Chapter Summaries

Xie Zhuzhou assigned Lili to investigate Weili'ang while secretly helping Wen Nan, then went with his family to the old residence for Lunar New Year's Eve. He left off confronting Ji Shanyan after using Ji Wangyun as a shield and accusing his cousin of hurting his brother.

• Xie Zhuzhou offered Lili double pay to assist Wen Nan for three months and investigate Weili'ang without revealing her identity.
• Chu Yanzhang called Xie Zhuzhou to eat, and Xie Zhuzhou snapped at him before softening when he saw Chu Yanzhang's hurt expression.
• Seven or eight days after returning from Hollow City, Xie Zhuzhou, Ji Wuqiu, Ji Wangyun, Ji Wangchen, and Ji Wangyan headed to the old residence on Lunar New Year's Eve.
• Ji Shanyan slipped on the wet ground and crashed into Ji Wangyun after Xie Zhuzhou pulled him into the collision as a shield.
• Xie Zhuzhou accused Ji Shanyan of injuring and bullying Ji Wangyun, startling his cousin by turning the blame back on him.

Xie Zhuzhou clashed with his grandfather and provoked him by revealing the Chu Family’s downfall, then spent New Year’s Eve setting off firecrackers with Chu Yanzhang and his brothers. On New Year’s Day, the family learned that Aolai had fought with the Yuan Family’s dog and seemed to be hurt.

• Xie Zhuzhou made Ji Shanyan promise to tell Grandpa how much money he had scammed from Little Uncle, then entered the main hall with Ji Wangyun.
• Xie Zhuzhou rebuked Master Elder Ji for pretending to welcome him, and Ji Wuqiu defended his son from Ji Wulin’s criticism.
• Xie Zhuzhou told Master Elder Ji that the Chu Family had gone bankrupt and its leaders were under investigation, causing Master Elder Ji to faint.
• Ji Wuqiu admitted he had brought Xie Zhuzhou to get even with Master Elder Ji, and the eldest branch left after offering incense at the ancestral hall.
• Xie Zhuzhou and Chu Yanzhang used firecrackers to get back at Ji Wangyan, but the older brothers turned their firepower on Chu Yanzhang.
• On New Year’s Day, the butler told Xie Zhuzhou and Ji Wangyun that Aolai had fought with the Yuan Family’s dog and seemed injured.

Ji Wangyun and Xie Zhuzhou went to retrieve the injured Aolai, where Ji Wangyun accused Yuan Dede of starting the dogfight and punched him. On the ride home, Ji Wangyun forbade Aolai from pursuing the male Great Pyrenees, while Chu Yanzhang feared Xie Zhuzhou had lost interest in men and would never return his feelings.

• Xie Zhuzhou handed Chu Yanzhang the red envelope before he and Ji Wangyun drove to collect Aolai.
• Ji Wangyun confronted Yuan Dede over the dogs’ fight and demanded evidence that Aolai had started it.
• Ji Wangyun punched Yuan Dede twice after Yuan Dede apologized and tried to end the dispute.
• Xie Zhuzhou and Ji Wangyun brought the bloodied Aolai into the car, where Ji Wangyun tried to discourage him from pursuing the male Great Pyrenees.
• Chu Yanzhang wondered whether Xie Zhuzhou had become straight again and despaired that they might remain only friends.

On New Year’s Day, Xie Zhuzhou spent a peaceful afternoon painting with Chu Yanzhang before a group of rich heirs came to the Ji Family estate to bother him. Yuan Dede then tried to lure Xie Zhuzhou outside with a gang after Ji Wangyun had beaten him earlier that day.

