Lighter&Princess Recap, Plot, Synopsis

Lighter&Princess Synopsis

Zhu Yun has just started her college life and her world has been changed completely by the intrusion of the “bad boy” Li Xun. He was treated by Zhu Yun as an uneducated rich guy, but his real identity is actually a special admission to the school, a rare programming genius.

After a few encounters, both of them have some appreciation for each other. When senior Fang Zhijing makes trouble for Zhu Yun several times, Li Xun steps in to defend her and invites her to join the team he has formed to win a major programming competition on behalf of the school.

During their time together, love gradually sprang up between them and they bravely came together in spite of their family differences.

When they are getting closer and their business plan is close to success, Fang Zhijing indirectly causes Li Xun’s elder sister to have a car accident, and Li Xun is sentenced to jail for injuring Fang Zhijing under his grief and impulse.

After being released from prison, Zhu Yun never gives up and helps Li Xun turn the tide, beating his rivals Fang Zhijing and Gao Jianhong in the business competition and taking back the company.

In the end, Zhu Yun’s unreserved dedication allows Li Xun to finally cross the hurt brought about by his family and learn to open his heart and embrace the love that belongs to him.

Lighter&Princess Recap

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Zhu Yun returned to school, wanting to relive the memories of when she first enrolled. Back then, she and Li Xun made a vow after class—whoever betrayed the other would go to hell. In the end, Li Xun chose to bear the consequences of their separation and was willing to go to hell. He even lied through clenched teeth, telling Zhu Yun he had never loved her, which caused her immense pain. Zhu Yun returned with Tian Xiuzhu.

Her parents picked them up from the airport, and both she and Tian Xiuzhu were surprised at how much their hometown had changed. Her mother thought Tian Xiuzhu was a good man and hoped Zhu Yun would stop being so picky and consider settling down with him soon. But Zhu Yun didn’t have any romantic feelings for Tian Xiuzhu. Li Xun, whom Zhu Yun had been searching for, left the correctional facility after saying goodbye to the supervisor.

He went to a friend's place, took off the prison uniform, and burned it—never wanting to wear something like that again. The next morning, Li Xun changed into clean clothes and returned to the company. Zhu Yun went to look for Ren Di but found no one at home. Just as she was about to leave, Ren Di crawled out from under the bed—she had fallen off while sleeping.

Ren Di said Jili Corporation was growing stronger but had been blatantly copying foreign games. Still, Jili was something Zhu Yun had poured her heart into. It would be a shame to give it up along with her boyfriend. But Zhu Yun believed Li Xun would reclaim everything that belonged to him. When he went to prison, he had to leave the company to Gao Jianhong.

Back then, the three of them had a strong bond, and Gao Jianhong was the one they trusted the most. Li Xun met Gao Jianhong at the company and felt it was impressive how big the company had grown. Gao Jianhong didn’t want to say much to Li Xun. He just said he would buy everything out at once, no negotiations, and he didn’t want to see Li Xun again.

But Gao Jianhong didn’t expect Li Xun to have nothing with him except a single sentence: "A traitor must pay the price. " After leaving, Xiao Liu encouraged Li Xun to make a comeback, saying with their skills, they would definitely have a chance. But Li Xun felt those people weren’t worth staying for. When Zhu Yun returned, Li Xun was watching her from behind but didn’t approach.

He later went to Ren Di’s house, wanting to repay the money he owed. Ren Di realized Zhu Yun was right—Li Xun would take back what he had lost—but she hadn’t expected their relationship to be reduced to mere money. Ren Di called Zhu Yun, asking her to get help from Tian Xiuzhu to authenticate a painting and to help repay Li Xun the money.

Although Zhu Yun didn’t want to trouble Tian Xiuzhu, she had no choice under Ren Di’s request. Zhu Yun and Tian Xiuzhu went to a restaurant to meet Ren Di, and coincidentally, Li Xun passed by and saw them through the window. He was about to greet them but turned away when he saw how close they seemed. Zhu Yun saw Li Xun from the corner of her eye and hurried after him.

Xiao Liu saw this—he had just helped Li Xun retrieve the money—and snatched the money from Zhu Yun’s hands. She got angry and chased him, demanding he tell her about Li Xun’s current situation. At that moment, Li Xun appeared.

Seeing Li Xun arrive, Tian Xiuzhu sensibly stepped out to leave the two alone. Zhu Yun asked about Li Xun’s situation with concern, but he responded coldly, claiming that whoever she’s with in the future has nothing to do with him anymore, and everything between them is over. With that, Li Xun left, leaving Zhu Yun heartbroken. Though Li Xun said those harsh words, he hadn’t truly let Zhu Yun go.

Back home, he kept recalling their past, feeling a deep pain over what was lost. Tian Xiuzhu encouraged Zhu Yun to look for Li Xun, knowing she still had feelings for him. But Zhu Yun said she had thought it through—Tian Xiuzhu was much better than Li Xun. Li Xun could be a real jerk at times, and maybe a clean break was a good ending. Li Xun went apartment hunting with Xiao Liu.

He even told the landlord about having been in prison, but most landlords rejected him, not wanting trouble. Xiao Liu reminded Li Xun not to mess things up again or no one would rent to them. After thinking it through, Li Xun agreed and decided not to mention his prison record. They successfully rented a place. Li Xun passed by the places he and Zhu Yun used to walk together and couldn’t help but feel nostalgic.

Zhu Yun felt the same—despite calling Li Xun a jerk, she couldn’t get him out of her mind. Unknowingly, Li Xun arrived at their old rented apartment. As he sat reminiscing, Zhu Yun also came, but they missed each other. Zhu Yun found the keychain from their school days still on the door lock. Back when Zhu Yun had just entered school, everyone rushed to campus in a hurry. Only Li Xun was late.

When the teacher called the roll, Li Xun’s name was first, but he didn’t show up until several calls later, swaggering in with a rebellious air. The classmates all thought he was too much. Later, Fang Shumiao and Zhu Yun went to the cafeteria. Fang Shumiao stepped away to take a call, and Li Xun, seeing an empty seat, sat down. Zhu Yun quickly told him that it was Fang Shumiao’s seat, but he said nothing.

When Fang Shumiao returned and saw Zhu Yun eating at someone else’s table, she felt awkward and told her that her food was at the next table. Turns out, it wasn’t Li Xun who had sat in the wrong place—it was Zhu Yun, and she had even eaten Li Xun’s half-finished meal. She felt extremely embarrassed. Li Xun and Gao Jianhong were assigned to the same dorm.

Since Gao Jianhong’s parents were visiting, he asked Li Xun to hand room 312’s key card to his friend—who turned out to be Zhu Yun. They met again, and Zhu Yun’s dorm mates teased her about her lucky encounter. In class the next day, Li Xun was introduced as the top physics scorer in the province’s college entrance exam. For the first time, the classmates saw him in a different light. Fang Shumiao was chosen as the class monitor.

Since Li Xun often skipped morning self-study, she messaged him about attending, but Li Xun dismissed it as pointless. Fang Shumiao, angry, dragged Zhu Yun along to convince him. Their task would be done as long as Li Xun attended morning classes.

To fulfill the class monitor's assignment, Zhu Yun followed Li Xun closely, but his rebellious attitude made her hesitate to approach. She saw several admirers trying to confess to Li Xun, only to be rejected one by one. She followed him to a small courtyard—his personal space. He was coding there and was annoyed by her request, thinking morning classes were useless. He pulled her into a game, promising to go if she won.

Zhu Yun wasn’t a match but didn’t give up. Li Xun warned her not to bother him again. Li Xun didn’t attend self-study, and Zhu Yun didn’t see him in professional class either, which surprised her. As she was wondering, Li Xun finally showed up. The teacher emphasized the importance of learning C language for future development and asked Zhu Yun to explain it. She gave a well-organized answer, and the teacher made her the class representative.

Zhu Yun’s mother, Liu Ailin, video-called her, reminding her not to slack off in college. The college entrance exam was just the beginning; university mattered even more. Zhu Yun felt pressured. Later, the teacher asked her to join a project team with Gao Jianhong. Although reluctant, she gave in under her mother and teacher’s pressure. Under Professor Lin’s guidance, Zhu Yun’s group got their own studio.

Everyone wanted Li Xun to join, though some thought he was too proud to care. Others encouraged Zhu Yun to try. She approached Li Xun, who handed her a piece of code to review. But when she plugged it in, her computer got infected with a virus. She sought help from several well-known seniors, who confidently offered assistance, only for their own computers to get infected too.

One after another, they turned to experts, but no one could remove the virus. In the end, they told Zhu Yun to find Li Xun again. Unwilling, Zhu Yun gave the USB drive to Gao Jianhong. After trying in vain, he went to look up documentation. Zhu Yun passed it to Professor Lin, but even he was stumped. Eventually, they had to call Li Xun. He calmly explained how the virus worked.

Professor Lin was impressed, but what shocked everyone even more was Li Xun’s plan to use a virus to control other viruses, making them unable to attack. While Professor Lin was eagerly listening, he got a call and had to leave, telling Li Xun to remove the virus. But just after the professor left, Li Xun tried to leave too. Zhu Yun, desperate, begged him to help, but he mocked her, calling her a useless class rep.

Infuriated, Zhu Yun cursed him in her mind. After much effort, she finally removed the virus—with Li Xun’s hints. Zhu Yun bought lamb skewers to thank Li Xun and told him he was a genius who should make better use of his time. Li Xun replied that their group was a waste of time, making Zhu Yun furious. She scolded him for breaking school rules like a delinquent. Li Xun shut the door on her, leaving her outside.

The next morning, Li Xun was shocked to see Zhu Yun had slept outside the door all night. He didn’t expect her to be that persistent—so persistent it seemed foolish.

Fang Shumiao called Zhu Yun to tell her that Li Xun had gone to study on his own. Zhu Yun quickly got up and rushed to school, only to realize in the classroom that she was still wearing the coat Li Xun had draped over her, which made her feel a little embarrassed. Still, Zhu Yun was relieved that Li Xun had gone to class—she had completed her task.

But what surprised both Fang Shumiao and Zhu Yun was that Li Xun didn’t follow the rules and sit quietly to study. Instead, he proposed to the teacher that he would share his lab with everyone, and anyone who participated in extracurricular activities would be exempt from morning and evening self-study sessions. Fang Shumiao thought that Li Xun wasn’t there to study, but to stir up trouble—he had ruined a perfectly good self-study session.

Had she known, she wouldn't have let him come at all. Gao Jianhong noticed that Li Xun came back late and wanted to ask him to play basketball, but Li Xun turned him down. Later, Gao Jianhong talked to Li Xun and warned him not to poach people for his base, especially from their interest group. Li Xun expressed zero interest in their group.

But even before Li Xun made a move, several members of Gao Jianhong and Zhu Yun’s interest group had already left. Fang Shumiao felt the world was going downhill fast, and people had lost their integrity. Wu Mengxing had surgery. Fang Shumiao went to the hospital to visit him and found out he couldn’t be discharged until he passed gas.

So, she took him for a walk in the hallway to help things along, and when he finally farted, she was overjoyed. But Wu Mengxing still couldn't be discharged until he fully recovered. After returning, Fang Shumiao complained that Wu Mengxing was unreliable. He had once claimed he could play the suona, but when asked to perform, he said he had only played at weddings and funerals. So, Fang Shumiao decided to perform a skit with Zhu Yun instead.

During their rehearsal, Li Xun showed up and criticized the event as unoriginal. Zhu Yun got angry and made a deal with Li Xun—she would perform on stage, and she dared him to come watch. At the welcome party, Xu Lina performed a violin solo on stage, impressing everyone. After her performance, she directly confessed that the performance was for Li Xun, but he gave no response, making everyone think he was way out of line.

Later, Zhu Yun went on stage to do a stand-up routine, comparing Li Xun to her pet dog. Only she and Li Xun understood the true meaning behind her words. Li Xun immediately realized she was indirectly criticizing him, but he still applauded her performance. After stepping off stage, Zhu Yun ran into Li Xun backstage. Unexpectedly, Li Xun directly confessed, saying he hoped the two of them could be openly together from now on. The crowd went wild.

A video of them together was uploaded online. Back at the dorm, Fang Shumiao demanded Zhu Yun confess when they had started dating, but Zhu Yun insisted she was innocent. In the bathhouse, many people were gossiping about Zhu Yun and Li Xun, making her too embarrassed to stay. She hurried back to the dorm and clarified that everything on stage was just for show and that she was still single.

Later, Zhu Yun went to clear things up with Xu Lina. At that moment, Li Xun left a message saying he was sorry for upsetting Zhu Yun. After seeing this, Xu Lina got even angrier at Zhu Yun, thinking she was just making fun of her. Feeling helpless, Zhu Yun had no choice but to go to the broadcast room and publicly clarify her relationship with Li Xun.

Since Li Xun had called Zhu Yun "Little Piggy" at the party, many people started calling her that too, and the nickname spread. Li Xun went to a bar to see Ren Di, who was performing there to earn money. She also hoped Li Xun would invest in their band in exchange for future profits. After her persuasion, Li Xun agreed to invest some money.

Back in the dorm, Ren Di mentioned Li Xun. She said he had already started making money and gave his extra income to the school. So investing in her band was nothing for him. Fang Shumiao was full of admiration, amazed that someone could start earning while still in school.

The next day, when Zhu Yun went to the interest group, she found everyone had left and joined Li Xun’s base, which was now located in the same place as theirs. Even Fang Shumiao had gone over. Zhu Yun found Gao Jianhong playing basketball on the field and proposed that they team up against Li Xun. They quickly agreed. When Zhu Yun and Gao Jianhong confidently arrived at the interest group, they found it bustling with activity.

Almost all the pretty girls in school had joined Li Xun’s base. Some were even going out of their way to please him, ordering takeout and bubble tea for him—one even mistakenly delivered it to Zhu Yun. Furious, Zhu Yun stormed over to Li Xun with the bubble tea. Li Xun teased her, suggesting she was angry because of those girls. Zhu Yun was left speechless. Many people were always around Li Xun.

Ren Di also came by to see him. Li Xun casually handed her a chair, but it turned out to be Gao Jianhong’s. Gao Jianhong took it as bullying and immediately started arguing with Li Xun, creating a tense and oppressive atmosphere. Zhu Yun angrily proposed a competition: the losing team would merge into the winner’s. Gao Jianhong suggested the competition be comprehensive, including academic performance.

Li Xun agreed on the spot, and even Fang Shumiao stood behind him—after all, Li Xun was top-tier academically, and challenging him was a death wish. Privately, some believed that Zhu Yun was challenging Li Xun because she couldn’t have him. Determined not to lose, Zhu Yun started cramming her studies and practicing dance. She thought that although Li Xun was good with books, his uncoordinated body would make dancing impossible.

After intense study sessions, the exam was the next day. Not wanting to waste study time, Zhu Yun went to the rooftop and studied all night with Li Xun. The next day, Li Xun placed a rooftop key on her keychain. When the results came out, Zhu Yun did well. Li Xun praised her efforts. But Zhu Yun realized something: although they both scored 100, it was out of 100 points. Their efforts weren’t the same.

That was the difference between a top student and a genius—because during all that time, Li Xun hadn’t even studied. He just went on with his usual routine, clearly not taking the competition seriously. Frustrated by the comparison, Gao Jianhong decided to give up the competition and join the base. Zhu Yun, however, was lost. She had been learning programming just to compete, but she didn’t even like it.

Wanting to see Li Xun embarrassed, she secretly went to the dance room and found that he was indeed late. But then she saw he had submitted a medical note for a spinal injury and was excused from the exam. Disappointed, she turned to leave. Li Xun saw her leaving and chased after her. Zhu Yun, still stubborn, claimed their competition wasn’t a loss—they had just generously chosen a tie. Li Xun smiled without saying anything.

Gao Jianhong also insisted he didn’t lose, but willingly gave up the interest group to join the base. He thought Li Xun would reject him, but Li Xun accepted, making Gao Jianhong happy. The two groups merged. While shopping, Zhu Yun ran into Ren Di, who said she was waiting for someone. To her surprise, the person was Li Xun.

Seeing that Ren Di was meeting with Li Xun, Zhu Yun couldn’t help feeling jealous. Watching Zhu Yun’s retreating figure, Ren Di felt that both she and Li Xun had changed. She guessed something must have happened with Li Xun, but he said his changes were all part of the plan. Ren Di took him to look at a shared rental. When she returned, Fang Shumiao scolded her for skipping school and staying out late.

Fang Shumiao suspected that Ren Di and Li Xun were already together. Zhu Yun found it hard to believe. Although she had seen them together, their personalities were too similar—both were cold as ice. If they were together, they'd probably freeze to death. Ren Di decided to drop out and leave school. As she packed up, Zhu Yun tried to persuade her to stay and told her to take care of herself.

Ren Di smiled and revealed that she didn’t like Li Xun—the one who did was Fang Shumiao. She had stayed in the base because of him. But it wouldn’t last long; Li Xun was not someone just anyone could keep up with. Zhu Yun thought Ren Di was brave—she could go anywhere she wanted. But Ren Di believed that Zhu Yun was the brave one; she just hadn’t realized it yet.

The next day, Zhu Yun told Fang Shumiao that Ren Di had left. Surprisingly, Fang Shumiao was a little happy, confirming Ren Di’s guess. Some unqualified members of the base were kicked out by Li Xun, which made Zhu Yun angry. But Li Xun argued that they were at an elementary school level and not suited for the base. Teacher Lin acknowledged Zhu Yun’s programming skills and asked whether she enjoyed it.

