June 2, 2015

The Cage of Love Episode 5 and 6


These two episodes are making me like all four leads (maybe not as much for Fei Fei). They all get a little bit more mischievous with one another, mostly involving Jiang Yu though.

♦ ♦ ♦ Episode 5 ♦ ♦ ♦


After fainting at the factory, Cai Hong is resting at home under Shao Tian’s care. Stepmom comes in and reprimands Shao Tian for being in Cai Hong’s room in the middle of the night. Ma’am, why not care for you daughter first? When Shao Tian excuses himself, Stepmom advises Cai Hong that a man like Shao Tian isn’t any good because they Cai Hong needs someone rich to rely on.


The next day at work, Cai Hong offers to help with soliciting the roses to save their batch of dye since Jiang Yu and Fe Fei failed to do so. Jiang Yu lets her have a try on one condition: if she fails, she’ll have to resign. She's helping you and you're threatening to fire her? So off they go to Old Lady Jiang’s. On the way there, Cai Hong prepares tea for him but because they’re on a ship, an unexpected wave forces Cai Hong to lose her balance and spill the tea on Jiang Yu’s clothes. Is this scene's purpose to take revenge on Jiang Yu for splashing water at Cai Hong in the face? If so, that was too weak! When Jiang Yu goes to the back of the ship to fix his attire, Cai Hong sneaks into his accounting book and rips out a random page.


Lady Jiang’s face turns sour upon seeing them. Neither Cai Hong nor Jiang Yu leave though. They’re planning to stake the night if they have to. However, they both take a moment to absorb the beauty of the flowers at the exact same time. I like subtle moments like these. This show seems to have a nice balance of them. Other than smelling flowers, Jiang Yu really is useless there while Cai Hong does all the work. However, being useless isn’t the problem, his presence is the problem. Old Lady Jiang hates seeing him smile and refuses to even talk if she sees catches sight of Jiang Yu.


I actually lol-ed when Cai Hong obnoxiously tells him to screw off. Haha. The art of ridiculing someone without the use of words is satisfyingly rewarding. Amusingly, Jiang Yu obeys. With just that short moment of his absence, Cai Hong successfully convinces Old Lady Jiang. Her secret tactic? She finds out what a person needs instead of their weakness, unlike a certain someone (Jiang Yu). Cai Hong’s promise to Old Lady Jiang was that she’ll return every year to help maintain her flowers in memory of the lady’s daughter. Jiang Yu is once again impressed but more than impressed, he’s falling harder and harder for her. His eyes are drawn to her and they would have stayed longer if she hadn’t caught him looking.


Their lovely world gets interrupted by Shao Tian’s appearance. Not that he suspected Cai Hong’s ability in persuading Old Lady Jiang but a guy, a successful guy, needs to be equipped with backup plans. He used his money to buy these fake flowers that have the dye colour they need, although they’re now useless, Cai Hong is thoroughly impressed with his brains. She also worries that she’s used up his money. He's the least bit worried as he (romantically) assures her, “I’ll just sell my winter coat; I’ll be warm next to you anyways.” Jiang Yu purposely walks by and tells them not to flirt and how “cold” his pickup line was. LOL. However, the clear winner is Shao Tian in this battle just because he gets to wipe Cai Hong’s sweat. The drama needs to stop making her look like some sweaty girl.


As they're busily gathering the roses, they don’t realize that the last ship out of this island has left. Old Lady Jiang only has two rooms, which will mean Jiang Yu and Shao Tian have to share one. And there’s only one bed. The two men declare war for this sacred resource. Jiang Yu cautions Shao Tian his snoring is out of this world; he’s even famous for it. Shao Tian dismisses that claim and then they both dash to the bed. And then there were two on the bed. With the exact same pose. Cute.


Neither of the men budge but Jiang Yu proceeds to his famous snoring. How one becomes famous with snoring: snoring with your eyes wide open and directly into the ears of the person next to you. Unfazed, Shao Tian flips Jiang Yu to the other side with one fell swoop.


Then they embark on a battle of legs. It was a fair fight until Jiang Yu’s foot slams on a man’s most prized possession. Shao Tian loses in this childish battle but he gets the better prize: Cai Hong.


When he heads out the room, he spots Cai Hong star gazing. She’s reminiscing her parents. I’m thinking Jiang Yu overhears their conversation which is why he barks at Shao Tian to sleep already, otherwise I don’t understand why he would leave the sacred bed.