• Xie Zhuzhou painted in the conservatory while Chu Yanzhang ground pigments and helped him prepare for Ms. Sheng’s upcoming art exhibition.
• Wen Nan resolved to work hard after Weiliang Company signed him, while Wen Ruohuai faced insults from his cousins and bitterly wished them dead.
• Xie Zhuzhou finished his painting, and Chu Yanzhang realized he wanted to be closer to and take care of him.
• Xie Zhuzhou had the butler send away the rich heirs who came to the Ji Family estate, giving each of them red envelopes instead of arguing.
• Yuan Dede, wearing a mask and oversized sunglasses, waited with a gang and planned to lure Xie Zhuzhou outside after Ji Wangyun had beaten him.

Xie Zhuzhou spent New Year’s with Chu Yanzhang while Ji Wuqiu visited Master Elder Ji and returned home. Ji Wuqiu pretended to be ill to persuade Xie Zhuzhou to help his brother, and Xie Zhuzhou panicked over his father’s health before Ji Wuqiu asked him to agree.

• Yuan Dede tried to convince a crowd that Xie Zhuzhou would come out, but the crowd accused him of being a traitor when drones delivered five-yuan red envelopes instead.
• Xie Zhuzhou learned that his brothers and father were away, while Master Elder Ji was hospitalized after fainting again.
• Ji Wuqiu warned Master Elder Ji that sending Wuwei abroad would not ensure his survival.
• Ji Wuqiu returned home, gave Xie Zhuzhou and Chu Yanzhang checks for twenty million, and joined them at their barbecue.
• Ji Wuqiu claimed his health was failing and asked Xie Zhuzhou to help his brother, prompting Xie Zhuzhou to suspect the family doctor was a spy and rush his father to bed.

Xie Zhuzhou agreed to work at Ji Wuqiu's company for a month and a half after his father appeared to fall ill. The family continued barbecuing, and Ji Wangyun returned home to join them, still unaware of what Xie Zhuzhou had promised.

• Xie Zhuzhou worried about Ji Wuqiu's coughing, called his eldest and second brothers, and kept the family doctors away while asking for a new doctor.
• Ji Wuqiu persuaded Xie Zhuzhou to work at the company for a month and a half, and Xie Zhuzhou left the room believing his father might be seriously ill.
• Xie Zhuzhou and Chu Yanzhang resumed barbecuing, and Xie Zhuzhou fretted about having to work while Chu Yanzhang reassured him.
• Ji Wangyun arrived home, joined the barbecue, and learned that Ji Wuqiu had been coughing despite having healthy lungs.

Xie Zhuzhou spent the holiday with the Ji family, while Chu Yanzhang tried to get closer to him. After an awkward family dinner and a near-fall while walking Aolai, Xie Zhuzhou decided to improve his coursework and take first place next semester.

• Ji Wangyun and Xie Zhuzhou chatted about Xie Zhuzhou’s past romantic entanglements, and Ji Wangyun realized his little brother had been the one playing those men.
• Ji Wangyan returned home, stole Ji Wangyun’s grilled skewers, and joined the family barbecue before accidentally making the food too spicy.
• Ji Wuqiu went hungry after his sons forgot to invite him to dinner, then joined breakfast the next morning and revealed that he was feeling better.
• On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Xie Zhuzhou stayed home with Aolai while Chu Yanzhang secretly did skincare and nearly explained his new scent.
• Aolai bolted toward a Great Pyrenees and pulled Xie Zhuzhou forward, but Xie Zhuzhou flipped safely and proudly asked Chu Yanzhang if he was awesome.
• Xie Zhuzhou resolved to improve his coursework and take first place the next semester.

Xie Zhuzhou was sent to Ji Group headquarters as Ji Wangchen’s assistant, despite his reluctance to work. He left for the office with his brother, while Chu Yanzhang was taken to his own company and warned to stop staying up late.

• Xie Zhuzhou’s family insisted he go to work, and his brothers joked that they might end up in trouble and leave him responsible for the family company.
• Ji Wangchen told Xie Zhuzhou his first task was meeting senior executives and assigned him to be his assistant.
• Xie Zhuzhou teased Ji Wangchen about being nearly twenty-eight and still unmarried until Ji Wangchen told him to shut up.
• Wu Chang warned Chu Yanzhang that staying up late caused dark circles, and Chu Yanzhang agreed to sleep more.
• Xie Zhuzhou arrived with Ji Wangchen in the underground parking lot and joked about being greeted by bodyguards, prompting Ji Wangchen to threaten an even more extravagant welcome next time.

