Chapter Summaries

Lin Luoran returned to Shanghai instead of going abroad, reassured Su Can after Nanjing University decided not to punish him, and invited him to dinner at her apartment. As Su Can prepared to spend less time on campus and visited Lin Luoran in December, Wei Yuanhu arrived unexpectedly at her apartment.

• Lin Luoran told Su Can she had considered studying abroad but decided to stay, then supported his plans to focus on his businesses and future.
• Lin Luoran said Nanjing University had demanded a public apology from Xie Si Gan while sparing Su Can further consequences, and Su Can's dormmates celebrated with him that night.
• Zhang Xiaoqiao recognized that Su Can would be spending less time at the university and promised Room 602 would always keep a bed for him.
• In December, Su Can and Li Pengyu drove to Lin Luoran's apartment, where she and her roommate An Wan began preparing dinner.
• Wei Yuanhu arrived at Lin Luoran's apartment, surprising Su Can when he opened the door.

Su Can and Li Pengyu visited Lin Luoran, where Wei Yuanhu joined them and impressed everyone with his social ease and cooking. Wei’s elaborate dishes overshadowed Su Can’s simple cooking until Lin Luoran finished Su Can’s tomato-and-egg sauce with rice, leaving Wei watching him with an unreadable smile.

• Lin Luoran welcomed Wei Yuanhu, who connected Li Pengyu to his university classmate Zhang Jingfan and smoothly drew both men into conversation.
• Wei Yuanhu praised Lin Luoran and spoke to Su Can about the rare women he could imagine building a life with, naming Lin among them.
• Wei Yuanhu cooked an elaborate meal and displayed his chef credentials, while Li Pengyu pushed Su Can into the kitchen to cook as well.
• An Wan praised Wei Yuanhu’s dishes, and Lin Luoran complimented his cooking while giving Su Can’s home-style dishes little attention.
• As the meal ended, Lin Luoran mixed the remaining tomato-and-egg sauce into her rice and said it tasted best that way, while Wei Yuanhu watched Su Can with a faint smile.

After the Nanjing University Homecoming incident sparked wider debate about China’s charity system, Wang Xiaoyi invited Su Can to advise the university on its charitable work. Su Can argued that lasting change required transparent, accountable institutions, and the chapter ended with Nanjing University considering reforms that could influence policy beyond the campus.

• Lin Luoran invited Su Can and friends to dinner after his close call at Nanjing University, then focused on preparing for finals.
• Zhang Xiaoqiao read new commentary on charity reform and reflected on Su Can’s role in bringing the issue to public attention.
• Wang Xiaoyi invited Su Can to discuss Nanjing University’s charitable projects and asked for his views on the university’s charity work.
• Su Can argued that charity needed broader participation, transparent accounting, and mechanisms that let donors trust their contributions would reach recipients.
• Yang Yiming outlined proposals for independent financial authority, public disclosure, and a clear legal trust relationship between donors and the university’s charity organization.
• Su Can concluded that institutional reform could strengthen responses to disasters and poverty, and believed he had shifted the course of history.

Su Can urged Tang Wu to join Facebook Chinese and explained why he had delayed involving her in his businesses. Tang Wu chose to join him, saying she had only one road to follow with him.

• Tang Wu and Su Can shared breakfast while discussing Nanjing University's charity work and its possible influence on the Charity Law.
• Su Can asked Tang Wu to consider joining Facebook Chinese, but worried he was planning her future without asking what she wanted.
• Tang Wu asked why Su Can had not raised the idea earlier and wondered whether she truly understood his ambitions and businesses.
• Su Can explained that he had wanted to preserve the peaceful lives of those around him and promised to support Tang Wu's choices.
• Tang Wu told Su Can she had never wanted another choice and would follow the road with him to the end.

Su Can spent a quiet weekend with Tang Wu before bringing her to Facebook Chinese and introducing her as his special assistant, beginning her gradual entry into the business. He explained the company’s plans to grow its membership and develop applications, while his father discussed Su Licheng’s impending transfer to Huangcheng.

