Chapter Summaries

Reborn at eighteen, Zhou Jinian recognized his old home and realized he had returned to the year he could protect Ninglang, the childhood attendant who had saved him in his previous life. He interrupted his grandmother as she raised a hand to strike his father, Lin Jin.

• Zhou Jinian woke in his childhood home with the strength and body of an eighteen-year-old, though he could not explain his return from the brink of death.
• He recalled that he had destroyed his enemies in his previous life but could not restore Ninglang's health.
• Zhou Jinian overheard Lin Jin and Grandmother Zhou arguing over Xie Ning becoming his study attendant and the cost of his prefectural examination trip.
• Grandmother Zhou accused Lin Jin's family of contributing little and raised her hand to slap him after he suggested dividing the household.
• Zhou Jinian opened the door, caught his grandmother's wrist, and stopped her from striking Lin Jin.

Zhou Jinian arranged to marry Xie Ning after Grandmother Zhou proposed taking him in as a study attendant to protect Zhou Wenshu’s reputation. He told his parents he would propose to Xie Ning, but kept the true reason—his debt to Xie Ning from his previous life—to himself.

• Zhou Jinian warned Grandmother Zhou that making Xie Ning a study attendant could damage the Zhou family’s reputation and suggested that his wages be paid in full so Xie Ning could marry someone else.
• Zhou Jinian declared that he would marry Xie Ning, and Grandmother Zhou hurried off to obtain the money from Zhou Wenshu’s household.
• Zhou Sanfeng returned home and learned from Zhou Jinian that he intended to propose marriage to Xie Ning.
• Zhou Jinian recalled how he had married a vice director’s daughter in his previous life to advance his career, and how Xie Ning had later been sent to his home as a study attendant after his engagement was broken.
• Zhou Jinian kept quiet about owing Xie Ning his life in his previous life while insisting to his parents that he must marry Ning-ge’er.

Zhou Jinian decided that he wanted Xie Ning despite his disfigurement and planned to bring him home, while the Zhou family arranged the money for the marriage. The chapter then showed how Xie Ning was found unconscious in a water vat and began recounting the events that had led to his damaged skin.

• Zhou Jinian told Lin Jin that Xie Ning was the one he wanted and resolved to care for him and find a cure.
• Zhou Dafeng agreed to pay the share of Zhou Jinian's marriage costs that the first branch owed.
• Xie Dashu and Xie Yao found Xie Ning submerged in a water vat, pulled him out, and Xie Yao carried him inside.
• Xie Ning's damaged skin was revealed to cover his face, neck, and fingers, while his handsome features remained visible.
• The chapter recalled that Xie Dashu had arranged Xie Ning's marriage to Zhou Wenshu, a promising scholar from the wealthy Zhou family.

After Xie Ning was pushed into a lotus pond while protecting his brother, he developed a painful skin condition and became known as Great Well Village’s “ugly freak,” leading Zhou Dafeng’s family to break their engagement and demand he serve Zhou Jinian. In the present, Xie Ning told Xie Yao he would rather become a study attendant than stay at home, and the brothers heard an outsider in the courtyard.

• Xie Ning was pushed into Lotus Pond in place of Xie Yao and, after nearly drowning, woke from a three-day fever with a burning, cracking skin condition.
• Xie Ning’s condition led villagers to call him Great Well Village’s “ugly freak,” and Zhou Dafeng’s family broke the engagement while demanding he become Zhou Jinian’s study attendant.
• Physician Hu examined Xie Ning and said he was only asleep, while Madam Xie Sun complained about him and tried to claim his red sandalwood bed for Xuan'er.
• Xie Ning woke and told Xie Yao he wanted to become a study attendant to Third Uncle Zhou’s son rather than keep living at home, but Xie Yao refused to give him up.
• Xie Ning noticed his skin peeling as he and Xie Yao sat together, then they heard an outsider’s voice in the courtyard.

Xie Ning’s family accepted Zhou Jinian’s marriage proposal, and the betrothal was settled with generous gifts. The chapter then began the wedding day in Great Well Village, as Zhou Jinian’s procession prepared to bring Xie Ning into the Zhou household.

• Matchmaker Liu told Xie Dashu that Zhou Jinian wanted to marry Xie Ning, surprising the Xie family.
• Xie Yao objected to the proposal, but Madam Xie Sun urged Xie Dashu to accept it.
• Xie Dashu agreed, and Zhou Jinian promptly accepted the requested betrothal gifts, settling the marriage.
• In the seventh month of the thirty-sixth year of Qingyuan, the Zhou family prepared for Zhou Jinian and Xie Ning’s wedding.
• Zhou Jinian’s procession set out with a decorated pig, musicians, and lavish betrothal gifts as villagers remarked on Xie Ning’s good fortune.

