A light-hearted romcom about a racer who tries to teach his boss how to fall in love.
Notable Actors/Actresses
[Ep3] “The criteria for everyone”
We pick up where we left off, with water gushing everywhere (but mostly over our two leads). Neither of them thinks of turning off the valve, which I’m pretty sure we saw. Jiaxin looks down at their hands and then down at Jiangyue and remarks that she’s “kind of pretty” but that she “lacks some femininity”. Who says this to their boss??? She’s miffed by the remark. I don’t know any boss who would take such a remark as calmly as she did. He brings up her promise to get a boyfriend in 3 months and asks if she has a plan. She pins her hopes on the Elite Singles Night. He isn’t optimistic. She’s miffed by his lack of optimism.
Jiangyue, Jingjing and Duoxi (who is Jiangyue’s niece) have dinner together. This seems to be a regular occurrence, where Jiangyue apparently mostly makes hotpot. She’s much more relaxed and playful with just the two other girls around. Jingjing tells Jiangyue that finding a suitable match for her won’t be easy because the dating pool is very disproportionate between excellent females vs excellent males.
Jiaxin is filling out Jiangyue’s application form for the Singles Night and he rates her high on things like EQ, cooking, housework, thoughtfulness, innocence (innocence?!?) and specifies that she’s open to “all kinds of communication with men”. Oh dear god. He isn’t sabotaging her though. He truly thinks this is a good idea. He calls Jiangyue, who is sleeping in the afternoon (apparently, this is the aftereffect of a Girls’ Night). She lies and says she’s working, but doesn’t realize her video is on. Heh. They both lie about the silliest things. He tells her none of the male candidates for the Singles Night seem like her type, but that she can try to hide the fact that she’s successful and instead show her charming side. Seriously? What happened to that spiel about “supporting each other and growing together”? She dismisses his suggestion and hangs up.
At the event, Jiangyue is in a dress that the girls convinced her to wear. Jiaxin is in a suit. I think it’s supposed to be a designer suit, but it looks cheap to me. Then again, I know nothing about fashion. He comments that she looks charming and asks how he looks. Her response: “Very ordinary” xD. She’s still very confident that she will find a partner at the event; he is still very doubtful. He makes a bet – whoever gets fewer responses from potential dates has to do what the other asks. (Each participant has a rose to give someone they’re interested in, so the one with more roses will win.)
The event begins. Jiaxin smoothly flirts while Jiangyue is so direct and result-oriented that she scares potential suitors away. I may be very shallow, but none of them seemed that great anyway. The descriptions Jiaxin used for her when filling out her form are partly to blame. When the event ends, he has a handful of roses and she has one – her own. He says they can have another competition, between just the two of them. Whoever gets the other person’s rose wins. She points out that she could win just by refusing to give him hers (actually, it would be a stalemate if he did the same). He says he just wants her to win. She stares at him, touched. But he was just playing her (though not in a cruel way). Just then she gets a message saying “Your event is really special”. She rushes off.
The message was from Xu Ningyuan. He’s at the event venue. Jiangyue bumps into someone as she heads towards him, and twists her ankle slightly. One of Mr Xu’s first remarks is “You’re still clumsy”. It’s clear that he cares for her, but the dynamic between the two isn’t great. He has a paternalistic attitude towards her, while she goes from being a smart competent woman to being slightly clumsy and awkward. Jiaxin interrupts their conversation and is introduced to Mr Xu. Jiaxin makes it clear to Mr Xu that Jiangyue has spoken of him before, and tries (unsuccessfully) to convince her to accept Mr Xu’s offer of driving her home. He notices that she’s walking awkwardly and offers to help, but she refuses. Mr Xu seems amused by their interactions.
Jiaxin drives Jiangyue back and we have to go through the seatbelt trope. He asks why she refused Mr Xu’s offer. She says she wasn’t at her best, and he says “the more messy and helpless you are, the more protectiveness and love a man will offer”. I lost all respect for him at this point.
When they get back to their apartment complex, he backs her up against the car and tries to convince her to let him help her with dating. She pulls him by the collar, discomfiting him, and tells him not to try any tricks. I love that she never gives in!
As she’s heading towards the apartment, he calls after her that she can try to deny it but that she was touched by his action (not sure which one: at the event when he offered her his rose, or at the car?). She threatens to hit him with her heel (shoe), but it was an empty threat because the heel breaks as she walks away.
At her apartment, Jiangyue thinks back to when she met Mr Xu. He was her boss, she developed feelings for him, but found out that he had a girlfriend. Later, she thinks to herself that love is tiring, and that being single is best.
At his apartment, Jiaxin thinks about the broken heel on Jiangyue’s shoe, and searches online for shoes that he thinks will suit her because we all buy shoes for our bosses…
During the Singles event, a divorce lawyer named Vincent seems interested in Jingjing and attempts to flirt with her. Later that night she goes back to her place to find a feast laid out but no sign of Zhang Hao (her husband). She tries calling him but he texts that he’s still working and she shouldn’t wait. She takes a photo of the meal and posts it online. But she isn’t happy to be eating alone. Her fandom is all “you’re so lucky”, “how can I get such a great man?”, etc. They don’t realize that the marriage isn’t as perfect as she makes it out to be.
The next day at work, Jiaxin manages to convince Jiangyue to let him help her with dating. He tries to glean information about Jiangyue from her niece Duoxi, who first assumes that Jiaxin is interested in Jiangyue and tells him she supports them because they “really look like a couple” (xD). He tells her he’s not interested in this type of woman but he wants more info. Duoxi tells him her aunt was always a high achiever and scared away all the boys, but that she’s “a little girl inside” apparently just because she likes cuddly toys and desserts. That would make many people “little girls”. Show, why these stereotypes even in 2022? Duoxi also talks about Mr Xu and says he had a girlfriend who died and whom he still carries a torch for. Jiangyue doesn’t want to be a substitute or to let a shadow get in the way of a relationship.
[Ep4] “My heart flutters, but I’m not in love”
Jiangyue opens her door for a delivery to find that the delivery man is Jiaxin. He asks Jiangyue to go on a (fake) date with him, to reactivate her “love nerves”. He talks a lot of nonsense. He hands her a box. It contains her high school uniform. Well, not actually her own uniform, but the uniform of her high school. It would be super creepy otherwise.
The next day she comes down wearing the uniform. He’s in school uniform too. She’s embarrassed and wants to drop the whole thing but he convinces her to go along with his plan. His idea is that he’s going to remind her of feelings of young love. But she never dated in school, so what good would that do? He’s got his motorbike; he puts her helmet on for her and then holds out his hand for her to climb onto the bike. She’s still hesitant (about holding his hand?) but gets on anyway. He pulls her hands round to his front, so that her arms are circling his waist. She’s a bit taken aback.
Any sweetness from that scene is counteracted in the next. They arrive at her school and she thankfully gets off the bike and clutches her stomach. She feels like throwing up (lol). He asks whether her heart beat faster when they were riding; she says it almost jumped out of her chest. He claims many people mistake a rapid heartbeat for love, and that she can exploit it by taking her date to high adrenaline activities to increase the chance of him falling for her (or thinking he’s fallen for her).
They stroll around her school. We learn that Jiangyue was an Outstanding Graduate. We are not surprised :). While walking along the sports grounds, they discuss campus love and the fact that most things aren’t allowed in school. To demonstrate this (?) he tells her to hold his hand. She’s reluctant, so he pulls his sleeve over his hand and offers her the empty sleeve instead.
He takes her to an area behind the rostrum where students have graffiti’d love notes. They find a message “Xu Dabao ‘lives’ Zhao Jiangyue”. Xu Dabao was a kid with a permanently runny nose, who wrote love letters to Jiangyue. Jiaxin scratches out the message. Where did he get the marker from? Was graffiti always part of his plan? He writes “Gu Jiaxin loves Zhao Jiangyue”. He’s obviously highly invested in his role as her fake date. She tells him he’s worse than Xu Dabao xD.
Jiaxin grabs her hand and heads for the rostrum (a platform looking out onto the grounds). She doesn’t seem to notice that they’re holding hands now. He stares at Jiangyue, turns to the grounds and shouts “Zhao Jiangyue, I like you”. He’s going full method, huh? She’s shocked. He repeats it as she grabs his arm to stop him. He’s about to shout for the third time when a security guard and a teacher (?) yell at him. Jiaxin: “Run?”, Jiangyue: “Run!”. This time, she grabs his hand and runs, followed by the security/staff.
Our two miscreants hide behind some bushes until it’s safe to come out. Jiaxin asks whether she felt anything during their expedition today. She says she was reminded of how great it was to be back in school. She used to work hard, not date, and be excellent. So now she should obviously work harder, not date, and be even more excellent. Lol, I knew this would happen! Jiaxin is appalled at the failure of his plan.
Later that evening, Jiangyue is relaxing at her place, reading online messages about various relationship problems, and regretting having made the 3-month relationship target. She suddenly sees messages about Jingjing… her husband has apparently cheated on her. There’s a photo of him with another woman. Jiangyue immediately calls her friend, who’s at home and upset. Jiangyue wants to come over, but Jingjing says she’s already spoken to Zhang Hao, the news is fake, and not to come. When the call ends, the doorbell at Jingjing’s place rings and she goes to collect various unhealthy takeouts. She begins stuffing herself, but is reminded of herself in school: a girl who really enjoyed eating. She immediately runs to the bathroom and we hear retching :(
Jingjing and Zhang Hao make a public statement that the photo was fake, and the Love Note team makes plans to capitalize on the publicity the issue has raised. I was shocked, but this is apparently normal? When Jingjing is at the Love Note studio, she seems sad. Jiangyue asks Jiaxin for his opinion but he’s a bit lethargic (bad dreams again?) and isn’t very helpful. He says Jingjing is beautiful and feminine and he believes in her charm. So apparently, beautiful and feminine people never have relationship issues :/
In a café somewhere, Mr Xu is reading something about Love Note. At an adjacent table, a girl (Li Yanran) is watching Jingjing’s abysmal tips on communication in relationships. One tip is to talk like you’re pulling pranks, e.g., “You’ve got something on your face… Oh, just kidding” (wth?). Li Yanran practices this out loud, and because she’s almost facing Mr Xu, he reflexively puts his hand to his face to check :D. When Li Yanran goes to get her coffee, Mr Xu phones someone and asks them to check out Love Note. I guess Li Yanran’s actions showed him that young peoplefollow silly advice like Jingjing’s advice. Li Yanran overhears and tells him Link Tech belongs to her boyfriend(‘s mom). We see from a photo on her phone that the “boyfriend” is Jiaxin.
Jiaxin is accosted by Li Yanran outside his apartment. He had no idea she’d returned from overseas. They enter his apartment (well, she pushes past him to get in). Throughout their interaction, she behaves with him as a girlfriend would with a boyfriend. He behaves with her as a brother would with an annoying little sister.
There’s another Love Note studio session and Jingjing seems distracted. Jiangyue asks her about it afterwards. Jingjing pretends everything is ok, but her handbag falls and a divorce certificate is revealed. Zhang Hao wanted a divorce and they got divorced earlier that day. I don’t understand why Jingjing feels the need to pretend with her best friend. For the sake of Jiangyue and the Love Note app, she gets him to agree to keep playing the sweet couple. She tells Jiangyue that legally she doesn’t have to divulge the divorce publicly for 6 months. But even if it’s legal, isn’t it unethical? Jiangyue is more concerned about her best friend. These two always seem to put each other first. I really like their friendship. Jingjing says she’ll be fine; after all, she’s the Queen of Love (bleh). But then she cries :(
[The implication here is that Jiangyue – maybe to allow her friend to preserve some feeling of dignity or self-worth - agrees to Jingjing’s plan of remaining the spokesperson without divulging her divorce status. I don’t see divorce as a problem, but I think there’s an ethical problem with giving relationship advice while pretending to be in a relationship.]
[Ep14] “Is ‘peace of mind’ more important than ‘heartbeat’?”
This is another episode I tend to avoid.
The farm fiasco continues and my avoidance of it continues equally. Essentially, Mr Xu, Jiaxin and a chicken get entangled. Mr Xu and Jiaxin face off in private and Jiaxin childishly declares war. He sounds so immature.
Jiangyue and Mr Xu take Jiaxin back to the hospital. Li Yanran is there and accosts Jiangyue. She’s furious because Jiangyue didn’t visit when Jiaxin was injured. She accuses Jiangyue of always putting work first and tells her she’s not right for Jiaxin. Jiangyue is silent throughout, maybe because she believes it to be true too? But she is upset.
Jingjing’s unease around Vincent increases. She investigates him and finds that he has slept with several girls under false pretenses, I think. She exposes him via her Love Note studio broadcast. It’s partially anonymized, but “a lawyer, ‘V’” is still probably too much detail. Jiangyue is worried that Vincent could seek revenge, particularly since he knows about Jingjing’s divorce. Jingjing shrugs off the concern.
Jiangyue is not feeling well, but has to meet with some people from an outsourcing company who have canceled some app announcement. What’s with all the partners and suppliers acting up? She’s expected to drink with them and they then pressure her to join them for karaoke. They seem kind of boorish. She’s feeling really unwell by this point. Of course, Jiaxin rushes up and rescues her (I’m slightly tired of the ML-saves-the-day bit :/).
Even in her feverish state, she’s thinking about work, so he thinks he’ll help out by looking at the documents. Unfortunately, he sees the relationship scorecards, where he’s been scored much lower than Mr Xu. He’s angry and upset.
When Jiangyue wakes up the next morning, she realizes he must have seen the scorecards. He confronts her at work and isn’t satisfied with her explanation. He tells her she deserves a lonely life. She’s visibly hurt by his words.
Li Yanran accidentally posts a photo of herself, Ms Jin and Jiaxin at her graduation. Qiuqiu sees it and spreads the news. The team finds out that Jiaxin is Ms Jin’s son.
Duoxi learns that Qi Heng sends money to help out his family and seems to be struggling to make ends meet. She tells him they must strive together.
Li Yanran draws up a “formal” agreement with Mr Xu assuming “formal” includes cute cartoons, with the stipulation that they help each other out in their respective non-relationships. Later, she’s shown on the phone with Ms Jin, so it’s no coincidence when Ms Jin invites Jiangyue for dinner and makes it clear that she does not approve of a relationship between her son and Jiangyue. It isn’t because she thinks Jiaxin is too good for Jiangyue though, but because she thinks Jiangyue is too good for Jiaxin :D I found this refreshing in some weird way. It’s a pity she isn’t closer to her son, but I really dislike the “blindness” that some mothers have when it comes to their own children. Her concerns are also realistic. She isn’t being nasty. She truly thinks Jiangyue is an exceptional worker who is not a good match for the more frivolous Jiaxin. I’m not saying she’s right – though Jiaxin’s behavior in the last episode was childish to the extreme – but she isn’t a “monster Mother-in-Law”. Jiangyue is obviously upset, but promises to focus only on work in the future. I suppose she believes that Jiaxin won’t reconcile with her because of his parting words.
Meanwhile, Jiaxin is replaying his words from earlier and remembering Jiangyue’s hurt expression. He wonders whether he was too harsh. Dude, yes you were. You know perfectly well that she’s a very logical person, who is clueless about relationships. Why are you so surprised that she tried to “objectively” evaluate you? I can’t help thinking that Jiaxin isn’t angry about the scorecards so much as he is angry that he scored lower than Mr Xu. If he had scored higher than Mr Xu, I think he would have happily accepted the result.
Jiangyue’s relationship nightmare doesn’t end there. When she goes to the office, she finds herself the subject of discussion throughout the building. “May-December romance”, “It’s like we’re in the middle of an idol drama”, “No wonder he [Jiaxin] was able to win Ms. Zhao over”, “Are Li Yanran and Ms Zhao fighting over the inheritor of the company? Who do you think will win?”, etc. Qiuqiu is in a discussion about this right as Jiangyue walks in. Qiuqiu, you disappoint me. You like and respect Ms Zhao. Why would you do that?
Jiangyue dispiritedly goes into her office. Jiaxin enters.
[Ep15] “Happy breakup”
Jiangyue and Jiaxin both want to patch up their argument. Jiangyue uncertainly asks whether he’s still angry. For some reason, Jiaxin becomes confrontational again. She starts trying to explain but is called away by Zihao. That guy always presents her with problems :D
Jiaxin’s mother takes him on an impromptu business trip. He buys a gift for Jiangyue as an apology, but mixes it up with a gift intended for a client/partner, and ends up presenting a middle-aged man with a pink music box. Not that there’s anything wrong with a middle-aged man having a pink music box. Ms Jin is angry at his mistake and finally reveals her real reason for the trip: she wants to warn him against a relationship with his boss. She also mentions that it might affect Jiangyue negatively. I don’t think he realizes that in a situation like this, the woman will be subjected to far more censure than the man.
Meanwhile, Jiangyue is not used to not having Jiaxin around. She keeps looking at the cactus on her desk, before forcing herself to focus on work.
The Love Note team is hosting an event: a Breakup Museum, where the exhibits are items related to failed relationships. To Jiangyue’s surprise, Jiaxin shows up. Unfortunately, he’s refusing to talk to her and uses Duoxi as an intermediary, so Jiangyue does the same. I could smack these two! Li Yanran is pleased that they are still on bad terms.
Jiangyue has given the cactus in as an exhibit. She tells Jingjing “This thing pricks me. It always pricks me”. Is she really talking about the cactus? Jiaxin sees the cactus on display and reads the accompanying text: “Someone once told me that the other language of cactus was to love someone until the end. Now our relationship has come to a sudden end. Maybe it’s for the best.” Awww, she must be very upset :(
Li Yanran confesses to Jiaxin at the Breakup Museum. What an odd choice of venue for a confession. And why does everyone chant “say yes, say yes” when they know Jiaxin isn’t interested in her? Their actions here - clapping and nudging - were so lame as well. Jiangyue commends Li Yanran for her creativity, but tells her not to impact others’ work. Jiaxin coldly says Jiangyue is all about work and doesn’t understand people in love, before taking Li Yanran’s hand and leading her away. This wasn’t a good move because it might give Yanran false hope. I guess he didn’t realize that Jiangyue’s words about the cactus were more likely to have stemmed from hurt (that’s how I see it anyway), and got angry with her.
On the breakup theme, Jingjing is talking to an audience about “false breakups”. From what I gathered, this is an argument that threatens to end a relationship. Always topical, is Jingjing. Jiangyue and Jiaxin are at opposite ends of the room. At the beginning, Jiangyue glances over at Jiaxin, but he immediately looks away. As the talk goes on, they begin to realize they don’t want to continue their argument and resolve to make up. At the end of the talk, Jiangyue looks over again; this time he gives her a small smile. Unfortunately, they can’t make up at that moment because there are a few audience members about. Jingjing’s talk also reveals how much Zhang Hao used to care about her, making me think there’s more to his demand for a divorce than meets the eye.
Somehow, there’s no time for our leads to talk at all that day. The event ends and only Jiangyue is left at the venue. She’s come to retrieve the cactus. Jiaxin also sneaks back into the museum for the same reason? The lights are switched off just then and Jiangyue is startled into dropping the cactus. She goes to pick it up and is pricked. Jiaxin runs over and can’t find the wound. She childishly shows that it’s on the other hand, and he sucks the blood from her finger o.O She yanks her hand away and they both stand around awkwardly for a little, before:
Jiangyue apologizes for the scorecards, Jiaxin apologizes for his harsh words. She asks “shall we reconcile?”; he agrees immediately. They begin leaning towards a kiss, but are interrupted by a conscientious security guard who wants them to leave.
Jiaxin visits Kang Zhe in hospital. I’m feeling bad for the actor who plays Kang Zhe. He doesn’t even get to move. Jiaxin tells his friend that he’s going to temporarily put his racing dream on hold and start working in earnest, so that he can be the mature stable man he thinks Jiangyue wants.
Jiaxin is formally introduced at Link Tech as Ms Jin’s son, and pitches an idea for a Love Market. Let’s not even ask what that’s about. Ms Jin asks for Jiangyue’s opinion; Jiangyue likes the idea but details need to be worked out. Ms Jin would like her son to head the activity. Jiangyue is surprised, but on seeing him nod, she agrees happily. Ms Jin assigns Li Yanran to help Jiaxin with the planning. Jiangyue is less happy.
The next day, Jiaxin is in Work Mode at the office. Though, the extreme eye contact as Jiangyue walks by can’t really be considered Work Mode. He tries to demonstrate his serious side, which only confuses Jiangyue xD. He is also in the most hideous plaid suit. Is that considered formal wear? Li Yanran appears to have coordinated and competed, because she’s in an even more hideous plaid suit.
At some point during the work day, Jiangyue’s laptop freezes and Jiaxin takes it to IT. While there, it starts working again. Yes, turn it off and then on again. He sees an old email draft, which was meant to be Younger Jiangyue’s confession to Mr Xu. She really needs to clean up her emails! That draft is over 3 years old! Jiaxin accidentally sends the email to Mr Xu. He tries to unsend, but Mr Xu has already seen it and responds with “Jiangyue, are you serious?”. Jiaxin sends another message pretending to be Jiangyue and claiming her laptop has a virus. I wonder how many viruses send confession emails. Mr Xu says they can discuss at the Love Market event. Jiaxin resolves not to let the two meet.
Qi Heng meets Duoxi’s parents. They quiz him about his family circumstances and job. They appear to be far more affluent than his family. Duoxi’s mother is not happy about his financial situation and urges her daughter to “just meet” someone else they have lined up for her.
At the Love Market event, the first feature is supposed to be a performance by a singer, but he’s a no-show because of an accident. As the team scrambles to find an alternative, Jiaxin begins to sing/rap. Apparently, Wang Ziyi is a rapper. I did not know this. The song is about love, and we see flashbacks of various moments in our main CP’s relationship. The audience fades away and it’s as if he’s singing only to her.
[Ep16] “Restart of love”
The Love Market continues. I can’t believe I typed that sentence. Mr Xu drops by and asks to speak with Jiangyue. Jiaxin uses a commotion happening further away as an excuse to prevent the conversation. Jiangyue and Jiaxin head over to resolve the issue. Yanran tells Mr Xu that Jiaxin has changed and become more serious, and she thinks it’s because of her confession! Seriously?!
The commotion is a (physical) fight between two women, because they were matched with the same man. Jiaxin tries to break them up but is unsuccessful. Li Yanran tries to help but gets shoved away and bangs her forehead against a pole. I can’t believe they used the “birdies-twittering” cartoon noise for this when she’s shown to be bleeding. For some unfathomable reason, Mr Xu piggybacks her to the first-aid tent. He is impressed by Yanran’s kind-heartedness.
Jiangyue breaks up the fight by throwing water over the two women (and Jiaxin, who is in the middle). This is the way you break up fighting dogs! I can’t believe it was used on humans xD She goes to give Jiaxin a fresh shirt and sees him shirtless. She turns away and complains that he should have told her before taking his shirt off. This is the same woman who was scrubbing ink off his back while he was in a bath in Ep5…
Once he’s fully clothed, he tells her the reason he asked his mother to formally introduce him at work: it was for Jiangyue. He’s willing to put aside racing for her. But she doesn’t want him to become another person because of her.
Just then, Mr Xu comes in. It’s a bit tense between the two men. Mr Xu refers to the email, and Jiaxin scoffs that it’s impossible for Jiangyue to have sent it, given her character. This is the first time Jiangyue is hearing about the email (i.e., the fact that it was sent).
Mr Xu and Jiangyue talk. Even if the email was sent by accident, he still wants to know whether she’s interested. She tells him she’s sorry. This is probably difficult for her, because she had a long-term crush on him and still respects him. He smiles resignedly. He must have expected this, but hoped for a different outcome. He says they can still be friends and then leaves. He handles this in such a mature way, thankfully. Jiangyue thinks back to when she composed the email. Mr Xu had come by as she was typing and she’d spilled coffee all over her desk and on a report in her haste to hide the email. This must be why he refers to her as “clumsy” in Ep3.
Duoxi meets the man her parents wanted her to. He says he’s been with multiple women in the past two years but wants to settle down now. He’s patronizing towards her and condescending about her relationship. Wow, Duoxi’s mom and dad.. What a catch! Duoxi firmly states that her boyfriend is the most outstanding and walks away. Qi Heng, who has been secretly eavesdropping, swoops her into his arms happily. Does anyone actually do this in public (apart from if the person is injured)?
The Love Market has ended and Jiaxin announces that Ms Jin has made reservations for the gang to have dinner. Jiangyue says she won’t join. She might be slightly glum after her conversation with Mr Xu. She goes for a walk instead; Jiaxin joins her. He asks if she’s ok and she says yes, he doesn’t have to stay. He responds that he’s on a diet. They don’t talk at all after that; they just walk, sometimes skip and sometimes laugh at nothing. Companionable almost-silence.
The rest of the Love Note team is at dinner. Li Yanran thinks back to earlier that evening when she asked Jiaxin to join them for dinner. When he says he’s going to check on Jiangyue, she uses her injury as a reason to ask him to stay. Yanran says she thought he’d changed and he responds with yes, but not for her. Remembering this at dinner, Yanran drinks a lot. To be fair, they all do. Zihao asks how Yanran will get home. She says Jiaxin will come for her. Zihao is doubtful, but Yanran says he will because she’s injured. I feel sorry for her. This level of delusion isn’t healthy. Once everybody leaves, she looks tearful. She calls Jiaxin but he isn’t reachable. She sits on the pavement and begins to cry. Someone approaches. It’s Mr Xu. He offers her a ride. She makes a mess of his car by crying into tissues and throwing them all over. She sobbingly asks whether she isn’t comparable with Jiangyue. Ummm, no. Not by a long shot. Especially not at that moment. She asks whether she isn’t prettier, cuter… finally, Mr Xu says she is cuter. Yanran leans towards him with “really?”… and then throws up… and then asks again “Am I cute?” Oh dear god.
Meanwhile in a hotel somewhere, Song Xue, former general manager at Link Tech (referenced in Ep8), is going through the company’s updates, which contain some photos of Jiangyue. She’s angry that Jiangyue took over her position as general manager when she (Ms Song) went on maternity leave. But in Ep8, Ms Song apparently had told Zihao she’d left the company and to report everything to Jiangyue in future. Ms Song vows that Jiangyue’s good days won’t last any longer.
News of Jingjing’s divorce has been leaked to the media. Jingjing thinks it was Vincent. He mocks her but I don’t know if he actually was the leak. She then visits Zhang Hao’s company, only to learn that it has gone bankrupt. Zhang Hao hadn’t wanted the bankruptcy to affect Jingjing and so had staged the affair and asked for the divorce. I’m sorry, but does this make him a good guy? He has to have known how this would impact her, especially since she’s a relationship blogger. He also has to have known it would affect her best friend’s job. And in any case, why didn’t he just discuss the impending bankruptcy with her?
Jiaxin and Jiangyue try to contact Jingjing but are unable to reach her. Link Tech is thrown into chaos, with the phone constantly ringing with questions. Online comments are pretty much what you would expect. There’s a (crisis management?) meeting, to which Ms Jin brings Ms Song to preside.
Ms Song announces that she will manage the Love Note project. She makes some references to Jiangyue hiding the news about Jingjing’s divorce and says personal feelings will no longer hamper work. Jiangyue admits responsibility and vows to find the source of the leak. Ms Jin isn’t impressed. Ms Song points out that the problem wasn’t just the divorce, but the fact that Jingjing and Zhang Hao pretended to be a couple even after the divorce. She also mentions Jingjing dating Vincent. Ms Song says what they did was essentially deception. Sadly, I can’t disagree. Jiangyue was misguided in her decision to go along with Jingjing’s suggestion. She didn’t want to hurt her best friend, but she really should have thought about the ethics and possible outcomes. Ms Song says they should terminate the contract with Jingjing asap, release a public statement, and find a new endorser.
Ms Song takes over Jiangyue’s office without discussing it with her first. Jiaxin is furious and wants to confront his mother, but Jiangyue stops him. The company is not a charity, ultimately it has to make profit. And in any case, she (Jiangyue) is in the wrong here. I love that she doesn’t try to shirk responsibility, doesn’t try to blame others, and tries to see the big picture without getting emotional. She goes over to an empty desk in the shared workspace with the rest of the project team. It was the desk she sat at when she first joined and she says it’s good to remember how she started. I wish I had her ability to see the silver lining in everything. Though really, here the silver lining is microscopic. She begins unpacking her things and turns frantic when she can’t find some notebooks. She’s told by admin staff that Ms Song told them the notebooks were rubbish and to get rid of them. They’re currently in the storage room. Ms Song, how malicious and petty you are.
They find the notebooks. She’s kept one per year, and each is filled with copious notes albeit in large handwriting and with lots of space between lines. She opens the notebook from her first year at Link Tech and we see thoughts that she jotted down during a matchmaking store inspection. The store promises customers that for a fee of 70,000 a year, they will get a boyfriend with an annual salary of one million a year. If you pay 300,000 you get lifelong membership, and even if you get divorced you can come back and find another man for free. This is so sad that it’s funny. Younger Jiangyue has written that if love can be quantified in such a way, she will no longer hope to fall in love. Present-day Jiangyue tells Jiaxin it’s not that she doesn’t believe in love; she just doesn’t think that something that occurs with such a low probability will happen to her. So it’s better to focus on things she can control, like work. Except now her career isn’t doing well either. Her eyes get a bit misty.
Jiaxin tells her they can solve things together. She says she’s responsible for the problem and will solve it; she doesn’t want him to share the burden. Her voice is teary, if that makes sense. He tells her she’s classified as love-incompetent because she doesn’t know how to rely on others. He knows she’s anxious and sad; his shoulder is always there for her to lean on. Her eyes well up with tears. He pats his shoulder and she leans on him and begins to cry :( Her crying was so realistic here. Stifled but still emotional.
[Ep17] “It’s all for you”
Jiangyue is at her new-old desk. The team is very supportive and show that they value her. It’s sweet but maybe a bit overdone. I’d be embarrassed if I was her. She and Jiaxin decide to investigate the leak. They both suspect Zhang Hao.