The men go back in to their room but as Jiang Yu sips his tea, Shao Tian suspiciously sniffs its aroma. They share a sweet awkward moment here but it was all a pretense for Shao Tian to hog the bed all to himself as he dashes to the bed first while Jiang Yu's still holding his tea. Lol.

The next day, there’s a dilemma: only one person can board the boat. Shao Tian is quick to push Jiang Yu onto it because (he claims that) he and Cai Hong are just lowly employees that cannot take the responsibility of losing the roses if they were to drop them into the water. I like how Shao Tian knows exactly how to provoke Jiang Yu. It's okay Jiang Yu, they don't do much on the island. Cai Hong takes this opportunity to update Shao Tian on her search for evidence: she's found nothing; that the paper she ripped from the accounting book was useless.  


With everyone back in the city now, there’s a meeting at Ling Long. Being the secretary, Cai Hong’s main duties includes brewing tea for her boss. This time she brings in three cups of tea each at three different temperature. LOL. First, she gives the medium one but he complains it’s too cold. Brilliantly, she adjusts the temperature by pouring hot water into his “warm” cup from the other cup. She returns him the same cup and they have a little staring contest in front of all the staff. And is it just me or is Fei Fei holding back a smile? Jiang Yu is peeved but that doesn’t mean he’ll let her win: he knocks the cup over, spilling the water all over the documents. Cai Hong is one step ahead of him this time. Like a magic trick, she lifts the tray and underneath it is a copy of the document he just wrecked. Jiang Yu is thoroughly peeved. I LOVE this. Jang Yu is losing a lot in his petty battles.

But let’s not underestimate Jiang Yu too much because he knew all along that Cai Hong stole a page from his accounting book back on that boat. Her search efforts have piqued his interest in finding the real culprit behind her father’s death. He instructs Fei Fei to look into anything suspicious in Wu Hong Da’s finances. Disgruntled, Fei Fei can’t refuse her brother’s orders. However, somewhere in Fei Fei’s consciousness, she actually suspects her brother having part in Wu Hong Da’s death but she quickly tries to shake that scary thought away.

Later that day, Jiang Yu heads off somewhere suspiciously with a document. Cai Hong was ordered not to follow him, instead she stealthily tails him. She finds out he went to Ling Long’s dye warehouse to leave the document there.


Back in the office, silence envelops the two. However, this silence seems to enhance their awareness of the other. Needing something to do in the heavy silence, Cai Hong feeds the fish and dusts his office. Once again, Jiang Yu’s eyes are inexplicably drawn to her and all the memories of her surge in, from her being cheery to being bratty to being phoney. He’s in love. Cai Hong’s sixth sense is sharp when it comes to stares (while other things, she’s quite blunt). She turns to catch his stare but he flicks back his head. I’m not sure if she caught him but she does stare (openly) at him for a while. He certainly feels it as he blinks awkwardly for a few seconds. He’s probably feeling more emotions swelling on the inside than he’s willing to show us.


Later that night, Shao Tian tells her he can’t walk her home tonight because he arranged dinner with a friend. This friend is Lu Man. Her motive is either one or all three of these: seducing Shao Tian, hiring him, and/or investigating about that secret formula. There is no end to her obsession with the secret formula. In the end, she gets none of what she wants. Shao Tian doesn’t know anything about a secret formula and he's been there for a decade. Also, he isn’t one bit fazed with her offers or her seduction. The dinner’s over and he goes to make sure Cai Hong is safe at home. But she’s not.


That night Cai Hong went to the warehouse to find that document Jiang Yu was holding this afternoon. It’s déjà vu but reversed because Jiang Yu’s the one tailing her. Basically, everything was his scheme to catch her in the act of spying on him. Once she's inside, he locks her in the warehouse but that’s not enough, he also cuts the electricity in that room leaving Cai Hong locked in complete darkness. She screams as she accidentally grabs a handful of bugs (which are dye ingredients, I suppose). His prank doesn't end there: he grabs a rocking chair and rocks and forth just to create these squeaky noises. What a mischievous boy. With the added touch of ringing his keys, he successfully scares the wits out of Cai Hong. Poor girl must think there’s mice all over the place.


♦ ♦ ♦ Episode 6 ♦ ♦ ♦


Jiang Yu enjoys his bullying but his amusement comes to a halt when Cai Hong cries for Shao Tian’s help. Whether he’s jealous or genuinely worried, I can’t tell, but he opens the door to relieve her fear. (I was sort of expecting an embrace from Cai Hong but) She yells at him for his cruel joke. Shao Tian comes in now (how he knows she’s here is beyond me) to protect her. Jiang Yu’s mischievous act is a warning towards Cai Hong to stop her from being mischievous. Make sense? Anyways, she promises not to commit something like this again. I think it’s more like she promises not to get caught again.

