Chapter Summaries

On Christmas Eve, Zhou Xingwen and Zhang Xiaotong shared an intimate evening, kissed, and admitted their feelings for each other. They agreed to face the resistance to their relationship with time, leaving their future together uncertain.

• Zhou Xingwen welcomed Zhang Xiaotong to Auntie's new home and spent Christmas Eve alone with her.
• Zhang Xiaotong changed into a festive outfit and wore the earring Zhou Xingwen had given her.
• Zhou Xingwen kissed Zhang Xiaotong, realized he truly liked her, and asked her to be his girlfriend and marry him in the future.
• Zhang Xiaotong cried with happiness, then told Zhou Xingwen she believed they could be together after a few years.
• Zhou Xingwen said they should wait before taking their relationship further, then fled to the kitchen and Zhang Xiaotong followed, laughing.

Xingwen recruited Yang Yuanzhe and Ge Jinqiu to develop a detailed proposal for a new historical trading RPG, then joined Guo Zhen in asking Lu Wei to supply goods for a Russia trade venture. The chapter left them preparing to exchange Chinese goods for military supplies.

• With You became a major sales success, and SCE sought a closer partnership with Sun Electronics as Liu Mingyao basked in the company’s sudden fame.
• Xingwen invited Yang Yuanzhe, Ge Jinqiu, and Guo Zhen to dinner, revealed his role in creating With You, and asked Yang and Ge to draft a detailed proposal for New Voyage Chronicles.
• Xingwen set Yang Yuanzhe’s deadline before Spring Festival and offered to pay him as a senior planning supervisor.
• At Lu Wei’s office, Xingwen reviewed the company’s school costs and European launch plans for its electronic pet products.
• Guo Zhen told Lu Wei that he and Xingwen wanted light industrial goods and food to resell in Russia, and Xingwen explained they intended to trade for military supplies.

The narrator arranged for Third Brother to lead a risky trade mission into Russia, hoping to build ties and monopolize smuggling channels while using shared interests to protect the company from powerful officials. He also pursued negotiations with SCE and gave Yu Chunrong intelligence to guide the tea business, before turning his attention to exams.

• Lu Wei prepared goods and contacts for Third Brother's Russian trading mission, and Third Brother agreed to take it on.
• The narrator explained to Lu Wei that smuggling could create shared interests with powerful people and provide protection for the company.
• Liu Mingyao continued tense negotiations with SCE over technical support for Sun Electronics.
• The narrator gave Yu Chunrong extensive intelligence about rival companies and advised him to defend their department-store position while delaying other plans.
• The tea beverage strategy was settled, and the narrator faced exams again.

After Zhang Xiaotong gave Xingwen access to roughly seven hundred million US dollars in their funds as a Valentine’s Day gift, he encountered Shao Ke, Wang Yi, Gao Kang, and Zhang Chen at the Lantern Festival. The chapter ended with Xingwen approaching their stall and asking whether they had any Manson tapes.

• Xingwen’s parents moved into an apartment at Sun Homeland, and Zhang Xiaotong helped them get a better price.
• On Valentine’s Day and the Lantern Festival, Zhang Xiaotong gave Xingwen a wallet containing his ID and bank cards with access to about seven hundred million US dollars.
• Xingwen and Zhang Xiaotong agreed to keep their relationship private from their families for a few more years.
• Xingwen recognized Shao Ke, Wang Yi, Gao Kang, and Zhang Chen at a stall near the lantern fair and became emotional at seeing them again.
• Xingwen led Zhang Xiaotong to the stall and asked the group whether they had any Manson tapes.

Zhou Xingwen reunited with Shao Ke and the other music enthusiasts, then pushed Sun Electronics’ game development and negotiations forward while juggling schoolwork. The chapter ended with him considering how to deal with a teacher who had offended people and deciding to ask Guo Zhen for help.

• Zhou Xingwen bonded with Shao Ke, Wang Yi, Zhang Chen, and Gao Kang over alternative music, bought tapes, and exchanged contact information.
• After Spring Festival, Zhou Xingwen ordered Liu Mingyao to develop New Voyage Chronicles and recruit university students to help with preliminary work.
• Zhou Xingwen urged Liu Mingyao to travel to Japan and recruit experienced game producers, while teasing him about the trip.
• By the end of February, SCE agreed to send experienced PlayStation developers to help Sun Electronics after console sales exceeded one million.
• Zhou Xingwen outlined New Voyage Chronicles’ role as a foundation for a future online game, then returned to schoolwork and his conversations with Zhang Xiaotong.
• Zhou Xingwen remembered that his politics teacher had offended some people and decided to call Guo Zhen for help.

The narrator used Guo Zhen’s connections to get his politics teacher back to school, then decided to leave ordinary school and study at a school he would establish. He planned new schools in Yulin County and Beiguan City and went alone to say goodbye to Zhang Xin and Xu Jiajia.

