Once and forever: The sun rises – Zhang Zimu, Zhang Kaitai

In 2021, the chief editor, Xie Qiao, gave a final ultimatum to the author, Lu Qianran. Lu Qianran wanted to know the details of the performance at Tiananmen Square on the night of Hong Kong's return, and hoped that Xie Qiao, who was present, could help her recall it. Xie Qiao found out a videotape labeled "Qiao Qiao's most glorious moment". The tape recorded a group of ignorant teenagers dancing in front of Tiananmen Square on the night of Hong Kong's return. Xie Qiao couldn't help but smile as memories of that era slowly unfolded.

Qin Chuan deliberately talked to Xie Qiao about how the yellow weasel was a great immortal, and although Xie Qiao pretended to be disdainful, he secretly fed the yellow weasel in hopes of smoothly participating in the performance. Qin Chuan and He Xiaozhou analyzed the reason why Xie Qiao was angry, but couldn't figure it out. Qin Chuan wanted to please Xie Qiao with a fruit eraser, but unexpectedly, it was the eraser Xie Qiao had lost, making Xie Qiao even angrier. Qin's father, who was in business, returned from Guangdong and showed everyone various fashionable products. Qin Chuan received his new mountain bike as he had wished for.

No one discovered Xie Qiao's secret, but Qin Chuan was lectured for staying out all night. Xie's dad released the weasel, and life returned to normal. In 2021, Xie Qiao's dad found a sick pigeon, and Xie Qiao surprised him by sharing the bird's illness and treatment. This reminded Xie Qiao of the mysterious pigeon-raising boy, Xin Yuan, who moved into the alley in 1997 with a strange and suspicious demeanor, causing everyone's fear and speculation.

Qin Chuan asked Xie Qiao and He Xiaozhou to meet with Li Qiang and reminded them to protect themselves. As expected, Li Qiang tried to bully He Xiaozhou to show Qin Chuan who was boss. Fortunately, Qin Qian happened to pass by and scared Li Qiang into agreeing to reschedule. Later, Xin Yuan found Xie Qiao and the others and told them not to do anything for him. Due to his unfortunate experiences, Xin Yuan believed he was the "White Tiger Star" that people talked about when referring to people who bring bad luck to others. Xie Qiao couldn't convince Xin Yuan otherwise. Meanwhile, Xie's dad's poem was published in the newspaper, and he explained to Xie Qiao that literature is a form of expression. Xie Qiao was deep in thought and later, he and Qin Chuan visited Xin Yuan's pigeon cage at night and left a letter.

Xie Qiao was curious about the blurry information on the note. In 2021, he saw some students carrying old desks outside of Yenching Fourth Middle School, and he helped them. On one of the desks, he found the words "A surprising success - XQ," which made him remember something from the past. In 1998, Xie Qiao and Qin Chuan were preparing for the high school entrance exam. The atmosphere at Xie's house was serious, and they were not even allowed to watch TV. On the other hand, Qin's family didn't have high expectations for him because of his poor grades. However, when Xie's grandma explained the importance of the exam to Qin's grandma, she became very worried and had a nightmare. She quickly caught up with Xie's family and ordered Qin Chuan to study hard.

Mr. He is unhappy with Mrs. He for earning money from the neighbors, but Mrs. He believes that she is providing quality products at affordable prices for everyone. However, it turns out that the children who ate Mrs. He's health products all fell asleep. Qin Chuan was also forced by his grandmother to join the tour of Beijing No.4 High School, during which Qin Chuan and Xie Qiao both yearned for the school. Qin Chuan took a magazine from the boys' restroom in the school and saw that the last page was filled with wishes. He also wrote that he wanted to go to No.4 High School with Qiao Qiao. While Qin Chuan was getting food in the school cafeteria, Li Qiang deliberately knocked over his food by pushing Dalong. Dalong was panicked, but Qin Chuan bypassed him and went straight to confront Li Qiang.

Xie Qiao fell and broke his bone while struggling with Li Qiang for his exam paper. Li Qiang ran away upon seeing the situation. Xie's mother rushed to the hospital in a hurry. Surprisingly, the first thing Xie Qiao said to his mother was that he did well in his English exam and could go to No.4 High School. Xie's mother felt sad and tearful, reflecting that she had been too strict with Xie Qiao. After Xie Qiao was discharged from the hospital, Xie's mother relaxed her rules and allowed Xie Qiao to watch TV, but Xie Qiao misunderstood that his mother had completely given up on him. Xie Qiao broke down and cried in front of Qin Chuan, who tried his best to cheer Xie Qiao up, even giving him his precious pen as a gift.

Mom He was selling insurance to her neighbors and got into an argument with Dad He again. Xie Qiao wrote a letter to her in the style of Anni Baobei, with a lot of ambiguous insights and imagined her own dreamy high school life. But reality is often too harsh, especially when Xie Qiao discovered that Liu Wenwen was in the same class as her, her dreamy high school life seemed to become unreal. There is a graffiti wall at Denghua High School with a mysterious string of numbers on it, and students at Denghua High School are proud to solve the mystery of the numbers.

Xie Qiao worked hard on writing an excellent article, but Qin Chuan did not appear on the day of the interview. Sun Tai had to thank Xie Qiao for saving the day at the last minute and sat in front of the radio station. However, Sun Tai gave Joe a book of English poetry, which Joe struggled to read and made a fool of himself in front of the whole school. At the same time, Qin Chuan was with Li Qiang because he accidentally heard from Da Long that Joe's broken bone before the high school entrance exam was caused by Li Qiang. Unexpectedly, Qin Chuan's actions coincidentally rescued Liu Wenwen, who was being harassed by Li Qiang. Liu Wenwen was very grateful to Qin Chuan.

The parent-teacher conference is coming up, and the three friends in the alley are each facing their own anxieties. Strict Mrs. Xie is going to attend Xie Qiao's conference for the first time, Qin Chuan failed an exam but wants to get a reward from his parents, and He Xiaozhou didn't come in first place for the first time in his life. The friends couldn't understand each other's troubles, but they were both afraid of Mrs. Xie's authority. When Xie Qiao found out that he unexpectedly got first place in his worst subject, English, he began to look forward to his mother's attendance and hinted that the exam would be difficult, hoping to surprise her at the conference.