A chef wins her boss's heart by winning his stomach.
Notable Actors/Actresses
Notable Actors/Actresses
Lin Yu Shen: Lu Jin
Zhao Lu Si: Gu Sheng Nan
Episodes: 24Mini Recaps
Lu Jin is the new to-be-boss of the hotel Sheng Nan works at. He was utterly disappointed in the food up until Sheng Nan’s shrimp fried rice. After tasting it, he’s in heaven. He requests to see the chef. Unfortunately, because of the fire she took responsibility for when it wasn’t her fault, she was fired.
Lu Jin and Sheng Nan’s next encounter is in his red luxurious Ferrari. She was supposed to destroy the car for her friend. But she got the wrong car. Again, she’s in the wrong. She tries to get out of the awkward situation by pretending to be Korean. Lu Jin doesn’t miss a beat and replies in Korean. He knows more than her. Hahaha. I can speak Korean like that too! LOL.
Lu Jin calls his mother to tell her about the hotel acquisition. He asks her mother if there’s anything else she wants to talk about. Natta. Today is actually his birthday. He’s celebrating it alone with ramen but later decides to treat himself out. Fate has it that he shows up at Sheng Nan’s grandfather’s restaurant. He falls in love with her food again. He walks into the kitchen, curious to see the chef. He sees her back. She’s putting her hair into a bun with a spoon. The grandfather rushes into the kitchen and catches him. Sheng Nan scurries out because she sneaked into the kitchen too. She drops the spoon from her hair. Lu Jin picks it up.
Sheng Nan is rehired because Lu Jin only eats her food. Not only that, she gets a promotion. Her friends celebrate with her by booking a VIP room in her hotel. Who’s paying? Sheng Nan is. She freaks out and only has 1/3 of the money. Her friends accept that so they can go AA. Sheng Nan drinks too much and somehow barges into Lu Jin’s room next door. Being a gentleman that he is, he carries her to his bed. I laughed at how he had to force his arms out from under her. She’s not that heavy. Plus he’s go mighty fine biceps anyways.
Lu Jin is suspicious of Sheng Nan. He thinks she’s his stalker of some sort. He only recognizes her from the car incident. While he thinks she’s still drunk in his bed, she already ran off. Sheng Nan had snapped back to consciousness the moment he carried her to his bed. She pretended to be drunk because she recognized him too. Hence why her positions on the bed were shifted every time he checked on her.
Today’s menu impresses Lu Jin. He had ordered 'red wine' and the rest was up to Sheng Nan to decipher. Thus she made Red Wine Steak, Red Wine Pear, etc. Yum, yum, yum. Lu Jin requests to see the chef. Sheng Nan replies by sending a chicken cooking set. Inside the chicken (not real chicken meat) is a boiled egg. Meng Xin Jie, his secretary asks Lu Jin if the chef is insulting him. Lol. Lu Jin gets the message: “If you’ve seen this chicken and enjoy this egg there’s no need to see the chicken who laid the egg (i.e. who cooked the food).” Wow. That was what it meant? Meng Xin Jie tries to smartly analyze the water that accompanies the egg: "When you drink water, don't forget who dug the well." Pft. Lu Jin is the least bit impressed. He corrects his secretary that the water is for him to not choke on the egg. Lu Jin is even more determined to see this chef.
By chance, Sheng Nan accidentally inflates a tube man that knocks Lu Jin into the water. He thought his luck couldn’t get any worse but he drinks her witch soup made of all sorts mushrooms. Now he's poisoned. His consciousness is affected. He falls over her and she pushes him off. When she realizes he’s poisoned, she gives him a huge glass of water to chug. He can barely drink. He’s making “guru” noises. She yells at him to stop guru-ing LOL and drink the damn water. She tries to make him vomit but he ends up burping these magical bubbles. Sheng Nan is enamoured meanwhile Lu Jin is still poorly sick. She continues to make him burp these fantasy-like-bubbles for fun. Next day, he wakes up utterly embarrassed in himself for being her victim twice in a day. It doesn’t help that the hotel staff are giving him a full blown over-the-top apology. Sheng Nan is immediately fired.
[Ep4] Lu Jin shows up at Sheng Nan’s grandfather’s restaurant once more where he meets an unwelcoming Sheng Nan. This meeting isn’t any less unfortunate for Lu Jin. Sheng Nan was trying to help a fighting couple by throwing a beer bottle. I don’t know how that helps. The bottle hits you-know-who right at the back of his head. He wants compensation. She doesn’t have any money. Our female leads never have money. However, he just wants her to be his cooking slave. She heartily accepts because that’s way better than paying him back the enormous amount he was demanding of her.
Getting to Sheng Nan’s place was a journey of mishaps for Lu Jin. He’s either tripping or falling. Miraculously, he arrives in one piece and enjoys a delicious – expensive – meal. Each time he has a meal, money is deducted from her debt. She’s money wrangling him.
