Chapter Summaries

Xu Shi was moved by Xie Yanci’s public declaration of their relationship and learned that Xie Yanci had refused to return to the Xie Corporation. After realizing he might have fallen in love with Xie Yanci, Xu Shi worried that their public relationship could seal his fate as a doomed side character.

• Xu Shi reread Xie Yanci’s relationship announcement, cried over how Xie Yanci had defended him, and leaned into Xie Yanci’s embrace.
• Xie Yanci told Xu Shi that his heart ached for him and explained that he had refused his family’s request to return to the company.
• Xu Shi fell asleep in Xie Yanci’s arms, then woke to learn from Xiao Chi that Xie Yanci had gone back to the company to handle work.
• Alone in the hospital room, Xu Shi replayed Xie Yanci’s words, wondered if he had fallen in love, and saved a screenshot of their names trending together.
• Xu Shi realized Xie Yanci had publicly announced his relationship with an NPC despite their signed divorce agreement and worried that he now had to die.

Xu Shi reassured Xie Yanci that he would wait for him while he was away in France, though Xu Shi still believed they would divorce in two months. Xie Yanci, troubled by vivid nightmares and memories of waiting alone, asked Xu Shi not to lie to him.

• Xu Shi deleted his draft announcing his departure from entertainment and posted an affectionate message tagging Xie Yanci.
• Xie Yanci replied playfully to a fan who called him Xu Shi’s husband, while social media celebrated their marriage.
• After filming resumed, Xu Shi reassured Wen Yu that he did not blame him and hugged him, prompting Xie Yanci to cough coldly.
• Xie Yanci pulled Xu Shi into the lounge and said he wanted to look at him before leaving for France.
• Xu Shi kissed Xie Yanci and promised to wait for him to come home, while Xie Yanci asked him not to lie.

After finishing filming, Xu Shi spoke with Xie Yanci in France and planned to spend Little New Year's Eve with Wen Yu. On the way up the mountain, an unplated truck with no driver sped toward Xu Shi, and he accepted what he believed was his death.

• Xie Yanci stayed in France while Xu Shi finished filming despite his shoulder wound.
• Xu Shi video-called Xie Yanci, who quietly promised to come find him after Xu Shi said he would visit France in a few days.
• Xu Shi and Wen Yu went up a mountain together on Little New Year's Eve and teased each other about their relationships.
• Wen Yu ran ahead after Xu Shi tried to chase him, and Xu Shi turned toward a horn to see a driverless truck speeding at him.
• Xu Shi thought of his feelings for Xie Yanci and regretted breaking his promise as the truck bore down on him.

Xu Shi woke from a nightmare and remembered that Xie Yanci had been his imaginary companion since childhood, a presence that helped him endure neglect and bullying. Now twenty-seven, he believed he had finally seen Xie Yanci in a dream, but realized he would never meet him again.

• Xu Shi woke in Hong Kong City and recalled that he was the author of a popular novel who had favored Xie Yanci and later written himself as a villain.
• Xu Shi opened his sketchbook, which held sixteen years of drawings of Xie Yanci, the imaginary companion he had created after feeling abandoned by the Xu Family.
• Xu Shi remembered Xie Yanci comforting him through childhood loneliness and carrying him home after classmates bullied him.
• Xu Shi recalled that therapy and medication had made him forget Xie Yanci, before he brought him back into his novel and imagined marrying him.
• Xu Shi wiped a tear from Xie Yanci's portrait and concluded that their paths would never cross again.

Xu Shi grieved for Xie Yanci and struggled to continue writing him as falling in love with someone else, believing their life together had been a product of his illness. When Xu Shi tried to write Xie Yanci’s new romance, the text changed by itself to say that Xie Yanci died by suicide after Xu Shi’s death.

• Xu Shi realized that he had written Xie Yanci out of his longing for love and had accepted five million to make him the lead top.
• Xu Shi mourned his memories of Xie Yanci, took his medication, and decided he could not write Xie Yanci falling in love with Wen Yu.
• Xu Shi typed a scene in which Xie Yanci met Wen Yu at Xu Shi’s funeral, then saw the lines erase themselves.
• The text stated that Xu Shi died in a car accident and Xie Yanci later plunged into the sea, with his body never found.

Xu Shi learned that Xie Yanci had died for love in the story and rewrote the ending so Xie Yanci and Xu Shi survived and reunited. He returned to work at Liva still grieving, and realized that although he might meet someone else, he would never meet Xie Yanci again.