Li Yanran meets with Mr Xu and tells him about the problems at work. She’s worried that Jiangyue might suffer. Mr Xu is puzzled because Jiangyue is Yanran’s “love rival”. Li Yanran says she won’t give up on Jiaxin, but workwise she admires Jiangyue. I’m so glad she can separate the two aspects of her life. She does try to convince him to continue pursuing Jiangyue though :/
Jiangyue and Jiaxin go to Zhang Hao’s company only to find that it’s no longer there. They then track down the woman with whom Zhang Hao had his supposed affair. She is livestreaming and Jiangyue’s expressions when seeing some of her actions mirror my own. They arrange to meet her. She tells them Zhang Hao paid her to take the compromising photo and reveals details about his bankruptcy and wanting to protect his wife from its effects. Jiangyue calls Zhang Hao, tells him Jingjing is missing, and berates him for not discussing things with his wife and for not having faith in her. She tells him the cheating and divorce scandals hurt Jingjing far more than bankruptcy would have. Essentially, she says everything I was thinking. Jiaxin is very impressed with how assertive she was.
Jingjing is actually at a house/apartment that Zhang Hao had bought for her early in their relationship. It’s less luxurious than the one she is currently staying at; more “homey”. The box of gifts she threw away (in Ep6) is there. She gets a text from Jiangyue explaining Zhang Hao’s actions. Zhang Hao comes in just then (he has been living there). He apologizes and they reconcile.
Jiaxin and Jiangyue think they can use this new development to Love Note’s advantage. They head for her place to brainstorm, but Mr Xu is waiting for her there. He and Jiangyue speak privately in her apartment while Jiaxin shamelessly eavesdrops from outside.
Mr Xu says he had thought of offering her a job at his company (to take her away from the unpleasant situation with Ms Song), but decided against it because it probably isn’t what she wants. She thanks him for everything and tells him she still values him as a friend and mentor. He is curious whether Jiaxin can give her what she wants. Her response: “Actually, it was Jiaxin who made me understand what I really wanted”. Jiaxin doesn’t hear this part.
As Mr Xu leaves, he thinks about their times together, and then wishes her well (to himself). I still don’t think they would make a good couple, but I felt sorry for him here. He truly did care for her.
In Jiangyue’s apartment, our leads draft a plan for how they can put a positive spin on Jingjing’s situation. But there’s a problem. Jingjing wants to terminate her contract. She no longer wants to hype up her relationship to the public. She apologizes for causing so many problems and promises she will pay damages, etc. Jiangyue is unsettled by this turn of affairs but agrees. Jiaxin tells her Jingjing would probably change her mind if she knew the situation Jiangyue is in (Jingjing doesn’t yet know about Ms Song). Jiangyue agrees that Jingjing would never refuse if she asked, but she doesn’t want Jingjing to suffer in order to accomplish her own work. Again, I love this friendship. Yes, they did stupid things for it, but I admire their loyalty.
The next day at Link Tech, Ms Song talks about releasing statements regarding their former spokesperson and makes suggestions for a new one. Ms Jin asks Jiangyue whether she has any other proposal. Jiangyue has to say she agrees with Ms Song, which causes consternation among her team. The smug look on Ms Song’s face at this moment… x(
Once Ms Jin leaves the room, Ms Song insinuates that Jiangyue obtained her position as general manager through a relationship with Jiaxin. She says she’s really impressed. Ugh! Jiangyue is both angry and humiliated.
Jiaxin stands up and clarifies to Ms Song that Jiangyue got her position through her own hard work and ability. He also admits (in front of the team) to liking her, but that she didn’t give him a response. He won’t allow anyone to slander her. He then grabs Jiangyue’s hand and leads her out of the meeting room. This was such a bad move! It reduces her standing with her team.
Ms Jin is watching media coverage about the drop in Love Note’s popularity. Jiangyue comes by and tells her she will accept responsibility. How? Ms Jin has also heard about the public confession. She isn’t against office romances but Jiaxin is her son, and she doesn’t want things to be made difficult for her. I don’t know why their relationship would affect her negatively. Jiangyue agrees, and says she will resign. Ms Jin is shocked. She doesn’t want to lose her best employee. She also asks whether Jiangyue isn’t worried that Jiaxin’s affections might be temporary due to his age. Jiangyue admits liking him and also admits that it will probably be difficult to be in a relationship with him. But she wants some time to think things through. Ms Jin is still not optimistic about the relationship, but she knows Jiangyue is outstanding at work and realizes she is probably also over-worked, so she says she will grant an indefinite leave of absence instead.
Jiangyue tells Jiaxin she has resigned, and that he won’t have to worry about teaching her about dating any more. She seems cheerful enough and even playful when she says this. The team is shocked by the news and clamor for her to stay. She tells them about the indefinite leave, assures them that she still has faith in the project, and leaves.
Once she’s out of their view, her smile fades. We get the expected flashbacks to good times with the team. As she sadly walks away from the building, Jiaxin comes running up. He’s taking a leave of absence with her. She laughs in disbelief and walks after him, no longer sad.
[Ep18] “Justified leisure”
Jiangyue’s alarm goes off. She sits up in bed before remembering she doesn’t have to go to work. She tries to sleep again, but isn’t able. I don’t think she knows how to do nothing. The doorbell rings; it’s Jiaxin and he’s brought snacks. She doesn’t really want him there though.
Jiangyue plans everything she will do on her vacation. Always with a task list :D The difference between her and normal people is that she actually does what she plans. But wherever she goes, Jiaxin follows. She goes to the gym and he’s there with water for her. She goes for a walk in the rain and he’s there, pretending it’s a chance encounter with a stranger (she’s amused, even though she tells him to go away). She goes for a yoga class and he secretly joins as well. This scene was funny. He openly falls asleep during the class. She’s bored out of her mind and secretly puts in her earbuds, but the connection drops and her phone blares out financial updates :D They’re both thrown out of the class.
After the yoga fiasco, she tells him to keep his distance and, in a bid to escape him, sneaks into a prenatal exercise class, but is caught when the towel she stuffed up her shirt is exposed. Even though this was funny, he really should give her some space when she asks.
Jiaxin sneaks into Jiangyue’s apartment when she isn’t there. (I guess she replaced the physical key-based lock with an electronic keypad after getting locked out in Ep10. And this is why she shouldn’t have.) Jiangyue comes back to her place, and runs into her father on the way. She isn’t exactly thrilled to see him. He’s there because he’s heard about her problems at work.
Jiaxin is setting something up on Jiangyue’s balcony when he hears her arriving with her father. He hurriedly closes the curtains and hides behind them. When Jiangyue comes in, she sees his shoes at the entrance and guesses he must be hiding behind the curtains (because she normally has them open?). She hides his shoes and tries to distract her father, who’s wondering why the curtains are closed.
Papa Zhao begins lecturing his adult(!) daughter about work. She flashes back to when she got 148 marks out of 150 in school and her father criticized her for losing the 2 marks. “Next time bring it back with 150”. If he had done this jokingly, it wouldn’t have mattered. But he was so disapproving. In the present day, he tells her he’s always been proud of her, “but now…”
Papa Zhao has brought a gift. When she opens it, she makes a face and asks “can’t you give me something with a different shape?” It’s a pyramid-shaped object (paperweight?). Her father tells her that life is like a pyramid. It gets harder as you climb. He hopes she can quickly make it to the top. She’s heard all of this before.
Jiaxin has heard the whole lecture and is appalled. He moves a little and bumps his head against a light, and is heard by Papa Zhao. When he is discovered, he unsuccessfully pretends to be a cleaner. Papa Zhao is shocked that his precious daughter would lie to him. His advice: “Better to get an ugly boyfriend. Handsome ones are too distracting” (bahahaha!)
Papa Zhao leaves and Jiaxin commiserates with Jiangyue. She tells him she always worked hard so her father would be proud of her, but he never seemed to be. I’m not sure I like the implication that she worked hard to please someone else. I always thought she worked hard because she enjoyed work and liked to accomplish things. This episode sort of diluted her character a little (imo).
We also learn that Young Jiangyue discovered that her father had a mistress. She tried to hide this from her mother but later learnt that her mother had always known. And her parents are still together(!).
Jiaxin has a surprise for her. He makes a big production of covering her eyes and takes her onto the balcony to reveal… a unicorn-shaped piñata. She isn’t impressed, but he hands her the stick and urges her to vent her annoyances out on the poor innocent unicorn.
When she’s done, he picks up a piece of candy and feeds it to her saying it’s supposed to be good luck. She looks so much like a little kid when she’s eating candy! Can I adopt her?
Jiaxin picks up all the candy and tells her all that good luck is now hers. She learns that his stalker act that day was because he thought she might not be able to handle the loss of her job. He also tells her she is already at the top of the pyramid in his heart. How cheesy! But she doesn’t seem to mind. She looks down, smiles and nods. When she looks back up at him, she has happy tears in eyes.
Later that evening, she thinks back to his words and determines to be brave. We see her emptying things from a bag and then writing something.
Duoxi tells Qi Heng she doesn’t feel like working at Link Tech now that her aunt is no longer there. She wants to look for a job in his office but learns that he’s been offered a very good position in Shenzhen. She’s upset but tells him to go, and then cries. She cries when he leaves as well.
Li Yanran runs into Mr Xu. He is going overseas again. She hugs him but ends up causing him to fall. At the hospital, the doctor assumes they’re a couple. I’m sorry for my shallowness, but while I get that the doctor in Ep9 could have mistaken Jiaxin and Jiangyue for a couple, I have to suspend disbelief to think that someone would automatically think Mr Xu and Li Yanran were a couple. I would have thought a niece was accompanying her uncle.
Jingjing invites Jiangyue over for a meal, but Jiangyue says she’s going on a trip to see the cherry blossom in bloom. When she gets there, she makes a wish at the sakura tree for Love Note to weather the current storm. Jiaxin has followed her there, because Jingjing was worried. Worried about what? Despite Jiangyue telling him she needs more time, he follows her about. She falls asleep on a picnic blanket under a cherry blossom tree and when she wakes up, he’s by her side.
[Ep19] “From the bottom of my heart”
You have to suspend disbelief a little for the first part of this ep. I really wish they’d taken a different route with this.
Jiangyue tells Jiaxin he’s annoying (for following her around), and gets up to leave for the next location on her itinerary. Jiaxin says they can admire the sakura from a unique angle and takes her to a hangar. They’re going to explore by helicopter. She’s very eager, but her eagerness fades when she realizes he’s the pilot. Jiangyue: “I haven’t lived enough!” xD But behold, he has a private pilot’s license. Of course he does :/
Cue shots of scenery. Jiangyue is thoroughly enjoying the ride, but then they experience some malfunction. Jiangyue doesn’t want to die, and she has something she wants to tell him. Jiaxin follows ATC instructions and lands the helicopter safely.
Jiangyue hugs him as soon as she gets out, and then confesses she’s liked him very, very much for a long time. But she couldn’t imagine their future together, didn’t feel safe, so she held herself back. But now she doesn’t care about any of that, she just wants to be with him. She doesn’t suddenly and magically feel like they have a solid future together, but she wants to try. And I think that’s more believable than blind trust.
He swoops down and kisses her. When they break apart, he backs her against the helicopter and they kiss again. They smile at each other and hug. He tells her he loves her.
Qi Heng surprises Duoxi by flying over from Shenzhen unannounced. They plan to go to a revolving restaurant (i.e., expensive!), but Duoxi brings them to their usual haunt (which is far more affordable).
Li Yanran calls Mr Xu when he’s in the middle of a meeting. She’s outside his office building, crying, and demands that he come down and comfort her. He actually ends his meeting and goes down(!). She wails very theatrically and unrealistically about our main CP being a couple. Mr Xu feels uncomfortable but does his best to comfort her. She is incredibly immature and bratty here. He should stop enabling this behavior.
That night, Jiangyue and Jiaxin check into a hotel. The manager has prepared it according to Jiaxin’s instructions (balloons, candles, hearts, flowers, etc). Jiangyue is impressed and Jiaxin looks pleased until he spots a kid’s bed in the corner. Jiangyue is smiling mischievously now. She’s asked the manager to add a kid’s bed because she’d feel bad if he sleeps on the floor. She says this so pseudo-innocently xD The manager who looks like he might start laughing any second beats a hasty retreat. Jiangyue goes to have a shower, Jiaxin takes his shirt off and says he’ll join her, but she’s having none of it. She’s very playful in this scene. I love it :D
Jiaxin isn’t giving up. He gets a snake and hides it in the bed. Where did he get it from? Do all good hotels provide guests with reptiles of their choosing? Is it supposed to be real? (It can’t be, because he holds it by the head, and yet, he seems pretty scared of it.) Jiangyue happens to see him. Later, when they’re ready to sleep, she gets into bed first, but the expected reaction (from someone encountering a snake) doesn’t come. Jiaxin is puzzled and gets into his bed, only to jump out again. She’s moved the snake to his bed! He jumps into her bed and hides against her.
She tells him he still has to sleep in his own bed.
He takes her hand and pulls it under the blanket (umm? Where… actually, let me not ask). He tries to coax her and asks if what she said earlier in the day was a lie. No, she wouldn’t lie to him. She gives him a gift box, which he opens gingerly, fearing other reptiles. Inside is a card saying “Thank you for teaching me to love with my heart. Let’s be together”. There are also mementos that Jiangyue has kept from all their past interactions: tickets to the skating rink, tickets to the movie where they ran into each other (how did she get his ticket when he booked separately online?), a keychain he gave her when he confessed, the marker she used to write “jerk” on his back xD, and some candy from the piñata. She’d intended to send him the box at the end of her trip. I really wish they’d used this as her confession instead of the helicopter scenario. This is far more realistic and much sweeter. Jiaxin gets emotional as he goes through the items. He probably didn’t realize she has had feelings for him for almost as long as he has for her.
They lie in bed for a little, neither making a move, but smiling at each other or to themselves? Finally, he breaks the silence by asking what she wished for at the sakura forest. He guesses it was to be with him. She leans over him and softly says “I don’t think I need to make a wish to be with you?”. She kisses him, he kisses back. The night (presumably) proceeds as you might expect. More of the same the next morning.
The next day, the duo are enjoying some sightseeing when Jiangyue gets a call from Zihao. There’s a problem at work, they need her help. Really, she should remind him she’s on leave, but she cares a lot for the company, so she doesn’t. Ms Song has her knife in the Love Note project. She’s making things difficult for them and threatening to fire them all. Isn’t there an employment Ombudsman to complain to? Or Ms Jin? Managers shouldn’t be able to threaten employees with loss of job for no real reason. They brainstorm ideas and come up with a plan.
Later, Jiaxin says the hotel they’re staying at would be a good venue for their wedding o.O Dude, you just got together! She says they can discuss it when she decides to get married. This sounded like it was going to be just her decision, but since he’s already eager to marry, I guess it would only need her ok.
The next day, Jiaxin receives a phone call from Lisheng. His mother has suffered a heart attack.
Ms Jin is getting ready to leave the hospital when she receives a text from her son that he is on his way to visit her, with new ideas for the app. She looks thoughtful. Lisheng bursts into her hospital room, singing, and tells her he’s finished all the procedures and they can now leave. She hurriedly tells him to arrange with the hospital to let her stay a few more days (umm, Ms Jin, this is a hospital, not a hotel :D). Jiaxin is finally interested in work and she wants him to learn for a bit longer. Lisheng tells her she looks too healthy to be a patient. He gives her powder and tells her to make herself look sickly. I love this guy :D
When our main CP arrives, Ms Jin is playing the part of a patient (though, I don’t understand why she pretends to cough. She had a heart attack, not the flu). Jiaxin starts explaining the revision plans for Love Note and Ms Jin is taken with how in sync he and Jiangyue seem to be. She’s reminded of herself and her husband. Ms Jin talks to Jiangyue in private and tells her she won’t interfere with their relationship anymore.
The two women come out of the room and Lisheng tells Ms Jin her signature is required. So the patient charade is over? As they leave to complete the paperwork, Jiaxin playfully locks his arm around Jiangyue’s neck and demands to know what she talked about with his mother.
She tells him his mother would be hurt if she thought he didn’t trust her. He begins speaking about his past resentment and newfound understanding for his mother. Ms Jin and Lisheng are actually nearby, listening.
We also find out that Ms Jin spoke to Anna in private and changed her mind about selling Love Note, because it mattered so much to her son. When Jiaxin finishes speaking, Jiangyue tells him to tell his mother. Well, he just did :D. Actually, she knew Ms Jin was listening, but she also probably knows that it makes a difference when you’re told something face-to-face.
Another board meeting at Link Tech. Jiaxin officially declares that Love Note won’t be sold. He also reveals Ms Song’s betrayal and fires her. Ms Song accuses Jiangyue of engineering things against her. The reaction of the board here is unbelievable: “even if she betrayed the company, you can’t just fire her like this”. Really? I’d have thought that was a solid reason. After all, not liking a project was apparently reason enough for Ms Song to threaten to fire people. Ms Jin enters just then with Lisheng, who shows them the evidence (in print, because maybe they don’t understand technology) and confirms that Ms Song is to be fired. She also fires one more person: Jiaxin. Jiangyue has spoken to Ms Jin on his behalf and convinced her to let him do what he loves best. Race.
Once the meeting is adjourned, Jiaxin makes some sentimental speech, holds his mother’s and girlfriend’s hands, and tells them he will protect them from now on. The two women look at each other, begin laughing, and tell him to go and work. They need no protection.
Jiaxin treats the project team to dinner, to celebrate his firing :D. They play Truth or Dare; Jiaxin’s up first and is asked who confessed first. For some reason, Jiaxin interprets the question as “when did you fall in love?” (or could it be that the subtitle is wrong?) and thinks back to when Jiangyue cried on his shoulder (Ep5). It was his first time seeing her sad and he wanted to protect her. Jiangyue actually thinks his reply is sweet. My reaction was closer to Zihao’s. Duoxi asks her aunt when she fell in love. Jiangyue thinks back to their day at the skating rink, but refuses to tell them because it wasn’t her turn.
By the way, are Fen and Liang a couple now? They seem to have started hanging out more and more since the trip to Tongli, and are holding hands as they leave the group after dinner.
After dinner, Jiangyue takes Jiaxin to the racecourse. She’s got Alice back from Ms Jin, and has had some improvements made. Jiaxin is thrilled. Jiangyue: “Are you happy? Do you feel good? Then kiss me”. He takes her for a ride and she enjoys it this time (unlike in Ep4 where she felt sick).
From then, a new routine begins for the duo. Every day, she goes for work, he goes racing, they meet in the elevator on the way out and leave each other thoughtful gifts.
At Link Tech, the team wonders how they can improve Jingjing’s image. Li Yanran suggests a popular “self-roast” show. Zihao is concerned that it might be too much, as people can be very harsh, but Jingjing agrees to participate. Jiangyue is worried because Jingjing has already experienced so much cyber-bullying, but Jingjing turns up on the day makeup-free and determined to go through with it. There is a long (overly long) interval before she begins speaking, and the audience turns restive. Jiangyue wants to stop shooting, but then Jingjing starts telling the audience about the bullying she experienced in school due to her weight, how her best friend helped her, etc. She gets through the session successfully. Her popularity climbs again.
On the racetrack, Jiaxin is not doing well and is worried. He calls Jiangyue, upset because of his poor performance. He seems near tears, and it must show in his voice because she asks whether training didn’t go well. He wants to talk to her in person. He picks her up after work amid the usual teasing comments from colleagues. Random aside: the way he puts her helmet on for her is sweet. But also, she should be able to put on her own helmet. I am conflicted :D
At home, Jiaxin tells her about his problems racing: now the reason is not fear due to Kang Zhe’s accident. It’s fear that if something happens to him, his mother and girlfriend will be sad. She tells him not to think like that. And he doesn’t have to win. As long as he loves racing, they will support him. He feels better.
Our main CP begins their hectic work and training schedules as key dates approach. Anna signs a contract (?) with Link Tech. The launch of the revised app will be via a live broadcast, which will also announce the outcome of Jiangyue’s 3-month relationship promise. It’s still not 3 months since they met! :O It also happens to be the same day as Jiaxin’s race. He’s disappointed that she won’t be there to watch him race.
[Ep23] “Grand proposal plan”
Jiaxin is at the racecourse for the championship match. He looks a bit glum. Just then, he hears his Love Note team cheering for him. Jiangyue has brought them all over to cheer him on. They will do the live broadcast on their phones from the racecourse.
It’s difficult to recap the race. Essentially: Jiaxin rides well. The team is rooting for him. Their reactions (with particular focus on Jiangyue) are being broadcast live. One main point in the race is at the end when one racer flips over. Jiaxin panics, but remembers the words of support from his racing buddies, mother and Jiangyue, and manages to continue. He wins the race.
After the race, Jiaxin is told that a prestigious overseas racing team is interested in working with him. He doesn’t tell Jiangyue immediately. Unfortunately, she finds out during a dinner with his racing buddies. He would have to go abroad for 6 months. She handles the situation well, without getting upset that he kept the news from her. She is also very supportive of him going to train with his favorite team.
At home, Jiaxin asks if she was only supportive so he wouldn’t lose face in front of his friends, but she says no, if it’s something he really wants to do, he should go for it. Won’t she miss him? Of course, but they can call each other daily and she will try to visit if she is free (which would be never, surely? When is she ever free?)
When Jiangyue leaves the room, Jiaxin finds a positive pregnancy test hidden in a cupboard. He’s thrilled that he’s going to be a father and panics that he hasn’t proposed to her yet. When she comes back into the living room, he is so solicitous that she’s thoroughly confused xD
Jiaxin visits Kang Zhe in hospital with the racing cup, and tells him about the overseas opportunity. No reaction. He then says he’s going to propose to Jiangyue. We see Kang Zhe’s finger move slightly. Finally! He gets to move!
Duoxi is leaving for Shenzhen :(. One evening at work, she comes into Jiangyue’s office and asks her to join a farewell party on the rooftop. Surely Jiangyue would have been chief organizer of (or at least heard of) a farewell party for her niece? Jiangyue goes to the rooftop. The path to the rooftop is “signposted” with candles and hearts and flowers. Her cactus is at the top of the stairs. The cactus should get a place in the show’s credits :D Jiaxin is on the rooftop, surrounded by their colleagues, and next to the words “Marry Me”. He makes a speech and is down on bended knee, with everyone chanting “marry him, marry him” when Jiangyue says “no, I won’t”. Everyone’s confused. The colleagues thankfully have the tact to leave.
Jiaxin tells her he knows she’s pregnant and this is the best solution he can offer her. But the test was Jingjing’s, not hers. Jiaxin wants to marry regardless, but Jiangyue says they just started dating and it’s too soon, which is very true. They’ve only been together for a few weeks. Then again, he started talking about marriage the day after they got together, so…
Jiaxin obsesses over why Jiangyue rejected his proposal. Duoxi tells him Mr Xu came to visit Jiangyue at the company and wonders if he could be the reason she said no. Seriously?! Do they think Jiangyue is so flaky? Jiaxin panics and runs over to Link Tech.
Mr Xu is actually there to say goodbye. He is leaving and this time, he doesn’t think he will return to China. He goes to hug Jiangyue just as Jiaxin bursts into the office. Mr Xu is amused at Jiaxin, and jokes about Jiangyue’s refusal (not maliciously, but maybe teasingly).
Once Mr Xu has left, Jiaxin apologizes to his girlfriend. She tells him since the day she became his girlfriend, she hasn’t thought about Mr Xu. I suspect she stopped thinking about Mr Xu even before she got together with Jiaxin. Her refusal has nothing to do with him. She just doesn’t want to marry.
Jiaxin asks Jingjing for advice. She suggests he approach it gradually, starting with living together. So he turns up one evening at Jiangyue’s, complete with bag and baggage, and lies that his landlord has asked him to vacate his apartment. Jiangyue (very readily) agrees to let him live with her.
Jiaxin disarms Jiangyue by making her breakfast, choosing a work outfit for her, and generally being useful. When she is at work, he begins preparing a very elaborate dinner. Is he planning to propose again so soon? Dude, gradually!
Jiangyue comes home to find a home-cooked meal laid out… and her boyfriend dressed in all white and with a rose between his teeth (xD I guess it was meant to be romantic, but I just found it funny). She’s stunned, but he’s even more stunned when their colleagues also come in! The rose drops from his mouth and he is teased by the team.
[Ep24] “Sincerity is the only path to love”
Mr Xu is heading for the airport. Li Yanran comes to send him off. He’s wary of her because last time she sent him to the hospital :D. But this time she hugs him with no serious consequences. On the plane, he looks at a photo of her on his phone. Just then a voice asks “May I sit here?”. It’s Li Yanran. Now that Jiaxin’s won his match, and the app has been relaunched successfully, she’s decided to travel (to the same destination as him). He looks happy. Sorry, still not a fan.
Our main CP is out shopping for baby clothes for Jingjing’s baby (which isn’t due for many months yet). They come across a little kid who’s gotten separated from his parents; they keep him amused until the parents can be located. Is this likely? Wouldn’t mall security have insisted on the child staying with them?
Our main CP discuss marriage, kids and family. Jiangyue isn’t confident that she will be a good wife or mother. She’s also not sure what a good marriage would look like, since her parents didn’t have one.
Jiaxin laments to Jingjing that his girlfriend has so many reasons for not getting married. Jingjing tells him she knows her best friend truly loves him and he should try to prove to her that his love is forever. Jiangyue comes up just then and casually breaks the news that he will be meeting her parents at dinner that evening. Jiaxin panics at the short notice, and asks Jingjing for advice. Jiangyue also playfully listens in.
At dinner, Jiaxin is off to a bad start with Jiangyue’s father. (I guess being called “father-in-law” by the “handsome cleaner” isn’t ideal :D) But Jiaxin wins him over with his sincerity. Jiangyue’s mother is very supportive.
Two days before Jiaxin is to leave, Jiangyue is having a Girls’ Night with Jingjing and Duoxi (the latter is in Shenzhen and joins via video call). Jingjing recommends Jiangyue to marry Jiaxin before he leaves, because if she waits “he might lose his passion”. Ummm, so his love is only temporary? This conflicts with what Jingjing was saying just before about “falling in love over and over again” during marriage. Do they need a marriage certificate to remain in love?
After Girls’ Night ends, Duoxi looks thoughtfully at Qi Heng and then talks about marriage. He wants to, but they haven’t bought a house or anything yet. She doesn’t care. She gives him the ring from a bottle-cap and tells him to use it and propose. They’re engaged.
Jiangyue goes back home after Girls’ Night to find that Jiaxin isn’t home yet. But his luggage is in the living room, in preparation for his departure. She looks at it sadly and then walks through the apartment thinking about the good times they’ve had. Jiaxin comes home just then and she runs to him eagerly (and again, a little bit like a kid) and hugs him. He’s got an enormous bunch of roses for her and she wonders if he’s proposing again. No, he will wait for her. She looks like she’s going to cave and agree to marry him, but he stops her(!). He wants his proposal to be grand, not just a bunch of roses. I don’t understand this at all. He kisses her suddenly and then carries her to the bedroom.
Later, they visit Kang Zhe and his mother in hospital. Jiaxin introduces Jiangyue to them, and tells them she will visit Kang Zhe while he is overseas.
Jiaxin’s leaving day: Jiangyue is “quietly sad”, while Jiaxin cries into his jacket after he leaves her.
Six months later, we’re at the Annual Internet Industry Award Ceremony. Attendees include the Love Note team, Jiaxin, his mother, Lisheng, Mr Xu (so he didn’t leave permanently?), Qi Heng, a heavily-pregnant Jingjing and her husband. Probably other people as well, but we don’t care about them.
Jiangyue is nervous and Jingjing is surprised because it’s not a large event. Jiangyue tells her it’s for another reason.
Love Note wins Best App of the Year and Jiangyue is called on stage to receive the award. She thanks Ms Jin, Jingjing, and the project team.
She also thanks “someone else”: the person who taught her to “be brave and love freely”. The lights dim and the screen reads “Remember the cactus you gave me?”, followed by a video of her in her office saying “Gu Jiaxin, I’m ready. Will you marry me?” This is followed by similar videos at places that were important to them and with people who are important to them: her school, the Link Tech project team’s workspace with all their colleagues in the background (chanting “say yes”), the racetrack with his racing friends (chanting “say yes”), the hospital with Kang Zhe who is awake(!) and holding a sign saying “say yes”. For some reason, I thought the hospital scene could have been left out. Kang Zhe didn’t look fully well. Then again, he is the one person who Jiaxin confessed all his thoughts to from Day 1. The presentation ends with “Gu Jiaxin, will you marry me?”
Jiaxin is tearing throughout the video, and tears are running down his cheeks by the end. He goes on stage and says “I’m willing... I do”. She’s brought rings and everything. They hug on stage as golden confetti falls.
I don’t know how the logistics worked for this. In order to plan this, Jiangyue would have had to know beforehand that Love Note was going to win (which makes her surprised reaction odd). Or she would have had to ask the event organizers to allow her to propose at some other time if Love Note didn’t win… It seems a bit risky. I’m not a fan of public proposals in any case.
Another day. Jiaxin is waiting with his motorbike for Jiangyue. She comes down in attire that matches his (black jeans, black leather jacket) and tells him today, he sits at the back, she’ll drive. She’s got a motorcycle license! He’s reluctant but she persuades him.
The end.
[First Impression (Ep1-7)] WWL is the first cdrama I watched fully, and I’m actually recapping after watching it in its entirety, so my first impressions are a bit vague.
I found WWL after seeing Jin Chen in YAMG (I dropped YAMG early on, but Jin Chen stood out for some reason) and searching for “strong females in light-hearted cdramas”. WWL was the intersection of the two.
I will say, Ep1 isn’t the greatest for drawing you in. It isn’t terrible, but it feels more “artificial” than the next few, and all the characters seem to be playing a part, i.e., it doesn’t feel entirely natural. Jiangyue seems to be trying to be strict, Jiaxin seems to be trying to be cool. And there’s that one idiotic ghost scene that just brings the whole thing down. The two leads also don’t show their best selves in the first couple of eps. Jiaxin comes across as a bit of an entitled and lazy rich kid, while Jiangyue comes across as being over-confident in her ability to find a boyfriend.
It’s from the latter half of Ep2 that things start to feel more “real”, and it’s after the event in Ep3 that the characters start “settling in”.
The main CP has great chemistry. They look like they truly enjoy each other’s company (especially in Ep6 and Ep7). For two people who only met a few weeks prior, they seem very comfortable together and already (in Duoxi’s words) “look like a couple”.
The second CP (Jingjing and Zhang Hao) have broken up by this point, though flashbacks show them as a very loving couple. With the introduction of Vincent in Ep3, it’s unclear which direction the show will take.
The third CP (Duoxi and Qi Heng) still haven’t got together, though it’s probably only a matter of time. They’re sweet, but a little too sweet for me (though, I suspect 99.9% of viewers will love them).
I really like the friendship between Jiangyue and Jingjing. Two women who are friends from school and who always put each other first. More dramas need to show this kind of friendship. The friendship between Jiaxin and Qi Heng (as well as Jiaxin and Kang Zhe) is also really nice.