• The narrator asked Guo Zhen to use his connections to frighten his troublesome homeroom teacher indirectly, and Guo Zhen agreed to help the politics teacher.
• The narrator explained to Zhang Xiaotong that he wanted to give former thugs opportunities to change their lives, and she warned that managing them could be difficult.
• After considering how school kept him from managing his other responsibilities, the narrator decided to attend his own school and planned a Public Welfare School in Anhui and a Private School in Beiguan City.
• Guo Zhen helped the politics teacher return to school, and the homeroom teacher stopped making trouble for the narrator after learning he had helped resolve the dispute.
• The narrator chose Yulin County for the new Public Welfare School and arranged to meet Zhang Xin and Xu Jiajia for a farewell meal.
• Zhang Xiaotong declined to join the meal and went with Lu Wei to consider school sites while the narrator met Zhang Xin and Xu Jiajia alone.

Zhou Xingwen said goodbye to Xu Jiajia and Zhang Xin before leaving for a private school in Yulin County, then returned to Zhang Xiaotong and continued planning the school and Sun Electronics’ future. The chapter ended with Liu Mingyao leaving for Fusang to recruit game developers for Sun Electronics.

• Zhou Xingwen told Xu Jiajia and Zhang Xin that he might attend a new private school in Yulin County, and the three shared a farewell dinner.
• Zhou Xingwen saw Xu Jiajia and Zhang Xin off, called Zhang Xiaotong, and returned to sleep beside her.
• Zhou Xingwen approved Zhang Xiaotong’s plan to renovate a bankrupt pencil factory into a school and focused on developing their new game.
• Zhou Xingwen instructed Liu Mingyao to learn from Sony while keeping the partnership at arm’s length and recruiting developers.
• Liu Mingyao briefed Cai Qing and departed for Fusang with cash and an entourage to recruit talent.

The narrator pursued Zhou Shichang as a future recruit while reorganizing Sun Group and expanding its business amid the tea market battle and international game industry maneuvering. He also persuaded his parents to let him attend a private school, while Liu Mingyao returned from Japan and Sun Electronics prepared Whit You’s overseas launch.

• Uni-President and Ting Hsin launched competing green teas on Qingming Festival, beginning a full-scale market battle.
• The narrator asked Cai Qing to approach Zhou Shichang, whose conflict with his current employer was expected to drive him out soon; Zhou agreed to keep Sun Group’s offer in mind but said he would finish his current work.
• The narrator assigned Cai Qing to recruit Zhou Shichang, put Lu Wei in charge of trading, and handed Electronics City to Zhong Rui; Lu Wei later sold shares for a profit of more than 50 million yuan.
• Liu Mingyao contacted Matsuno of Quest and Mikami of Capcom in Japan, alarming both companies, then returned to Shenyang with several Japanese people.
• The narrator asked his parents to let him attend a private school, and Zhang Xiaotong helped persuade them to agree.
• The narrator prepared for Whit You’s English-language launch as Liu Mingyao returned to oversee it, while he suspected Dongda was preparing to pursue its own plans.

Zhou Xingwen recruited Zhou Shichang to lead Sun Group’s tea beverage campaign, then advised Japanese game producers on their projects. Third Brother returned with news of a large weapons stockpile and the dangers of expanding their smuggling operation, leaving Zhou Xingwen worried about the consequences.

• Zhou Xingwen met Zhou Shichang after his exams, presented a market report, and persuaded him to join Sun Group as a consultant before taking charge of its sales campaign.
• Zhou Xingwen reviewed Japanese producers’ game proposals and suggested adding proactive combat to Mikami’s game and movement-based interaction to Mizuguchi Tetsu’s music game.
• Third Brother warned Zhou Xingwen that someone was investigating him, and Zhou reflected on Liu Mingyao’s family connections and their partnership.
• Third Brother returned and described his cross-border trade with Russian gangs, explaining that his group had accumulated enough weapons to arm a small corps.
• Third Brother judged that the smuggling operation had achieved its initial goal but that expanding it would require far more strength, while Zhou Xingwen worried about the legal risks of their weapons stockpile.

Zhou Xingwen and Third Brother agreed to build their organization carefully, while Sun Group reviewed its expanding businesses and assigned Zhou Shichang to help develop its tea lines. The chapter ends with Shao Ke calling Zhou Xingwen to invite him to the Secondhand Market.

• Third Brother showed Zhou Xingwen and Guo Zhen his hidden arsenal, and Guo Zhen committed to joining him despite the risks.
• Zhou Xingwen and Third Brother agreed to expand quietly, with few casualties, after Third Brother explained that the Old Master supported his plans.
• Third Brother began organizing the expansion, while Zhou Xingwen arranged offshore companies to protect Zhang Xiaotong's privacy.
• Zhou Xingwen introduced Zhou Shichang at the Roundtable Meeting, where the group reviewed its businesses and heard Zhou Shichang propose new tea marketing strategies.
• Zhou Xingwen assigned Zhou Shichang to work with Yu Chunrong and Xu Jun, and Zhang Xiaotong announced the group's dividends.
• Shao Ke called Zhou Xingwen from the Secondhand Market, and Zhou Xingwen agreed to meet him there.