Chapter Summaries

On his birthday, Yan Heqing remembered that he was destined to die as a substitute in a novel and refused to sign the contract that would tie him to Lu Muchi. The chapter left him alone in the café as the lawyer went to contact Lu Muchi.

• Yan Heqing sat with a lawyer in a café while a downpour struck the windows.
• Yan Heqing recalled a scene from the novel in which Lu Muchi abused him and dismissed a doctor's concerns for his life.
• Yan Heqing set down the pen and refused to sign the substitute contract.
• The lawyer took his phone and left to contact Lu Muchi, while Yan Heqing remained calm.

Yan Heqing realized he was the doomed stand-in in an abusive romance novel and that Lu Muchi would eventually force him to donate his eyes to Lin Fengzhi. Remembering the brother he had sacrificed everything to find, Yan Heqing ended the chapter resolved not to let anyone take his eyes.

• A doctor treated Yan Heqing’s severe wounds but knew he could not persuade him to seek help against the powerful Lu family.
• Yan Heqing recognized that his life matched the novel’s plot: Lu Muchi would keep him, abuse him, and eventually make him donate his eyes to Lin Fengzhi.
• On his eighteenth birthday, Yan Heqing realized his adoptive parents had agreed to Lu Muchi’s offer to keep him after he refused.
• Yan Heqing vomited as he recalled the novel’s scene in which Lu Muchi threatened him and demanded his eyes for Lin Fengzhi.
• Yan Heqing remembered giving up adoption so Lin Fengzhi could be taken in and vowed that even his brother could not take his eyes.

Yan Heqing rejected Lu Muchi’s offer, celebrated his rebirth with a small cake, and returned to the Yan home as the family enjoyed a lavish birthday dinner for Lin Fengzhi. He recalled how Zhao Huilin had accepted Lu Muchi’s money to send him away, and Zhao hid the strawberries when Yan came home.

• Yan Heqing refused to name a price to Lu Muchi’s lawyer, bought himself a cake and umbrella, and walked into the rain to mark his rebirth.
• At the Lin family villa, Lin Fengzhi celebrated his eighteenth birthday and secretly wished that Uncle Lu Lin would like him.
• Yan Heqing returned to the Yan home and found Zhao Huilin and the family gathered around strawberries and lamb spine soup.
• Yan Heqing recalled how Zhao Huilin had negotiated with Lu Muchi, raising her demand from three million to five million a year to send him away.
• Zhao Huilin hurriedly hid the strawberries when Yan Heqing came in and asked why he had returned so early.

Yan Heqing refused to sign Lu Muchi’s contract for five million yuan, prompting Yan Shengbing and Zhao Huilin to pressure him for more money. He ate the food and strawberries they had saved for Yan Feng before returning to his cramped room.

• Zhao Huilin sent Yan Feng out, and Yan Feng tried to stomp on Yan Heqing’s foot but injured himself on the doorway when Yan Heqing moved.
• Yan Heqing told Yan Shengbing and Zhao Huilin that he had not signed the contract and that five million was too little; Yan Shengbing agreed to go with him to negotiate.
• Zhao Huilin realized Yan Heqing wanted more money and served him lamb spine stew while she considered how to secure more for Yan Feng’s future.
• Yan Heqing ate the lamb spine stew and began eating the strawberries, which reminded him of Lin Fengzhi.
• Zhao Huilin took the strawberries away to save some for Yan Feng, and Yan Heqing returned to his tiny room on the balcony.

Lu Muchi came to take Yan Heqing by force, but Yan Heqing refused and called the police. Yan Heqing resolved to strike back before Lu Muchi and the others could hurt him.

• Yan Heqing remembered Lu Muchi first propositioning him on campus and recognized that the novel’s abuse was becoming real.
• Yan Heqing refused to go with Lu Muchi, despite Lu Muchi throwing money and Zhao Huilin urging him to leave.
• Lu Muchi stepped on Zhao Huilin’s hand, pinned Yan Heqing against a window, and threatened to assault him there.
• A bodyguard restrained Yan Shengbing and Lu Muchi slapped Zhao Huilin when she tried to intervene.
• Yan Heqing showed Lu Muchi that he had called 110 and began giving the police their address.

Yan Heqing’s attempt to get the police to stop Lu Muchi failed when Yan Shengbing and Zhao Huilin denied that Lu Muchi had broken in. As Lu Muchi dragged him away, Yan Heqing claimed he would agree to Lu Muchi’s demand if Lu Muchi found his biological younger brother, unaware that Lu Muchi already knew he was Lin Fengzhi’s twin.

