Chapter Summaries

Su Can worked with Facebook Chinese’s executives to plan a boardroom counterattack against Zack while weighing the company’s next leader. At a Morikawa Enterprises reception, he unexpectedly encountered Tang Wu and her parents, just as Song Zhen’s mother warmly welcomed him and Mu Xuan reacted coldly.

• Su Can and Facebook Chinese’s executives planned to have Qiao Shuxin approach American board members and investors to weaken Zack’s influence.
• Song Zhen asked Su Can to attend Morikawa Enterprises’ appreciation reception in place of Zhao Hao, and he agreed to join her in Shanghai.
• At the reception, Su Can spotted Tang Wu with Tang Zongyuan and Mu Xuan and prepared to greet them.
• Tao Qing warmly greeted Su Can and invited him to her home, while Mu Xuan’s expression turned cold.

At Senchuan Group’s reception, Su Can learned that Song Zhen had anticipated Zhao Hao’s plans and that Senchuan’s policy changes threatened their digital music counterattack. He greeted Tang Wu and her parents, where Tang Wu’s teasing hinted at their private closeness, and Tao Qing arrived to join them.

• Tang Zongyuan’s Shanghai managers noticed Su Can’s warm reception from Song Zhen and Tao Qing and watched Tang Wu’s reaction to his arrival.
• Song Zhen introduced Su Can as President Su of Shangmai Music, and he learned that Xuntong Technology’s revised digital music policies would squeeze Shangmai Music’s profits.
• Song Zhen revealed that Senchuan had tracked Zhao Hao’s contacts and had recognized his plan to break from their SP agreement, forcing Su Can to reconsider the planned counterattack.
• Su Can went to greet Tang Zongyuan, Mu Xuan, and Tang Wu, and Tang Wu teased him about supposedly planning to spend the day in the library.
• Song Zhen and Su Can exchanged pointed remarks with Tang Wu and her parents before Tao Qing arrived and praised Tang Wu to Mu Xuan.

At the Jinjiang Hotel, Su Can clashed with Mu Xuan over Tang Wu’s freedom to become Facebook’s vice president. When Mu Xuan made Tang Wu choose between the position and coming home, Tang Wu held Su Can’s hand before leaving with her parents.

• Tao Qing invited Su Can, Tang Wu, and their families to dinner, prompting Mu Xuan to accuse Su Can of using Tao Qing and Song Zhen to influence her.
• Su Can argued with Mu Xuan and accused her of controlling Tang Wu under the guise of protecting her.
• Mu Xuan defended the sacrifices she had made for Tang Wu, then offered her daughter a choice between joining Facebook as vice president and going home.
• Tang Wu took Su Can’s hand, wept, let go, and left the Jinjiang Hotel with Mu Xuan, Tang Zongyuan, and the others.

Mu Xuan reconsidered Su Can’s defiance and quietly accepted that Tang Wu had someone she could rely on, though she said she would judge him by his future behavior. Meanwhile, Qiao Shuxin’s departure from Shanghai intensified speculation about a Facebook power struggle, leaving Su Can and Facebook Chinese facing a possible fight over United States Facebook’s stake.

• Mu Xuan and Tang Zongyuan prepared a lavish dinner after returning home, while Tang Wu and Mu Xuan remained silent with each other.
• Mu Xuan told Tang Zongyuan she realized Su Can had not knowingly joined Tao Qing’s scheme, and she acknowledged that his defense of Tang Wu had earned her approval.
• Mu Xuan and Tang Zongyuan drove Tang Wu back to Nanjing University, where Mu Xuan included Su Can in her farewell and Tang Wu told him some of the local specialties were for him.
• Qiao Shuxin’s departure from Shanghai fueled press reports of a power struggle between Su Can and Zuckerberg over Facebook.
• Su Can told Lin Guangdong that United States Facebook could theoretically sell its forty-percent stake in Facebook Chinese, but doing so without an agreement could lead to a court battle.

Su Can learned that Zack was working with Zhan Hua and planned to sell part of United States Facebook’s stake in Facebook China, while Kate warned him and pledged to protect the company she had helped build. After news of the planned sale spread, Su Can flew to San Francisco to confront the coming dispute over Facebook China’s future.