Xie Zhuzhou accompanied Ji Wangchen to a company meeting at Aurora Future, where he struggled to stay awake while senior executives challenged the company’s new hires. The chapter ended with Ji Wangchen defending Xie Zhuzhou’s place in the group and saying he could handle the work assigned to him.

• Ji Wangchen brought Xie Zhuzhou to Aurora Future and told him to stay by his side during the morning meeting.
• Xie Zhuzhou toured Ji Wangchen’s book-filled office, joked about his brother’s hair, and followed him to the meeting.
• Special Assistant Xu presented the group’s project progress, financial situation, and personnel matters.
• Ji Wangchen addressed concerns about discord within the company and argued that its development required fresh blood and new ideas.
• An executive questioned whether Xie Zhuzhou’s inclusion was merely to make up the numbers, and Ji Wangchen defended his brother’s place in the group.

Xie Zhuzhou faced executives questioning his appointment and answered with blunt confidence, while Ji Wangchen backed him and let him handle the challenges. After Xie exposed Gao Weixiao’s lack of early achievements and mocked his family connections, Gao fell silent, and Xie realized his new discipline inspection role might suit him after all.

• An executive questioned Xie Zhuzhou’s lack of company experience, and Ji Wangchen praised his perspective and promised the group would develop under his leadership.
• Asked to speak, Xie admitted employees might resent his appointment, then cited the billions he had gained since returning to the Ji Family.
• An older shareholder questioned whether Xie had the experience and wisdom to manage the group, and Xie replied that his father and eldest brother had good reason to appoint him.
• Xie challenged Gao Weixiao to name his achievements when he first started working, and Gao admitted he had none before defending his rise from the bottom.
• Xie mocked Gao Weixiao for lacking an impressive father, leaving Gao angry and speechless after Ji Wulin had privately urged him to obstruct Xie.

Xie Zhuzhou verbally challenged the Ji Group’s executives, then began learning his new duties as disciplinary inspector. After work, he arranged to meet Chu Yanzhang for a movie, while Ji Wangchen unexpectedly invited Mu Fan to one too.

• Xie Zhuzhou rebuked shareholder Wu Jianhe and challenged the executives to reflect on their own work instead of criticizing him.
• Ji Wangchen warned the executives to take their responsibilities seriously before the new disciplinary inspector uncovered problems.
• Xie Zhuzhou complained that Ji Wangchen had tricked him into becoming an assistant, then learned that the disciplinary inspection department would follow his orders because its members were his fans.
• Chu Yanzhang agreed to meet Xie Zhuzhou after work and suggested they watch a movie together.
• Ji Wangchen overheard their plans and messaged Mu Fan to ask if he wanted to watch a movie with him.

Ji Wangchen invited Mu Fan to join him and Xie Zhuzhou for a movie at Chu Yanzhang’s home theater, hoping to gauge Chu Yanzhang’s relationship with his younger brother. The group watched a frightening 5D jiangshi film, and Xie Zhuzhou and Chu Yanzhang left early to escape it.

• Mu Fan joked that he was straight, and Ji Wangchen invited him to join a movie outing with Xie Zhuzhou and Chu Yanzhang.
• The four watched a 5D jiangshi movie in Chu Yanzhang’s theater while Ji Wangchen watched his brother and Chu Yanzhang for signs of romance.
• Xie Zhuzhou and Chu Yanzhang both struggled to hide their fear as the movie’s effects made the jiangshi seem to lunge at them.
• Chu Yanzhang suggested leaving for some air, and Xie Zhuzhou agreed with relief.
• Outside the screening room, Xie Zhuzhou told Chu Yanzhang he suspected Ji Wangchen and Mu Fan had not come to watch the movie at all.

