Recaps

Zhang Ke devised a plan for Xie Wanqing to trap Xie Zhan with a loan scheme while Xu Xueping’s political position remained protected. Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Team arrested Ding Xiangshan, Tang Xueqian returned to Haizhou cleared of suspicion, and Zhang Ke went back to the city with another important task in mind.

• Zhang Ke advised Xie Wanqing to let Xie Zhan apply for a bank loan, then threaten to withdraw her investment and freeze the borrowed funds.
• Jin Guohai announced that Ding Xiangshan was under investigation and that Zhou Fuming would become acting Municipal Party Committee secretary; the Special Investigation Team seized evidence and questioned Ding’s wife and Xinfeng Group staff.
• Ding Xiangshan was taken away and interrogated after investigators found large amounts of cash and valuables at his home and villa.
• Tang Xueqian and Zhang Zhixing returned to Haizhou with the second group of Special Investigation Team members, and Zhou Fuming welcomed Tang at the expressway exit.
• After staying with Xu Xueping’s family for four days, Zhang Ke returned to Haizhou by bus and told his mother he would not come home yet.

Zhang Ke went to Xu Si’s family home and learned how much her family had struggled to pay for Xu Wei’s surgery, then secured 120,000 yuan from his uncle to help Xu Si. He also advised Zhang Zhifei to expand his construction company into Haizhou as Tang Xueqian’s political prospects improved.

• Zhang Ke visited Xu Si’s parents in Shatian and heard Xu Si’s mother describe the family’s efforts to raise money for Xu Wei’s surgery.
• Zhang Ke called Zhang Zhifei and asked him to bring 120,000 yuan to Shatian without telling Zhang Ke’s father.
• Zhang Zhifei arrived with the money but asked Zhang Ke to explain why he needed such a large sum.
• Zhang Ke argued that Tang Xueqian was likely to become mayor and urged Zhang Zhifei to move his construction company into Haizhou and strengthen its capabilities.
• Zhang Zhifei trusted Zhang Ke, handed over the 120,000 yuan as a loan, and drove him toward Xu Si’s family home.

Zhang Ke secretly lent Xu Si’s family money to help her avoid a harsh sentence, while the investigation and political reshuffle in Haizhou advanced. As Zhang Zhixing weighed two possible promotions, Zhang Ke urged him to seek Xu Xueping’s guidance and arranged to travel with him to the Provincial Capital.

• Zhang Ke gave Xu Si’s parents 120,000 yuan as a supposed loan from his family, and her father wrote an IOU before Zhang Ke later destroyed it.
• Zhang Ke told Zhang Zhifei that helping Xu Si repaid a debt owed by Haizhou’s officials, while his uncle teased him about her.
• The investigation team uncovered evidence against Ding Xiangshan, whose confession supported Xu Si’s account, while the Xinfeng Group asset-loss case remained unresolved.
• The Provincial Party Committee appointed Zhou Fuming municipal party secretary and Tang Xueqian deputy secretary and acting mayor, then offered Zhang Zhixing a choice between secretary-general and a municipal bureau post.
• Zhang Ke suggested Zhang Zhixing ask Xu Xueping which position to take, and Zhang Zhixing agreed to accompany him to the Provincial Capital the next day.

Zhang Zhixing visited Xu Xueping in the Provincial Capital and received his guidance on pursuing the Municipal Government Secretary-General post. Zhang Ke arranged to board near school so he could keep in contact with Zhitong, then stayed behind with her and Xie Wanqing after his father returned to Haizhou.

• Zhang Ke persuaded his parents to let him board near No. 1 High School, offering to eat at the school cafeteria and come home weekly for laundry and cleaning.
• Zhang Zhixing took Zhang Ke to New Plum Garden, where Xu Xueping asked about his career plans and endorsed his choice to become Municipal Government Secretary-General with a broader scope of work.
• Xu Xueping left for a Provincial Party Committee meeting, while Zhang Ke remained at the house and asked Xie Wanqing about her company and Zhitong.
• Xie Wanqing said Xie Zhan was arranging a loan and that Zhitong had fewer nightmares but still could not speak.
• Zhang Zhixing gave Zhang Ke the money he had with him when the city government car returned, then went back to Haizhou.

