Chapter Summaries

After returning to Harbor City, Xun Yuan met the powerful Zuo Tingyue at the Jiang Family Club and flirted with him after deliberately spilling wine on his trousers. Zuo Tingyue left with a teasing remark, while Xun Yuan learned who he was.

• Xun Yuan woke from a nightmare about her parents' deaths and went out after realizing she could not sleep.
• At the Jiang Family Club, Jiang Yulin introduced Xun Yuan as the club's owner to the people gathered in a booth.
• Xun Yuan sat beside a mysterious man and deliberately spilled wine on his trousers, then offered to apologize with a drink.
• The man refused her offers and said he only drank with women whose arms were linked with his.
• Jiang Yulin addressed the man as Tingyue, revealing that he was Zuo Tingyue, head of the Zuo Family.
• Zuo Tingyue left, teasing that his trousers were wet, while Xun Yuan watched him go.

After eight years away, Xun Yuan returned to visit her grandparents, then went to a club where she encountered Zuo Tingyue and flirted with him. She left the exchange without discovering whether he was affected by her advances.

• Xun Yuan asked Jiang Yulin for Zuo Tingyue's contact details and said she was looking for a little fun.
• Xun Yuan visited her grandparents after eight years away, and Old Madam Yuan rebuked her before welcoming her back.
• Xun Yuan spent the day cooking and talking with her grandparents.
• Xun Yuan went to the club, where she met Zuo Tingyue in the corridor and teased him about playing cards together.
• Xun Yuan walked past Zuo Tingyue after deciding not to press him for a reaction.

Xun Yuan delivered replacement trousers to Zuo Tingyue at ZK Group, then assessed a damaged antique vase for President Zhang. After finishing a restoration plan late at night, she met Zuo Tingyue outside her workplace, where he removed paint from her face and left her embarrassed.

• Xun Yuan left replacement trousers for Zuo Tingyue at ZK Group reception and sent him a contact request explaining the clothes had been stained.
• Xun Yuan examined President Zhang's damaged Kangxi-era enamel-painted vase and confirmed it could be restored, though the work would take time.
• After completing a restoration plan late at night, Xun Yuan found Zuo Tingyue waiting in his Bentley outside her workplace.
• Xun Yuan asked Zuo Tingyue for a ride, and he told her to come closer and lower her head.
• Zuo Tingyue brushed paint off Xun Yuan's face, leaving her startled and embarrassed when he explained what he had done.

Xun Yuan reflected on how Zuo Tingyue had saved her life when she was sixteen, then joined Jiang Yulin and the others at Yunding Mountain Villa after hearing Zuo Tingyue would be there. The chapter left her openly teasing him about his looks as he laughed.

• Xun Yuan asked Zuo Tingyue whether he lacked boundaries with every girl, and he called her overbearing.
• Jiang Yulin invited Xun Yuan to the club, but she declined and remembered how Zuo Tingyue had given her blood when she was sixteen and near death.
• Xun Yuan spent the next few days restoring cultural relics and avoided seeing Zuo Tingyue.
• Jiang Yulin persuaded Xun Yuan to join him at Yunding Mountain Villa by mentioning that Zuo Tingyue might introduce her to restoration commissions.
• At the villa, Xun Yuan watched Zuo Tingyue until he caught her staring, and she called him a scourge to the common people.

Xun Yuan attended the Zhang family’s full-month banquet, then spent the evening restoring porcelain while Yun Tang visited her studio. Jiang Yulin showed Zuo Tingyue a photo of Xun Yuan and pressed him to say whether she was beautiful.

• Xun Yuan went to the Zhang residence for the baby’s full-month banquet and relaxed when Zuo Tingyue left without entering.
• Xun Yuan thanked Mrs. Zhang for her hospitality and joked with Jiang Yulin before driving back to her studio.
• Yun Tang visited Xun Yuan’s studio, admired her while she worked, and posted her photo to Moments.
• Jiang Yulin showed Xun Yuan’s photo to Zuo Tingyue at the club and repeatedly asked whether she was beautiful.

At the club, Xun Yuan watched Zuo Tingyue win a high-stakes pool game, then exchanged flirtatious remarks with him in the corridor about whether she could look at him for a lifetime and win his heart. The chapter ended with them standing close, neither making a move as their charged intimacy grew.

