Episode 18 recap: Wu Jiayue and Liu Yuanqing caused trouble at the wedding.
Wu Jiayue arrived and expressed her frustration that nobody informed her about this day, and she had prepared a grand gift for Lin Xiaofan. Wu Jiayue presented a report on a trust fund, stating that when Lin Xiaofan went bankrupt, he had purchased a 10 million trust fund for his daughter in Hong Kong. She questioned how someone who transferred assets to evade debt could lead their home appliance market.
Liu Yuanqing also arrived and claimed to have a gift for Lin Xiaofan. Liu Yuanqing presented a patent report, alleging that Lin Xiaofan's mobile phone design was plagiarized from their company, and Lin Xiaofan owed them compensation. Liu Yuanqing had also acquired a significant number of shares in Xiaofan Technology and announced his intention to convene a shareholders' meeting. Fei Stin informed Lin Xiaofan about the situation, revealing that Liu Yuanqing now had the support of Wu Jiayue and had become their largest shareholder by purchasing their shares in the secondary market.
Wu Jiayue and the others discussed the matter and agreed to contribute funds, but if the acquisition failed, Liu Yuanqing and his group would be held responsible. Liu Yuanqing agreed to this condition. Lin Xiaofan and Liu Yuanqing had a discussion, and Lin Xiaofan believed that their short-term borrowing and long-term investment strategy would not end well. Liu Yuanqing advised him not to use financial jargon and urged Lin Xiaofan to think about what he should do.
Lin Xiaofan stated that he had also prepared a significant gift for them, which was a poison pill plan.
This explanation makes it clear. At the end of the third season, Liu Yuanqing, using the alias Chen Yuan, and the child Lin Xiaofan, both perished in 2022 at the beginning of the first season.
Then, with their modern memories, they were reborn in 1993 as another middle-aged man named Chen Yuan and a young man named Lin Xiaofan. The original hosts of these two individuals are already dead, and Chen Yuan also experienced soul transmigration.
Otherwise, it wouldn't explain why the original Chen Yuan had a wife and a company in the first season. However, the process of Chen Yuan's soul transmigration is not explicitly explained in the drama.
Meanwhile, in 1993, the child Lin Xiaofan and the young Liu Yuanqing were living fine.
Initially, the reborn Chen Yuan personally fought against the reborn Lin Xiaofan, but after failing, Chen Yuan encountered his younger self, the destitute Liu Yuanqing, in the timeline of the first season's ending, at the audio-visual store.
He began to guide Liu Yuanqing to fight against the reborn Lin Xiaofan, which led to the plot of the second and third seasons. Eventually, Chen Yuan found the child version of Lin Xiaofan and trained him to fight against himself.
Superficially, it may seem like Chen Yuan is the biggest winner, manipulating everything. However, in reality, he is the biggest loser. Driven by his damn desire to win, he lived with hatred for most of his life.
He was a failure before his rebirth and ended up spending over twenty years in solitary confinement after being imprisoned. In the end, he achieved a remarkable life for both versions of Lin Xiaofan, before and after rebirth.
It has to be said that Chen Yuan's grand vision of sacrificing himself to benefit others is truly unparalleled.