Chapter Summaries

Ling Yi built internet café management software for Shen Bin and proposed a performance wager tied to the café’s profits. After Shen Bin signed the contract and embraced Ling Yi’s business plans, Ling Yi arranged to use a computer to develop online games and was driven toward his rented courtyard, where he suddenly ordered Shen Bin to stop the car.

• Ling Yi created and installed internet café management software, then showed Shen Bin its timed access, screen locking, and membership features.
• Ling Yi offered Shen Bin several payment arrangements, and Shen Bin agreed to a performance wager that gave Ling Yi a larger share if monthly profits passed set targets.
• Ling Yi presented Shen Bin with plans for memberships, merchandise, takeaway delivery, and other revenue streams, inspiring Shen Bin to put them into action.
• Ling Yi asked to use a computer to make online games, and Shen Bin brought another computer before driving him toward his rented courtyard.
• As Shen Bin drove along the quiet One Symbol Road, Ling Yi suddenly shouted for him to stop the car.

Ling Yi rescued Lin Yuya and Yin Qingyan from Wang Song and Li Liang’s gang, then beat the punks and gave Li Liang time to summon backup. He learned the girls had sneaked out for food and recalled how Yin Qingyan’s first interaction with him in his previous life had led to rumors and trouble at school.

• Ling Yi leaped from Shen Bin’s car and charged at Wang Song, who was surrounding Lin Yuya and Yin Qingyan with Li Liang’s gang.
• Ling Yi tossed Li Liang aside, slapped Wang Song, and fought off the gang, leaving the men injured and Wang Song badly beaten.
• Li Liang offered to cut ties with Wang Song, but Ling Yi pointed out that the gang had also threatened the girls and ordered him to summon backup.
• Ling Yi asked how Lin Yuya and Yin Qingyan had gotten out of the dorms, and Lin Yuya admitted they had climbed the wall to get food.
• Ling Yi recognized Yin Qingyan and recalled that in his previous life, helping her climb back into school had led to her bringing him breakfast and Wang Song spreading false rumors about them.

Ling Yi remembered how Yin Qingyan had endured years of false accusations and despair before leaving after his college entrance exam, then resolved to change her fate in this new life. After driving off Wang Song's attackers, he planned to protect Yin Qingyan by exposing her former teacher and began developing a Three Kingdoms-themed online game.

• Ling Yi recalled how Yin Qingyan had been falsely accused, studied alongside him, suffered a breakdown, and left for Zhu City after he scored 721 on the college entrance exam.
• Ling Yi and his companions defeated the crowd that came after them, while Wang Song slipped away before the inspectors arrived.
• Ling Yi took Lin Yuya and Yin Qingyan back to the dormitory, then returned to his courtyard with Shen Bin and the computer.
• Ling Yi decided to report Yin Qingyan's former homeroom teacher and avoid interfering in her life, believing the changes would spare her past suffering.
• Ling Yi began coding a Three Kingdoms version of Legend, planning to sell prepaid game cards because he lacked money for servers and an online platform.

Ling Yi led his classmates through their first morning run and took the first placement test of the school year, finding the exams easy and impressing Zhao Wen with his essay. After the exams, Lin Yuya fretted about her results and asked for cola chicken wings, and Ling Yi suggested she ask Zhao Wen about making them.

• Ling Yi met Chai Zhiwei, Lin Yuya, and Yin Qingyan on the way to school, and agreed to make extra cola chicken wings for lunch.
• Zhao Wen told Ling Yi to organize the class's first morning run, and he lined up his classmates and led them around the field.
• Ling Yi wrote a nine-hundred-word essay on the Chinese exam prompt, “The unbearable lightness of culture,” and Zhao Wen praised it.
• Ling Yi found the placement-test questions easy and completed exams in all subjects, while Wang Song stayed absent throughout the day.
• After the final exam, Lin Yuya worried about her results and asked about cola chicken wings, so Ling Yi suggested that she ask Zhao Wen.

Ling Yi invited Old Zhao, Chai Zhiwei, Lin Yuya, and Yin Qingyan to share his iron-pot goose stew, then discussed his internet cafe plans with Shen Bin and reassured Old Zhao that he had already mastered his schoolwork. After everyone left, Ling Yi searched for major events from 1997 to 2000 and worried that he still lacked the means to change what was coming.