• Mu Guotao and Liu Wenqiang told Su Can that Qiao Shuxin had evaded an American investigator and was arranging meetings with key people in Silicon Valley.
• Kate explained to Su Can why she had answered Zack’s questions, then warned him that Zack was in contact with Zhan Hua and Sequoia Capital over a secret agreement to buy into Facebook China.
• Zack returned to the United States after telling Su Can that new investors would fund expansion and that they would need to discuss equity changes and restructuring in Palo Alto.
• A month later, Facebook China received Zack’s notice that United States Facebook intended to sell some of its stake, and The New York Times reported a planned sale worth about two hundred million dollars.
• Su Can completed his visa arrangements, switched off his ringing phone, and boarded a flight from Shanghai to San Francisco.

Su Can left Shanghai for the United States after saying goodbye to Tang Wu, while Lin Luoran sent him a final message from Shanghai. At the same time, Gao Heng and Don Valentine departed Beijing on a chartered plane to confront him in Silicon Valley, and Su Can arrived in America by another route.

• Su Can switched off his phones at Pudong Airport, gave his final instructions, and said goodbye to Tang Wu before leaving for the United States.
• Tang Wu told Su Can she would wait for his return, and Su Can kissed her goodbye despite the disapproving coughs of the managers nearby.
• Lin Luoran threw Lin Zouwen’s phone into her soup after Su Can ignored her calls, then replied to his boarding text by telling him to come back once he had dealt with things.
• Don Valentine and Gao Heng boarded a chartered plane at Capital Airport, and Gao Heng told Zhan Hua he wanted to witness the coming events in Silicon Valley himself.
• Su Can arrived at a brightly lit American airport by another route.

Su Can arrived in Palo Alto and was welcomed by Facebook employees as Qiao Shuxin prepared him for a looming confrontation with Zack over the company’s future. The chapter ended with Su Can and Zack acknowledging that neither could find a way to resolve their conflict before the board meeting.

• Dustin, Katherine, and Qiao Shuxin met Su Can at the airport, and Dustin drove him and Li Pengyu to Palo Alto.
• Katherine welcomed Su Can at the hotel, and Facebook employees gathered for a lavish party celebrating his return.
• Qiao Shuxin told Su Can that Zack could not back down without risking the ideals and livelihoods tied to Facebook, while Su Can listened without reply.
• Katherine kissed Su Can on the cheek at the party, and Zack arrived later with Chris Cox and greeted him stiffly.
• Su Can and Zack spoke privately at Facebook headquarters and admitted neither could find a better solution before the board meeting.
• Su Can told Zack they would see each other at the board meeting, then left with Li Pengyu in the elevator.

As Facebook’s board meeting approached, Su Can prepared to defend his position against Zack’s plan to sell his Chinese shares. Just before the meeting, Su Can encountered Zhan Hua and Gao Heng, whose influence and challenge became unmistakable.

• Facebook employees and investors awaited Monday’s board meeting, while Qiao Shuxin warned Su Can and Li Pengyu that the observers’ opinions could shape the outcome.
• Donald arrived, and Greylock and Merritech Capital sent board observers who could speak but not vote.
• Su Can watched Zhan Hua and Gao Heng arrive at Facebook headquarters as reporters gathered outside.
• Su Can recognized Gao Heng as a powerful member of the Gao family and steadied himself despite feeling the force of his presence.
• Gao Heng told Li Pengyu that his father, General Li Minglei, wanted him to enter politics; Li Pengyu replied that his father supported his current work.
• Su Can stopped Li Pengyu from escalating the exchange and stood face-to-face with Gao Heng.

Su Can was ambushed at Facebook’s board meeting as Gao Heng and Sequoia pushed through a financing plan that stripped him of his leadership role and board seat. He left Facebook vowing to repay Gao Heng and Zhan Hua, while Zack remained behind as the company’s sole leader.