Zhu Yun wasn’t sure—she had come here because of her mother’s arrangements. Lin suggested she check out Li Xun’s base because he had a way of making people see things they couldn’t see in themselves. Zhu Yun didn’t agree right away, but Li Xun approached her later and asked whether she had considered the teacher’s suggestion. If she was willing, he would welcome her personally.

His words touched her deeply, and she stayed up all night thinking about them, feeling happy—this, she thought, was the joy of life. Following Li Xun’s timeline, Zhu Yun arrived early the next morning, only to find no one else there. She realized Li Xun had tricked her again. Liu Sisi even assigned her some simple tasks. Furious, Zhu Yun confronted Li Xun and reminded him that he was the one who invited her.

Li Xun publicly announced that Zhu Yun was the princess he had invited and even offered to host a dinner for her that evening. That night, everyone went to a bar to drink and sing. Zhu Yun was thrilled to see Ren Di performing as the lead singer again. But when she saw Liu Sisi sitting next to Li Xun like a girlfriend, she got irritated. In the bathroom, two drunk men harassed Zhu Yun.

Ren Di’s friends stepped in to help, which led to them being expelled. Li Xun arrived just in time to drive the men away. Zhu Yun, still upset, warned Li Xun that if she helped his girlfriend with homework again, he’d have to do it himself—or she’d leave the base. Li Xun then placed a USB drive in a keychain and gave it to Zhu Yun. Back at the dorm, Zhu Yun found that the USB contained various programming languages.

It was proof that Li Xun had been paying close attention to her and had always called her "Princess. " This made her heart leap with joy. Early the next morning, Zhu Yun arrived at the base and saw Li Xun asleep at the desk. She gently draped a coat over him. Just as something was about to happen, Gao Jianhong and the others arrived, and Zhu Yun quickly returned to her seat.

Li Xun included Zhu Yun in the core project—only she and Gao Jianhong were qualified. Everyone else didn’t meet his standards. He made the team work late into the night, and when Zhu Yun tried to leave, he stopped her. By the next morning, when everyone arrived, they found Zhu Yun asleep next to Li Xun. Fang Shumiao felt uncomfortable. Liu Sisi brought breakfast for Li Xun but accidentally spilled soy milk on the computer.

Furious, Li Xun kicked her out and scolded Fang Shumiao’s code as childish, warning everyone that anyone who couldn’t meet the standard should leave. Fang Shumiao stormed off in anger. Zhu Yun, thinking Li Xun was too harsh, chased after her. Fang Shumiao, consumed by jealousy and resentment, mocked Zhu Yun but then realized it wasn’t her fault—she was the charming little princess everyone loved. It was all because Li Xun was so arrogant.

Fang Shumiao said she used to go easy on Li Xun, but from now on, she wouldn’t. She announced that she would no longer like him. If Zhu Yun wanted him, she could have him. Zhu Yun also stressed that she had no interest in someone like that. The two made up and cursed Li Xun together.

Zhu Yun also stated that she would never like Li Xun. Although Fang Shumiao was angry, she still planned to stay to earn some extra credit for herself, but she would never like Li Xun again. The two made a pact: whoever liked Li Xun would be a dog. When they returned hand in hand like nothing had happened, Gao Jianhong couldn’t help but tease the “plastic sisters.

” Zhu Yun and Gao Jianhong worked on the Blue Crown proposal and showed it to Li Xun. Li Xun thought it was too flashy, but Gao Jianhong felt it wasn’t bad. If the project was too simple, it might make people think they weren’t taking it seriously. Li Xun didn’t say more and agreed to use the program, which was a huge encouragement for Gao Jianhong.

It was something he created without relying on Li Xun or Zhu Yun, and he felt proud and confident, especially since he would be the main speaker the next day. On the contrary, Zhu Yun found it strange — Li Xun usually criticized them and wouldn’t agree so easily. She didn’t expect him to agree that quickly, but Gao Jianhong believed it was because they were capable.

The next morning, before Li Xun arrived, Gao Jianhong dragged Zhu Yun to the bidding event. But when they got there, they realized they were outmatched — all the participants were from well-known companies, and their proposals were far superior. Worse still, a code error in their program couldn’t be fixed in time. Zhu Yun panicked and tried to call Li Xun, but his phone was off.

Gao Jianhong had no choice but to go on stage, but he stammered and the code error upset the evaluators. Just when things were going south, Li Xun appeared and presented his own program, showcasing a well-designed online shopping platform. He explained that what Gao Jianhong had shown earlier was just the first version, intended to demonstrate the experience of using a flawed program. This presentation won the audience’s approval, but left Gao Jianhong feeling humiliated.

He believed Li Xun had embarrassed him on purpose, whereas Zhu Yun thought they were lucky Li Xun showed up — otherwise everything would’ve been ruined. It was utterly embarrassing, but at least everyone remembered the Blue Crown project, even if no one knew who they were. The Blue Crown project won the bid. At the base, Li Xun announced the results and acknowledged everyone’s efforts. The project would earn them extra credit and a bonus.

Although most of the money went to the school, everyone was thrilled. Everyone except Gao Jianhong, who felt insulted for being humiliated and then given credit. He refused the recognition and said he wanted to leave the base. Li Xun didn’t stop him and continued arranging the next phase. After work, Zhu Yun called Li Xun and tried to persuade him to keep Gao Jianhong. But Li Xun believed Gao Jianhong would return.

Later, Li Xun went to see Gao Jianhong alone. He didn’t say a single word to persuade him, but simply asked if Gao Jianhong wanted to create something of his own. Gao Jianhong understood — the only way to improve quickly and build something unique was to follow Li Xun. The next day, he obediently returned to the base and told Zhu Yun that he could only truly learn by following Li Xun.

During class, Li Xun didn’t show up, which made Zhu Yun suspicious. As expected, Teacher Lin showed up with Zhang Xiaobei, a project supervisor from a startup. Zhang Xiaobei claimed to have submitted the same project materials as Li Xun and wanted to collaborate. But everyone knew that Li Xun and his team had written the code themselves. Zhu Yun had even seen Han Jiakang, Zhang Xiaobei’s subordinate, sitting in the corner at the bidding event, never taking the stage.

Zhu Yun bluntly questioned when the report was submitted, but the faculty quickly stopped her and reminded her to cooperate. Teacher Lin brought Zhang Xiaobei and the others to the base to see Li Xun. Li Xun said nothing but silently accepted the arrangement. Zhu Yun couldn’t understand why the usually unyielding Li Xun would give in this time. Li Xun told her that he had been through too much and seen too much.

The decision had been approved by the school and could no longer be changed. He said Zhu Yun had been too sheltered to face reality. Zhu Yun couldn’t accept having her team’s hard work taken away, but since the project belonged to Li Xun, she had nothing to say. She simply announced her decision to leave the base.

Zhu Yun refused to continue participating in the project and talked to Ren Di about it. She said she looked down on Li Xun’s actions — acting all proud before, but backing down when facing stronger people. Ren Di disagreed and said Li Xun wasn’t that kind of person. If others didn’t understand what he was doing, it meant he had something planned.

Zhang Xiaobei claimed to want to cooperate on the Blue Crown project but actually wanted to take all the credit and made herself the team leader. She thought Li Xun, though capable, lacked experience. She made Han Jiakang her deputy, required everyone to check in at the base daily, and tied attendance to grades and pay. This caused widespread complaints, but no one dared protest. Zhu Yun, who had voluntarily left, didn’t show up.

Fang Shumiao told her that Li Xun hadn’t removed her from the roster and even marked her as having perfect attendance. Feeling guilty, Zhu Yun went to the base but left after hesitating at the gate. During roll call, Zhu Yun wasn’t there. Zhang Xiaobei asked why, and Fang Shumiao lied that Zhu Yun was in class. But Zhang Xiaobei knew the main class teacher was away on a business trip.

Fang Shumiao made up a substitute teacher, but Zhang Xiaobei demanded to see the class schedule. Li Xun, calm and silent, hacked into the school website and altered the schedule. Zhang Xiaobei believed it, though everyone knew what really happened. Zhu Yun later went to the base and found Li Xun. He warned her that if she ever mentioned quitting again, she wouldn’t be allowed back. Zhu Yun nodded, and Li Xun couldn’t help but smile.

Zhu Yun asked whether he had a backup plan. She didn’t believe he would give in so easily. Li Xun told her that although things started off on track, they would drift further away over time. Only by working harder could they avoid veering off course. Zhang Xiaobei only understood the webpage, not the data, and sent Han Jiakang to ask Zhu Yun for the proposal presentation report.

Zhu Yun directly asked Han Jiakang if they had no project from the beginning and if Zhang Xiaobei sent him to get data. Han Jiakang admitted it, which made Zhu Yun even more furious on Li Xun’s behalf. During the project, Zhang Xiaobei kept giving unprofessional instructions, exhausting the team. When the project finally ended, she explained the project to the evaluators but only talked about superficial flashiness and didn’t understand the technical core. Still, they managed to get by.

That evening, Li Xun suggested going out to eat. Han Jiakang joined too. After drinking, he broke down in tears and confessed: he was being exploited by Zhang Xiaobei. If he didn’t obey, he might not even graduate. He had a senior who had already been delayed in graduate school for years. Zhang Xiaobei never had a proper proposal — she had stolen all the data from Li Xun. He felt deeply ashamed.

Li Xun didn’t blame Han Jiakang and understood his difficulties. They drank together while listening to Ren Di sing. That night, Zhu Yun got drunk without realizing it. Ren Di borrowed a shopping cart from a nearby store, and she and Li Xun pushed the drunk Zhu Yun home in it. On the way, Zhu Yun laughed and made a scene, even hugging Li Xun while Ren Di took pictures.

Ren Di let Zhu Yun stay in her room and told her it was the place she and Li Xun rented — also where their band practiced. Li Xun had invested in them, so there was a separate room for him. Sometimes he didn’t return to the dorm and stayed there. After Ren Di left, Zhu Yun vomited.

When she tried to return, she went to the wrong room and entered Li Xun’s bedroom, where she discovered he was working on a new project. Pressed by Zhu Yun, Li Xun admitted he was developing the real Blue Crown — the online shopping model was obsolete. The next step was a mobile smart app. He also knew Zhang Xiaobei would seek revenge once she realized she’d been tricked, but he was ready for it.

He told Zhu Yun to stop messing around and said he didn’t know how to coax people. But when he turned around, he found Zhu Yun had fallen asleep leaning on his shoulder.

The next morning, when Zhu Yun woke up, Li Xun was already gone. Ren Di was tidying up the room and told Zhu Yun he had returned to the base. Zhu Yun left in a hurry. Ren Di grumbled that everyone just slept there and left the place a mess. Remembering what Li Xun had told her the night before, Zhu Yun rushed to find him at the base and demanded an explanation. Why had he kept everything from her?

Li Xun had his reasons — if he told her from the start, she might not have been as serious and could have slipped up. Besides, he wanted to make money — just maintaining Ren Di’s band was already costly. Li Xun took Zhu Yun and Gao Jianhong hiking. At the top of the mountain, he revealed the progress of the new project. In fact, Gao Jianhong had known all along.

The website they worked on was just a decoy for Zhang Xiaobei — secretly, Li Xun, Gao Jianhong, and Zhu Yun were developing an app. They had a long talk at the summit. Zhu Yun officially joined their trio and even took photos, secretly snapping selfies with Li Xun. Li Xun submitted the completed project to Blue Crown. It featured information on medications and health knowledge, making it easy for customers to place orders.

Blue Crown was impressed and terminated its collaboration with Zhang Xiaobei. After hearing the news, Zhang Xiaobei rushed to confront Li Xun. Zhu Yun overheard their conversation. Zhang Xiaobei first threatened Li Xun, warning him to hand over the project. She claimed his actions had ruined many graduate students — people like Han Jiakang, for example, who couldn’t graduate. Li Xun replied that the project’s money was nothing to a startup and wouldn’t hurt the foundation.

But continuing would mean Han Jiakang was working for them for free. If she really wanted to buy the project, Li Xun demanded that Zhang Xiaobei give back everything she had taken and promise never to interfere in base affairs again. Enraged, Zhang Xiaobei revealed that she had investigated Li Xun.

She knew he had altered his records to enter the school, came from a poor family, and had committed a major offense in high school that caused him to repeat a year. He had only entered the school due to outstanding grades, and the school approved his base project because he was a top student. If he didn’t cooperate, she would expose everything. Hearing this, Zhu Yun grew worried and went drinking with Ren Di.

After drinking a lot, she revealed Zhang Xiaobei’s name. Ren Di advised her to just back down. But Zhu Yun said she could back down — Li Xun could not. Zhu Yun went to see Zhang Xiaobei and deliberately put on a humble attitude, claiming she had been working on the Blue Crown project and only completed half of it.

She said she saw no future following Li Xun and hoped to use the project in exchange for a job with Zhang Xiaobei. Pleased, Zhang Xiaobei gave her a one-month internship and promised her a key position after getting Blue Crown. Zhang Xiaobei then went to Li Xun and demanded he hand over the project, claiming that Zhu Yun had joined her company and was working on a Blue Crown app.

Upon hearing this, Li Xun rushed to confront Zhu Yun, questioning her motives. Zhu Yun didn’t explain and insisted she had done nothing wrong. Furious, Li Xun tried to kick her out of the base, but Zhu Yun coolly replied that she was already at Han Jiakang’s base. Later, at Ren Di’s place, Li Xun saw that the boy partnered with her took great care of her.

He advised Ren Di to consider being with him, but she said she didn’t feel anything. She believed that real love had to come with sparks. Li Xun asked Ren Di about Zhu Yun’s odd behavior earlier. After finding out, he hurried to see Zhu Yun, but she denied going to Zhang Xiaobei for his sake. As Zhu Yun arrived at Han Jiakang’s place, he warned her to be careful. Zhang Xiaobei had just returned from being scolded. Just then, Zhang Xiaobei walked in and splashed a glass of water in Zhu Yun’s face.

Zhu Yun was reported to Dean Jia by Zhang Xiaobei for offending her. Dean Jia believed Zhu Yun's behavior had undermined the university-enterprise cooperation and must be severely punished with a major demerit, which would directly affect Zhu Yun’s future. The class advisor defended Zhu Yun, insisting she was not a bad student, and reminded Zhang Xiaobei not to ruin a student's future. However, Zhang Xiaobei warned the advisor not to risk their own future for one student.

News of Zhu Yun’s situation quickly reached Li Xun. He also learned that Han Jiakang, to protect himself, had signed a statement admitting Zhu Yun’s wrongdoing. Li Xun immediately confronted Han Jiakang, ordered him to apologize to Zhu Yun, and realized Han Jiakang had received benefits. Han Jiakang admitted that Zhang Xiaobei promised to make his position permanent. Li Xun couldn’t help but mock him for settling for such a cheap promise.

Afterwards, Li Xun went to Zhang Xiaobei and voluntarily handed over the Blue Crown project to her. Zhang Xiaobei was very pleased and guessed that Li Xun was doing it for Zhu Yun. She thought if it had been this easy, she could have just targeted Zhu Yun from the beginning. Li Xun warned Zhang Xiaobei that one day she would regret her actions.

Gao Jianhong was displeased when he found out that Li Xun had handed the project to Zhang Xiaobei, believing it was a joint effort between the two of them. But upon learning it was to save Zhu Yun, he reminded her this was the last time. Zhu Yun found out from Fang Shumiao that Li Xun had gone to talk to Zhang Xiaobei, and she immediately went looking for him, but couldn't find him anywhere.

She anxiously called him, and Li Xun appeared behind her. He scolded her for taking risks for him, saying he could easily produce more of those things. Zhu Yun knew Li Xun had sacrificed a lot and felt a complex mix of emotions. Back home, Zhu Yun took the initiative to call her mother for the first time and told her that her grades had dropped. Her mother, worried, asked why.

Zhu Yun lied, saying she was dragged into some university-enterprise alliance. Her mother was so angry that she wanted to confront Zhang Xiaobei. Zhu Yun’s father was a business mogul with business ties to Director Wang from Zhang Xiaobei’s company, while her mother held a leadership position in the education bureau. With their combined influence, Director Wang immediately arranged for Zhang Xiaobei to apologize. To show her sincerity, Zhang Xiaobei poured a glass of water over her own head.

But even after this was resolved, Zhu Yun felt no joy; instead, she felt that relying on her family’s power to suppress Zhang Xiaobei was no different from what Zhang Xiaobei had done to her. When Li Xun heard about Zhu Yun’s situation, he teased her for being a true princess. But he also reminded her to tell him first when something happens. Zhu Yun made the same request of him.

The project was reinstated because of Zhu Yun’s incident, and Li Xun and Gao Jianhong resumed their work together, though Gao Jianhong felt complicated emotions. Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaobei was exposed by new media and became a cautionary tale, leaving in disgrace. Han Jiakang, realizing his mistake, apologized to Zhu Yun and left, planning to go home to help his parents with their fishpond. Xiao Liu had deep feelings for Ren Di.

To get her to return to singing at the bar, he agreed to work for Director Wang as a menial laborer. When Ren Di found out, she angrily scolded him and warned him never to make such sacrifices again, especially since she didn’t like him. If that was the condition for returning to sing, she would rather not do it at all. Zhu Yun’s mother visited the class advisor, Ms. Zhang, to learn about Zhu Yun’s school performance.