• Yan Heqing’s action made Lu Muchi release him, and Lu Muchi sent Yan Shengbing, Zhao Huilin, Yan Feng, and the bodyguard away.
• Lu Muchi demanded that Yan Heqing smile, but Yan Heqing ignored him and called the police.
• The older officer recognized Lu Muchi, and Yan Shengbing and Zhao Huilin told the officers that Lu Muchi was a friend visiting, so the police left without intervening.
• Lu Muchi mocked Yan Heqing’s despair and dragged him downstairs to his car.
• Yan Heqing told Lu Muchi he would agree if Lu Muchi found his biological younger brother, while secretly planning to use Lu Muchi’s love for Lin Fengzhi against him.
• Lu Muchi already knew Yan Heqing was Lin Fengzhi’s twin brother and that Lin Fengzhi had forgotten his past after recovering from a serious illness.

Yan Heqing considered using Lu Lin to influence Lu Muchi, then began making plans to change his household registration and major while living on very little money. Meanwhile, Lu Muchi examined Yan Heqing’s sparse phone and belongings before his uncle confronted him over wasting food.

• Lu Muchi took Yan Heqing’s phone and drove away, while Yan Heqing considered using Lu Lin as a new way to influence him.
• Yan Heqing withdrew two hundred yuan, bought a small bowl of beef noodles, and received extra food for free from the owner’s daughter.
• Yan Heqing took the subway toward school and planned to transfer his household registration and apply to change his major to biology.
• A young man on the subway asked to add Yan Heqing on WeChat, but Yan Heqing declined because he did not have WeChat.
• Lu Muchi browsed Yan Heqing’s outdated phone and reflected on how cheap his belongings were before his uncle told him not to waste food.

Lu Muchi waited for Yan Heqing to ask for his phone, while Yan Heqing changed majors, rented a small apartment, and prepared to leave the Yan home. When Zhao Huilin tried to stop him, Yan Heqing exposed the abuse he had suffered and publicly declared that he had repaid the Yan family's expenses and cut ties with them.

• Lu Lin told Lu Muchi to eat, then left the hotel restaurant, and Lu Muchi followed after him.
• Yan Heqing transferred his household registration, applied to change majors, rented a small apartment, and fixed it up before planning to move in.
• Yan Heqing returned to pack his belongings and handed Zhao Huilin a notebook itemizing 10,954.3 in expenses along with 11,000.
• Zhao Huilin chased Yan Heqing outside and accused him of abandoning the family, so he showed the neighbors scars from years of abuse by Yan Shengbing and Yan Feng.
• Yan Heqing told the neighbors that Zhao Huilin had taken 100,000 to sell him, said he had refused, and declared that he had repaid the Yan family's expenses and severed ties with them.

After Zhao Huilin’s scheme against Yan Heqing failed, he returned to his small apartment, cooked dinner, and studied before accepting a weekend job at Oxygen. Meanwhile, Lu Lin declined an invitation to the bar, leaving Lin Fengzhi disappointed when he learned Lu would not come.

• Zhao Huilin asked Yan Shengbing about Yan Heqing’s university major, then decided to make a scene at his school to pressure him into returning.
• Yan Heqing went home, cooked and ate dinner, and studied on his secondhand computer.
• Oxygen called Yan Heqing and confirmed he would start working Fridays and Saturdays from eight in the evening until two in the morning.
• Xie Yunjie invited Lu Lin to Oxygen, but Lu Lin refused and warned him not to joke about Lin Fengzhi.
• Chu Ziyu, Shen Xiong, Lin Fengzhi, and Lin Fengyi arrived at Oxygen, and Xie Yunjie told them Lu Lin was not coming, disappointing Lin Fengzhi.

Lin Fengzhi got drunk on a cocktail at Oxygen, and Lu Muchi took him home before deciding to find a boy to serve as Yan Heqing’s substitute. Yan Heqing traveled to Tian Mountain Reservoir, where he settled in to fish beside an old man.

• Xie Yunjie had Little Zhao make Lin Fengzhi a Negroni, and Lin Fengzhi drank it without Lin Fengyi realizing it was alcohol.
• Lu Muchi arrived to find Lin Fengzhi drunk, carried him out, and took him to the car, where Lin Fengzhi clung to him before falling asleep.
• Lu Muchi thought of Yan Heqing and called someone to find him a quick-witted boy around eighteen by the next morning.
• Yan Heqing cooked breakfast, left his apartment with a packed backpack, and took Line 5 toward Tian Mountain Reservoir instead of going to Beijing University.
• Yan Heqing paid to fish at Tian Mountain Reservoir and settled at a bay beside an old man, sharing a saline bottle he had brought to keep warm.