• Su Can challenged Gao Heng and Zack over the unexpected observers, then argued that Facebook Chinese’s profitable growth made selling its shares a mistake.
• Gao Heng revealed that the meeting was actually about Sequoia and IDD investing $400 million in United States Facebook, diluting Su Can’s stake and proposing to remove his authority and board seat.
• Zack called for a vote, and after hours of debate the board stripped Su Can of his co-president position and directorship; Dustin, Donald, and Jim supported the resolution.
• Su Can smashed a laptop before Zack, confronted him over their broken friendship, and left as employees watched.
• Su Can warned Zhan Hua and Gao Heng that he would repay them, then walked out of Facebook.

Gao Heng’s faction forced Su Can out of Facebook and pressed Zack to sell shares in Facebook Chinese, while Zack resisted further concessions. As Dustin resigned and the media chronicled the founders’ split, Su Can quietly read about it at Nanjing University.

• Gao Heng called Gao Langtao to report that their plan had succeeded, while Gao Canghai announced Xinyuan Group’s withdrawal from noncore operations.
• Gao Heng told Zack that the Facebook boardroom split was genuine and urged him to sell part of his Facebook Chinese shares, but Zack refused.
• United States Facebook finalized its financing agreement with Sequoia and IDD after Su Can returned to Shanghai.
• Dustin resigned from Facebook, accused Zack of putting the company above everyone else, and left.
• The New York Times published an account of Facebook’s founders and their departures, while Su Can read the paper at Nanjing University.

In 2004, after Chen Lingshan’s Beijing Film Academy play, a newspaper report revealed that Su Can had returned to China amid betrayal and a looming dispute over Facebook. Chen Lingshan tried to rush to him, then broke down over the choices that had taken her away from Shanghai and Su Can.

• At a celebration after the play, Li Lumei told the group that her former classmate Su Can had founded Facebook in China, and Chen Lingshan silently warned her not to reveal more.
• Outside the bar, Chen Lingshan found a Financial Morning Post report describing Su Can as betrayed and raising the prospect of a legal fight over Facebook.
• Li Lumei and Chen Lingshan drove toward the airport while Chen Lingshan called her father to ask about a plane ticket.
• Li Lumei urged Chen Lingshan to reconsider going to Shanghai, pointing out that she had chosen to let Su Can go and might not be able to help him.
• Chen Lingshan ran off and confessed that she feared choosing the Beijing Film Academy over the Shanghai Theatre Academy had been a mistake, because she could no longer find Su Can or the bicycle she once imagined riding with him.

Su Can met with the Song Family, then faced requests to influence the American Facebook as political controversy spread through the platform. As the Gao Family prepared to move against Wang Bu, Su Can reunited with friends at Barrier Lake, where their quiet support helped him through his defeat; the chapter ended with Lin Zouwen privately worrying about Lin Luoran’s future.

• Song Shihao told Su Can that the Song and Yan families would support him, while Song Zhen invited him to visit whenever he felt down.
• Political groups on the American Facebook amplified a dispute over China’s frontier, and Su Can tried to persuade Zack to limit the damage, but Zack did not respond.
• Chinese Americans organized demonstrations after a professor insulted them, and Gao Heng’s family criticized him for failing to control the American Facebook while Gao Heng vowed to move against Wang Bu.
• Su Can gathered his business managers and old friends at Barrier Lake, where they stayed close to him without pressing him to discuss Zack’s betrayal.
• Lin Zouwen jokingly offered Lin Luoran to Su Can, and Lin Luoran kicked and trampled him before he privately wondered whether she could protect herself after he was gone.

At a Tang family dinner, the Mu family elders openly welcomed Su Can and encouraged him after his conflict with United States Facebook. After Su Can and Tang Wu left, their relatives discussed the legal battle and confirmed rumors that the Gao family was behind the events in America.

