Chapter Summaries

Lin Zouwen, Lu Nannan, and Li Pengyu arrived in Rongcheng but got lost after Lu Nannan raced a local taxi driver, so Su Can guided them to the military district. Their reunion led to talk of Lin Luoran and Su Can’s growing business, leaving Su Can thinking through his ventures and expecting to live comfortably this year.

• Lin Zouwen, Li Pengyu, and Lu Nannan got lost in Rongcheng, and Lu Nannan challenged a taxi driver to a race that left them stranded in an unfamiliar neighborhood.
• Lin Zouwen called Su Can for help, and Su Can arrived to meet Li Pengyu and Lu Nannan.
• Lu Nannan teased Su Can about Lin Luoran, while Lin Zouwen asked Su Can to keep their relationship secret from Wang Weiwei and his little sister.
• Su Can guided the three men to the Rongcheng Military District and learned about Li Pengyu’s family ties to the Lin family and Lu Nannan’s history with Lin Zouwen.
• Lin Zouwen praised Su Can’s Facebook venture, and Su Can revealed that preparations for its Chinese version were underway in Shanghai.
• Su Can considered the expected earnings from his businesses and concluded that, even after investing in Facebook Chinese, he would live well that year.

Su Can reunited with old classmates and learned that his reputation at Nanjing University had spread widely, while Lu Nannan reflected on his constrained life. Lin Zouwen told Su Can that Lin Luoran’s actions had fueled gossip about their relationship and suggested she might have stayed in Xiahai because of him.

• Li Pengyu, Lu Nannan, Su Can, Lin Zouwen, and Guo Xiaozhong went drinking at Aile, where they met Zhao Yu, an old classmate of Su Can and Guo Xiaozhong.
• Zhao Yu told the group that classmates had discussed Su Can’s exploits at Nanjing University, including his public debates and notoriety among students.
• Lu Nannan admitted that he envied Su Can’s life, and Zhao Yu lifted the mood by singing at the bar.
• Lin Zouwen warned Su Can that people in their circle were gossiping because Lin Luoran had sent Li Luo to Shanghai and was thought to have acted for Su Can’s sake.
• Lin Zouwen recalled that Lin Luoran had proposed staying in Xiahai and wondered whether she had stayed there because of Su Can.

Su Can explained why Lin Luoran had stayed in Xiahai, while Lin Zouwen and his friends joked about competing for her. After the gathering, Lu Nannan and Li Pengyu entrusted Su Can with money to invest, but Lu Nannan still regarded him as a rival for Lin Luoran.

• Su Can told Lin Zouwen that Lin Luoran had stayed in Xiahai for the quiet school days, not for his sake.
• Lin Zouwen, Lu Nannan, and Li Pengyu joked about pursuing Lin Luoran, and Su Can denied having anything between them.
• Su Can offered Lu Nannan and Li Pengyu the chance to invest in his business in exchange for equity and dividends.
• Lu Nannan offered his marriage savings, and Li Pengyu offered two hundred thousand, with both accepting the risk of gains or losses.
• As they parted, Lu Nannan thanked Su Can but said he still considered him an enemy over Lin Luoran.

After returning to Rongcheng, Lin Luoran and Wang Weiwei reunited with Su Can and their friends while Wang Bu opposed Guo Jiangtiao’s plan to reduce state-owned holdings in major provincial enterprises. Guo’s policy moved ahead despite Wang Bu’s objections, and the chapter ended with news that Liu Rui had recovered from a traffic accident and was coming to Rongcheng with Xue Yiyang.

• Lin Luoran and Wang Weiwei returned to Rongcheng and reunited with Su Can, Lin Zouwen, Li Pengyu, and Lu Nannan, who jokingly asked Lin Luoran to consider marrying him.
• Guo Jiangtiao argued at a Provincial Party Committee seminar for reducing state-owned holdings in major enterprises, while Wang Bu warned that rapid changes could destabilize Big Banyan Construction.
• The Provincial Party Committee issued policies to implement the reduction of state-owned shareholdings and appointed Guo Jiangtiao to lead a working group.
• Su Licheng told Wang Bu that the new policies could disrupt Big Banyan Construction, and Wang Bu relayed Su Can’s concerns about speculation in the stock market.
• Su Can and his friends learned that Liu Rui had been hospitalized after a traffic accident but had since been discharged and was traveling to Rongcheng with Xue Yiyang.