Hearing that her grades were good in all areas, she felt reassured and had already planned for Zhu Yun to study abroad. But when she saw the back of Li Xun, she seemed thoughtful and asked Ms. Zhang whether Zhu Yun was in a relationship. Ms. Zhang thought it was normal, as they were already in university, and hoped Zhu Yun’s mother would listen more to her daughter’s opinions.

But Zhu Yun’s mother insisted that Zhu Yun was still young and that her future should be decided by her parents. Li Xun brought Zhu Yun a piece of bread and playfully teased her. Zhu Yun, in turn, poured a cup of hot water to prank him back. Just as they were messing around, her mother arrived. Zhu Yun’s mother and Li Xun exchanged a glance, both revealing odd expressions. During dinner, Zhu Yun’s mother specifically asked about Li Xun.

Listening to Zhu Yun speak so highly of him, her mother brought up Li Xun’s past. It was Zhu Yun’s 18th birthday, and it was pouring rain. Li Xun braved the storm to confess to her mother that he alone was responsible for the altered exam scores and requested that only he be punished. However, Zhu Yun’s mother felt it was a serious matter and insisted both students be held accountable.

Zhu Yun’s mother told her about Li Xun’s cheating incident and believed his character was questionable. Zhu Yun didn’t believe Li Xun would cheat, arguing that with his grades, he had no need to. But her mother insisted that even if it wasn’t cheating, such an attitude was unacceptable. She hoped Zhu Yun would stop going to the base, but Zhu Yun said she could reduce the time she spent there.

Seeing this, her mother reluctantly agreed but demanded that Zhu Yun keep her distance from Li Xun. Zhu Yun returned to the base and found Li Xun alone. He openly admitted to cheating. Zhu Yun believed he must have had his reasons and wanted to know why. Li Xun didn’t respond, but he guessed that her mother wanted her to stay away from him. Zhu Yun confirmed it but said she had no intention of doing so.

Li Xun went to a bar alone to drink, feeling down as he remembered the past. He had once braved a heavy rain to plead with Zhu Yun’s mother to go easy on Fu Yizhuo and let him take all the blame. As he stood by the window, he saw a group of people celebrating Zhu Yun’s birthday inside. She looked just like a princess. After being rejected, he left.

Zhu Yun had chased after him with an umbrella, but he walked away without looking back. Still, she left an impression on him—that’s why he’s always called her “princess. ” Zhu Yun noticed that ever since her mother showed up, Li Xun had changed. He was no longer the same as before. She felt lost. The closer she got to him, the more distant he seemed.

Zhu Yun approached Li Xun and said she had clearly told her mother she wouldn’t stay away from him. She hoped he wouldn’t push her away either. But Li Xun told her the base didn’t need her. Zhu Yun warned him again that she wasn’t someone he could call and dismiss at will. During volleyball lessons at the gym, Jiang Xingchi enthusiastically taught Zhu Yun by hand, which led to her wrist getting injured.

Jiang Xingchi took her to the infirmary, showing concern. In fact, he had noticed Zhu Yun during the welcome party and hoped to get her contact info. This scene was witnessed by a trailing Li Xun. Already unhappy with Jiang Xingchi’s interest in Zhu Yun, Li Xun challenged him to a match in a fit of jealousy, but Zhu Yun stopped him.

Zhu Yun reminded Li Xun that he was no match for Jiang Xingchi, who was a national level-2 athlete and a leader on the school volleyball team. Her words only made Li Xun angrier. He warned her up close that next time she chatted nonsense, he wouldn’t let her off so easily. Thanks to this, Zhu Yun managed to avoid being kicked out by him again. Fang Shumiao arranged a get-together with Wu Mengxing and Jiang Xingchi.

Hearing about it, Li Xun insisted on tagging along and made sure to sit next to Zhu Yun, squeezing her between the two men. Fang Shumiao, driving the car, felt the tension in the air. They went go-karting. Zhu Yun, trying it for the first time, felt nauseous. Jiang Xingchi offered her a bottle of water, but Li Xun warned her that type of water would make her vomit more.

Jiang Xingchi quickly went to buy plain water, and Li Xun took the opportunity to give her his own. Seeing how unwell Zhu Yun was, he helped pat her back and told her she’d feel better after throwing up. At that moment, Jiang Xingchi returned, and Zhu Yun vomited on him. Li Xun finally smiled. In the race that followed, he even got the upper hand over Jiang Xingchi. Feeling guilty for dirtying his clothes, Zhu Yun offered to take them home to wash, which made Li Xun jealous.

While practicing volleyball, Zhu Yun approached Li Xun, trying to persuade him that there was no need to beat Jiang Xingchi. Li Xun said he wasn’t trying to win against that muscle-brained guy, but he understood Zhu Yun just wanted him to get some exercise—and he appreciated that. Zhu Yun admitted that it was because Li Xun was always typing on the keyboard that she wanted him to be more active.

On the day of the volleyball exam, Jiang Xingchi went easy on Zhu Yun but was harsh on Li Xun. Not to be outdone, Li Xun stubbornly returned every ball. After the exam, he collapsed on the way out of the gym. Zhu Yun took him to the hospital. His sister, Li Lan, came to see him. Seeing Li Xun unconscious, she cried with heartache.

Zhu Yun took Li Lan out for a meal and asked how Li Xun hurt his spine. Li Lan tearfully blamed herself. Because of their poor family background, Li Xun started working early to support the family. His spinal injury was also related to her. Zhu Yun suggested having Li Lan sign off to force Li Xun to undergo surgery. She hoped Li Lan would go upstairs to see him, as he might wake up.

But Li Lan couldn’t bring herself to face him. Curious about Li Xun’s past, Zhu Yun listened as Li Lan recounted the time their mother was hospitalized. To pay the bills, Li Xun used his hacking skills to help online gamers get equipment, earning money that way. Fu Yizhuo, who loved Latin dance, feared he would fail the exams and be forced by his father to study business, so he asked Li Xun for help.

He knew Li Xun needed money for his mother’s treatment. But Li Xun refused. Later, when a drug that could extend his mother’s life by three months became available, Li Xun initiated a deal with Fu Yizhuo. He hacked into the grading system and let Fu Yizhuo modify his scores, demanding immediate payment. However, Fu Yizhuo’s greed led him to inflate his grades drastically, which drew the attention of the education bureau.

Zhu Yun’s mother, Liu Ailin, ordered both students to be expelled. Li Xun never got the money, and his mother passed away. His brother-in-law, Zhang Dagang, caused a scene, saying it was pointless to save someone with liver cancer who was doomed anyway. Li Xun, furious, fought with him and was kicked hard by Zhang Dagang, causing his spine to hit a radiator. He refused treatment, resulting in permanent damage.

By the time Zhu Yun rushed back, Li Xun had been discharged and returned to the base. He had even prepared two tickets to Pu Shu’s concert for Zhu Yun and his sister, knowing that Li Lan had gone to the hospital. Li Lan thanked Zhu Yun for helping her fulfill a dream. She and Li Xun had both liked Pu Shu and once said they’d attend his concert after earning enough money.

At the concert, Zhu Yun and Li Lan sang along emotionally, and tears welled up in Li Lan’s eyes. After his mother’s death, Li Xun dyed his hair yellow to be different from everyone else. But eventually, for Zhu Yun, he returned to how he used to be. Li Lan thanked Zhu Yun on his behalf. She could see Li Xun treated Zhu Yun differently and advised her not to let him have the upper hand all the time.

Sometimes, she said, it was good to make him worry a bit. After seeing Li Lan off, Zhu Yun saw Li Xun standing across the street. She understood that while he deeply cared about his sister, he didn’t know how to show it.

The next day, Zhu Yun took Li Xun to the infirmary for physical therapy. Li Xun suddenly realized his lighter was missing. Zhu Yun quickly helped him look for it but found nothing. She left her phone number with the cleaning staff, hoping they would call her if they found it. After Li Xun finished his therapy and came out, he was disappointed the lighter was still missing, but he comforted the guilt-ridden Zhu Yun, saying it wasn’t her fault.

Zhu Yun blamed herself for forcing Li Xun to play volleyball, nearly costing him his life. At that moment, her phone rang — the lighter had been found. It was a keepsake from Li Xun's father and held special meaning for him. However, the lighter was damaged, and Zhu Yun was anxious to help him repair it.

Li Xun and Gao Jianhong got into an argument due to differing opinions, but Gao Jianhong was suppressed by Li Xun's dominance, although he still felt unconvinced. That evening, Li Xun had dinner with Zhu Yun. Zhu Yun proposed to accompany him to submit the Blue Crown project and also reminded him to focus on team building, not just shine alone. She suggested preparing tasks for the others to avoid emotional fallout.

Li Xun joked that Zhu Yun sounded like a political commissar but agreed with her suggestion. When Fang Shumiao had dinner with Zhu Yun, they talked about the base and how it was becoming more established, though it now felt like a family business. Gao Jianhong mentioned he was planning to leave the base, thinking that without him dragging things down, Li Xun might achieve more. Zhu Yun didn’t respond then, but she later sought out Gao Jianhong in private.

Gao Jianhong joked that Zhu Yun always came to persuade him and really lived up to her "political commissar" title. He admitted he admired Li Xun now and had to acknowledge his strength. Last time he left, it was Li Xun who convinced him to return and encouraged him to work on something truly his own. But later, Li Xun gave Blue Crown to Zhang Xiaobei for Zhu Yun’s sake, completely disregarding his feelings.

Gao Jianhong said he wanted to create something that truly belonged to him and be in control. Li Xun finished coding the program but forgot to include the logo on the login page — and he didn’t know how to design it. Zhu Yun suggested they visit an art exhibition for inspiration. Li Xun didn’t agree immediately, but the next morning he called Zhu Yun to go to the exhibit together.

The exhibit was painted by Zhu Yun’s childhood friend, Tian Xiuzhu. Zhu Yun praised her friend’s talent, calling him a real genius. Li Xun grew jealous, insisting he was the real genius. The two bickered at the exhibit, just as Tian Xiuzhu arrived and saw them, but he didn’t come over to greet them. As they left the exhibit and waited for a ride in the cold, Li Xun told Zhu Yun to wait inside while he waited outside.

Seeing Li Xun shivering through the window, Zhu Yun couldn’t help but laugh. In the end, she chose to wait with him in the cold. With school on holiday, Zhu Yun called Liu Ailin and lied that she needed to help Fang Shumiao with Party School matters and wanted to see the art exhibit.

Liu Ailin agreed, making Zhu Yun very happy — she was used to her mother catching her in every lie, so this time felt like a win. However, Liu Ailin grew more suspicious the more she thought about it, worried that Zhu Yun was staying because of Li Xun. She urged Zhu Yun's father to visit the school the next day.

Liu Ailin called Zhu Yun, saying she had dinner plans with Tian Xiuzhu that night and asked her to come home. She also told Zhu Yun that her father was already near campus for a meeting and could give her a ride. At that moment, her father had already arrived at the base and chatted briefly with Li Xun. He noticed Li Xun was still working despite having a cold. Then Zhu Yun returned with medicine.

Realizing the situation, Zhu Yun's father said nothing but deliberately stepped out to give them privacy. Zhu Yun gave the medicine to Li Xun and urged him to take care. Li Xun, reluctant to part, told her to message him once she got home.

Zhu Yun followed her father, Zhu Guangyi, home and complained that he shouldn’t have picked her up since she hadn’t finished her coursework. Zhu Guangyi reassured her that it wouldn’t affect her studies. With a man’s instinct, he believed that although Li Xun was sick, he was responsible enough to get the job done. He expressed admiration for Li Xun and noticed Zhu Yun liked him too.

To avoid being blamed by Liu Ailin, he reminded Zhu Yun to say she was picked up at the Party School. Zhu Yun was happy her father was helping her cover. Tian Xiuzhu and his mother visited Zhu Yun’s home. Liu Ailin was pleased with Tian Xiuzhu’s accomplishments—he had held exhibitions worldwide and was very promising. Zhu Yun kept checking her phone, waiting for a message from Li Xun. Liu Ailin was unhappy and asked what she was doing.

Zhu Yun lied that she was checking her grades. Zhu Guangyi quickly helped smooth things over. Back in her room, Zhu Yun couldn’t wait to send her grades to Li Xun and eagerly awaited his reply. When Li Xun complimented her score, she happily called him, only to find him weak and feeble. It turned out he had frostbite, but Zhu Yun mistakenly bought the wrong medicine for heatstroke.

It didn’t help and almost made it worse, so he had Liu Sisi bring the correct medicine. Hearing it was Liu Sisi, Zhu Yun felt uneasy, thinking she had underestimated her. Zhu Yun and Tian Xiuzhu went shopping, hoping to find a way to fix Li Xun’s lighter. She couldn’t resist calling Li Xun again but heard Liu Sisi’s voice. The two were leaving together by car, which made Zhu Yun even more upset.

She also saw Liu Sisi’s Moments post, clearly angled to capture Li Xun waiting nearby. As Liu Ailin set the New Year’s Eve dinner on the table, Zhu Yun saw a familiar figure outside the window. In disbelief, she rushed to the bathroom with her phone and called Li Xun. Confirming he was downstairs, she nearly jumped with joy and made an excuse to go pick up a package.

Zhu Guangyi offered to go for her, but Liu Ailin didn’t believe any delivery would come on New Year’s Eve. Zhu Yun had to stay and play poker with her parents. But when Li Xun went quiet, she worried again and used the excuse of taking out the trash to slip out. Li Xun was no longer outside, but he texted that he was staying at a hotel nearby.

Zhu Yun said girls shouldn’t visit guys late at night, but once her parents fell asleep, she sneaked out and ran excitedly to the Lihua Hotel, where she found Li Xun playing poker with some elderly folks. Zhu Yun was thrilled to see Li Xun but also felt nervous about being alone together. She tried to leave several times but didn’t.

Li Xun gave her the staff payroll card, setting the password as his birthday, and also gifted her a blue princess dress. He went to buy fireworks for Zhu Yun, and she returned the lighter to him as a New Year’s gift. Seeing the repaired lighter, Li Xun was deeply moved. As fireworks lit up the sky, both smiled happily and exchanged New Year blessings. Later, Zhu Yun changed out of the princess dress and prepared to leave.

Seeing Li Xun asleep on the bed, she stared at him quietly. The alarm went off, waking Li Xun, and Zhu Yun said goodbye. The next morning, her mother woke her early to go pay New Year visits. Li Xun messaged her, saying he had returned to school and bid farewell. Zhu Yun wanted to go back to school early and arranged for Tian Xiuzhu to drive her.

She offered to treat him to a meal at school, and he agreed. Liu Ailin was eager for Zhu Yun to spend more time with Tian Xiuzhu, so she couldn't even stay at home and was hurried back. Just as Tian Xiuzhu dropped Zhu Yun off, Li Xun appeared behind her. It was the first meeting between Tian Xiuzhu and Li Xun.

After being dropped off by Tian Xiuzhu, Zhu Yun encountered Li Xun. Tian Xiuzhu quickly sensed their relationship, but said nothing at the time. Li Xun, however, grew wary and asked Zhu Yun about Tian Xiuzhu. Afraid he’d be jealous, Zhu Yun lied and said Tian Xiuzhu was just the family driver. But Li Xun wasn’t that easy to fool, though he didn’t press further.

Since Zhu Yun had been so polite earlier, Li Xun didn’t help carry her luggage back to the dorm. Instead, like a bossy supervisor, he called her and urged her to get back to the base. Zhu Yun rushed over, out of breath and annoyed, wondering if she was crazy to return and suffer. Li Xun offered her a day off the next day and sarcastically said she could go hang out with her “driver.

” Sensing something was off, Zhu Yun confessed that Tian Xiuzhu was her mother’s classmate’s son and her childhood friend. She shared some childhood stories, and Li Xun immediately realized Tian Xiuzhu was the warm-hearted artist — and grew even more jealous. He demanded Zhu Yun get rid of Tian Xiuzhu the next day. Seeing Li Xun jealous, Zhu Yun couldn’t help but laugh.

The next day, Zhu Yun deliberately treated Tian Xiuzhu to a meal and gave him a travel plan to explore on his own. During the meal, Tian Xiuzhu bluntly told Zhu Yun to keep her distance from Li Xun, saying they weren’t suitable and he would surely hurt her. Zhu Yun argued with him, saying he and her mother were alike, always judging people one-sidedly. Tian Xiuzhu didn’t argue further. Feeling she went too far, Zhu Yun apologized.

In the end, Tian Xiuzhu paid for the meal. Professor Lin wanted Li Xun to join a computer competition, but Li Xun firmly refused. He felt it was just for the school’s reputation and didn’t need it. Professor Lin believed that the competition was full of elites and that communication was vital for growth. Li Xun insisted he didn’t need that and nearly drove the professor mad.

Zhu Yun tried to mediate, and Professor Lin told her to keep an eye on Li Xun and take responsibility for pushing him to participate. Zhu Yun sweet-talked Li Xun into accompanying her to the competition. He couldn’t say no and agreed. Zhu Yun was delighted. But as soon as they arrived at the venue, Li Xun headed to an eco-tech company.

His main purpose wasn’t to be with Zhu Yun but to visit the company, leaving her a bit disappointed. Gao Jianhong came for the competition, while Li Xun and Zhu Yun were attending the forum. At the registration, they saw volunteer Xu Lina. Xu Lina, lively and outgoing, had heard of the Blue Crown project and admired Gao Jianhong. That evening, she invited him to dinner at a fancy restaurant, took photos with him, and saw him off.