On his wedding day, Xie Ning prepared to marry Zhou Jinian while worrying that his changed appearance would frighten his groom. The wedding guests filled the Xie home, but Xie Ning remained alone in his room, waiting for the ceremony to continue.

• The wedding procession arrived at the Xie home, and Xie Xiaoyu told Xie Ning the Zhou family had come.
• Xie Ning washed in a wooden basin and hurried to dress for the wedding.
• Xie Yao comforted Xie Ning, promised to bring him home if Zhou Jinian mistreated him, and refused to let him sneak a look at the groom.
• Xie Xiaoyu promised to visit Xie Ning at the Zhou home, and he offered to keep making her steamed dried eggplant.
• Madam Xie Sun and Xie Xiaoyu left for the busy front courtyard, while Xie Ning ate alone in his room.

On his wedding night, Xie Ning’s poison flared up, and Zhou Jinian put him in a bathtub to cool him down. Xie Ning dreamed he was swimming in a lotus pond before Zhou Jinian woke him, leaving him to recognize his new husband.

• At the auspicious hour, Zhou Jinian carried Xie Ning from the Xie family home to the Zhou home for their wedding rites.
• As the poison overwhelmed Xie Ning, Zhou Jinian carried him to the bridal chamber and lowered him into a bathtub.
• Zhou Jinian briefly left Xie Ning to rest while he went to entertain the wedding guests.
• Xie Ning dreamed he was happily swimming underwater in a lotus pond.
• Zhou Jinian woke and pulled Xie Ning from the bathtub, reassuring him that he was his husband.

After Xie Ning woke in the bathtub, Zhou Jinian fed him and reassured him that he would care for him and seek a cure. As dawn arrived, Zhou Jinian turned to his studies and chores while Xie Ning stayed in the water, and the chapter ended with Zhou Jinian returning to find Xie Ning's feet resting on the tub's rim.

• Xie Ning realized he was naked in the bathtub, and Zhou Jinian explained that he had put him there after he cried out from the heat and fainted.
• Zhou Jinian brought Xie Ning cold food, and Xie Ning ate the rice, meat, and chicken while soaking in the tub.
• Zhou Jinian offered Xie Ning wine to make up for their missed wedding toast and promised to find a cure and make him comfortable.
• Xie Ning chose to sleep in the water, while Zhou Jinian washed, chopped firewood, and planned to review his books.
• Lin Jin told Zhou Jinian that Grandmother Zhou had said Xie Ning did not need to serve tea, and Zhou Jinian returned to the room after speaking with him.
• Zhou Jinian entered the room and saw Xie Ning's feet propped on the bathtub's rim.

Zhou Jinian practiced calligraphy while Lin Jin and Lin Guihua cleaned up after the wedding feast and discussed earning money. After Xie Ning joined the family, Zhou Jinian planned to copy books for income, and Xie Ning offered to learn the household work.

• Lin Jin washed the wedding dishes, and Lin Guihua joined him to help clean and cook porridge.
• Lin Guihua and Lin Jin agreed to plan food to sell near Praying for Grace Temple before the Mid-Autumn Festival.
• Zhou Jinian woke Xie Ning by flicking water at his cheeks, and Xie Ning greeted him with a smile.
• Xie Ning offered tea to Lin Jin and Zhou Sanfeng, who welcomed him into the family.
• Zhou Jinian decided to earn silver by copying books, while Xie Ning asked Lin Jin what household work he could learn.

Zhou Jinian took Xie Ning into the mountains to gather herbs, where they found August fruit and a large patch of five-flavor berries. As they picked berries, Xie Ning’s heat-sensitive condition worsened, and Zhou Jinian caught him before he fainted.

• Zhou Jinian invited Xie Ning to gather medicinal herbs with him, and Lin Jin packed food for their trip.
• Zhou Jinian gave Xie Ning a bamboo hat, and they walked together into the mountains.
• Xie Ning went looking for August fruit and discovered a large patch of five-flavor berries.
• Zhou Jinian and Xie Ning began gathering the berries, which Zhou Jinian recognized as a valuable find.
• Xie Ning grew overheated and nearly fainted, so Zhou Jinian caught him, helped him sit beneath an old tree, and offered him water.