Getting to Sheng Nan’s place was a journey of mishaps for Lu Jin. He’s either tripping or falling. Miraculously, he arrives in one piece and enjoys a delicious – expensive – meal. Each time he has a meal, money is deducted from her debt. She’s money wrangling him.
[Ep5] Lu Jin plays Sheng Nan’s game. This time for dinner, he brings his own wine and curtails all her attempts at doubling the service fees. Sheng Nan retaliates with another tactic: seduction. She dresses up all innocent. Her flirtation worked. Lu Jin fell for it. However, in front of his secretary, Meng Xin Jie , Lu Jin refuses to admit he fell for her. It’s his retaliation the next day. He arrives at her door with a rose bouquet. She’s like perfect! She immediately takes the bouquet, snips off the roses and grounds the petal. He’s speechless. She’s using it to make her food. Then he tries to look scholarly in front of her by reading a book in her kitchen with the perfect amount of calculated sunlight. She tells him to scat. The book he’s reading is titled “I hate” which is the exact opposite of the drama’s Chinese title.
The next day, she performs qin for him. Wow. She's aiming to charge him for a hefty performance fee. He agrees in a heartbeat but forgot his pen to sign the bill. When she’s reaching for the pens located at a place higher than her height can attempt, he deliberately helps her. His suit jacket drapes over her. She inhales his scent through his jacket, lost in his smell. With a touch to her forehead by his purposeful fingers, she’s dazed. She runs to her room and locks herself in it. He asks about the bill; she tells him to forget it. He’s got her.
For next night’s dinner she miscalculated his bill. Restaurant rules are the customer doesn’t have to pay and this rule applies here too. Lu Jin gets another free dinner. The next meal, she clumsily spills water on his suit. He’s fine with it but she zealously insists that she must clean it for him. It surprises even Lu Jin. So now he gets free dinners and clothing services.
The following dinners, Sheng Nan is giddily waiting for Lu Jin to arrive. The power source to her building is out though. When she trips, Lu Jin is there to catch her. She calls him Lu Turtle Hair* again and he requests for a new nickname. Thus she calls him "Jin Ge Ge." Somewhat like Jin Oppa. He likes the sound of that. Their "mm' segment had me smiling. So cute. There's actually a difference between the two "mm's" but it's way too hard to explain it with words here. I wonder how this set of dialogue was even written in the script.
For next night’s dinner she miscalculated his bill. Restaurant rules are the customer doesn’t have to pay and this rule applies here too. Lu Jin gets another free dinner. The next meal, she clumsily spills water on his suit. He’s fine with it but she zealously insists that she must clean it for him. It surprises even Lu Jin. So now he gets free dinners and clothing services.
The following dinners, Sheng Nan is giddily waiting for Lu Jin to arrive. The power source to her building is out though. When she trips, Lu Jin is there to catch her. She calls him Lu Turtle Hair* again and he requests for a new nickname. Thus she calls him "Jin Ge Ge." Somewhat like Jin Oppa. He likes the sound of that. Their "mm' segment had me smiling. So cute. There's actually a difference between the two "mm's" but it's way too hard to explain it with words here. I wonder how this set of dialogue was even written in the script.
*Lu Turtle Hair is the nickname Sheng Nan gives Lu Jin. Turtle Hair (龜毛) is the direct translation. It’s used in Chinese to describe someone who is picky and high maintenance.
[Ep6] Lu Jin frequents Sheng Nan’s home so much, he’s familiar with everyone and dodges all the mishaps with ease. Her “uncle” is here to show Lu Jin whose boss but Lu Jin owns him. Lu Jin and Sheng Lan are practically “dating” and don’t mind shoving that fact in uncle’s face.
Lu Jin falls asleep on Sheng Nan’s couch. She’s snapping pictures of him. She trips and her cheek lands on his lips. He’s wide awake now. Lu Jin awkwardly leaves. Sheng Nan squeals in joy. When Lu Jin’s home, his mind is full of her. He remembers her exclaiming at her pet turtle which she calls Lu Turtle Hair. He tells her to change the name and she calls it Jin Ge Ge. Lu Jin is satisfied.
The immediate obstacle to Lu Jin and Sheng Nan’s blossoming relationship is his secretary, Li Man. His ex girlfriend broke up with him because he chose his secretary over her. Well, all we can say is he’s just not that into her over his work. Li Man probably also prides herself for being needed by Lu Jin. She’s unnecessarily involved in her boss’s private relationships. She forces him to focus on work and leave the city (i.e leave Sheng Nan).
Lu Jin is aware he has his business to tend to. He calls it off with Sheng Nan. The girl was expecting a confession, not a farewell. Sheng Nan's tears start rolling down uncontrollably but she tries her best to keep her last pride in front of him by splitting their bill AA. She doesn’t want to owe him anything. When she’s at home she breaks down completely. Her neighbours think she’s a ghost. Whenever she’s an emotional mess, the market ladies are afraid of her. She has a habit of cutting their prices in half. Heh.