I don’t remember when the accounting book became the focus of this murder mystery but she’s right on the money. Shao Tian tries his best to discourage Cai Hong from looking into it but she’s adamant on it. Even Jiang Yu is zoning into that accounting book and he’s actually starting to suspect that the henchman (who has a title: Mr. Cai or I’ll call him Lao Cai) couldn’t have embezzled such a large amount on his own.


Unfortunately, Wu Hong Da’s original accounting book (which was held by the police all this time) is burnt by an unknown man in black. Jiang Yu even gets into a fight with him but the man runs off. Picking up the destroyed accounting book to examine its remnant, Cai Hong witnesses this exact scene. With that, she assumes he burnt the book. It’s one thing misunderstanding that scene but another thing claiming she saw him burn it with her own eyes. 


Despite the burnt book, Cai Hong isn’t completely disappointed because there’s still hope in finding Lao Cai in his old village, ‘Xiao Shan’. She requests a leave from Jiang Yu (she claims it's to visit her sickly cousin) which he grants her all too easily. However, Shao Tian delays her trip to the next day because he won’t be able to accompany her today since he needs to care for his sickly mother. This buys him some time to stop her from finding Mr. Cai successfully. Here’s his plan: he finds his buddy, Ah Li, to pretend to be a horseman to take Cai Hong to Xiao Shan but obviously he purposely goes in the wrong direction. If she was going to go without Shao Tian, I don’t get why the trip was delayed in the first place…

Oddly enough, Jiang Yu is completely aware of her plans. He even goes out of his way to search for Cai Hong. On his horse, he follows the trail the carriage left behind. When Jiang Yu catches up with the carriage, he discovers a battered man (it’s Ah Li). Jiang Yu laughs when he finds out Cai Hong was the one that beat him to a pulp.


Following Ah Li’s direction, Jiang Yu searches on foot. You’re really going out of your way, Jiang Yu. It takes some effort, but he finds her. Notice the first thing he does is assess whether she’s okay (she’s limping). For her though, she’s puzzled as to why he’s here but he diverts that question back to her.

Jiang Yu: You’re cousin lives here, huh?
Cai Hong can’t fess up to her lie.
Jiang Yu yells at her: Is your brain okay? You obviously went the wrong direction but you still continue heading down that road. You’re not afraid to be sold off?
Cai Hong’s eyes are red: You came all the way here to purposely yell at me, didn’t you? 
Jiang Yu: I’m yelling at you only for one reason, because I care about you because you’re stupid.
Cai Hong fires back at him: You’re the one who’s stupid!

She limps away from him now.
Jiang Yu: Where you going? There’s lots of wolves nearby ~ The biggest one is you, Jiang Yu.


And that gets Cai Hong to obediently follow him. But the girl is still limping and eventually falls once more. Being our hero, Jiang Yu forcefully carries her on his back. The sun’s setting and they’re still lost. They settle down to make a bonfire since it’s too dangerous to wander around at night. Jiang Yu leaves to find food but Cai Hong doesn’t want to be alone.

Jiang Yu (seeing her being sort of clingy) asks: If your boyfriend found out you and me (a man and a woman) stayed overnight in the middle of the woods, what would he think?
Innocently, Cai Hong answers without hesitation: But I don’t have a boyfriend.
Jiang Yu lingers on that clarification before he leaves.
Cai Hong: Don’t go too far!


When Jiang Yu returns with the food, he accidentally scares her. She got so frightened that from sitting she went to standing and almost falls. Right before she falls though, Jiang Yu catches Cai Hong and they end up in another accidental embrace. Again, they both feel the sparks. It takes a while for them to separate but after they do, he shoves the fruits in her hands with the excuse of them tasting nasty. I don't think Jiang Yu ate... 


Turns out the fruits were delicious as Cai Hong nibbles away and even smiling at the sweetness of the fruits while stealing some glances at Jiang Yu. When she's asleep, Jiang Yu covers her with his vest. He stares at her sleeping face without any reservation now and smiles.