• Su Can and Tang Wu spent the weekend at Xuehai Yiju, where he studied from her notes and planned how she could gradually take on business responsibilities.
• Su Licheng questioned Su Can about his appointment as a charity adviser and the donations it might require, and Su Can explained his investment in Nanjing University's Entrepreneurship Base.
• Su Can and Tang Wu arrived at Facebook Chinese's headquarters, where he introduced her to employees as his special assistant to the president.
• Su Can told company staff that user experience came first and described how a large membership base could support profitable services and products.
• Tang Wu questioned the company's goal of reaching two million members by next March, and Su Can said Facebook Chinese would exceed that target through applications and games.

Su Can and Lin Guangdong faced growing pressure from Tan Wen’s distribution alliances in Shanghai, but Shushan Culture Supplies chose their Shangdao Hezong as its principal partner, abruptly shifting the balance of power. The chapter ended with Lin Guangdong refusing to entertain Zhao Wei’s belated overtures and Su Can receiving a reminder from Lin Luoran about the books he had promised her.

• Lin Guangdong explained to Su Can how Tan Wen’s Lianshang Culture had expanded its distribution network and excluded Pineapple Media from a new industry initiative.
• Su Can and Lin Guangdong attended the Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou book-industry gathering, where Lin identified Tan Wen and described the political and business forces behind Pineapple Media’s Shanghai expansion.
• Tan Wen told Zhan Hua that he expected Lianshang Culture to win a partnership with Shushan Culture Supplies, while Zhan Hua warned him not to underestimate Su Can and Pineapple Media.
• Zhao Mingnong announced that Shushan Culture Supplies had selected Shangdao Hezong, jointly established with Pineapple Media, as its principal partner, shocking Tan Wen and the other distributors.
• Zhao Wei approached Lin Guangdong to seek a partnership, but Lin asked him coldly who he was instead of accepting his greeting.
• Su Can stepped outside and received a text from Lin Luoran asking when he would bring her the reference books he had promised.

Su Can reflected on his business ventures and heard Li Pengyu’s warning that Wei Yuanhu was pursuing Lin Luoran as a potential match. After delivering Lin Luoran’s books, Su Can joined her at a campus lecture, where an exercise in opening one’s heart left them embracing as rain fell outside.

• Su Can discussed Lin Guangdong’s success and Zhao Mingnong’s sense of responsibility, then learned that Facebook Chinese still needed funding to complete its proposed World of Warcraft deal.
• Li Pengyu warned Su Can that Wei Yuanhu and his family had long been courting Lin Luoran, and that Wei Yuanhu likely saw Su Can as a rival.
• Su Can learned that Su Licheng would take up a new post in Huangcheng after New Year’s Day, while Facebook’s financing and Blizzard negotiations continued.
• Su Can carried books and journals to Lin Luoran at Shanghai International Studies University and found her directing a Shakespeare play rehearsal.
• Lin Luoran took Su Can for ice cream, then brought him into a lecture hall to escape the rain.
• At the speaker’s urging, Su Can embraced Lin Luoran, and the chapter ended with them together in the dim hall as rain fell outside.

At the Shanghai International Studies University New Year's gala, Su Can reunited with Dong Xiaojia and learned she planned to become an overseas correspondent, while Lin Luoran's memories of their intimate rainy-day embrace resurfaced. The evening ended with Lin Luoran accepting an award and teasing Su Can by text about the hand he had placed on her breast during that hug.

• Su Can, Tang Wu, and their friends attended the Shanghai International Studies University New Year's gala at Lin Luoran's invitation and ran into Dong Xiaojia.
• Dong Xiaojia told the group that she had passed CCTV's recruitment process and was training to become an overseas correspondent, then rebuked a student who attributed her career to family connections.
• Dong Xiaojia joked with Su Can about his business prospects and suggested she might interview him in the future; Su Can confidently welcomed the idea.
• Lin Luoran's class won first prize for its play, Othello, and Lin Luoran went onstage to accept the award.
• Lin Luoran texted Su Can that his hug had not been innocent because his wandering hand had rested on her breast.