[Ep7] Lu Jin finds out Sheng Nan broke her neck and leg. He’s in a different city. Amidst a brewing hail, there’s no train back. Thus, he takes a taxi back which will be a ten hour trip. The taxi picks up other guests along the long distance trip. There’s an auntie who guesses why he’s taking such a long trip. He must have had a fight with his girlfriend but she also adds that by his age, he should have kids. Lu Jin is offended. Pft. The more the lady talks about her love, the more Lu Jin reminisces about Sheng Nan. There’s an emotional scene of him eating corn. It really is a different taste watching a man his age doing a romcom. I mean it in a good way.
The taxi can’t enter the city. He’s forced to take a rusty motorbike the rest of the way. When he’s there she’s cold to him. Can’t blame the girl. He doesn’t know why he’s here. The moment he heard she broke her leg, he just had to be here. She hollers back that it’s her fault she broke her leg forcing him to be here then. Lu Jin stares at her. The next moment, his lips are locked to hers. She pushes him off. He apologizes and stumbles away. Sheng Nan sniffles to herself, "You kiss me and you leave me." Haha.
Lu Jin falls asleep on Sheng Nan’s couch. She’s snapping pictures of him. She trips and her cheek lands on his lips. He’s wide awake now. Lu Jin awkwardly leaves. Sheng Nan squeals in joy. When Lu Jin’s home, his mind is full of her. He remembers her exclaiming at her pet turtle which she calls Lu Turtle Hair. He tells her to change the name and she calls it Jin Ge Ge. Lu Jin is satisfied.
The immediate obstacle to Lu Jin and Sheng Nan’s blossoming relationship is his secretary, Li Man. His ex girlfriend broke up with him because he chose his secretary over her. Well, all we can say is he’s just not that into her over his work. Li Man probably also prides herself for being needed by Lu Jin. She’s unnecessarily involved in her boss’s private relationships. She forces him to focus on work and leave the city (i.e leave Sheng Nan).
Lu Jin is aware he has his business to tend to. He calls it off with Sheng Nan. The girl was expecting a confession, not a farewell. Sheng Nan's tears start rolling down uncontrollably but she tries her best to keep her last pride in front of him by splitting their bill AA. She doesn’t want to owe him anything. When she’s at home she breaks down completely. Her neighbours think she’s a ghost. Whenever she’s an emotional mess, the market ladies are afraid of her. She has a habit of cutting their prices in half. Heh.
[Ep7] Lu Jin finds out Sheng Nan broke her neck and leg. He’s in a different city. Amidst a brewing hail, there’s no train back. Thus, he takes a taxi back which will be a ten hour trip. The taxi picks up other guests along the long distance trip. There’s an auntie who guesses why he’s taking such a long trip. He must have had a fight with his girlfriend but she also adds that by his age, he should have kids. Lu Jin is offended. Pft. The more the lady talks about her love, the more Lu Jin reminisces about Sheng Nan. There’s an emotional scene of him eating corn. It really is a different taste watching a man his age doing a romcom. I mean it in a good way.
The taxi can’t enter the city. He’s forced to take a rusty motorbike the rest of the way. When he’s there she’s cold to him. Can’t blame the girl. He doesn’t know why he’s here. The moment he heard she broke her leg, he just had to be here. She hollers back that it’s her fault she broke her leg forcing him to be here then. Lu Jin stares at her. The next moment, his lips are locked to hers. She pushes him off. He apologizes and stumbles away. Sheng Nan sniffles to herself, "You kiss me and you leave me." Haha.
[Ep8] Cheng Zi Qian, her childhood friend (brother like friend), turns out to be the new hotel manager.
Sheng Nan confides in her friend, Xu Zhao Di, she does love Lu Jin. She’s about to pursue him regardless of the time (it’s currently midnight). Xu Zhao Di holds her back and says she must move strategically. Sheng Nan concocts her witch soup for him before he leaves the city again. However it spills over when she finally arrives at the right destination. But he’s still here. He picks up her thermos and asks her if she can make it once more. She smiles a wide one. Aw.
The next scene is a cake scene. Sheng Nan delivers a cake to Lu Jin. The secretary intercepts and indirectly snubs her as a delivery girl. Lu Jin is just going to stand aaround like that? This scene is so jarred. Where’s the connection from the airport/train scene to this cake scene? Where’s the sweet make up? Lu Jin is amused with the cake. It’s turtle themed. Li Man isn’t amused though.
The next day Li Man starts criticizing Sheng Nan’s dishes. She can’t mix lowly ingredients to expensive ones. It’s an indirect snub at Sheng Nan’s relationship with Lu Jin. She's calling Sheng Nan the lowly one.