• Xu Shi saw that Xie Yanci had died for love, deleted the ending, refunded the ranking contributions, and wrote a new ending in which Xu Shi woke in the hospital with Xie Yanci beside him.
• Xu Shi decided to set Xie Yanci free and went to work at Liva the next day, where he imagined Xie Yanci walking out of the building before seeing President Song Zhixing arrive.
• Xu Shi reached his workstation, where Xu Yu teased him about looking like a corporate slave and Zhou An told him that a new intern had brought him coffee.
• Xu Shi politely smiled at the intern and realized that he could have a chance with many people, but never with Xie Yanci.

Xu Shi struggled with the absence of Xie Yanci while working at the company, where Song Zhixing seemed to recognize him and called him good-looking. After a coworkers’ dinner, Xu Shi glimpsed a man resembling Xie Yanci entering an elevator, but the doors closed before he could reach him.

• Xu Shi and Xu Yu were scolded by their supervisor, Zhang Ya, after compiling recent trends, then lamented their bad luck in another world.
• Song Zhixing approached Xu Shi and Xu Yu, suspected they were dating, and told Xu Shi he looked familiar and was quite good-looking.
• Xu Shi admitted he had a boyfriend but realized he had no photograph of Xie Yanci, and looked at his wedding ring as the only proof they had met.
• Xu Shi reluctantly attended a coworkers’ drinking get-together, then stepped out to escape the noise and thought he would never share a sky with Xie Yanci again.
• Xu Shi saw a man resembling Xie Yanci inside an elevator and rushed toward him, but the doors closed before he could reach it.

Xu Shi mourned the loss of Xie Yanci while trying to carry on with his life and work. Back home, he reopened his old sketchbook and cried over the drawings of the friend he missed so much.

• Xu Shi waited outside the nightclub’s VIP rooms, then left after realizing Xie Yanci could not be there.
• A girl bumped into Xu Shi, revealing his handsome face before his wedding ring showed he was married.
• Xu Shi returned to the private room, where Xu Yu told him President Song had a friend visiting from abroad and that Chen Yu was at the club.
• Xu Yu encouraged Xu Shi to pursue a design career, but he hid his regret about giving up his ambitions.
• After returning home, Xu Shi cried alone and reopened his sketchbook, remembering how classmates had torn up his drawings of Xie Yanci.

Xu Shi struggled through work without Xie Yanci and was reminded of the design career he had abandoned. After his adoptive father asked him to visit home, his adoptive mother proposed arranging a blind date with a wealthy young man.

• Xu Shi smoked with Zhou An on the rooftop, where Zhou An praised his appearance and recalled Xu Shi’s lost design talent and graduation project.
• Xu Shi returned to work and got scolded by Zhang Ya alongside Xu Yu before Zhou An drew Zhang Ya away.
• Xu Shi called back his adoptive father and agreed to visit home the next day.
• Xu Shi’s adoptive mother asked whether he still liked men and offered to arrange a blind date with a handsome young man who had returned from abroad.

Xu Shi visited the Xu family home and recalled how Xie Yanci had rescued him from a fire years earlier, deepening his longing for the man he could no longer see. He reunited with Xu Xingqi, whose affectionate behavior and comments about Xu Shi’s scent left him thinking of Xie Yanci.

• Xu Shi turned down Xu Yu’s invitation to the hot springs and said he was going home to meet his adoptive parents.
• After another sleepless night, Xu Shi traveled to the Xu family villa and remembered Xie Yanci shielding him from trouble there.
• Xu Shi recalled being trapped in a storeroom fire and believed Xie Yanci had rescued him before he lost consciousness.
• Xu Shi knocked at the villa, and Xu Xingqi rushed out to hug him and say he had missed him.
• Xu Xingqi disliked Xu Shi’s fir cologne, and Xu Shi laughed as he remembered that Xie Yanci liked the same scent.
• Xu Shi teased Xu Xingqi by asking whether he should call him big brother, and Xu Xingqi blushed and said he could.

Xu Shi agreed to a blind date arranged by Lin Yuxiang, hoping the man might be Xie Yanci, and was startled when his date turned out to be Xia Shian, a former classmate. When Xu Shi tried to leave, Xia Shian warned that the Xu family would be disappointed in him.