In January 2003, Su Can negotiated Facebook’s third financing round with Accel, Merritech Capital, and other investors as they arrived in Shanghai. Facebook secured $63 million for a 10% stake at a $600 million valuation, leaving Su Can with more resources and a stronger position against Zhan Hua and the Gao faction.

• Su Can received advance financing and legal documents from Facebook’s American headquarters, then welcomed Wilde, Stephen Chen, and Dustin to Shanghai.
• Accel’s Luo Wenxin met Su Can and discussed venture capital in China while gauging Su Can’s interest in Accel and Facebook Chinese.
• Luo Wenxin offered to buy equity in Facebook Chinese, but Su Can said the company did not need the money.
• Facebook signed a financing agreement in Shanghai on January 11, selling 10% of the company for $63 million at a $600 million valuation.
• Su Can’s stake fell from about 42% to 37.9%, while the new funding gave him room to expand the business and challenge Zhan Hua and the Gao faction.

Su Can continued balancing his business and studies while Sequoia Capital sought to invest in Facebook and exploit tensions between its co-presidents. At a Shanghai pitch, Mark Zuckerberg delivered a deliberately provocative presentation listing ten reasons not to invest, ending by affirming that Su Can was his friend.

• Su Can's roommates watched Tang Wu bring food to his dorm and envied how he managed business, studying, and leisure.
• Zhan Hua invited Mark Zuckerberg to pitch Facebook to Sequoia Capital during his China trip, hoping the investment would give Sequoia influence over the company.
• Zhan Hua told Gao Heng that Facebook's two co-presidents would eventually clash and that Mark had agreed to present in Shanghai.
• Mark arrived late to Sequoia's meeting at the Jin Mao Hyatt Grand Hotel wearing a bathrobe, stained T-shirt, and shorts.
• Mark presented ten reasons not to invest in Facebook, ending by saying that Su Can was his co-president and his friend.

During Zack’s visit to Shanghai, he and Su Can discussed Facebook’s rapid growth, operational challenges, and the platform strategy behind acquiring a stake in World of Warcraft. Zack approved $15 million for the acquisition, leaving Su Can with the resources to pursue it as they aimed to make Facebook an indispensable social entertainment platform.

• Zack recalled his past clash with Sequoia Capital during a television interview and described Su Can as his best friend.
• Zack arrived in Shanghai and toured Facebook, where Su Can explained the company’s workforce and its relaxed but productive workplace.
• Zack warned Su Can that Facebook’s rapid growth and fragile software made technical mistakes and infrastructure failures serious risks.
• Zack told Su Can he would secretly allocate $15 million from Facebook’s funding to support Su Can’s purchase of a stake in World of Warcraft.
• Zack explained that the acquisition supported their goal of building a social entertainment platform that would secure Facebook’s long-term position.

Su Can confronted a workplace harassment incident at Facebook Chinese and used humor to correct the manager’s behavior without publicly naming him. Later, he warned Zack about Facebook’s privacy risks and internal conflicts, but Zack insisted he could handle the problems in California.

• Su Can reflected on the businesses and relationships he had built and the growing responsibilities he faced as their leader.
• Su Can addressed the Facebook Chinese staff about a manager’s crude comment toward a receptionist, prompting laughter and leaving the manager ashamed and subdued.
• Zack described his plan to build Facebook’s App Platform, and Su Can shared ideas drawn from his knowledge of the future.
• Su Can warned Zack that Facebook faced infrastructure and organizational risks, that News Feed’s Broadcast project threatened privacy, and that acquisition talks were unsettling the team.
• Su Can told Zack that Doug was weakening other executives’ authority, while Zack said he had hired Doug for a purpose and would handle the situation himself.