Yi Jiashun tried to turn Guo Jiangtiao against Wang Bu and Big Banyan Construction, while Su Can welcomed Xue Yiyang and Liu Rui to Rongcheng and heard how Liu Rui’s faulty brakes had led to a crash and a beating. With friends gathering in the city, Su Can suggested that they visit the hot springs in Xiling.

• At the development-zone ceremony, Yi Jiashun warned Guo Jiangtiao about Wang Bu and Su Licheng, and Guo vowed to challenge any group protecting its interests.
• On the plane, Yi Jiashun hoped Guo Jiangtiao would bring down Su Licheng and weaken Wang Bu’s influence.
• Su Can waited at Rongcheng North Railway Station and welcomed Xue Yiyang and bruised Liu Rui, who came to stay at his home.
• Liu Rui explained that worn brake pads had caused him to crash his secondhand Antelope into Yi Lihuan’s Lamborghini, after which Yi’s group beat him.
• Su Can told Liu Rui to get better brake pads and suggested to Lin Luoran that their friends go to the hot springs in Xiling.

Su Can and his friends traveled to Xiling Snow Mountain for a hot-spring outing and checked into the Scandina Hotel, where a much larger gathering was celebrating Yi Lihuan’s birthday. At the gathering, Yi Lihuan’s friends joked about his recent collision with students, while Guo Xiaofu criticized him and his companions for fighting.

• Su Can’s group met near Wang Weiwei’s home, ate lunch, and drove toward Xiling Snow Mountain, with Sun Bing saying that Su Can had reserved rooms at the Scandina Hotel.
• Su Can’s group arrived at the hotel, where luxury cars and a crowd of business figures, football players, and entertainers had gathered for Yi Lihuan’s birthday.
• Yang Wenbo and others teased Yi Lihuan about the motorcycle collision and the fight with students from Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications.
• Guo Xiaofu rebuked Yi Lihuan and his companions for fighting over the collision and for assuming that their status and influence would let them resolve anything.

Su Can’s group arrived at the Scandinavia Hotel for a snowy mountain getaway and discovered that Yi Lihuan was hosting a birthday party there. The chapter ended with Su Can making an execution gesture at Yi Lihuan, who recognized him as the person who had crashed into his car and threatened him.

• Lin Luoran admired the snowy mountain hotel as Su Can’s group checked into a villa.
• Lin Zouwen learned that Yi Lihuan of Zhongfan Group was celebrating his birthday at the hotel, unsettling Liu Rui and Xue Yiyang.
• Lin Luoran flirted with Su Can, while Lu Nannan complained that she favored him.
• Su Can’s group entered the restaurant, where Liu Rui spotted Yi Lihuan and tension rose between them.
• Su Can pointed an execution gesture at Yi Lihuan, who recognized him and said he was asking for death.

After hearing how Yi Lihuan’s crowd planned to retaliate, Wen Lu and the others worried that Su Can had provoked people too powerful to challenge. Liu Rui urged Su Can and his friends to let the earlier car crash and fight go, but the chapter ended with them still weighing whether to accept the loss.

• Yi Lihuan’s companions boasted that they could bring in local muscle and punish Su Can and his group for provoking him.
• Wen Lu warned Xu Hu, Xia Zhiming, Yang Lei, and the others that Yi Lihuan’s circle had powerful connections, while they speculated about intervening.
• Guo Xiaofu and other guests treated the looming confrontation as entertainment and expected Yi Lihuan’s side to prevail.
• Liu Rui recounted the car crash and subsequent fight to Su Can and the others, then insisted that the matter was over.
• Lu Nannan agreed that Liu Rui should accept the loss and encouraged everyone to continue enjoying the hot springs.