Yan Heqing stayed at his fishing spot while Zhao Huilin and Yan Shengbing failed to find him at Beijing University. Lu Muchi searched for Yan Heqing, learned he was missing, and left his hired actor behind after realizing he had arranged for someone to play Lin Fengzhi.

• Yan Heqing told the old man he would keep fishing at the same spot and that he would catch a fish soon.
• Zhao Huilin and Yan Shengbing tried to enter Beijing University and waited at its gates, but they failed to find Yan Heqing.
• Lu Muchi confronted Zhao Huilin and Yan Shengbing at home, demanded to know where Yan Heqing was, and left his business card for them.
• Zhao Huilin blamed Yan Heqing for their troubles and wondered if he had deliberately arranged them for revenge.
• Lu Muchi returned to his Mercedes and ordered the young actor hired to play Lin Fengzhi to get out.

Yan Heqing worked at Oxygen to get close to Lu Lin, while his cocktails drew Xie Yunjie and Chu Ziyu back repeatedly until they persuaded Lu Lin to visit. When Lu Lin finally came, he ordered an extra drink despite Yan Heqing’s one-drink-per-person rule, leaving the manager afraid to refuse.

• Yan Heqing took a bartending job at Oxygen to approach Lu Lin and limited each customer to one cocktail per night.
• Xie Yunjie and Chu Ziyu praised Yan Heqing’s drinks and repeatedly urged Lu Lin to visit Oxygen.
• Lu Lin agreed to meet them on a Saturday after Chu Ziyu announced it was the anniversary of his breakup.
• On a cold evening, Yan Heqing arrived at Oxygen and was told to make three Negronis for room 202.
• After tasting the Negronis, Lu Lin ordered an Old Fashioned, and the manager nervously agreed despite Yan Heqing’s rule.

Yan Heqing’s plan to make Lu Lin order a second drink was stopped when the manager canceled the Old Fashioned, and Lu Lin left without noticing him. Yan Heqing went home and decided to wait for another chance to attract Lu Lin’s attention.

• Xie Yunjie and Chu Ziyu bet on whether Yan Heqing would make Lu Lin an Old Fashioned, while Chu Ziyu explained Yan Heqing’s one-drink rule.
• The manager urged Yan Heqing to make the drink for Lu Lin, but after taking a call, he canceled the request.
• Lu Lin left the private room, ignoring Chu Ziyu’s attempt to set him up with Qin Chengcheng.
• Lu Lin paused to look at Yan Heqing working at the bar, then left without speaking to him.
• Yan Heqing went home, ate wontons, and resolved to wait for another opportunity to catch Lu Lin’s attention.

Yan Heqing learned ice-fishing techniques from the old man and caught his first crucian carp before returning home. There, he confronted Lu Muchi about his missing younger brother, and a cat’s cry drew Lu Muchi’s attention to the landing.

• Yan Heqing joined the old man at Tian Mountain Reservoir, where he learned about ice fishing and the old man’s bait mixture.
• Yan Heqing caught his first crucian carp, then bought tofu and scallions to make soup at home.
• Lu Muchi waited outside Yan Heqing’s door and called him his little toy.
• Yan Heqing asked whether Lu Muchi had found his younger brother, and Lu Muchi insulted and threatened him.
• Yan Heqing told Lu Muchi to leave until he found his brother, but a cat’s cry interrupted them.
• Lu Muchi rushed down the stairs after Yan Heqing turned toward the sound, then stopped in surprise at the landing.

Lu Muchi saw Yan Heqing feed stray cats and recognized the poverty and cold that echoed his memories of a woman from his past. He left Yan Heqing his phone and went to the Lu family ancestral home, where someone was still awake after midnight.

• Yan Heqing fed two stray kittens half a cleaned fish while Lu Muchi criticized him for giving them untreated food.
• Lu Muchi noticed Yan Heqing's poverty and red hands, which reminded him of the poor woman who had once built him a snowman.
• Lu Muchi offered Yan Heqing five million a year, but Yan Heqing refused and insisted that Lu Muchi find his younger brother.
• Lu Muchi returned Yan Heqing's basic phone, ordered him to answer his calls, and left the apartment building.
• Yan Heqing washed his hands, dropped the phone into the sink, and swept away the cigarette butts outside his door.
• Lu Muchi went to the Lu family's ancestral home, where the living room lights were still on after midnight.