• Jiang Yulin told Lou Jing that Xun Yuan was unlike other women and worth appreciating, then asked Yun Tang to bring her to the club.
• Xun Yuan arrived with Yun Tang and bet on Zuo Tingyue's opponent despite believing Zuo Tingyue would win.
• Zuo Tingyue won the pool match while Xun Yuan watched him closely.
• Xun Yuan went to the restroom to collect herself, then found Zuo Tingyue waiting in the corridor.
• Xun Yuan asked whether she could look at Zuo Tingyue for a lifetime and whether she could win his heart, and he told her to try.
• Zuo Tingyue stepped close to Xun Yuan, and they held each other's gaze without moving.

Xun Yuan and Zuo Tingyue kissed in a restroom before leaving separately, and she drove back to Repulse Bay. Zuo Tingyue later discussed a business deal with Lou Jing and ordered Special Assistant Lin to find high-quality jade hairpins.

• Zuo Tingyue kissed Xun Yuan in the restroom, and her hairpin fell and broke during their encounter.
• Xun Yuan left through the emergency stairwell, messaged Yun Tang that she was leaving, and drove back to Repulse Bay.
• Zuo Tingyue returned to the private room, where Lou Jing asked about his plans for land in the south of the city and proposed a deal involving the Guangdong Bay Area project.
• Lou Jing noticed a woman's scent on Zuo Tingyue, who left without discussing it.
• In the car, Zuo Tingyue instructed Special Assistant Lin to find a few top-quality jade hairpins.

Xun Yuan received jade hairpins from Zuo Tingyue and later encountered him in the rain, where he sheltered her with his umbrella. She left for the hot springs with Yun Tang, reflecting on his gesture and wearing one of the new hairpins.

• Special Assistant Lin delivered several jade hairpins from Zuo Tingyue to Xun Yuan, who recognized that they suited her taste.
• Xun Yuan asked whether Zuo Tingyue had seen the trousers she had sent to replace his, and Special Assistant Lin said they had been put away.
• Xun Yuan went with Yun Tang to the hot springs and walked through the drizzle toward the lobby.
• Zuo Tingyue arrived in a motorcade, shared his umbrella with Xun Yuan, and let the rain soak one of his shoulders.
• Zuo Tingyue escorted Xun Yuan to the lobby and told her to take a hot shower, while she pointed out that his jacket was wet.
• At the hot spring, Xun Yuan told Yun Tang that her white jade hairpin had broken and that one broken hairpin had been exchanged for more.

Zuo Tingyue ended BOOD Group’s proposed partnership with Harbor City, then encountered Xun Yuan after she got lost at the hot spring. He brought her to his room, where she found herself drawn to his appearance.

• Zuo Tingyue rejected Chen Shuping’s proposal and called off the partnership with BOOD Group.
• Yun Tang left the hot spring, while Xun Yuan got lost and her phone ran out of battery.
• Zuo Tingyue found Xun Yuan, caught her when she tried to leave, and offered to let her follow him.
• Xun Yuan followed Zuo Tingyue into the adjoining hot spring room and sat behind a partition.
• Zuo Tingyue called Xun Yuan over, and she admired his physique through the rising steam.

Xun Yuan and Zuo Tingyue tested each other in a hot spring before speaking plainly about their desire. The chapter ended with Xun Yuan agreeing to sleep with him.

• Zuo Tingyue pulled Xun Yuan into the hot spring when she reached to touch his chest.
• Xun Yuan avoided answering Zuo Tingyue's question about steel plates and instead asked what he wanted from her.
• Xun Yuan stroked Zuo Tingyue's abdomen as they continued their tense exchange.
• Xun Yuan asked Zuo Tingyue whether he wanted to sleep with her, and he replied, "Will you let me?"
• Xun Yuan admitted to herself that she wanted him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and said yes.

After spending the night with Zuo Tingyue, Xun Yuan woke alone and found him working with Jiang Yulin and Special Assistant Lin in the suite. On their late-night drive to get food, she bought and took mifepristone, then teased Zuo Tingyue about the bitter medicine before he kissed her.

