Love Endures

Huang Yingzi, a 30-year-old journalist at a digital news media in Jiangzhou, offends an influential business figure during an interview, leading to severe criticism from her editor and the threat of dismissal. Disheartened, Huang reminisces about her carefree, daring youth and the friends who were her comrades then.

Two weeks prior, Jiang Yi returned to China and told no one. He secluded himself in a hotel room, living in despair and ignoring Guan Chao’s wedding invitation. He secretly watches Huang from afar, his gaze filled with longing, until she recognizes him despite his helmet. Jiang embraces her, saying it's been a long time.

At 18, to keep his frequently absent parents home, Jiang pretended to have amnesia. His friends created a book of his embarrassing moments to jog his memory, which they laugh about now. Huang then reveals wish cards given to her on her 17th birthday, hoping they will join her at the wedding in Space City.

At 18, Jiang Yi's parents were often abroad, leaving him materially satisfied but emotionally distant. Although he received the roller skates he wanted, his parents weren't there to share the joy with him. Huang Yingzi, who couldn't skate, invited Jiang out to play and ended up teaching him, though she fell a lot herself.

Huang Yingzi and Zhuang Yuan are forced to meet at a cafe for a matchmaking session arranged by their parents. On the surface, they cooperate to appease their parents, but secretly discuss Jiang Yi. Huang finds Jiang's behavior mysterious; why can't he attend the wedding since he's back in the country? After some time, Huang suspects Jiang is caught in a dispute over game copyrights.

Jiang Yi returns to Jiangzhou, rents a house, and prepares to start anew with a job hunt. Knowing this, Huang busily gathers information on domestic gaming companies to help Jiang. Meanwhile, Zhang Yiran, failing to secure an interview with Ding Ye, learns of Huang's keen interest and passes the assignment to her.

Huang Yingzi was thrilled to learn that Jiang Yi was interviewing at a gaming company. If Jiang Yi could stay in Jiangzhou, there might be a chance to rekindle their long-unresolved feelings. Huang Yingzi remembered how she felt at 18, mistakenly thinking that Jiang Yi liked Fang Mingyu. At that time, the TV was showing Chinese Paladin.

During the process of persuading Ding Ye, Huang Yingzi noticed his odd behavior—he was terrible at chess but dared to challenge chess masters in the park, tirelessly. When Huang Yingzi brought up the interview, Ding Ye still harshly refused, a stark contrast to the Ding Ye who had written back to comfort and encourage her when they were young.

Jiang Yi, to help resolve the conflict between Huang Yingzi and Fang Mingyu, and Huang Yingzi, to help Zhuang Yuan fulfill his wish, both thought of holding a New Year's gift exchange party, just like when they were kids.

Huang Yingzi finally found a breakthrough in Ding Ye's works from his university days by inventing a novel that Ding Ye had mentioned, which piqued his interest. Just as Ding Ye was about to agree to Huang Yingzi's interview, Huang Yingzi suddenly saw a familiar middle-aged man appear. The man looked very much like Lan Yifei's father - Lan Bin. Huang Yingzi immediately chased after him.

On the road to finding Lan Bin, Huang Yingzi cautiously probed the relationship between Jiang Yi and Chloe, and Jiang Yi also tested Huang Yingzi's relationship with Ding Ye. The two discussed their definitions of friendship, with Jiang Yi telling her that the friendship between him, Huang Yingzi, and the others, who had grown up together since childhood, was irreplaceable.

Ding Ye held a book club meeting, and during Huang Yingzi's conversation with Ding Ye, she talked about the story related to Lan Yifei. This led Ding Ye to learn that the middle-aged man Huang Yingzi had chased a few days earlier was her good friend's father. Huang Yingzi's loyalty to her friend reminded Ding Ye of a friend from his past. Jiang Yi's situation at the game company was not easy.

After this meeting, Ding Ye disappeared. Huang Yingzi searched everywhere but couldn't find any information about Ding Ye's whereabouts, leading her interview to fall through again. She also faced tremendous pressure at work. At a critical moment, Zhang Yiran stepped forward to help Huang Yingzi by acknowledging that the matchmaking topic was Huang Yingzi's contribution.

After the negotiation, Huang Yingzi tried to bring up the bucket list with Ding Ye, but before she could speak, Ding Ye dragged her to an amusement park and forced her to ride a roller coaster with him.Huang Yingzi remembered when she was eighteen, Lan Yifei was depressed because of her mother's departure, and everyone went to the amusement park to cheer her up.

On a rainy day when Huang Yingzi was 18, she forgot her umbrella. Jiang Yi gave her an umbrella painted with whales but stubbornly refused to admit he was the artist. Fang Mingyu saw everything and understood Jiang Yi's feelings for Huang Yingzi. She silently ended her own unrequited love and gave Huang Yingzi movie tickets, encouraging her to go with Jiang Yi.

After Wan Fang left, Guan Chao spent every day helping Lan Yifei at her grandmother's wonton shop. Guan Chao was about to try out for the university track team, but Lan Yifei challenged him to a race. Under a large tree, Guan Chao caught up with Lan Yifei, and they both understood each other's feelings.

Jiang Yi wanted to explain to Huang Yingzi, but learned from a phone call that Huang Yingzi was drowning her sorrows in alcohol and had fallen while drunk. Jiang Yi rushed to Huang Yingzi's home and personally clarified that he had rejected Chloe. Only then did the misunderstanding between them clear up, and they reconciled. They discussed the issues encountered with the game character design.

Huang Yingzi was taken by Ding Ye to Xishan to watch the sunrise, fulfilling the last wish on his bucket list. Ding Ye, who had always been reclusive and quirky, opened up to Huang Yingzi about his life: he had only ever communicated with the world through writing and realized too late that he needed friends, which made him envious of Huang Yingzi's relationships with her childhood friends.

Although Jiang Yi understood Huang Yingzi's intentions back then, he still couldn't forgive her for pushing him away in that manner. The two went from discussing the present to venting their past grievances and parted on bad terms.

Although Fang Mingyu accepted Guo Kai's proposal, they were still competitors at work. One day, Guo Kai, claiming he didn't want their relationship to be discovered, urged Fang Mingyu to give up the competition. However, Fang Mingyu was unwilling to sacrifice her career for the sake of so-called love.

Huang Yingzi and Jiang Yi finally established their relationship. For this, Huang Yingzi specially made a "Love Announcement" and planned to complete the tasks on the announcement one by one with Jiang Yi. They changed their profile pictures to a couple's photo, wore matching outfits, went shopping together, and tried to catch dolls together.

Guo Kai sought out Fang Mingyu, apologizing and asking her to retract her statement to facilitate his long-awaited promotion. However, Fang Mingyu had seen through Guo Kai's true nature and refused to forgive or give him another chance. In a fit of rage, Guo Kai physically assaulted her. When Huang Yingzi arrived at Fang Mingyu's home, she found Fang Mingyu badly injured.

Jiang Yi's encrypted section in the game was once again questioned, and his colleagues suspected him of plagiarism. Jiang Yi sought comfort from Huang Yingzi, but she was preoccupied with concerns for Ding Ye's safety, making Jiang Yi feel neglected.

Zhuang Yuan accompanied Fang Mingyu to do yoga and took her to a graffiti wall to relieve stress. Fang Mingyu knew Zhuang Yuan was worried about her being unemployed and heartbroken, and she was touched. Fang Mingyu and Zhuang Yuan decided to become friends again and get to know each other anew, perhaps feeling differently this time.