Tang Wu worked at Facebook Chinese and acknowledged her relationship with Su Can, while Zack discussed Facebook’s future and its internal turmoil before leaving Shanghai. As Su Can and Tang Wu prepared to travel to Rongcheng, alarming news arrived and revealed a more complicated situation.

• Tang Wu learned business operations from Zhao Yanbin, who discovered that she was Su Can’s girlfriend and told her Facebook Chinese was poised for major investment.
• Zack told Su Can he would handle Facebook’s internal conflicts and build himself into a leader capable of running a vast company, then left Shanghai for London.
• Su Can and Tang Wu prepared to return to Rongcheng as Su Licheng’s appointment as deputy mayor of Huangcheng was approved and he went ahead to take up the post.
• Zeng Ke waited in Rongcheng to travel with Su Can to Huangcheng, but alarming news arrived and confronted Su Can with a more complicated situation.

Wang Bu’s political rise and the 2003 leadership reshuffle set the stage for Su Licheng’s appointment as Huangcheng deputy mayor, where a street-racing crash and its unequal aftermath exposed tensions with Xu Changcheng. As Su Can and Zeng Ke traveled to Huangcheng, Su Can recognized that his father’s senior ranking threatened Xu Changcheng’s ambitions.

• Old Wang advised Wang Bu to pursue provincial leadership experience rather than return to Beijing, and Wang Bu later emerged as a leading figure in the Wang Faction.
• A street-racing convoy caused a chain-reaction crash involving the provincial Organization Department vehicles escorting Su Licheng, though no one was injured.
• Zeng Ke told Su Can that Zhang Changping was detained after the crash while Xu Dong and the other privileged racers avoided substantive punishment.
• Su Can and Wang Weiwei discussed their former classmates’ reunion plans and the rumors surrounding Su Can at Nanjing University.
• Tang Wu told Mu Xuan that she wanted to visit Huangcheng with friends, and Mu Xuan connected the trip to Su Licheng’s new post.
• Su Can realized Su Licheng’s high ranking in Huangcheng’s government had displaced Xu Changcheng and likely fueled his resentment.

Su Can and Zeng Ke arrived in Huangcheng as Su Licheng began his new post amid rumors about the road incident that had earned him the nickname “car-crash mayor.” At the Municipal Government guesthouse, Su Can’s reflections on remembering what was close at hand changed secretary Cheng Ruinian’s impression of him.

• Su Licheng’s road incident damaged his political standing, while Huangcheng’s leaders gave him responsibility for the economy and urban development.
• Su Can and Zeng Ke traveled to Huangcheng in a car driven by Li Pengyu and stayed at the Municipal Government guesthouse while their assigned apartment was being vacated.
• Cheng Ruinian welcomed them and explained that Municipal Party Committee Secretary Li Yinliang had placed urban development and the economy under Su Licheng’s authority.
• Su Can looked out over Huangcheng’s busy shopping district and remembered his childhood in Xiahai City and the people he had not returned to see.
• Su Can told Cheng Ruinian a story about a man who never visited the mountain beside his home, then said he hoped he would never take his mother’s presence for granted.
• Cheng Ruinian reconsidered his assumptions about Su Can and wondered whether the young man was as composed inside as he appeared.

Cheng Ruinian endured another round of petty demands from Guo Huai but began to hope that serving Deputy Mayor Su Licheng might offer him a way out of his dead-end career. As Su Can spent time with his parents in Huangcheng, Zhao Lijun called to reaffirm his support for the family.

• Guo Huai ordered Cheng Ruinian to rewrite a report and continued the long-running workplace persecution rooted in their rivalry over Yang Li.
• Cheng Ruinian reflected on his stalled career and hoped Su Licheng would rise in Huangcheng and keep him as his secretary.
• Su Can accompanied his parents through the Municipal Government Family Compound as Su Licheng settled into his new deputy mayor post.
• Su Can and Li Pengyu spent their evenings at a seafood street stall while Su Can waited for his visit to Huangcheng to end.
• Zhao Lijun called Su Can, joked with him about his business and studies, and promised to protect Su Licheng’s interests in Huangcheng.

