Chapter Summaries

Su Licheng’s promotion and Zeng Ke’s growing success drew envy and gossip, while Su Can’s strong exam results raised his profile at school. The chapter left him anticipating an indirect confession from a girl who had made a bet with her friends.

• Wang Xiaocui congratulated Zeng Ke on Su Licheng’s promotion, then tried to diminish the news by comparing their husbands and Zeng Ke’s clothes.
• Xiao Yazhong told Wang Xiaocui that Engineering Division Four was in trouble and doubted Su Licheng would keep his new position.
• The midterm rankings led Tang Wu to become class monitor, Wang Xuebing to become deputy monitor, and Lu Hua to become Youth League branch secretary.
• Students gossiped about exam rankings and classmates, while Su Can became a topic of interest among students from other classes.
• A girl from Class One told Su Can that her friend had bet she would confess to him, and the blushing girl asked him to help her when it happened.
• Su Can suspected the bet was mostly a pretext for an indirect confession.

Shen Lu confessed to Su Can in front of a crowd of girls, turning their morning encounter into a schoolwide rumor. Su Can dismissed the confession as a bet and returned to studying, while Chen Lingshan’s sour reaction revealed her tangled feelings.

• Su Can arrived at school with Xue Yiyang and encountered Ran Yu and a group of girls waiting to see him.
• Ran Yu called Shen Lu forward, and Shen Lu told Su Can, “I like you!” before fleeing down the stairs.
• Yin Xiaotian told the teachers about Shen Lu’s confession, while Xiao Rihua remained suspicious of Su Can despite his strong exam results.
• Xue Yiyang lamented that no girl had ever confessed to him, and the story spread through Su Can’s class.
• Chen Lingshan suggested Shen Lu might genuinely like Su Can, but Li Lumei noticed Chen Lingshan’s jealousy.
• Su Can said the confession had only been a bet and urged everyone to study, then reflected that youthful feelings were complicated.

Su Can practiced basic basketball drills under Lin Luoran’s guidance, steadily improving his low dribbling and building his stamina. Lin Luoran offered him private lessons at her home, while two girls watched them from elsewhere on campus.

• Su Can persisted with low-dribbling exercises despite sore legs and injured fingers, while Mao Xiaoshi and the others played basketball with Lin Luoran.
• Lin Luoran corrected Su Can’s form and had him practice fast dribbling between his legs, impressing the watching players.
• Lin Luoran teased Su Can about winning a girl over with his basketball skills, and Su Can explained that he exercised to improve his health and focus.
• Lin Luoran gave Su Can her address and offered him private basketball lessons that weekend.
• Two girls watched Su Can and Lin Luoran from beneath a scholar tree beside the camphor trees.

Chen Lingshan brushed off Li Lumei’s question about whether she regretted her past choices, while Su Can noticed Xue Yiyang secretly working through his chemistry paper after being shaken by Su Can’s midterm results. Su Can left school and saw his cousin Zeng Na avoiding him before Wang Haoran summoned him at the gates.

• Li Lumei asked whether Chen Lingshan regretted something, and Chen Lingshan changed the subject to Li Lumei’s interest in Mao Xiaoshi.
• Su Can returned to class early from PE and saw Xue Yiyang hide a chemistry paper he had taken to solve privately.
• Su Can realized his academic success had unsettled Xue Yiyang, but he left without confronting his friend and hoped the change would motivate him.
• Su Can saw Zeng Na leaving school with her friends, and she avoided speaking to him as a third-year boy approached her.
• Wang Haoran, still wearing a bandage on his forehead, beckoned Su Can over at the school gates.

Su Can learned that Chen Chong had planned to ambush him after school, but Wang Haoran claimed he had stopped the revenge plot. At a class meeting, Su Can narrowly lost the vote to become English representative, while Xiao Rihua grew increasingly wary of him.

• Wang Haoran warned Su Can that Chen Chong and his friends had planned to attack him after school, then said he had talked them out of it.
• Su Can challenged Wang Haoran’s motives, and later suspected that his closeness with Lin Luoran had helped prevent the ambush.
• Su Can lost the class vote for English representative to Luo Wen by a few votes, despite receiving more than thirty votes.
• Li Lumei told Su Can that she and Chen Lingshan had voted for him, making Chen Lingshan blush as Tang Wu overheard.
• Xiao Rihua felt relieved that Su Can had not become a class officer and privately worried that his grades and demeanor concealed a dangerous character.

Su Can watched his father, Su Licheng, face contempt from a vocational-school teacher as the struggling Engineering Division Four weighed on him. He then delivered stationery to the Bayi Kaixuan Hotel, where Lin Luoran had also left him an address and phone number.