[Ep9] Lu Jin and Sheng Nan have an argument because of Li Man. Sheng Nan doesn’t like him eating food from two girls. The way she says it sounds like he’s cheating. Lu Jin tells her to give him some time. Hah? I don’t get this man’s struggles. A girlfriend and a secretary are very different. Unless he doesn’t think they are.
Lu Jin’s solution: he moves in next to her. He brings her a present, it’s Wife Cakes (they’re called that in Chinese, very common but obviously Sheng Nan sees more into the present). However, he never put Cheng Zi Qian into his equation. Sheng Nan uses him to make Lu Jin jealous, very jealous.
[Ep10] Sheng Nan finds out Lu Jin has been stalking her. She’s upset; he has no right to intervene in her life. He’s like of course I do I am your – but he just can’t finish that sentence. Sheng Nan wants him to finish that sentence too. As she walks away, he finally succumbs. He tells her he’ll do everything she wants but can she stop going on dates with someone else. Sheng Nan turns around. She asks him if he likes her. Lu Jin hesitates but surely he answers “yes”. The hotel staff suddenly barge in but that doesn’t interrupt their romantic moment. She gives him a finger heart through the crowd. He returns with an inconspicuous finger heart of his own. I love how he used the same fingers to casually touch his mustache.
Sheng Nan wants to be the head chef and now there’s a competition for it. She calls over Lu Jin to help her taste her food. To him, her food tastes too perfect that it’s imperfect. It lacking a humane flavour. He tells her how his father abandoned them and how hard her mother worked to establish herself. Although his mother looks perfect, an independent career woman, Lu Jin knows how much she suffered. There's a certain beauty in imperfection. Sheng Nan understands. Good, cause I don't, at least not in terms of food. The current head chef is eavesdropping. This doesn’t look good.
Cheng Zi Qian visits Sheng Nan in the morning. Lu Jin and Cheng Zi Qian are having a telepathic war over Sheng Nan.
Sheng Nan wants to be the head chef and now there’s a competition for it. She calls over Lu Jin to help her taste her food. To him, her food tastes too perfect that it’s imperfect. It lacking a humane flavour. He tells her how his father abandoned them and how hard her mother worked to establish herself. Although his mother looks perfect, an independent career woman, Lu Jin knows how much she suffered. There's a certain beauty in imperfection. Sheng Nan understands. Good, cause I don't, at least not in terms of food. The current head chef is eavesdropping. This doesn’t look good.
Cheng Zi Qian visits Sheng Nan in the morning. Lu Jin and Cheng Zi Qian are having a telepathic war over Sheng Nan.
When Sheng Nan appears in front of Lu Jin, he can barely recognize her. She’s dressed up (in old lady clothes) ready to see Mom. Sheng Nan feigns confidence and composure in front of Mom. Lu Jin is biting his finger to stifle in a laughter. He’s laughing not only at her fake confidence but also at her falling fake lashes.
Back to the serious. Mom. She probes about age. Sheng Nan is 21 and Lu Jin is 36. Mom pokes at their large age gap. She shoos away Lu Jin and directly asks Sheng Nan about money. She asks how much will it take for her to leave her son. Sheng Nan tries her best to remain calm and tells mom she’s not feeling well in order to avoid the topic. When Sheng Nan leaves, Lu Jin asks Mom how Sheng Nan was. Mom replies curtly that it was passable.
Sheng Nan bitterly jokes with Lu Jin she might just leave him for money. He doesn’t even want her to joke about it. In all seriousness, he corners her to the table and hovers over her. The mood is romantic but the kettle starts singing. He asks her if he should let her down. She suggest they go together. Together, they go. He lifts her up without moving their position much. We don’t see it but he probably knocks her around as he carries her. Heh. The tone of their romance is comedically romantic.
Sheng Nan wins over all the men to be the head chef. The two Chinese characters of her name actually means to win over men, to be above men. Rumours spread that Sheng Nan won only because she’s Lu Jin’s girlfriend.
It’s a night of celebration for Sheng Nan. Lu Jin thought it would just be the two of them but Sheng Nan’s grandpa wants to celebrate with the entire neighbourhood. Lu Jin is introduced as Sheng Nan’s boyfriend in front of all her friends and relatives.
It’s time for Lu Jin to speak with Grandpa. Just like Mom and Sheng Nan, Grandpa’s conversation dances around the same topics: age and money. But it’s a very different tone. Grandpa stresses how Sheng Nan used his money for school. Her parents divorced so grandpa raised her with his own money. Grandpa instructs Lu Jin that he has to remind Sheng Nan to return that money because that’s his retirement money. LOL. Sheng Nan’s relatives also poke at Lu Jin’s age. He better maintain his health. Poor Lu Jin, lol. I’m in love with Lin Yu Shen’s expressions.