Xie Zhuzhou and Chu Yanzhang’s prank on Ji Wangchen and Mu Fan left Ji Wangyun injured. Ji Wangyun persuaded Xie Zhuzhou to take his place at work, and Xie agreed despite worrying that Ji Wangchen might find out.

• Xie Zhuzhou convinced Chu Yanzhang to help him test Ji Wangchen and Mu Fan by having Ji Wangyun sneak up on them in the theater.
• Ji Wangchen and Mu Fan spotted Ji Wangyun and dragged him down, leaving him with a black eye and a bruised mouth.
• Xie Zhuzhou applied a warm compress to Ji Wangyun while Chu Yanzhang worried about the consequences; Ji Wangchen left with Mu Fan after telling the troublemakers to sort things out themselves.
• Ji Wangyun asked Xie Zhuzhou to cover his job at Aurora Future while his injuries healed, and Xie agreed after asking Ji Wangyun to defend him if Ji Wangchen found out.

Xie Zhuzhou struggled through a day of pretending to be Ji Wangyun at work, with Chu Yanzhang helping him handle the workload. He later learned that Ji Wangyun’s staff had recognized him from the start and had secretly treated him like a celebrity.

• Xie Zhuzhou wore Ji Wangyun’s suit and struggled to imitate him while handling meetings and documents at the company.
• Ji Wangyun teased Xie Zhuzhou by message while enjoying a day off at home.
• Chu Yanzhang arrived as a specially appointed consultant and helped Xie Zhuzhou get through the documents.
• Xie Zhuzhou returned home and confessed to Ji Wangchen that he had skipped work, while Chu Yanzhang explained that his consultant qualification was genuine.
• Ji Wangchen concluded that Xie Zhuzhou and Chu Yanzhang shared only a close friendship, while Chu Yanzhang privately hoped Xie Zhuzhou would understand his hint.
• Xie Zhuzhou overheard Ji Wangyun’s call and discovered that the company staff had recognized him, replaced his coffee with milk tea, and wanted him to return.

Xie Zhuzhou struggled with the growing number of people who admired him and tried to avoid work at Aurora Future. Ji Wangchen assigned him to work on discipline enforcement, but a promised reward quickly caught his interest.

• Xie Zhuzhou returned to his room after visiting Ji Wangyun and spent the night wondering why people liked him.
• Chu Yanzhang worried about confessing his feelings to Xie Zhuzhou while his employees made him handle a backlog of work.
• Xie Zhuzhou went to Aurora Future and found that some employees admired his defiance of the company's senior figures.
• Ji Wangchen found Xie Zhuzhou asleep at his workstation, then took him to lunch and made him study discipline inspection work.
• Ji Wangchen told Xie Zhuzhou to come to work whenever he had no classes and offered him a reward for catching rule-breakers, which made Xie Zhuzhou eager to begin.

Xie Zhuzhou investigated alleged embezzlement by Gao Weixiao and learned that an influential figure was backing him, while also negotiating five days off with Ji Wangchen. As rumors spread and Gao Weixiao avoided him, Xie Zhuzhou set out with his ostracized disciplinary inspection team.

• Xie Zhuzhou agreed with Ji Wangchen to earn cash rewards and paid leave by catching serious company violations.
• After employees accused Gao Weixiao of embezzling funds, Xie Zhuzhou brought their video evidence to Ji Wangchen, who warned that Gao Weixiao had an influential backer.
• Xie Zhuzhou agreed to keep investigating for the mastermind and got Ji Wangchen to promise him five days off.
• When Ji Wangyun barged in demanding to know if he was the best brother, Xie Zhuzhou restrained and gagged him with Ji Wangchen's tie and handkerchief.
• Gao Weixiao evaded Xie Zhuzhou as negative rumors about him spread through the company.
• Xie Zhuzhou's team praised him and described how other departments ostracized them for their disciplinary work.