• Teacher Ma belittled Zeng Ke's shop and suggested Su Can attend Starlight Vocational School before learning that Su Licheng was a division chief.
• Teacher Ma probed Su Licheng about Engineering Division Four's problems and urged him to take advantage of whatever power he still had.
• Su Can reflected that Zhao Chengrong's legacy and the division's financial and credibility crises left Su Licheng and Tong Jianjun struggling to keep it operating and pay workers.
• Zeng Ke gave Su Can an order of stationery for the Bayi Kaixuan Hotel, and he took a bus to deliver it.
• On the bus, Su Can reread Lin Luoran's handwritten note giving the hotel's address and phone number.

Su Can delivered office supplies to the Bayi Hotel and accidentally walked into a formal reception for military and municipal leaders. Lin Luoran recognized him and warmly said he had come to see her, easing the tension and drawing the guests’ amused attention.

• Su Can entered the Bayi Hotel to deliver office supplies and was sent to the finance office by the reception manager.
• A finance employee scolded Su Can, signed his delivery slip, and then hurried after him when she realized he might leave through the wrong passage.
• Su Can emerged into the lobby during a formal reception for Jiang Lingdu, Liu Lan, and other military and city leaders, disrupting the general manager’s speech.
• The general manager and finance employee panicked as armed police approached Su Can, while several young guests found the interruption entertaining.
• Lin Luoran stepped out, greeted Su Can, and said she was glad he had come to see her, prompting laughter and easing the room’s tension.

Su Can joined Lin Luoran at the Bayi Hotel’s sports ground, where they played basketball with Wang Weiwei and other officials’ children. Zhao Lu arrived with his own group and challenged them to a game, leaving Lin Luoran’s side struggling as the score reached fifteen to ten.

• Lin Luoran took Su Can to the hotel sports ground and coached him as they played basketball.
• Wang Weiwei and Lin Zouwen introduced Su Can to Liu Yuran and Jiang Li, who joined the group at the court.
• Zhao Lu arrived with several teenagers and traded barbs with Wang Weiwei’s group before challenging them to a basketball game.
• Liu Yuran stepped aside, and Su Can’s team faced Zhao Lu’s taller, more experienced players.
• Zhao Lu’s team focused on guarding Lin Luoran and repeatedly stole the ball from Su Can as they built a fifteen-to-ten lead.

Su Can turned the basketball game around by repeatedly scoring from long range, helping Wang Weiwei and the others defeat Zhao Lu’s team and earn their respect. He left for home after the game, while Jiang Li decided she wanted to marry him instead of Takeshi Kaneshiro, though she worried about Lin Luoran.

• Su Can ignored Zhao Lu’s demand for the ball and made a shot from behind him, surprising everyone with his accuracy.
• Wang Weiwei, Lin Zouwen, and Lin Luoran began passing Su Can the ball, and his repeated long-range shots helped secure a 23–19 victory.
• Zhao Lu congratulated Su Can on his three-pointers and left after Wang Weiwei called Su Can his brother.
• Su Can declined Lin Luoran’s invitation to stay for a meal and took a bus back to the city.
• At the bus stop, Jiang Li said she wanted to marry Su Can instead of Takeshi Kaneshiro, then remembered Lin Luoran.

Su Can saw how political pressure and Engineering Division Four’s ruined reputation threatened his father’s new position, then went to a municipal investment promotion event with Su Licheng, Zeng Qu anming, and Tong Jianjun to look for opportunities beyond Xiahai. The chapter left Su Can hoping that expanding elsewhere might give the company a slim chance to recover.

• At a family dinner, Su Can reassured Zeng Qu anming that Zeng Na was focused on school and heard his uncle explain why he could not safely help Engineering Division Four.
• Su Licheng told Zeng Ke that the company’s greatest problem was its damaged reputation, not a lack of funding.
• Su Can left school early, prompting classmates to worry about his family and Tang Wu to watch him go with concern.
• Su Can went to the Kailai Hotel investment promotion event, where he joined Su Licheng, Zeng Qu anming, and Tong Jianjun.
• Su Can considered seeking business opportunities outside Xiahai as a possible way to help Engineering Division Four.

At a municipal banquet, Zhou Chunlan publicly criticized Tong Jianjun’s Engineering Division Four and used Su Licheng’s connection to Zeng Qu anming to undermine Zeng. Su Can followed Li Yinhe into the restroom and overheard a suspicious Cantonese phone call before a loose tile revealed his presence.