Xie Wanqing confronted Xie Zhan over Haiyu Company’s funds and demanded that he leave the company, while Zhang Ke returned to Haizhou and prepared for high school. The chapter ended with Zhang Ke and his mother facing his father’s cousin, who proposed hosting a banquet to celebrate Zhang Ke’s admission.

• Zhang Ke stayed with Xie Wanqing and Zhitong until Zhitong regained some confidence around cars, then left Haizhou.
• Xie Wanqing froze Haiyu Company’s ten-million-yuan loan and told Xie Zhan she would sell him the company, pressing him to return what he had taken and leave.
• Zhang Ke returned to Haizhou and continued trying to influence the investigation into Xu Si, though he could not know how it would end.
• Zhang Xiaojian became Municipal Party Committee Secretary-General, and Zhang Zhixing succeeded him as Municipal Government Secretary-General.
• Zhang Ke and Liang Gezhen chose a furnished apartment in Fortune Garden for his school year, but Liang had the television and video player removed.
• Zhang Zhiwei proposed that the family hold a banquet for Zhang Ke’s admission, and Zhang Ke considered the proposal because he hoped the family could reconcile.

Zhang Ke persuaded Liang Gezhen to arrange a modest dinner celebrating both children’s admission to Haizhou First Municipal High School, using it to create a respectable occasion for the families to receive gifts. At the West City Hotel, Zhang Ke turned away Zhang Zhiwei, while his old resentment toward his uncle remained.

• Zhang Ke explained why a lavish banquet would embarrass Zhang Zhixing and Tang Xueqian, then proposed a one-table family dinner that could grow into a larger gathering.
• Liang Gezhen called Zhang Zhifei, Zhang Zhixing, and Gu Jianping to arrange the dinner and present it as a joint school-admission celebration.
• Zhang Ke stopped Liang Gezhen from telling a neighbor about the dinner and took a taxi with her to the West City Hotel.
• At the hotel, Zhang Ke asked why Zhang Mei had not come and challenged Zhang Zhiwei’s presence, prompting Zhang Zhiwei to claim he had only come to help before leaving.
• Zhang Ke reflected that the resentment he carried toward his uncle had lasted for more than a decade.

Zhang Zhixing’s family meal celebrating Zhang Ke and Tang Jing’s admission to Haizhou No. 1 High School became a large banquet after officials gathered to honor Tang Xueqian. Zhang Ke and Tang Jing collected a stack of red envelopes, and the chapter ended with their teasing flirtation as they entered the banquet hall together.

• Tang Jing and Gu Jianping arrived at the West City Hotel, and Tang Xueqian and Zhang Zhixing later came with Zhou Fuming.
• Wan Yong joined the gathering with red envelopes, followed by Gu Yao and Zhang Xiaojian, turning the family meal into an official dinner banquet.
• Zhang Zhifei arranged for the West City Hotel to bring in extra chefs and ingredients as guests arrived throughout the evening.
• Zhang Ke and Tang Jing collected red envelopes from the guests, while Tang Jing awkwardly greeted the steady stream of officials.
• Tang Jing caught Zhang Ke looking at her and teased him before they walked into the banquet hall together.

At Zhang Ke and Tang Jing’s admission banquet, Haizhou officials toasted Zhang Ke and his father, revealing how much they valued the family’s ties to Tang Xueqian. Afterward, Zhang Ke’s family counted the gifts and noted the political tensions beneath the celebration.

• Du Xiaoshan brought his son Du Fei to the banquet, where Zhang Ke befriended him and seated him beside Tang Jing.
• Haizhou officials warmly toasted Zhang Zhixing, while Tang Xueqian first raised his glass to Zhang Ke and then toasted Zhang Zhixing.
• Zhou Fuming protected Zhang Ke from Wan Yong’s demand that he toast every guest, and Zhang Ke used the rounds of toasts to observe Song Peiming.
• Zhang Zhixing’s family stayed behind to pack leftovers, then returned home and counted more than 66,000 yuan in gifts from 234 red envelopes.
• Zhang Ke’s family hosted relatives the following day, whose gifts were far smaller than those received at the officials’ banquet.