Xie Ning’s unbearable heat led him to guide Zhou Jinian to a hidden cave pool, where he plunged into the water and discovered a snake beneath the surface. Zhou Jinian left to fetch a rope, leaving Xie Ning stranded and frightened while his thirst returned.

• Xie Ning sensed moisture and directed Zhou Jinian through dense brush to a dark cave containing a pool.
• Xie Ning broke free and jumped into the pool, where the water eased his burning discomfort.
• Zhou Jinian warned Xie Ning to stay alert, then hurried down the mountain to fetch a rope.
• Xie Ning dove underwater, spotted a snake, and scrambled onto a boulder, regretting that he could not climb out alone.
• Zhou Jinian returned home empty-handed and went to the workroom while Lin Jin scolded him for letting Xie Ning carry a heavy basket.

Zhou Jinian returned to the pool cavern and rescued Xie Ning, who had killed a snake and insisted on keeping it to sell. They made their way home together, where Zhou Dafeng inspected their basket and noticed Xie Ning’s bundled clothing.

• Zhou Jinian hurried back into the mountain with a rope and found Xie Ning in the pool cavern.
• Zhou Jinian warned Xie Ning about a snake, but Xie Ning revealed that he had already killed it.
• Xie Ning wrapped the dead snake in his wet robe and refused to discard it, so Zhou Jinian pulled him out of the cavern with the rope.
• Xie Ning asked Zhou Jinian to carry him through the dark cave, then walked with him through the woods after they emerged.
• Zhou Jinian and Xie Ning rested, returned home, and met Zhou Dafeng, who searched their basket and noticed Xie Ning’s heavy bundle.

Xie Ning and Zhou Jinian protected the snake Xie Ning caught from Grandmother Zhou’s attempt to give it to the eldest uncle, then used its gallbladder to treat Zhou Sanfeng’s leg ailment. The family cooked the snake meat for dinner, while Zhou Jinian and Xie Ning ate together in their courtyard.

• Zhou Dafeng spotted the snake, but Zhou Jinian blocked him and led Xie Ning away with it.
• Lin Jin and Zhou Sanfeng saw the snake, and Grandmother Zhou demanded that they give it to the eldest uncle for steeping in wine.
• Zhou Jinian said Xie Ning had risked his life catching the snake to help Zhou Sanfeng, and warned that giving it away could harm Cousin Wenshu’s reputation.
• Grandmother Zhou dropped her demand, and Zhou Jinian and Xie Ning kept the snake’s gallbladder to steep in wine for Zhou Sanfeng.
• Xie Ning prepared the snake while Lin Jin and Lin Guihua cooked dinner, and Zhou Jinian brought two portions back so he and Xie Ning could eat together.

Xie Ning settled into life with Zhou Jinian’s family while Zhou Jinian left for town, and he planned to make dried eggplant for him. The chapter ended with Xie Ning following Lin Jin around the courtyard before setting off to eat breakfast.

• At dinner, Xie Ning asked Zhou Jinian to buy him dragon’s beard candy because it reminded him of his mother, and promised to make dried eggplant for him.
• Xie Ning spent another night sleeping in the bathtub while Zhou Jinian wondered how to care for him in winter.
• Before dawn, Zhou Jinian set out for town after Lin Jin offered him breakfast and saw him to the gate.
• Xie Ning woke from a dream about swimming, found the akebia fruit he had picked, and told Lin Jin he wanted to steam dried eggplant for Zhou Jinian.
• Lin Jin agreed to help Xie Ning find eggplants, and Xie Ning returned to the courtyard to wash up and eat porridge.

Xie Ning prepared eggplants to dry and helped Lin Jin shell corn, while Zhou Jinian went to Qingshui Town to sell medicinal ingredients and seek copying work. After Shopkeeper Zhang praised his calligraphy, he offered Zhou Jinian a better-paying book-copying job, leaving Zhou to consider the terms.

• Xie Ning steamed eggplants and spread them on trays to dry while he and Lin Jin shelled corn.
• Granny Zhou told Xie Ning not to shell corn, and Lin Jin offered to take him to have some ground into grits for his family visit.
• Zhou Jinian sold fresh schisandra berries and dried China root at a medicine shop for three hundred and sixty wen.
• Zhou Jinian visited Zhangwen Bookshop and asked Shopkeeper Zhang for book-copying work.
• Shopkeeper Zhang admired Zhou Jinian's calligraphy and offered him volumes of the Complete Poetry of Qing to copy for five hundred wen per volume, with a two-tael deposit.