• Lin Yuxiang sent Xu Xingqi to help his father, then told Xu Shi she had arranged a blind date for him.
• Xu Shi agreed to meet the man the following afternoon and asked whether that would end his ties to the Xu family; Lin Yuxiang reminded him of everything they had provided.
• Before the date, Xu Shi fixed his hair and sent Xu Yu a photo, then went to the restaurant and waited nervously.
• Xia Shian arrived, and Xu Shi realized he was the blind date; Xu Shi said he had not known it was him and stood to leave.
• Xia Shian told Xu Shi that the Xu family would be disappointed if he treated him that way.

Xu Shi met Xia Shian for a blind date and confronted the man who had exposed and exploited him in high school. Xia Shian offered to make him a designer at Liva, but Xu Shi left in the rain, still grieving the dreams he had given up.

• Xu Shi recalled how Xia Shian had falsely accused him of forcing a kiss in high school, exposing his sexuality and making him a target for bullying.
• Xia Shian accused Xu Shi of having his boyfriend beat him up, but Xu Shi denied ever having a boyfriend and said Xia Shian had deserved it.
• Xia Shian mocked Xu Shi for remaining a low-level employee at Liva, despite Xu Shi's talent and the fact that Xia Shian had used Xu Shi's graduation project to gain admission to LCF.
• Xia Shian revealed he was transferring to Liva as a potential chief designer and promised to promote Xu Shi, grasping his wrist as he offered to recognize Xu Shi's talent.
• Xu Shi left without agreeing and walked through a torrential rain, then gave a street singer a one-yuan coin and his business card.

Xu Shi accepted Xia Shian’s offer to become his assistant despite feeling guilty about abandoning his ideals, and Zhou An comforted him when he broke down. At Xia Shian’s welcome dinner, Xu Shi learned that Song Zhixing was absent because he was accompanying a friend who had recently returned to the country and couldn’t drink.

• Xu Yu teased Xu Shi that Zhou An seemed to have a crush on him, and Xu Shi thanked Zhou An for bringing him medicine.
• Xu Yu told Xu Shi that Xia Shian was transferring from France, and Xia Shian later selected Xu Shi as his assistant.
• Xu Shi cried on the rooftop over betraying his former ideals, and Zhou An held him as he comforted him.
• Xia Shian asked Xu Shi to accompany him to a business dinner, where the guests’ attention settled on Xu Shi.
• Xia Shian asked why Song Zhixing was absent, and a guest explained that Song Zhixing was keeping a recently returned friend company because the friend couldn’t drink, prompting Xu Shi to look up.

Xu Shi drank heavily at a business dinner, then stumbled into a man whose familiar scent and touch reminded him of Xie Yanci. The man held the sleeping Xu Shi when Xia Shian confronted him, and after Song Zhixing arrived, he answered Xu Xingqi’s call by giving his own name as Song Zhixing.

• Xu Shi questioned the executives about Song Zhixing’s friend, then drank several glasses of wine while brooding over Xie Yanci and his wedding ring.
• Xu Shi left the private dining room, vomited in the restroom, and wandered unsteadily through the hotel.
• Xu Shi bumped into an unnamed man, leaned against him, played with his fingers, and fell asleep in his arms.
• Xia Shian confronted the man and claimed Xu Shi was his partner, but Uncle Zhang pulled Xia Shian away when Song Zhixing appeared.
• Song Zhixing accused his friend of holding a drunk Xu Shi, while the man ignored his offers to take Xu Shi and answered Xu Xingqi’s call.
• When Xu Xingqi asked who was speaking, the man replied, “Song Zhixing.”

Xu Shi woke after getting drunk and learned that Song Zhixing had brought him home, though Xu Xingqi claimed Song had behaved like a pervert. While waiting outside a hotel to pick up Xia Shian, Xu Shi wondered whether the man he remembered had been Song Zhixing, then saw Song emerge from the hotel.

• Xu Shi woke in his bedroom and learned Xu Xingqi had brought him home after he got drunk.
• Xu Xingqi said Song Zhixing had answered Xu Shi's phone and accused him of touching Xu Shi and trying to take advantage of him.
• Xu Shi dismissed Xu Xingqi's accusations and agreed to pick up Xia Shian from a nearby hotel.
• Xu Shi waited outside the hotel, recalling the suited man with a fir scent and wondering if he had been Song Zhixing.
• Song Zhixing emerged from the hotel and walked toward his Maybach with bodyguards behind him.