Listening to Gao Jianhong talk passionately about computer science, Xu Lina looked at him with admiration, and Gao Jianhong was clearly moved. Xu Lina didn’t have good grades and had gotten into the computer school through connections. She hoped to restore her reputation through the competition and was eager to learn from Gao Jianhong. Gao Jianhong fell for Xu Lina at first sight. When he got home and saw the selfie she sent, he was overjoyed.

The next morning, Xu Lina came again to ask questions and brought breakfast. As Gao Jianhong was explaining something, Li Xun returned. Xu Lina, who already knew about Li Xun, rushed over to consult him. His expertise impressed her even more, and she immediately asked to exchange contact info. But Li Xun ignored her, which only made him seem cooler and more attractive in her eyes. The finalists were announced, and everyone would return for the finals in two weeks.

Fang Zhijing received the top attention award, and many asked for his contact info. Gao Jianhong also asked to add him and praised his project. Upon learning Gao Jianhong was from Nanhu University, Fang Zhijing inquired about Li Xun and felt relieved knowing Li Xun wasn’t competing. Xu Lina still hadn’t been accepted by Li Xun on social media and asked Gao Jianhong to help convince him. Gao Jianhong felt uneasy.

That evening, Xu Lina invited everyone to dinner, and they all went. Xu Lina brought up Senior Fang Zhijing and spoke of him with disdain, clearly disliking him. Coincidentally, Fang Zhijing came over to greet them, deliberately striking up a conversation with Zhu Yun. Zhu Yun looked visibly shocked. Though Fang Zhijing outwardly praised Li Xun and the others' Lan Guan project, he clearly didn’t take it seriously, criticizing the biggest problem as lagging.

After Fang Zhijing left, Zhu Yun caught up with him and questioned whether he still remembered Xiaoyan. Fang Zhijing calmly replied that he did and would go to her grave to pay respects. Just then, Fang Zhijing’s girlfriend arrived, which deeply hurt Zhu Yun—especially because Fang Zhijing shamelessly provoked her, declaring that he came this time to win first place. That night, after returning, Zhu Yun looked at a photo of her and Xiaoyan and cried.

She hoped Li Xun would participate in the competition with her, but Li Xun refused, sensing that Zhu Yun was carrying a heavy emotional burden. Feeling down, Zhu Yun went to drink with Ren Di and shared the entire story about Xiaoyan. Zhu Yun and Xiaoyan had been close friends, and Zhu Yun knew about Xiaoyan’s relationship with Fang Zhijing. But when their relationship was exposed on the school forum, it threatened Fang Zhijing’s guaranteed admission.

So he took chat logs out of context and made it look like Xiaoyan had been unilaterally infatuated with him. Zhu Yun confronted Fang Zhijing and accused him of being irresponsible and smearing Xiaoyan’s name. But Fang Zhijing said that if Xiaoyan loved him, she should’ve been willing to bear some of the criticism. Xiaoyan overheard those cruel words and, unable to handle the psychological pressure, committed suicide.

When she was being resuscitated in the hospital, Zhu Yun was there and watched as her close friend left the world. She saw Xiaoyan’s mother cry in devastation. Zhu Yun also saw Fang Zhijing hiding behind the scenes and ran out to confront him. But Fang Zhijing insisted Xiaoyan’s death had nothing to do with him—it was because she was mentally weak—and that even showing up at the hospital was already more than enough from him.

Those words deeply wounded Zhu Yun. Zhu Yun once again asked Li Xun to join the competition, but Li Xun didn’t want to take part in something so boring and refused. To beat Fang Zhijing and give him a lesson, Zhu Yun approached Gao Jianhong to join the project, and Gao Jianhong agreed readily. However, the project hit a bottleneck and couldn’t break through. Gao Jianhong also hoped Li Xun could join.

Zhu Yun had no choice but to negotiate with Li Xun—she offered her entire salary and promised to work for him in the future to repay the debt, essentially paying 100,000 yuan for him to defeat Fang Zhijing. Li Xun agreed, signed the agreement, and put it in his pocket. When Li Xun and Zhu Yun returned to the base, Gao Jianhong had just overcome the technical challenge and was cheering.

Li Xun suggested adding him to the project, but Gao Jianhong instinctively refused. Unexpectedly, the next moment, Li Xun hacked into his program and said that only by following him could they achieve results. Gao Jianhong was so infuriated he couldn’t speak and went to find Professor Lin. After hearing what happened, Professor Lin also felt that Li Xun went too far. Gao Jianhong asked whether only Li Xun could win awards, implying that he had no chance.

Professor Lin shared his own experience—he hadn’t been the top student in class, but stayed on at the school and became someone envied by others. Meanwhile, others who had left went to Zhongguancun and became leaders in the field. So who’s to say who’s the best or worst? Life is long—don’t let temporary wins or losses trap you.

Gao Jianhong knew he couldn’t defeat Li Xun right now, but he hoped one day everyone would see that he could have been even better without Li Xun. He deleted all the programs he had previously written. The next day, Li Xun said they wouldn’t be using Gao Jianhong’s code, comparing it to swimming in a cotton-padded jacket—it doesn’t feel wrong at first, but eventually proves fatal. This time, Gao Jianhong didn’t argue.

He agreed with Li Xun, saying everything would be rewritten, though he felt very uncomfortable inside. That night, Zhu Yun stayed late with Li Xun at the base and persuaded him to treat Gao Jianhong better. Seeing that Zhu Yun didn’t feel well, Li Xun joined two stools to make a makeshift bed for her to rest. Zhu Yun reminded Li Xun again that he must win the competition.

Though he didn’t turn around, Li Xun seemed to sense Zhu Yun’s pain. He joked that he had to fulfill the job since he took her money. Zhu Yun promised that if Li Xun won the competition, she would do anything he wanted. Li Xun asked her to write that down as a formal promise. Taking the note, he returned her salary card, saying that the note was more important than the money.

Early in the morning, Xu Lina came to find Li Xun but was stopped by Gao Jianhong downstairs, who lied that Li Xun was still sleeping and didn’t like being disturbed. He even offered to accompany Xu Lina shopping. While shopping, Xu Lina picked out a couple’s toothbrush and bought it herself. Gao Jianhong was very happy, thinking it was a gift for him—only to later find it in Li Xun’s cabinet, which made him feel even worse.

Zhu Yun had another unexpected encounter with Fang Zhijing, who asked for her contact information. Zhu Yun lied that she hadn’t brought her phone and clearly didn’t want any contact with him. Gao Jianhong accidentally saw Fang Zhijing meeting with a sponsor in private and giving up 30% of the patent fee in exchange for a special award. Gao Jianhong secretly recorded it all.

Xu Lina also saw Fang Zhijing and the sponsor meeting and mocked him for only using dirty tricks. Fang Zhijing shot back that Xu Lina had only gotten in through connections and had no right to criticize him. Zhu Yun chased after Fang Zhijing and asked whether what Xu Lina said was true. Fang Zhijing mocked Zhu Yun for still being as naïve as ever.

He knew that Li Xun and Zhu Yun were in the competition to beat him, but he wouldn’t give them the chance. Zhu Yun ridiculed Fang Zhijing for being afraid of facing Li Xun, resorting to backdoor deals with sponsors. But Fang Zhijing didn’t care at all. That night, Zhu Yun was gloomy and locked herself in a dark room. Seeing her like that, Li Xun felt uncomfortable inside.

Gao Jianhong had clearly caught Fang Zhijing red-handed but chose not to reveal the recording. He wanted to see what other moves Li Xun, the “all-powerful,” still had. Even if one road was blocked, Li Xun always found countless others. Gao Jianhong deleted the video. As expected, Li Xun’s team won first prize. Gao Jianhong accepted the award on stage, while Li Xun still hadn’t shown up.

After the special award was announced, Fang Zhijing gave a smug speech, claiming his win was aboveboard and dismissing others’ accusations as slander. Then Li Xun appeared, mocking Fang Zhijing’s shoddy work as a disgrace to the competition’s awards. He offered to crack Fang Zhijing’s encrypted program. With all eyes on him, Fang Zhijing had no choice but to agree—if Li Xun could crack it, he’d waive all patent fees.

Upon receiving the encrypted files via USB, Li Xun proudly declared he had three decryption methods within one minute. He even pulled out Fang Zhijing’s private photos with other women, making Fang Zhijing’s girlfriend in the audience visibly uncomfortable. Fang Zhijing hurriedly deleted the photos, but Li Xun recovered them instantly and ridiculed him for not even deleting files properly. The crowd erupted in cheers—and there was still time left on the clock.

With five seconds remaining, Li Xun gave Fang Zhijing one last chance and then flawlessly demonstrated a physical-level crack. Then he played the video from the coffee shop, exposing the conversation between Fang Zhijing and the sponsor. The host warned Li Xun that he might be penalized for breaking the rules, and asked if it was worth it. Li Xun said it was—because he did it for love—and looked straight at Zhu Yun. The audience erupted in cheers.

Xu Lina loudly confessed her feelings for Li Xun, while Gao Jianhong walked off the stage. The host admired Li Xun—he had upheld fairness, though he did break the rules, and might face consequences. Li Xun didn’t care. The host offered him a project opportunity in Sanya, but Li Xun said he’d consider it depending on his schedule. Sitting beside him, Zhu Yun had never been happier. She asked what kind of girl Li Xun would call a “princess. ” Li Xun replied that she needed beautiful eyes and a spirit willing to risk everything.

Xu Lina thought Li Xun had beaten Fang Zhijing for her sake. She suddenly came to kiss Li Xun on the cheek and set a meeting for ten the next day, saying she had something to tell him. Zhu Yun scolded Li Xun for not knowing how to reject someone. Li Xun said nothing and just told her to go home.

Worried that Li Xun might be swayed by Xu Lina, Zhu Yun rushed to ask Ren Di for help—she asked her to deliver a princess dress and also sought advice on confessing to Li Xun. Ren Di felt they were a great match, but warned that once Li Xun was committed emotionally, he wouldn’t tolerate betrayal. Ren Di delivered the princess dress.

Zhu Yun did her hair and went to see Li Xun, thinking he had already left with Xu Lina—but Li Xun showed up behind her. Zhu Yun asked him to choose her and promised to always stand by him, be his loyal follower, and cheer for him. Li Xun hugged her tightly, smiling with satisfaction. Zhu Yun posted a photo of them on her Moments feed. Li Xun teased her for being cheesy but held her even tighter.

Three years later, when Zhu Yun went to take her entrance exam, Li Xun didn’t show up. She scolded him for not planning to pursue graduate studies and not considering her feelings. If she gave up, her family would be furious. As his girlfriend, her demand wasn’t excessive. Seeing her upset, Li Xun rode after her, joking that she’d given up her “king. ” Zhu Yun ignored him in anger. When Li Xun faked back pain, she quickly ran back.

He promised to pick her up after the exam. Li Xun said he’d take Zhu Yun out to eat and brought her to his newly opened company to surprise her. In the storage room, Zhu Yun saw the company’s name—two letters. She was thrilled, thinking it stood for lighter and princess dress, and hoped Li Xun would confirm it. But Li Xun intentionally gave other meanings and teased her for being narcissistic.

Laughter filled the office as Zhu Yun hugged him, wanting to start a business together. Fu Yizhuo suddenly showed up to see Li Xun and met Zhu Yun. When he reached out to shake her hand, Li Xun slapped his palm, saying greetings were fine, but touching Zhu Yun wasn’t allowed. Fu Yizhuo showed off a dance he’d been practicing, saying he was a dancer, but Li Xun mocked his efforts as worthless.

Fu Yizhuo wanted to talk to Li Xun, but he wouldn’t listen and left with Zhu Yun, telling Fu Yizhuo to lock up. Zhu Yun felt it was rude to leave Fu Yizhuo behind, but Li Xun didn’t care. Back home, Zhu Yun still didn’t understand why Li Xun was acting that way and kept asking. Li Xun finally told her the truth—that his connection with Fu Yizhuo was the reason he got expelled: he had helped him cheat.

That was when he met Liu Ailin and first saw Zhu Yun—cutting a cake, surrounded by others. She looked like a noble princess. It was an unforgettable moment for him. Zhu Yun felt heartache hearing this. Li Xun hugged her and told her that Fu Yizhuo’s father owned a company and had money, but with the decline of traditional businesses, he probably came to offer Li Xun a job in internet operations.

Fu Yizhuo didn’t know anything about it, and Li Xun didn’t want to be part of that past anymore. Zhu Yun understood and supported his decision. Zhu Yun learned from Li Xun that Fu Yizhuo had always loved dancing and didn’t get along with his family. His only friend was Li Xun.

She then realized Fu Yizhuo had secretly slipped a note with his number into her bag, so she went to find him and saw him dancing at a bar. Fu Yizhuo started telling her about how he met Li Xun. When Fu Yizhuo was in his first year of high school, he often skipped classes. One time, while climbing over a wall to skip class with a classmate, he left his bag on the ground.

After finally managing to sit on top of the wall, he couldn't get down. Just then, Li Xun arrived. Li Xun offered to help him by picking up his bag and doing his homework, but for a fee. Fu Yizhuo, who wasn't short on money, saw the security guard approaching and hurriedly agreed. Later, Fu Yizhuo learned that Li Xun was always short on money because his mother had cancer.

Fu Yizhuo once got his leg scratched by a nail while dancing. When he went to the hospital for a tetanus shot, he saw Li Xun helping his mother get test results and learned about Li Xun’s family situation. After that, he assigned all his homework to Li Xun because he knew Li Xun wouldn't take money without doing something in return. There was a time when Fu Yizhuo was discouraged because both teachers and parents denied his dancing.

It was Li Xun who scolded him and woke him up. Their friendship grew stronger, and he no longer wanted to call Li Xun by his surname, hoping they could be true brothers. He also knew that Li Xun was short of money and that starting a company would be a challenge, yet Li Xun would never borrow from others. So he gave all his savings to Zhu Yun, hoping she could pass it on to Li Xun.

But Zhu Yun refused and said she would accompany Li Xun in realizing all his dreams, and she believed that Li Xun wouldn't accept the money either. Gao Jianhong asked Xu Lina out for a meal and made a sincere confession. For a moment, Xu Lina was touched and even wanted to accept the gift he gave and confirm their relationship. But in the end, she still rejected him because she liked to chase things that were hard to get.

Although she knew that person didn't like her, she wasn’t willing to give up easily. Gao Jianhong said he would wait for her and reminded her that Li Xun and Zhu Yun had been together for three years. Xu Lina cried in pain but still didn’t want to give up and also hoped that Gao Jianhong would meet a better girl.

On New Year's Eve, Li Xun kept writing code while Zhu Yun hugged him and asked to do something together. Li Xun took her out to the street, where they saw someone selling blue flowers. Zhu Yun liked them very much, though they were expensive. Li Xun bought all of them and gave them to her. Zhu Yun was happy and reminded him not to spend money recklessly, but today was special—this was her first time receiving roses.

Li Xun pointed out they were actually Chinese roses, but Zhu Yun insisted on calling them roses. As fireworks lit up the sky, they kissed passionately. Zhu Yun also told Li Xun she had given up on postgraduate recommendation and only wanted to be with him. When the base disbanded, everyone gathered for a farewell dinner.

Gao Jianhong learned about Zhu Yun giving up on her postgraduate opportunity and told her she must stay with Li Xun because he couldn’t live without her. Li Xun also shared his vision for the future—hoping to increase the chances of cancer recovery by creating a platform to share experienced data with doctors to help more patients. Gao Jianhong admired the idea but didn’t want to join the company.

When Xu Lina rejected him, she said she liked capable people like Li Xun. He knew that following Li Xun would lead to success faster than going abroad, but he wanted to live up to his own name. Li Xun and Zhu Yun said that Gilai would always leave a spot for him; the three of them were always partners.

Fang Shumiao got drunk and confessed to Li Xun, but also blamed him for scolding her in front of so many people. From then on, she no longer liked him and said he was lucky to have Zhu Yun. Wu Mengxing wanted to confess to Fang Shumiao but was rejected before he could speak. Fang Shumiao felt they weren't suitable. Wu Mengxing still thanked her for showing him how beautiful it is to like someone.

Zhu Yun chatted with Ren Di and found that Ren Di had started to act coy and looked at Xiao Liu differently—it seemed she liked him. But Ren Di didn’t admit it. At that moment, Xiao Liu's new song started playing, and Ren Di stopped talking and listened quietly. Zhu Yun smiled as she watched from the side. Zhu Yun left together with Li Xun and the others.

She believed that in the future, Ren Di’s songs would be heard everywhere and hoped everyone’s dreams would come true. The drunken friends sang and shouted together.

When Li Xun saw the news that Hunan University was holding an information security competition, he told Zhu Yun. Fang Zhijing was also participating, which annoyed Zhu Yun—she felt Fang Zhijing was like a lingering ghost. Gao Jianhong found Li Xun and told him he saw Fang Zhijing talking to the organizing committee. He was worried and asked Li Xun not to provoke him. Li Xun agreed. Li Xun was called by Professor Lin to help record some data.

When he arrived, Fang Zhijing was already there helping. Professor Lin talked a lot about Li Xun in front of Fang Zhijing—on the surface, criticizing him for being arrogant and offending people, but in fact expressing pride in him. He said Li Xun was capable and principled, with a low error rate, and had started his company in his senior year. Many companies sought to collaborate, but if they didn’t meet Li Xun's standards, he rejected them.

These words were irritating to Fang Zhijing, but he endured them. As he was leaving, Li Xun stopped him and asked if he had contacted the committee. Fang Zhijing then realized that Li Xun cared about Gao Jianhong. He proposed a deal—if Li Xun publicly apologized to him, he would let Gao Jianhong go, and Gao Jianhong would have a bright future. Li Xun agreed to apologize, but not to Fang Zhijing.