• Mayor Hong Xiaotian and Deputy Municipal Party Secretary Wang Jinrong praised the city agencies’ development work and highlighted the Xinghai Square project with Canadian representative Li Yinhe.
• Zhou Chunlan pointed out that Su Licheng was related to Zeng Qu anming, then criticized Engineering Division Four in front of the city officials, worsening the tension around Tong Jianjun and Zeng.
• Su Can left the banquet table and hid in a restroom stall to listen to Li Yinhe’s phone call.
• Li Yinhe spoke Cantonese to Old Zheng about taking charge and asked how things were going with Old Ghost, prompting Su Can to suspect the project’s story was not what it seemed.
• Su Can accidentally knocked a loose tile, and Li Yinhe abruptly stopped speaking.

Su Can suspected Li Yinhe of being involved in a fraud ring and quietly urged Zeng Qu anming to investigate him. The authorities uncovered the scheme, arrested Li Yinhe’s accomplices, and eventually found Li hiding in a remote mountain forest.

• Su Can overheard Li Yinhe speaking suspiciously on the phone in the restroom, then warned Zeng Qu anming in a note to investigate Li and Xinghai Company.
• Li Yinhe approached Zeng Qu anming at dinner and acted deferentially, further raising Zeng and Su Licheng’s suspicions.
• Zeng Qu anming contacted Old Zhao, and the Xiahai Public Security Bureau uncovered mismatches in Li Yinhe’s records and evidence of a far-reaching construction fraud scheme.
• Police arrested Li Yinhe’s accomplices in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Macau.
• Half a month later, armed police found Li Yinhe in a remote mountain forest, and the joint Shenzhen-Macau police announced that the cross-border fraud case had been solved.

Su Can met Li Kun in the interrogation room and learned how each had noticed the other's telltale behavior. Li Kun confessed and offered valuable leads, while Su Can realized his victory had been narrow.

• Zhao Lijun told Zeng Qu anming that Li Kun had requested to meet Su Can and that the interrogation had stalled.
• Su Can persuaded his parents to let him visit Li Kun, with Zeng Qu anming's approval.
• Li Kun asked Su Can how he had uncovered the fraud, and Su Can explained that Li Kun's use of Hong Kong and Macao underworld slang had made him suspicious.
• Li Kun revealed that Su Can's careful handwashing after using the restroom had made him suspect Su Can in turn.
• Su Can said Li Kun's escape would only have delayed his eventual capture, and Li Kun confessed and offered valuable leads.

The fraud ring was brought to justice, saving Xiahai City from a financial and political disaster while shifting power toward Hong Xiaotian’s faction and elevating Zeng Qu anming. Su Can’s role remained unpublicized, as Zhao Lijun received official recognition for the case.

• Liu Lan abandoned his plan to delay Zeng Qu anming’s appointment, and Zeng became director of both the City Construction Bureau and the City Construction Committee as Zhou Chunlan was transferred.
• Authorities solved the cross-border fraud case involving more than twenty victims and twenty million yuan, strengthening Hong Xiaotian’s faction and boosting Zeng Qu anming’s standing.
• Tong Jianjun visited Zhou Chunlan at the Government Affairs Center and recalled words from their youth before leaving with Su Licheng to discuss Xinghai Square.
• Zhao Lijun removed the report crediting Su Can after Su Can and his family objected, so Su Can received no public commendation at school.
• At a ceremony attended by Macau police officers, Zhao Lijun received a second-class merit citation and was named a Xiahai City Outstanding Party Member.

Zeng Qu anming persuaded Hong Xiaotian to award the Xinghai Square project to Engineering Division Four, arguing that Darong Construction Group could provide the expertise and resources Xiahai needed. Tong Jianjun secured a powerful team and funding from the group, while Su Can’s ordinary routine continued untouched by the adult power struggles.

• A newspaper attacked Zeng Qu anming’s decision to give Xinghai Square to Engineering Division Four, and Hong Xiaotian asked whether they should reconsider.
• Zeng Qu anming explained that no local company could complete the project on time and that Darong Construction Group could supply the necessary expertise and resources.
• Hong Xiaotian signed the approval for Engineering Division Four, deciding to see how many resources Tong Jianjun could secure from the group.
• Zhao Xin helped Tong Jianjun prepare the budget, and Old Master Liu praised Tong Jianjun’s achievement as Darong Construction Group assembled funding and elite personnel.
• A chartered flight brought the construction specialists to Xiahai, where Tong Jianjun, Su Licheng, and city leaders welcomed them.
• Su Can continued his quiet daily commute to school, unaware of the turmoil in adult circles.