[Ep12] Uncle tells Lu Jin how much Sheng Nan yearns for love. If her family wasn’t divorced, she probably wouldn’t like an ahjussi (uncle) like Lu Jin. Those were uncle’s words. After the party, Lu Jin carries a drunk Sheng Nan to bed. It’s another romantic moment. But Sheng Nan is hungry. Lu Jin prepares ramen for her. He put in a lot of effort and when it’s almost ready he closes the lid and tells a starving Sheng Nan to wait another three long minutes. Sheng Nan is dying. Literally dying. There’s ten more seconds left until the perfect ramen is ready but Sheng Nan leaves the table, retrieves her own pack of ramen, pops the bag, snaps the raw noodle, and dips it into sauce. The rest is crunch, crunch, crunch. She’s not eating his ramen anymore. Hahaha. Lu Jin asks her if she’s serious but he’s also curious about her ramen. Without a word, she offers him a piece. He’s impressed. He wants more but she only gives him crumbs. She’s cruel, lol. Neither of them want his perfect ramen anymore.
Sheng Nan asks him if tonight was too rowdy for him. Lu Jin likes the energy. He doesn’t have many relatives and he’s grateful to her for bringing him more relatives. Sheng Nan is stunned to silence. Ou. He’s being serious.
The next morning, rumours have taken a different turn. Cheng Zi Qian dropped off Sheng Nan at work and now Sheng Nan’s rumoured boyfriend is him. The other chefs think she won the head chef position because of connections and now none of them will listen to her. The work environment becomes toxic. An upset Sheng Nan returns home. She once again takes it out on the market people. All of them avoid eye contact with her. Sheng Nan has found her prey: the egg man. The man tries to avoid Sheng Nan by talking to Lu Jin instead. Lu Jin brims with confidence and asks for the most expensive egg, lol. Lu Jin is about to witness a new Sheng Nan.
[Ep13] I think Lu Jin likes a bargaining Sheng Nan but every time she bargains, he follows and tops up the money for her. He drops her off home and suddenly the mood is romantic again. He kisses her – nope, they’re interrupted by her door lock sound. She quickly settles that to resume the kiss, lol. However, they’re interrupted again by the scent of a newly painted walls. Their neighbour is renovating. So much tease for one kiss. When they’re back in their respective homes, Sheng Nan is asking her Lu Turtle Hair if he likes her and Lu Jin is telling the spoon (the one she used to pin up her hair) that he likes her.
The next day, Sheng Nan prepares a formal lunch for Lu Jin, Mom, and Li Man. However, there’s a mishap. Her dish is switched out for another one. Li Man interprets a lot from that one dish. In short it means the main entree will suck all its accompaniment dry. Mom understands this as Sheng Nan mocking her ambitious move to acquire the hotel, making herself flourish, and watching others wither. All that from one dish. Alright, Li Man. Sheng Nan argues that she’s not an idiot to deliver this dish right to her face if she meant that.
Lu Jin and Cheng Zi Qian work together to clarify Sheng Nan’s innocence. It was the jealous chef who switched the dishes. Lu Jin also makes the jealous chef acknowledge that Sheng Nan’s boyfriend is, yours truly, Lu Jin. A smug Lu Jin flaunts his smirk to Cheng Zi Qian.
[Ep14] Lu Jin misunderstands Sheng Nan’s cake (a delicious mocha chocolate cake) is for his mother. However, the cake is for Cheng Zi Qian because she felt bad for embroiling him into her rumours. The disappointment on Lu Jin’s face, lol. Cheng Zi Qian wanted to confess to Sheng Nan when she gave him the cake but he still misses his chance. Buddy, you’ve been late since the moment you’ve arrived on screen.
The dinner that Mom invited Sheng Nan to was an event to humiliate her. She’s forced to barbecue for all the important shareholders. If mom will play dirty like that, Lu Jin won’t back down either. He takes off his jacket and cooks for everyone in Sheng Nan’s stead. No one else dares to speak. An embarrassed Sheng Nan runs out of the dinner in tears. She takes the taxi home by herself. A man stalks her. He’s the jealous chef. He takes a glass bottle and strikes her. Lu Jin takes the hit for her. Blood drips down his face as he calmly tells her to wait for him to handle that trash.
The dinner that Mom invited Sheng Nan to was an event to humiliate her. She’s forced to barbecue for all the important shareholders. If mom will play dirty like that, Lu Jin won’t back down either. He takes off his jacket and cooks for everyone in Sheng Nan’s stead. No one else dares to speak. An embarrassed Sheng Nan runs out of the dinner in tears. She takes the taxi home by herself. A man stalks her. He’s the jealous chef. He takes a glass bottle and strikes her. Lu Jin takes the hit for her. Blood drips down his face as he calmly tells her to wait for him to handle that trash.
Sheng Nan cries that she’s not worth it for him to injure himself like this. To him, she’s worth it. He loves her so anything for her is worth it. She goes on her tippytoes and kisses him. Finally. What a pretty scene.