• Ling Yi persuaded Old Zhao to join him for dinner, and Lin Yuya brought Yin Qingyan along while Chai Zhiwei came too.
• The group ate Ling Yi's iron-pot goose stew, and Lin Yuya shared her goose leg with Yin Qingyan after offering it to Old Zhao.
• Shen Bin told Ling Yi that the internet connection was installed and that a computer mall owner was interested in supplying fifty computers; Ling Yi set conditions for the deal and requested money for servers.
• Ling Yi explained his business plans to Old Zhao and claimed he had already completed his high school coursework, prompting her to caution him to keep studying and stay on the right path.
• Old Zhao returned to school to grade exam papers, while Ling Yi searched for major events from 1997 to 2000 and lamented that he could not yet change much or develop biochip technology.

Ling Yi confronted Cheng Yuan and the principal in front of two inspectors, then used evidence and a bargain to expose their crimes. The principal and Cheng Yuan’s younger brother-in-law were arrested, while the inspectors’ original investigation had begun with Ling Yi’s fight against Li Liang’s group.

• Ling Yi was summoned to the principal’s office, where Cheng Yuan accused him of fighting outside school and disparaged the two girls he had defended.
• Ling Yi challenged Cheng Yuan and noticed that the principal seemed to protect him, suspecting a connection between them and Old Zhao’s blocked teaching award.
• Ling Yi asked the inspectors about arresting people with conclusive evidence and had Old Zhao bring documents from his desk.
• Ling Yi showed Cheng Yuan incriminating pages and offered to hand over the rest if Cheng Yuan identified another criminal and supplied evidence.
• Twenty minutes later, inspectors arrested the principal and his younger brother-in-law, while Ling Yi learned that Li Liang had confessed to his crimes after the inspectors questioned him.

After the Inspection Bureau released Ling Yi, he collected money from Shen Bin and sent the 09 Potion home, then spent two weeks building 97 All-Net and preparing his Three Kingdoms game for testing. As National Day approached, Ling Yi planned to test the game at Dragon City Internet Cafe while his growing reputation at school turned him into a local legend.

• Inspectors confirmed Li Liang’s gang had been operating in Hanyun Town and verified that Ling Yi had defeated nearly a hundred attackers alone; Ling Yi then left the Inspection Bureau with Zhao Wen.
• Ling Yi collected thirty thousand yuan from Shen Bin and arranged for a box containing the 09 Potion and its instructions to be sent home.
• Over the next half month, Ling Yi worked on game code and launched preparations for 97 All-Net, while Shen Bin sold internet cafe membership cards, founded a company for Ling Yi, and bought servers.
• Ling Yi uploaded more than three hundred songs to 97 All-Net’s entertainment section and began preparing to launch the website, though a lack of money and hardware slowed his plans.
• Ling Yi told Lin Yuya he might return home in two or three days and planned to install his packaged Three Kingdoms game at Dragon City Internet Cafe for a closed test.
• Students increasingly greeted Ling Yi as a boss, hero, or master because stories of his fight against nearly a hundred thugs had made him a school legend; after class, he went to Dragon City Internet Cafe.

Ling Yi prepared the Dragon City Internet Cafe for the launch of Three Kingdoms while Baidu gained the ability to open future shopping links. He discovered a biotechnology phone account with a balance of 27,350, leaving him excited by the new possibilities.

• Ling Yi’s text-based game Jianghu became popular at Dragon City Internet Cafe, convincing Shen Bin that online gaming had enormous potential.
• Ling Yi rejected offers to sell Jianghu and prepared Three Kingdoms for internal testing, linking it to the cafe’s management software and installing it on every computer.
• Ling Yi told Shen Bin to focus on opening one partner internet cafe in each town or district and stressed the importance of strict contracts for their employees.
• At home, Ling Yi searched Baidu and found that search entries could now be expanded and selected links could be opened.
• Ling Yi used Baidu to reach Dawei Company’s future phone shop, set his current location as his address, and found an account under his name with a balance of 27,350.