Su Can reflected on his family’s growing business and received an encouraging New Year’s postcard from Tang Wu. Gao Fan’s jealousy led to a hurtful argument with Chen Lingshan, who left him and continued to ignore him afterward.

• Su Can saw that his family’s shop had made a profit of 150,000 yuan and considered encouraging his parents to open a branch.
• Tang Wu gave Su Can a blueberry-scented postcard calling him to be more than a genius watching from the sidelines.
• Gao Fan grew jealous as he compared himself with Su Can and noticed Chen Lingshan seemed warmer toward him when Su Can was nearby.
• While shopping with Chen Lingshan, Gao Fan accused her of being materialistic and changing her mind about Su Can because of his new Nikes.
• Chen Lingshan, hurt by Gao Fan’s accusation, kicked him, took a taxi, and ignored him when he later came to see her.
• Chen Lingshan wondered how her friends would interpret her growing closeness to Su Can, while her pride remained fierce.

Su Can faced public scrutiny for skipping his Chinese homework while Chen Lingshan wrestled with her feelings about him, and he was chosen for Class Five’s basketball league team. When Ran Yu insulted Li Lumei after rejecting her confession to Mao Xiaoshi, Chen Lingshan confronted Ran Yu and slapped her, while Su Can was left with the uneasy sense that something was brewing.

• Chen Lingshan threatened to list Su Can as missing homework, and Su Can told her to go ahead; their teacher Xiao Rihua later reprimanded him along with the other students on the list.
• Chen Lingshan admitted to Li Lumei and the other girls that she disliked Su Can, though she privately worried about whether he hated her.
• Mao Xiaoshi selected Su Can as a guard for Class Five’s basketball league team and turned down Zhang Xi and Li Ai, leaving Zhang Xi resentful.
• After Li Lumei confessed to Mao Xiaoshi and Ran Yu insulted her, Chen Lingshan confronted Ran Yu and demanded an apology.
• When Ran Yu stayed silent, Chen Lingshan slapped her, then led Li Lumei away as the watching students looked on.
• Su Can watched Chen Lingshan’s confrontation and returned to class feeling that he had forgotten something important.

Chen Chong entered Year One, Class Five and confronted Mao Xiaoshi over his relationship with Ran Yu, whose breakup with Chen Chong had left him furious. After Mao Xiaoshi admitted they were together, Chen Chong punched him and kicked him as the students and Xiao Rihua watched.

• Xiao Rihua chose not to question Chen Lingshan about the clash with Year One, Class One, despite pressure from the school administration.
• Chen Chong entered Year One, Class Five and called Mao Xiaoshi outside while Chen Lingshan and other classmates gathered nearby.
• Chen Chong demanded to know whether Mao Xiaoshi was with Ran Yu, and Mao Xiaoshi glanced toward Su Can before answering yes.
• Chen Chong punched Mao Xiaoshi in the eye and kicked him in the lower back, leaving the surrounding students too frightened to intervene.

Su Can remembered a fatal stabbing at City First Middle School as Chen Chong attacked Mao Xiaoshi with a knife in Class Five. Su Can stopped Chen Chong’s third strike with a bench, but was stabbed himself as Xiao Rihua rushed to help.

• Su Can recalled that a student at City First Middle School had died in a stabbing over romantic jealousy.
• Chen Chong opened a folding knife and slashed Mao Xiaoshi twice, badly injuring his hands and arms.
• As Chen Chong thrust at Mao Xiaoshi a third time, Su Can hurled a bench into him and slammed him against the wall.
• Chen Chong charged at Su Can, who grabbed his wrist but was stabbed in the waist and abdomen.
• Xiao Rihua smashed a desk at Chen Chong as Su Can collapsed.

A knife attack at City First Middle School left Mao Xiaoshi and Su Can injured after Su Can and teacher Xiao Rihua helped stop Chen Chong. The news reached city officials and the provincial inspection team, while Wang Jinrong feared his nephew Wang Haoran was the attacker.

• Ding Juntao heard a crash at the teaching building and learned from Tian Feng that there had been a murder.
• Su Can struck Chen Chong with a stool, and Xiao Rihua hit him with a desk as Chen tried to stab Su Can.
• Students rushed downstairs with the injured Mao Xiaoshi and Su Can, and news of the attack spread through the city.
• Liu Lan worried that the incident at City First Middle School would bring provincial scrutiny and threaten his and Wang Jinrong's positions.
• Wang Jinrong rushed to Liu Lan, suspecting that his nephew Wang Haoran was the student who had used a knife, then froze when he noticed the inspection team.
• An inspection team member received a phone call as the leaders continued their discussions.