Sheng Nan asks Lu Jin when he liked her. He ponders. It was when he left her the first time and he had a jar of her food. Wait, it was earlier. It was when she called him Jin Ge Ge. Wait. No. Earlier than that. It was when — Sheng Nan interrupts him. She thinks it was when she poured flour all over his Ferrari. He laughs out loud that she was outrageously ridiculous back then. Sheng Nan is offended. Amused, he pulls her back before she leaves and asks when she fell in love with him. She goes by his ear to tell him but blows in his ear instead. She won’t tell him.
Sheng Nan prepares food for Lu Jin. He’s mesmerized just at the sight of her tying up her hair. He wants a kiss but she stops him. More tease.
Cheng Zi Qian strongly believes Lu Jin cannot give the happiness Sheng Nan wants (because of his business trips). Lu Jin says he can and will because Sheng Nan is his woman.
Second Couple: Meng Xin Jie successfully pursue Xu Zhao Di
[Ep16] Sheng Nan searches the entire campsite for Lu Jin’s cabin. She thought Lu Jin called her for a sexy night but it was actually to play mahjong. She’s utterly disappointed. Their sexual timing is so incompatible. She does have fun playing mahjong though.
Sheng Nan’s grandfather is hospitalized. There’s no room available. However someone had upgraded her grandfather to a VIP room. It’s Lu Ming Ting. He’s a business man. Lu Jin doesn’t know any of this because he’s away on a business trip. Sheng Nan had wanted to refund the room because she can’t afford it but when grandfather wakes up, he thinks it was Lu Jin who gave him the room. Sheng Nan doesn’t have the heart to tell grandfather the truth nor ask Lu Jin for help.
In the hospital, Sheng Nan meets Lu Zheng (Lu Ming Ting’s son). He likes her food and asks her to bring him food too. These Lu people are Lu Jin’s father and stepbrother?
[Ep17] Lu Mom visits Sheng Nan’s grandfather and it’s immediately obvious this mom is disapproving of Lu Jin and Sheng Nan's relationship. Lu Mom also confronts Sheng Nan. She doesn’t want Sheng Nan to be her son’s weakness.
Nothing is good for our couple this episode. Grandfather is now team Cheng Zi Qian. Li Man deletes Sheng Nan’s recent call to Lu Jin so he doesn’t know she called. Li Man confesses to Lu Jin. She gets an extremely straightforward rejection, a rejection that leaves no room for hope. Li Man admits she deleted Sheng Nan’s call from his phone. She’s not that bad.
Lu Jin is trying to right every wrong his mother did. He tries to make it up to grandpa and help Sheng Nan with the restaurant at night. He’s making more of a mess than he’s helping. However, his earnest clumsiness turns Grandpa and Sheng Nan into softies.
[Ep19] Grandpa approves of Lu Jin because he knows how happy his granddaughter is with him.
Our couple have moved onto the next stage of their relationship. Sheng Nan casually tries on a wedding dress on her own. A surprised Lu Jin hides his astonishment and walks away leaving a very confused Sheng Nan. The next day, Lu Jin’s thoughts are all consumed by the image of Sheng Nan in a wedding dress. Lu Jin calls up uncle for help. Uncle brings Sheng Nan to a formal venue where Lu Jin introduces her as his fiancée to everyone important. What? Huh? Where? Okay. They're officially engaged.
Sheng Nan is overly chummy with stepbrother (Lu Zheng) that it makes Lu Jin jealous the entire night. Sheng Nan continues to poke the tiger. Lu Jin grabs her into her room and throws her onto the bed. He takes off his suit. His muscular arms trap her in the bed. She shyly asks him what he wants. He wants to "shower" like she had said. But this obviously isn’t showering. Sheng Nan apologizes for teasing him. He sexually hovers over her lips and asks her what if there’s a next time (that she teases him). Sheng Nan squirms out of his arms. She yells back there’s no next time. She scurries to shower.
[Ep20] Meng Xin Jie proposes to Zhao Di with a beef roll bouquet. She had told him how poor she was and although the beef roll bouquet is creative and unique to their experience, it reminds her of her impoverished past which she doesn’t want to remember. She rejects his proposal.
Lu Mom meets up with Sheng Nan at her large, large garden. Lu Mom asks her for help: to pluck out all the weed in her garden. There’s an underlying message. Sheng Nan is the weed inhibiting the growth of Lu Jin. Sheng Nan cannot refuse Lu Mom's request. However, when Lu Mom is back from her meeting, Sheng Nan had plucked out the “good” plants too. Sheng Nan argues with mom that weeds have their uses too. There's a symbiotic relationship between them.
Sheng Nan tells Lu Jin everything that happened with mom. Lu Jin looks proudly at her. There’s one thing Sheng Nan is confused about. His mother had said she reminds her of her younger self. Is that a compliment or an insult? Lu Jin assures her that it’s a compliment from mom.
Sheng Nan gets a glimpse of her boyfriend at work while Li Man is constantly at his side. Lu Jin looks as serious as ever.