Ling Yi tested whether his online orders could cross time and space, then launched Three Kingdoms Online and promoted Dragon City Software. Three days later, the orders arrived in his 1997 room, beginning with a futuristic power-assisted bike.

• Ling Yi reviewed his orders and concluded that successful delivery would prove he was living in a different world or timeline.
• Ling Yi visited Dragon City Internet Cafe, where Shen Bin launched Three Kingdoms Online and players explored its classes and tutorial mode.
• Ling Yi bundled Three Kingdoms Online, Dragon City Software, and the 97 All-Net platform together to promote his software.
• On October 3, 1997, Ling Yi waited for the delivery countdown to end, and four boxes appeared in his room.
• Ling Yi opened the largest box, found the 223 power-assisted bike inside, and folded its packaging into a compact brick.

Ling Yi activated the ME60’s survival mode, unlocking Xiaowei’s full permissions and discovering the technology’s potential. After sleeping, he agreed to return home with Lin Yuya and Yin Qingyan, and asked Yin Qingyan to introduce him to her successful sister.

• Ling Yi opened the ME60 and activated its survival mode, merging part of the wristband into his skin as Xiaowei unlocked its full permissions.
• Ling Yi learned about Xiaowei’s capabilities and planned to use it to profit during next year’s financial storm, then fell asleep from exhaustion.
• Lin Yuya woke Ling Yi by brushing his nose with her hair, and he agreed to take the ten o’clock bus home with her and Yin Qingyan.
• Ling Yi asked Shen Bin to deposit another twenty thousand so he could buy a Dawei biological computer and compatibility adapter.
• While waiting for the bus, Yin Qingyan told Ling Yi and Lin Yuya about her accomplished sister, and Ling Yi said he wanted to meet her.

Ling Yi traveled home with Lin Yuya, discussed his future plans, and brought her to meet his family. He learned that villagers had spread rumors about the medicine helping his mother, leaving the supply at risk of running out within days.

• Ling Yi asked Yin Qingyan to tell her sister he wanted to hire her as a capable assistant, then rode the bus with Lin Yuya.
• Lin Yuya questioned Ling Yi about his feelings for Yin Qingyan, and Ling Yi said he was not planning to date in high school.
• Lin Yuya fell asleep on Ling Yi's shoulder during the ride and drooled on his shirt before they reached Red City Town.
• Ling Zhan invited Lin Yuya and her father to lunch, then took Ling Yi and Lin Yuya home by motorcycle.
• Cong Lanzhi welcomed Lin Yuya warmly, while Ling Li teased Ling Yi about bringing home a sister-in-law.
• Ling Li told Ling Yi that neighbors had borrowed his mother's medicine and spread claims about its effects, so the remaining supply might be gone within three days.

Ling Yi warned his family not to distribute the 09 Potion because giving medicine to others could create legal trouble, then returned to school with Lin Yuya and resumed overseeing his growing game business. The chapter left him expecting Yin Qinghong’s visit while Dragon City Online’s popularity and advance orders for game time cards surged.

• Ling Yi explained that Cong Lanzhi could face legal trouble for distributing the 09 Potion, and she agreed to stop giving it to others.
• Ling Yi gave Cong Lanzhi a spray version of the potion and returned to school with Lin Yuya after staying home for two days.
• Lin Yuya decided to stay in the courtyard, and Ling Yi left for the internet cafe after giving her money to buy what she needed.
• Yin Qingyan told Ling Yi that her older sister Yin Qinghong would visit the next day, and Ling Yi eagerly invited her to come over.
• At Dragon City Internet Cafe, Shen Bin told Ling Yi that other internet cafe owners wanted the game and that advance orders had reached at least ten thousand game time cards.
• Ling Yi learned Shen Bin had been spending too much time playing and reminded him to focus on his work as the business expanded.

Ling Yi rescued Jin Qiang and Qin Rui from Li Lei’s gang and learned that Li Lei sought revenge because Jin Qiang’s father had arrested his own. Qin Rui revealed Jin Qiang’s painful history with his father, and Ling Yi urged him to understand the risks and sacrifices behind Jin Wenming’s work.