Zhou Jinian earned money by copying a book so he could buy dragon's beard candy and pastries for Xie Ning, while Xie Ning helped Lin Jin grind corn and discovered that soaking regularly let him work without feeling unwell. Zhou Jinian returned to the Zhou home after dark with the treats, though the chapter ended before he reunited with Xie Ning.

• Zhou Jinian asked Shopkeeper Zhang for copying work so he could earn enough to buy gifts before taking Xie Ning to visit his family.
• Xie Ning ate lunch with Lin Jin and Zhou Sanfeng, then helped Lin Jin push corn to the village mill and found that he felt well despite the exertion.
• Xie Ning and Lin Jin took turns grinding corn all afternoon, and Xie Ning later soaked in water while waiting sadly for Zhou Jinian to return.
• Lin Guihua took over washing the wok when Lin Jin's back hurt, and she and Lin Jin talked about hoping Xie Ning would conceive a child.
• Zhou Jinian finished copying the book, collected his pay, bought dragon's beard candy and pastries, and rode an ox cart back to the village after dark.

Zhou Jinian returned home and shared a warm dinner with Xie Ning, while remembering his resolve to protect his father from the troubles of his previous life. Later, Xie Ning panicked at a sound in the grain storeroom, where the family found a feral cat giving birth, and Zhou Jinian rushed to the scene as Xie Ning continued screaming.

• Lin Jin urged Xie Ning to eat, but Xie Ning waited for Zhou Jinian to return.
• Zhou Jinian came home with food and pastries, and privately gave Xie Ning a packet of dragon's beard candy.
• Zhou Jinian remembered his father's future injury and resolved to make whoever caused trouble bear the blame.
• After dinner, Xie Ning heard rustling in the grain storeroom and called Zhou Sanfeng, who went to investigate instead of joining Zhou Dafeng's wild-boar hunt.
• Zhou Sanfeng opened the storeroom and found a feral cat giving birth among the dried rice stalks, and Xie Ning screamed in terror.
• Zhou Jinian heard Xie Ning's screams and hurried with the family to the grain storeroom.

Xie Ning remained terrified of the stray cat, so Zhou Jinian stayed close and helped him bathe. As Xie Ning clung to him and asked him to remain nearby, Zhou Jinian found himself increasingly affected by their closeness.

• Xie Ning screamed at the stray cat, and Zhou Jinian carried him back to their room to calm him.
• Lin Jin stopped Zhou Sanfeng from going after a wild boar and asked him to massage his aching lower back.
• Lin Guihua made a cloth nest for the stray cat’s newborn kittens, while Zhou Jinian tried to soothe Xie Ning.
• Xie Ning refused to be left alone, so Zhou Jinian carried him on his back while fetching water for the bath barrel.
• Xie Ning asked Zhou Jinian to move the bath barrel beside the bed and keep speaking so he could hear that Zhou Jinian was there.

Zhou Jinian comforted Xie Ning through the night while Xie Ning bathed, and a wild-boar attack left Zhou Dafeng injured. The next morning, Xie Ning prepared chili-coated dried eggplant with Lin Jin.

• Zhou Jinian stayed beside Xie Ning as he bathed and let him hold his hand until he fell asleep.
• Zhou Sifeng carried an injured Zhou Dafeng home after three wild boars knocked him into a ditch, and Lin Jin fetched Physician Hu to treat him.
• Lin Jin warned Zhou Sanfeng not to join another wild-boar hunt, and Zhou Sanfeng explained that Xie Ning had delayed him the night before.
• Xie Ning woke early, prepared glutinous rice chili paste, and spread it over dried eggplant with Lin Jin's help.

Xie Ning and Zhou Jinian made their return visit to the Xie family, where they were welcomed warmly. Xie Dashu gave Xie Ning a pouch of money, while Zhou Jinian and Xie Yao went to study for the prefectural qualifying examination.

• Xie Ning and Zhou Jinian ate breakfast with Zhou Sanfeng and Lin Jin, who advised them to visit Zhou Dafeng and reminded them to ask for help if needed.
• The couple visited Zhou Dafeng, but their eldest aunt turned them away so he could recover in peace.
• Zhou Jinian and Xie Ning set out for the Xie home with gifts and held hands along the way, reassuring the villagers and Xie Yao about their relationship.
• Xie Ning gave Xie Xiaoyu the steamed dried eggplant he had brought, and Zhou Jinian shared pastries with the twins.
• Zhou Jinian and Xie Yao went to study for the prefectural qualifying examination, while Xie Dashu gave Xie Ning a pouch of money.