Su Can and his friends returned from the snowy mountain to find Yi Lihuan had brought men to confront them at the hotel. When the attackers started a fight, Su Can’s group quickly overpowered them, and Lu Nannan held Yi Lihuan at gunpoint, leaving the room in a tense standoff.

• Su Can and his friends spent the afternoon sledding and snowmobiling before returning to the villa hotel.
• Wen Lu warned Su Can that Yi Lihuan’s people had arrived, but Su Can went inside with his group to face them.
• Yi Lihuan taunted Su Can and Liu Rui and ordered his men to deal with them.
• Xiang Chenggong struck Sun Bing with a beer bottle, but Sun Bing retaliated and knocked him unconscious.
• Li Pengyu and Li Jun fought off several attackers while Lu Nannan grabbed Yi Lihuan and pointed a pistol at his forehead.

Su Can and his companions confronted Yi Lihuan and his allies at the Snow Mountain Hot Spring resort after Yi threatened them over a car accident. They humiliated Yi and Xiang Chenggong, then Su Can told Yi that if he wanted to continue the dispute, he should send someone from his father’s generation because Yi was not qualified.

• Yi Lihuan drew on his family’s wealth and influence as he tried to intimidate Su Can’s group, while Lu Nannan held a pistol to his forehead.
• Xiang Chenggong urged Yi to call their bluff, but Su Can stopped Lu Nannan from escalating and slapped Xiang Chenggong for provoking the confrontation.
• Lu Nannan dragged Yi outside and threw him into an icy spring, and Lin Zouwen likewise threw Xiang Chenggong into the water.
• Yi climbed out and threatened to kill them, but Lu Nannan slapped him and promised to continue the fight if Yi wanted it.
• Su Can reminded Yi that the original dispute was over his friend hitting Yi’s car, then told him to send his father or another elder if he refused to let the matter end.

After the Xiling Snow Mountain confrontation, Su Can’s group escaped police roadblocks and returned to Rongcheng, while Yi Lihuan’s father learned who had humiliated his son and considered retaliation. Su Can discussed Facebook’s growth with Mark Zack as the story ended with Wan Gui warning Yi Jiashun that attacking Su Licheng’s family could cost him someone of his own.

• Su Can’s group left the villa after Lu Nannan gave their wealthy opponents the middle finger, and they drove toward Rongcheng as their friends recognized Su Can’s new authority.
• Lin Luoran teased Su Can in the minivan, but their joking ended when police cars appeared at the expressway entrance.
• Tao Xingjian stopped Su Can’s vehicles, learned who was inside, returned their documents, and let them continue through the checkpoint.
• Two days later, Su Can and Mark Zack discussed Facebook’s rapid growth and the ambition to build an online community like a country.
• Yi Jiashun scolded Yi Lihuan for calling Zhang Bin and causing trouble, then learned that Su Can and Wang Weiwei had opposed him.
• Yi Jiashun considered harming Wang Bu’s and Su Licheng’s families, and Wan Gui warned that such retaliation could cost Yi Jiashun one of his own people.

Su Can encouraged Liu Rui and Xue Yiyang to pursue viable university business projects, promising to fund their first ventures. Later, his family hosted Wang Bu’s household for dinner, where Lin Luoran identified the orchid she had once given Su Can as a rare Heavenly Escape Lotus.

• At dinner, Liu Rui and Xue Yiyang shared their business ambitions with Su Can, who reviewed their plans and promised to fund projects they proved viable.
• Su Can gave Liu Rui and Xue Yiyang empty bank cards and promised to transfer two hundred thousand into each account if they developed projects the following academic year.
• Su Can’s family invited Wang Bu’s family to dinner, and Lin Luoran and Lin Zouwen joined them.
• Lin Luoran recognized the orchid she had given Su Can as a child as Heavenly Escape Lotus, while Zhang Qing recognized the rare variety.

Su Licheng and Wang Bu discussed how the Provincial Government’s state-owned share reduction directive had battered Big Banyan Construction’s stock and threatened Su Licheng’s position. Su Can criticized the policy’s market-pricing provision, while the province’s political struggle continued toward a larger national upheaval.