• Su Can and Tang Wu shopped for gifts before attending the Tang family dinner at the Immortal Roast Abode.
• Su Can handed out gifts to Tang Wu’s younger relatives, and Mu Kaizhu excitedly thanked him for the watch he had chosen for her.
• Tong Dong asked Su Can whether he would sue United States Facebook, and he confirmed the rumors about what happened in America.
• Old Madam Mu advised Tang Wu not to neglect her studies and urged Su Can to keep his feet on the ground, while Old Master Mu added his support.
• The Mu family elders’ warm reception eased the relatives’ uncertainty about Su Can, and he and Tang Wu left the dinner early to return to Nanjing University.
• After they left, Tang Wu’s relatives discussed the lawsuit and confirmed that the Gao family was connected to Su Can’s conflict with United States Facebook.

In 2005, Su Can celebrated New Year with Tang Wu, Lin Luoran, and their friends while reflecting on his uncertain future and the growing pressures around Facebook. As political allies discussed threats to Su Can, Morikawa executives questioned why Facebook Chinese had not yet sued its American counterpart, and Song Shihao pointed them toward the company’s U.S. legal department.

• Su Can noticed the new year had arrived as he studied at Nanjing University, while Room 602’s residents moved into their senior year.
• Lin Luoran cooked hot pot at Su Can’s Manhattan First Residence apartment, where friends discussed Mark Zuckerberg’s public image and Lin Luoran teased Su Can about the home he had decorated to match her ideas.
• Su Can felt his advantage from being reborn fading as he looked ahead to an unknown future, then joked with Lin Luoran until she chased him through the apartment.
• Wang Bu met Lin Guozhou and Wei Yuanhu after the National People’s Congress meetings, and Lin Guozhou warned him that people might target Su Can; Wang Bu said Su Can could handle himself.
• Song Xiancheng asked Song Shihao why Facebook Chinese had not filed suit against the American side, and Song Shihao told him to ask Morikawa’s U.S. Legal Department.

After the investigation cleared Wang Yue, Su Can returned with her to Huangcheng and reflected on betrayal, family, and his struggle over United States Facebook. Just as he prepared to leave for Shanghai, he learned that Lin Zouwen had been injured in Zhengzhou, prompting Wang Weiwei and Lin Luoran to rush there.

• Wang Yue returned to Dunhuang, reassured its managers, and reunited tearfully with her mother in Huangcheng.
• Zeng Ke told Su Can how a trusted army friend had betrayed his parents by disappearing with the five hundred yuan they had saved, and urged Su Can to move forward after his own betrayal.
• Tian Qu asked Su Can whether he could regain control of United States Facebook, and Su Can said his real opponent was those who made rules but placed themselves above the law.
• Wang Weiwei called Su Can to report that Lin Zouwen had been hospitalized in Zhengzhou after being injured while helping a friend whose father had disappeared.
• Lin Luoran told Su Can that a group had forced its way into the hotel where Lin Zouwen and his friends were staying, and she was boarding a flight to Zhengzhou.

Su Can rushed to Zhengzhou after learning that Lin Zouwen had been hospitalized, and Wang Weiwei explained how Lin Zouwen was injured while helping his friend Zhao Zhubin. Doctors confirmed that Lin Zouwen had stage III non-small cell lung cancer, leaving his family devastated.

• Su Can canceled his flight to Shanghai, flew to Zhengzhou, and hurried to the Provincial Military Region Hospital.
• Wang Weiwei told Su Can that Zhao Zhubin’s father had disappeared after threats, and that Lin Zouwen had gone with friends to protect Zhao Zhubin.
• Wang Weiwei explained that Lin Zouwen was injured in a fight outside a hotel and that doctors had found a shadow in his chest.
• Doctors told Lin Zouwen’s family that a biopsy confirmed stage III non-small cell lung cancer and that chemotherapy needed to begin immediately.
• Lin Zouwen’s father trembled and begged his son’s forgiveness as Su Can remembered how Lin Zouwen had endured his father’s punishment for defending Lin Luoran.

After Lin Zouwen received evidence linking Zhao Changhe’s disappearance to corruption at Hunan Xinghua and Xinyuan Group, Su Can passed it to Wang Bu and Lu Jiaying, who prepared to launch an investigation. Lin Zouwen learned Su Can had returned from the future, and as authorities moved against Gao Canghai, Su Can decided to go to America.