Instead, he wanted to apologize to the contestants from back then because he broke the rules and should take responsibility. At the beginning of the conference, Li Xun brought up the incident from three years ago and apologized to the past contestants for the unfair cancellation of the competition, without mentioning Fang Zhijing’s name. A representative from the organizing committee also went on stage, announced the investigation results, and concluded that Li Xun’s actions had caused a serious impact.

They revoked the first prize of Zhu Yun and Gao Jianhong and banned all three from participating for the next three years. Li Xun looked back at Fang Zhijing, who smiled smugly. After the competition, Li Xun waited for him at the door and formally told him he would keep an eye on him from now on. Every day in the future, he would make sure Fang Zhijing succeeded at nothing. Fang Zhijing was shaken.

Li Xun then went to apologize to Gao Jianhong and invited him to his company. Gao Jianhong already knew what Fang Zhijing had said and blamed Li Xun for being too proud to bow his head. He admitted he couldn't compare to Li Xun but didn’t want to have anything to do with him anymore.

When Liu Ailin and Zhu Guangyi were watching the news, they saw a video interview with Li Xun, and sitting behind him in the office was Zhu Yun. Although it was just her back, Liu Ailin still recognized her. In the office, Li Xun confessed his love to Zhu Yun and asked to meet her parents. Zhu Yun was moved—it was the first time she heard Li Xun’s confession—and kissed him.

When Zhu Yun returned home, her parents had prepared a table full of dishes. She told them she had given up on postgraduate recommendation and planned to start a business. Her mother opposed it and became even angrier when she said she was with Li Xun. She believed Li Xun was someone who would stop at nothing for success and had even broken the rules on purpose. Zhu Yun explained he did it for her.

Seeing her parents’ strong opposition, she packed up to leave. At the door, they tried to stop her, and Zhu Guangyi questioned whether Li Xun was more important than her parents. Zhu Yun said yes without hesitation, which made her parents so angry they locked her up to reflect. Li Xun also visited Li Lan and treated her to a meal. Li Lan tried to stop him from giving her money again.

When he saw the scars on her neck, he guessed that all the money had been taken by Zhang Dagang and that she had suffered a lot. He told her directly to divorce, promising to take care of her and pay for her treatment. Li Lan cried and agreed, realizing Li Xun had changed and now knew how to care for others.

Li Xun arranged a place for her to stay and hoped she could have the surgery, see Zhu Yun, and then leave. Li Lan agreed. Fang Zhijing, still wary of Li Xun, went to find Gao Jianhong, hoping he would help convince Li Xun to stop targeting him. He offered Gao Jianhong a management trainee position. Gao Jianhong refused outright. Fang Zhijing mocked him for always tagging along with Li Xun and still failing to get a girlfriend.

Gao Jianhong was furious and reminded him that he and Li Xun were brothers—and Li Xun was a hundred times better than him. He warned that although Li Xun was currently busy with his sister's surgery, once it was over, he would definitely make things difficult for Fang Zhijing. If he wanted to make it to the finals, he’d better think carefully. Li Xun had thousands of ways to humiliate him. Li Lan had eye surgery.

After confirming she was fine, Li Xun left. While she was eating at the hotel, she struggled with the water heater. Fang Zhijing, who had been following her, took the opportunity to help and falsely claimed he was a friend of Li Xun.

Li Lan thought the hotel was too expensive and asked Fang Zhijing to find a cheaper place. He took her to a remote suburb. That night, seeing that instant noodles in the room were too expensive, Li Lan went out to a supermarket. On the way back, she received a call from Li Xun. As she picked it up, the groceries in her hand fell to the ground. A car came by and hit her, killing her.

Gao Jianhong told Zhu Yun the news, and Zhu Yun ran out frantically. After burying his sister, Li Xun was devastated. Gao Jianhong cursed Fang Zhijing repeatedly, blaming him for everything. While going through Li Lan’s belongings, Li Xun saw that all the birthday gifts he had given her were well preserved. Although the driver had confessed, the law couldn’t hold Fang Zhijing responsible. Li Xun was heartbroken and cried in Zhu Yun’s arms.

On the way back, it began to snow. Li Xun asked Zhu Yun about her dream. She said her dream was to end up with her first love—Li Xun knew she was talking about him. He held her and told her that those who betray their love should go to hell. Zhu Yun thought this was the beginning of happiness, but didn’t expect it to be the end.

The next day, after paying tribute to Li Lan, Li Xun asked Zhu Yun to transfer her shares to him. Zhu Yun agreed without asking a thing. Li Xun said he wanted to meet her parents and seek their approval. Zhu Yun, afraid he would be embarrassed, suggested they wait. Li Xun insisted that he needed to take responsibility for the future. Zhu Yun informed her parents that Li Xun would be coming.

While her parents were preparing dinner, Li Xun waited for Xu Lina at the base and tried to convince Gao Jianhong not to leave. Fang Shumiao saw him talking to Xu Lina and called Zhu Yun. Li Xun came to Zhu Yun’s house and looked through the window, recalling the day he came in the rain. Zhu Guangyi asked to speak with him alone.

He said Zhu Yun was their only daughter and hoped to get Liu Ailin’s blessing—otherwise, it would hurt both Zhu Yun and their family. Liu Ailin had re-enrolled Zhu Yun for postgraduate recommendation, but Zhu Yun firmly refused to leave. She wanted to stay and help with Li Xun’s new company. Liu Ailin believed Zhu Yun would regret this choice years later.

Zhu Guangyi also asked Li Xun to go abroad with Zhu Yun for a change of environment and offered to cover all expenses. He admitted it was a bit abrupt and acknowledged that Li Xun’s company was doing well, but the road ahead wouldn’t be smooth. He hoped Zhu Yun would consider it carefully, as being with her meant making sacrifices.

At dinner, Li Xun reassured her parents that he would take care of Zhu Yun and ensure her happiness, but he refused to go abroad. Zhu Guangyi and Liu Ailin believed that if he insisted on staying, he was putting Zhu Yun in a difficult position between both sides. Li Xun proposed that since doing business requires connections, and now that he and Zhu Yun had just started, they could work together.

He knew Zhu Guangyi was in the medical device business, and they could benefit each other. Liu Ailin believed even more that Li Xun had thoroughly investigated their family and held a grudge against her. She accused him of being greedy and selfish, saying no matter how good he did in college entrance exams, he would still end up a failure. Zhu Guangyi drove him out. Li Xun sarcastically said the couple was shortsighted and would never see the future. As he left, Zhu Yun chased after him but couldn’t find him anywhere.

Zhu Yun kept calling Li Xun, but he wouldn't answer. She went to his company to confront him, hoping he would give an explanation. However, Li Xun offered none. Instead, he admitted he had deliberately provoked her parents because that's the kind of man he was—self-serving. He described Zhu Yun's parents as cold and condescending, always using their moral standards to judge others.

Zhu Yun argued that going abroad didn’t mean Li Xun had to pay her tuition, and even if he didn’t want to go, he didn’t need to act that way—especially since he had volunteered to meet her parents in the first place. She began to question his true intentions. After a heated argument, Li Xun bluntly asked her to leave.

Zhu Yun warned him that if she walked out now, she would never come back, but Li Xun didn’t stop her. With nowhere else to go, Zhu Yun went to Ren Di’s place. She confessed that the Li Xun she saw today felt like a stranger. Ren Di believed Li Xun might have his reasons and urged her to try understanding him.

Zhu Yun found an excuse to return to the company, humbling herself to beg Li Xun for an honest conversation. But Li Xun remained silent. At that moment, Xu Lina appeared, holding onto Li Xun’s arm as if staking her claim. Crushed, Zhu Yun left. Xu Lina suddenly called Ren Di, insisting on meeting Zhu Yun. Reluctantly, Zhu Yun agreed.

Xu Lina said she was about to graduate and wanted to know what Zhu Yun's plans were, though Zhu Yun had little interest in talking. Xu Lina then revealed she had her eyes on Li Xun’s company and intended to invest in it, sarcastically remarking that Zhu Yun’s parents had missed out on a gem.

She called Zhu Yun immature, explaining that Li Xun had told her long ago that he didn’t want slow progress—he wanted rapid development for Jili, and he would soon meet her father to discuss it. Zhu Yun went to confront Li Xun, asking what he had promised Xu Lina. Li Xun claimed it was 50% of the company shares—Zhu Yun’s shares. Heartbroken, she cried and accused him of betraying her trust.

She pointed out that he must have planned everything before visiting her parents and warned him that if he walked away today, they were over for good. Li Xun still chose to leave. When Zhu Yun asked if he had a plan, he said nothing, simply driving off and leaving her devastated. Zhu Yun, full of sorrow, went to the rooftop where Li Xun used to stay. She looked at their photo and couldn’t stop crying.

In a fit of anguish, she tore it up and let the pieces drift in the wind. The rooftop keychain lay before her, and she felt like everything had been a lie, all their love now just a painful goodbye. She threw the keychain away and sobbed uncontrollably. Xu Lina took Li Xun to the base of the company building, hoping he would go see her father. But Li Xun didn’t go up.

Xu Lina offered to grow with him, live in a small apartment, and eat boxed meals—anything Zhu Yun could do, she could too. But Li Xun still refused. Tearfully, Xu Lina couldn’t understand why he had gone to such lengths to push Zhu Yun away. She felt uneasy, but Li Xun said nothing and refused any help. Zhu Yun packed up her things to leave. On her way downstairs, she saw the keychain lying on the ground.

Unable to ignore it, she picked it back up. Li Xun had entrusted everything about the company to Gao Jianhong. Gao worried that Zhu Yun would be angry if she found out. Li Xun explained that he wanted to support Zhu Yun’s study abroad and didn't want her to have any attachments. He admitted he knew Gao had once resented him but still chose to trust him.

Gao supported Li Xun in confronting Fang Zhijing but disagreed with his “mutually destructive” approach. Still, Li Xun was resolute—this was something he had to do. The finals were tomorrow. Zhu Yun was heading to the airport with her father when she suddenly remembered the finals were on the 18th. She jumped out of the car and rushed back. At the competition venue, Fang Zhijing stood on the podium again, giving his acceptance speech.

Li Xun entered the award ceremony, pushed through the crowd, and confronted Fang Zhijing, who started babbling incoherently. Li Xun rushed forward and beat him up. When Zhu Yun arrived, she only saw the fight. She tried to get through but was blocked, while Gao Jianhong smirked and quietly slipped away. After returning home, Zhu Yun fell ill and slept an entire day. Upon waking, she looked for her phone.

Liu Ailin confessed she had hidden it and tried to stop her from contacting Li Xun. Zhu Guangyi, furious, shoved Zhu Yun to the floor. But Zhu Yun insisted that whether Fang Zhijing lost an eye or not had nothing to do with her. She had to see Li Xun no matter what he had done. She also blamed her parents for never seeing things from Li Xun’s perspective. Her parents were shocked at how much she had changed.

To them, since Fang Zhijing had lost an eye, Li Xun was now nothing but a criminal. Zhu Yun stopped eating and drinking, locked in her room by her parents. Even the meals were changed repeatedly. Meanwhile, Li Xun was sentenced for intentional injury. Zhu Yun eventually collapsed. After a medical examination, doctors found signs of suicidal tendencies and urged her parents to take note.

Zhu Guangyi tried persuading her to go abroad and start fresh, insisting she wasn’t doing this for someone who deserved it. After a long silence, Zhu Yun finally spoke, asking her parents to agree to one request.

Zhu Yun asked to visit Li Xun. Her parents, unable to resist, agreed. Sitting across from him, she said the reason he made her leave was to take revenge on Fang Zhijing without hurting her. But Li Xun denied everything. He claimed the plan began six years ago when he first stood outside her villa—he wanted revenge on Zhu Yun but thought he’d never get the chance.

Then they ended up at the same university, and Zhu Yun even approached him first. Tears streaming down her face, Zhu Yun reminded him of their promise: the one who betrays goes to hell. Li Xun replied that he had already been to hell countless times and didn’t care anymore. After she left, Li Xun broke down in tears. On the rooftop, he found the torn photo of them and pieced it back together, placing it close to his heart.

It was the only thing he took into prison. It was graduation photo day. Zhu Yun had already gone abroad with her father. Her classmates had to use a cardboard cutout of her in the group photo. Teacher Lin visited the old base and was saddened to see how much had changed.

After taking over the company, Gao Jianhong fired the employees, sold the medical software Li Xun had developed, hired a new team, and used the money from the software sale as seed funding for his new company. Seeing his name on the business license, Gao Jianhong felt satisfied. Gao Jianhong visited Li Xun in prison and heard that Li Xun had refused to appeal.

Gao told him that Zhu Yun had gone abroad, but Li Xun insisted that they never speak of the past again, only business. Gao sneered, calling Li Xun selfish and arrogant. He said he had lived in Li Xun’s shadow, but now it was all behind him—he had succeeded. All the systems had been changed, and Jili had nothing to do with Li Xun anymore. Even the legal representative had been changed.

Li Xun warned him not to speak too soon. If he had given it to Gao, he could take it back too. Gao completely turned on him, saying Li Xun was arrogant to the end and never changed. Gao then revealed that he was the one who had tipped off Fang Zhijing about Li Lan. Furious, Li Xun stood up and roared, and the police escorted him away.

In 2019, three years later, Li Xun was released early for good behavior. He had even helped the prison set up a new system. After getting out, he and Hou Ning went to pay respects to their loved ones. Li Xun was determined to reclaim everything he had lost—those who had taken from him would have to give it back. When Fang Zhijing saw Li Xun leaving Jili, he was terrified.

His company was about to go public, and he feared sabotage. Gao Jianhong told him not to worry—they now had all the resources, and Li Xun had just gotten out of prison. What could he do? But no matter what Gao said, Fang Zhijing was scared and hoped Gao would win. In truth, Gao wasn’t so confident either. Ren Di, Fang Shumiao, and Zhu Yun met to catch up on life.

Fang Shumiao was now a well-known lawyer with many admirers. Wu Mengxing worked in the Youth League and already had a child. Ren Di and Fang Shumiao were most curious about what would happen when Zhu Yun and Li Xun met again. But Zhu Yun said she was leaving soon and had no intention of interacting with him. Tian Xiuzhu noticed that Zhu Yun was always holding the keychain and guessed that she couldn’t let go.

He told her that Li Xun still cared for her—otherwise, why would he take only the keychain and revisit old places? Zhu Yun saw an advertisement promoting Jili and suddenly remembered when Li Xun had asked Ren Di for money. As the major shareholder of Jili, there was no way he should’ve been broke. She looked up the shareholder list online and was shocked to find Li Xun’s name missing—Fang Zhijing’s name was there instead.

Zhu Yun decided to ask Gao Jianhong about it. Gao Jianhong was delighted to see Zhu Yun and gave her a tour of the company, even inviting her to join. Zhu Yun questioned why Fang Zhijing was brought into the company, saying it was Li Xun’s. But Gao insisted it was his now and he was in charge. Zhu Yun warned him that Li Xun would never let this go.

She acknowledged Li Xun might have made mistakes, but he had treated Gao well, and Gao would never beat him. Gao hesitated, admitting that the world needed geniuses, but now that he was wealthy, he could find geniuses anywhere. Zhu Yun replied that there was only one Li Xun in the world.

After leaving the company, Zhu Yun told Tian Xiuzhu that it was Gao Jianhong who tricked Li Xun out of his company. She planned to stay behind and asked Tian Xiuzhu to go back alone and deal with her parents. Tian Xiuzhu thought she was walking into the fire but still agreed to help.

He called Liu Ailin and lied, saying that a friend had returned from abroad and he was taking Zhu Yun to meet him, which would delay her by two days. Zhu Yun was very grateful to Tian Xiuzhu. Then she and Ren Di went together to the tech exhibition and talent fair to look for Li Xun. At the fair, Zhu Yun saw two college students promoting their new project, a part-time job app called "Xiao Jian.

" When they heard Zhu Yun was a programmer, they actively sought her advice, and she gave them some suggestions. While Fang Zhijing was confidently giving a promotional speech on stage, he noticed Li Xun entering from the door and sitting directly next to Gao Jianhong. Gao Jianhong pressed Li Xun to name a price, but Li Xun said he wanted everything returned and that this was Gao Jianhong’s last chance.

If he returned it all, he might even let him go. Gao Jianhong refused to back down and said Li Xun didn’t have what it takes to get Jili back. But Li Xun told him that today marked the first day of reclaiming the project. When Li Xun left, Gao Jianhong followed him out, reminding him that given his current situation, even getting a job would be difficult, let alone challenging him.

He sarcastically said Li Xun was now a one-legged man who could never climb to the top. Li Xun proudly told him, wherever he stood was the peak. To provoke Li Xun further, Gao Jianhong mentioned that Zhu Yun had come to see him, still as foolish as before, always defending Li Xun. Li Xun’s expression changed drastically, warning Gao Jianhong to stay away from Zhu Yun.

Just then, Zhu Yun and Ren Di also came out, saw Li Xun leaving, and Zhu Yun hurried to chase after him, but couldn't find him. Fang Shumiao and Ren Di tried to persuade Zhu Yun to go abroad and not give up a million-yuan salary for Li Xun, but Zhu Yun believed it wasn't about money anymore—their shared dream had been stolen. Fang Shumiao and Ren Di were speechless and turned away.