• Xun Yuan woke at two in the morning, saw that Zuo Tingyue had left the bedroom, and went out to get water in a bathrobe.
• She found Zuo Tingyue, Jiang Yulin, and Special Assistant Lin working in the suite, and Zuo Tingyue sent the two men away.
• Zuo Tingyue offered to take Xun Yuan to eat, and she changed into clothes from a shopping bag before they left in his car.
• Xun Yuan stopped at a twenty-four-hour pharmacy, bought mifepristone, and took a pill in the car.
• Xun Yuan told Zuo Tingyue the medicine was bitter, and he pulled her close and kissed her.

After sharing a meal with Zuo Tingyue, Xun Yuan returned to Repulse Bay and dreamed about a traumatic event from her past, including a mysterious secret. She instructed an overseas associate to monitor his overseas holdings and stop the young miss from returning to the country.

• Xun Yuan asked Zuo Tingyue to promise he would not make her take the mifepristone tablets again, and he agreed.
• Zuo Tingyue took Xun Yuan to a private kitchen restaurant, where they ate together before he drove her back into the city.
• Xun Yuan woke from a nightmare about a hospital surgery and people demanding that she reveal a secret.
• Xun Yuan told an overseas associate to monitor his overseas holdings and wait for her orders.
• The associate told Xun Yuan that the young miss wanted to return to the country, and Xun Yuan ordered him to stop her.

After nearly half a month without seeing Zuo Tingyue, Xun Yuan encountered him at a Jiang family charity gala and kept up their pretense of being strangers. Later, at a nightclub, she stopped a young man from getting too close, and the door opened on the scene just as someone arrived.

• Yun Tang warned Xun Yuan to keep her footing with Zuo Tingyue, and Jiang Yulin said Xun Yuan had told him she had never lost.
• At a Jiang family charity gala, Xun Yuan learned Zuo Tingyue was supposedly in Southeast Asia, then watched him arrive and meet privately with the head of the Jiang family.
• Yun Tang invited Xun Yuan to look at handsome young men after the gala, and Xun Yuan reassured Jiang Yulin that Yun Tang would only look.
• When Zuo Tingyue passed behind them, Xun Yuan did not turn toward him and later left with Yun Tang.
• At a nightclub, a young man sat beside Xun Yuan and admitted he liked her, but she blocked him with a book and told him he had crossed the line.
• The private-room door opened, and Xun Yuan stiffened as she looked toward the person who had arrived.

Xun Yuan followed Zuo Tingyue from the private room to his car, where he confronted her about looking at another man's abs. She placated him with a kiss and said Zuo Tingyue had the best abs she had ever seen.

• Jiang Yulin entered the private room and found Xun Yuan sitting close to a young man, while Zuo Tingyue had just arrived.
• Xun Yuan stayed behind drinking vodka as Zuo Tingyue left, then followed him to the underground parking garage.
• Lin Sheng met Yun Tang outside the private room, exchanged a few words with her, and left.
• Xun Yuan knocked on Zuo Tingyue's unlocked car window before getting into the passenger seat.
• Zuo Tingyue pulled Xun Yuan onto his lap and asked whether she had liked the other man's abs.
• Xun Yuan kissed Zuo Tingyue, blamed Yun Tang for looking, and told him his abs were the best she had ever seen.

Xun Yuan and Zuo Tingyue spent the night together after she teased him while tipsy. The next day, she met Mr. and Mrs. Zhang to deliver the restored porcelain vase, then encountered a man in the rain outside the restaurant.

• Xun Yuan asked Zuo Tingyue if he wanted to act on their attraction, kissed his Adam’s apple, and later went with him to his hotel suite.
• Zuo Tingyue and Xun Yuan spent the night together, and she woke the next day with marks on her body.
• Xun Yuan accepted Mrs. Zhang’s invitation to dinner and arranged a time to deliver the porcelain vase.
• Xun Yuan met Mr. and Mrs. Zhang, showed them the restored Qing dynasty enamel-painted porcelain vase, and received Mrs. Zhang’s praise.
• Xun Yuan left the restaurant after the meal and locked eyes with a man standing in the drizzle.

Xun Yuan rejoined Zuo Tingyue for dinner, where his flirtatious concern about her beauty gave way to cold dismissal when she asked whether he would rescue her. She recognized that her feelings had become involved in their casual romance and resolved to use it only to settle her heart.