• Su Licheng told Wang Bu that Big Banyan Construction’s share price had fallen nearly twenty percent and asked whether provincial officials planned to replace the group’s leadership.
• Wang Bu explained that Guo Jiangtiao, Lu Guizhong, and Huang Siyong had secured strong support for the directive, and promised to seek city-level preferential policies for Big Banyan Construction.
• Su Can considered how the political pressure could end Su Licheng’s career and recognized that Wang Bu was also weighing his own political interests.
• Su Can argued that reducing state-owned shares was necessary but criticized the policy for treating tradable share prices as a fair market price for nontradable state-owned shares.
• Wang Bu and Su Licheng continued their discussion in the study as the national stock market crisis and the province’s political contest gathered force.

Su Can and Lin Zouwen discussed the political and industrial conflict unfolding around Wang Bu and Su Licheng in Rongcheng. The chapter left their side facing a high-stakes struggle against Guo Jiangtiao and Yi Jiashun, where defeat could end Su Licheng’s career and cripple Wang Bu’s authority.

• Su Can reflected on how Wang Bu’s control over appointments and city resources placed him at the center of Rongcheng’s political conflicts.
• The chapter described how Darong Construction Group supported Rongcheng’s key industries and helped the city compete with powerful developers and outside interests.
• Lin Zouwen asked whether the events on Xiling Snow Mountain had caused the preparations between Wang Bu and Su Licheng, and Su Can said they had only lit a fuse.
• Su Can explained that Wang Bu was contending with deputy secretary Guo Jiangtiao, while Su Licheng was opposing Yi Jiashun and Zhongfan Group’s bid to displace Big Banyan Construction.
• The chapter established that defeat would end Su Licheng’s political career and seriously weaken Wang Bu’s influence.

Lin Luoran remembered how her university fame and admirers contrasted with her private longing for Su Can, then openly defended her choice of him to a powerful Beijing friend. Meanwhile, Yi Jiashun advanced a major energy pipeline project to gain political leverage against Su Licheng and Wang Bu, and Guo Jiangtiao reacted angrily to reports that Wang Bu’s son had attacked Yi.

• Lin Luoran recalled the men who pursued her at Shanghai International Studies University and how she punished the forum administrator who had shared her personal information.
• Lin Luoran secretly revisited photographs and letters featuring Su Can, then told an online friend she was at Su Can’s house and had chosen him despite the likely backlash.
• Wang Qiqi and Lin Zouwen failed to hear from Li Pengyu or Lu Nannan and returned home without discovering why Su Can owned a telescope.
• Yi Jiashun gathered provincial officials to push Three Gorges Energy’s Southwest China resource corridor forward and planned to use the project to counter Su Licheng and Wang Bu.
• Guo Jiangtiao heard Yi Jiashun’s account of the snow-mountain incident, grew more hostile toward Wang Bu, and condemned the son Wang Bu had raised.

Su Can learned that the Yi family was using its connections to escalate the Xiling clash into a political fight against Wang Bu and Su Licheng. Tang Wu arranged a dinner with Yucheng Deputy Mayor Sun Changjie to seek help for Su Can’s side, though Mu Xuan resented her daughter’s involvement.

• Tang Wu confronted Su Can for not inviting her to Snow Mountain Hot Spring, then told him that her mother, Mu Xuan, had invited him to dinner.
• Lin Zouwen said Yi Jiashun had rallied political allies and taken the dispute to the Provincial Party Committee, while Wang Bu worked behind the scenes to resist him.
• Su Can learned that Mu Xuan had reserved a table at Hailing Pavilion, and Lin Luoran teased him about the invitation.
• Su Can and Tang Wu joined Tang Zongyuan and met Yucheng Deputy Mayor Sun Changjie and his son, Sun Lei, at dinner.
• Tang Wu had proposed inviting Sun Changjie so he could pressure Yi Jiashun and help Wang Bu and Su Licheng’s camp, despite Mu Xuan’s reluctance to involve their family.