Anyone could see Zhu Yun was making excuses—she simply wanted to stay by Li Xun’s side. While following Li Xun, Zhu Yun saw him take a business card from a small company and realized he must be applying for a job. Coincidentally, it was the same app company she had given advice to. As expected, Li Xun went there for an interview. Zhu Yun interviewed alongside him.

Li Xun had just gotten out of prison, while Zhu Yun had an outstanding resume. The company even suspected her resume was fake, thinking someone of her caliber wouldn’t come to such a small company if it were real. To test if Zhu Yun's resume was genuine, Director Gao had her play a game he had designed. Not only did Zhu Yun complete it smoothly, but she also pointed out many flaws, proving her skills.

However, she had one condition: Li Xun must be hired with her. Programmer Zhao Teng greatly admired Zhu Yun’s ability and felt that hiring both would be a huge win. Director Gao agreed to hire Li Xun but said Zhu Yun had to pay his salary, which she accepted on the spot. When Zhu Yun left, Li Xun was waiting downstairs.

He warned her to stay away from him, but Zhu Yun said Jili wasn’t only his—it was hers too, and she had the right to take it back. Li Xun retorted that she should take her pretty boy and that resume as far away as possible, but Zhu Yun ignored his provocation and firmly declared she wasn’t leaving. The next morning, Zhu Yun got ready for work. Just as she stepped downstairs, a chauffeured car was already waiting for her. Along the way, she found it strange that such a nice car would do rides for hire, but the driver said he wasn’t doing it for money—only for fun.

Li Xun and Zhu Yun arrived at the company one after the other. Director Zhang Fang blamed Zhu Yun for lacking time awareness and being late, but just as he said that, Li Xun also arrived late. Zhang Fang had no choice but to begin introductions. Although small, the company was well-structured, with four people in total, each with a specific role. Even Guo Shijie, who handled design, called himself the art director.

The company’s boss, Dong Siyang, hadn’t been to the office for a long time. He was a former boxer who retired due to age and spent two years in prison after fighting on behalf of a friend. The company's two million yuan in registered capital came entirely from him. In his free time, he liked driving taxis. He was the driver who had picked up Zhu Yun that morning. When dealing with passengers, he was all smiles.

But at the office, everyone feared him. Even employees from the neighboring small company quieted down when they saw him. On his first day back, Dong Siyang pointed out everyone’s flaws. He blamed Director Zhang Fang for being incompetent and dragging out the game “Invincible Warrior” for over a year without release. He also accused Guo Shijie of doing nothing but eating, having gained weight and hiding snacks, which Dong Siyang confiscated immediately.

Hearing that Zhu Yun was a new overseas returnee, Dong Siyang didn’t show much interest, but he was very curious about Li Xun and bombarded him with questions. Li Xun didn’t want to engage and especially disliked Dong Siyang putting his hand on his shoulder. Zhu Yun, afraid they would argue, quickly answered for him, but Dong Siyang dismissed her as being disrespectful of workplace etiquette.

He then held a meeting to follow up on the progress of “Invincible Warrior,” asking who could handle the project alone. Li Xun got up and left, and Dong Siyang chased after him, yelling. Zhu Yun quickly volunteered to take over the project, prompting Dong Siyang to shift his attention to her. He assigned Zhu Yun to lead the project team, which included Li Xun, Zhao Teng, and others. Zhu Yun, Li Xun, and Zhao Teng reviewed the game.

Li Xun pointed out that the setting and characters were all wrong and needed a complete overhaul. Zhao Teng thought the project was beyond saving and suggested creating a new one. But Zhu Yun sided with Li Xun and insisted that the game’s framework and setting be redone. While she and Zhao Teng discussed the details, she deliberately had Li Xun help assemble her computer.

Watching him fumble with the hardware, Zhu Yun felt delighted—it was rare to see Li Xun look so flustered. Fang Zhijing also did a thorough investigation of Feiyang Company and reported the findings to Gao Jianhong. He emphasized that Dong Siyang knew nothing about games yet entered the industry, resulting in zero performance. Fang Zhijing concluded that Zhu Yun and Li Xun joining such a company made them both fools.

But Gao Jianhong didn’t underestimate them—he arranged for people to keep an eye on Zhu Yun and Li Xun. Xu Lina visited Gao Jianhong and offered to be the spokesperson for a game, hoping for his support. Gao Jianhong thought she wasn't the right fit for the game. Xu Lina deliberately asked what exactly was wrong with her. Left with no choice, Gao Jianhong agreed to her request.

He then brought up Li Xun and asked Xu Lina for her opinion. Xu Lina said that after spending three years in prison, Li Xun couldn’t compare to Gao Jianhong, especially since his tiny company couldn’t compete either. But Gao Jianhong didn’t believe Xu Lina was being honest. Zhu Yun bought breakfast for everyone, but Li Xun threw his portion into the trash. Zhu Yun mocked him, saying he must still love her.

Li Xun denied it and sarcastically called her delusional. Zhu Yun reminded him that they were just coworkers now. Li Xun seemed to accept that, but when he got back, he picked the food out of the trash and ate it, shocking Zhao Teng. Zhu Yun significantly altered the game, and Zhao Teng worked overtime on it. Despite the extra work, he didn’t feel she was being unreasonable—in fact, he thought the changes were good.

Li Xun felt Zhu Yun was the type who always knew exactly what she was doing and believed following her wouldn’t lead to mistakes. Zhao Teng was curious about Li Xun’s relationship with Zhu Yun. He didn’t believe Zhu Yun would pay out of pocket for a complete stranger. When Li Xun learned that Zhu Yun was covering his salary, he just smiled. Their conversation was overheard by Zhu Yun, who had just arrived for the morning shift.

That evening, it started to rain heavily as they were leaving work. Zhu Yun had no umbrella. Li Xun snatched one from Zhao Teng and pretended to walk by Zhu Yun. Zhu Yun took the umbrella from him, hoping they could leave together, but Li Xun pulled out another umbrella and smugly walked away. That night, Zhu Yun couldn’t resist calling Li Xun, but he hadn’t saved her number and hung up. The next morning, Zhu Yun confronted him.

Li Xun couldn’t pretend not to know, so he admitted it. Zhu Yun immediately took his phone and entered her number. Later, Zhu Yun returned the umbrella to Li Xun. Zhao Teng recognized it and complained that Li Xun had stolen his umbrella, causing him to catch a cold. Zhu Yun couldn’t help but laugh, realizing that Li Xun had taken the umbrella just for her. Li Xun took half a day off to buy computer parts for an upgrade.

But when he returned, Zhu Yun was already helping him with the modifications. She told him it was a special favor. While Li Xun was in the restroom, Zhu Yun peeked into the box he brought back and found the equipment was identical to what she had bought. She was secretly pleased but pretended not to know. When Li Xun came out, he claimed the box contained food and offered to take Zhu Yun out to eat. She gladly accepted.

Zhu Yun and Li Xun had a meal together and also drank a little. When Li Xun walked Zhu Yun back, he asked her about her time abroad. Zhu Yun told him everything truthfully. Li Xun also believed she shouldn’t have come back and given up her job overseas, but Zhu Yun knew clearly what she truly wanted, so Li Xun didn’t press further. The next day was a day off.

While Li Xun was at home, an unexpected visitor arrived. Xu Lina had found out where Li Xun lived and came over, hoping to go out for a meal with him. After being rejected, Xu Lina didn’t leave; instead, she insisted on staying and eating together. Li Xun refused again, saying he hadn’t prepared food for her. Unexpectedly, Xu Lina brought a chef and ingredients to the house and started cooking on-site.

Xu Lina deliberately brought up Zhu Yun, remarking that the two of them being like this seemed quite pathetic. She even handed over her car keys to Li Xun, hoping he would move into her apartment. Li Xun mocked her, saying she was trying to keep him. Xu Lina blamed Li Xun for not being with her back then, saying otherwise his current situation would be entirely different. But Li Xun said that would have made him feel disgusted.

He refused both the car and the apartment and clearly told Xu Lina she could never compare to Zhu Yun. Xu Lina stormed out angrily and ran into Fang Zhijing waiting outside the community. Fang Zhijing recorded a video and sent it to Gao Jianhong, who was on a business trip. Gao Jianhong felt very displeased. Liu Ailin was worried about Zhu Yun, but seeing her busy with Tian Xiuzhu organizing the art exhibition gave her some peace of mind.

She even insisted Zhu Yun stay and help Tian Xiuzhu with the preparations. Zhu Yun agreed immediately. Liu Ailin privately asked Tian Xiuzhu if there was anything unusual about Zhu Yun. She still couldn’t let go of her worries, even though Li Xun had been jailed. She was afraid Zhu Yun might go looking for him, as she had never really let him go.

Tian Xiuzhu promised to take good care of Zhu Yun and to report to Liu Ailin if anything happened. Zhu Yun secretly went out to call Tian Xiuzhu, asking him to help deal with Liu Ailin. Tian Xiuzhu jokingly called her “Mom” to avoid suspicion and to tease her a little. When Zhu Yun returned, Tian Xiuzhu said he wanted to go to Nanhu University to find material.

Liu Ailin quickly asked Zhu Yun to accompany him since she had been a student there. Zhu Yun happily agreed. Tian Xiuzhu accompanied Zhu Yun to work. In the elevator, they ran into colleagues. Guo Shijie recognized Tian Xiuzhu as his idol and almost jumped with excitement. When everyone surrounded Tian Xiuzhu to chat, Li Xun arrived. Zhang Fang quickly introduced them, but Li Xun showed complete disinterest and pretended not to know Tian Xiuzhu.

Zhao Teng noticed something was off with Li Xun. Later, when Tian Xiuzhu dropped Li Xun off, Liu Ailin had already rented an apartment for Zhu Yun and even paid the rent. Zhu Yun was unhappy, and just as conflict seemed imminent, Tian Xiuzhu praised Liu Ailin and helped ease the tension. They finally sent Liu Ailin off, but Zhu Yun wasn’t grateful. Instead, she felt that Tian Xiuzhu was just like her mother.

Since seeing Tian Xiuzhu, Li Xun had been feeling uncomfortable and sought out Fu Yizhuo. Fu Yizhuo urged him to ask Zhu Yun directly whether she was really with Tian Xiuzhu. After all, it was Li Xun who had rejected Zhu Yun back then, without considering what she had endured. Fu Yizhuo told him that if he accepted her, Zhu Yun would be the one person in the world who would do everything for him.

But if they couldn’t be together, he should give her no more hope and not let her miss her own opportunities. Li Xun lied, saying he had let go of the past, but Fu Yizhuo didn’t believe him—saying that if he truly had, he wouldn’t be here now. Ren Di and Fang Shumiao also wanted to know what Zhu Yun planned to do about Li Xun.

They both hoped that if Zhu Yun and Li Xun could be together, they wouldn’t part, and if they were already together, they wouldn’t drag things out, as everyone watching was anxious. Ren Di thought Zhu Yun was only truly herself around Li Xun—daring, determined, with a spark in her eyes. After the internal test version of Invincible Warrior was released, the result was very good. Dong Siyang was thrilled and demanded they push forward with full force.

But in reality, there were only a few thousand yuan left in the account. Li Xun proposed making the promotional posters first, and then finding ways to solve the funding issue. However, Li Xun wasn’t satisfied with Guo Shijie’s design, saying the visual impact wasn’t strong enough. He asked for a complete redo. Zhang Fang said this was Guo Shijie’s limit, and unless they found a top-tier artist, it couldn’t be improved. Back home, Li Xun kept studying those posters.

Hou Ning reminded him that each field has its specialization and not to be too stubborn. Suddenly, Li Xun had an idea and left home happily to look for Zhu Yun. But when he got there, he learned she had already checked out. He asked Fu Yizhuo to contact Ren Di, and they found out Zhu Yun’s rental information. He then went to her home. At that moment, Zhu Yun and Tian Xiuzhu were discussing the poster design.

Zhu Yun mentioned the lack of funds. Tian Xiuzhu agreed to do the painting and said payment could be delayed. Seeing Zhu Yun was in a hurry, he went to the studio to fetch his materials. Just then, Li Xun arrived and knocked on the door. Upon hearing Zhu Yun inside asking Tian Xiuzhu to open the door, Li Xun quickly stepped aside and hid.

Li Xun saw Tian Xiuzhu there but didn’t show himself and left quietly. That night, Zhu Yun helped Tian Xiuzhu paint at the gallery, acting as his assistant. As they worked, Zhu Yun fell asleep, and Tian Xiuzhu looked at her sleeping face with a warm smile. The next morning, Tian Xiuzhu specially prepared breakfast for Zhu Yun and sent her to work, giving her the completed digital design template.

Zhu Yun arrived at the office in high spirits and displayed the digital version, stunning everyone. At the same time, it made Li Xun uncomfortable. Seeing Li Xun jealous made Zhu Yun very happy. Everything was ready except for the promotional funding. The company had been running at a loss for years. Unaware of this, Zhu Yun went to Dong Siyang to ask for money. Dong Siyang insisted the company had funds and even called Zhang Fang over to confirm.

Zhang Fang admitted the account appeared sufficient. Then Dong Siyang got a call from a taxi customer and hurried off. Only then did Zhang Fang tell Zhu Yun that the company actually had no money—Dong Siyang just couldn’t bring himself to ask others for help. Zhu Yun offered to use her own salary card, but Zhang Fang refused, saying Dong Siyang had made it clear that no matter how tight things got, staff salaries could not be cut.

Tian Xiuzhu came to see Zhu Yun and brought something she had forgotten. Zhu Yun remembered that the first image shown in the presentation was of her asleep. Tian Xiuzhu admitted he painted it while she was sleeping, and he realized he hadn’t drawn anything for her in all these years. Zhu Yun was touched. Tian Xiuzhu then spotted Li Xun watching them from a distance and said thank you to him.

Because Li Xun had stuck a poster concept on Tian Xiuzhu’s windshield the night before, he had been able to finish it so quickly. Hearing this, Zhu Yun became even happier and chased after Li Xun to ask if he had come to her place the night before. To Zhu Yun’s surprise, Li Xun coldly mocked her, calling her narcissistic.

He brought up many things she did while pursuing him in the past, including how she did her hair and pleaded with him to choose her, promising never to betray him. Everyone in the office was stunned. Tears welled up in Zhu Yun’s eyes. Her once sincere love had now become a blade for Li Xun to mock and humiliate her. Zhu Yun ran to the restroom in tears.

Zhang Fang felt Li Xun had gone too far—Zhu Yun had always protected him, allowing him to have a stable life, and now he was driving her away. Li Xun yelled at everyone to shut up, overwhelmed by his own emotions. Li Xun went to vent to Fu Yizhuo. He realized Zhu Yun was reverting to her old self, and he couldn’t give her hope anymore.

He knew Zhu Yun cared too much about him, and even the smallest words could hurt her deeply. Fu Yizhuo asked if Li Xun still loved Zhu Yun. Li Xun denied it against his true feelings, but Fu Yizhuo didn’t believe him—saying if he truly gave up, he could just be a colleague, not someone who got jealous seeing her with Tian Xiuzhu. Zhu Yun drank a lot and stumbled home, took some random pills, and went to sleep.

But she realized something was wrong and quickly called Tian Xiuzhu for help. She was taken to the hospital. Ren Di immediately notified Li Xun, who rushed over. Seeing the frail Zhu Yun in the hospital bed, Li Xun lowered his head in sorrow. Tian Xiuzhu arrived and told Li Xun that Zhu Yun had worked non-stop for the past three years abroad to numb herself. She had been taking sleeping pills all that time, which had side effects.

After drinking yesterday, she took two extra pills, which caused her blood pressure to drop and led to her coma. Fortunately, it wasn’t severe enough for stomach pumping. Tian Xiuzhu said he would take good care of Zhu Yun and wouldn’t let Li Xun hurt her again. Li Xun thanked him, but Tian Xiuzhu mocked him, saying he had no right to say that. Zhu Yun woke up from her coma and realized someone was outside.

Tian Xiuzhu told her the truth—that it was Li Xun—but Zhu Yun didn’t ask to see him. Li Xun left silently, recalling how Zhu Yun had once spoken about her carefree life abroad, when in fact it had been a painful three years. Gao Jianhong had been keeping a close eye on Li Xun, spending heavily to compete with him.

Fang Zhijing reminded Gao Jianhong that their company was about to go public and that it wasn’t worth continuing this feud. But Gao Jianhong ignored him. When Zhu Yun was discharged from the hospital, Li Xun stood in a corner watching her leave with Tian Xiuzhu. Li Xun then called Teacher Lin. Teacher Zhao, who was popular on livestreams, was actually Teacher Lin’s wife.

Li Xun hoped to gain her help and arranged for Zhu Yun to meet Teacher Lin with him. Fortunately, Teacher Lin was still willing to meet them. He had been waiting eagerly since receiving Li Xun’s call. Zhu Yun showed their software to Teacher Zhao, hoping to get some feedback. Meanwhile, Teacher Lin expressed concern about Li Xun’s relationships at work and advised him to always walk the right path and never debase himself again. Li Xun agreed.

Under Li Xun’s persuasion, Teacher Zhao agreed to be a game consultant. Although Zhu Yun was worried it might affect her academic reputation, she still agreed. Li Xun also apologized to Zhu Yun, saying she was much braver than he was. Zhu Yun said she had thought a lot while in the hospital.

She stayed because the old Li Xun had meant so much to her, and because every person in the company had their own kindness, beauty, and persistence—she had come to love the company too. Zhu Yun reminded Li Xun that his reading progress on the book was too slow and he needed to speed up. Li Xun joked that she finally had the chance to step on his head, but also welcomed her as a new colleague. As Zhu Yun watched Li Xun walk away without looking back, she got into a taxi and suddenly felt envious—he seemed like someone who never looked back.