After military training, Zhang Ke confronted Zhao Siming and Wan Tiancai to keep them from bullying Chen Feirong, then explained his actions to Tang Jing and Du Fei. He left Du Fei at the school gate and ran toward Xu Si when he saw her across the street.

• Zhang Ke saw Zhao Siming and Wan Tiancai leering at Chen Feirong on the stairs and stepped in when she nearly fell.
• Zhang Ke slapped Zhao Siming, warned him to stay away from Chen Feirong, and challenged Wan Tiancai as Li Zhifang arrived and dispersed the crowd.
• Zhang Ke left the stairwell with Chen Feirong, then met Tang Jing and Du Fei and explained that he wanted to prevent Wan Tiancai and Zhao Siming from harming girls at school.
• Du Fei agreed to keep an eye on Wan Tiancai, while Tang Jing left with her mother, Gu Jianping.
• Zhang Ke saw Xu Si across the street, told Du Fei he would contact him tomorrow, and ran toward her.

Zhang Ke reassured Xu Si after the Special Investigation Team dropped the charges against her and asked her to trust him with the next three years of her life. He explained that he needed her to act as his representative because people would question a minor handling adult matters, and Xu Si agreed to help if his plans were legitimate.

• The Special Investigation Team decided not to prosecute Xu Si, and Zhang Ke told her he was relieved.
• Zhang Ke took Xu Si to his apartment, where she tidied his messy room as he teased and admired her.
• Zhang Ke reassured Xu Si that she did not need to carry her worries alone and said the money he had arranged was borrowed and would have to be repaid.
• Xu Si offered to repay the money herself, but Zhang Ke insisted they would find a way together and asked whether she trusted him.
• Zhang Ke asked Xu Si to tutor him and entrust the next three years of her life to him, then explained that he needed her to represent him in matters where his age would be an obstacle.
• Xu Si remained unsure what Zhang Ke intended but agreed to help as long as it was nothing bad.

Zhang Ke rode a crowded bus with Xu Si and asked her to gather information about Xinguang Paper Mill, linking its closure and workers’ protest to a fatal traffic accident. After they got off in Shatian, Xu Si’s father invited him to dinner, and Zhang Ke learned that Zhitong was visiting his home.

• Zhang Ke shielded Xu Si from the crowd on the bus and explained how the Xinguang Paper Mill protests had disrupted traffic patrols before the July 18 accident.
• Zhang Ke asked Xu Si to collect information on Xinguang Paper Mill, claiming it was for a school assignment.
• As the crowded bus jolted along, Zhang Ke and Xu Si were pressed together, and she pinched him when she realized he was aroused.
• Zhang Ke followed Xu Si off the bus in Shatian, where Xu Haishan greeted him and invited him to dinner.
• Zhang Ke called home to tell his mother he would eat with Xu Si, then recognized Zhitong tapping on the phone and promised to come home soon.

Xie Wanqing visited Haizhou with Zhitong while preparing to close Haiyu Company's local office, but Zhitong's attachment to Zhang Ke made her reconsider. Zhang Ke arranged for Xu Si to meet Xie Wanqing about a job and began proposing that he use the office's resources.

• Zhang Ke left Xu Si and hurried home after learning that Zhitong and Xie Wanqing had arrived in Haizhou.
• Xie Wanqing explained that she planned to wind up Haiyu Company's Haizhou operations, while Zhang Ke urged her to keep the office and mentioned a friend seeking work.
• Xie Wanqing agreed to consider Zhang Ke's friend and said she could still bring Zhitong to visit him; Zhitong clung to Zhang Ke when they left that evening.
• The next morning, Xie Wanqing brought Zhitong back and asked to meet Zhang Ke's friend, so Zhang Ke arranged for Xu Si to meet her.
• Zhang Ke told Xie Wanqing that Haiyu Company's problems were temporary and asked whether he could make use of its Haizhou resources.

