dinner, Su Can and Nie Xiao exchanged phone numbers, and he left to meet Tang Wu.

• Su Can explained why traditional album sales frustrated consumers and argued that Shangmai should adapt its business to customers’ habits.
• Su Can told Zhao Hao he believed in his abilities and wanted Shangmai to become the mainland music industry’s leader, moving Zhao Hao and Zhang Lin with his confidence.
• Su Can urged Zhao Hao to buy valuable traditional and digital copyrights while they were cheap, especially in anticipation of mobile ringback tone services.
• Zhao Hao worried that acquiring over half of the valuable copyrights would leave Shangmai unable to use them, and Su Can told him to prepare to build a digital music empire.
• After dinner, Nie Xiao exchanged phone numbers with Su Can and asked whether Tang Wu’s message was from his girlfriend; Su Can confirmed it before riding away on his bicycle.

Su Can read about Su Licheng’s sweeping personnel reshuffle at Big Banyan Construction and reassured Tang Wu that his father could handle the backlash. Tang Wu affirmed her trust in Su Can, and the couple shared a kiss on the plane.

• Su Can read a newspaper report describing Su Licheng’s centralization of authority and major personnel changes at Big Banyan Construction.
• Su Can reflected that Su Licheng had spent time building support before moving against lingering resistance within the company.
• Tang Wu asked Su Can whether the reshuffle might cause problems, and he said his father’s actions served the company’s goals.
• Tang Wu told Su Can that she trusted him and recalled how their relationship had changed her outlook on the future.
• Su Can asked Tang Wu to move closer, and she kissed him before returning to her seat.

Su Can returned to Rongcheng for summer break, enjoyed settling back into family life, and reflected on how his relationship with Tang Wu and his own life had changed. He also considered Su Licheng’s efforts to restructure Big Banyan Construction, whose strong performance had given him room to push through reforms.

• Su Can came home to find changes around the house, caught up with Zeng Ke, and thought about his year with Tang Wu and how quickly his life had changed.
• Residents of the compound welcomed Su Can warmly, and visitors soon crowded the family home with gifts and business matters for Su Licheng.
• Tong Jianjun praised Su Can at a welcome meal, then agreed with Su Licheng that Big Banyan Construction’s changes needed to proceed gradually.
• Su Can rested at home, spoke with Tang Wu by phone, and decided to delay visits to Shushan and Dunhuang.
• Su Can recalled his conversation with Su Licheng about consolidating control, delegating operational authority, and restructuring Big Banyan Construction.
• Su Can reviewed the group’s rising contracts, output, and profits, which strengthened Su Licheng’s case for reform and Wang Bu’s position against critics.

Su Can spent the holidays with his parents as Su Licheng discussed the sweeping reforms he had made at Big Banyan Construction and invited Su Can and Zeng Ke to the provincial outstanding entrepreneur selection. At the Shangri-La Hotel, Su Can and Guo Xiaozhong arrived amid prominent business families, while uncertainty remained over whether Su Licheng’s reforms would cost him a place on the list.

• Su Licheng asked Su Can to spend more time at home during the holidays, and invited him and Zeng Ke to the entrepreneur selection banquet.
• Su Can praised Su Licheng’s performance-based reforms at Big Banyan Construction, and Su Licheng said Yu Zechao and Uncle Jin had helped refine the plan.
• Su Can and Zeng Ke rode to the Shangri-La Hotel with Guo Xiaozhong, who had recently reconnected with Zhao Xin, Yang Zhao, and other children of Head Office employees.
• At the hotel, Guo Xiaozhong felt self-conscious after a young man mocked his clothes, and Su Can reassured him as they observed the gathering of prominent families.
• Guo Xiaozhong asked whether Su Licheng could become Xichuan Province’s calling card, while Su Can wondered whether the backlash against his father’s reforms would keep him off the selection list.

Su Can asked Wang Bu whether Su Licheng had a good chance of being selected as an outstanding provincial entrepreneur, and learned the odds were only fifty-fifty because of political resistance. At the ceremony, Su Can met his father’s old army friend Zhao Qiao, whose unusually respectful greeting drew the attention of the younger guests.

• Wang Bu told Su Can that Dunhuang Mall and his other achievements could qualify him to represent Rongcheng’s entrepreneurs, though Facebook Chinese was headquartered elsewhere.
• Su Can asked Wang Bu about Su Licheng’s selection prospects, and Wang Bu said the chances were fifty-fifty because of factional opposition and the backlash over changes at Big Banyan Construction.
• Su Can and Su Licheng entered the awards hall, where Su Licheng introduced his son to Zhao Qiao and Zhang, former army friends.
• Zhao Qiao warmly told Su Can that he had long admired him, startling the nearby young men and women.