After Invincible Warrior was launched, it quickly became widely popular. Many users even rated it as the game with the fewest flaws in history. This also brought the company its first income since its founding. Dong Siyang immediately "generously" pulled out fifty yuan and asked Zhang Fang to buy some popsicles to reward everyone. He also took group photos to commemorate this historic moment.

Zhang Fang directly pointed out that he could already tell that Li Xun and Zhu Yun were in a romantic relationship. Even though the company didn't allow dating, they would still pretend not to notice. Gao Jianhong already harbored resentment toward Li Xun's success. That night, while drinking with friends, his friend’s wife kept calling to urge him to go home. Gao Jianhong instinctively checked his phone but saw no message from Xu Lina.

When he returned home, he found Xu Lina asleep, holding a tablet on which Invincible Warrior was playing. This only deepened Gao Jianhong’s hatred. The next morning, Gao Jianhong calmly made breakfast for Xu Lina and asked her to shoot a promo video for Battle of Seven Kingdoms. Xu Lina thought Gao Jianhong didn’t need to target Li Xun and even refused to eat the peeled egg he handed her. Gao Jianhong forced her to eat it.

Xu Lina had no choice but to go shoot the promo. To avoid Gao Jianhong, she suggested going abroad for graduate studies. Gao Jianhong agreed but asked her to wait until after his retirement, claiming the company needed her for now. While Invincible Warrior was being promoted, Gao Jianhong was also launching a heavy promotional campaign, drawing everyone’s attention to his side.

Hou Ning couldn't stand seeing Li Xun being bullied and secretly hacked into the Battle of Seven Kingdoms game to plant a virus. This angered Li Xun, who harshly scolded Hou Ning and feared he might end up in jail. Gao Jianhong also became aware of the incident but did not stop it. Instead, he hoped to see Li Xun imprisoned again—wanting to cause damage even if there was none.

Li Xun and Hou Ning were taken to the police station. Gao Jianhong brought a lawyer, determined to bring Li Xun down. At that moment, Zhu Yun arrived and, using her skills in state-owned computer systems, successfully refuted Gao Jianhong’s accusation. She explained that someone had intentionally accessed the server from another port and deleted some programs. Li Xun requested a police investigation, but Gao Jianhong objected, saying they would conduct an internal review.

Afterward, Zhu Yun scolded Hou Ning, saying he didn’t help Li Xun but harmed him instead. Hou Ning retorted, blaming Zhu Yun—believing that if it weren’t for her, Li Xun wouldn’t have gone to jail. When Zhu Yun and Fu Yizhuo escorted Hou Ning and Li Xun back, it was raining. Their belongings had been thrown outside and were soaked. Hou Ning, unable to bear it anymore, criticized the people around Li Xun as unreliable.

He said Zhu Yun only liked the guy who painted every day, and Fu Yizhuo was someone who never took anything seriously. But Li Xun firmly told Hou Ning that he cared about these people—including Hou Ning himself. Hou Ning, however, didn't believe it and left angrily. Li Xun brought a drenched Zhu Yun back to the company to rest. Zhu Yun changed into Li Xun’s shirt but found no pants.

Li Xun tossed her a pair of his own, which were too large and didn’t fit. He left Zhu Yun alone in the room and went to sleep on the couch. Zhu Yun couldn't help but smile.

The next morning, Zhu Yun woke up and found Li Xun asleep on the sofa. She leaned in to look at him and recalled the times she used to watch him like this in the past. Li Xun suddenly woke up, startled, and screamed in pain from a stiff neck. Zhu Yun rushed over to check on him. Just then, Guo Shijie and Zhao Teng arrived at work and thought something had happened between the two.

The more Zhu Yun tried to explain, the less convincing it sounded. Li Xun, on the other hand, didn’t even bother to explain. Jili Company continued to attack Invincible Warrior through advertising, dominating front-page headlines. The gameplay was nearly identical but less refined, and they were sparing no expense in an attempt to crush Invincible Warrior.

Zhu Yun saw Dong Siyang selling his car and learned that he was trying to keep the company afloat, but it might not last much longer. Zhu Yun hurried to find Li Xun, hoping for some strategy to save the company, but Li Xun was chatting with two little girls, infuriating Zhu Yun. She left immediately and returned his shirt. Watching her walk away, Li Xun didn’t look worried at all and even smiled.

Everyone at Wo Xin Fei Yang started packing up, preparing to disband—especially Zhang Fang. Unexpectedly, Dong Siyang showed up with a bag of money, claiming he wanted to do something big. The first step was team building. Driving a van with a broken window, he took everyone to a countryside restaurant. Along the way, Li Xun fell asleep. Afraid he’d catch a cold, Zhu Yun tried hard to shut the window and even blocked the gap with her body.

Li Xun, pretending to sleep, saw it all. Dong Siyang gathered everyone for drinks. The more Li Xun stopped Zhu Yun from drinking, the more she insisted. Dong Siyang talked about his past—once working at a machinery factory, going to jail for a fight over a friend, then deciding to start an internet company. Zhao Teng also shared his feelings, saying he had been in the industry for over ten years trying to make a great game.

Just as they had some results, Jili Company came after them. They couldn’t figure out what they had done wrong. Li Xun left and returned to his residence. Zhu Yun then revealed the truth about Jili Company—it was originally Li Xun’s company, which someone else had taken. Even if Invincible Warrior failed, they would still work on other projects. Zhu Yun solemnly apologized to Dong Siyang for hiding so much, but Dong Siyang said he had known all along.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have let someone without a résumé into the company. When Zhu Yun went to find Li Xun, she saw a photo on the floor—it was the one she had torn up on the rooftop. She remembered what Dong Siyang had said: when Li Xun came to him, he said Zhu Yun could be silly sometimes but was persistent and capable. Zhu Yun found Li Xun soaking in the hot spring and asked why he had that photo.

Li Xun stubbornly denied everything. Zhu Yun couldn’t help but laugh, saying he was just like how he used to be in school. She only wanted to know if he had ever thought of her. Zhu Yun knew all of Li Xun’s focus was on the company. No one had brought up their past, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t happened.

Li Xun insisted the past was behind him, but as he left, he still reminded Zhu Yun not to soak in the hot spring after drinking too much—if she drowned, no one would save her. The next morning, Zhu Yun brought Li Xun breakfast and talked about her fear of Fang Zhijing. Before, it was because of Xiaoyan. Now, it was because of Li Xun. Every time Fang Zhijing bullied someone she cared about, she could only stand by helplessly.

She blamed herself—if she hadn’t dragged Li Xun into that competition, they wouldn’t have provoked Fang Zhijing, wouldn’t have harmed Li Xun, and Li Lan wouldn’t have died. But Li Xun didn’t care and didn’t want Zhu Yun to dwell on it. He also told her that while she feared Fang Zhijing, Fang Zhijing feared them too. The more Fang Zhijing tried to crush them, the more he gave them opportunities.

When they returned to work, Li Xun presented a proposal for a new project: Love Blind Box. He was funding the project entirely by himself and had become the largest shareholder in the company. Seeing the images in the game, Zhu Yun realized that Li Xun had gone to the café last time not to flirt but for fieldwork.

Li Xun explained that the blind box concept was like looking for a dance partner after the lights went out—if you couldn’t find a suitable one, you’d keep recharging, ultimately making a profit. Zhu Yun was unhappy, thinking the idea was vulgar and worried about potential complaints. Li Xun promised to develop the game properly and not cross any lines. When they couldn’t agree, Li Xun proposed a vote. Everyone supported his idea.

Zhu Yun, angry, refused to hold the meeting. Li Xun, instead, comforted her. After work, everyone left. Zhu Yun went to the storage room to get something but couldn’t reach it. Li Xun helped, and the two accidentally collapsed a camp bed—right as Zhao Teng and Zhang Fang returned and saw them. They walked away holding umbrellas, pretending they saw nothing. While fixing the bed, Zhu Yun emphasized she wouldn’t be involved in the new project.

Unexpectedly, Li Xun never planned on asking her to help. He just asked her to focus on Invincible Warrior, like before—she worried, and he handled the outside world. Zhu Yun helped Li Xun find a new place to stay and even reserved a room for a studio. But Li Xun wanted to give that room to Hou Ning because he believed Hou Ning would come back.

While packing, Zhu Yun noticed that Li Xun’s shirt, which she had worn, was never washed. She told him to clean it because she had worn it. Li Xun said he already used it as pajamas. Zhu Yun blushed on the spot. Ren Di and Xiao Liu had also reached a breaking point. After becoming famous with Ren Di, Xiao Liu no longer cared about quality—he only cared about traffic.

He used to listen to everything Ren Di said, but now he was obsessed with fame and even told Ren Di that Qinghong no longer belonged solely to her. He wouldn’t leave just because she wanted him to. Angry, Ren Di got out of the car and reflected on how things had reached this point. She went drinking, singing, and dancing with Fang Shumiao and Zhu Yun to vent her frustrations. Gao Jianhong secretly ordered an investigation into Hou Ning.

He was a hacker who had once embezzled money from a small company and served seven years in prison. His skills were excellent, and he had fallen out with Li Xun. Gao Jianhong told Fang Zhijing to investigate thoroughly and then find him. When Zhu Yun and Zhao Teng arrived at the company, they saw Tian Xiuzhu downstairs and assumed he was there for Zhu Yun.

Zhao Teng hurried to inform Li Xun, urging him to go down and stop someone from stealing his girl. But Li Xun didn’t move. Instead, Tian Xiuzhu came upstairs—it turned out Li Xun had invited him. The two talked for a long time in the office. Super fan Guo Shijie immediately went looking for the best tea to serve Tian Xiuzhu. That evening, Tian Xiuzhu left with Zhu Yun. She curiously asked what they talked about.

Tian Xiuzhu spoke about the game—he was very interested in Li Xun’s blind box game and thought it was quite good. He was only worried about Li Xun’s health, believing he was unwell due to lack of rest. Tian Xiuzhu said he was going to France for an art exhibition and hoped Zhu Yun could go with him. When Zhu Yun was about to decline, Tian Xiuzhu interrupted her, asking her to think carefully before giving an answer. One night, Gao Jianhong found Hou Ning hiding in a garage.

Because it was the New Year, Zhu Yun, who was on holiday at home, didn’t want to get up at all. Liu Ailin, who had guests to entertain, specially woke her up and even invited Tian Xiuzhu over. While Zhu Yun was eating, she got a call from Zhang Fang—Invincible Warlord’s backend had been hacked. She panicked and called Li Xun, but he told her to enjoy the holiday and not worry.

Zhu Yun couldn’t relax, so she rushed to the company and discovered that Li Xun had even moved a folding bed into the office—he planned to live there. Zhu Yun simply stayed to help Li Xun deal with the backend issues. She said she wasn’t interested in computers at first and only got pushed into it by her mother, but it was Li Xun who made her fall in love with computers.

The type of person she despised the most were petty crooks like Hou Ning, and she didn’t want Li Xun interacting with him. Li Xun then told her about Hou Ning’s story—he had been betrayed by a friend for money and ended up in prison. But he wasn’t a bad person at heart; he just lacked someone willing to lend him a hand. The next morning, Zhu Yun and Li Xun tried cooking together—they were tired of instant noodles.

They looked at a recipe and experimented, but still ended up burning the fish. Li Xun lied and said it tasted good, but when Zhu Yun tried a bite, she almost threw up. In the end, they went back to eating instant noodles. Zhu Yun thought of Hou Ning—he was a computer whiz who could help with the current data problem.

Li Xun agreed to look for him, and when Zhu Yun tried to reach out, Hou Ning replied on her screen with the word "idiot. " When Li Xun walked Zhu Yun out, it had already started snowing heavily. Zhu Yun worried he’d get cold and told him to head back, but Li Xun liked staying by her side.

As snowflakes floated down, Zhu Yun caught them in her hand and watched them melt—but the snow in Li Xun’s hand didn’t melt, just like back in the day, when he was cold and unfeeling. They both recalled their wishes during a snowfall from the past. Li Xun reminded her just to send a message once she got home—but even that one sentence carried unspoken emotions, and they looked at each other with deep understanding.

Li Xun knew Hou Ning was the one who hacked the company website but couldn’t locate him. So, he gave Hou Ning’s photo and details to Dong Siyang, asking him to find him through his social connections. Dong Siyang had once run with rough crowds and had his own ways. Since the company was everything to him, he’d make sure to track Hou Ning down.

Zhu Yun was afraid Dong Siyang might use inappropriate methods, so she rushed to find Li Xun and asked him to stop everything and reach out to Hou Ning directly—they couldn’t just stand by and let something bad happen. But Li Xun was unmoved, which made Zhu Yun so angry that she left and sat at a bus stop.

Li Xun found her, knowing she was upset because of what had happened three years ago—back then, he had used improper methods too, which led to his imprisonment. Just as Li Xun was about to contact Dong Siyang per Zhu Yun’s request, Dong Siyang called to say he had found Hou Ning. Hou Ning had been hiding in a garage. Dong Siyang handed him over to Li Xun, who pretended to push him out the window to scare him.

Zhu Yun, watching from behind the glass, was terrified and started crying, her lips trembling. Li Xun quickly reassured her that Hou Ning was fine—someone was waiting below with a safety net, and he wasn’t hurt at all. Zhu Yun cried. Hou Ning had ended up in jail because no one had pulled him back, and Li Xun had suffered the same fate because she didn’t stop him in time.

She hadn’t understood Li Xun’s true intentions and was the first to leave him. She had never forgiven herself. Seeing Zhu Yun sobbing uncontrollably, Li Xun hugged her tightly to comfort her, hoping she could soon move past the guilt. The next day, Dong Siyang went to the police station and wrote a letter of apology, agreeing that both sides would drop the matter. He even suggested taking Hou Ning under his wing.

But Hou Ning refused to speak, so Dong Siyang kept him locked in a room with good food and drink. When Zhu Yun came to work, she scolded Dong Siyang for illegal detention. Dong Siyang asked her to try persuading Hou Ning.

Zhu Yun entered the room and met Hou Ning, saying she knew about his past and had already heard a lot from Li Xun. She wanted to take him to understand Li Xun better. She brought Hou Ning to Li Xun’s rented place. In the room were all the things Hou Ning had once abandoned—Li Xun had neatly placed them on the bed. Zhu Yun even gave Hou Ning the room’s passcode, clearly treating him as the rightful owner.

Hou Ning was moved—only Li Xun had treated him like a real person. With joint efforts from Zhu Yun and Li Xun, Hou Ning decided to join the company Wo Xin Fei Yang. When he arrived, Li Xun introduced him to everyone.

Though people knew Hou Ning had hacked their backend before and were angry, especially Zhang Fang, who was in charge of finances and believed Hou Ning had caused the financial loss, Zhu Yun knew Zhang Fang was only harsh with his words and wouldn't actually give Hou Ning a hard time. Li Xun wasn’t worried about Hou Ning—he was more concerned that Zhang Fang might get bullied.

Sure enough, Zhang Fang kept giving Hou Ning hostile looks, which provoked Hou Ning into taking action. With just a few keystrokes, he hacked Zhang Fang’s computer and played back his video history for everyone to see. Zhang Fang freaked out and yanked the power cord, almost starting a fight. Fortunately, Dong Siyang and Li Xun intervened. Li Xun told Hou Ning he couldn’t play tricks on others anymore.

After the Love Blind Box was developed and promoted, it didn’t perform well. But it caught the attention of Gao Jianhong, who insisted on having someone replicate it. Fang Zhijing tried to talk him out of it, urging him to focus on preparing for the company’s IPO and avoid clashing with Li Xun, lest it backfire. But Gao Jianhong wouldn’t listen and even reminded Fang Zhijing that Li Xun was the one who had caused him to lose his sight.

Li Xun asked Ren Di for help with promotion. When she went to find Xiao Liu, he was too busy entertaining Boss Zhao to record a song. Ren Di got angry and wanted to leave, but a colleague stopped her and explained that Boss Zhao was their record investor. Boss Zhao got angry at Ren Di’s departure and threatened to blacklist her. Though Ren Di didn’t care, Xiao Liu did. He believed that Qinghong without Ren Di had no soul.

He pulled strings, drank with Boss Zhao, and begged him not to blacklist her. Ren Di was touched, and they reconciled. Xiao Liu knew Ren Di disliked socializing, so he always took care of it himself. To her, he seemed unserious, but in truth, he was protecting her. Together, they promoted the game, drawing lots of attention and registrations. The company’s profile rose, and they started doing photo shoots and interviews.

Li Xun revealed his plan to Zhu Yun, Dong Siyang, and Hou Ning: they would deliberately make the Blind Box’s upgrade code complex. He had already grasped Gao Jianhong’s mindset—he wanted to copy the game, but it couldn’t be done in less than six months. Rushing would likely drive him to steal the code, walking right into Li Xun’s trap. During an interview, Li Xun publicly mocked Jili Company for thriving on copy-paste work, calling them insignificant.

Enraged, Gao Jianhong hired hackers from Malaysia to breach Li Xun’s backend—but they were defeated by Hou Ning. Xu Lina, disillusioned by Gao Jianhong’s actions, asked for a divorce. Instead, Gao Jianhong gave her a necklace and expressed his love, begging for another chance. Xu Lina agreed.