Zhang Ke persuaded Xie Wanqing to keep Haiyu Company's Haizhou office open so he could pursue business ideas, including securing digital mobile phone distribution rights. He introduced Xu Si as the person who would help carry out the work, and left Xie Wanqing agreeing to support him while insisting that he not neglect school.

• Zhang Ke explained to Xie Wanqing that Haiyu Company's resources could help him pursue digital mobile phone distribution in Haizhou, and said others would handle the actual work.
• Xie Wanqing agreed to meet Zhang Ke's suggested friend, and they continued discussing distribution channels at KFC.
• Xu Si arrived, and Zhang Ke introduced her to Xie Wanqing and Zhitong.
• Xie Wanqing offered Xu Si a job at Haiyu Trading Co., Ltd. and explained that she would help Zhang Ke while handling company business in Haizhou.
• Xie Wanqing agreed to let Zhang Ke use the company's resources as long as his plans did not interfere with his studies.
• Zhang Ke mentioned Xinguang Paper Mill and said they might need to negotiate using Haiyu Company's name and ask Xie Wanqing to support them.

Zhang Ke recruited Xu Si to help run Haiyu Company's Haizhou office for three years, promising to help her repay her debt while keeping his plans vague. He began rebuilding the empty office through recruitment and free services, and Xu Si left with him to meet her family.

• Zhang Ke told Xu Si that Xu Xueping had helped secure her release and asked her to work with him for three years to repay the 120,000 yuan debt.
• Zhang Ke explained that Xu Si should gather information about the Xinguang Paper Mill, then gave her money to place an advertisement for four employees with generous salaries.
• Xu Si returned from the Haizhou Daily and found cleaners from Fumin Labor Services and Manager Zhang from Dingming Graphics Studio working in the office in exchange for potential future contracts.
• Xu Si accused Zhang Ke of tricking people into helping, then told him her father had invited him home for dinner because her family felt uneasy about the money he had given them.
• Fumin Labor Services finished cleaning the office, and Zhang Ke and Xu Si agreed to discuss a cleaning contract on a later visit.

Zhang Ke pursued Ericsson phone distribution rights for Haiyu Company, explaining the business opportunity in digital mobile phones to Xu Si. He contacted Shengxin Company’s Ye Xiaotong, who questioned Haiyu’s finances and sales channels.

• Zhang Ke joined Xu Si for dinner at her family home, where he ate unripe grapes and met her parents.
• Xu Si brought potted plants to the Xinhaitong Building, and Zhang Ke explained his plan to distribute digital phones through Haiyu Company.
• Zhang Ke described Ericsson’s newly established agent network and its potential for growth in China.
• Zhang Ke contacted Ye Xiaotong, deputy marketing director at Ericsson master distributor Shengxin Company, about Haizhou distribution rights.
• Ye Xiaotong asked why Haiyu had not sought provincial distribution rights earlier, and Zhang Ke said it had underestimated digital communications before pursuing a local opportunity.
• Ye Xiaotong raised concerns about Haiyu Company’s funding and distribution channels.

Zhang Ke persuaded Ye Xiaotong to visit Haizhou and consider Haiyu Company for Ericsson’s agency, despite the office’s lack of money and distribution channels. He then corrected Xu Si’s English translation and teased her about tutoring him, leaving their evening lessons undecided.

• Zhang Ke told Ye Xiaotong that Haiyu Company could quickly solve its funding and distribution problems and argued that Ericsson’s coming Chinese-language digital phone made its agency rights valuable.
• Ye Xiaotong agreed to make time to visit Haizhou and meet with Haiyu Company.
• Xu Si questioned how Zhang Ke could secure the agency without money or distribution channels, and Zhang Ke asked her to screen applicants for interviews the following Saturday.
• Zhang Ke showed Xu Si that he could read the English technical materials and corrected her translation.
• Zhang Ke asked Xu Si to come to his home in the evenings to tutor him, and Xu Si said they would discuss it later.

Zhang Ke and Xu Si shared a quiet evening at the office before he went home and learned that he and Tang Jing had been placed in Class Ten. The chapter ended with Zhang Ke reflecting on how different his renewed connection with Tang Jing was from their distant past.