It feels like a very light-hearted romcom so far. The aesthetics are great. There’s no scheming, no malice, no super-villain. There is no character so far that I found to be truly dislikable. Li Yanran is annoying, but I don’t hate her. She seems more misguided than anything.
All in all, very promising.
“Proper” BTS of various scenes
Random BTS/goofing around during downtime
Ep8: Being held up at “gunpoint”, Golf, No idea
Notable Actors/Actresses
Jin Chen: Zhao Jiang Yue
Wang Zi Yi: Gu Jia Xin
Wang Shuang: Qian Jing Jing
Peng Ya Qi: Li Yan Ran
Director
Scriptwriter
Chinese Title
不會戀愛的我們
不會戀愛的我們
Those of Us Who Don't Know How to Love
Night-time in an office building in Suzhou. The company is “Link Technology”, and Zhao Jiangyue (FL) is in the office at midnight, practicing a speech promoting Love Note (a dating app). She stops her speech at the statement “nobody understands love better than we do” and laments to the world about why we need to be in a relationship at all and that falling in love is hard. Her phone begins playing “Happy birthday”. She’s turned 30.
Her speech as a voiceover talks about the rise in singlehood and possible reasons for it, and states that Love Note is intended for people who might not know how to fall in love.
Next morning, Gu Jiaxin (ML) is riding a motorbike at top speed to the Link Technology office. He asks receptionist Qiuqiu for Zhao Jiangyue and is taken to her (empty) office to wait for her. The receptionist doesn’t ask for his name or verify his appointment or anything!
The Love Note department is all a-hubbub in preparation for a live broadcast, with people setting up cameras, lights etc. The team is awaiting the arrival of Qian Jingjing, a popular relationship blogger and ‘Queen of Love’ :/. She finally makes a diva-like entrance. It turns out that Jiangyue is Jingjing’s best friend, and currently also her client. Jingjing is going to be the spokesperson for Love Note, because her relationship blog is popular with Love Note’s target audience (i.e., young girls/women). We learn from the two women’s conversation that Jingjing’s husband Zhang Hao dotes on his wife, and Jingjing relies greatly on him and Jiangyue.
Jingjing has a birthday present for Jiangyue: a “catalog” of male models xD. Jiangyue says she prefers intelligent mature men, and Jingjing asks if she’s still hung up on her old boss Xu Ningyuan, before telling her that Mr Xu is back in the country. Jiangyue clearly has/had feelings for Mr Xu.
Jiangyue has a somewhat embarrassing first meeting with Jiaxin (she practices how to greet Mr Xu without realizing Jiaxin is in the room). Jiaxin is the son of Link Tech’s CEO, Ms Jin. He has been assigned as Jiangyue’s assistant to learn the ropes of the business, but he clearly doesn’t want to be there. He makes an unfavorable start by offering to help secure her position as general manager in exchange for her turning a blind eye to his (lack of) work. She isn’t having any of it.
To Jiangyue’s mortification, Jiaxin sees the male model catalog and comments “I didn’t know you liked this type” before whispering to her “I have it too” (the body, presumably). He’s shocked when she runs her hand over his abs and appears unimpressed. I know this should be considered harassment, but I still laughed. I apologize.
Jiaxin tells Jiangyue that it’s clear she is single and that Mr Xu will never end up with her. She seems upset by this. He also tells her she is doomed to remain single, to which she firmly responds “I. Like. It”.
The live broadcast begins. Jiaxin is also in the room and as the broadcast is in progress, he leaves a comment on the live chat asking why Jiangyue is single when she’s promoting a dating app. This results in the usual online furore, which Jiangyue quells by promising to fall in love via the app within three months. Cue comically stunned faces of all who know her. Just then, Jiaxin stumbles over a power cable, causing it to disconnect and the live broadcast to come to an abrupt end.
Jiangyue furiously leads Jiaxin to a meeting room and reprimands him, while a group of employees gathers outside to eavesdrop. This is Link Tech’s resident Gossip Gang: Zihao, Qiuqiu, Fen, Mei, Liang and a few others whose names I don’t know. They seem to gossip more than they work.
When Jiangyue comes out of the meeting room, she’s informed that the live broadcast did better than expected. When the power was reinstated, Jingjing made some analogy about darkness and singlehood or some such blah and saved the situation.
That evening, Jiaxin is forced to wait at the office as punishment for his previous actions. He’s annoyed and this results in the stupidest scene ever created: he shuts off the power and then pretends to be a (tablecloth-covered) ghost to scare his boss. How did he make the lights flicker? and the papers swirl? But Jiangyue isn’t the type to scare easily. She hits him with his own bike helmet, causing them to fall down together with the expected trope-y result that I refuse to even write about. Jiangyue runs her hand down the tablecloth-covered ghost’s abs and guesses who it is. I didn’t know you could distinguish between people that way xD
Jiangyue tells Jiaxin that she has been given the power by Ms Jin to decide when he leaves, and that will only happen if he works hard. He realizes he can’t hope to play the fool and get away with it with this boss.
Later that evening, Jiaxin is in his apartment when the doorbell rings. There’s nobody there when he answers, but a cake box has been left outside his door. He proceeds to attack the beautiful cake and I do mean “attack”. He doesn’t cut a slice and eat it the normal way. He uses a cake server to hack at the cake and eat it top-down in the most messy way possible. While he’s eating he looks at the card that came with the cake. It says something like “Happy birthday to our darling YueYue. We love you”. He checks the address on the receipt. It was meant for apartment 1201. He’s 1301. He tells himself he’ll apologize to the neighbor downstairs and get her a new cake later, and then continues eating(!!!)
His downstairs neighbor is (surprise, surprise) Jiangyue, who’s shocked that he is her new neighbor and horrified at the state of her birthday cake. (Her mother sent her the cake, but mixed up the dates and couldn’t come down to celebrate her daughter’s birthday(!))
Jiaxin explains that he thought the cake was from one of his fans. If he moved in that day, how would his fans have known his address? Jiangyue isn’t happy, but just asks him to leave so she can finish her dinner: instant noodles. Jiaxin looks a bit remorseful. Look at the Before and After for that cake… he should be remorseful! He tells her birthdays should have a sense of ceremony, so he makes some unappetizing concoction in the microwave, writes “happy” on it in ketchup, and then sings Happy Birthday to her. She’s quite amused (and touched?) by this.
In his own apartment, Jiaxin bemoans having two “female devils” in his life (mom and Jiangyue). In her apartment, Jiangyue sets herself the task of getting a boyfriend in 3 months, and thinks it won’t be difficult.
Network: Youku
Recapper: Tyi
Recap Grade: A/B
First Impression: 3.75/5
First Impression: 3.75/5
Mini Recaps
cynlynn: Welcome Tyi, our new recapper for 2024 (for a 2022 drama, lol)!! \o/ Guys, the year is already awesome.
[Ep1] “Why is it so hard to fall in love?”
Night-time in an office building in Suzhou. The company is “Link Technology”, and Zhao Jiangyue (FL) is in the office at midnight, practicing a speech promoting Love Note (a dating app). She stops her speech at the statement “nobody understands love better than we do” and laments to the world about why we need to be in a relationship at all and that falling in love is hard. Her phone begins playing “Happy birthday”. She’s turned 30.
Her speech as a voiceover talks about the rise in singlehood and possible reasons for it, and states that Love Note is intended for people who might not know how to fall in love.
Next morning, Gu Jiaxin (ML) is riding a motorbike at top speed to the Link Technology office. He asks receptionist Qiuqiu for Zhao Jiangyue and is taken to her (empty) office to wait for her. The receptionist doesn’t ask for his name or verify his appointment or anything!
The Love Note department is all a-hubbub in preparation for a live broadcast, with people setting up cameras, lights etc. The team is awaiting the arrival of Qian Jingjing, a popular relationship blogger and ‘Queen of Love’ :/. She finally makes a diva-like entrance. It turns out that Jiangyue is Jingjing’s best friend, and currently also her client. Jingjing is going to be the spokesperson for Love Note, because her relationship blog is popular with Love Note’s target audience (i.e., young girls/women). We learn from the two women’s conversation that Jingjing’s husband Zhang Hao dotes on his wife, and Jingjing relies greatly on him and Jiangyue.
Jingjing has a birthday present for Jiangyue: a “catalog” of male models xD. Jiangyue says she prefers intelligent mature men, and Jingjing asks if she’s still hung up on her old boss Xu Ningyuan, before telling her that Mr Xu is back in the country. Jiangyue clearly has/had feelings for Mr Xu.
Jiangyue has a somewhat embarrassing first meeting with Jiaxin (she practices how to greet Mr Xu without realizing Jiaxin is in the room). Jiaxin is the son of Link Tech’s CEO, Ms Jin. He has been assigned as Jiangyue’s assistant to learn the ropes of the business, but he clearly doesn’t want to be there. He makes an unfavorable start by offering to help secure her position as general manager in exchange for her turning a blind eye to his (lack of) work. She isn’t having any of it.
To Jiangyue’s mortification, Jiaxin sees the male model catalog and comments “I didn’t know you liked this type” before whispering to her “I have it too” (the body, presumably). He’s shocked when she runs her hand over his abs and appears unimpressed. I know this should be considered harassment, but I still laughed. I apologize.
 |
| “I have it too” |
 |
| Do you really? |
 |
| An antagonistic start |
Jiangyue furiously leads Jiaxin to a meeting room and reprimands him, while a group of employees gathers outside to eavesdrop. This is Link Tech’s resident Gossip Gang: Zihao, Qiuqiu, Fen, Mei, Liang and a few others whose names I don’t know. They seem to gossip more than they work.
 |
| They go where the gossip takes them |
 |
| Gossip Gang L->R: Zihao, unknown, unknown, Mei, Fen, Duoxi, Liang, unknown |
That evening, Jiaxin is forced to wait at the office as punishment for his previous actions. He’s annoyed and this results in the stupidest scene ever created: he shuts off the power and then pretends to be a (tablecloth-covered) ghost to scare his boss. How did he make the lights flicker? and the papers swirl? But Jiangyue isn’t the type to scare easily. She hits him with his own bike helmet, causing them to fall down together with the expected trope-y result that I refuse to even write about. Jiangyue runs her hand down the tablecloth-covered ghost’s abs and guesses who it is. I didn’t know you could distinguish between people that way xD
Jiangyue tells Jiaxin that she has been given the power by Ms Jin to decide when he leaves, and that will only happen if he works hard. He realizes he can’t hope to play the fool and get away with it with this boss.
Later that evening, Jiaxin is in his apartment when the doorbell rings. There’s nobody there when he answers, but a cake box has been left outside his door. He proceeds to attack the beautiful cake and I do mean “attack”. He doesn’t cut a slice and eat it the normal way. He uses a cake server to hack at the cake and eat it top-down in the most messy way possible. While he’s eating he looks at the card that came with the cake. It says something like “Happy birthday to our darling YueYue. We love you”. He checks the address on the receipt. It was meant for apartment 1201. He’s 1301. He tells himself he’ll apologize to the neighbor downstairs and get her a new cake later, and then continues eating(!!!)
 |
| Before |
 |
| After |
Jiaxin explains that he thought the cake was from one of his fans. If he moved in that day, how would his fans have known his address? Jiangyue isn’t happy, but just asks him to leave so she can finish her dinner: instant noodles. Jiaxin looks a bit remorseful. Look at the Before and After for that cake… he should be remorseful! He tells her birthdays should have a sense of ceremony, so he makes some unappetizing concoction in the microwave, writes “happy” on it in ketchup, and then sings Happy Birthday to her. She’s quite amused (and touched?) by this.
In his own apartment, Jiaxin bemoans having two “female devils” in his life (mom and Jiangyue). In her apartment, Jiangyue sets herself the task of getting a boyfriend in 3 months, and thinks it won’t be difficult.
[Ep2] “The price of excellence is not ending up alone”
A motorbike crashes into another that is already on the ground (on a racetrack). The wheel of the falling motorbike whacks against the helmet of the downed biker.
Jiaxin wakes up from his nightmare/flashback. The downed biker was his friend Kang Zhe, and it looks like it was Jiaxin’s bike that knocked against his head.
At Link Tech, Jiangyue is on a mission to find a boyfriend. She’s filling out some sort of idiotic online questionnaire with questions like “when did you last interact with a man?”, “when did you last eat with a man?”, “when did you last feel your heart flutter?”. She realizes that most of her answers are work-related, except for the last one (she thinks back to falling on top of Jiaxin). She answers “do not remember” for all the questions and is informed by an oh-so-clever algorithm that she is incompetent in love. I wonder what they would define as ‘competent in love’? She refuses to believe this result and makes an appointment with a matchmaking store (which she also needs to inspect on behalf of Link Tech). She’s very confident of finding a match.
At the matchmaking store, Jiangyue is told that it will be very difficult to find a match for her as most men put the desired age range as 19-29. At 30, “there isn’t too much time left for you”. Jiangyue: “You’re talking as if I’m about to die”. That line was funny, but the situation… ugh. The store assistant further elaborates that with Jiangyue’s profile, she will be the most difficult to match up. (Her application form says she earns 2 million yuan a year, owns a house and car, and rates herself 6/10 in cooking and cleaning, with “special skills” and “hobbies” both being “work”. Heh.)
Jiaxin comes to the matchmaking store with an update about work. The store manager tells him male members are scarce and asks him to fill out an application. How does matchmaking work with such disproportionate membership? Jiangyue doesn’t see him, but he sees her and gets to hear the advice given to her by the store assistant: “Reduce your salary to that of an average female white-collar worker, and add hobbies like having tea or cooking”. I need the “nauseous” emoji here. Jiangyue finds the situation unfathomable (as do I), but the assistant says she can prove it by searching through their database for a match for her (the assistant expects to find none). Jiaxin hurriedly tells the manager that he wants someone 8 years older than him (so specific, lol), in the network industry, earning at least a million/yr and who likes working. This results in him being matched with Jiangyue, and they come face-to-face.
Jiaxin reveals that Jiangyue is a general manager at Link Tech, to the consternation of the staff. A side note: I don’t care much for the way our leads criticized the staff. They should have expressed their concerns to the store manager privately and asked her to train her team.
Outside the store, Jiangyue asks about the match-up and he admits he didn’t want her to be upset that there were no matches. I don’t think she would have been upset; just annoyed by the attitudes. She asks why men like women who are not as good as them. He replies that it’s bias, and that he personally believes a good relationship should be about supporting each other and growing together. He also says outstanding people will attract each other. This gives her the idea to create an Elite Singles Night, with 100 “outstanding” people of both genders. How do they define “outstanding”? And let’s ignore the obvious “elitism”.
Jiangyue sets her assistant the task of creating an applet for a dating questionnaire. He says he doesn’t know how. She tells him to learn. Heh. At the office, Jiaxin is sulking at his desk about the task he’s been given. When Jiangyue isn’t around, he calls up a senior who works in another tech company (aimeng(.) com) and asks her for a questionnaire template. The senior tells him to send her the data and she will get it done for him :O. Jiaxin happily agrees. He tells Duoxi about it. She isn’t sure it’ll work. Neither of them seem to consider things like corporate IP.
Just then, Jiaxin gets a phone call from his friend, Qi Heng, who is currently living overseas. Jiaxin shows him the office and Duoxi (who is sitting next to him). Qi Heng stares at Duoxi. After hanging up, he looks at an old middle school photo.
Later, Jiaxin visits the hospital where his friend Kang Zhe (the one from the accident) has been admitted. His mom and her assistant/right-hand-man Xu Lisheng are there and inform him that the pre-op checkup went well. His mom asks about things at the company and this results in an argument between her and Jiaxin. Lisheng defuses the situation. (We learn that Jiaxin came back to the company because his mom agreed to get the best surgeons to operate on Kang Zhe. It’s also very clear that Jiaxin and his mother don’t have the best relationship. She wants him to take over the company at some point. He is resentful towards her and only wants to race.)
Jiaxin talks to his comatose friend, promising they’ll race together again. He tells Kang Zhe about the she-devil his mom has got to boss him around. He also promises that he will win some racing championship, which is in 3 months.
The next day (or some days later?), Jiaxin is at the office making plans to meet some of his friends. Jiangyue overhears and asks about the applet. He shows her the completed work (that his senior did). She’s impressed.
At a club with his friends, Jiaxin is complaining about Jiangyue. Some of his friends seem really immature. At the same time, Jiangyue is at the office and learns that aimeng.com has released a questionnaire applet with exactly the same content as Link’s proposed applet (that Jiaxin supposedly worked on). She tries calling him but he declines the call, so she tracks him down at the club. She tells him off for wasting the hard work of other employees (who came up with the content) and reminds him of possible legal implications.
Jiaxin goes to the office, where Liang and Zihao are trying to rework the content, and apologizes to them. He offers to help. It turns out he does know how to program; he was just lazy and took a shortcut. Zihao is unimpressed at first, but warms up to Jiaxin once he realizes he’s being sincere. They work overnight and Zihao presents the result to Jiangyue (who also remained in the office overnight). He praises Jiaxin and Jiangyue realizes Jiaxin isn’t so bad after all.
That evening Jiaxin brings over dinner for his boss as an apology. She probably hasn’t eaten since the previous night, because she looks so tempted by the food. Jiaxin claims to have made all the dishes himself, but she finds the takeout receipt under one of the plates. Dude, seriously :D
He goes to wash his hands, but her tap isn’t working. She says she can easily fix it. Sadly, the plumbing exhibits “demo behavior” (i.e., it works fine every time except when you’re demonstrating it to someone else) and the tap starts gushing. She tries to cover the stream of water and shouts from him to help. He comes over and covers her hands.
A motorbike crashes into another that is already on the ground (on a racetrack). The wheel of the falling motorbike whacks against the helmet of the downed biker.
Jiaxin wakes up from his nightmare/flashback. The downed biker was his friend Kang Zhe, and it looks like it was Jiaxin’s bike that knocked against his head.
At Link Tech, Jiangyue is on a mission to find a boyfriend. She’s filling out some sort of idiotic online questionnaire with questions like “when did you last interact with a man?”, “when did you last eat with a man?”, “when did you last feel your heart flutter?”. She realizes that most of her answers are work-related, except for the last one (she thinks back to falling on top of Jiaxin). She answers “do not remember” for all the questions and is informed by an oh-so-clever algorithm that she is incompetent in love. I wonder what they would define as ‘competent in love’? She refuses to believe this result and makes an appointment with a matchmaking store (which she also needs to inspect on behalf of Link Tech). She’s very confident of finding a match.
At the matchmaking store, Jiangyue is told that it will be very difficult to find a match for her as most men put the desired age range as 19-29. At 30, “there isn’t too much time left for you”. Jiangyue: “You’re talking as if I’m about to die”. That line was funny, but the situation… ugh. The store assistant further elaborates that with Jiangyue’s profile, she will be the most difficult to match up. (Her application form says she earns 2 million yuan a year, owns a house and car, and rates herself 6/10 in cooking and cleaning, with “special skills” and “hobbies” both being “work”. Heh.)
Jiaxin comes to the matchmaking store with an update about work. The store manager tells him male members are scarce and asks him to fill out an application. How does matchmaking work with such disproportionate membership? Jiangyue doesn’t see him, but he sees her and gets to hear the advice given to her by the store assistant: “Reduce your salary to that of an average female white-collar worker, and add hobbies like having tea or cooking”. I need the “nauseous” emoji here. Jiangyue finds the situation unfathomable (as do I), but the assistant says she can prove it by searching through their database for a match for her (the assistant expects to find none). Jiaxin hurriedly tells the manager that he wants someone 8 years older than him (so specific, lol), in the network industry, earning at least a million/yr and who likes working. This results in him being matched with Jiangyue, and they come face-to-face.
Outside the store, Jiangyue asks about the match-up and he admits he didn’t want her to be upset that there were no matches. I don’t think she would have been upset; just annoyed by the attitudes. She asks why men like women who are not as good as them. He replies that it’s bias, and that he personally believes a good relationship should be about supporting each other and growing together. He also says outstanding people will attract each other. This gives her the idea to create an Elite Singles Night, with 100 “outstanding” people of both genders. How do they define “outstanding”? And let’s ignore the obvious “elitism”.
Jiangyue sets her assistant the task of creating an applet for a dating questionnaire. He says he doesn’t know how. She tells him to learn. Heh. At the office, Jiaxin is sulking at his desk about the task he’s been given. When Jiangyue isn’t around, he calls up a senior who works in another tech company (aimeng(.) com) and asks her for a questionnaire template. The senior tells him to send her the data and she will get it done for him :O. Jiaxin happily agrees. He tells Duoxi about it. She isn’t sure it’ll work. Neither of them seem to consider things like corporate IP.
Just then, Jiaxin gets a phone call from his friend, Qi Heng, who is currently living overseas. Jiaxin shows him the office and Duoxi (who is sitting next to him). Qi Heng stares at Duoxi. After hanging up, he looks at an old middle school photo.
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| Seeing an old friend after a long time |
Jiaxin talks to his comatose friend, promising they’ll race together again. He tells Kang Zhe about the she-devil his mom has got to boss him around. He also promises that he will win some racing championship, which is in 3 months.
The next day (or some days later?), Jiaxin is at the office making plans to meet some of his friends. Jiangyue overhears and asks about the applet. He shows her the completed work (that his senior did). She’s impressed.
At a club with his friends, Jiaxin is complaining about Jiangyue. Some of his friends seem really immature. At the same time, Jiangyue is at the office and learns that aimeng.com has released a questionnaire applet with exactly the same content as Link’s proposed applet (that Jiaxin supposedly worked on). She tries calling him but he declines the call, so she tracks him down at the club. She tells him off for wasting the hard work of other employees (who came up with the content) and reminds him of possible legal implications.
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| Unimpressed with the new assistant |
That evening Jiaxin brings over dinner for his boss as an apology. She probably hasn’t eaten since the previous night, because she looks so tempted by the food. Jiaxin claims to have made all the dishes himself, but she finds the takeout receipt under one of the plates. Dude, seriously :D
He goes to wash his hands, but her tap isn’t working. She says she can easily fix it. Sadly, the plumbing exhibits “demo behavior” (i.e., it works fine every time except when you’re demonstrating it to someone else) and the tap starts gushing. She tries to cover the stream of water and shouts from him to help. He comes over and covers her hands.
[Ep3] “The criteria for everyone”
We pick up where we left off, with water gushing everywhere (but mostly over our two leads). Neither of them thinks of turning off the valve, which I’m pretty sure we saw. Jiaxin looks down at their hands and then down at Jiangyue and remarks that she’s “kind of pretty” but that she “lacks some femininity”. Who says this to their boss??? She’s miffed by the remark. I don’t know any boss who would take such a remark as calmly as she did. He brings up her promise to get a boyfriend in 3 months and asks if she has a plan. She pins her hopes on the Elite Singles Night. He isn’t optimistic. She’s miffed by his lack of optimism.
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| Girls’ Night |
At the event, Jiangyue is in a dress that the girls convinced her to wear. Jiaxin is in a suit. I think it’s supposed to be a designer suit, but it looks cheap to me. Then again, I know nothing about fashion. He comments that she looks charming and asks how he looks. Her response: “Very ordinary” xD. She’s still very confident that she will find a partner at the event; he is still very doubtful. He makes a bet – whoever gets fewer responses from potential dates has to do what the other asks. (Each participant has a rose to give someone they’re interested in, so the one with more roses will win.)
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| The “charming” girl and “very ordinary” guy |
The message was from Xu Ningyuan. He’s at the event venue. Jiangyue bumps into someone as she heads towards him, and twists her ankle slightly. One of Mr Xu’s first remarks is “You’re still clumsy”. It’s clear that he cares for her, but the dynamic between the two isn’t great. He has a paternalistic attitude towards her, while she goes from being a smart competent woman to being slightly clumsy and awkward. Jiaxin interrupts their conversation and is introduced to Mr Xu. Jiaxin makes it clear to Mr Xu that Jiangyue has spoken of him before, and tries (unsuccessfully) to convince her to accept Mr Xu’s offer of driving her home. He notices that she’s walking awkwardly and offers to help, but she refuses. Mr Xu seems amused by their interactions.
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| Enter Mr. Xu |
When they get back to their apartment complex, he backs her up against the car and tries to convince her to let him help her with dating. She pulls him by the collar, discomfiting him, and tells him not to try any tricks. I love that she never gives in!
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| What’s sauce for the goose… |
At her apartment, Jiangyue thinks back to when she met Mr Xu. He was her boss, she developed feelings for him, but found out that he had a girlfriend. Later, she thinks to herself that love is tiring, and that being single is best.
At his apartment, Jiaxin thinks about the broken heel on Jiangyue’s shoe, and searches online for shoes that he thinks will suit her because we all buy shoes for our bosses…
During the Singles event, a divorce lawyer named Vincent seems interested in Jingjing and attempts to flirt with her. Later that night she goes back to her place to find a feast laid out but no sign of Zhang Hao (her husband). She tries calling him but he texts that he’s still working and she shouldn’t wait. She takes a photo of the meal and posts it online. But she isn’t happy to be eating alone. Her fandom is all “you’re so lucky”, “how can I get such a great man?”, etc. They don’t realize that the marriage isn’t as perfect as she makes it out to be.
The next day at work, Jiaxin manages to convince Jiangyue to let him help her with dating. He tries to glean information about Jiangyue from her niece Duoxi, who first assumes that Jiaxin is interested in Jiangyue and tells him she supports them because they “really look like a couple” (xD). He tells her he’s not interested in this type of woman but he wants more info. Duoxi tells him her aunt was always a high achiever and scared away all the boys, but that she’s “a little girl inside” apparently just because she likes cuddly toys and desserts. That would make many people “little girls”. Show, why these stereotypes even in 2022? Duoxi also talks about Mr Xu and says he had a girlfriend who died and whom he still carries a torch for. Jiangyue doesn’t want to be a substitute or to let a shadow get in the way of a relationship.
[Ep4] “My heart flutters, but I’m not in love”
Jiangyue opens her door for a delivery to find that the delivery man is Jiaxin. He asks Jiangyue to go on a (fake) date with him, to reactivate her “love nerves”. He talks a lot of nonsense. He hands her a box. It contains her high school uniform. Well, not actually her own uniform, but the uniform of her high school. It would be super creepy otherwise.
The next day she comes down wearing the uniform. He’s in school uniform too. She’s embarrassed and wants to drop the whole thing but he convinces her to go along with his plan. His idea is that he’s going to remind her of feelings of young love. But she never dated in school, so what good would that do? He’s got his motorbike; he puts her helmet on for her and then holds out his hand for her to climb onto the bike. She’s still hesitant (about holding his hand?) but gets on anyway. He pulls her hands round to his front, so that her arms are circling his waist. She’s a bit taken aback.
They stroll around her school. We learn that Jiangyue was an Outstanding Graduate. We are not surprised :). While walking along the sports grounds, they discuss campus love and the fact that most things aren’t allowed in school. To demonstrate this (?) he tells her to hold his hand. She’s reluctant, so he pulls his sleeve over his hand and offers her the empty sleeve instead.
Jiaxin grabs her hand and heads for the rostrum (a platform looking out onto the grounds). She doesn’t seem to notice that they’re holding hands now. He stares at Jiangyue, turns to the grounds and shouts “Zhao Jiangyue, I like you”. He’s going full method, huh? She’s shocked. He repeats it as she grabs his arm to stop him. He’s about to shout for the third time when a security guard and a teacher (?) yell at him. Jiaxin: “Run?”, Jiangyue: “Run!”. This time, she grabs his hand and runs, followed by the security/staff.
Later that evening, Jiangyue is relaxing at her place, reading online messages about various relationship problems, and regretting having made the 3-month relationship target. She suddenly sees messages about Jingjing… her husband has apparently cheated on her. There’s a photo of him with another woman. Jiangyue immediately calls her friend, who’s at home and upset. Jiangyue wants to come over, but Jingjing says she’s already spoken to Zhang Hao, the news is fake, and not to come. When the call ends, the doorbell at Jingjing’s place rings and she goes to collect various unhealthy takeouts. She begins stuffing herself, but is reminded of herself in school: a girl who really enjoyed eating. She immediately runs to the bathroom and we hear retching :(
Jingjing and Zhang Hao make a public statement that the photo was fake, and the Love Note team makes plans to capitalize on the publicity the issue has raised. I was shocked, but this is apparently normal? When Jingjing is at the Love Note studio, she seems sad. Jiangyue asks Jiaxin for his opinion but he’s a bit lethargic (bad dreams again?) and isn’t very helpful. He says Jingjing is beautiful and feminine and he believes in her charm. So apparently, beautiful and feminine people never have relationship issues :/
In a café somewhere, Mr Xu is reading something about Love Note. At an adjacent table, a girl (Li Yanran) is watching Jingjing’s abysmal tips on communication in relationships. One tip is to talk like you’re pulling pranks, e.g., “You’ve got something on your face… Oh, just kidding” (wth?). Li Yanran practices this out loud, and because she’s almost facing Mr Xu, he reflexively puts his hand to his face to check :D. When Li Yanran goes to get her coffee, Mr Xu phones someone and asks them to check out Love Note. I guess Li Yanran’s actions showed him that young people
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| A meeting of polar opposites |
There’s another Love Note studio session and Jingjing seems distracted. Jiangyue asks her about it afterwards. Jingjing pretends everything is ok, but her handbag falls and a divorce certificate is revealed. Zhang Hao wanted a divorce and they got divorced earlier that day. I don’t understand why Jingjing feels the need to pretend with her best friend. For the sake of Jiangyue and the Love Note app, she gets him to agree to keep playing the sweet couple. She tells Jiangyue that legally she doesn’t have to divulge the divorce publicly for 6 months. But even if it’s legal, isn’t it unethical? Jiangyue is more concerned about her best friend. These two always seem to put each other first. I really like their friendship. Jingjing says she’ll be fine; after all, she’s the Queen of Love (bleh). But then she cries :(
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| Hide crying eyes from prying eyes |
[Ep5] “Unforgettable first love”
Qi Heng is back in China. He reveals to Jiaxin that he got a job offer in Suzhou, and that he came back “for someone”. He will stay temporarily with Jiaxin while he looks for a place of his own. The two friends are at the racetrack and we see that Jiaxin is not doing well with his racing. He’s still affected by what happened to Kang Zhe.