[Ep21] Sheng Nan fangirls over Lu Jin’s work attitude. Here I thought she would notice the difference between their two worlds.
Lu Jing Ming’s (Lu Jin’s father) company is having financial problems. They're going to go bankrupt. He asks Lu Jin for help but Lu Jin still holds a grudge on him all these years for ditching his mother. Lu Jin doesn’t help him.
After seeing his father, Lu Jin’s emotions have no where to go; he takes it out with boxing. Sheng Nan comforts him but he’s in so much turmoil, he takes it out on her too. He gives her an aggressive kiss. Sheng Nan cries. Lu Jin apologizes for scaring her. She’s still in tears but she grabs him back for a kiss. They make out hotly in the boxing ring all the way to bed.
Next morning, Lu Jin receives a call. His father passed away.
A few days later, Lu Jin leaves for his business trip. However, he forgot something after he left Sheng Nan. He forgot to kiss her.
Now that Lu Jin is gone, Lu Zheng is making a move on Sheng Nan. He wants to revive the company his late-father cherished. Lu Jin doesn’t help him so he’s targeting Sheng Nan.
[Ep22] Lu Zheng tries to seduce Sheng Nan. Uncle tattletales to Lu Jin that Sheng Nan is always hanging out with Lu Zheng. Why? And why make it sound like that, uncle? Why not ask Sheng Nan first? Lu Jin quickly calls Sheng Nan to confirm but the stupid girl lies that she’s alone. Lu Jin called knowing that Sheng Nan was with Lu Zheng.
Lu Jin is back ahead of schedule. Sheng Nan throws him a big hug but he shows her a misleadingly intimate picture of her and Lu Zheng. She tells him it’s a misunderstanding. He says he believes her but he gets up to leave after barely talking to her. That sure looks like he believes her. Can’t blame the guy though. It doesn’t help that Lu Zheng claims that Sheng Nan and him are mutually in love. Lu Jin punches him in the face. Sheng Nan sees this and immediately takes Lu Zheng’s side not knowing what the heck they were arguing about.
Sheng Nan realizes she was in the wrong. Lu Jin tells her he never misunderstood her. He always believed her. Then, she immediately gets a call from Lu Zheng. To prove she never liked Lu Zheng, she hangs up on him in front of Lu Jin. She also chucks the toy she was building with Lu Zheng right out her balcony without batting it another eye. That's a hazard. Sheng Nan and Lu Jin make up.
[Ep23] Sheng Nan turns into a softie when Lu Zheng tells him about his past. She drinks with him. He then carries her back home where Lu Jin is. Great. Lu Zheng tells him, “The woman you like, I’ll give her to you,. As if Lu Jin can only have her because Lu Zheng lent her to him. Lu Jin cries alone that night. The next few days, he cuts off contact with her completely. Sheng Nan whimpers to him to forgive her. However, he tells her they need a cooling period. He does seem touched by her tears. Lu Zheng drives Sheng Nan home and hints that Lu Jin probably wants to break up with her. I don’t get why she’s associating herself with Lu Zheng when she knows how bothered Lu Jin is about Lu Zheng.
Second Couple: Meng Xin Jie and Zhao Di make up. He’s there for her when she’s at her lowest point. They get engaged and are looking for a home but they don’t have enough money. Zhao Di asks uncle who says he won’t lend her any but moments later he e-transfers her money. Lu Jin also gives a lot of money to Meng Xin Jie. This makes Meng Xin Jie whimper. He loves his boss even more.
[Ep24] Some business stuff happen. Lu Zheng thought he got the better of his brother but Lu Jin knew all his pieces and checkmates him instead. Lu Jin owns the company now. Lu Zheng asks Lu Jin when he knew of his plans. Lu Jin thinks back to the night Sheng Nan drank with Lu Zheng. He cried with her sleeping on his lap. He contemplated on checking her phone and hated himself for it but his curiosity got the better of him. He checks her phone and realizes the platonic relationship between her and Lu Zheng. That's when he knew of Lu Zheng's ulterior motives.
Lu Jin visits Sheng Nan. It's her turn to be grumpy at him. But she easily forgives him. The next morning, Sheng Nan admires her sleeping boyfriend. He was only pretending to be asleep. He offers to do up her hair. That's when he brings out the spoon he always kept. Her spoon-hair moment was when Lu Jin first fell in love with her.
Although Lu Jin acquired his father's company, he hands Lu Zheng the chairman position. Lu Jin asks Lu Zheng for a chance to be his brother. Lu Zheng smiles and calls after him, "Brother!" The brothers make up.
Lu Mom tells Sheng Nan she bought two plane tickets to leave this city. She is planning make Lu Jin choose between the two of them. Sheng Nan opts out. She'd rather give up her love than force Lu Jin to choose between them. This makes Lu Mom proud of her. Thus, she accepts Sheng Nan as her daughter-in-law.