While these two are peaceful, there’s a search party for Jiang Yu and Cai Hong after Shao Tian found out what happened from Ah Li. Fei Fei’s the one that organized the search party. She’s worried for Jiang Yu and even threatens Shao Tian if anything happens to her brother, Cai Hong is dead meat. Shao Tian throws back the same threat at her instead it will be her brother that’s dead if Cai Hong's the least bit hurt. I’m sort of looking forward to how these two will end up together. It’s not until morning are the Jiang Yu and Cai Hong found. They share one more (sort of) sweet moment before they part ways: she returns him his vest only to be refused by Jiang Yu because it’s dirty. (Still, Cai Hong should be grateful to him.) Even though they’ve separated, Jiang Yu orders one of his men to follow Cai Hong. Meanwhile Cai Hong (along with Shao Tian) continues her search for Lao Cai. The girl just doesn’t give up.


Unfortunately, her search leads her to a dead end. Lao Cai isn’t there anymore. Fruitlessly, Shao Tian sends her home. As he watches her go in, we hear his thoughts, “Cai Hong, there are things in this world that are best left as secrets.” We also see flashbacks this time of a brawl with Wu Hong Da. The flashback was so fast that I’m not certain the person that murderously jabbed the pen at Wu Hong Da was Shao Tian but it does look like him.

On Jiang Yu’s side, he’s now completely updated with Cai Hong and her findings from the spy he implanted near her. Jiang Yu now orders his men to find Lao Cai’s mistress and offhandedly asks for Cai Hong’s wound (remember her limping). Eavesdropping this whole time was none other than Fei Fei. Previously Fei Fei had questioned him why he’s getting involved with Cai Hong needlessly but he claims that the culprit who killed Wu Hong Da is a threat to them as well. You know, because that culprit is capable of scary stuff. 

That night, Fei Fei can no longer control her hatred towards Cai Hong, she barges into her brother’s room (and jumbles his beautiful thoughts of Cai Hong), reminding him of the reason for their father’s death and their family’s miseries. In other words, she's reminding him of why he should hate Cai Hong. If she loved him, she really shouldn’t be reminding him of his pain… Angrily, he replies her he’s never once forgotten, not for one darn moment. She requests for Cai Hong’s dismissal but big bro has plans of his own. Or so he says.

Meanwhile, Mom’s looking for her reading glasses and goes berserk when she sees Wu Hong Da on the newspaper (even though it’s news of his death). She’s admitted to the hospital once again. This scene has one purpose: to remind Jiang Yu of their family’s miseries because of Cai Hong’s father. Our boy just can’t love the girl he loves.


Oh hi there Mr. Cat! Long-time no see. Seeing the cat, Jiang Yu’s feelings for Cai Hong rush in. Cai Hong. Oh the turmoil. He tells the cat it’s time he returned him back to his master.

The next day, Fei Fei helps her brother receive the note detailing Lao Cai’s mistress whereabouts. She’s not exactly happy that her brother’s involving himself in matters that matter not to him. I fear she won’t give the note to him and this fear of mine worsen when she spots Cai Hong carrying Jiang Yu’s vest on her arm.  


♦ ♦ ♦ Comments ♦ ♦ ♦


Despite Cai Hong logically hating Jiang Yu, the hate doesn’t come across in her actions. She smiles quite a bit at him: first when they successfully convince Old Lady Jiang; then with the fruit scene. She also returns a thoughtful look at Jiang Yu in the office (before Jiang Yu locks her in the warehouse). Even Jiang Yu's hate towards her isn't obvious at all. I know most people shipping the two can claim that it's because they un/consciously love each other but I'd say it's a little hole in the plot. Despite saying that, I'll just brainwash myself that they un/consciously love each other. Shrugs 

I also think the plot is a little weak when they obsess over that accounting book (and that secret formula!) for no clear reason. When Cai Hong steals that random page from Jiang Yu on that boat, it was a completely futile attempt. That accounting book wasn’t even her father’s to begin with so what on earth can she find in Jiang Yu’s accounting book page?

Honestly, I don’t think I’ll be this nitpicky if I weren’t recapping because the general plot isn’t bad all, it's just when you dig into the details... Anyways, I am enjoying this and I quite adore the leads. I haven’t seen Zheng Shuang since Let’s Watch a Meteor Shower (lets excuse her cameo in The Terrible Four) and this will be my first Hawick Lau drama if I finish it. As much as I loved the two's interaction in these two episodes, my favourite scene has to be Shao Tian and Jiang Yu's physically intimate bed scene, lol. 

These episodes made me like Shao Tian more, or the actor behind him. He’s got these expressions that are so animated at times but still fit so well with his stoic personality. He can also be a romantic. I hope there's a twist in this murder mystery so that he's not a murderer. I've grown fond of him. 


And I'm so looking forward to these two! 


She really is pretty and I especially liked her when she tried to contain her smile back in that tea scene. I guess she likes seeing her brother peeved too. 


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