Jingjing is alone at her place, stuffing herself with junk food. She is eating compulsively, not because she enjoys the food. She thinks back to school where she was mocked by classmates for her size and for writing a love letter: “she looks like that and still has the nerve to write love letters?” :(
Jiangyue drops by and sees the floor littered with junk food wrappers. Jingjing asks if Jiangyue is disappointed in her. Of course not, they’re friends. They hug and Jingjing cries. A flashback shows that when Jingjing was bullied in school, Jiangyue stood up for her and awkwardly comforted her. Flashforward to the present, where Jiangyue is still there for her best friend and is much better at comforting. So Jingjing’s public persona is just an act to distance herself from how she was in school.
Jiangyue wants to avenge her friend and searches online for advice. She really should stop doing that. When does it ever work? She decides to ambush Zhang Hao at the spa that he frequents (where he’ll be at a disadvantage because he’ll be lying face down on a massage table and won’t be able to react quickly). She enters the room as a massage therapist, ties his hands down, pours water over him and writes “jerk” on his back with a marker while yelling at him for hurting her best friend. Ok, this was a mad thing to do, but she’s a very loyal friend! Her victim struggles and finally manages to face her. It’s Jiaxin! Apparently Jingjing gave him the details of the spa. Did Jingjing make the booking for Jiaxin under her husband’s name? Otherwise, why would Jiangyue have assumed Zhang Hao was in that particular room?
A little while later, a sheepish Jiangyue apologizes to Jiaxin. He tells her she has to take responsibility (for removing the marker ink on his back). We then see him in a bath with her using a toothbrush, scrubbing brush and finally steel-wool (!) to try and remove the ink. The scene ends with him screaming.
The next day, he bursts into the office. The ink is still on his back! She tells him it’ll fade in 7 days and that he isn’t going out without clothes anyway :D. He goes to the kitchen and is thinking of ways to remove the ink when a glum Duoxi comes by. Her housemate is moving out and she can’t afford to pay two lots of rent. He helps her out by posting an ad for a housemate on his social media. Qi Heng sees this ad and responds. When he shows up at Duoxi’s for a viewing, she doesn’t recognize him until he reminds her that they went to school together. We learn that they both had a crush on each other, but never admitted it. Duoxi agrees to him as a housemate, so Qi Heng happily moves out of Jiaxin’s and Jiaxin realizes that Qi Heng came back to the country mainly for Duoxi.
Jiangyue is at a wedding with friends. Mr Xu attends the same wedding. Just as she’s working up the courage to approach him, his date arrives. Jiangyue’s friends start speculating about his relationship. They also ask Jiangyue whether she’s single; she lies that she has a boyfriend. I was disappointed with her for this. If she’s truly happy being single, why pretend? She texts Jiaxin, who is at the race course, and asks him to come pretend to be her boyfriend. She justifies it as “for work. If you don’t do this, I won’t come to work” (lol). He isn’t too keen, but agrees if she’ll let him have a day off work.
Jiangyue gets steadily more drunk at the wedding. All her friends leave, but Jiaxin isn’t there yet. Mr Xu comes up to her table, worried at how much she’s drinking. She’s still able to talk pretty clearly though. She gets up and asks Mr Xu where his girlfriend is; he seems surprised at the question. She stumbles and he catches her arm just as Jiaxin comes in. Jiaxin is quite concerned about his boss and leads her out of the venue.
At Jiangyue’s place, the alcohol seems to have taken full effect. She’s a silly/funny drunk. She insists on Jiaxin drinking with her and they both get sloshed. She leans on his shoulder (to sleep?), but he stops her. He asks whether the reason she asked him to pretend to be her boyfriend was Mr Xu. She denies it and says they are purely friends, but then becomes melancholy. Almost as if she’s talking to herself, she says “it’s good, he has his own happiness, you’re right, I’m bad at love”. Wiping her eyes, she leans on his shoulder again (he doesn’t stop her this time) and cries quietly. He feels bad for her.
Jiangyue wakes up in bed the next day and sees that beneath her teddy bear is the sleeping form of Jiaxin. She also finds that she has cat whiskers drawn on her face in lipstick. It looks so cute xD. She chases him out of her apartment, but then remembers that she allowed him to draw on her face. She posts a question online asking what it means if you accidentally share a bed with a man but nothing happens. Someone replies that it just means he’s not into you. Couldn’t it mean he doesn’t want to do anything when you’re both drunk? :/
[Ep6] “Hide and seek of love”
Jingjing is in the middle of a live broadcast when Zhang Hao appears in the background, greets her audience, and plays the part of the loving husband. As soon as her broadcast ends, they stop their charade. He’s moving out. She returns gifts he’s given her over the years, but he doesn’t want them. She throws the box of gifts away and cries as she remembers the good times they shared in the past.
Jingjing is shocked when Jiangyue tells her about the previous night’s events. She’s inclined to blame Jiaxin (and men in general), but Jiangyue is honest about the situation. She says she’s never drinking with cute guys again (ummm, so she thinks he’s cute?). Jingjing asks if Jiangyue has feelings for him. The response is an immediate “no”. The reason being he’s so much younger. If the genders were reversed, this reason probably wouldn’t come up. Jingjing also thinks Jiaxin isn’t a good match and tells her friend to focus on Mr Xu.
Jiaxin visits the still-comatose Kang Zhe in hospital and talks to him about the old days and whatnot. He then brings up Jiangyue (the “she-devil”) and says she is fierce but also silly and cute, and that he felt for her when she cried. He wonders whether he has feelings for her (wait, he developed feelings for her because she cried?!?), and immediately rejects the thought because she’s “so much older” and “not his type at all”.
Duoxi and Qi Heng have lunch and reminisce about school days. Duoxi thinks Qi Heng liked the prettiest girl in their class because he kept turning around to look at her. He was actually turning around to look at Duoxi. They talk about how he used to stammer and he credits Duoxi with helping him overcome it.
At Link Tech, Jiangyue has a meeting with Ms Jin, who gives her a file for a potential client. When asked about Jiaxin’s progress, Jiangyue is positive in her feedback. As she’s leaving, Ms Jin tells her Jiaxin’s girlfriend is back and to approve any leave requests he makes (to let them connect). The smile drops from Jiangyue’s face and she goes back to her office in an annoyed state of mind. She berates herself for caring about him having a girlfriend. When Jiaxin comes in, she’s very snappish with him and finally gives him the client file and tells him to leave. The client is Mr Xu! Jiaxin thinks to himself that Mr Xu and Jiangyue are fated, and that he will help them and “save himself some useless thoughts”.
That evening, Jiangyue and Jingjing are at Jiangyue’s apartment discussing the newest development. Jingjing wants her friend to be more proactive with Mr Xu, so she texts him from Jiangyue’s phone to make a date; the text addresses him as “Ningyuan” instead of “Mr Xu” (which is what Jiangyue always uses), and is way more informal than Jiangyue is with Mr Xu. Jiangyue’s horrified/freaked-out reactions here are so funny but also realistic. I couldn’t get good screenshots of them though. Mr Xu agrees immediately to the date.
Meanwhile, Jiaxin is at his apartment playing video games when the phone rings. English subs say the caller is “Clingy Girl” (but Google Translate says “sticky brown toffee”?). It’s Li Yanran xD. She’s outside his apartment building and wants to bring him a cake she baked. He lies that he isn’t in his apartment, but she can see the light is on. He hangs up and dashes out.
Jingjing is leaving Jingyue’s apartment when Jiaxin whizzes past the doorway. Jingjing asks if he’s come there so late to talk about work. He says yes, but Jingjing isn’t convinced (because most people don’t visit their bosses in their pyjamas). After Jingjing leaves, Jiaxin pleads with Jiangyue to let him hide at hers for a while. I’d laugh at him for being a coward, but he’s actually just too polite to tell Li Yanran off. Jiangyue agrees and, flipping over a sand timer, tells him he can stay for “the time of a song”.
Li Yanran comes up after Jiaxin has left. She remembers the security code from when she was last at his apartment, and uses it to get in. This is why security codes on their own are a bad idea. Also, even if Li Yanran is technically harmless, what she does here is still very wrong. She sees that the apartment is indeed empty, but also realizes that Jiaxin deliberately avoided her. She decides to forgive him and anticipates giving him a surprise later.
Jiaxin watches the building entrance from behind window curtains (with a teddy bear for additional cover) until he sees Li Yanran leave.
Jiaxin knows Jiangyue has a date the next day and offers to help her with some tricks. He tells her to imagine him as her, and herself as Mr Xu, at a fancy restaurant. We see that Jiangyue actually imagines herself and Jiaxin. He hands her a magazine and tells her to take it from him, pretending it’s a menu. She reaches for the magazine and her fingers cover his. She’s taken aback by the touch. He gently eases his forefinger out from under her hand and uses it to stroke around her finger. He takes so many liberties with her and she allows them. No way would she unless she had feelings for him.
Jiangyue is clearly affected, but lies that she isn’t. He tells her that touching someone in this planned-but-casual way can increase their heartbeat and make them fall for her. She retorts, “According to you, handing a menu could attract people. Then everyone should love the waiters!” Bahaha, I love her! He then tucks her hair behind her ear (I could have done without the harp music here) and strokes her earlobe :O. He bluffs that there was something in her hair, but also says that ears are very sensitive to touch and that she should create some opportunities for ‘accidentally’ touching Mr Xu.
Jiangyue says she can’t do it, and then looks for her phone (which he nearly sat on earlier). She reaches across him to look for it; he is discomfited and blushes. His face, neck and hands are all quite red. I don’t know if this was done through selective lighting or makeup, or whether the actor can actually make himself blush at will. She notices this and amazedly asks what she did to cause it. She finds it cute (and is very cute herself when she says it). He’s embarrassed and stops her tersely. He offers to teach her another tactic; she agrees. We see the sand timer. The time of a song has passed, but they’re still talking…
The next evening, as Mr Xu drives Jiangyue to the restaurant, she tries to put Jiaxin’s suggestions to practice. Her attempt to casually touch Mr Xu’s face fails. At the restaurant, she also tries the menu trick but it falls to the ground and Mr Xu remarks that menus can be heavy. How embarrassing :D. The date is very awkward, as neither can think of anything to talk about. Mr Xu reminisces a little about Jiangyue when she’d just joined his firm. He does like and admire her. But it’s still more of a mentor-mentee vibe. She starts talking eagerly about work and their upcoming partnership, but he tells her they shouldn’t talk about work on a date. So they go back to not talking much.
[Ep7] “Dating rules”
Mr Xu drives Jiangyue back after their date. She stumbles when getting out of the car and he helps her. We hear her heartbeat and she remembers what Jiaxin said and wonders whether she has fallen for Mr Xu. Jiangyue, you are way too sensible to believe that rubbish! Before leaving, Mr Xu makes it a point to clarify that the girl she saw with him at the wedding (Ep5) was not his girlfriend. Jiangyue wonders what he’s trying to say, but dismisses it. She really is quite clueless.
The next day at Link Tech, Jiaxin asks how the date went and whether his advice worked. She’s non-committal and tells him not to worry about her dates. He finds out she discussed work with Mr Xu and is appalled. He tells Duoxi about it (she’s amused), and also tries to play matchmaker for Duoxi and Qi Heng.
Qiuqiu tells Jiaxin they’re expecting a new employee. It turns out to be Li Yanran! Ms Jin got her a job there (to be fair, she might have got in with her own qualifications. Ms Jin made the necessary introductions). Jiaxin appeals to Li Yanran to keep the fact that he is the CEO’s son a secret. Li Yanran agrees but only if he does as she says. She says this almost sweetly, but it’s still blackmail.
Li Yanran wants Jiaxin to have lunch with her, but Jiangyue comes up at that moment and wants him to visit a supplier with her. Jiaxin is very happy to leave with Jiangyue; Li Yanran wonders whether Jiangyue could be her love rival :D I don’t know what she saw in that interaction to make her assume that... apart from Jiaxin’s eagerness to leave.
Kang Zhe has undergone surgery! He still hasn’t woken up from the coma, but the surgeon is optimistic. He tells Kang Zhe’s mother and Jiaxin that they should talk to the patient as much as possible, to stimulate his auditory nerve. Jiaxin tells Kang Zhe more about Jiangye (most of his updates seem to feature her). He says she makes him confused. He promised to help her date Mr Xu, but he feels sad now that she is dating.
At Link Tech, it’s the day Mr Xu is coming by to discuss cooperation and Jiaxin comments that Jiangyue has put more effort than usual into her appearance. She’s wearing a new suit and a new shade of lipstick. Jiangyue is disconcerted by his analysis (and proximity); even more so when he abruptly takes her hand. But all he does is spray perfume on her wrist. Jiangyue tells him she is going to work, not date.
Mr Xu is in the meeting room when Li Yanran walks in. They remember each other from the café (Ep4).
Li Yanran tells him she took the job to chase her boyfriend.
Jiangyue and Jiaxin enter just then and Li Yanran smiles knowingly at the affectionate look on Mr Xu’s face when he greets Jiangyue. The meeting begins. Jiaxin is presenting something about the Love Note app, but Jiangyue is the only one paying attention. Li Yanran is speculating about Jiaxin’s feelings and about Jiangyue’s and Mr Xu’s relationship, while Mr Xu is thinking about asking Jiangyue out for dinner. The least useful meeting, work-wise :D
Mr Xu does ask Jiangyue out for dinner after work. Jiaxin isn’t too happy when he sees them talking. As Mr Xu leaves, he’s accosted by Li Yanran who is inquisitive about his feelings for Jiangyue. She offers to help him pursue Jiangyue. He says Li Yanran should first get Jiaxin as her boyfriend (before offering to help others with their love lives). Once he leaves, Li Yanran pouts sulkily and kicks the air after him. She is far too immature in this scene.
The movie “Better Days” has been released and Jiaxin wants to watch it. He wonders whether he should invite Jiangyue as otherwise she might make him work overtime. Dude, that’s such a flimsy reason! Li Yanran comes up and starts making plans for them that he wants no part of. Jiangyue comes by at the same time and probably assumes that they are very close based on Li Yanran’s actions. She seems disappointed and leaves. Jiaxin goes to her office to tell her he doesn’t want to work late that day. He’s surprised when she readily agrees and isn’t too happy when he learns about her dinner date. For that matter, Jiangyue doesn’t look all that happy as she watches Jiaxin leave her office.
Jiangyue and Mr Xu’s dinner was at a restaurant in the mall; he isn’t happy with what they had (he says the store’s dishes were “common”, which sounds a bit snobbish), but Jiangyue doesn’t mind (she seems to have picked the venue). Just then he gets a call from work and has to leave. She’s very understanding about it. Deciding to watch a movie before leaving, she goes to watch “Better Days”. I read the synopsis for the film; it sounds very depressing. She’s in the same row as Jiaxin but about 10 seats away. They don’t see each other until the movie ends.
As they walk out together, they both admit to being surprised at the other’s choice in movies. He thinks she should watch historical films, and she assumes he’d like Fast & the Furious. They realize they don’t know each other as well as they thought.
They’re leaning over a banister overlooking a skating rink in the mall, and Jiaxin notices that Jiangyue seems very interested in the skaters. He asks if she can skate. Not at all. Neither can he. Jiangyue: “How impressive!”
He suggests they give it a try. She says she’s scared. I didn’t think she’d ever admit to being scared of anything. He grabs her hand and leads her to the rink. He ties her laces for her (is she incapacitated in some way? Why can’t she tie her own shoelaces?) and they walk/wobble over to the ice.
Once they start, she picks it up quicker and pulls him to the middle of the rink. Not that either one is skating properly, but she glides a bit while he essentially just “walks” on ice. They are thoroughly enjoying themselves. This is one of my most favorite scenes in the drama. They look like two good friends, comfortable and happy in each other’s company. The background music is great. I think they’ve just taken random shots of them skating, because in one part you can see Jin Chen (i.e., Jiangyue) talking to someone off-camera while skating. Side note: the two expert skaters we see in this scene are the instructors who taught the actors to skate.
[Note on Duoxi and Qi Heng: This not-yet-couple spends a lot of time eating together, thinking back to their time at school, and trying to gauge whether the other is interested in anyone. They’re sweet and all, but I don’t know that it’s recappable.]
Qi Heng is back in China. He reveals to Jiaxin that he got a job offer in Suzhou, and that he came back “for someone”. He will stay temporarily with Jiaxin while he looks for a place of his own. The two friends are at the racetrack and we see that Jiaxin is not doing well with his racing. He’s still affected by what happened to Kang Zhe.
Jingjing is alone at her place, stuffing herself with junk food. She is eating compulsively, not because she enjoys the food. She thinks back to school where she was mocked by classmates for her size and for writing a love letter: “she looks like that and still has the nerve to write love letters?” :(
Jiangyue drops by and sees the floor littered with junk food wrappers. Jingjing asks if Jiangyue is disappointed in her. Of course not, they’re friends. They hug and Jingjing cries. A flashback shows that when Jingjing was bullied in school, Jiangyue stood up for her and awkwardly comforted her. Flashforward to the present, where Jiangyue is still there for her best friend and is much better at comforting. So Jingjing’s public persona is just an act to distance herself from how she was in school.
A little while later, a sheepish Jiangyue apologizes to Jiaxin. He tells her she has to take responsibility (for removing the marker ink on his back). We then see him in a bath with her using a toothbrush, scrubbing brush and finally steel-wool (!) to try and remove the ink. The scene ends with him screaming.
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| Be afraid, be very afraid |
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| Meeting after ten years |
Jiangyue gets steadily more drunk at the wedding. All her friends leave, but Jiaxin isn’t there yet. Mr Xu comes up to her table, worried at how much she’s drinking. She’s still able to talk pretty clearly though. She gets up and asks Mr Xu where his girlfriend is; he seems surprised at the question. She stumbles and he catches her arm just as Jiaxin comes in. Jiaxin is quite concerned about his boss and leads her out of the venue.
Jiangyue wakes up in bed the next day and sees that beneath her teddy bear is the sleeping form of Jiaxin. She also finds that she has cat whiskers drawn on her face in lipstick. It looks so cute xD. She chases him out of her apartment, but then remembers that she allowed him to draw on her face. She posts a question online asking what it means if you accidentally share a bed with a man but nothing happens. Someone replies that it just means he’s not into you. Couldn’t it mean he doesn’t want to do anything when you’re both drunk? :/
[Ep6] “Hide and seek of love”
Jingjing is in the middle of a live broadcast when Zhang Hao appears in the background, greets her audience, and plays the part of the loving husband. As soon as her broadcast ends, they stop their charade. He’s moving out. She returns gifts he’s given her over the years, but he doesn’t want them. She throws the box of gifts away and cries as she remembers the good times they shared in the past.
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| Don’t believe everything you see online… |
Jiaxin visits the still-comatose Kang Zhe in hospital and talks to him about the old days and whatnot. He then brings up Jiangyue (the “she-devil”) and says she is fierce but also silly and cute, and that he felt for her when she cried. He wonders whether he has feelings for her (wait, he developed feelings for her because she cried?!?), and immediately rejects the thought because she’s “so much older” and “not his type at all”.
Duoxi and Qi Heng have lunch and reminisce about school days. Duoxi thinks Qi Heng liked the prettiest girl in their class because he kept turning around to look at her. He was actually turning around to look at Duoxi. They talk about how he used to stammer and he credits Duoxi with helping him overcome it.
That evening, Jiangyue and Jingjing are at Jiangyue’s apartment discussing the newest development. Jingjing wants her friend to be more proactive with Mr Xu, so she texts him from Jiangyue’s phone to make a date; the text addresses him as “Ningyuan” instead of “Mr Xu” (which is what Jiangyue always uses), and is way more informal than Jiangyue is with Mr Xu. Jiangyue’s horrified/freaked-out reactions here are so funny but also realistic. I couldn’t get good screenshots of them though. Mr Xu agrees immediately to the date.
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| Jingjing looks so pleased with her handiwork. Jiangyue looks less pleased. |
Jingjing is leaving Jingyue’s apartment when Jiaxin whizzes past the doorway. Jingjing asks if he’s come there so late to talk about work. He says yes, but Jingjing isn’t convinced (because most people don’t visit their bosses in their pyjamas). After Jingjing leaves, Jiaxin pleads with Jiangyue to let him hide at hers for a while. I’d laugh at him for being a coward, but he’s actually just too polite to tell Li Yanran off. Jiangyue agrees and, flipping over a sand timer, tells him he can stay for “the time of a song”.
Li Yanran comes up after Jiaxin has left. She remembers the security code from when she was last at his apartment, and uses it to get in. This is why security codes on their own are a bad idea. Also, even if Li Yanran is technically harmless, what she does here is still very wrong. She sees that the apartment is indeed empty, but also realizes that Jiaxin deliberately avoided her. She decides to forgive him and anticipates giving him a surprise later.
Jiaxin watches the building entrance from behind window curtains (with a teddy bear for additional cover) until he sees Li Yanran leave.
Jiangyue says she can’t do it, and then looks for her phone (which he nearly sat on earlier). She reaches across him to look for it; he is discomfited and blushes. His face, neck and hands are all quite red. I don’t know if this was done through selective lighting or makeup, or whether the actor can actually make himself blush at will. She notices this and amazedly asks what she did to cause it. She finds it cute (and is very cute herself when she says it). He’s embarrassed and stops her tersely. He offers to teach her another tactic; she agrees. We see the sand timer. The time of a song has passed, but they’re still talking…
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| Accidental touching apparently does work |
Mr Xu drives Jiangyue back after their date. She stumbles when getting out of the car and he helps her. We hear her heartbeat and she remembers what Jiaxin said and wonders whether she has fallen for Mr Xu. Jiangyue, you are way too sensible to believe that rubbish! Before leaving, Mr Xu makes it a point to clarify that the girl she saw with him at the wedding (Ep5) was not his girlfriend. Jiangyue wonders what he’s trying to say, but dismisses it. She really is quite clueless.
The next day at Link Tech, Jiaxin asks how the date went and whether his advice worked. She’s non-committal and tells him not to worry about her dates. He finds out she discussed work with Mr Xu and is appalled. He tells Duoxi about it (she’s amused), and also tries to play matchmaker for Duoxi and Qi Heng.
Qiuqiu tells Jiaxin they’re expecting a new employee. It turns out to be Li Yanran! Ms Jin got her a job there (to be fair, she might have got in with her own qualifications. Ms Jin made the necessary introductions). Jiaxin appeals to Li Yanran to keep the fact that he is the CEO’s son a secret. Li Yanran agrees but only if he does as she says. She says this almost sweetly, but it’s still blackmail.
Kang Zhe has undergone surgery! He still hasn’t woken up from the coma, but the surgeon is optimistic. He tells Kang Zhe’s mother and Jiaxin that they should talk to the patient as much as possible, to stimulate his auditory nerve. Jiaxin tells Kang Zhe more about Jiangye (most of his updates seem to feature her). He says she makes him confused. He promised to help her date Mr Xu, but he feels sad now that she is dating.
At Link Tech, it’s the day Mr Xu is coming by to discuss cooperation and Jiaxin comments that Jiangyue has put more effort than usual into her appearance. She’s wearing a new suit and a new shade of lipstick. Jiangyue is disconcerted by his analysis (and proximity); even more so when he abruptly takes her hand. But all he does is spray perfume on her wrist. Jiangyue tells him she is going to work, not date.
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| Is he long-sighted? Why does he need to be this close to look at her lipstick? |
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| This just had to be featured. Behold, Mr Xu imitating Li Yanran :D |
Mr Xu: “Why do you need to chase him if he’s your boyfriend?”
Li Yanran: “It isn’t enough if I say he’s my boyfriend. He has to say it too.” She’s actually quite sweet :D
Jiangyue and Jiaxin enter just then and Li Yanran smiles knowingly at the affectionate look on Mr Xu’s face when he greets Jiangyue. The meeting begins. Jiaxin is presenting something about the Love Note app, but Jiangyue is the only one paying attention. Li Yanran is speculating about Jiaxin’s feelings and about Jiangyue’s and Mr Xu’s relationship, while Mr Xu is thinking about asking Jiangyue out for dinner. The least useful meeting, work-wise :D
Mr Xu does ask Jiangyue out for dinner after work. Jiaxin isn’t too happy when he sees them talking. As Mr Xu leaves, he’s accosted by Li Yanran who is inquisitive about his feelings for Jiangyue. She offers to help him pursue Jiangyue. He says Li Yanran should first get Jiaxin as her boyfriend (before offering to help others with their love lives). Once he leaves, Li Yanran pouts sulkily and kicks the air after him. She is far too immature in this scene.
The movie “Better Days” has been released and Jiaxin wants to watch it. He wonders whether he should invite Jiangyue as otherwise she might make him work overtime. Dude, that’s such a flimsy reason! Li Yanran comes up and starts making plans for them that he wants no part of. Jiangyue comes by at the same time and probably assumes that they are very close based on Li Yanran’s actions. She seems disappointed and leaves. Jiaxin goes to her office to tell her he doesn’t want to work late that day. He’s surprised when she readily agrees and isn’t too happy when he learns about her dinner date. For that matter, Jiangyue doesn’t look all that happy as she watches Jiaxin leave her office.
Jiangyue and Mr Xu’s dinner was at a restaurant in the mall; he isn’t happy with what they had (he says the store’s dishes were “common”, which sounds a bit snobbish), but Jiangyue doesn’t mind (she seems to have picked the venue). Just then he gets a call from work and has to leave. She’s very understanding about it. Deciding to watch a movie before leaving, she goes to watch “Better Days”. I read the synopsis for the film; it sounds very depressing. She’s in the same row as Jiaxin but about 10 seats away. They don’t see each other until the movie ends.
They’re leaning over a banister overlooking a skating rink in the mall, and Jiaxin notices that Jiangyue seems very interested in the skaters. He asks if she can skate. Not at all. Neither can he. Jiangyue: “How impressive!”
Once they start, she picks it up quicker and pulls him to the middle of the rink. Not that either one is skating properly, but she glides a bit while he essentially just “walks” on ice. They are thoroughly enjoying themselves. This is one of my most favorite scenes in the drama. They look like two good friends, comfortable and happy in each other’s company. The background music is great. I think they’ve just taken random shots of them skating, because in one part you can see Jin Chen (i.e., Jiangyue) talking to someone off-camera while skating. Side note: the two expert skaters we see in this scene are the instructors who taught the actors to skate.
[Ep8] “More than friends, less than lovers”
Jiaxin visits his mother at their home and tells her about Kang Zhe’s surgery. She already knows. He sincerely thanks her for her help with arranging for the surgery and she’s pleasantly surprised at his maturity (we’ve seen before that he and his mom don’t always see eye-to-eye). He tells her Jiangyue is a good teacher. He brings up Li Yanran and Ms Jin encourages him to be nicer to her. “The adults in the two families also know each other”… I think this is the root of Li Yanran’s behavior. She has probably been actively encouraged by both sides. Jiaxin tells his mother that there’s no chance of him getting together with Li Yanran but that he’ll look after her like a brother would look after his sister.
Li Yanran tries to gauge Jiaxin’s feelings for Jiangyue. He denies any romantic feelings. She says Mr Xu seems to like Jiangyue, and this disappoints Jiaxin. They’re eating out during this conversation, and Li Yanran orders the same food as Jiaxin even though she doesn’t like it because “I like it if you like it”. She also just watches him eat, encouraging him to eat more. She doesn’t seem to have her own thoughts or goals. Everything revolves around him.
At Link Tech, Zihao tells Jiangyue that one of the advertisers they normally work with seems to be pulling out. Zihao is unable to get in touch with the decision makers. The advertising firm worked with a Ms Song (of Link Tech) previously, but Ms Song went on maternity leave and informed Zihao that she has left the company (Jiangyue is her replacement). The advertisers may be wavering because they aren’t dealing with Ms Song anymore. Jiangyue remembers that a Mr Wang from the advertising firm likes playing golf, and decides to tackle him on the golf course. But golf membership is expensive. She asks Mr Xu (who has membership) for a favor and he’s only too happy to oblige (apparently she has never asked him for help before).
Jiaxin notices that Jiangyue looks worried and asks her whether he can help. She asks if he can play golf. He’s played for 10 years. Since he was 12? She wants him to teach her to play by the end of the week. He agrees but asks for a favor in return. He wants to borrow her car to pick up his girlfriend, Alice, who has just returned from the States. She’s surprised to hear he has a girlfriend and refuses to lend her car. He asks if she’s jealous, and convinces her to let him have the car and also to accompany him to see “the beauty”.
The beauty turns out to be a motorbike (ha!).
Jiangyue is amused. She thinks Jiaxin is childish when she hears he wants to win the championship for a friend, but changes her mind when she hears about Kang Zhe’s situation.
At the golf course, Jiangyue is clearly a Good Student. She listens to and follows every instruction. Despite this, her first swing misses the ball. Jiaxin comes up behind her to adjust her stance and she is again affected by his proximity (and vice versa). With the adjustments, she does well and smiles at him happily. He tucks her hair behind her ear and she smiles shyly. He’s beginning to be openly admiring of her.
The next scene is one I dislike, where Jiaxin calls Jiangyue cute. When she tells him it’s inappropriate, he asks what’s wrong with being cute and that “cute” is a man’s highest compliment for a woman. I feel sorry for women. A woman could be extremely clever or exceptionally talented, but if she’s interested in a man she has to hope she’s called “cute” :/
Another day at the golf course, this time Jiangyue and Mr Xu. He also helps her with her golfing stance. I may be imagining it, but she doesn’t seem as comfortable with his proximity. She thinks back to Jiaxin’s training and makes a very good swing, surprising Mr Xu.
Jiaxin is getting ready to go to the golf course. Jiangyue never actually told him about the problem with the advertising firm. He must have found out from Zihao. Li Yanran visits his apartment and literally clings to him until he agrees to take her with him. She is far too bratty here. She’s supposed to be 22 years old, which is young, but not young enough for that behavior.
Jiangyue finds Mr Wang on the golf course and can I say, I dislike him intensely. He comments that she looks charming in her golf attire, remarks on her (young) age, and won’t listen to her work-related conversation. Ok, nobody wants to be bothered by work on a weekend (but then, perhaps at least send a cursory response during the week?), and the issue he had with the contract seems cause for genuine concern – assuming he read it properly, but his whole attitude towards Jiangyue is patronizing. He presses Jiangyue to play golf and she does. It’s a good swing, but she injures her wrist and is in pain. He doesn’t notice, and wants her to continue the game with him.
Just then Jiaxin turns up and offers to play in her stead. He also casually name-drops a director at Mr Wang’s company. When Mr Wang realizes Jiaxin is Ms Jin’s son, he’s all over them (ugh). Jiaxin talks up Jiangyue (she’s Link Tech’s youngest general manager, etc) and Mr Wang agrees to sign the contract. He makes it sounds like he was always going to, but with Jiangyue he was hemming and hawing (ugh). Jiangyue happily shakes hands with Mr Wang and Jiaxin notices her injury. He tells Mr Wang he will finish the game with him.