Su Can and Li Pengyu discussed Facebook Chinese’s investment in Blizzard Entertainment and met Zhang Shen and Yao Ming in Huangcheng. After Su Can accidentally splashed a young woman, they learned she was Tian Qu, the daughter of Municipal Party Committee Secretary-General Tian Gang, and the girlfriend of Xu Dong, the deputy mayor’s son.

• Su Can and Li Pengyu discussed using Facebook Chinese’s twenty-five million dollars to invest in Blizzard Entertainment and the pressures facing Vivendi.
• Su Can accidentally splashed a passing girl with pond water, and she summoned the compound guards before leaving.
• Lin Zouwen arranged a meeting, and Zhang Shen and Yao Ming introduced themselves to Su Can and Li Pengyu.
• The group saw the girl leave in a BMW with a young man, and Zhang Shen identified them as Tian Qu and Xu Dong, a prominent Huangcheng couple.

Su Can toured Barrier Lake with Zhang Shen, Li Pengyu, and Yao Ming and learned how Xu Changcheng and Zhou Zhaofeng had profited from the redevelopment of Huangcheng’s historic villas. Unable to ignore the corruption and public resources being appropriated, Su Can decided to return to the city and act.

• Zhang Shen drove Su Can and Li Pengyu to Huangcheng’s hillside district and showed them Barrier Lake and its surrounding villas.
• Su Can questioned the expensive lakeside clubhouses and asked how private companies and officials used the historic villas.
• Zhang Shen explained that Xu Changcheng and Zhou Zhaofeng had arranged for Qingshan Real Estate to buy and resell more than a dozen heritage villas for huge profits.
• Yao Ming described the officials’ powerful backers and how Qingshan Real Estate benefited from Huangcheng’s development plans.
• Su Can concluded that he could not remain uninvolved, stood up, and told the others to return to the city.

Su Can advised Su Licheng on how to exploit divisions among Huangcheng’s local power brokers and target Xu Changcheng’s interests, while Su Can planned to pursue a separate breakthrough himself. As the city prepared for an official banquet, Tian Tian and her friends spotted Su Can and judged him from their car.

• Zhou Zhaofeng and Xu Changcheng discussed Su Licheng’s investment proposals and vowed to keep him in check.
• Su Licheng’s family moved into the municipal compound, and Su Can shared what he had learned about Huangcheng’s local interests.
• Su Can urged Su Licheng to revive competing barrier-lake proposals from Xu Changcheng and Huang Yu to divide their allies.
• Su Can decided to expose Xu Changcheng’s dealings himself so his father would not be seen as politically disruptive.
• Tian Tian drove past Su Can with two friends, who discussed his appearance and called him dim-witted.
• Two days later, Huangcheng’s banquet for leading officials and their families arrived.

At a banquet by Barrier Lake, Su Can met Huangcheng officials’ children and heard Xu Dong boast that he could use a special Facebook account to access users’ private information. Su Can contacted Qiao Shuxin and had the account suspended pending investigation, leaving Xu Dong and the group stunned.

• Su Can attended the Lakeside Hotel banquet with his father and met Tian Tian, Xu Dong, and other officials’ children.
• Zhu Cheng introduced Su Can and Li Pengyu to Tian Tian’s group during a walk along the lake.
• Xu Dong claimed that his special Facebook account let him view users’ albums and private information, while Wang Jie explained how an advertiser’s access tokens could enable it.
• Li Pengyu recognized the security vulnerability, and Su Can called Qiao Shuxin to investigate Huayun Real Estate and Xu Dong’s account.
• Su Can told Xu Dong that the account had been suspended pending investigation.