Our Dazzling Days Episode 14 Recap
> Our Dazzling Days Recaps
The failed pipeline project left Zhang Xiaoman not only without profit but also facing a significant debt that wiped out his hard-earned savings. Seeing his distress, Dongdong offered all his money, leaving himself with only a few crumpled bills. Xiaoman, well aware of Dongdong's own financial struggles, firmly refused the help. When Dongdong noticed a "Summer Vacation Plan for Shanghai" on the table, Xiaoman dismissed it, saying it was no longer important compared to the immediate problem of the compensation.
That night, Xiaoman called Yan Xiaodan from a public telephone. He lied, claiming he had to attend a training camp and couldn't visit her in Shanghai. To his surprise, Xiaodan shared that she was planning to return to the plant for the summer because she missed him. The news instantly lifted Xiaoman’s spirits, and his previous worries vanished. By the summer of 1999, Xiaodan and Xia Lei arrived home on the same train.
At the platform, Xiaoman and Xiaodan shared a tight embrace until Xia Lei’s parents jokingly reminded them of the public setting. Because Xiaodan’s parents had requested it, she stayed at the Xia home. Tong Guizhen had meticulously prepared a room for her with fresh bedding and new toiletries. Meanwhile, Xia Lei found himself relegated to the sofa, while Xiaoman jokingly offered him a spot on his family's traditional "kang".
Xiaoman later took Xiaodan to his old house, which he had scrubbed clean. On the table sat a gleaming model of the "Mahavira Hall" reaction tower that he had welded himself. Xiaodan was stunned by the detail, noting it was better than the work of senior students at her university. When Xiaoman showed her that the model could light up and produce smoke like a functioning machine, she was so moved that she kissed him.
Later, the group of old friends reunited at the actual site of the tower. They reminisced about childhood "fireworks battles" and arm-wrestled to settle old scores. Looking at the silent chimneys, Xiaoman remembered exactly when each one had stopped smoking, starting with the smelting plant during their sophomore year. On a Friday night, fireworks illuminated the sky above the tower. Recognizing the sign, Xiaodan ran toward the site, calling Xiaoman’s name.
He met her with a smile, reminding her that he had promised to set off fireworks for her every Friday at 9:17 PM. Together, they held sparklers and enjoyed a beautiful evening. As summer drew to a close, Xia Limin and Tong Guizhen helped Xia Lei and Xiaodan pack. Tong Guizhen insisted on filling Xiaodan's luggage with local delicacies like honey fungi, wood ear fungi, and corn flour for her father.
Xiaoman arrived to see them off, bringing Xiaodan a red bean popsicle. Xiaodan was heartbroken to leave, but Xiaoman comforted her, promising that she would be back for the New Year. Once back in Shanghai, Yan Wenyuan was deeply impressed by the model, praising Xiaoman’s skill as that of a senior welder. In the city, Fan Weijie visited Xia Lei’s dorm and found him using his computer to learn English and practice programming.
Impressed by Xia Lei's progress with a campus website, Fan provided him with the latest programming books. With Fan's support, the website began to flourish. Seeing the potential of the internet, Fan rented a small office on the seventh floor of a building to start a business together. While Xia Lei was excited by the high-speed connection, he felt the weight of pressure regarding the startup costs and registered capital.
After attending a class reunion, Yan Wenyuan returned home complaining about his old classmates. He found their talk of international banks and Pudong pretentious and felt like an outsider in Shanghai. He realized he missed the genuine camaraderie of his old colleagues at the East Chemical Plant. Life at the plant, however, remained difficult. Ding Guoqiang was struggling to support Xiaoman’s needs.
He began buying meat in tiny portions, claiming he was avoiding it to manage his health, while secretly ensuring Xiaoman had enough to eat. The local butcher, sensing the struggle, gave Ding some free pork skin. Zhang Xiaoman and his fellow vocational students eventually graduated and officially entered the East Chemical Plant as workers. Director Liu led them through the plant’s history museum.
The students were moved to see photos of their parents; Xiaoman even recognized a cloth pad his grandmother had sewn for the machines. Director Liu shared the history of the "Third Front" plants, explaining how factories were moved to inland mountain regions in the 1960s for military preparedness. He explained that because they were a secret military unit, the plant was never marked on maps, and the workers had to tell outsiders they worked at a simple chemical plant.
He showed them a 1978 confidentiality manual filled with "second simplified characters," a relic from their parents' era. Director Liu noted that many workers had spent their entire lives there and were buried on the western hillside, their tombstones forever facing the factory. He told the new recruits that while they might be the last generation of military workers as the nation shifted toward high-tech weaponry, they were still the future of the plant.
Inspired, the group began to sing "Ode to the Motherland." In Shanghai, Xiaodan won first place in an architectural design competition with a project inspired by her father’s reaction tower. She described her work not as plagiarism, but as standing on the shoulders of giants. Her professor recommended her for a study tour in France, and while her parents urged her to seize the opportunity, Xiaodan felt torn about being away from Xiaoman.
Back at the plant, the new workers received their uniforms and were assigned to masters. As Dongdong met his new mentor, Master Tan, Ding Guoqiang was in a heated confrontation in an office nearby. He was furious that the plant had stopped covering the cost of his essential medication due to budget cuts. Despite his protests about his past service, he was told he would have to pay for the medicine himself.