• Xu Si invited Zhang Ke to dinner, but he hurried home after calling and hearing that his mother was unhappy with his absence.
• Zhang Ke pretended that his English tutoring explained where he had been, and Liang Gezhen accepted his story.
• Liang Gezhen told Zhang Ke that Tang Jing had searched for him all day because she wanted to check their class assignments together.
• Zhang Ke called Tang Jing and correctly guessed that she, Du Fei, and he were all assigned to Class Ten.
• Zhang Ke told Tang Jing they could talk the next day and reflected on how little she had acknowledged him in his previous life.

On his first official day at No. 1 High School, Zhang Ke tried to keep his part-time work and dealings with Xu Si secret from Tang Jing while settling into school. He learned that Du Fei had become class monitor and that Zhang Ke himself had gained an unexpected reputation as one of the school’s notorious troublemakers.

• Zhang Ke collected his allowance and tutoring money from Liang Gezhen before leaving for school with Liu Wenbing.
• In the car, Tang Jing questioned Zhang Ke about where he had gone the previous day, and he claimed he was working part-time at Zhitong's mother's company.
• Tang Jing asked when she could visit Zhitong, and Zhang Ke and Tang Jing got out near the school gates.
• Zhang Ke followed Tang Jing to class and learned that Du Fei was class monitor, Tang Jing was Youth League branch secretary, and Zhang Ke had not been chosen for the class committee.
• Du Fei told Zhang Ke that his slap of Zhao Siming had made him one of the Four Young Masters of No. 1 High School, placing him on the school’s Villains List.

Zhang Ke tried to keep a low profile at Haizhou No. 1 Middle School by acting like a troublemaker, but his careless behavior reinforced his bad reputation. After an awkward encounter with Chen Feirong and a bold show of familiarity with the Political Education Office director, he decided to quit smoking.

• Zhang Ke disrupted Li Zhifang’s class meeting with a sarcastic introduction, prompting her to treat him as a troublesome student.
• Zhang Ke visited his former classmates in Class 12, then approached Chen Feirong, who mistook his attention for harassment and hid behind a book.
• Zhang Ke decided he would need to confront Zhao Siming to stop him harassing Chen Feirong, but he could not find him.
• Zhang Ke smoked alone outside and reflected on how his changed circumstances had altered his life since returning to 1994.
• Zhang Ke instinctively offered a cigarette to Cao Guangming, the Political Education Office director, who accepted it despite his disapproval.
• Zhang Ke threw away his nearly full pack of Yunyan and resolved to quit smoking.

Zhang Ke tried to smooth things over with Tang Jing, then reunited with Xu Si and helped her with Haiyu Trading’s expenses. By September 6, he and Xu Si had begun interviewing applicants, leaving Zhang Ke focused on choosing capable employees and wondering whether he looked mature enough.

• Zhang Ke told Tang Jing that offering Cao Guangming a cigarette had been a deliberate psychological test, while Du Fei excitedly signaled that he knew about it.
• After school, Zhang Ke saw Tang Jing onto her bus, called Xu Si, and brought food to Fortune Garden, where he insisted on giving her four hundred yuan for office supplies.
• Zhang Ke and Xu Si reviewed résumés and discussed the steady stream of calls from applicants to Haiyu Trading.
• On September 6, Zhang Ke arrived at Xinhaitong Building to interview nineteen shortlisted applicants with Xu Si.
• Zhang Ke began the interviews and asked Xu Si whether his clothes and sharper expression made him look more mature.

Zhang Ke took charge of the recruitment interviews, impressed the applicants with his skill, and selected four candidates for the office. To secure working capital, he asked them to pay a 5,000-yuan work security deposit, and all four paid it the next day.

• Zhang Ke began conducting interviews and gave the first applicant practical advice on her interview manner.
• Zhang Ke used subtle handshake tests and group discussions to assess candidates, narrowing the applicants to four.
• Zhang Ke introduced the office to the final four candidates and told them the job required a 5,000-yuan work security deposit.
• Xu Si questioned Zhang Ke about the deposit, and he explained that the office needed working capital.
• All four candidates paid their deposits the next day after being impressed by Zhang Ke and the professional interview process.