Song Zhixing complained about President Xie’s cologne and resolved to keep his distance while still needing to please him as his boss. At Liva, Xu Shi challenged Xia Shian over exploiting a young employee, then rejected Zhou An’s offer to leave the company because he still hoped to meet Song Zhixing’s friend.

• Song Zhixing complained to Jiang Sheng about President Xie forcing him to drink and leaving his fir-scented cologne on him, but admitted he still had to get on his boss’s good side.
• Xu Shi watched Xia Shian dismiss a young man after promising him a designer recommendation in exchange for a one-night stand.
• Xu Shi confronted Xia Shian about misleading the young man, and Xia Shian reminded him to pretend to be his boyfriend until he became chief designer.
• Zhou An offered Xu Shi documents for other fashion companies and asked him to leave Liva, but Xu Shi refused and said he would become a designer there.

Xu Shi began to imagine a future without Xie Yanci, but an encounter with a familiar man unsettled him before Xia Shian falsely accused him in front of the company. Watching Xu Shi stand alone, the man told Song Zhixing to intervene without being fair.

• Xu Shi reflected on the people supporting him and thought he might someday let go of Xie Yanci.
• Xu Shi spotted a familiar-looking man on the stairs, but the man hid when someone called out; Xu Shi then saw Song Zhixing.
• Xiao Chi congratulated Xu Shi on becoming Designer Xia's assistant and shared that he hoped to apply for a designer assessment.
• Xu Shi found Xia Shian kissing a young man in his office, and the young man ran out crying after Xu Shi saw them.
• Xia Shian accused Xu Shi of hitting the young man, leaving Xu Shi isolated as coworkers watched.
• A man at the entrance urged Song Zhixing to handle the situation and said there was no need to be fair.

Xu Shi was nearly blamed for a workplace assault until Xu Yu defended him and Song Zhixing intervened, suspending Xia Shian pending investigation. In private, Song Zhixing misread the situation and concluded that Xu Shi had caught Xia Shian cheating, then realized his buddy might be pursuing someone else’s boyfriend.

• Xu Shi prepared to defend himself after Xia Shian accused him, but Xu Yu threw a cup at Xia Shian and stood up for him.
• Song Zhixing arrived, questioned the crying young employee, sent him for medical and psychological evaluations, and suspended Xia Shian pending an investigation.
• Song Zhixing ordered Xu Shi to follow him to the Lounge, where Xu Shi said he had not seen what happened.
• Song Zhixing noticed Xu Shi’s ring and wrongly imagined that Xu Shi had caught Xia Shian cheating with the young employee.
• Song Zhixing realized his buddy might be trying to steal someone else’s boyfriend.

After Xu Xingqi left him alone at home, Xu Shi faced increasingly frightening signs that a ghost was haunting him. His novel’s ending had changed back to Xie Yanci’s bleak death, but the words “The end” vanished from the screen and were replaced with “To be continued...”.

• Song Zhixing warned Xu Shi against cheating and marrying above his station, then awkwardly suggested he could consider cheating with Song Zhixing himself.
• Xu Shi came home and found a note saying Xu Xingqi had returned to his mother, leaving Xu Shi alone.
• Xu Shi grew frightened by the thought of a ghost in his home, blocked two messages telling him to check his novel, and turned off his phone.
• The lights went out and came back on before Xu Shi’s computer lit up by itself and led him to his novel’s final chapter.
• Xu Shi saw that his revised happy ending for Xie Yanci had been replaced by the original death-for-love ending.
• As Xu Shi touched the screen, the words “The end” disappeared and were replaced with “To be continued...”.

Xu Shi struggled to accept Xie Yanci’s unfinished ending while considering leaving Liva for a new job. When Liva’s executive arrived, Xu Shi recognized him as Xie Yanci.

• Xu Shi found the story locked after Xie Yanci’s ending changed to “To be continued,” and he resolved to carry on with his life.
• Xu Yu told Xu Shi that President Song had sent investigators to the French branch to look into Xia Shian, who had been suspended pending investigation.
• Zhou An invited Xu Shi to join his new company next year, and Xu Shi agreed to consider leaving Liva and bringing Xu Yu with him.
• Xu Yu told Xu Shi that Liva’s top executive was visiting, and they joined the crowd to see him.
• The executive looked directly at Xu Shi, who learned his name was Xie Yanci.