After the game, Jiaxin finds a first-aid kit and treats Jiangyue’s hand. She tells him he did well with Mr Wang. He tells her that if she can’t do something, she should just say so. She responds that many people have been working on the app for many months and if something goes wrong now, so much effort will go to waste. I think he’s slowly gaining respect for her work ethic. Just then, some kids nearby blow soap bubbles and Jiangyue turns to look. Jiaxin stares at her and blurts out “you look beautiful like this”. She doesn’t hear him properly, so he bluffs and says he was talking about the bubbles.
Meanwhile, Mr Xu and Li Yanran are waiting for their “dates” to get back. Li Yanran pesters Mr Xu into adding her as a contact. She wants to form an alliance so they can help each other with their respective love lives, but he isn’t interested.
Jiaxin and Jiangyue arrive just then, and Li Yanran immediately latches on to Jiaxin; Jiangyue notes the interaction. Mr Xu asks Jiaxin to have a meal with them as thanks for his efforts, but Jiaxin refuses saying Li Yanran wants to spend time with him. He shouldn’t have said this, because it gives both women the impression that he wants to spend time with Li Yanran. He’s not happy when he sees Mr Xu walk away with his arm around Jiangyue’s shoulder.
Later, Jingjing asks Jiangyue about her experience with dating Mr Xu, and Jiangyue says she only remembers talking about work (lol). She says she and Mr Xu seem to have nothing to say outside of work. Jingjing thinks it’s because they were once superior-subordinate, but Jiangyue says she and Jiaxin are also superior-subordinate and yet are comfortable with each other. Jingjing asks if she’s in love with Jiaxin without realizing it. There’s a pause before Jiangyue says no, and when did she say she was in love with him? Jingjing knows her friend better than that and observes that it isn’t impossible that Jiangyue should be with Jiaxin; it’s just the fact that he’s in his early 20s (the age notorious for impulsive behavior and brief intense likings) that worries the two women. Jiangyue changes the subject and asks Jingjing about her life. Jingjing says she wants to get her revenge on Zhang Hao by making him fall for her again and then rejecting him. Jiangyue looks very uncertain about this plan.
Jingjing’s brilliant idea was to call her ex to her place under some pretense, dress sexily, and throw herself at him. He does come over to help, but rejects her advances. Why would she ever have thought this was a good idea? The best revenge would be to live your own life happily and successfully. But the fact that Zhang Hao actually came over when he thought she needed help suggests something…
That night, Jiangyue opens her fridge to find it bare of anything immediately edible. Her fridge is a close relative of Old Mother Hubbard’s cupboard. Jiaxin comes over and suggests they go out to eat. She very happily agrees. This is another scene that shows how comfortable they are with each other.
Over dinner, Jiangyue asks about Jiaxin’s relationship with Li Yanran. We learn that she’s been clingy since she was very young, is under the impression that she’s engaged to Jiaxin (I guess the parents on both sides gave her that impression), and has confessed publicly to Jiaxin and been rejected. Jiangyue is horrified because a public rejection has to be so humiliating. Jiaxin says it wouldn’t be responsible to say he liked her if he didn’t. Jiangyue asks if it’s possible he could like Li Yanran without realizing it (she’s fishing for info). Jiaxin immediately says it’s impossible. He knows exactly who he likes and doesn’t like. There’s a long pause as he stares at the woman in front of him and then he mutters “but sometimes I’m not too sure”. He can’t very well explain this to Jiangyue, so he changes the subject and they carry on eating. They eat so much!
[Ep9] “Valentine’s Day without Valentine”
Jiaxin is at the racecourse with Qi Heng. He’s still not taking bends at speed because he’s afraid since Kang Zhe’s accident. Qi Heng is encouraging and tells him he and Duoxi will be cheerleaders. Jiaxin asks when Qi Heng plans on confessing; he hasn’t figured it out yet. Separately, Jiangyue suspects that there’s something going on between Duoxi and Qi Heng, and isn’t convinced by Duoxi’s denial.
At Link Tech, Jiangyue gets a call from Mr Wang’s firm. They haven’t received the contract(!). She’s puzzled because she asked Jiaxin to do it a week ago. When she goes to find Jiaxin, Li Yanran tells her Jiaxin went to buy something for her (i.e., for Li Yanran). This annoys Jiangyue even more. When she questions Jiaxin on his return, it turns out he went racing and forgot to send the contract :O. She is very sharp with him. Jiaxin promises to rectify the issue, but she isn’t mollified. She’s even less happy when she sees Li Yanran clinging to him when he gets back to his desk.
Late that evening, Jiangyue steps out of her office to see that everyone has left except Jiaxin. He’s a bit sulky about how she scolded him, but caves as soon as she speaks. She doesn’t apologize and I see no reason why she’d need to but he interprets the fact that she spoke to him first as being an apology (such a child! :D). He asks “Shall we reconcile?”, she agrees, and the little storm has cleared up.
Valentine’s Day is approaching, and is the day that Love Note will be launched. There’s a special meeting with Ms Jin for it. The project staff (essentially, the Gossip Gang) wonder whether Ms Jin will be happy with the project. There begins a discussion about their CEO. It’s all in glowing terms, fortunately, because Jiaxin is also there (though nobody knows he’s the CEO’s son). The team talks about how difficult it was after Ms Jin lost her husband, and that she had to deal with so many investors pulling out, etc., and everything she has today was built with blood, sweat and tears. Jiaxin is listening and realizes what his mom must have gone through.
Jiaxin presents the Love Note app to his mother. She seems happy with it (and with his progress at work). At the end of the presentation, the rest of the employees leave the room, leaving only Ms Jin, Lisheng, Jiangyue, Jiaxin and Li Yanran. Jiaxin asks his mother whether he can take time off after the app launch to practice racing. She doesn’t commit to it. Jiangyue supports him. Ms Jin asks Li Yanran what she thinks. It’s clear to Jiangyue that Ms Jin considers Li Yanran to be an important part of Jiaxin’s life. Ms Jin encourages Jiaxin to help Li Yanran more. Li Yanran is particularly annoying in this scene. She keeps running around Jiaxin, trying to make eye contact. She’s like a mosquito, constantly buzzing around.
Jiaxin and Li Yanran go out for lunch at a restaurant booked by Lisheng, on Ms Jin’s request. Jiaxin eats very fast, so he can get back to Jiangyue the office. Li Yanran tries the food and is unimpressed. I can’t help but wonder whether Lisheng chose a bad restaurant on purpose :D. On the way back, Li Yanran drags Jiaxin into a flower shop and asks about Valentine’s Day specials. Jiaxin looks at some cute potted cactuses.
It’s midnight when the doorbell at Jiagyue’s apartment rings. It’s Jiaxin and he holds out a cactus. Why is he giving her a gift? He’s suddenly lost for words, and finally says it’s for Valentine’s Day. She doesn’t accept the reason. He then says it’s a token of thanks for supporting him in front of his mother. That’s more acceptable to Jiangyue. She asks why a cactus? Is it because she’s beautiful but sharp? No, floriography says cactuses are warm and strong, and so is she. But he admits the real reason was to avoid pollen allergies (she says she’s allergic to lilies early on in the drama). Jiangyue smiles and takes the plant from him. He says he will try to work harder and be a cactus too :D. He’s clearly nervous and she’s puzzled by it. When she closes the door though, she looks down at the cactus and smiles. On the other side of the door, Jiaxin wonders why he suddenly couldn’t think of anything to say. On a side note, he looks so much taller than her in this scene (maybe the camera angle?)
It’s Valentine’s Day = App launch day. With Jingjing promoting it, it takes first place on some platform or other. At Link Tech, Li Yanran runs up to Jiaxin with her gift: she’s made chocolate. I’m impressed! The Gossip Gang cluster around, teasingly asking whether they can share in the goodies. She’s made them cookies. Jiaxin tries to share the chocolate as well, but Li Yanran poutingly stops him, leading to more teasing. Jiangyue walks in at that moment and briefly holds Jiaxin’s gaze as she walks past. He wants to take cookies to her, but Li Yanran stops him saying someone has sent Ms Zhao a special gift for VDay (easy enough to guess who). Jiangyue opens her gift: it’s a new laptop (a gift she’ll really appreciate :D). Li Yanran – Mr Xu’s spy – texts him a photo of Jiangyue smiling at the gift. She takes Jiangyue cookies and very obviously talks up Mr Xu. One nice thing about this interaction is that, although Li Yanran considers Jiangyue her “love rival”, she always speaks pleasantly with her, and vice versa. They don’t resort to pettiness and malice.
Meanwhile, Duoxi is excited because Qiuqiu got them tickets to some idol meet event. Jiaxin wonders why she isn’t making plans with Qi Heng. Apparently, he left early that morning. Duoxi is disappointed and assumes he has plans with another girl. Qi Heng has actually gone to get Duoxi tickets to the same idol meet event. These two! Jiaxin meets Qi Heng and tells him to confess. Qi Heng hacks the system for the idol meet event (illegal!) and publicly confesses to Duoxi in front of her idols.
At the Love Note app launch event, Jingjing relates stories to the audience about her romance with Zhang Hao. He really seems to have doted on her before, but imo their relationship isn’t the healthiest. It seems as if he treated his wife like a little girl (and she expected to be treated that way). Jiangyue listens to her friend and feels sad for her. After the event, Jiangyue is clearing up by herself when Jiaxin walks in. She thought he’d be with Li Yanran. Why does she think that, when he explicitly told her he has no interest in Yanran? He says not to pair him with Li Yanran because his future girlfriend - pause as he looks at Jiangyue - might come after her. She laughs and then heads to a large standing poster to move it. Jiaxin moves her aside and lifts the poster himself. Unfortunately, he miscalculates the height of the poster. It bumps against the doorframe and falls backwards. Jiangyue puts out her hand to catch it and it falls on her wrist. She winces in pain. When he brings his hand closer to check, she hisses and moves the injured hand away reactively. Previously, when she hurt her hand playing golf, she brushed it off as being nothing. So the fact that she says it hurts means it has to be something slightly more serious.
They’re at the hospital. Jiangyue’s wrist has a slight fracture; the doctor has bandaged and placed it in a splint. She tells Jiaxin that his girlfriend got injured on VDay and that he didn’t do well as her boyfriend. I’d like to think this scenario is absurd, but I’ve seen many people make this sort of assumption in real life. Jiangyue starts denying, but Jiaxin goes along with the doctor and promises he’ll look after her. He calls her “YueYue” (the nickname her parents used on her birthday card in Ep1) and leads her out of the doctor’s office. Her forefinger and middle finger have been bandaged together, and the last two fingers have been bandaged together, giving her hand the appearance of scissors. He tells her he’s going to give her a new name: Edward Yue. Bahaha!
Jiaxin apologizes for the accident and says he’ll take care of her. She rejects the idea, so he suggests playing Rock-Paper-Scissors to decide (whether or not he will look after her). He plays rock and, because her hand is stuck in the shape of scissors, he wins :D :D :D. They leave the hospital with him persistently referring to her as YueYue and deliberately playing the part of a boyfriend, and her constantly shrugging him off. He is so annoying and yet so hilarious.
After this episode, Jiaxin is no longer passive about his interest in Jiangyue. I’m not sure why. Did the doctor’s assumption give him courage to actively pursue her or something?
[Ep10] “When a man loves you”
Jiangyue’s apartment at night. Jiaxin is cooking. Jiangyue insists on tying an apron for him despite her injured hand. Does she not care about the possibility of malunion fractures? The food Jiaxin makes turns out to be pretty good. During the meal, Mr Xu calls Jiangyue about work. Jiaxin deliberately talks to Jiangyue so that Mr Xu will know she’s with someone. Jiangyue explains about her injury and Mr Xu wants to visit her. Jiaxin interjects that her schedule is full that week, so no plan is made. He smiles slyly to himself and Jiangyue catches him. She only laughs about it though.
Duoxi and Qi Heng are in their apartment, reminiscing as usual about school days, and realize that each has had a crush on the other for about the same time (10 years!) He has kept his old phone, on which he has the draft of a message confessing to her; she has a letter she wrote to him.
Jingjing is at a bar, drinking alone. She’s approached by a creep, who is sent packing by Vincent (the divorce lawyer from Ep3). She’s drunk and Vincent gently offers to take her home. When she wakes up the next day, she realizes she told him about her divorce. She asks him to keep it a secret and he assures her his lips are sealed. They agree to meet for dinner some day.
Jiangyue is in her apartment when Mr Xu drops by with flowers and stuff. It’s nice that he visited, but shouldn’t he call in advance? He remarks that she has good taste in furniture, and that all her stuff is designer. She has good taste but is down-to-earth. He is just a little bit snobby. He’s also still slightly patronizing in the way he speaks to her.
The doorbell rings and Mr Xu answers… to find Jiaxin outside.
The two men stare at each other for a second before Jiaxin walks in as if he owns the place. Mr Xu offers to cook dinner and I think he regrets the offer immediately; Jiaxin immediately agrees and ties an apron for him. When Mr Xu asks Jiangyue for ingredients, Jiaxin stops her from getting them and instead tells Mr Xu where he can find them. He deliberately gives Mr Xu the impression that he’s very familiar with Jiangyue’s place and Jiangyue herself, and even calls her YueYue, much to her annoyance.
Then comes an awkward dinner that I feel unable to recap. Most YouTube comments suggest that viewers found the scene funny, but I can’t help thinking that Jiaxin should have toned down the childishness a little. Mr Xu does make some retorts, but he is much more mature.
Jiangyue walks Mr Xu out. Any conversation they might have had is interrupted by Jiaxin constantly calling her for the silliest reasons, the last being that he pricked his finger. Mr Xu says he didn’t realize she was so close to her assistant and asks if Jiaxin is ok. I’d wonder that too, with his behavior at dinner. Jiangyue says he’s totally fine. When she gets back to her flat, she asks Jiaxin how he pricked his finger. He blames the cactus he gave her. It has flowered! He says something nonsensical that it signifies that her love is blooming. His lovesick expression in this scene was so bad! She counters that cactuses flower all the time.
Some days later, Jiangyue is at the office, without the splint but still with a small bandage around her wrist. I like that they didn’t suddenly just magic it away. The cactus has been brought to her office too, and she remembers Jiaxin’s words about love blooming. She wonders if it’s for Mr Xu or… She opens up a compatibility checking app and inputs Jiaxin’s and her details. The app says 10% match. She’s disappointed, but she expected the answer. I wonder why anybody believes those apps.
Jiaxin finds out that Duoxi and Qi Heng are now together. She thanks him, as he spurred Qi Heng to confess. She says she has to treat the girls first but that she will treat him to a meal the following week. He tries to join in the girls’ treat but she refuses and asks whether he likes one of them.
During Girls’ Night, Duoxi tells the other two about how Qi Heng confessed, and they begin analogies between love and hotpot because those two things are so similar?. Jingjing asks about Jiangyue’s progress with Mr Xu and is disappointed to learn that he didn’t make use of VDay to confess. Jiangyue says she’s still not sure about how Mr Xu feels about her. His paternalistic attitude can’t be helping. Jingjing describes 4 signs that a man is in love with a woman. As she’s saying this, Jiangyue thinks of how Jiaxin fits all of the criteria even though she was supposed to be thinking of Mr Xu.
At Link Tech, the Gossip Gang is in the kitchen when Jiaxin comes up to them talking about contracts and things, before hurrying to Jiangyue’s office. As soon as he’s left, Zihao calls attention to the fact that Jiaxin seems so motivated lately. Fen remembers that he used to be at loggerheads with the boss but now he’s on her side. Li Yanran is also in the kitchen and hotly claims that Jiaxin has always been a hard worker. The others are amused by her. Everybody probably knows about her crush on Jiaxin. it’s not like she ever took any pains to hide it. Zihao – either not reading the room, or choosing to ignore one person in the room – comments that the scent of love is in the air. The others are skeptical because of the difference in age and temperament between Jiaxin and their boss, but Zihao persists with his theory. Li Yanran is furious and shouts that the two are not a good match for each other. The others agree just to mollify her, but Zihao slinks away :D.
Li Yanran accosts Jiaxin and asks him to spend time with her. When he says he’s busy, she hints that she might reveal that he is the CEO’s son. This is definitely blackmail! He agrees to dinner, and is overheard by Jiangyue.
It’s pouring with rain that night when Jiangyue gets to her apartment building. She stumbles on the way from her car to the building and has to fast-limp in the rain. She’s met with an “elevator is temporarily out of service” notice. In a building with at least 13 floors – there must be at least 13 because Jiaxin’s apartment is 1301 – surely it has to be a requirement that there are a minimum of two elevators? What if you’re 90 years old and living on the top floor? Apart from situations like fire, should you ever be expected to use the stairs?
Jiangyue limps up the stairs to her apartment, wearing heels. Is it unacceptable to take them off and carry them? I genuinely don’t know. But her bad luck continues, as she can’t find the keys to her apartment. I guess hers doesn’t use the electronic number pad. Physical keys seem more secure, really, but not great if you can’t find your keys. She limps back down but is met on the stairwell by Jiaxin who tells her to first dry off at his place.
We get the expected girl-in-oversized-tshirt-while-boy-stares-at-her scene. Given their size differences and his fondness for wearing hideously oversized clothes, the fact that his T-shirt swims on her is not really surprising. She asks about his dinner with Li Yanran, revealing that she knew about it. Jiaxin says he made an excuse and escaped. Ah, Li Yanran, that people need to escape you! He asks Jiangyue whether she was jealous, which she denies. I’m not sure he believed her. He’s tried to contact locksmiths, but none have answered. He suggests she stay over. He also has ointment for her ankle, and despite her lukewarm protests, applies it for her o.O
[Ep11] “Belated confession of love”
We pick up where we left off, with Jiaxin applying ointment to Jiangyue’s ankle. I don’t think his method of applying ointment is medically useful. They’re both quiet until she notices that he’s blushing and asks why. This breaks the mood and he leaves to get ready for bed. Jiangyue smiles to herself. She must realize his feelings now.
Even if she was clueless after this, she gets enlightened when he tells her supposedly sleeping form that a cactus represents “love till the end of time” and that he regrets offering to help her date Mr Xu. Of course, as with all dramas everywhere in the world, she was actually awake and heard him.
The next morning, she wakes up to find that he has left, but not before laying out her clothes, leaving her a glass of water and putting her phone on charge. She calls a locksmith and goes over to her place to get the locks changed. He comes back with breakfast to find her gone (and a message to him that she’s left, and not to be late for work :D).
At Link Tech, Jiangyue tells the staff that they’re going to have a team-building activity at Tongli Ancient Town.
Li Yanran volunteers to organize activities. Jiaxin runs after Jiangyue before Li Yanran can get him to help. She goes to find him and suggests they plan the activity together but he says he needs to work. She notices a partly-obscured photo of a woman on his computer desktop and asks accusatorily if it’s Jiangyue. He closes the laptop and tells her to stop guessing. Li Yanran is angry and calls Mr Xu. We don’t actually see whose photo it is, but it probably is Jiangyue. It seems very unprofessional and foolish of him to have her photo on his desktop, where anyone could see it.
On the bus to Tongli, many people are half-asleep, Jiangyue and Jiaxin are in the front seats and are fast asleep, Li Yanran is wide awake and hosting the activities. She’s happily anticipating spending time with Jiaxin even as Jiangyue’s head rolls onto Jiaxin’s shoulder xD.
The day’s activities start with boating. Li Yanran gets on Jiaxin’s boat even though he holds his hand out for Jiangyue. This leaves Jiangyue to travel with Zihao. She takes everything with a smile. Zihao seems less than thrilled to have to share with his boss :D Throughout, Jiaxin and Jiangyue are stealing glances at each other and smiling, which Li Yanran notices. Mr Xu calls Jiangyue during the boat ride and says he’ll be in Tongli that evening and will meet her there.
Li Yanran is annoyed that Jiaxin isn’t paying enough attention to her and concocts a plan to “fall” into the river so that he will save her and confess to her. She has quite the fertile imagination! Jiaxin puts the brakes on that plan by correctly guessing her thoughts. He knows her way too well :D Just then, Jiangyue stands up to take a photo, her boat knocks against a platform, and she falls into the water. Jiaxin jumps into the water and rescues her. The dramatic music was so overkill for this scene. She’s fine, just wet and out of breath. She thanks him as the rest of their group cluster around.
Mr Xu comes by, full of concern, as Jiangyue finishes drying off. He asks to join them for dinner and she agrees. When we have team-building, we don’t get to add people on the day without a pre-approved budget for it >.<
The day proceeds. The team are all dressed in the costumes of the era of the Republic. Liang and Zihao look so different! Li Yanran is irritated at how close Jiaxin and Jiangyue seem to be, so she convinces Mr Xu to confess to Jiangyue that evening.
That evening, Mr Xu and Jiangyue are paired up (by Li Yanran) for a treasure hunt, while Li Yanran is with Jiaxin. He gives her the slip and goes to find Jiangyue, who has wandered off while waiting for Mr Xu to buy an ice cream. (It was an ice cream she’d wanted to try when she and Mr Xu had visited Tongli previously, but she hadn’t got the chance because she had to work.)
Jiaxin pretends his phone battery is dead so that she can’t call Mr Xu. (Her own phone died due to excessive ingestion of Tongli river water.) He suggests they look for their “dates” together and leads her away from the main hub of activity. A kid sells them lanterns and tells them about a place for releasing river lamps.
They find the place after some searching and some unnecessary detours… was this a way of showcasing Tongli to potential visitors? They sit down on stone steps by the river. Jiangyue thanks Jiaxin again for rescuing her earlier. He says it’s not a problem and that she’s pretty strong. If it hadn’t been for today’s incident, he wouldn’t have much opportunity to protect her. Why does she need protecting? She’s a capable woman!
Jiangyue suggests making wishes on the river lamps for each other. They make teasing wishes out loud, but silently she wishes for him to be cheerful and happy forever while he wishes there will be someone to protect her forever. Again, protect her from what?!
As they leave, Jiangyue stumbles on the cobblestones. She really should stop wearing heels! Jiaxin offers his hand/arm for support. They run into Li Yanran and Mr Xu, who are looking for them together. Jiangyue - maybe catching sight of Li Yanran’s expression - immediately lets go of Jiaxin. Li Yanran finds a vacation voucher and starts planning a vacation for herself and Jiaxin. Jiangyue looks at them with what I would call a resigned smile. The truth is that his mother, (probably) Yanran’s parents, and a large part of society, will all think Jiaxin and Yanran are better suited for each other. Also, Yanran doesn’t show signs of letting Jiaxin go.
Mr Xu gets Jiangyue alone on the hotel balcony and presents her with a fresh ice cream. That’s actually rather sweet. Reminding her of her 3-month relationship goal, he says there’s probably nobody more suited for each other than the two of them and “let’s be together”. She stares and then laughs awkwardly, asking if he thinks she can’t meet her relationship KPIs. Mr Xu shows her a sticky note with her handwriting. It’s the note she wrote to him on her last day of work, wishing him all the best. She didn’t say goodbye in person? That doesn’t seem like her. Unless the slightly awkward girl-with-a-crush she was back then didn’t think she could handle an in-person goodbye. Jiangyue takes the note, touched that he has kept it for so long. As noted before, he genuinely does care about her. And he seems like a good guy. But it still doesn’t feel like a comfortable relationship. Even his “confession” was a bit too clinical.
Unbeknownst to them, Jiaxin has come up to the same floor and overheard their conversation. As Jiangyue is thinking of a suitable response to give Mr Xu, the rest of the team come up and clamor to do something fun. They all leave together. Jiaxin and Jiangyue are relieved at the respite maybe for different reasons, while Mr Xu looks a little annoyed. He asks Jiangyue to consider what he proposed. She looks uncertainly at Jiaxin, who’s just in front of them.
The team dance (so badly!) and then play ‘Never Have I Ever’. Jiangyue proves to be very good at it and proceeds to get everyone else so drunk until she finally loses.
Jiaxin stumbles off to the restroom. He’s very drunk and seems a bit glum. Jiangyue goes to check on him. He slurringly asks what Mr Xu said to her on the balcony.
[Ep12] “Confession of love”
Jiangyue brushes off Jiaxin’s question (about what Mr Xu said to her) and helps him to his room. He’s very awkward (and heavy!) and she finds it difficult. She dumps him on his bed and leaves.
She straightens her clothes when she gets outside his room, only to run into Fen and Qiuqiu (the latter is completely sloshed). She explains that she helped Jiaxin and walks away, grimacing. She knows what this looks like.
There are no rooms available for Mr Xu to stay the night, so Li Yanran gives him her room key and says she will stay with Jiaxin. However, there’s no response when she knocks on his door, so she’s forced to go back to her own room where Mr Xu has fallen asleep fully-clothed on the bed. She starts talking to him about her feelings for Jiaxin when Mr Xu suddenly holds her hand and whispers “Jiangyue”.
The next morning, we find that Li Yanran fell asleep seated on the floor with her head on Mr Xu’s arm (and drooling on his sleeve (ick!)). She cleans his shirt for him and asks soberly why Jiaxin says she’s too self-willed. Mr Xu explains, but also says “people who like you will tolerate you”. She says she will apply what he said in her pursuit of Jiaxin. Mr Xu thinks to himself that you can’t count on education or persuasion for relationships and also silently wishes her luck: “Good luck little girl”. The show has been threatening to pair these two up for a while now and I am not a fan.
Back at the office, the Gossip Gang is having tea and not working as usual when Qiuqiu suddenly remembers some juicy gossip she has to share. The way they all cluster around at the mention of the word “gossip”... Zihao has his mouth hanging open even before the gossip is shared. She tells them about Jiangyue coming out of Jiaxin’s room and adjusting her clothes. There’s no malice in the way she says this or in the way they react. But they really should avoid this type of gossip entirely or at least do it outside the office.
Li Yanran hears this bit of news and storms into Jiangyue’s office to accuse her. Jiaxin is there, and leads Yanran out, leaving a disconcerted Jiangyue behind. He kindly but firmly makes it clear to Yanran that he has no romantic feelings for her. She leaves the room crying.
At the Love Note studio, Jingjing is discussing methods to confess. (Lol, how does she always pick topics related to the current state of Jiaxin’s and Jiangyue’s relationship?) Duoxi comes there in search of Jiaxin. She wonders aloud why Mr Xu didn’t confess to Jiangyu in Tongli. Jiaxin says he did (which surprises Duoxi), that Jiangyue didn’t accept (which shocks Duoxi), and that he’s glad as otherwise he himself would have no chance (which stuns Duoxi). I thought she’d already guessed Jiaxin’s feelings in Ep10, so I don’t understand her reaction here. He admits to having fallen in love with his boss. Duoxi ships him with Jiangyue (but then, she seems ready to ship Jiangyue with anyone :D) and promises to help him with his relationship.
Jiaxin visits Kang Zhe at the hospital (poor guy still hasn’t woken up) and tells him he’s going to confess to the girl he likes. He then practices various ways of telling her, but cracks up each time at how ridiculous he sounds.
Meanwhile, Jingjing and Vincent are going to a restaurant for dinner (I’m puzzled. Won’t Jingjing’s fans wonder when they see her on a date with another man?) when they run into Zhang Hao. Vincent introduces himself (he seems a bit smarmy here) and Zhang Hao is very terse. Jingjing is disconcerted. We see Zhang Hao later, looking at Vincent’s business card suspiciously and then calling someone and asking them to run a check.
Jingjing goes home and starts burning all the old photos of her and Zhang Hao. She’s careless and a table runner catches fire as well. Zhang Hao comes in and extinguishes the fire. He’s horrified that she’s burning their old photos and yells at her to be careful. His reason for coming there? He still has a spare key to her place, and came to give it back. Why on this specific day and this specific time? TV Drama Land, please make things more believable.
Jiaxin works overnight (over several days?) at Link Tech and then tells Jiangyue he has a presentation he created for practice, which he wants her feedback on. This must make her so happy :D. When she gets to the meeting room and sits down, Jiaxin presses a button and loads of balloons are released. (I don’t know if startling the person you’re confessing to is the best strategy.) His presentation is titled ‘Confession of Love’. He’s found old photos of her, and walks her through different stages of her (corporate) life, from when she graduated until the present time, and gives her symbolic gifts for each stage. He then earnestly tells her he likes her and asks her to sign a relationship contract if she feels the same (lol). She is moved (though, her expression in this scene isn’t consistent) and uncaps the pen to sign, but then re-caps it again. She compliments the presentation. Jiaxin: “That was not the main point” xD. She wants some time to think. Jiaxin is disappointed. Back in her office, Jiangyue looks confused.
Duoxi and Qi Heng are at their place, being a little over-the-top sweet. I will never understand why couples feed each other food from the same bowl. I get it if you’re giving someone something from your plate, but if it’s a shared bowl, can’t they just help themselves? Their PDA is too much for Jiaxin, who has been invited over and is moping in a corner. He wonders what he did wrong, and Qi Heng sensibly tells him that
I absolutely agree with these points, particularly the first two. I don’t know if even Jiangyue has considered possible repercussions at work if she began dating Jiaxin.
Jiangyue is at her place, thinking about the two very different confessions from two very different men. She texts Jingjing for advice. Jingjing is partly amused that Jiangyue, who has never dated before, now has two men interested in her. Jiangyue tells Jingjing the reasons for not accepting either one. Mr Xu is the logically correct choice. He’s the one society would deem appropriate for her, based on profession, behavior, age, etc - even though I feel like he’s too old for her. But something doesn’t feel right. Jingjing asks whether it’s because of Jiaxin. (Tbh, I don’t think Jiaxin caused any of the awkwardness between Jiangyue and Mr Xu; that’s just how they are together.) Jiangyue says Jiaxin is the most unlikely match, but that she could hear her heart beat when he confessed and that she almost accepted. But she didn’t accept because of something he said about adrenaline rushes when he was “teaching her to love”. Also, she’s worried that because he’s young, his feelings for her may be temporary.