Gao Jianhong had always seen Li Xun as his enemy. When the hack failed, he tried to win Xu Lina over by giving her a necklace—but his real goal was to get her close to Li Xun and steal the source code. Xu Lina was shocked and hurt, accusing Gao Jianhong of handing her over like a pawn.

But Gao Jianhong believed Xu Lina had always liked Li Xun and flirted with him—this was just a chance he was giving her. Xu Lina mocked him for losing again to Li Xun. Enraged, Gao Jianhong slapped her, but immediately regretted it. When he tried to comfort her, Xu Lina coldly rejected him and walked away. The next morning, Gao Jianhong saw Xu Lina had stayed up all night on the sofa.

He made her an offer: if she could get the source code, he’d agree to a divorce. Xu Lina’s eyes lit up. She called Zhu Yun and invited her for a casual chat, suggesting that Zhu Yun convince Li Xun to work with Gao Jianhong to expand the Blind Box project. Zhu Yun found it odd, knowing Gao Jianhong would never agree to a partnership. She didn’t even drink the coffee Xu Lina specially made and left.

On her way back, Zhu Yun called Li Xun to tell him what happened. He couldn’t make sense of it either but shared that Invincible Warlord had won an award. They planned to attend the ceremony together. Li Xun even prepared a gown for Zhu Yun—everyone else wore black suits, but Zhu Yun’s white gown stood out. After the photo session and award ceremony, Li Xun gave his acceptance speech.

No one expected that he would thank Gao Jianhong—because his plagiarism forced Li Xun to pursue perfection. Meanwhile, Seven Kingdoms Conquest had long faded into obscurity. Smiling, Li Xun sarcastically noted that plagiarized works have no vitality. Now, many companies wanted to invest in his, but he only had one principle: quality over quantity. He announced their next goal—online healthcare, which had always been his and Zhu Yun’s dream. He especially thanked Zhu Yun for always believing in him.

After the ceremony, there was a celebration banquet. While everyone drank and cheered, Xu Lina approached Li Xun. Hou Ning pulled Zhu Yun aside to hide behind a column and listen to their conversation. Xu Lina reminisced about the past, saying that everyone had changed—except Li Xun. Zhu Yun wanted to rush out, but Hou Ning stopped her. He said this was part of Li Xun’s plan, and warned her that more women would approach him in the future.

He also revealed Xu Lina was trying to get the source code, and asked Zhu Yun to tell him if she ever suspected something—he didn’t want to go to prison again. That night, Zhu Yun saw Hou Ning in the office holding a pillow—she knew Xu Lina had gone to find Li Xun. At that time, Xu Lina was drinking with Li Xun, venting about everything that had happened. She seemed genuinely sad. She suggested they play a lying game.

Though Li Xun didn’t respond, she kept going, asking why she married Gao Jianhong. It was really because of love, she said—but even in reverse, it showed she had no love for him and still remembered the younger Li Xun. When Xu Lina woke up, she found herself in Li Xun’s room and secretly took the source code. But Li Xun was sitting in the living room—he knew everything. Xu Lina realized it had all been a setup.

Still, she wanted to help Gao Jianhong, and maybe herself too. Li Xun didn’t want to owe her anything. Xu Lina smiled bitterly—Li Xun had never owed her. She just envied the unwavering bond between him and Zhu Yun. After sending Xu Lina off, Li Xun messaged Zhu Yun, but heard a noise behind the tree. Calling out, he found Zhu Yun.

He told her everything about Xu Lina—he hadn’t wanted it to happen, and he had even warned Xu Lina. But she had her own agenda. All they could do now was prepare for legal action. Xu Lina handed the source code to Gao Jianhong. He gave her the divorce papers, removed their wedding rings, and gave her all the property. He promised to move out soon.

With red eyes, Gao Jianhong remarked on the irony—they had married while Li Xun was in prison and were divorcing after his release. He knew Xu Lina’s heart had long been elsewhere and that it was time to let go. After leaving, Gao Jianhong went to the hospital. He had a malignant brain tumor that needed surgery, but the risk was high. He refused to operate before defeating Li Xun—but the doctor warned him his life was at stake.

Gao Jianhong left the hospital and went to Hunan University's base, a place filled with his past memories. He thought about everything he'd been through with Li Xun, watching Li Xun now imprisoned by him. Holding the USB drive Xu Lina gave him, Gao Jianhong seemed confident he had the upper hand and was about to defeat Li Xun.

After Gao Jianhong brought back the source code, he instructed the team to make the changes as quickly as possible. However, they discovered that modifying any of the keywords in the source code would cause the entire game to malfunction. Gao Jianhong realized this was a trap set by Li Xun, but still insisted on applying it directly, disregarding any potential lawsuit from Li Xun.

In his view, Li Xun was just a small company that couldn’t afford to drag things out. Fang Zhijing mocked Gao Jianhong, saying he was no match for Li Xun, and demanded to pull out all his shares. He refused to continue playing along with Gao Jianhong, believing that it was his connections that brought the company this far. If he left, no one else would stay, and Gao Jianhong would be doomed.

Yet, Gao Jianhong was obsessed, willing to pay any price to defeat Li Xun. Li Xun coded through the night. Zhu Yun woke up in the warehouse and found him still working. She advised him to take care of his health and let Fang Shumiao handle the lawsuit. She reminded him that shouldering everything alone would be too exhausting. But since Li Xun insisted on doing it himself, Zhu Yun stayed by his side.

Stubborn as ever, Gao Jianhong launched the Perfect Girlfriend game. When Hou Ning accessed the backend, he found that the code hadn't changed at all. Li Xun wasn't in a hurry to sue; he planned to wait until Gao Jianhong made a big profit, then take action. However, Li Xun suddenly collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. On the way, he drifted in and out of consciousness, tightly holding Zhu Yun's hand.

Even during examination, he wouldn’t let go until the nurse reminded them that it was just a checkup, not a farewell between life and death. At the hospital, Tian Xiuzhu found Zhu Yun. Before leaving the country, he wanted to have a proper conversation with her. He acknowledged the pressure she was under and admitted he had decided to let go. He didn’t want Zhu Yun to feel guilty. Zhu Yun was moved by Tian Xiuzhu’s sacrifice and understanding.

Li Xun was diagnosed with extreme fatigue and just needed proper rest. Zhu Yun strictly monitored him—no computers, no work—and took the initiative to ask for leave from Dong Siyang. This time, Li Xun had to recover at home. Although he complained that Zhu Yun was nagging, he couldn’t hide how happy he was, which showed how much Zhu Yun cared about him.

The hearing for Gao Jianhong’s company listing coincided perfectly with the lawsuit over the Love Blind Box game, and the timing couldn’t have been better. Lawyer Wang also realized the seriousness of the matter, especially since Li Xun had teamed up with all the small companies previously plagiarized by Gao Jianhong. Li Xun was the lead plaintiff.

Lawyer Wang warned Gao Jianhong of the gravity of the lawsuit, but Gao Jianhong still appeared confident, having already prepared for a counterattack against Li Xun. Fang Zhijing went to find Xu Lina, hoping she could persuade Zhu Yun and Li Xun to drop the lawsuit. He also told Xu Lina that Gao Jianhong was sick and refused surgery. When Xu Lina was at her lowest, it was Gao Jianhong who helped her.

Regardless of his character, he had always been kind to her. Xu Lina, unable to bear it, secretly visited Gao Jianhong and, seeing him in such pain, decided to speak with Zhu Yun and Li Xun. Xu Lina got straight to the point, informing Zhu Yun and Li Xun of Gao Jianhong’s illness. She hoped they would withdraw the lawsuit, knowing that Gao Jianhong often reminisced about the past.

He even kept a photo of the three of them to this day. Li Xun immediately realized that Fang Zhijing had sent her, but Xu Lina denied it, claiming it was her own idea. She pleaded with them to let bygones be bygones and let Gao Jianhong undergo surgery in peace. She especially didn’t want to have regrets, knowing Gao Jianhong didn’t have much time left.

Though she denied it, Li Xun was certain Fang Zhijing had put her up to it and was furious, feeling they were being treated as pushovers. But in the end, he agreed to let Fang Shumiao negotiate. Fang Shumiao arranged a meeting with Gao Jianhong and Lawyer Wang. Gao Jianhong was surprised to see her, not expecting her to be Li Xun’s legal representative.

Lawyer Wang offered thirty million yuan to support the small companies, but only on the condition that Li Xun drop the lawsuit. He still didn’t admit any wrongdoing and hoped Fang Shumiao would persuade Li Xun for the benefit of all parties. Fang Shumiao sharply rebuffed them, mocking Lawyer Wang for always aiding the wicked despite graduating from a vocational school. Gao Jianhong dismissed Lawyer Wang to speak with Fang Shumiao alone.

He knew her presence meant Li Xun was wavering and presented a video—that was his reason for daring to plagiarize so brazenly. Fang Shumiao sent the video to Li Xun, who turned pale upon seeing it. Zhu Yun was also visibly shocked when she watched.

The video showed Gao Jianhong entering a room, followed shortly by Zhu Yun. When they exited, Zhu Yun was wearing different clothes, and Gao Jianhong deliberately buttoned his shirt at the door. He planned to use Xu Lina’s Douyin account to post the video, accusing Gao Jianhong of having an affair with Zhu Yun, the female manager of Fly With My Heart, creating a scandal and making it appear as though Zhu Yun had stolen the source code for him.

Li Xun knew this was a deliberate trap and was furious yet helpless. Not wanting to hurt Zhu Yun, he could only withdraw the lawsuit. Gao Jianhong’s own team began to fall apart—members left one after another, unable to stomach his underhanded tactics. They used to justify his bullying of small companies as survival of the fittest, but now they saw it for the despicable behavior it was. Zhu Yun confronted Gao Jianhong in person.

He insisted the video was unedited and could withstand scrutiny. Zhu Yun recalled that when Xu Lina had called her over that day, she had accidentally spilled coffee on her, making her change into Xu Lina’s clothes. Gao Jianhong had been hiding in the room at the time and later left, orchestrating the entire scandal.

Zhu Yun asked to see the source file for review but actually used it to post on Weibo, deliberately following Gao Jianhong’s narrative to walk his path and trap him in it. Seeing how resolute Zhu Yun was, Gao Jianhong’s eyes filled with tears. The post went viral, and rumors against Zhu Yun surged. Fang Shumiao notified a hungover Li Xun. Without hesitation, Li Xun rushed to see Zhu Yun.

When he saw her, he kissed her with heartache and asked why she did this. Zhu Yun knew how much Li Xun hated being coerced. She couldn’t allow herself to become someone’s leverage against him. Overwhelmed by emotion, they kissed passionately and spent the night together. The next morning, Zhu Yun woke up beside Li Xun with a blissful smile and kissed him gently.

Although happy, she also felt uneasy—unsure whether this was just a drunken impulse or a true reconciliation, still unsure if they were fully back together. She tried to convince herself to treat it as if nothing had happened. But as they left the room, Li Xun said he never confessed to anyone.

He used to make a girl come to him if he liked her, but now he wanted to ask Zhu Yun if she would be with him from now on. Zhu Yun replied yes multiple times and initiated the reconciliation. Li Xun teased her for being too forward. He knew Zhu Yun had always liked him, and their feelings hadn’t changed.

She might have feared that opening up would ruin their working relationship, but had she spoken earlier, he would’ve agreed without hesitation. Gao Jianhong proposed a settlement with Zhu Yun and Li Xun but was still reluctant to concede. If the review period passed, he swore he wouldn’t settle. Li Xun wasn’t worried and asked if he regretted it. Gao Jianhong shouted that he didn’t, then suddenly had a nosebleed, collapsed from weakness, and was rushed to the hospital.

Upset by Gao Jianhong’s hospitalization, Li Xun drank heavily. Zhu Yun came to see him and subtly encouraged him to drop the complaint. Li Xun asked if she would blame him if Gao Jianhong died. Zhu Yun admitted that once, toppling Gao Jianhong felt crucial, but now she thought Li Xun’s future mattered more. She used to hate Fang Zhijing, but had since let it go. Meanwhile, Gao Jianhong awoke in the hospital.

Xu Lina brought him porridge and had canceled her overseas ticket to stay with him through the surgery. Gao Jianhong reminded her they were divorced, but Xu Lina pointed to the ring on his hand—he had never truly divorced her in his heart, and she never signed the divorce papers. The doctor told Xu Lina that Gao Jianhong’s condition was serious and surgery was riskier now due to the delays—it might even be fatal.

In two separate places, Li Xun and Gao Jianhong were thinking the same thing—how had they ended up like this, no longer who they once were? Before surgery, Gao Jianhong insisted on seeing Li Xun; otherwise, he wouldn’t go through with it. Zhu Yun visited him at the hospital and pleaded with him to have the surgery first. Gao Jianhong sadly remarked that even if he were dying, Li Xun still wouldn’t come see him.

Gao Jianhong talked to Zhu Yun about the past. He had always been unwilling to live in Li Xun’s shadow, but eventually accepted it. However, he still couldn’t let go of the fact that Li Xun had to provoke Fang Zhijing, which led to him being disqualified from the competition. Before the competition, he had even pleaded with Li Xun, but Li Xun refused to back down.

Although he knew Li Xun apologized on stage for his sake, it still didn’t change the outcome. Later, to teach Li Xun a lesson, he told Fang Zhijing where Li Lan lived. He hadn’t intended to harm Li Lan, but unexpectedly, Li Lan died because of it. He couldn’t forgive himself and was afraid Li Xun would find out, so he deliberately targeted Li Xun. At this point, Gao Jianhong would rather die than undergo surgery.

Meanwhile, Li Xun called from Li Lan’s grave and told Gao Jianhong that if he couldn’t accept the outcome, then he should recover and live on. Because of Li Xun’s words, Gao Jianhong agreed to proceed with the surgery. Li Xun stood at the stairway door watching him. When the operating room door closed, Gao Jianhong looked back and saw Li Xun standing outside. When Zhu Yun returned, she saw Li Xun sitting alone on the sofa, looking nervous.

Zhu Yun informed him that Gao Jianhong’s surgery had been successful. Li Xun smiled and told Zhu Yun that his agreement with Gao Jianhong included getting back the name “Jili Company,” and Zhu Yun agreed. In the end, as part of their reconciliation, the company name went to Li Xun, and he didn’t ask for a cent from Gao Jianhong’s company.

Fang Shumiao looked at Li Xun’s back and couldn’t help but praise that he was still as handsome as ever. Back at the company, Li Xun announced that he and Zhu Yun would no longer be making games. From now on, Zhao Teng would be in charge, and the company would be renamed Jili, with everyone becoming shareholders. Zhang Fang happily declared he would treat everyone, but the result was that each person got one ice pop.

Everyone shared their wishes. Li Xun complained that there were too many delivery packages cluttering the hallway, and immediately promised that soon the entire floor would belong to their company. Guo Shijie hoped to hold a beautiful wedding with his girlfriend. Just then, Liu Ailin and Zhu Guangyi arrived and called Zhu Yun outside. Liu Ailin was upset that Zhu Yun was still with Li Xun and firmly opposed their relationship.

Zhu Yun explained the entire process of how they reconnected and stated clearly that she would not give up on Li Xun, and she was determined to be with him to the end. Liu Ailin, with a strong stance, objected, believing that Li Xun had been to prison and people like him don’t change. She even thought Zhu Yun had been brainwashed by Li Xun.

While Zhu Yun was talking to Liu Ailin, Dong Siyang approached Zhu Guangyi on Li Xun’s behalf to negotiate. He praised Li Xun as a remarkable young man who turned his company around and believed the two were genuinely in love, something parents shouldn’t interfere with. What surprised Dong Siyang was that Zhu Guangyi did not oppose Zhu Yun’s choice.

Li Xun also went to see Liu Ailin, hoping she would set some conditions—any condition—as long as he could be with Zhu Yun. But Liu Ailin made impossible demands: first, Li Xun must erase his criminal record, and second, both families had to sit down for a proper talk. However, Li Xun’s parents had long passed away. Liu Ailin’s biggest grievance was that Zhu Yun used to be obedient, but now she was always so rebellious.

Li Xun believed Zhu Yun had the power to change the world, but Liu Ailin just wanted her to be a dutiful daughter. Li Xun turned and left, and Zhu Yun saw her mother off. In fact, Li Xun hadn’t left. He hid in the stairwell and said he would always be there and hoped to spend a lifetime convincing Liu Ailin that Zhu Yun made the right choice.

That night, Zhu Yun was the first to bring up the idea of having a child. Li Xun agreed without hesitation, saying all they were missing was a marriage certificate and they could get one right away. If Zhu Yun wanted a child, they could have one anytime. Li Xun took Zhu Yun to see a house he had chosen especially for her.

In the past, Li Xun didn’t have a concept of family and thought love alone was enough, so he never brought up marriage. But now he found the idea of marriage joyful too. Li Xun and Zhu Yun, accompanied by the whole company, went to register their marriage. They took wedding photos, got their marriage certificate, and moved into a new home. Everyone came to celebrate and brought gifts.

Only Hou Ning joked that Zhu Yun had stolen his roommate—that was his gift to her. Ren Di and Xiao Liu also had their wedding. Wo Xin Fei Yang climbed to the top three on the charts. Gao Jianhong and Xu Lina went out of town to recuperate. Watching Zhu Yun laugh so happily, Li Xun felt full of joy, and his face showed it.

Dong Siyang teased Li Xun about how marriage is the grave of love, but seeing the affection on Li Xun’s face, he recalled a saying: “If only life were always like the first time we met. ” In Li Xun’s heart, his thoughts had already flown back to that first meeting at Hunan University.

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