Xie Zhuzhou tracked Gao Weixiao to a private club and exposed his suspected embezzlement after foiling an attempt to injure him. When Gao blamed Ji Wangchen, Xie Zhuzhou kicked him across the room.

• Xie Zhuzhou learned that Gao Weixiao visited a private club every Friday and went there to investigate him.
• A chandelier fell toward the table, but Xie Zhuzhou kicked it into the wall and avoided the trap.
• Xie Zhuzhou showed Gao Weixiao an AI-generated video of apparent embezzlement and confronted him with evidence about money transferred to his lover and dealings with suppliers.
• Gao Weixiao denied the accusations, then claimed Ji Wangchen was the mastermind and that he had only followed orders.
• Xie Zhuzhou kicked Gao Weixiao into a wall before he could finish speaking.

Xie Zhuzhou exposed Gao Weixiao’s scheme, had him arrested, and warned the company’s staff to confess their own misconduct. After Ji Wulin and Gao Jilan discussed the fallout, Xie returned to school and suspected Li Yankai was hiding how hard he studied.

• Xie Zhuzhou kicked Gao Weixiao into a wall, then told the assembled staff he had acted in self-defense and warned them to turn themselves in before he gave evidence to Ji Wangchen.
• Yang Da and his men arrived with a captured accomplice, while Yue Ke dismissed Xie Zhuzhou as an incapable rich young man and remained confident in his own power.
• In Country M, Gao Jilan told Ji Wulin that Gao Weixiao had been arrested, and the two argued over the embezzlement and Xie Zhuzhou before deciding to return home.
• Xie Zhuzhou reflected that Gao Weixiao’s bragging would likely expose Ji Wulin’s protection of him, unaware that Gao Jilan blamed him and wanted revenge.
• At the first class meeting of the new term, Li Yankai asked Xie Zhuzhou why he had not invited him to more activities, and Xie suspected Li was pretending to be poor while secretly studying hard.

Xie Zhuzhou realized he missed Chu Yanzhang while the younger man was away working, then went to work himself and faced an unexpected family discussion. Ji Wuqiu clarified that he wanted to take Chu Yanzhang as his godson, not arrange a marriage, and the family agreed pending Chu Yanzhang’s opinion.

• Xie Zhuzhou wondered why he had befriended Chu Yanzhang and admitted that he found the younger man pleasing, comfortable to be around, and exceptionally well-behaved.
• After class, Xie Zhuzhou went to work and offered Li Yankai a junior management job at one of his companies, but Li Yankai declined.
• At dinner, Ji Wuqiu began praising Chu Yanzhang and suggested a plan, prompting Ji Wangchen, Ji Wangyun, and Ji Wangyan to object to a marriage alliance with Xie Zhuzhou.
• Xie Zhuzhou feared his family was nearing bankruptcy and protested the idea of marrying Chu Yanzhang.
• Ji Wuqiu explained that he wanted to take Chu Yanzhang as his godson, and Xie Zhuzhou and his brothers agreed, though Xie Zhuzhou said Chu Yanzhang should be asked first.

Chu Yanzhang feared that the Ji Family had discovered his feelings for Xie Zhuzhou, but Ji Wuqiu instead offered to take him as his godson. Chu Yanzhang left heartbroken, while Ji Wuqiu realized he was in love with Xie Zhuzhou and decided to watch what happened next.

• Chu Yanzhang reflected on how Xie Zhuzhou had helped him through his despair and realized he wanted to confess his feelings.
• Ji Wuqiu told Chu Yanzhang that the Ji Family wanted him to become his godson, and Chu Yanzhang asked to think it over.
• Chu Yanzhang left the house in the rain, believing Xie Zhuzhou had no feelings for him, and Xie Zhuzhou sent him upstairs to shower.
• Ji Wuqiu realized Chu Yanzhang had feelings for Xie Zhuzhou and silently decided to see how he would pursue his son.
• Xie Zhuzhou pointed out that Ji Wuqiu was wearing mismatched socks.