And that's how Drama formulated a happy family for our leads in the last 30 minutes.
Sheng Nan is opening her own restaurant and her friends have come to celebrate. Meng Xin Jie and Zhao Di arrive first. They’re officially married. Cheng Zi Qian and Li Man are guests as well. They are apparently strictly business. Lu Zheng was supposed to come too but he’s busy being a bossy CEO. Uncle also arrives with a girlfriend.
Lu Jin presents Sheng Nan with a specially designed cake. There’s a flour covered Ferrari on top. Ah, that reminds me when this drama was amazing. Lu Jin then puts a poop ring on the cake. The poop is reminiscent of a dish she made him in the earlier episodes. He's proposing to her. Smiling brightly, Sheng Nan says yes. The next second, she immediately wants to blow the flour (on the cake) to his face. However, he had the exact same thought. Sheepishly, they smile at each other and come to a truce. Together, they blow the flour to the camera.
Lu Jin presents Sheng Nan with a specially designed cake. There’s a flour covered Ferrari on top. Ah, that reminds me when this drama was amazing. Lu Jin then puts a poop ring on the cake. The poop is reminiscent of a dish she made him in the earlier episodes. He's proposing to her. Smiling brightly, Sheng Nan says yes. The next second, she immediately wants to blow the flour (on the cake) to his face. However, he had the exact same thought. Sheepishly, they smile at each other and come to a truce. Together, they blow the flour to the camera.
The end.
Remarks
[First Impression (Ep1-5)] In the first minute, I knew this was going to good. It had to be good. The quality, the sound track, the food. The food. It can't not be good. I muted my expectations for this because I really wanted Lin Yu Shen to do well. Not only was his performance stellar but the drama went beyond expectations. This is so fun. His expressions, his humour, everything is on point. He plays the moody and shrewd CEO. Every meeting with the female lead is a disaster waiting to happen (dunked by water, dunked into water, poisoned by mushrooms, smashed by a wine bottle, etc) and yet he falls in love with her. I already have a ton of favourite scenes in the small number of episodes I watched: The Korean/car, the chicken-egg, the suit jacket, the 'mm' dialogues, and the Zhang Wu Ji references.
There is an eighteen year age gap between the leads. But I don't see it. As long as the actors can deliver their roles, I don’t judge age gaps. Not my love life, don't need to be that stern on it.
A small comment on the title. In Chinese, it's "I like you" However, there's a strategically placed comma. It emphasizes the "I" who's doing the liking.
P.S. Lu Turtle Hair is the nickname Sheng Nan gives Lu Jin. Turtle Hair (龜毛) is the direct translation. It’s used in Chinese to describe someone who is picky and high maintenance.
[Actors/Actresses] I cannot imagine anyone who finished watching "Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Sabre" and not have fallen in love with Lin Yu Shen's character there. It's just not possible. I had a huge smile on when this drama referenced Zhang Wu Ji in Ep5. That was brilliant. Zhao Lu Si is Zhao Lu Si. She's pinning down her role. I may not be a fan of hers but when it comes to creating chemistry with her partners, she's undeniably an expert.
[Ending] Happy ending. But I really don't think it was necessary to shove Li Man and Cheng Zi Qian together.
Final Review
[Review] For the first third of this drama, this felt modern, fresh, comical and romantically addictive. From getting very tired of Zhao Lu Si, I started liking her all over again. I was mesmerized by Lin Yu Shen’s ability to be romantic without being greasy. It was so easy to love this. I felt like the drama could do nothing wrong. And then it did.
The reciprocity of the romance was too quick. The drama barely had any fuel left in its tank before the halfway mark. It then relied on secondary annoying tropes to create conflicts that everyone hates to chug through the latter half (evil mom, despicable female second lead with no chance whatsoever, and another evil character born spontaneously for the purpose of being evil). I don’t mind reusing tropes but I just can’t love a drama when the second half of it is filled with all the awful and annoying ones. It might have to do with the novel contents though. Dating in the Kitchen is based on “Finally I Get You” by Lan Bai Se published in 2014.
The editing was dismally choppy and there’s no excuse for that. I cannot understand how the same staff created the first five episodes and the rest of the drama. It just doesn’t make sense. Some scene jumps were jarring. Why Li Man was such a problem in their relationship in the beginning made very little sense when it could have been explained better. Cheng Zi Qian fell off earth all of a sudden. His entire purpose in the drama was also questionable. He wasn’t necessary. This drama also failed to create any likeable secondary characters. Meng Xin Jie was close. And let’s not talk about the despicable characters.
I am rating this harshly. Perhaps it’s because this drama had me way too hopeful in the beginning that it made my disappointment that much greater. Perhaps it used a combo of tropes that bugged me the most. Perhaps I didn’t love the couple enough to blind me from its flaws.
[Verdict] If you adore the CP enough, I think you can ignore the shortcomings and still love this immensely but prepare yourself for annoying tropes.
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