Jingjing suggests accepting neither for the time being, but interacting with both and evaluating them using a Relationship Scorecard that comes with the Love Note app. I think that app needs to be trashed. Jingjing leaves for bed after telling Jiangyue “the iron tree is finally blooming” :D
Jiaxin visits his mother at their home and tells her about Kang Zhe’s surgery. She already knows. He sincerely thanks her for her help with arranging for the surgery and she’s pleasantly surprised at his maturity (we’ve seen before that he and his mom don’t always see eye-to-eye). He tells her Jiangyue is a good teacher. He brings up Li Yanran and Ms Jin encourages him to be nicer to her. “The adults in the two families also know each other”… I think this is the root of Li Yanran’s behavior. She has probably been actively encouraged by both sides. Jiaxin tells his mother that there’s no chance of him getting together with Li Yanran but that he’ll look after her like a brother would look after his sister.
Li Yanran tries to gauge Jiaxin’s feelings for Jiangyue. He denies any romantic feelings. She says Mr Xu seems to like Jiangyue, and this disappoints Jiaxin. They’re eating out during this conversation, and Li Yanran orders the same food as Jiaxin even though she doesn’t like it because “I like it if you like it”. She also just watches him eat, encouraging him to eat more. She doesn’t seem to have her own thoughts or goals. Everything revolves around him.
At Link Tech, Zihao tells Jiangyue that one of the advertisers they normally work with seems to be pulling out. Zihao is unable to get in touch with the decision makers. The advertising firm worked with a Ms Song (of Link Tech) previously, but Ms Song went on maternity leave and informed Zihao that she has left the company (Jiangyue is her replacement). The advertisers may be wavering because they aren’t dealing with Ms Song anymore. Jiangyue remembers that a Mr Wang from the advertising firm likes playing golf, and decides to tackle him on the golf course. But golf membership is expensive. She asks Mr Xu (who has membership) for a favor and he’s only too happy to oblige (apparently she has never asked him for help before).
Jiaxin notices that Jiangyue looks worried and asks her whether he can help. She asks if he can play golf. He’s played for 10 years. Since he was 12? She wants him to teach her to play by the end of the week. He agrees but asks for a favor in return. He wants to borrow her car to pick up his girlfriend, Alice, who has just returned from the States. She’s surprised to hear he has a girlfriend and refuses to lend her car. He asks if she’s jealous, and convinces her to let him have the car and also to accompany him to see “the beauty”.
The beauty turns out to be a motorbike (ha!).
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| He really does love Alice |
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| Understanding her subordinate a bit better |
Another day at the golf course, this time Jiangyue and Mr Xu. He also helps her with her golfing stance. I may be imagining it, but she doesn’t seem as comfortable with his proximity. She thinks back to Jiaxin’s training and makes a very good swing, surprising Mr Xu.
Jiaxin is getting ready to go to the golf course. Jiangyue never actually told him about the problem with the advertising firm. He must have found out from Zihao. Li Yanran visits his apartment and literally clings to him until he agrees to take her with him. She is far too bratty here. She’s supposed to be 22 years old, which is young, but not young enough for that behavior.
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| Li Yanran, you’re 22, not 2 |
Just then Jiaxin turns up and offers to play in her stead. He also casually name-drops a director at Mr Wang’s company. When Mr Wang realizes Jiaxin is Ms Jin’s son, he’s all over them (ugh). Jiaxin talks up Jiangyue (she’s Link Tech’s youngest general manager, etc) and Mr Wang agrees to sign the contract. He makes it sounds like he was always going to, but with Jiangyue he was hemming and hawing (ugh). Jiangyue happily shakes hands with Mr Wang and Jiaxin notices her injury. He tells Mr Wang he will finish the game with him.
Jiaxin and Jiangyue arrive just then, and Li Yanran immediately latches on to Jiaxin; Jiangyue notes the interaction. Mr Xu asks Jiaxin to have a meal with them as thanks for his efforts, but Jiaxin refuses saying Li Yanran wants to spend time with him. He shouldn’t have said this, because it gives both women the impression that he wants to spend time with Li Yanran. He’s not happy when he sees Mr Xu walk away with his arm around Jiangyue’s shoulder.
Later, Jingjing asks Jiangyue about her experience with dating Mr Xu, and Jiangyue says she only remembers talking about work (lol). She says she and Mr Xu seem to have nothing to say outside of work. Jingjing thinks it’s because they were once superior-subordinate, but Jiangyue says she and Jiaxin are also superior-subordinate and yet are comfortable with each other. Jingjing asks if she’s in love with Jiaxin without realizing it. There’s a pause before Jiangyue says no, and when did she say she was in love with him? Jingjing knows her friend better than that and observes that it isn’t impossible that Jiangyue should be with Jiaxin; it’s just the fact that he’s in his early 20s (the age notorious for impulsive behavior and brief intense likings) that worries the two women. Jiangyue changes the subject and asks Jingjing about her life. Jingjing says she wants to get her revenge on Zhang Hao by making him fall for her again and then rejecting him. Jiangyue looks very uncertain about this plan.
That night, Jiangyue opens her fridge to find it bare of anything immediately edible. Her fridge is a close relative of Old Mother Hubbard’s cupboard. Jiaxin comes over and suggests they go out to eat. She very happily agrees. This is another scene that shows how comfortable they are with each other.
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| Being held at gunpoint for food |
Over dinner, Jiangyue asks about Jiaxin’s relationship with Li Yanran. We learn that she’s been clingy since she was very young, is under the impression that she’s engaged to Jiaxin (I guess the parents on both sides gave her that impression), and has confessed publicly to Jiaxin and been rejected. Jiangyue is horrified because a public rejection has to be so humiliating. Jiaxin says it wouldn’t be responsible to say he liked her if he didn’t. Jiangyue asks if it’s possible he could like Li Yanran without realizing it (she’s fishing for info). Jiaxin immediately says it’s impossible. He knows exactly who he likes and doesn’t like. There’s a long pause as he stares at the woman in front of him and then he mutters “but sometimes I’m not too sure”. He can’t very well explain this to Jiangyue, so he changes the subject and they carry on eating. They eat so much!
Jiaxin is at the racecourse with Qi Heng. He’s still not taking bends at speed because he’s afraid since Kang Zhe’s accident. Qi Heng is encouraging and tells him he and Duoxi will be cheerleaders. Jiaxin asks when Qi Heng plans on confessing; he hasn’t figured it out yet. Separately, Jiangyue suspects that there’s something going on between Duoxi and Qi Heng, and isn’t convinced by Duoxi’s denial.
At Link Tech, Jiangyue gets a call from Mr Wang’s firm. They haven’t received the contract(!). She’s puzzled because she asked Jiaxin to do it a week ago. When she goes to find Jiaxin, Li Yanran tells her Jiaxin went to buy something for her (i.e., for Li Yanran). This annoys Jiangyue even more. When she questions Jiaxin on his return, it turns out he went racing and forgot to send the contract :O. She is very sharp with him. Jiaxin promises to rectify the issue, but she isn’t mollified. She’s even less happy when she sees Li Yanran clinging to him when he gets back to his desk.
Valentine’s Day is approaching, and is the day that Love Note will be launched. There’s a special meeting with Ms Jin for it. The project staff (essentially, the Gossip Gang) wonder whether Ms Jin will be happy with the project. There begins a discussion about their CEO. It’s all in glowing terms, fortunately, because Jiaxin is also there (though nobody knows he’s the CEO’s son). The team talks about how difficult it was after Ms Jin lost her husband, and that she had to deal with so many investors pulling out, etc., and everything she has today was built with blood, sweat and tears. Jiaxin is listening and realizes what his mom must have gone through.
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| Jiangyue, Ms Jin, Jiaxin, and the mosquito |
It’s midnight when the doorbell at Jiagyue’s apartment rings. It’s Jiaxin and he holds out a cactus. Why is he giving her a gift? He’s suddenly lost for words, and finally says it’s for Valentine’s Day. She doesn’t accept the reason. He then says it’s a token of thanks for supporting him in front of his mother. That’s more acceptable to Jiangyue. She asks why a cactus? Is it because she’s beautiful but sharp? No, floriography says cactuses are warm and strong, and so is she. But he admits the real reason was to avoid pollen allergies (she says she’s allergic to lilies early on in the drama). Jiangyue smiles and takes the plant from him. He says he will try to work harder and be a cactus too :D. He’s clearly nervous and she’s puzzled by it. When she closes the door though, she looks down at the cactus and smiles. On the other side of the door, Jiaxin wonders why he suddenly couldn’t think of anything to say. On a side note, he looks so much taller than her in this scene (maybe the camera angle?)
Meanwhile, Duoxi is excited because Qiuqiu got them tickets to some idol meet event. Jiaxin wonders why she isn’t making plans with Qi Heng. Apparently, he left early that morning. Duoxi is disappointed and assumes he has plans with another girl. Qi Heng has actually gone to get Duoxi tickets to the same idol meet event. These two! Jiaxin meets Qi Heng and tells him to confess. Qi Heng hacks the system for the idol meet event (illegal!) and publicly confesses to Duoxi in front of her idols.
They’re at the hospital. Jiangyue’s wrist has a slight fracture; the doctor has bandaged and placed it in a splint. She tells Jiaxin that his girlfriend got injured on VDay and that he didn’t do well as her boyfriend. I’d like to think this scenario is absurd, but I’ve seen many people make this sort of assumption in real life. Jiangyue starts denying, but Jiaxin goes along with the doctor and promises he’ll look after her. He calls her “YueYue” (the nickname her parents used on her birthday card in Ep1) and leads her out of the doctor’s office. Her forefinger and middle finger have been bandaged together, and the last two fingers have been bandaged together, giving her hand the appearance of scissors. He tells her he’s going to give her a new name: Edward Yue. Bahaha!
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| Edward Yue |
[Ep10] “When a man loves you”
Jiangyue’s apartment at night. Jiaxin is cooking. Jiangyue insists on tying an apron for him despite her injured hand. Does she not care about the possibility of malunion fractures? The food Jiaxin makes turns out to be pretty good. During the meal, Mr Xu calls Jiangyue about work. Jiaxin deliberately talks to Jiangyue so that Mr Xu will know she’s with someone. Jiangyue explains about her injury and Mr Xu wants to visit her. Jiaxin interjects that her schedule is full that week, so no plan is made. He smiles slyly to himself and Jiangyue catches him. She only laughs about it though.
Jiangyue is in her apartment when Mr Xu drops by with flowers and stuff. It’s nice that he visited, but shouldn’t he call in advance? He remarks that she has good taste in furniture, and that all her stuff is designer. She has good taste but is down-to-earth. He is just a little bit snobby. He’s also still slightly patronizing in the way he speaks to her.
The doorbell rings and Mr Xu answers… to find Jiaxin outside.
Then comes an awkward dinner that I feel unable to recap. Most YouTube comments suggest that viewers found the scene funny, but I can’t help thinking that Jiaxin should have toned down the childishness a little. Mr Xu does make some retorts, but he is much more mature.
Jiangyue walks Mr Xu out. Any conversation they might have had is interrupted by Jiaxin constantly calling her for the silliest reasons, the last being that he pricked his finger. Mr Xu says he didn’t realize she was so close to her assistant and asks if Jiaxin is ok. I’d wonder that too, with his behavior at dinner. Jiangyue says he’s totally fine. When she gets back to her flat, she asks Jiaxin how he pricked his finger. He blames the cactus he gave her. It has flowered! He says something nonsensical that it signifies that her love is blooming. His lovesick expression in this scene was so bad! She counters that cactuses flower all the time.
Some days later, Jiangyue is at the office, without the splint but still with a small bandage around her wrist. I like that they didn’t suddenly just magic it away. The cactus has been brought to her office too, and she remembers Jiaxin’s words about love blooming. She wonders if it’s for Mr Xu or… She opens up a compatibility checking app and inputs Jiaxin’s and her details. The app says 10% match. She’s disappointed, but she expected the answer. I wonder why anybody believes those apps.
During Girls’ Night, Duoxi tells the other two about how Qi Heng confessed, and they begin analogies between love and hotpot because those two things are so similar?. Jingjing asks about Jiangyue’s progress with Mr Xu and is disappointed to learn that he didn’t make use of VDay to confess. Jiangyue says she’s still not sure about how Mr Xu feels about her. His paternalistic attitude can’t be helping. Jingjing describes 4 signs that a man is in love with a woman. As she’s saying this, Jiangyue thinks of how Jiaxin fits all of the criteria even though she was supposed to be thinking of Mr Xu.
1. The frequency of him in her life will increase. He’ll want to share his life and social circle with her.
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| Random texts from him (He needs his eyes checked if he thinks the bear looks like her) |
2. Even if she lacks nothing, he will want to give her everything9
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| The meal he prepared for her |
3. Someone who’s normally confident will turn shy, and will care a 1ot about how she sees him.
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| Seeking her approval during a presentation (though, this could be because she’s his boss) |
4. He will be jealous if she interacts with another man, especially if that other man is also interes3ed in her.
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| Not much needs to be said here |
It’s pouring with rain that night when Jiangyue gets to her apartment building. She stumbles on the way from her car to the building and has to fast-limp in the rain. She’s met with an “elevator is temporarily out of service” notice. In a building with at least 13 floors – there must be at least 13 because Jiaxin’s apartment is 1301 – surely it has to be a requirement that there are a minimum of two elevators? What if you’re 90 years old and living on the top floor? Apart from situations like fire, should you ever be expected to use the stairs?
Jiangyue limps up the stairs to her apartment, wearing heels. Is it unacceptable to take them off and carry them? I genuinely don’t know. But her bad luck continues, as she can’t find the keys to her apartment. I guess hers doesn’t use the electronic number pad. Physical keys seem more secure, really, but not great if you can’t find your keys. She limps back down but is met on the stairwell by Jiaxin who tells her to first dry off at his place.
We get the expected girl-in-oversized-tshirt-while-boy-stares-at-her scene. Given their size differences and his fondness for wearing hideously oversized clothes, the fact that his T-shirt swims on her is not really surprising. She asks about his dinner with Li Yanran, revealing that she knew about it. Jiaxin says he made an excuse and escaped. Ah, Li Yanran, that people need to escape you! He asks Jiangyue whether she was jealous, which she denies. I’m not sure he believed her. He’s tried to contact locksmiths, but none have answered. He suggests she stay over. He also has ointment for her ankle, and despite her lukewarm protests, applies it for her o.O
We pick up where we left off, with Jiaxin applying ointment to Jiangyue’s ankle. I don’t think his method of applying ointment is medically useful. They’re both quiet until she notices that he’s blushing and asks why. This breaks the mood and he leaves to get ready for bed. Jiangyue smiles to herself. She must realize his feelings now.
Even if she was clueless after this, she gets enlightened when he tells her supposedly sleeping form that a cactus represents “love till the end of time” and that he regrets offering to help her date Mr Xu. Of course, as with all dramas everywhere in the world, she was actually awake and heard him.
The next morning, she wakes up to find that he has left, but not before laying out her clothes, leaving her a glass of water and putting her phone on charge. She calls a locksmith and goes over to her place to get the locks changed. He comes back with breakfast to find her gone (and a message to him that she’s left, and not to be late for work :D).
At Link Tech, Jiangyue tells the staff that they’re going to have a team-building activity at Tongli Ancient Town.
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| The excitement that only a trip can bring about… though the guys in the back row don’t seem keen :D |
On the bus to Tongli, many people are half-asleep, Jiangyue and Jiaxin are in the front seats and are fast asleep, Li Yanran is wide awake and hosting the activities. She’s happily anticipating spending time with Jiaxin even as Jiangyue’s head rolls onto Jiaxin’s shoulder xD.
Li Yanran is annoyed that Jiaxin isn’t paying enough attention to her and concocts a plan to “fall” into the river so that he will save her and confess to her. She has quite the fertile imagination! Jiaxin puts the brakes on that plan by correctly guessing her thoughts. He knows her way too well :D Just then, Jiangyue stands up to take a photo, her boat knocks against a platform, and she falls into the water. Jiaxin jumps into the water and rescues her. The dramatic music was so overkill for this scene. She’s fine, just wet and out of breath. She thanks him as the rest of their group cluster around.
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| Li Yanran’s imagination |
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| Reality |
The day proceeds. The team are all dressed in the costumes of the era of the Republic. Liang and Zihao look so different! Li Yanran is irritated at how close Jiaxin and Jiangyue seem to be, so she convinces Mr Xu to confess to Jiangyue that evening.
Jiaxin pretends his phone battery is dead so that she can’t call Mr Xu. (Her own phone died due to excessive ingestion of Tongli river water.) He suggests they look for their “dates” together and leads her away from the main hub of activity. A kid sells them lanterns and tells them about a place for releasing river lamps.
They find the place after some searching and some unnecessary detours… was this a way of showcasing Tongli to potential visitors? They sit down on stone steps by the river. Jiangyue thanks Jiaxin again for rescuing her earlier. He says it’s not a problem and that she’s pretty strong. If it hadn’t been for today’s incident, he wouldn’t have much opportunity to protect her. Why does she need protecting? She’s a capable woman!
Jiangyue: I don’t want to trouble anyone. As long as I can solve things on my own, I’d rather do them myself.
Jiaxin: You can trouble me. I’m not afraid of trouble. Just like today, as long as you need me, anytime, anywhere, I’ll be there.
Jiangyue suggests making wishes on the river lamps for each other. They make teasing wishes out loud, but silently she wishes for him to be cheerful and happy forever while he wishes there will be someone to protect her forever. Again, protect her from what?!
Mr Xu gets Jiangyue alone on the hotel balcony and presents her with a fresh ice cream. That’s actually rather sweet. Reminding her of her 3-month relationship goal, he says there’s probably nobody more suited for each other than the two of them and “let’s be together”. She stares and then laughs awkwardly, asking if he thinks she can’t meet her relationship KPIs. Mr Xu shows her a sticky note with her handwriting. It’s the note she wrote to him on her last day of work, wishing him all the best. She didn’t say goodbye in person? That doesn’t seem like her. Unless the slightly awkward girl-with-a-crush she was back then didn’t think she could handle an in-person goodbye. Jiangyue takes the note, touched that he has kept it for so long. As noted before, he genuinely does care about her. And he seems like a good guy. But it still doesn’t feel like a comfortable relationship. Even his “confession” was a bit too clinical.
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| Pre-confession |
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| Post-confession |
The team dance (so badly!) and then play ‘Never Have I Ever’. Jiangyue proves to be very good at it and proceeds to get everyone else so drunk until she finally loses.
[Ep12] “Confession of love”
Jiangyue brushes off Jiaxin’s question (about what Mr Xu said to her) and helps him to his room. He’s very awkward (and heavy!) and she finds it difficult. She dumps him on his bed and leaves.
There are no rooms available for Mr Xu to stay the night, so Li Yanran gives him her room key and says she will stay with Jiaxin. However, there’s no response when she knocks on his door, so she’s forced to go back to her own room where Mr Xu has fallen asleep fully-clothed on the bed. She starts talking to him about her feelings for Jiaxin when Mr Xu suddenly holds her hand and whispers “Jiangyue”.
Back at the office, the Gossip Gang is having tea and not working as usual when Qiuqiu suddenly remembers some juicy gossip she has to share. The way they all cluster around at the mention of the word “gossip”... Zihao has his mouth hanging open even before the gossip is shared. She tells them about Jiangyue coming out of Jiaxin’s room and adjusting her clothes. There’s no malice in the way she says this or in the way they react. But they really should avoid this type of gossip entirely or at least do it outside the office.
At the Love Note studio, Jingjing is discussing methods to confess. (Lol, how does she always pick topics related to the current state of Jiaxin’s and Jiangyue’s relationship?) Duoxi comes there in search of Jiaxin. She wonders aloud why Mr Xu didn’t confess to Jiangyu in Tongli. Jiaxin says he did (which surprises Duoxi), that Jiangyue didn’t accept (which shocks Duoxi), and that he’s glad as otherwise he himself would have no chance (which stuns Duoxi). I thought she’d already guessed Jiaxin’s feelings in Ep10, so I don’t understand her reaction here. He admits to having fallen in love with his boss. Duoxi ships him with Jiangyue (but then, she seems ready to ship Jiangyue with anyone :D) and promises to help him with his relationship.
Jiaxin visits Kang Zhe at the hospital (poor guy still hasn’t woken up) and tells him he’s going to confess to the girl he likes. He then practices various ways of telling her, but cracks up each time at how ridiculous he sounds.
Meanwhile, Jingjing and Vincent are going to a restaurant for dinner (I’m puzzled. Won’t Jingjing’s fans wonder when they see her on a date with another man?) when they run into Zhang Hao. Vincent introduces himself (he seems a bit smarmy here) and Zhang Hao is very terse. Jingjing is disconcerted. We see Zhang Hao later, looking at Vincent’s business card suspiciously and then calling someone and asking them to run a check.
Jiaxin works overnight (over several days?) at Link Tech and then tells Jiangyue he has a presentation he created for practice, which he wants her feedback on. This must make her so happy :D. When she gets to the meeting room and sits down, Jiaxin presses a button and loads of balloons are released. (I don’t know if startling the person you’re confessing to is the best strategy.) His presentation is titled ‘Confession of Love’. He’s found old photos of her, and walks her through different stages of her (corporate) life, from when she graduated until the present time, and gives her symbolic gifts for each stage. He then earnestly tells her he likes her and asks her to sign a relationship contract if she feels the same (lol). She is moved (though, her expression in this scene isn’t consistent) and uncaps the pen to sign, but then re-caps it again. She compliments the presentation. Jiaxin: “That was not the main point” xD. She wants some time to think. Jiaxin is disappointed. Back in her office, Jiangyue looks confused.
* He and Jiangyue have only known each other for a very short time (it’s still less than 3 months since they met!)
* They have sensitive identities at work.
* As a lady, she will have a lot of concerns.
I absolutely agree with these points, particularly the first two. I don’t know if even Jiangyue has considered possible repercussions at work if she began dating Jiaxin.
[Ep13] “Relationship scorecard”
One of my least favorite episodes, mostly because of Jiaxin’s terribly immature behavior, but also some uncharacteristic behavior from Jiangyue. So the recap will be a bit shorter and less accurate than the others, because I don’t want to re-watch some of it. (The episode does contain a sweet scene though.)
Mr Xu invites Jiangyue to attend a wedding with him, and Jiaxin overhears. Li Yanran takes Mr Xu shopping so he can buy a dress for Jiangyue. Yanran tries on the dress and we have the usual zipper-stuck scenario. Mr Xu and Yanran seem far more like uncle and niece or father and daughter to me, not just based on appearance but also the way they interact. I really can’t stomach the thought of a relationship between them.
Mr Xu presents Jiangyue with the dress (and she transfers the money for it to him, even though he didn’t want it). Jiaxin goes over to Jiangyue’s apartment and sees her in the dress. He compliments her which I am happy about. I thought he wouldn’t just because it was a gift from Mr Xu. He then gives her the shoes he bought for her (way back in Ep3). She wants to pay him too, but he tells her to consider it as tuition for teaching him about work.
If only he had left it at that, it would have been fine. He attends the wedding as well, forces himself into a photo with Jiangyue and Mr Xu, and then steps on and tears her dress. He also tries to prevent her from traveling back with Mr Xu.
After the wedding, Mr Xu posts a photo with the caption “Went to Mr. Hu’s daughter’s wedding”. Jiaxin posts an unflattering cropped photo showing only himself and Jiangyue with the caption “Went to wedding with Ms Zhao”. Qiuqiu, the leader of the Gossip Gang and the most well-connected within gossip circles, sees both photos and lets the rest of the team know that there seems to be a love triangle happening. The team places bets on the outcome.
Meanwhile, Zhang Hao is feeling uneasy about Jingjing and Vincent, and calls to check on her. He tells her she is over-confident in her ability to understand relationships and tries to warn her. She doesn’t seem to be listening, but she doesn’t seem fully comfortable with Vincent after that.
There’s financial trouble in paradise for Duoxi and Qi Heng. He’s been the one doing most of the spending in the past few eps (man pays :/), and has been finding it a bit difficult, though she only begins to learn about it in this episode.
Jiaxin offers to help Jiangyue learn to swim. I’m amazed she’s willing to speak with him after his behavior at the wedding. But the pool scene is sweet, so I’m glad she agrees. He doesn’t seem to be teaching her anything useful and she doesn’t seem to be learning anything useful, but they both seem to be very happy.
Jiaxin is riding his motorcycle at night and meets with an accident. His leg is in a cast and he has a minor forehead injury, but is otherwise ok. His mother is upset about the accident and takes away his motorbike. He persuades the nurse to take “pity photos” of him and posts them. I think just the fact that he can do that means he’s ok.
In the meantime, Mr Xu invites Jiangyue to inspect a farm as a potential venue for an event. It’s a long distance away from the city and she only learns of the accident when she’s at the farm. She’s worried when she first hears and sends Duoxi to check on him, and then, for reasons I cannot fathom, asks the venue owner whether he has chickens on the farm. I said the ghost scene in Ep1 was the most idiotic, but the next scene may top that. When he finds that Jiangyue is with Mr Xu, Jiaxin leaves the hospital on crutches, goes to the farm and climbs over the fence to enter. The madness continues in Ep14.
(Throughout the episode, Jiangyue is evaluating Jiaxin and Mr Xu by mentally adding and deducting points. When she does this, her evaluation is heavily biased by what she knows is considered the “appropriate” match for her. So she favorably scores Mr Xu and unfavorably scores Jiaxin, a bit unfairly.)
One of my least favorite episodes, mostly because of Jiaxin’s terribly immature behavior, but also some uncharacteristic behavior from Jiangyue. So the recap will be a bit shorter and less accurate than the others, because I don’t want to re-watch some of it. (The episode does contain a sweet scene though.)
Mr Xu invites Jiangyue to attend a wedding with him, and Jiaxin overhears. Li Yanran takes Mr Xu shopping so he can buy a dress for Jiangyue. Yanran tries on the dress and we have the usual zipper-stuck scenario. Mr Xu and Yanran seem far more like uncle and niece or father and daughter to me, not just based on appearance but also the way they interact. I really can’t stomach the thought of a relationship between them.
Mr Xu presents Jiangyue with the dress (and she transfers the money for it to him, even though he didn’t want it). Jiaxin goes over to Jiangyue’s apartment and sees her in the dress. He compliments her which I am happy about. I thought he wouldn’t just because it was a gift from Mr Xu. He then gives her the shoes he bought for her (way back in Ep3). She wants to pay him too, but he tells her to consider it as tuition for teaching him about work.
If only he had left it at that, it would have been fine. He attends the wedding as well, forces himself into a photo with Jiangyue and Mr Xu, and then steps on and tears her dress. He also tries to prevent her from traveling back with Mr Xu.
After the wedding, Mr Xu posts a photo with the caption “Went to Mr. Hu’s daughter’s wedding”. Jiaxin posts an unflattering cropped photo showing only himself and Jiangyue with the caption “Went to wedding with Ms Zhao”. Qiuqiu, the leader of the Gossip Gang and the most well-connected within gossip circles, sees both photos and lets the rest of the team know that there seems to be a love triangle happening. The team places bets on the outcome.
Meanwhile, Zhang Hao is feeling uneasy about Jingjing and Vincent, and calls to check on her. He tells her she is over-confident in her ability to understand relationships and tries to warn her. She doesn’t seem to be listening, but she doesn’t seem fully comfortable with Vincent after that.
There’s financial trouble in paradise for Duoxi and Qi Heng. He’s been the one doing most of the spending in the past few eps (man pays :/), and has been finding it a bit difficult, though she only begins to learn about it in this episode.
Jiaxin offers to help Jiangyue learn to swim. I’m amazed she’s willing to speak with him after his behavior at the wedding. But the pool scene is sweet, so I’m glad she agrees. He doesn’t seem to be teaching her anything useful and she doesn’t seem to be learning anything useful, but they both seem to be very happy.
In the meantime, Mr Xu invites Jiangyue to inspect a farm as a potential venue for an event. It’s a long distance away from the city and she only learns of the accident when she’s at the farm. She’s worried when she first hears and sends Duoxi to check on him, and then, for reasons I cannot fathom, asks the venue owner whether he has chickens on the farm. I said the ghost scene in Ep1 was the most idiotic, but the next scene may top that. When he finds that Jiangyue is with Mr Xu, Jiaxin leaves the hospital on crutches, goes to the farm and climbs over the fence to enter. The madness continues in Ep14.
(Throughout the episode, Jiangyue is evaluating Jiaxin and Mr Xu by mentally adding and deducting points. When she does this, her evaluation is heavily biased by what she knows is considered the “appropriate” match for her. So she favorably scores Mr Xu and unfavorably scores Jiaxin, a bit unfairly.)
[Ep14] “Is ‘peace of mind’ more important than ‘heartbeat’?”
This is another episode I tend to avoid.
The farm fiasco continues and my avoidance of it continues equally. Essentially, Mr Xu, Jiaxin and a chicken get entangled. Mr Xu and Jiaxin face off in private and Jiaxin childishly declares war. He sounds so immature.
Jiangyue and Mr Xu take Jiaxin back to the hospital. Li Yanran is there and accosts Jiangyue. She’s furious because Jiangyue didn’t visit when Jiaxin was injured. She accuses Jiangyue of always putting work first and tells her she’s not right for Jiaxin. Jiangyue is silent throughout, maybe because she believes it to be true too? But she is upset.
Jiangyue is not feeling well, but has to meet with some people from an outsourcing company who have canceled some app announcement. What’s with all the partners and suppliers acting up? She’s expected to drink with them and they then pressure her to join them for karaoke. They seem kind of boorish. She’s feeling really unwell by this point. Of course, Jiaxin rushes up and rescues her (I’m slightly tired of the ML-saves-the-day bit :/).
Duoxi learns that Qi Heng sends money to help out his family and seems to be struggling to make ends meet. She tells him they must strive together.
Li Yanran draws up a “formal” agreement with Mr Xu assuming “formal” includes cute cartoons, with the stipulation that they help each other out in their respective non-relationships. Later, she’s shown on the phone with Ms Jin, so it’s no coincidence when Ms Jin invites Jiangyue for dinner and makes it clear that she does not approve of a relationship between her son and Jiangyue. It isn’t because she thinks Jiaxin is too good for Jiangyue though, but because she thinks Jiangyue is too good for Jiaxin :D I found this refreshing in some weird way. It’s a pity she isn’t closer to her son, but I really dislike the “blindness” that some mothers have when it comes to their own children. Her concerns are also realistic. She isn’t being nasty. She truly thinks Jiangyue is an exceptional worker who is not a good match for the more frivolous Jiaxin. I’m not saying she’s right – though Jiaxin’s behavior in the last episode was childish to the extreme – but she isn’t a “monster Mother-in-Law”. Jiangyue is obviously upset, but promises to focus only on work in the future. I suppose she believes that Jiaxin won’t reconcile with her because of his parting words.