Lu Lin spent the night trying to recreate the Negroni he had shared with a young bartender, while Yan Heqing visited T University to see Lin Fengzhi. The chapter ended with Lin Fengzhi stopping and looking back after walking past Yan Heqing.

• Lu Lin mixed Negronis while Lu Muchi asked about the missing woman and requested that his bodyguards be withdrawn; Lu Lin said they would not report on private matters.
• After mixing drinks through the night, Lu Lin discovered that the young bartender had added two extra drops of olive brine.
• Yan Heqing woke to snow, ate breakfast, saw the Oxygen staff group’s invitation to a Christmas event, and traveled to T University.
• Yan Heqing waited near T University's main gate and recognized Lin Fengzhi as he left class with classmates.
• Lin Fengzhi walked past Yan Heqing, then stopped and looked back.

Yan Heqing mistook Lin Fengzhi’s approach for recognition, but Lin Fengzhi passed him to rescue a stray cat, leaving Yan Heqing to continue alone. At Oxygen, Yan Heqing prepared drinks for Lu Lin and his friends, then agreed to drink with a persistent customer.

• Yan Heqing ran toward Lin Fengzhi, but Lin Fengzhi passed him to feed and shelter a stray cat, and Yan Heqing walked away disappointed.
• Yan Heqing went to a bookstore, bought Notes on Fishing and Hunting, and agreed to work Oxygen’s Christmas event for triple pay.
• Lu Lin arrived at the mall and spoke with Xie Yunjie, who arranged for him to meet at Oxygen with Chu Ziyu.
• Yan Heqing prepared a Negroni, a Godfather, and an Old Fashioned for private room 202, where Xie Yunjie, Chu Ziyu, and Lu Lin were expected.
• A regular customer asked Yan Heqing to drink at his table, and Yan Heqing agreed.

Yan Heqing accepted Feng Zhixian’s wager, won the darts contest, and asked him to pay in cash. Upstairs, Lu Lin stayed after Xie Yunjie announced his engagement, and Chu Ziyu brought up Mu Chi starting a company.

• Feng Zhixian challenged Yan Heqing to darts, betting that Yan would kiss him if he lost and that Feng would pay ten thousand yuan if he lost.
• Chu Ziyu went downstairs to learn about the wager, then returned upstairs and expressed sympathy for Yan Heqing.
• Yan Heqing knocked Feng Zhixian’s dart out of the bull’s-eye and won the wager.
• Yan Heqing politely asked Feng Zhixian to pay in cash.
• Lu Lin decided to leave, but Chu Ziyu and Xie Yunjie persuaded him to stay.
• Xie Yunjie announced that he would marry the Qiao Group’s eldest daughter next month, and Chu Ziyu mentioned that Mu Chi had started a company.

After finishing his shift, Yan Heqing rejected Feng Zhixian’s advances and bought all the wintersweet from a struggling little girl. Lu Lin later mistook Lin Fengzhi for the young bartender, then forgot who Lin Fengzhi was when he introduced himself outside the Lu residence.

• Feng Zhixian waited outside the bar, grabbed Yan Heqing, and confessed that he liked him, but Yan Heqing refused his offer of a ride because he had been drinking.
• Lu Lin saw Yan Heqing leaving the bar and briefly watched him through the window of his Maybach.
• Yan Heqing bought all twenty sprigs of wintersweet from a little girl and gave her two hundred yuan, telling her to hide half as secret money.
• Lin Fengzhi waited outside the Lu family’s old residence for Lu Lin and greeted him when the Maybach arrived.
• Lu Lin asked Lin Fengzhi who he was, heard that he was Lu Muchi’s friend, and drove into the parking lot.

After Lu Muchi rescued Lin Fengzhi from an unwanted advance at a bar, Lin Fengzhi admitted he had knitted a red scarf for someone he liked, leaving Lu Muchi stunned. Yan Heqing recognized Lu Muchi waiting near his apartment and took shelter in the security office, avoiding the night when the original story said Lu Muchi would torment him.

• Lin Fengzhi drank alone at a bar, where a man took advantage of his drunkenness and tried to kiss him.
• Lu Muchi arrived, beat the man, and took Lin Fengzhi away from the bar.
• Lin Fengzhi asked Lu Muchi to find the red scarf he had knitted for someone he liked, and Lu Muchi was stunned by his answer.
• Yan Heqing bought a vase and succulents, then spotted Lu Muchi's car near his apartment building.
• Yan Heqing left his purchases with the guard at the security office to avoid Lu Muchi.