Chapter Summaries

Xu Si’s statement exposed Ding Xiangshan’s frame-up of Tang Xueqian, and the task force told Tang that the charges against him were fabricated. As the families and investigators celebrated, Zhang Ke remained concerned about Xu Si and wanted her supplementary statement recorded.

• Xu Si admitted that Ding Xiangshan had coerced her into framing Tang Xueqian, and Jin Guohai reported her statement to Deputy Secretary Xu Xueping.
• Jin Guohai told Tang Xueqian that the task force had confirmed the bribery allegations were fabricated and apologized for the unfair treatment.
• Tang Xueqian and Zhang Zhixing embraced, while Gu Jianping and Tang Jing cried with relief.
• Tang Xueqian recalled how he and Zhang Zhixing had become friends and remembered a childhood kiss between Zhang Ke and Tang Jing.
• Chen Xiaosong brought food, and the task force celebrated Tang Xueqian’s vindication while Zhang Ke worried about Xu Si and her statement.

Tang Xueqian learned how Zeng Jianhua’s notebook had come to light, while Ye Xinming confessed to taking bribes and helping frame him. The Provincial Standing Committee moved against Ding Xiangshan, and the investigation was set to shift to Haizhou as Zhang Ke worried about Xu Si’s fate.

• Tang Xueqian recalled finding Zeng Jianhua’s notebook in his desk and hiding it before the investigation into him began.
• Ye Xinming confessed that Jiang Mingcheng had bribed him and that he had abandoned Tang Xueqian after connecting with Ding Xiangshan.
• Zhang Ke gave a supplementary statement to reduce Xu Si’s culpability, then woke to find Tang Jing waiting outside his door to thank him.
• Xu Xueping told Tang Xueqian and the others that the Provincial Standing Committee had ordered measures against Ding Xiangshan and appointed Zhou Fuming to temporarily lead Haizhou.
• The Special Investigation Team prepared to investigate Ding Xiangshan in Haizhou, while Zhang Ke worried that Xu Si might not endure imprisonment.

While Tang Xueqian waited in the Provincial Capital as investigators pursued the cases connected to Ding Xiangshan, Zhang Ke played Go with Xu Xueping and was asked to visit Xu’s granddaughter Zhitong, who had stopped eating and was throwing a tantrum. Tang learned that Zhang Ke had rescued Zhitong during a fatal traffic accident in Haizhou, and resolved to address the city’s traffic problems when he returned.

• Zhang Ke won a close Go game against Xu Xueping, who praised his skill and spoke warmly of his future.
• After Xu Xueping received a troubling phone call, he explained that Zhitong had smashed her bowl, refused food, and stopped speaking, then asked Zhang Ke to visit her.
• Zhang Ke and Li Yijiang left for Xu Xueping’s home while Xu returned to the provincial Party committee.
• Tang Xueqian asked Zhang Zhixing about a recent Haizhou traffic accident, and Zhang Zhixing revealed that Zhang Ke had rescued Xu Xueping’s granddaughter from beneath a truck.
• Tang Xueqian was astonished by Zhang Ke’s role in the rescue and said he would work to improve Haizhou’s traffic when he returned.

Zhang Ke accompanied Xie Wanqing to Xu Xueping’s home, where he learned about the severe management problems at Haiyu Trading Company. After hearing Cai Feijuan’s proposals, he suspected that Xie Wanqing’s cousin, general manager Xie Zhan, was the company’s biggest problem.

• Zhang Ke arrived at Xinhai Court with Li Yijiang and met Xie Wanqing, who had come back from Haizhou grieving and exhausted.
• Zhou Shuhui welcomed Xie Wanqing and Cai Feijuan, while Zhitong clung fearfully to her mother and Zhang Ke after the accident.
• Xie Wanqing and Xu Zhiming had put Haiyu’s shares in her name and entrusted its management to her cousin Xie Zhan to work around restrictions on officials’ relatives doing business.
• Zhang Ke listened as Xie Wanqing and Cai Feijuan discussed Haiyu’s chaotic finances and weak controls, which threatened the company’s survival.
• After Cai Feijuan proposed changes, Zhang Ke told Xie Wanqing that Haiyu’s biggest problem was its general manager.

Zhang Ke warned Xie Wanqing that Haiyu Company's chaotic branch management enabled managers to falsify accounts and enrich themselves, and suggested the general manager benefited from keeping the company mismanaged. After Xu Xueping appeared to confirm his suspicions, Xie Wanqing resolved not to abandon the company, while Zhou Shuhui urged Xu Xueping to protect her and Zhitong.

• Zhang Ke explained how Haiyu Company's branch offices could inflate expenses, manipulate collections, and conceal their finances from headquarters.
• Zhang Ke argued that Haiyu Company's general manager knowingly allowed the disorder because it benefited him, leaving Xie Wanqing questioning whether his claims were true.
• Xie Wanqing reviewed company documents and later repeated Zhang Ke's assessment to Xu Xueping over dinner.
• Xu Xueping said he had distrusted Xie Wanqing's cousin and had urged Zhiming to withdraw from the company.
• Zhou Shuhui urged Xu Xueping not to let outsiders bully Xie Wanqing and Zhitong, while Xie Wanqing insisted she would not abandon the company.

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.