Meanwhile, Jiaxin is replaying his words from earlier and remembering Jiangyue’s hurt expression. He wonders whether he was too harsh. Dude, yes you were. You know perfectly well that she’s a very logical person, who is clueless about relationships. Why are you so surprised that she tried to “objectively” evaluate you? I can’t help thinking that Jiaxin isn’t angry about the scorecards so much as he is angry that he scored lower than Mr Xu. If he had scored higher than Mr Xu, I think he would have happily accepted the result.
Jiangyue dispiritedly goes into her office. Jiaxin enters.
Jiangyue and Jiaxin both want to patch up their argument. Jiangyue uncertainly asks whether he’s still angry. For some reason, Jiaxin becomes confrontational again. She starts trying to explain but is called away by Zihao. That guy always presents her with problems :D
Meanwhile, Jiangyue is not used to not having Jiaxin around. She keeps looking at the cactus on her desk, before forcing herself to focus on work.
The Love Note team is hosting an event: a Breakup Museum, where the exhibits are items related to failed relationships. To Jiangyue’s surprise, Jiaxin shows up. Unfortunately, he’s refusing to talk to her and uses Duoxi as an intermediary, so Jiangyue does the same. I could smack these two! Li Yanran is pleased that they are still on bad terms.
Jiangyue has given the cactus in as an exhibit. She tells Jingjing “This thing pricks me. It always pricks me”. Is she really talking about the cactus? Jiaxin sees the cactus on display and reads the accompanying text: “Someone once told me that the other language of cactus was to love someone until the end. Now our relationship has come to a sudden end. Maybe it’s for the best.” Awww, she must be very upset :(
Li Yanran confesses to Jiaxin at the Breakup Museum. What an odd choice of venue for a confession. And why does everyone chant “say yes, say yes” when they know Jiaxin isn’t interested in her? Their actions here - clapping and nudging - were so lame as well. Jiangyue commends Li Yanran for her creativity, but tells her not to impact others’ work. Jiaxin coldly says Jiangyue is all about work and doesn’t understand people in love, before taking Li Yanran’s hand and leading her away. This wasn’t a good move because it might give Yanran false hope. I guess he didn’t realize that Jiangyue’s words about the cactus were more likely to have stemmed from hurt (that’s how I see it anyway), and got angry with her.
On the breakup theme, Jingjing is talking to an audience about “false breakups”. From what I gathered, this is an argument that threatens to end a relationship. Always topical, is Jingjing. Jiangyue and Jiaxin are at opposite ends of the room. At the beginning, Jiangyue glances over at Jiaxin, but he immediately looks away. As the talk goes on, they begin to realize they don’t want to continue their argument and resolve to make up. At the end of the talk, Jiangyue looks over again; this time he gives her a small smile. Unfortunately, they can’t make up at that moment because there are a few audience members about. Jingjing’s talk also reveals how much Zhang Hao used to care about her, making me think there’s more to his demand for a divorce than meets the eye.
Jiaxin: You want to take it back? Is he really talking about the cactus?
Jiangyue: I changed my mind and thought it was cute and didn’t really prick me that much. Is she really talking about the cactus?
Jiaxin: It’s ok, I’ll get you another one. This probably is about the cactus.
Jiangyue: You haven’t left yet?
Jiaxin: I also thought it was cute and wanted to take it back. And we’re back to not really talking about the cactus.
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| Jiaxin doesn’t seem to know what to do with his hands in this scene |
Jiaxin visits Kang Zhe in hospital. I’m feeling bad for the actor who plays Kang Zhe. He doesn’t even get to move. Jiaxin tells his friend that he’s going to temporarily put his racing dream on hold and start working in earnest, so that he can be the mature stable man he thinks Jiangyue wants.
Jiaxin is formally introduced at Link Tech as Ms Jin’s son, and pitches an idea for a Love Market. Let’s not even ask what that’s about. Ms Jin asks for Jiangyue’s opinion; Jiangyue likes the idea but details need to be worked out. Ms Jin would like her son to head the activity. Jiangyue is surprised, but on seeing him nod, she agrees happily. Ms Jin assigns Li Yanran to help Jiaxin with the planning. Jiangyue is less happy.
The next day, Jiaxin is in Work Mode at the office. Though, the extreme eye contact as Jiangyue walks by can’t really be considered Work Mode. He tries to demonstrate his serious side, which only confuses Jiangyue xD. He is also in the most hideous plaid suit. Is that considered formal wear? Li Yanran appears to have coordinated and competed, because she’s in an even more hideous plaid suit.
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| I think this is a look of disapproval for his suit |
Qi Heng meets Duoxi’s parents. They quiz him about his family circumstances and job. They appear to be far more affluent than his family. Duoxi’s mother is not happy about his financial situation and urges her daughter to “just meet” someone else they have lined up for her.
At the Love Market event, the first feature is supposed to be a performance by a singer, but he’s a no-show because of an accident. As the team scrambles to find an alternative, Jiaxin begins to sing/rap. Apparently, Wang Ziyi is a rapper. I did not know this. The song is about love, and we see flashbacks of various moments in our main CP’s relationship. The audience fades away and it’s as if he’s singing only to her.
The Love Market continues. I can’t believe I typed that sentence. Mr Xu drops by and asks to speak with Jiangyue. Jiaxin uses a commotion happening further away as an excuse to prevent the conversation. Jiangyue and Jiaxin head over to resolve the issue. Yanran tells Mr Xu that Jiaxin has changed and become more serious, and she thinks it’s because of her confession! Seriously?!
The commotion is a (physical) fight between two women, because they were matched with the same man. Jiaxin tries to break them up but is unsuccessful. Li Yanran tries to help but gets shoved away and bangs her forehead against a pole. I can’t believe they used the “birdies-twittering” cartoon noise for this when she’s shown to be bleeding. For some unfathomable reason, Mr Xu piggybacks her to the first-aid tent. He is impressed by Yanran’s kind-heartedness.
Jiangyue breaks up the fight by throwing water over the two women (and Jiaxin, who is in the middle). This is the way you break up fighting dogs! I can’t believe it was used on humans xD She goes to give Jiaxin a fresh shirt and sees him shirtless. She turns away and complains that he should have told her before taking his shirt off. This is the same woman who was scrubbing ink off his back while he was in a bath in Ep5…
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| Apparently this is ok (Ep5) |
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| But this isn’t (Ep16) |
Mr Xu and Jiangyue talk. Even if the email was sent by accident, he still wants to know whether she’s interested. She tells him she’s sorry. This is probably difficult for her, because she had a long-term crush on him and still respects him. He smiles resignedly. He must have expected this, but hoped for a different outcome. He says they can still be friends and then leaves. He handles this in such a mature way, thankfully. Jiangyue thinks back to when she composed the email. Mr Xu had come by as she was typing and she’d spilled coffee all over her desk and on a report in her haste to hide the email. This must be why he refers to her as “clumsy” in Ep3.
The Love Market has ended and Jiaxin announces that Ms Jin has made reservations for the gang to have dinner. Jiangyue says she won’t join. She might be slightly glum after her conversation with Mr Xu. She goes for a walk instead; Jiaxin joins her. He asks if she’s ok and she says yes, he doesn’t have to stay. He responds that he’s on a diet. They don’t talk at all after that; they just walk, sometimes skip and sometimes laugh at nothing. Companionable almost-silence.
News of Jingjing’s divorce has been leaked to the media. Jingjing thinks it was Vincent. He mocks her but I don’t know if he actually was the leak. She then visits Zhang Hao’s company, only to learn that it has gone bankrupt. Zhang Hao hadn’t wanted the bankruptcy to affect Jingjing and so had staged the affair and asked for the divorce. I’m sorry, but does this make him a good guy? He has to have known how this would impact her, especially since she’s a relationship blogger. He also has to have known it would affect her best friend’s job. And in any case, why didn’t he just discuss the impending bankruptcy with her?
Jiaxin and Jiangyue try to contact Jingjing but are unable to reach her. Link Tech is thrown into chaos, with the phone constantly ringing with questions. Online comments are pretty much what you would expect. There’s a (crisis management?) meeting, to which Ms Jin brings Ms Song to preside.
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| Ms Song |
Ms Song takes over Jiangyue’s office without discussing it with her first. Jiaxin is furious and wants to confront his mother, but Jiangyue stops him. The company is not a charity, ultimately it has to make profit. And in any case, she (Jiangyue) is in the wrong here. I love that she doesn’t try to shirk responsibility, doesn’t try to blame others, and tries to see the big picture without getting emotional. She goes over to an empty desk in the shared workspace with the rest of the project team. It was the desk she sat at when she first joined and she says it’s good to remember how she started. I wish I had her ability to see the silver lining in everything. Though really, here the silver lining is microscopic. She begins unpacking her things and turns frantic when she can’t find some notebooks. She’s told by admin staff that Ms Song told them the notebooks were rubbish and to get rid of them. They’re currently in the storage room. Ms Song, how malicious and petty you are.
They find the notebooks. She’s kept one per year, and each is filled with copious notes albeit in large handwriting and with lots of space between lines. She opens the notebook from her first year at Link Tech and we see thoughts that she jotted down during a matchmaking store inspection. The store promises customers that for a fee of 70,000 a year, they will get a boyfriend with an annual salary of one million a year. If you pay 300,000 you get lifelong membership, and even if you get divorced you can come back and find another man for free. This is so sad that it’s funny. Younger Jiangyue has written that if love can be quantified in such a way, she will no longer hope to fall in love. Present-day Jiangyue tells Jiaxin it’s not that she doesn’t believe in love; she just doesn’t think that something that occurs with such a low probability will happen to her. So it’s better to focus on things she can control, like work. Except now her career isn’t doing well either. Her eyes get a bit misty.
[Ep17] “It’s all for you”
Jiangyue is at her new-old desk. The team is very supportive and show that they value her. It’s sweet but maybe a bit overdone. I’d be embarrassed if I was her. She and Jiaxin decide to investigate the leak. They both suspect Zhang Hao.
Li Yanran meets with Mr Xu and tells him about the problems at work. She’s worried that Jiangyue might suffer. Mr Xu is puzzled because Jiangyue is Yanran’s “love rival”. Li Yanran says she won’t give up on Jiaxin, but workwise she admires Jiangyue. I’m so glad she can separate the two aspects of her life. She does try to convince him to continue pursuing Jiangyue though :/
Jiangyue and Jiaxin go to Zhang Hao’s company only to find that it’s no longer there. They then track down the woman with whom Zhang Hao had his supposed affair. She is livestreaming and Jiangyue’s expressions when seeing some of her actions mirror my own. They arrange to meet her. She tells them Zhang Hao paid her to take the compromising photo and reveals details about his bankruptcy and wanting to protect his wife from its effects. Jiangyue calls Zhang Hao, tells him Jingjing is missing, and berates him for not discussing things with his wife and for not having faith in her. She tells him the cheating and divorce scandals hurt Jingjing far more than bankruptcy would have. Essentially, she says everything I was thinking. Jiaxin is very impressed with how assertive she was.
Jingjing is actually at a house/apartment that Zhang Hao had bought for her early in their relationship. It’s less luxurious than the one she is currently staying at; more “homey”. The box of gifts she threw away (in Ep6) is there. She gets a text from Jiangyue explaining Zhang Hao’s actions. Zhang Hao comes in just then (he has been living there). He apologizes and they reconcile.
As Mr Xu leaves, he thinks about their times together, and then wishes her well (to himself). I still don’t think they would make a good couple, but I felt sorry for him here. He truly did care for her.
In Jiangyue’s apartment, our leads draft a plan for how they can put a positive spin on Jingjing’s situation. But there’s a problem. Jingjing wants to terminate her contract. She no longer wants to hype up her relationship to the public. She apologizes for causing so many problems and promises she will pay damages, etc. Jiangyue is unsettled by this turn of affairs but agrees. Jiaxin tells her Jingjing would probably change her mind if she knew the situation Jiangyue is in (Jingjing doesn’t yet know about Ms Song). Jiangyue agrees that Jingjing would never refuse if she asked, but she doesn’t want Jingjing to suffer in order to accomplish her own work. Again, I love this friendship. Yes, they did stupid things for it, but I admire their loyalty.
The next day at Link Tech, Ms Song talks about releasing statements regarding their former spokesperson and makes suggestions for a new one. Ms Jin asks Jiangyue whether she has any other proposal. Jiangyue has to say she agrees with Ms Song, which causes consternation among her team. The smug look on Ms Song’s face at this moment… x(
Once Ms Jin leaves the room, Ms Song insinuates that Jiangyue obtained her position as general manager through a relationship with Jiaxin. She says she’s really impressed. Ugh! Jiangyue is both angry and humiliated.
Ms Jin is watching media coverage about the drop in Love Note’s popularity. Jiangyue comes by and tells her she will accept responsibility. How? Ms Jin has also heard about the public confession. She isn’t against office romances but Jiaxin is her son, and she doesn’t want things to be made difficult for her. I don’t know why their relationship would affect her negatively. Jiangyue agrees, and says she will resign. Ms Jin is shocked. She doesn’t want to lose her best employee. She also asks whether Jiangyue isn’t worried that Jiaxin’s affections might be temporary due to his age. Jiangyue admits liking him and also admits that it will probably be difficult to be in a relationship with him. But she wants some time to think things through. Ms Jin is still not optimistic about the relationship, but she knows Jiangyue is outstanding at work and realizes she is probably also over-worked, so she says she will grant an indefinite leave of absence instead.
Jiangyue tells Jiaxin she has resigned, and that he won’t have to worry about teaching her about dating any more. She seems cheerful enough and even playful when she says this. The team is shocked by the news and clamor for her to stay. She tells them about the indefinite leave, assures them that she still has faith in the project, and leaves.
[Ep18] “Justified leisure”
Jiangyue’s alarm goes off. She sits up in bed before remembering she doesn’t have to go to work. She tries to sleep again, but isn’t able. I don’t think she knows how to do nothing. The doorbell rings; it’s Jiaxin and he’s brought snacks. She doesn’t really want him there though.
Jiangyue plans everything she will do on her vacation. Always with a task list :D The difference between her and normal people is that she actually does what she plans. But wherever she goes, Jiaxin follows. She goes to the gym and he’s there with water for her. She goes for a walk in the rain and he’s there, pretending it’s a chance encounter with a stranger (she’s amused, even though she tells him to go away). She goes for a yoga class and he secretly joins as well. This scene was funny. He openly falls asleep during the class. She’s bored out of her mind and secretly puts in her earbuds, but the connection drops and her phone blares out financial updates :D They’re both thrown out of the class.
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| A Jiaxin-shaped shadow wherever she goes |
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| Getting kicked out of yoga class. They look so much like school kids getting told off by a teacher :D |
Jiaxin sneaks into Jiangyue’s apartment when she isn’t there. (I guess she replaced the physical key-based lock with an electronic keypad after getting locked out in Ep10. And this is why she shouldn’t have.) Jiangyue comes back to her place, and runs into her father on the way. She isn’t exactly thrilled to see him. He’s there because he’s heard about her problems at work.
Jiaxin is setting something up on Jiangyue’s balcony when he hears her arriving with her father. He hurriedly closes the curtains and hides behind them. When Jiangyue comes in, she sees his shoes at the entrance and guesses he must be hiding behind the curtains (because she normally has them open?). She hides his shoes and tries to distract her father, who’s wondering why the curtains are closed.
Papa Zhao begins lecturing his adult(!) daughter about work. She flashes back to when she got 148 marks out of 150 in school and her father criticized her for losing the 2 marks. “Next time bring it back with 150”. If he had done this jokingly, it wouldn’t have mattered. But he was so disapproving. In the present day, he tells her he’s always been proud of her, “but now…”
Papa Zhao has brought a gift. When she opens it, she makes a face and asks “can’t you give me something with a different shape?” It’s a pyramid-shaped object (paperweight?). Her father tells her that life is like a pyramid. It gets harder as you climb. He hopes she can quickly make it to the top. She’s heard all of this before.
Jiaxin has heard the whole lecture and is appalled. He moves a little and bumps his head against a light, and is heard by Papa Zhao. When he is discovered, he unsuccessfully pretends to be a cleaner. Papa Zhao is shocked that his precious daughter would lie to him. His advice: “Better to get an ugly boyfriend. Handsome ones are too distracting” (bahahaha!)
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| Busted |
We also learn that Young Jiangyue discovered that her father had a mistress. She tried to hide this from her mother but later learnt that her mother had always known. And her parents are still together(!).
Jiaxin has a surprise for her. He makes a big production of covering her eyes and takes her onto the balcony to reveal… a unicorn-shaped piñata. She isn’t impressed, but he hands her the stick and urges her to vent her annoyances out on the poor innocent unicorn.
Jiaxin picks up all the candy and tells her all that good luck is now hers. She learns that his stalker act that day was because he thought she might not be able to handle the loss of her job. He also tells her she is already at the top of the pyramid in his heart. How cheesy! But she doesn’t seem to mind. She looks down, smiles and nods. When she looks back up at him, she has happy tears in eyes.
Duoxi tells Qi Heng she doesn’t feel like working at Link Tech now that her aunt is no longer there. She wants to look for a job in his office but learns that he’s been offered a very good position in Shenzhen. She’s upset but tells him to go, and then cries. She cries when he leaves as well.
Li Yanran runs into Mr Xu. He is going overseas again. She hugs him but ends up causing him to fall. At the hospital, the doctor assumes they’re a couple. I’m sorry for my shallowness, but while I get that the doctor in Ep9 could have mistaken Jiaxin and Jiangyue for a couple, I have to suspend disbelief to think that someone would automatically think Mr Xu and Li Yanran were a couple. I would have thought a niece was accompanying her uncle.
Jingjing invites Jiangyue over for a meal, but Jiangyue says she’s going on a trip to see the cherry blossom in bloom. When she gets there, she makes a wish at the sakura tree for Love Note to weather the current storm. Jiaxin has followed her there, because Jingjing was worried. Worried about what? Despite Jiangyue telling him she needs more time, he follows her about. She falls asleep on a picnic blanket under a cherry blossom tree and when she wakes up, he’s by her side.
[Ep19] “From the bottom of my heart”
You have to suspend disbelief a little for the first part of this ep. I really wish they’d taken a different route with this.
Jiangyue tells Jiaxin he’s annoying (for following her around), and gets up to leave for the next location on her itinerary. Jiaxin says they can admire the sakura from a unique angle and takes her to a hangar. They’re going to explore by helicopter. She’s very eager, but her eagerness fades when she realizes he’s the pilot. Jiangyue: “I haven’t lived enough!” xD But behold, he has a private pilot’s license. Of course he does :/
Jiangyue hugs him as soon as she gets out, and then confesses she’s liked him very, very much for a long time. But she couldn’t imagine their future together, didn’t feel safe, so she held herself back. But now she doesn’t care about any of that, she just wants to be with him. She doesn’t suddenly and magically feel like they have a solid future together, but she wants to try. And I think that’s more believable than blind trust.
Li Yanran calls Mr Xu when he’s in the middle of a meeting. She’s outside his office building, crying, and demands that he come down and comfort her. He actually ends his meeting and goes down(!). She wails very theatrically and unrealistically about our main CP being a couple. Mr Xu feels uncomfortable but does his best to comfort her. She is incredibly immature and bratty here. He should stop enabling this behavior.
That night, Jiangyue and Jiaxin check into a hotel. The manager has prepared it according to Jiaxin’s instructions (balloons, candles, hearts, flowers, etc). Jiangyue is impressed and Jiaxin looks pleased until he spots a kid’s bed in the corner. Jiangyue is smiling mischievously now. She’s asked the manager to add a kid’s bed because she’d feel bad if he sleeps on the floor. She says this so pseudo-innocently xD The manager who looks like he might start laughing any second beats a hasty retreat. Jiangyue goes to have a shower, Jiaxin takes his shirt off and says he’ll join her, but she’s having none of it. She’s very playful in this scene. I love it :D
Jiaxin isn’t giving up. He gets a snake and hides it in the bed. Where did he get it from? Do all good hotels provide guests with reptiles of their choosing? Is it supposed to be real? (It can’t be, because he holds it by the head, and yet, he seems pretty scared of it.) Jiangyue happens to see him. Later, when they’re ready to sleep, she gets into bed first, but the expected reaction (from someone encountering a snake) doesn’t come. Jiaxin is puzzled and gets into his bed, only to jump out again. She’s moved the snake to his bed! He jumps into her bed and hides against her.
Jiaxin: I can’t sleep alone.
Jiangyue: You are not alone. The snake is with you. Bahaha! I love this line xD
He takes her hand and pulls it under the blanket (umm? Where… actually, let me not ask). He tries to coax her and asks if what she said earlier in the day was a lie. No, she wouldn’t lie to him. She gives him a gift box, which he opens gingerly, fearing other reptiles. Inside is a card saying “Thank you for teaching me to love with my heart. Let’s be together”. There are also mementos that Jiangyue has kept from all their past interactions: tickets to the skating rink, tickets to the movie where they ran into each other (how did she get his ticket when he booked separately online?), a keychain he gave her when he confessed, the marker she used to write “jerk” on his back xD, and some candy from the piñata. She’d intended to send him the box at the end of her trip. I really wish they’d used this as her confession instead of the helicopter scenario. This is far more realistic and much sweeter. Jiaxin gets emotional as he goes through the items. He probably didn’t realize she has had feelings for him for almost as long as he has for her.
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| How not to vacation |
The next day, Jiaxin receives a phone call from Lisheng. His mother has suffered a heart attack.
[Ep20]“Repair of love”
Jiaxin and Jiangyue rush to the hospital where Ms Jin is admitted. Lisheng intercepts them and tells them the surgery was a success, but Ms Jin has to remain for observation. He earnestly asks Jiaxin not to annoy his mother. I think he must have witnessed his fair share of arguments between the two. He is an excellent friend to Ms Jin.
Ms Jin wants to talk to her son in private. Lisheng and Jiangyue chat outside about the tense relationship between mother and son. Lisheng reveals that after Jiaxin’s father passed away, his mother spent a lot of time keeping the company (which was her husband’s dream) afloat and had limited time for her son. Jiaxin grew up resenting the fact that his mother apparently cared more about work than him. Lisheng tells Jiangyue that only she can persuade Jiaxin to take over the company while his mother recovers.
Inside the hospital room, Ms Jin asks Jiaxin much the same thing. She also tells him that the issues surrounding Love Note have caused many crises and that there are financial concerns. He agrees to take over as temporary CEO, but he wants Jiangyue back.
Later, Jiaxin shares his worry with Jiangyue that he may not be able to handle the job. She tells him she trusts him, and agrees to come back and work with him.
At Link Tech, Jiaxin calls a meeting (with the board of directors?) and announces his acting presidency. The board isn’t impressed. They question how Ms Jin made the decision from the hospital, and remark that it isn’t easy to preside over a company of 10,000+ employees o.O. I didn’t realize it was such a large company! Jiaxin retorts that Ms Jin has made many decisions during her time as CEO, and has never been wrong; do they doubt her decision now? Ms Song in a poisonously sweet voice tries to mollify him by saying he’s just a bit too young, and who would take responsibility if something goes wrong? Jiaxin announces the return of Link Tech’s Youngest General Manager. I don’t know if, given the Love Note fiasco, her return will inspire any confidence.
Jiangyue expresses approval for how Jiaxin handled the meeting. He tells her their colleagues have prepared a welcome back party for her. He takes her hand and begins to walk out before looking thoughtful and letting go with a whispered “Not appropriate”. At least he learned this now! Jiangyue is amused.
Jingjing is selling off her designer stuff. She’s also opened a new social media account that showcases their daily lives without revealing their identities.
Li Yanran tells Jiaxin she wants to quit. He talks her out of it, and we see that Jiangyue had already discussed Yanran with him and praised her work. This pleases Yanran immensely (i.e., the fact that someone she admires has praised her work). She agrees to stay and the two wish each other happiness. She spoils things a little by accidentally breaking a figurine he had on his desk xD
Ms Song is being difficult again. When Jiangyue confronts her, Ms Song talks about Jiaxin being a playboy and insinuates that the relationship won’t last; Jiangyue curtly responds that they should only talk about work in the office.
Yanran visits Ms Jin at the hospital and tells her she’s giving up on the idea of a relationship with Jiaxin. She says she’s known Jiaxin for so many years and has never seen him love someone so much. She knows he’ll never look at her the way he looks at Jiangyue. She tells Ms Jin that even though she can’t be her daughter-in-law, maybe she can be her (god)daughter. Ms Jin is touched.
As she leaves the hospital, Yanran calls Mr Xu and asks him to have a meal with her. They go to a restaurant which has a spicy noodle challenge. Yanran decides to try the challenge. As she eats, Yanran remembers her times with Jiaxin and begins to cry. Concerned, Mr Xu takes some of the noodles to help out. They manage to finish the challenge. Mr Xu asks whether she was only crying because of the noodles. She replies that she’s known Jiaxin for 22 years, and when she gave up on him she felt like she was saying goodbye to her youth. Awww :( Mr Xu comforts and advises her.
At Link Tech, we see an elegant lady striding in. This is Anna.
She goes up to Jiaxin, who is working with Jiangyue, and hugs him in a very familiar way. Jiangyue (and all their colleagues) are shocked. Jiaxin seems discomfited. Anna calls him “Little Jiaxin”, which startles Jiangyue further. Jiaxin calls her an “honored guest”; apparently she’s the president of K.J.Capital and Jiaxin wanted to speak with her about something. Anna asks who Jiangyue is. Jiangyue introduces herself as Jiaxin’s co-worker. Anna gives her an appraising look and remarks that staff in tech companies are good looking… and then asks Jiangyue to get her two coffees, no sugar :O I don’t think I would ask a random staff member to get me coffee. Surely that’s not acceptable anywhere? Jiangyue gives Jiaxin a Death Glare. He hurries off after Anna to his office. Jiaxin, that slightly demeans your girlfriend.
Jiangyue finds that Anna, Jiaxin and herself are now the subject of gossip. Li Yanran warns her about Anna and says she was the biggest competition Li Yanran had when she was pursuing Jiaxin (“besides you” xD). She shows Jiangyue a photo of Anna with Jiaxin which I can only see as being purely platonic and sows seeds of doubt before leaving. Li Yanran seemed to be somewhat maliciously happy at Jiangyue’s jealousy. This is the first time I’ve seen her this way. Not cool, Li Yanran, especially after Jiangyue praised you. Jiangyue heaps sugar into a coffee. I thought she’d be above this sort of petty behavior.
Jiaxin is in his office with Anna and is praising her appearance. She laughs that he’s still a sweet-talker. They sit together on a sofa and she asks whether being a president isn’t difficult, and doesn’t he want her help. He says he definitely does. She says she can give him what he wants but in return he should give her what she wants. Jiangyue walks in with the coffees at just that moment and hears the latter part of the conversation. She places the coffees carefully and is about to leave. Jiaxin gets a sample of Death Glare v2 and stops her leaving… and then hands her a file to take to the financial department! I’m surprised he didn’t actually die on the spot from her Death Glare. Jiaxin goes back to the sofa and sips his coffee and then makes a face at the amount of sugar in it. Jiangyue intended the over-sugared coffee for him, it seems xD. Sorry, but he deserved it, and I’m so glad she didn’t act pettily with Anna.
Back at her desk, Jiangyue imagines a romantic scenario between Jiaxin and Anna (seriously, everyone in this drama has such a wild imagination), and wonders whether Ms Song was right about him being a playboy. She suddenly screams in frustration in front of all her subordinates and then covers her face in embarrassment.
Jiaxin is walking Anna out when Ms Song intercepts. The two women are introduced to each other. The dynamics between the two women is a bit odd. Anna looked at Ms Song almost appraisingly, I thought. Ms Song offers to walk Anna out. Anna tells Jiaxin to consider what she said and then hugs him goodbye, just as Jiangyue walks by. Jiaxin sees the displeasure on his girlfriend’s face and is worried. Dude, you better be! He hurries over to the kitchen, where Jiangyue is glaring out the window at nothing in particular. He walks up behind and pretends to look for the subject of her disapproval. He seems amused at her anger. He must have a death wish. I’m scared :D He teasingly asks if she’s jealous and when she says no, he repeats the question and says “so cute”. She denies it again. (She does sound cute in her denial, but Jiaxin, don’t!) He apologizes somewhat insincerely and wheedles until she agrees to have dinner with him. I didn’t like his way of handling her jealousy. Actually, I don’t like that they made her jealous so early in their relationship… or ever. What happened to trust?
At dinner, he uses his handing-over-menu flirtation technique with her, making her smile at the memory (from Ep6). They’re getting along again…
… until Anna turns up at the restaurant.
[Ep21] “Back to life”
Anna asks Jiaxin whether he wants her to join them. Jiangyue invites her to sit and tries to be pleasant (a slightly frosty sort of pleasant, but I commend the effort :D). Anna asks Jiaxin whether he’s thought about what she said, to Jiangyue’s consternation, and he immediately walks Anna away to discuss in private. When he comes back, Jiangyue is sulky. Jiaxin looks partly amused, partly worried at her annoyance.
Later that night, Jiangyue is searching for details about Anna and is very impressed by her profile. Just then Anna texts her, thanking her for the coffee (I’m still so glad Jiangyue didn’t give her the over-sweet one). Jiangyue sees messages (on Anna’s profile?) between Anna and Jiaxin, making appointments to meet. She calls Jingjing in confusion.
Jiangyue, Duoxi and Jingjing are at Jingjing’s house for afternoon tea. Jiangyue asks Duoxi about her long-distance relationship. Duoxi says she already misses Qi Heng after 16 days, and wants to quit and find a job near him. Jiangyue doesn’t approve. Jingjing tells her she’s a cold woman and that despite all the love skills Jingjing taught her, she got into a relationship only by chance. This is said in good humor, but really, Jingjing should stop referring to the love skills she taught, since some of them were rubbish.
Jiangyue brings up Anna. She wonders if Jiaxin has a thing for older women, and whether he liked her (Jiangyue) simply because he worked a lot with her. I totally understand her concern. Jingjing tells her not to make wild guesses and to give Jiaxin time and opportunities to explain. Finally, some good advice.
At Link Tech, Jiangyue glances at Jiaxin’s calendar and sees many appointments with Anna. Jiaxin suddenly tells her it’s his friend’s birthday that day and that he’s going to be late. His phone pings and Jiangyue sees a notification for a hotel room booking.