Zhang Ke gathered his four new sales recruits and laid out an ambitious plan to become Ericsson’s Haizhou distributor, concealing how much remained uncertain. The team prepared to build a retail network through newspaper advertising, and Jiang Wei offered to use her husband’s connections to secure the ad space.

• Zhang Ke introduced Xu Si as the office manager and told the four recruits they would begin work immediately, with him attending their marketing meetings.
• Zhang Ke claimed the company was about to become Ericsson’s Haizhou distribution agent and explained the need to build a citywide retail network.
• Xu Si asked for an engineer to explain digital communications, and Zhang Ke said an engineer from Haiyu Company would arrive that evening for two days.
• Zhang Ke asked the recruits to secure half a page of Haizhou Daily advertising for three consecutive days at the lowest possible cost.
• Jiang Wei volunteered to seek help from her husband in the Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department to arrange the newspaper advertising.

Zhang Ke and Haiyu Trading launched a three-day teaser campaign in the Haizhou Daily to promote digital mobile phones, drawing intense public attention and potential business partners. On the third day, the advertisements revealed the Ericsson GH388 as the new darling of modern communications.

• Zhang Ke arranged business cards and a large newspaper advertisement declaring that brick phones were about to become obsolete.
• Liang Gezhen asked Zhang Ke about Haiyu Company, while Zhang Zhixing doubted that his costly brick phone would soon be replaced.
• A second advertisement asked what would replace brick phones, and Jiang Wei arranged a radio phone-in contest to amplify public curiosity.
• Residents flooded Haiyu's office with calls and visits, so Xu Si hired six temporary workers; Zhang Ke and Xu Si reviewed inquiries and identified pager businesses as priority partners.
• Xu Si worried that the campaign might mislead people into thinking Haiyu was Ericsson's distributor, but Zhang Ke dismissed her concern.
• The third advertisement revealed the Ericsson GH388 digital mobile phone and included information about digital communications.

Zhang Ke left school to join the busy Xinhaitong office, where an advertisement had drawn potential retailers and customers interested in digital mobile phones. He explained to Shengxin representative Ye Xiaotong why the office had advertised before securing Ericsson’s agency rights, and the chapter left Ye impressed by his pitch to build a network of partners.

• Zhang Ke obtained sick leave from Li Zhifang’s Chinese class and took a taxi to the Xinhaitong Building.
• Zhang Ke learned from Liu Minghui that Shengxin representative Ye Xiaotong was meeting with Xu Si.
• Ye Xiaotong challenged Xu Si over the office’s advertisement, questioning its authority to imply that it represented Ericsson in Haizhou.
• Zhang Ke introduced himself to Ye Xiaotong and argued that the advertisement promoted digital communications technology rather than committing fraud.
• Zhang Ke explained that the office was seeking partners to pool funds for stock and build a sales network, and Ye Xiaotong was impressed by his presentation.

Zhang Ke’s advertisement drew merchants and funding prospects to Haiyu Company’s Haizhou office, impressing Ye Xiaotong with its market planning. Ye Jianbin agreed to appoint Haiyu as Shengxin’s specially appointed Ericsson agent, and Zhang Ke left the meeting exploring whether Haiyu could also supply dealers in Xintai City.

• Ye Xiaotong watched Zhang Ke and Liu Minghui attract prospective partners, whose proposed funding reached six hundred thousand yuan.
• Ye Xiaotong reported her observations to Shengxin Trading’s marketing director and recommended Haiyu as a partner; Ye Jianbin heard her account.
• Ye Jianbin decided to make Haiyu Company a specially appointed Ericsson agent, bypassing Donghai Province’s provincial-agent tier.
• Ye Xiaotong told Zhang Ke that Shengxin would relax its initial-stock funding requirements and proposed discussing cooperation the next morning.
• Jiang Wei, Yang Yun, and the others learned Haiyu had not previously contacted Shengxin, and Jiang Wei recognized Zhang Ke’s influence.
• Zhang Ke asked whether Haiyu could supply dealers in Xintai City, and Ye Xiaotong’s silence signaled tacit agreement.