Tang Wu brought Su Can to dinner with her parents and Sun Changjie, where Mu Xuan used her connection to Minister Zhao Qinian to shift the balance in the family’s negotiations. Afterward, Tang Wu and Su Can walked hand in hand toward her neighborhood, recalling their high-school days and drawing closer.

• Tang Wu thoughtfully ordered dishes suited to everyone at the table, while Sun Lei grew jealous of her attentiveness to Su Can.
• Mu Xuan received a call from Minister Zhao Qinian and explained their longstanding family connection to Sun Changjie, who became eager to cooperate with her.
• Sun Changjie promised to host another dinner and asked Mu Xuan to invite Minister Zhao, while Tang Wu’s parents prepared to leave for work.
• Su Can told Tang Wu he had guessed the gathering concerned her, and she teased him about seeming to live off a woman before laughing with him.
• Su Can and Tang Wu walked hand in hand to her neighborhood, remembering their furtive high-school romance as Tang Wu felt her longing return.

Su Can realized that the clash with the Yi Family had become part of a larger political contest, while Wang Yue tried to build him support by inviting influential provincial officials to dinner. He rejected their overture and explained that their connections could not withstand the forces behind the conflict, leaving Wang Yue reassured but still teasing him.

• Su Can reflected on his uncertain future, his growing business ventures, and how much he still lacked to become a powerful entrepreneur.
• At home, Su Can heard Zeng Ke worry about his exhausted father and the political struggle surrounding his position at the company.
• Wang Yue invited Su Can to dinner with a provincial General Office deputy director, a Provincial Party Committee secretary, and a television station director.
• Wang Yue hinted at Su Can's connection to Wang Bu, prompting the officials to offer friendship and a chance to meet Wang Weiwei, but Su Can declined.
• After dinner, Wang Yue accused Su Can of looking down on her and offered herself to him, but he comforted her and explained that the officials could not help against the larger political forces.
• Wang Yue stopped crying and joked that if they went back a few years, Little Su Can would have been in danger.

Yi Jiashun and his allies pressed their campaign against Su Licheng, while Su Can wrote an article criticizing the reduction of state-owned shareholdings and arranged for its publication in internal bulletins. On August 23, the State Council halted the policy for domestic listed companies, triggering a stock-market recovery and leaving Yi Jiashun’s faction facing a reversal.

• Yi Lihuan urged Yi Jiashun to use the Xiling incident and business interests to undermine Su Licheng’s family, but Yi Jiashun ordered him to keep quiet and warned him to choose better friends.
• After officials pressed Big Banyan Construction to produce an internal restructuring plan, Su Can gave Su Licheng an article arguing against the current measures to reduce state-owned shareholdings.
• Su Can sent the article to Wang Bu, who endorsed it for publication, and major Southwest China internal reference bulletins printed it under Su Can’s name.
• Yi Jiashun and Guo Jiangtiao interpreted the article as Wang Bu’s challenge, while Su Can remained confident that his opponents would fall harder when events turned against them.
• On August 23, the State Council halted reductions of state-owned shareholdings through the securities market for domestic listed companies, and the stock market began to recover.

The Central First Inspection Group arrived in Southwest China to investigate problems in the provincial leadership, and Wang Bu gave Zhou Guotao a measured account of Guo Jiangtiao’s record. The investigation recommended further scrutiny of Zhou Zirong and an admonitory interview for Guo Jiangtiao, bringing down the Guo-Zhou Faction; Zhou later thanked Wang Bu.

• Zhou Guotao led the Central First Inspection Group into Southwest China and announced that its members would seek truthful accounts of the provincial leadership.
• The Guo-Zhou Faction secretly tried to learn where the inspection group’s other members were going and whom they were meeting.
• Zhou Guotao questioned Wang Bu about Guo Jiangtiao, and Wang Bu acknowledged Guo’s shortcomings while defending his contributions.
• The inspection group uncovered misconduct and public-interest problems, recommended investigating Zhou Zirong and admonishing Guo Jiangtiao, and the Guo-Zhou Faction crumbled.
• Zhou Guotao met Wang Bu outside a provincial symposium and thanked him.