Summary 4

This page contains an original arc analysis written for readers of the English translation.

Arc Four: The 1970s Scoundrel Dad — Changing Fate One Sunflower Seed at a Time

Arc Four looks ordinary at first. No rich families. No martial arts. No celebrities. Just a dusty village, a lazy reputation, and a man everyone expects to fail. That is exactly why this arc hits so hard.

Ji Xiu enters the 1970s as a village “scoundrel,” the kind of man people cross the road to avoid. He doesn’t work much. He talks too casually. He looks like trouble. His wife, Li Shiyue, is an educated youth with real academic ability, and their daughter Yingzi is still small enough to believe the world is gentle. Everyone in Chunxi Village is certain of one thing: this family will amount to nothing.

Ji Xiu has other plans.

Instead of dramatic rebellion or moral lectures, he starts with something dangerously subversive—doing useful things quietly. He roasts sunflower seeds. He negotiates a tiny corner near a movie theater. He sells snacks to young people who don’t want to run errands between screenings. It’s small-scale, technically illegal, and very smart.

This arc’s first theme is survival under systems that don’t care about fairness. In the 1970s countryside, effort does not guarantee reward, and honesty does not protect you. Ji Xiu understands this instantly. He doesn’t posture as righteous. He studies demand, prices accordingly, and keeps his head down. Li Shiyue worries constantly, not because the plan is bad, but because being noticed is dangerous.

And she’s right.

As their small business grows, so does resentment. Sun Yue, a jealous educated youth with too much time and too little self-awareness, decides that Li Shiyue’s happiness must be stolen from her. She can’t outwork her. She can’t outstudy her. So she targets the man.

Sun Yue convinces herself that Ji Xiu ignored her because Li Shiyue “controls” him. This delusion spirals into open provocation in the fields, thinly veiled insults, and eventually outright slander. What makes this conflict uncomfortable is how familiar it feels. Sun Yue isn’t evil. She’s insecure, entitled, and desperate to feel chosen.

Li Shiyue’s response is one of the most satisfying parts of the arc. She doesn’t cry. She doesn’t endure. She draws a line. Loudly. Publicly. She claims her husband without apology and makes it very clear that proximity to Ji Xiu is not a shared village resource.

This matters because Arc Four isn’t just about Ji Xiu changing. It’s about Li Shiyue growing into someone who refuses to be quiet to preserve harmony. She learns that silence doesn’t make people kinder; it makes them bolder.

The real antagonist of this arc, however, is Guan Jia’an.

Guan Jia’an is an educated youth with ambition but no integrity. He wants out of the countryside and sees every relationship as a stepping stone. In the original timeline, he leaves, abandoning consequences behind him. This time, Ji Xiu is in his way.

After being humiliated physically and socially by Ji Xiu, Guan Jia’an doesn’t reflect. He plots. He sniffs out the sunflower seed business and reports Ji Xiu for “buying low and selling high,” a crime serious enough to ruin lives.

Here the arc becomes a masterclass in controlled escalation.

Ji Xiu doesn’t panic. He shuts down the business instantly, destroys all evidence, and waits. When the villagers arrive to search his house, led by Guan Jia’an and backed by Captain Lin, Ji Xiu welcomes them in.

The tension in this scene is brutal. Li Shiyue cooks while strangers tear through her home. Huang Taohua, Ji Xiu’s fierce mother, watches with murder in her eyes. Guan Jia’an searches frantically, convinced he is about to win.

And finds nothing.

This moment defines Ji Xiu’s growth in this arc. He isn’t reckless anymore. He’s calculated. He understands timing, optics, and how public shame works. When nothing is found, he doesn’t let it go. He demands accountability.

Guan Jia’an is forced to kneel and apologize. Worse, he must stand before the entire village and deliver a self-criticism. The same man who once believed he was destined for greatness is reduced to a cautionary tale.

But the arc doesn’t let him off easy afterward either.

The restoration of the college entrance exam is announced, and suddenly everything Guan Jia’an sacrificed looks meaningless. He married Lin Ying, the production team leader’s daughter, for advantage. He thought this would guarantee his escape from the village.

Instead, it traps him.

Lin Ying’s character turns the knife further. She isn’t as naive as she appears. When she discovers Guan Jia’an’s diary and realizes she was only ever a tool, she doesn’t scream or beg. She lets the truth destroy him quietly. Her transformation shows another theme of the arc: women who wake up do not need to be loud to be dangerous.

Meanwhile, Ji Xiu and Li Shiyue study.

This is the heart of Arc Four.

Ji Xiu doesn’t just want money. He wants a future. He teaches Li Shiyue himself, not to dominate her, but to make sure they move forward together. Their late-night studying, shared frustration, and eventual success turn marriage into partnership. Li Shiyue regains her academic confidence. Ji Xiu reveals terrifying talent. They become equals.

When the Ji family panics, afraid Li Shiyue will leave once she gets into college, Ji Xiu does something radical: he tells the truth in front of her. He makes it clear that if she wants to go, he’ll go with her.

Arc Four matters because it shows what real change looks like. Not dramatic speeches. Not sudden power. Just careful planning, mutual trust, and the courage to stop playing a losing game before it destroys you.

By the end of this arc, Ji Xiu is no longer a scoundrel. He is a husband, a father, and a man who understands systems well enough to beat them without becoming one of their victims.

And sometimes, that starts with sunflower seeds.