• Visitors from Beijing and their former schools came to see Lin Zouwen in the hospital, and Tang Wu comforted Lin Luoran.
• Gao Canghai and Gao Heng discussed Zhao Changhe’s disappearance, while the men involved in the hotel attack turned themselves in and claimed there was no mastermind.
• Su Can, Tang Wu, and Lin Luoran returned to Shanghai, and Lin Zouwen later traveled with them to Xiahai before heading to the United States for cancer treatment.
• At City First Middle School, Lin Zouwen told Su Can that Zhao Zhubin had given him materials about Hunan Xinghua and Zhao Changhe’s disappearance, then heard Su Can reveal that he had come back from the future.
• Su Can delivered Zhao Changhe’s materials to Wang Bu, who asked Lu Jiaying to help launch an investigation and decided to go to Beijing.
• After Wang Bu warned Su Can to stay out of the coming conflict, Su Can called someone and said he had to go to America.

Gao Heng arrived at Facebook expecting to secure control, but Su Can returned and helped pass a three-class share structure that protected Zack and weakened Gao Heng’s influence. The board rejected Gao Heng’s attempt to expel Su Can, and Zack explained that Su’s return benefited Facebook and its trust with users.

• Gao Canghai and Gao Heng discussed rushing through shell-company backdoor listings and using Facebook Chinese equity to undermine Wang Bu.
• Gao Heng arrived at Facebook and found Su Can present as the company’s second-largest shareholder and a board observer.
• Gao Heng proposed expelling Su, but the directors refused to remove him from the meeting.
• Su Can proposed three classes of shares with voting power of one, six, and sixty votes, and the board approved the plan.
• Gao Heng erupted in anger and left after Su warned him that the business judgment rule would hinder his challenge.
• Zack told Gao Heng that Su’s return benefited Facebook and ended by calling himself a bitch.

After Gao Heng lost control of Facebook, Zack and Su Can reunited under a new governance structure that gave Su Can power to check Zack. Gao Heng sold IDD Investment’s Facebook stake to Microsoft and redirected the proceeds into a major market operation, but investigations into the Gao family’s allies threatened to expose the scheme before it was complete.

• Zack welcomed Su Can back to Facebook and admitted he had considered forcing him out during the political crisis.
• Su Can explained Facebook’s three-tier share structure, which gave him the ability to veto Zack and keep power in check.
• Microsoft bought IDD Investment’s 1.5 percent Facebook stake for $240 million, valuing Facebook at $16 billion.
• Gao Heng ordered Zhan Hua to use the proceeds alongside six billion yuan for concentrated investments in shell companies.
• Zhan Hua warned Gao Heng that investigations into Du Wei, Zhou Zhaofeng, and Du Tao could expose the Qinghai Refining Shell Company and implicate the Gao family.
• Gao Canghai submitted a self-criticism report to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection while the Gao family’s allies hurried to complete share transfers in seven listed shell companies.

Mu Qin rejected efforts to shield Gao Canghai, but the central authorities delayed his detention until a report exposed Xinyuan Group’s dealings and Su Can recognized that Gao was preparing to flee. Gao was stopped at the airport and placed under Shuanggui; later, Su Can and the others mourned Lin Zouwen, with Lin Luoran admitting that the future remained uncertain.

• Mu Qin insisted that political principles and correcting mistakes mattered more than protecting Gao Canghai, while the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection postponed his immediate detention.
• Financial Current Affairs published an investigation into market manipulation during the restructuring of Xinghua Enterprises, and Facebook Chinese reposted it, shaking the Gao family faction.
• Gao Langtao questioned Gao Canghai about the leak, while Su Can concluded that Gao intended to leave the country and Wang Bu agreed.
• Gao Canghai attempted to board a flight to Hong Kong, but four men presented a Shuanggui order and prevented him from leaving.
• The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced that Gao Canghai had been placed under Shuanggui, and the State Council and Organization Department announced a leadership reshuffle at Xinyuan Group.
• At Lin Zouwen’s memorial service, Su Can burned a copy of Social Empire, the mourners said their goodbyes, and Lin Luoran promised to do her best despite not knowing what the future held.