• Ling Yi rejected the idea of entrusting Shen Bin with important work and left the Dragon City Internet Cafe.
• Ling Yi found Jin Qiang and Qin Rui surrounded by Li Lei’s gang and quickly defeated the attackers.
• Ling Yi stopped Li Lei from escaping, ordered him to protect Hanyun High School students, and sent him away.
• Qin Rui told Ling Yi that Li Lei was Li Liang’s younger brother and that Li Lei had attacked Jin Qiang because Jin Qiang’s father arrested their father.
• Qin Rui explained that Jin Qiang resented his father, Jin Wenming, for being absent when Jin Qiang’s mother died during an operation years earlier.
• Ling Yi praised Jin Wenming’s service and warned Jin Qiang to consider the dangers his father faced, leaving Jin Qiang shaken.

Ling Yi invited Jin Qiang and Qin Rui to dinner and asked them to help him meet their parents, who could connect him with Green Savings Bank’s senior management. He agreed to teach them unarmed martial arts after the tenth, while Jin Qiang’s father remained difficult to reach; the chapter ended with Jin Qiang asking Qin Rui if she felt something was unusual about Ling Yi.

• Ling Yi brought Jin Qiang and Qin Rui to his courtyard, where Lin Yuya and Yin Qingyan greeted them before he cooked dinner for everyone.
• After dinner, Ling Yi asked Qin Rui to arrange a meeting with her father and promised to prepare materials for her to show him.
• Qin Rui asked Ling Yi to teach her and Jin Qiang martial arts in return, and Ling Yi agreed to teach them unarmed techniques for a month after the tenth, provided they followed his conditions.
• Ling Yi demonstrated a hidden-weapon technique by throwing a ballpoint pen into a wall, but refused to teach it because it was too dangerous.
• Ling Yi asked Jin Qiang to help him meet his father as well, and Jin Qiang agreed while explaining that his father was usually away for work.
• Around eight, Jin Qiang and Qin Rui left, and Jin Qiang asked Qin Rui whether she also felt something about Ling Yi.

Jin Qiang reconciled with his father, Jin Guangming, and told him that Ling Yi wanted to meet. Ling Yi presented Qin Yunlai with a proposal for digital payments and cybersecurity, then began discussing how to regulate the inevitable growth of internet cafés.

• Jin Qiang returned home, remembered Ling Yi's words, and sat down with Jin Guangming, easing the tension between them.
• Jin Guangming told Jin Qiang that he was escorting the principal, Cheng Yuan, and a gang of street punks to stand trial, and praised Ling Yi for exposing them.
• After Jin Qiang told him Ling Yi wanted to meet, Jin Guangming invited Ling Yi and Qin Yunlai to his home that evening.
• Ling Yi gave Qin Yunlai his proposal for digital payment systems and cybersecurity, explained its strategic importance, and handed him a hard drive containing the software.
• Qin Yunlai decided to travel to Yan City the next day to consult his former superior about Ling Yi's proposal.
• Ling Yi asked Jin Guangming about internet cafés, and Jin Guangming called for them to be shut down before asking whether Ling Yi had a solution.

Ling Yi gave Qin Yunlai and Jin Guangming plans to connect Dragon City Software to the national inspection system, then set up a biological computer and intelligent programs to manage and monitor networks. After preparing a hidden delivery location, he began planning to order Hive 033 reconnaissance drones and searched for satellites to support them.

• Ling Yi handed Qin Yunlai and Jin Guangming a detailed proposal and his phone number before leaving them to investigate his plans and travel to Yan City.
• Ling Yi returned to the courtyard, found his biological computer and compatibility unit delivered, and configured them with Xiaowei No. 1 through No. 5 to manage servers, monitor data, and secure the network.
• Ling Yi changed his delivery address to the locked west-wing storeroom and cleared the room to conceal future deliveries.
• Ling Yi searched for 223 energy reconnaissance drones, chose the Hive 033 and its Hive support units, and looked up whether satellites were available for sale.

Ling Yi discovered that cross-spacetime purchases bypassed official qualifications and ordered a 223 Energy-Concentrating Gun, then planned to sell the 09 Potion to raise money. The next morning, he went to the market with Lin Yuya and Yin Qingyan, where a stall owner recognized him and repeated an exaggerated rumor about his fighting record.