• Zuo Tingyue found Xun Yuan outside the restaurant and insisted that she eat with him, despite her cool response.
• Xun Yuan took Zuo Tingyue's hand, and they returned to the restaurant with Chen Shuping before sharing a private room for dinner.
• After Chen Shuping left, Xun Yuan asked about Zuo Tingyue's Southeast Asia business and whether she could accompany him next time.
• Zuo Tingyue refused, saying the dangerous place would make people covet Xun Yuan because she was beautiful.
• When Xun Yuan asked whether he would rescue her if someone set their sights on her, Zuo Tingyue called her question foolish.
• Xun Yuan acknowledged that her feelings had become involved and decided she only wanted to settle her heart through their romance.

Xun Yuan picked up her friend Xu Sui at the airport and brought her to stay at her home in Repulse Bay. After Xu Sui noticed marks on Xun Yuan’s neck and asked about them, Xun Yuan admitted she had a man but kept the details private, leaving their relationship to unfold as it would.

• Xun Yuan met Yun Tang for lunch before driving with her to the airport to pick up her friend.
• Xu Sui arrived through the secure passage, reunited with Xun Yuan, and met Yun Tang in the car.
• Xun Yuan dropped Yun Tang off and took Xu Sui to her home, where she had prepared a guest room for her.
• After sleeping through the evening, Xun Yuan woke and agreed to go out to eat with Xu Sui.
• Xu Sui spotted marks on Xun Yuan’s neck and asked if she had found a man; Xun Yuan confirmed it but declined to explain further.

After spotting Zuo Tingyue dining with a young woman, Xun Yuan tried to ignore him, but insomnia led her to drink wine by an open window and wake with a fever. After receiving treatment at the hospital, she waited for an elevator and saw a familiar figure inside.

• Xun Yuan saw Zuo Tingyue dining and flirting with a young woman in white, and later learned he had paid her bill.
• Xun Yuan took Xu Sui home, then drank wine beside an open window while unable to sleep and woke with a fever.
• Jiang Yulin drove Xun Yuan and Xu Sui to a private hospital, where Xun Yuan received an IV drip.
• Xu Sui left through the back exit after nearly being recognized, while Xun Yuan collected her medicine and waited for the elevator.
• The elevator doors opened, and Xun Yuan spotted a tall figure inside.

After recovering from a fever, Xun Yuan met Zuo Tingyue again at a club, where she repeatedly blocked his tiles during mahjong. When they were left alone, Zuo Tingyue pulled her onto his lap and asked what he had done to upset her, leaving Xun Yuan visibly shaken by his touch and tenderness.

• Zuo Tingyue caught Xun Yuan when she grew dizzy in the elevator, but she thanked him and insisted she would not have fallen without him.
• Xun Yuan spent a week recuperating at home before Yun Tang summoned her to the club.
• Yun Tang paired Xun Yuan with herself at mahjong, and Xun Yuan won while repeatedly preventing Zuo Tingyue from claiming tiles.
• Jiang Yulin and the others stopped playing and went dancing, leaving Xun Yuan and Zuo Tingyue alone in the private room.
• Zuo Tingyue tugged Xun Yuan onto his lap, held her by the waist, and asked what he had done to upset her.
• Xun Yuan reacted intensely to Zuo Tingyue's touch and gentle voice, looking up at him with tearful eyes.

After a passionate night with Zuo Tingyue, Xun Yuan woke to find their parking-lot photos had gone viral, though the Zuo Family quickly removed them. Zuo Tingyue went to the family’s old residence for a meal, while Jiang Yulin worried Xun Yuan might be drawn into family trouble.

• Zuo Tingyue kissed Xun Yuan, restrained her wrists with his tie, and spent the night with her.
• Zuo Tingyue carried the exhausted Xun Yuan to his Bentley and drove away from the parking lot.
• Xun Yuan woke to messages about media photos showing Zuo Tingyue carrying her, and she read the online reactions.
• The Zuo Family removed the photos and blocked related search terms, as Jiang Yulin told Xun Yuan that Zuo Tingyue had gone to the old residence.
• Jiang Yulin called Zuo Tingyue to ask whether his family had given him a hard time, and Zuo Tingyue told him not to worry.