That evening, Jiangyue follows Jiaxin to the hotel and sees him talking to Anna. She thinks her worst fears are confirmed and calls Jingjing in tears. Jingjing comes to the hotel, and Jiangyue immediately heads for the room she saw the booking notification for. Despite Jingjing telling her not to be impulsive, Jiangyue knocks on the room door and enters to find… a birthday party in progress. In confusion she sings Happy Birthday to the wrong person, apparently. I couldn’t watch the scene. Too much second-hand embarrassment. Everyone except our main CP leaves, ostensibly for the next round of partying.
Jiaxin explains that Anna is staying at the hotel temporarily. Their meeting downstairs was pure coincidence. But Jiangyue wonders about all the cloak-and-dagger. She’s convinced he’s hiding something from her. He is. But it’s about the company. The change in her expression when she hears that… from angry and upset to immediate concern. He tells her that the company is in financial trouble after the issues with Love Note. Ms Jin wants to sell the project and has appointed her son as acting president to finish the deal. Anna’s firm is a potential buyer and her terms are very tempting. But Jiaxin doesn’t want to sell because Love Note is Jiangyue’s dream. He has persuaded Anna to agree to invest (instead of buy) if he can come up with a satisfactory revision plan for Love Note. He wanted to tell Jiangyue only after everything was done. This is all well and good, but I don’t see why he couldn’t have told Jiangyue all of this. Yes, she would have worried, but she would also immediately have thought of ways to solve the problem.
Jiangyue apologizes for misunderstanding him. He takes her hands in his and says being jealous is what love is all about and that he is happy she’s jealous because of him. That sounds like an unhealthy sort of love. She smacks him :D. He tells her that he’s known Anna for years and she won’t make unprofitable deals, so they need to make an unprecedented update to Love Note. Jiangyue is one step ahead; she’s already been thinking about how to update it. See! He tells her he loves her serious look when it comes to work. This from the guy who in Ep1 told her not to be so serious :D
Duoxi calls. She’s seen a rumor online that Love Note was being sold. Our main CP wonder whether Anna could have leaked the story.
The next day, the project team discusses the possibility of their app being sold and worries about the ramifications. Jiangyue tells them about the plans to update. Everyone agrees to work hard to save their project.
Jiaxin phones Anna to ask whether she leaked the story, but she assures him she didn’t. She isn’t convinced of his plans to update the app though, and tells him that if she isn’t satisfied with his proposal, she will negotiate the buyout directly with Ms Jin. Jiaxin is worried. Jiangyue comes up just then and tells him the leaked info contained financial details that Anna couldn’t have obtained. Link Tech has a spy.
Zihao finds Jingjing’s alternate account and suspects that it’s hers. He suggests to Jiangyue that they use Jingjing as a spokesperson again, but Jiangyue doesn’t want to put her friend through that a second time.
In one of those coincidences that only happen on TV, Jiangyue bumps into Ms Song, causing her to drop some files, and finds a business card for the gossip media channel that exposed the news of Jingjing’s divorce.
Jiangyue enters Jiaxin’s office. He tells her Jingjing invited them for dinner (Jingjing has heard about the potential buyout of Love Note). He looks worried and confesses to Jiangyue that he is feeling the pressure of being a CEO. He says he doesn’t want to let her down and also that he has tried to think of what Mr Xu would do in this situation. Jiangyue twists his ear and tells him she chose to be with him because he was Jiaxin; nobody can replace him. He’s all happy and rests his head on her shoulder (and refuses to move). She laughingly jolts him and then remembers the business card. She confides her suspicion that Ms Song is the leak.
At dinner, Jingjing shows Jiangyue her alternate account and proposes that she help with Love Note again. Jiangyue is doubtful, but Jingjing and Jiaxin convince her. Zhang Hao supports his wife; he regrets his previous actions, which had such a negative impact on her and on her friend (and the company).
The project team works on a proposal for Anna, discussing in secret at the office and at Jiangyue’s place. Jiaxin presents it to Anna at the end of the week. She asks him to explain the main theme, but he tells her a story instead (essentially about Jiangyue). The ultimate point of the revised app will be that sincerity is the only path to love, i.e., tricks won’t work. They will change the matching algorithm to match based on criteria other than age/appearance and make several other changes. Anna seems impressed as he is speaking, but tells him a proposal made in a week can’t meet her criteria. However, we learn that Anna did agree in the end.
Li Yanran also suspects Ms Song of being the spy and tells our main CP. She has no evidence though. But our leads do. Anna has provided evidence against Ms Song, who contacted her in private to try to cut a deal under the table. Ms Song is apparently under financial stress because of her husband. I would have felt sorry if she hadn’t been so malicious.
Jiaxin and Jiangyue rush to the hospital where Ms Jin is admitted. Lisheng intercepts them and tells them the surgery was a success, but Ms Jin has to remain for observation. He earnestly asks Jiaxin not to annoy his mother. I think he must have witnessed his fair share of arguments between the two. He is an excellent friend to Ms Jin.
Ms Jin wants to talk to her son in private. Lisheng and Jiangyue chat outside about the tense relationship between mother and son. Lisheng reveals that after Jiaxin’s father passed away, his mother spent a lot of time keeping the company (which was her husband’s dream) afloat and had limited time for her son. Jiaxin grew up resenting the fact that his mother apparently cared more about work than him. Lisheng tells Jiangyue that only she can persuade Jiaxin to take over the company while his mother recovers.
At Link Tech, Jiaxin calls a meeting (with the board of directors?) and announces his acting presidency. The board isn’t impressed. They question how Ms Jin made the decision from the hospital, and remark that it isn’t easy to preside over a company of 10,000+ employees o.O. I didn’t realize it was such a large company! Jiaxin retorts that Ms Jin has made many decisions during her time as CEO, and has never been wrong; do they doubt her decision now? Ms Song in a poisonously sweet voice tries to mollify him by saying he’s just a bit too young, and who would take responsibility if something goes wrong? Jiaxin announces the return of Link Tech’s Youngest General Manager. I don’t know if, given the Love Note fiasco, her return will inspire any confidence.
Jiangyue expresses approval for how Jiaxin handled the meeting. He tells her their colleagues have prepared a welcome back party for her. He takes her hand and begins to walk out before looking thoughtful and letting go with a whispered “Not appropriate”. At least he learned this now! Jiangyue is amused.
Li Yanran tells Jiaxin she wants to quit. He talks her out of it, and we see that Jiangyue had already discussed Yanran with him and praised her work. This pleases Yanran immensely (i.e., the fact that someone she admires has praised her work). She agrees to stay and the two wish each other happiness. She spoils things a little by accidentally breaking a figurine he had on his desk xD
Ms Song is being difficult again. When Jiangyue confronts her, Ms Song talks about Jiaxin being a playboy and insinuates that the relationship won’t last; Jiangyue curtly responds that they should only talk about work in the office.
Yanran visits Ms Jin at the hospital and tells her she’s giving up on the idea of a relationship with Jiaxin. She says she’s known Jiaxin for so many years and has never seen him love someone so much. She knows he’ll never look at her the way he looks at Jiangyue. She tells Ms Jin that even though she can’t be her daughter-in-law, maybe she can be her (god)daughter. Ms Jin is touched.
At Link Tech, we see an elegant lady striding in. This is Anna.
Jiangyue finds that Anna, Jiaxin and herself are now the subject of gossip. Li Yanran warns her about Anna and says she was the biggest competition Li Yanran had when she was pursuing Jiaxin (“besides you” xD). She shows Jiangyue a photo of Anna with Jiaxin which I can only see as being purely platonic and sows seeds of doubt before leaving. Li Yanran seemed to be somewhat maliciously happy at Jiangyue’s jealousy. This is the first time I’ve seen her this way. Not cool, Li Yanran, especially after Jiangyue praised you. Jiangyue heaps sugar into a coffee. I thought she’d be above this sort of petty behavior.
Jiaxin is in his office with Anna and is praising her appearance. She laughs that he’s still a sweet-talker. They sit together on a sofa and she asks whether being a president isn’t difficult, and doesn’t he want her help. He says he definitely does. She says she can give him what he wants but in return he should give her what she wants. Jiangyue walks in with the coffees at just that moment and hears the latter part of the conversation. She places the coffees carefully and is about to leave. Jiaxin gets a sample of Death Glare v2 and stops her leaving… and then hands her a file to take to the financial department! I’m surprised he didn’t actually die on the spot from her Death Glare. Jiaxin goes back to the sofa and sips his coffee and then makes a face at the amount of sugar in it. Jiangyue intended the over-sugared coffee for him, it seems xD. Sorry, but he deserved it, and I’m so glad she didn’t act pettily with Anna.
Jiaxin is walking Anna out when Ms Song intercepts. The two women are introduced to each other. The dynamics between the two women is a bit odd. Anna looked at Ms Song almost appraisingly, I thought. Ms Song offers to walk Anna out. Anna tells Jiaxin to consider what she said and then hugs him goodbye, just as Jiangyue walks by. Jiaxin sees the displeasure on his girlfriend’s face and is worried. Dude, you better be! He hurries over to the kitchen, where Jiangyue is glaring out the window at nothing in particular. He walks up behind and pretends to look for the subject of her disapproval. He seems amused at her anger. He must have a death wish. I’m scared :D He teasingly asks if she’s jealous and when she says no, he repeats the question and says “so cute”. She denies it again. (She does sound cute in her denial, but Jiaxin, don’t!) He apologizes somewhat insincerely and wheedles until she agrees to have dinner with him. I didn’t like his way of handling her jealousy. Actually, I don’t like that they made her jealous so early in their relationship… or ever. What happened to trust?
At dinner, he uses his handing-over-menu flirtation technique with her, making her smile at the memory (from Ep6). They’re getting along again…
[Ep21] “Back to life”
Anna asks Jiaxin whether he wants her to join them. Jiangyue invites her to sit and tries to be pleasant (a slightly frosty sort of pleasant, but I commend the effort :D). Anna asks Jiaxin whether he’s thought about what she said, to Jiangyue’s consternation, and he immediately walks Anna away to discuss in private. When he comes back, Jiangyue is sulky. Jiaxin looks partly amused, partly worried at her annoyance.
Jiangyue, Duoxi and Jingjing are at Jingjing’s house for afternoon tea. Jiangyue asks Duoxi about her long-distance relationship. Duoxi says she already misses Qi Heng after 16 days, and wants to quit and find a job near him. Jiangyue doesn’t approve. Jingjing tells her she’s a cold woman and that despite all the love skills Jingjing taught her, she got into a relationship only by chance. This is said in good humor, but really, Jingjing should stop referring to the love skills she taught, since some of them were rubbish.
At Link Tech, Jiangyue glances at Jiaxin’s calendar and sees many appointments with Anna. Jiaxin suddenly tells her it’s his friend’s birthday that day and that he’s going to be late. His phone pings and Jiangyue sees a notification for a hotel room booking.
That evening, Jiangyue follows Jiaxin to the hotel and sees him talking to Anna. She thinks her worst fears are confirmed and calls Jingjing in tears. Jingjing comes to the hotel, and Jiangyue immediately heads for the room she saw the booking notification for. Despite Jingjing telling her not to be impulsive, Jiangyue knocks on the room door and enters to find… a birthday party in progress. In confusion she sings Happy Birthday to the wrong person, apparently. I couldn’t watch the scene. Too much second-hand embarrassment. Everyone except our main CP leaves, ostensibly for the next round of partying.
Jiaxin explains that Anna is staying at the hotel temporarily. Their meeting downstairs was pure coincidence. But Jiangyue wonders about all the cloak-and-dagger. She’s convinced he’s hiding something from her. He is. But it’s about the company. The change in her expression when she hears that… from angry and upset to immediate concern. He tells her that the company is in financial trouble after the issues with Love Note. Ms Jin wants to sell the project and has appointed her son as acting president to finish the deal. Anna’s firm is a potential buyer and her terms are very tempting. But Jiaxin doesn’t want to sell because Love Note is Jiangyue’s dream. He has persuaded Anna to agree to invest (instead of buy) if he can come up with a satisfactory revision plan for Love Note. He wanted to tell Jiangyue only after everything was done. This is all well and good, but I don’t see why he couldn’t have told Jiangyue all of this. Yes, she would have worried, but she would also immediately have thought of ways to solve the problem.
Jiangyue apologizes for misunderstanding him. He takes her hands in his and says being jealous is what love is all about and that he is happy she’s jealous because of him. That sounds like an unhealthy sort of love. She smacks him :D. He tells her that he’s known Anna for years and she won’t make unprofitable deals, so they need to make an unprecedented update to Love Note. Jiangyue is one step ahead; she’s already been thinking about how to update it. See! He tells her he loves her serious look when it comes to work. This from the guy who in Ep1 told her not to be so serious :D
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| Random observation: He doesn’t let go of her hand for the rest of this scene |
The next day, the project team discusses the possibility of their app being sold and worries about the ramifications. Jiangyue tells them about the plans to update. Everyone agrees to work hard to save their project.
Jiaxin phones Anna to ask whether she leaked the story, but she assures him she didn’t. She isn’t convinced of his plans to update the app though, and tells him that if she isn’t satisfied with his proposal, she will negotiate the buyout directly with Ms Jin. Jiaxin is worried. Jiangyue comes up just then and tells him the leaked info contained financial details that Anna couldn’t have obtained. Link Tech has a spy.
Zihao finds Jingjing’s alternate account and suspects that it’s hers. He suggests to Jiangyue that they use Jingjing as a spokesperson again, but Jiangyue doesn’t want to put her friend through that a second time.
In one of those coincidences that only happen on TV, Jiangyue bumps into Ms Song, causing her to drop some files, and finds a business card for the gossip media channel that exposed the news of Jingjing’s divorce.
Jiangyue enters Jiaxin’s office. He tells her Jingjing invited them for dinner (Jingjing has heard about the potential buyout of Love Note). He looks worried and confesses to Jiangyue that he is feeling the pressure of being a CEO. He says he doesn’t want to let her down and also that he has tried to think of what Mr Xu would do in this situation. Jiangyue twists his ear and tells him she chose to be with him because he was Jiaxin; nobody can replace him. He’s all happy and rests his head on her shoulder (and refuses to move). She laughingly jolts him and then remembers the business card. She confides her suspicion that Ms Song is the leak.
Li Yanran also suspects Ms Song of being the spy and tells our main CP. She has no evidence though. But our leads do. Anna has provided evidence against Ms Song, who contacted her in private to try to cut a deal under the table. Ms Song is apparently under financial stress because of her husband. I would have felt sorry if she hadn’t been so malicious.
[Ep22]“Love is to let go”
Ms Jin is getting ready to leave the hospital when she receives a text from her son that he is on his way to visit her, with new ideas for the app. She looks thoughtful. Lisheng bursts into her hospital room, singing, and tells her he’s finished all the procedures and they can now leave. She hurriedly tells him to arrange with the hospital to let her stay a few more days (umm, Ms Jin, this is a hospital, not a hotel :D). Jiaxin is finally interested in work and she wants him to learn for a bit longer. Lisheng tells her she looks too healthy to be a patient. He gives her powder and tells her to make herself look sickly. I love this guy :D
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| Co-conspirators |
The two women come out of the room and Lisheng tells Ms Jin her signature is required. So the patient charade is over? As they leave to complete the paperwork, Jiaxin playfully locks his arm around Jiangyue’s neck and demands to know what she talked about with his mother.
Another board meeting at Link Tech. Jiaxin officially declares that Love Note won’t be sold. He also reveals Ms Song’s betrayal and fires her. Ms Song accuses Jiangyue of engineering things against her. The reaction of the board here is unbelievable: “even if she betrayed the company, you can’t just fire her like this”. Really? I’d have thought that was a solid reason. After all, not liking a project was apparently reason enough for Ms Song to threaten to fire people. Ms Jin enters just then with Lisheng, who shows them the evidence (in print, because maybe they don’t understand technology) and confirms that Ms Song is to be fired. She also fires one more person: Jiaxin. Jiangyue has spoken to Ms Jin on his behalf and convinced her to let him do what he loves best. Race.
Once the meeting is adjourned, Jiaxin makes some sentimental speech, holds his mother’s and girlfriend’s hands, and tells them he will protect them from now on. The two women look at each other, begin laughing, and tell him to go and work. They need no protection.
After dinner, Jiangyue takes Jiaxin to the racecourse. She’s got Alice back from Ms Jin, and has had some improvements made. Jiaxin is thrilled. Jiangyue: “Are you happy? Do you feel good? Then kiss me”. He takes her for a ride and she enjoys it this time (unlike in Ep4 where she felt sick).
At Link Tech, the team wonders how they can improve Jingjing’s image. Li Yanran suggests a popular “self-roast” show. Zihao is concerned that it might be too much, as people can be very harsh, but Jingjing agrees to participate. Jiangyue is worried because Jingjing has already experienced so much cyber-bullying, but Jingjing turns up on the day makeup-free and determined to go through with it. There is a long (overly long) interval before she begins speaking, and the audience turns restive. Jiangyue wants to stop shooting, but then Jingjing starts telling the audience about the bullying she experienced in school due to her weight, how her best friend helped her, etc. She gets through the session successfully. Her popularity climbs again.
On the racetrack, Jiaxin is not doing well and is worried. He calls Jiangyue, upset because of his poor performance. He seems near tears, and it must show in his voice because she asks whether training didn’t go well. He wants to talk to her in person. He picks her up after work amid the usual teasing comments from colleagues. Random aside: the way he puts her helmet on for her is sweet. But also, she should be able to put on her own helmet. I am conflicted :D
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| I love this shot |
App re-launch day: the team is setting up in the office studio. Jiaxin texts Jiangyu, wishing her luck. She looks thoughtful and then tells the team she wants to change the venue.
[Ep23] “Grand proposal plan”
Jiaxin is at the racecourse for the championship match. He looks a bit glum. Just then, he hears his Love Note team cheering for him. Jiangyue has brought them all over to cheer him on. They will do the live broadcast on their phones from the racecourse.
At home, Jiaxin asks if she was only supportive so he wouldn’t lose face in front of his friends, but she says no, if it’s something he really wants to do, he should go for it. Won’t she miss him? Of course, but they can call each other daily and she will try to visit if she is free (which would be never, surely? When is she ever free?)
When Jiangyue leaves the room, Jiaxin finds a positive pregnancy test hidden in a cupboard. He’s thrilled that he’s going to be a father and panics that he hasn’t proposed to her yet. When she comes back into the living room, he is so solicitous that she’s thoroughly confused xD
Jiaxin visits Kang Zhe in hospital with the racing cup, and tells him about the overseas opportunity. No reaction. He then says he’s going to propose to Jiangyue. We see Kang Zhe’s finger move slightly. Finally! He gets to move!
Jiaxin obsesses over why Jiangyue rejected his proposal. Duoxi tells him Mr Xu came to visit Jiangyue at the company and wonders if he could be the reason she said no. Seriously?! Do they think Jiangyue is so flaky? Jiaxin panics and runs over to Link Tech.
Mr Xu is actually there to say goodbye. He is leaving and this time, he doesn’t think he will return to China. He goes to hug Jiangyue just as Jiaxin bursts into the office. Mr Xu is amused at Jiaxin, and jokes about Jiangyue’s refusal (not maliciously, but maybe teasingly).
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| They suddenly realize the Gossip Gang is spying on them, so the conversation comes to an abrupt end xD |
Jiaxin disarms Jiangyue by making her breakfast, choosing a work outfit for her, and generally being useful. When she is at work, he begins preparing a very elaborate dinner. Is he planning to propose again so soon? Dude, gradually!
Jiangyue comes home to find a home-cooked meal laid out… and her boyfriend dressed in all white and with a rose between his teeth (xD I guess it was meant to be romantic, but I just found it funny). She’s stunned, but he’s even more stunned when their colleagues also come in! The rose drops from his mouth and he is teased by the team.
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| Jiangyue is a little embarrassed and very amused, but looks at him thoughtfully. |
Mr Xu is heading for the airport. Li Yanran comes to send him off. He’s wary of her because last time she sent him to the hospital :D. But this time she hugs him with no serious consequences. On the plane, he looks at a photo of her on his phone. Just then a voice asks “May I sit here?”. It’s Li Yanran. Now that Jiaxin’s won his match, and the app has been relaunched successfully, she’s decided to travel (to the same destination as him). He looks happy. Sorry, still not a fan.
Our main CP is out shopping for baby clothes for Jingjing’s baby (which isn’t due for many months yet). They come across a little kid who’s gotten separated from his parents; they keep him amused until the parents can be located. Is this likely? Wouldn’t mall security have insisted on the child staying with them?
Jiaxin laments to Jingjing that his girlfriend has so many reasons for not getting married. Jingjing tells him she knows her best friend truly loves him and he should try to prove to her that his love is forever. Jiangyue comes up just then and casually breaks the news that he will be meeting her parents at dinner that evening. Jiaxin panics at the short notice, and asks Jingjing for advice. Jiangyue also playfully listens in.
At dinner, Jiaxin is off to a bad start with Jiangyue’s father. (I guess being called “father-in-law” by the “handsome cleaner” isn’t ideal :D) But Jiaxin wins him over with his sincerity. Jiangyue’s mother is very supportive.
After Girls’ Night ends, Duoxi looks thoughtfully at Qi Heng and then talks about marriage. He wants to, but they haven’t bought a house or anything yet. She doesn’t care. She gives him the ring from a bottle-cap and tells him to use it and propose. They’re engaged.
Jiaxin’s leaving day: Jiangyue is “quietly sad”, while Jiaxin cries into his jacket after he leaves her.
Six months later, we’re at the Annual Internet Industry Award Ceremony. Attendees include the Love Note team, Jiaxin, his mother, Lisheng, Mr Xu (so he didn’t leave permanently?), Qi Heng, a heavily-pregnant Jingjing and her husband. Probably other people as well, but we don’t care about them.
Jiangyue is nervous and Jingjing is surprised because it’s not a large event. Jiangyue tells her it’s for another reason.
Love Note wins Best App of the Year and Jiangyue is called on stage to receive the award. She thanks Ms Jin, Jingjing, and the project team.
Jiaxin is tearing throughout the video, and tears are running down his cheeks by the end. He goes on stage and says “I’m willing... I do”. She’s brought rings and everything. They hug on stage as golden confetti falls.
I don’t know how the logistics worked for this. In order to plan this, Jiangyue would have had to know beforehand that Love Note was going to win (which makes her surprised reaction odd). Or she would have had to ask the event organizers to allow her to propose at some other time if Love Note didn’t win… It seems a bit risky. I’m not a fan of public proposals in any case.
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| Everybody is delighted. |
We end with them riding through the city as Jiangyue voices over:
Maybe in this world, there’s no woman who doesn’t know how to love. They just haven’t felt love. No matter your age or mood, as long as you want to love, you can. The secret of happiness isn’t hard. Are you ready for happiness?
The end.
Remarks
by Tyi
[First Impression (Ep1-7)] WWL is the first cdrama I watched fully, and I’m actually recapping after watching it in its entirety, so my first impressions are a bit vague.
I found WWL after seeing Jin Chen in YAMG (I dropped YAMG early on, but Jin Chen stood out for some reason) and searching for “strong females in light-hearted cdramas”. WWL was the intersection of the two.
I will say, Ep1 isn’t the greatest for drawing you in. It isn’t terrible, but it feels more “artificial” than the next few, and all the characters seem to be playing a part, i.e., it doesn’t feel entirely natural. Jiangyue seems to be trying to be strict, Jiaxin seems to be trying to be cool. And there’s that one idiotic ghost scene that just brings the whole thing down. The two leads also don’t show their best selves in the first couple of eps. Jiaxin comes across as a bit of an entitled and lazy rich kid, while Jiangyue comes across as being over-confident in her ability to find a boyfriend.
It’s from the latter half of Ep2 that things start to feel more “real”, and it’s after the event in Ep3 that the characters start “settling in”.
The main CP has great chemistry. They look like they truly enjoy each other’s company (especially in Ep6 and Ep7). For two people who only met a few weeks prior, they seem very comfortable together and already (in Duoxi’s words) “look like a couple”.
The second CP (Jingjing and Zhang Hao) have broken up by this point, though flashbacks show them as a very loving couple. With the introduction of Vincent in Ep3, it’s unclear which direction the show will take.
The third CP (Duoxi and Qi Heng) still haven’t got together, though it’s probably only a matter of time. They’re sweet, but a little too sweet for me (though, I suspect 99.9% of viewers will love them).
I really like the friendship between Jiangyue and Jingjing. Two women who are friends from school and who always put each other first. More dramas need to show this kind of friendship. The friendship between Jiaxin and Qi Heng (as well as Jiaxin and Kang Zhe) is also really nice.
It feels like a very light-hearted romcom so far. The aesthetics are great. There’s no scheming, no malice, no super-villain. There is no character so far that I found to be truly dislikable. Li Yanran is annoying, but I don’t hate her. She seems more misguided than anything.
All in all, very promising.
[Actors/Actresses] Jin Chen is very believable as a competent young manager with a playful side. Her acting is for the most part very natural and realistic, and there are some nice little nuances here and there. I looked at some other videos of hers after watching WWL, and I think there’s definitely some Jin Chen in Jiangyue, particularly in the cute actions. (I will admit to really liking her smile - and possibly being biased because of it :D)
Wang Ziyi is in his first lead role here. I’d say he’s pretty good. There are a couple of scenes where there’s a closeup of his ‘loving’ expression, and it felt overdone. But in all other scenes, Jiaxin’s feelings for Jiangyue come off as very believable. I’d love to see him work with Jin Chen in another drama because they have great chemistry together.
Peng Yaqi as Li Yanran deserves a special mention. She plays a brat so well :D The theatrical crying scenes are overdone, but maybe that’s intentional.
Everyone really suits their role, and there was no acting that I found particularly bad.
Wang Ziyi is in his first lead role here. I’d say he’s pretty good. There are a couple of scenes where there’s a closeup of his ‘loving’ expression, and it felt overdone. But in all other scenes, Jiaxin’s feelings for Jiangyue come off as very believable. I’d love to see him work with Jin Chen in another drama because they have great chemistry together.
Peng Yaqi as Li Yanran deserves a special mention. She plays a brat so well :D The theatrical crying scenes are overdone, but maybe that’s intentional.
Everyone really suits their role, and there was no acting that I found particularly bad.
[Behind the Scenes] I think production now focuses on BTS almost as much as the actual drama (for most dramas) :D
Some BTS clips feel a bit artificial, and I think they were filmed just for the sake of releasing “cute” BTS. I don’t know if I’m correct in this assumption, but it does seem that way. I’ve tried to avoid those in this list, but I don’t know if I’ve succeeded..
Some BTS clips feel a bit artificial, and I think they were filmed just for the sake of releasing “cute” BTS. I don’t know if I’m correct in this assumption, but it does seem that way. I’ve tried to avoid those in this list, but I don’t know if I’ve succeeded..
Ep3: Elite Singles Night
Ep5: Ambush at the spa, The creation of the cat :D Ep9: Edward Yue
Ep19: Brushing teeth (I don't understand what's going on, but they seem to find it hilarious)
Ep23: Proposal, Moving in
Ep24: The kid, A few days before Jiaxin leaves, Visiting Kang Zhe with Jiangyue, Proposal
Various eps set1, set2
There are other BTSs as well, that you can get from YOUKU’s official channel
Ep24: The kid, A few days before Jiaxin leaves, Visiting Kang Zhe with Jiangyue, Proposal
Various eps set1, set2
There are other BTSs as well, that you can get from YOUKU’s official channel
Ep8: Being held up at “gunpoint”, Golf, No idea
Ep11: Tongli at night, Tongli, and interview with Jin Chen, Jin Chen eating and eating (and eating)
Ep12: Jin Chen trying to piggyback Wang Ziyi
Ep12: Jin Chen trying to piggyback Wang Ziyi
Ep13: With the chicken
Multi-ep clips -
Ep12, Ep13: Goofing about
Ep1 (including an unaired scene), Ep7 skating(!!!), Ep13 swimming
Dancing in Tongli (Ep12) and swimming (Ep13)
Tongli, Ep3 after Elite Singles Night, Ep13 at the farm
Various eps
Various eps, WZY's "magic" trick
Exercising on set
Random clips (maybe from Jin Chen's channel?)
No idea what they're saying, but they find it funny
Translation says Model Couple Award?
Interviews: I don’t think any of these have English subtitles, and many don’t have Chinese subtitles either (so you can’t even use Google Translate on the screenshots).
Jin Chen and Wang Ziyi (HUIHUO) - Part 1 | Part 2
YOUKU interview with Jin Chen (1)
YOUKU interview with Jin Chen (2)
YOUKU interview with Wang Ziyi
YOUKU interview with the two leads
Jin Chen interviewing the producer + director + Wang Ziyi
Bilibili ("star visit"?)
Another Bilibili interview
Douyin Lianmai live broadcast (I have absolutely no idea what they're saying)VDay live broadcast (again, no clue what they're saying)
Ep12, Ep13: Goofing about
Ep1 (including an unaired scene), Ep7 skating(!!!), Ep13 swimming
Dancing in Tongli (Ep12) and swimming (Ep13)
Tongli, Ep3 after Elite Singles Night, Ep13 at the farm
Various eps
Various eps, WZY's "magic" trick
Exercising on set
Random clips (maybe from Jin Chen's channel?)
No idea what they're saying, but they find it funny
Translation says Model Couple Award?
Interviews: I don’t think any of these have English subtitles, and many don’t have Chinese subtitles either (so you can’t even use Google Translate on the screenshots).
Jin Chen and Wang Ziyi (HUIHUO) - Part 1 | Part 2
YOUKU interview with Jin Chen (1)
YOUKU interview with Jin Chen (2)
YOUKU interview with Wang Ziyi
YOUKU interview with the two leads
Jin Chen interviewing the producer + director + Wang Ziyi
Bilibili ("star visit"?)
Another Bilibili interview
Douyin Lianmai live broadcast (I have absolutely no idea what they're saying)VDay live broadcast (again, no clue what they're saying)
[OST]
Love it | 金晨 Gina Jin, 王子异 Wang Ziyi
Upside Down | 陈雪燃 Chen Xueran
错了 Wronged | 曹杨 Cao Yang
中意他 Like Him | 彭雅琦 Peng Yaqi
True Love | 朱星杰 Zhu Xingjie
Upside Down | 陈雪燃 Chen Xueran
错了 Wronged | 曹杨 Cao Yang
中意他 Like Him | 彭雅琦 Peng Yaqi
True Love | 朱星杰 Zhu Xingjie
[Ending] Happy all round.
[A Highlight] The skating scene at the end of Ep7.
[Review & Rating]
[A Highlight] The skating scene at the end of Ep7.
If I can cheat and add another, then “You are not alone. The snake is with you.” (Ep19).
[Review & Rating]
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