• Ling Yi found the Thousand Eyes Satellite for sale but realized he could not afford it, then ordered a 223 Energy-Concentrating Gun and learned that his purchases faced no qualification restrictions.
• Ling Yi asked Xiaowei No. 3 to gather information about pharmaceutical factory owners because he planned to sell the 09 Potion.
• Lin Yuya and Yin Qingyan joined Ling Yi for breakfast and went with him to the morning market while they waited for Yin Qingyan's sister.
• Ling Yi noticed a cassette-player stall, and its owner recognized him as Boss Ling and claimed that he had defeated five hundred street punks alone.

Ling Yi bought tape recorders and cassettes with Lin Yuya and Yin Qingyan, then met Yin Qinghong and recruited her to help sell the 09 Potion formula. Yin Qinghong proposed an auction and equity dividends, and Ling Yi welcomed her to 97 All-Net.

• Ling Yi bought two large tape recorders, three small ones, and albums from a young vendor, then returned to the courtyard house with Lin Yuya and Yin Qingyan.
• Ling Yi sang along to Xiao Qi's album, surprising Lin Yuya and Yin Qingyan with his voice.
• Ling Yi met Yin Qinghong at the school gates and offered her a guaranteed salary, benefits, and future housing and a car to recruit her.
• Ling Yi showed Yin Qinghong his business plan for the 09 Potion and a sample, and explained that its formula would be difficult to reverse-engineer.
• Yin Qinghong recommended gathering pharmaceutical factories, giving them samples to verify, then holding an auction and securing equity dividends.
• Ling Yi welcomed Yin Qinghong to 97 All-Net.

Yin Qinghong left to organize Ling Yi’s plan to auction the 09 Potion and its formula, while Three Kingdoms Online surged past 100,000 concurrent players and earned over two million yuan in half a month. Ling Yi rewarded Shen Bin with responsibility for the game and a ten percent profit share, then continued laying plans as the potion auction approached and rivals moved to seize Qin Yunlai and Jin Guangming’s hard drives.

• Yin Qinghong planned to recruit staff from her old company and personally visit pharmaceutical factories to demonstrate the 09 Potion without leaving samples, then left with all nine doses and Xiaowei No. 3’s factory information.
• Three Kingdoms Online spread through the 97 All-Net website and internet cafes, surpassing 100,000 concurrent players and earning more than two million yuan from game-card sales in half a month.
• Ling Yi offered Shen Bin a ten percent share of the game’s profits and full responsibility for operating it, then gave Little Smart handsets to Zhao Wen, Lin Yuya, Yin Qingyan, and Shen Bin.
• Ling Yi said he would focus on studying and building his foundations, while secretly arranging drones and Heavenly Eye Satellites to protect Yin Qinghong, Qin Yunlai, and Jin Guangming.
• Ling Yi prepared for the 09 Potion auction at the end of the month, while Qin Yunlai and Jin Guangming made no progress and someone tried to take the hard drives they had found.

Ling Yi shifted from pursuing the lost hard drive to laying the groundwork for his Zombie Worm Parasitism Plan and 97 All-Net, while bringing Yin Qinghong into his plans. After Qin Yunlai and Jin Guangming returned, Ling Yi chose to pursue digital payments by another route and continued refining his broader strategy.

• Ling Yi destroyed the hard drive’s data, sent his remaining 9,800 drones to Eagle Country, and tasked Xiaowei No. 1 with beginning the Zombie Worm Parasitism Plan.
• Yin Qinghong returned to Hanyun Town, and Ling Yi welcomed her while Lin Yuya grew jealous; Yin Qingyan admitted she liked Ling Yi but said she would not date while in high school.
• Ling Yi revealed his microdrones to Yin Qinghong and shared his ten-year 97 All-Net operations plan, including a focus on digital payments and his goal of gaining control.
• Qin Yunlai and Jin Guangming returned and explained that they had lost the hard drive after being held under house arrest; Ling Yi said its data had already been destroyed and chose not to try handing it over again.
• Ling Yi reassured the two men that digital payments remained the way forward and resolved to improve his plan gradually.