Su Can attended Xichuan’s outstanding entrepreneur ceremony with his father, Su Licheng, and watched the entrepreneurs and their families size one another up. After turning down Wen Lu and Xu Hu’s invitation to a luxury road trip, Su Can settled in with Guo Xiaozhong and Zeng Ke as the ceremony began.

• Zhao Qiao greeted Su Can and praised the younger generation before explaining that the entrepreneur awards considered more than company size.
• The attendees learned that Su Licheng led Big Banyan Construction, and they crowded around him with congratulations and business cards.
• Su Can and Guo Xiaozhong met Wen Lu, Xia Zhiming, Yang Lei, Zhong Yuan, Liu Xinming, and Xu Hu, the children of prominent entrepreneurs.
• Wen Lu and Xu Hu invited Su Can on a road trip with luxury cars, hot springs, and a football match, but he declined by joking that he rode a Giant A125.
• Guo Xiaozhong regretted missing the trip, and Su Can offered to take him to hot springs another time as Governor Wu Jianguo opened the ceremony.

Su Can watched the provincial entrepreneur awards, where Big Banyan Construction was unexpectedly omitted from the winners, apparently because Vice Governor Jiang Guotiao had intervened. After the news spread, Su Can accepted the setback and reflected that neither his father nor he could control every outcome.

• Su Can watched the final voting and announcement while considering Wang Bu’s influence over the evaluation committee.
• Governor Wu Jianguo announced the award recipients, and Big Banyan Construction was left off the list.
• Wang Bu suspected Jiang Guotiao had deliberately excluded Big Banyan Construction to demonstrate his power.
• Su Can and the Big Banyan Construction party left the event, while Xia Zhiming and her friends mocked Su Can over the omission.
• Newspapers reported the winners and Big Banyan Construction’s failure to receive an award, and Su Can accepted the disappointment as one setback beyond his control.

Tang Wu visited Su Can at home after sensing he was in a bad mood, and they spent the day together in the family’s empty house. After their intimacy, Tang Wu told him he had a duty not to make her unhappy, and Su Can playfully suggested they continue.

• Tang Wu called Su Can, learned he was in a bad mood, and decided to visit him at home.
• Su Can met Tang Wu at the compound entrance, and she joined him as he carried groceries back to his home.
• Neighbors and company employees watched Su Can and Tang Wu walk hand in hand through the compound.
• Su Can showed Tang Wu around, and they prepared and ate lunch together.
• Su Can carried Tang Wu to the sofa and then to the bedroom, where they became intimate.
• Tang Wu told Su Can that his bad mood affected her too and that he must not make her unhappy, and Su Can teased her about continuing their intimacy.

Liu Rui and his roommate rushed to the Guangjingtai Hotel to see Chongfan’s players, but Liu Rui’s failed motorcycle brakes sent them crashing into Yi Lihuan’s Lamborghini. In Rongcheng, Su Can visited Dunhuang’s newly opened Zongguang Store with Wang Yue and unexpectedly ran into veteran employee Du Dawei.

• Liu Rui and his roommates joined crowds of Chongfan fans gathering outside the Guangjingtai Hotel to catch a glimpse of the team and get autographs.
• Yi Lihuan arrived at the hotel in his Lamborghini with actress Guo Xiaofu, then waited in his car as fans blocked the way out.
• After Little Six called him back to the hotel, Liu Rui found his motorcycle brakes had failed and crashed into the Lamborghini’s rear engine cover.
• Su Can met Wang Yue at the newly opened Zongguang Store and discussed his review of Dunhuang’s business documents.
• Su Can recognized Du Dawei, Dunhuang’s longtime security employee and department head, when he saw him at the store.

Su Can inspected Dunhuang’s Zongguang Store and advised its executives to build customer traffic and market share through mass-market pricing and stronger supplier relationships. He left Wang Yue impressed by his confidence as he explained that Dunhuang needed the store to earn fifteen million yuan in profit because he was short on cash.

• Su Can met Du Dawei and learned that former soldiers Sun Bing and Li Jun had joined Dunhuang’s security team.
• Wang Yue gathered the Zongguang Store’s senior staff for an impromptu meeting after Su Can arrived.
• Su Can urged the executives to lower target profit margins, strengthen mass-market appeal, and improve supplier partnerships to grow traffic and market share.
• Su Can proposed using strong sales to major suppliers such as BELLE to pressure competitors, and the executives applauded his advice.
• Wang Yue ate with Su Can and asked about his Shanghai investments; Su Can said the companies he had chosen would become industry leaders and explained that he needed Dunhuang to make fifteen million yuan in profit.