Embrace in the Dark Night | Recap and Review

A woman falls in love with her hot rescuer traitor. 
Notable Actors/Actresses

Ren Yun Jie: Xu Zhe Qing

Gao Rong Fang: Wen Xi

Chinese Title
我們在黑夜中相擁

Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Contemporary Romance

Network: Youku  

Year: 2024
Episodes: 24 + 2 Specials (Mini)

Recapper: FanFanX

Recap Grade: B
First Impression: -

Jump to: Review | Comments

Recaps: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [Sp1] [Sp2] [Sp3] [Sp4] [Sp5] [Sp6]

Cast

Ren Yun Jie: Xu Zhe Qing	Gao Rong Fang: Wen Xi
Liu Yu Yang: A Ren	Zhang Ya Meng: Qiao Fei
Liu Tian Yang: Ling Yuan

Romcom / Romance Checklist

How much of the plot is angst/romance?

0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

The ML: 

Cold–Lukewarm –Warm / Timid / Falls in Love First / Noble Idiot / CEO / General /

The FL: 

Bold / Cute  / Cool & Independent / Falls in Love First / Better Than ML / Noble Idiot / 

Describe the Relationship (the tropes):

Bickering Start / Childhood Connection / Cohabitation / Contract Marriage or Fake Couple / Enemies to Lovers / Hidden Identity / School to Adulthood / Love Triangle / Married Couple (Real) / Secretly in Love (F/ML) / Star-Crossed Lovers / 

Relationship Progress (officially together; first (official) kiss; breakup*):

Ep 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18* / 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 / 23 / 24  

# of CPs (including main CP):
0 / 1 / 2 / 3

Ending:

Happy / Sad / Open Happy / Open Sad / Bad

FanFanX: In between dramas = time to watch a trashy mini. For those of you who don't want to watch this one but... I gotchu. 🤸🏼‍♀️

Mini Recaps

[Ep1] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. Wen Xi gets kidnapped and becomes the grand prize in this compound.
2.  Xu Zhe Qing arrives to save Wen Xi just as she's about to be sexually assaulted. [He's been hired by her family.]
3. He offers his hand to help her up. And when she accepts, he slings her over his shoulder.

4. He pretends to have his way with her as the henchmen are watching them from outside. [Silhouettes.]
   
5. Later, they try to escape and get caught. His one-armed carry! [Thanks to Amy for these.]


6. He forces a kiss on her. o.O  

[Ep2] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. This kiss turns out to only be in Wen Xi's dream. However, she slaps him in said dream and in real life. lol 
2. Later, while she's waiting for him, some other guy decides to take her for himself
3. He's in a car chase to get her back.
4. They return and Zhe Qing kills the man to prove himself to the boss.
5. Wen Xi gets visibly angry at him. But in private, she finds out that he'd actually sliced his own hand instead of slashing the man's neck.

[Ep3] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. The boss' daughter is interested in Xu Zhe Qing.
2. The boss' daughter wants to go shopping, so he picks some dresses for her.
3. Xu Zhe Qing's assistant, A Ren arrives, to help her escape through one of the other fitting rooms. 
4. Wen Xi returns to save him, and he carts her off into the fitting room. (~6:30)
5. Boss's daughter still wants him though. He later gets drugged and she tries to have her way with him.
6. Wen Xi arrives in time, and tries to get him to drink water but he can't. But he pulls down her head so she has to feed him water by mouth. (~11:50) Of course he needs a cold bath after this. xD
7. Another failed escape attempt.

[Ep4] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. The two return to their room and simulate sexual intercourse.
2. She collapses over from staying in that seemingly suggestive position. (~1:10) xD
3. They finally manage to escape!
4. She ends up doing some undercover work with him to get a discount for his services. So now they're in doctor and nurse disguises. 

5. Next, he's teaching her how to dance and distract her par so she can pick the target's pocket.

6. After she gets the keycard and gets saved by another one of his one-arm carries. (~10:20)

   

7. He then rips up their contract. She gives him her phone number. Their real height difference. Ow, my neck. 
   
8. Three years pass by and she's never heard from him.

[Ep5] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. Three years ago, Zhe Qin's assistant had washed his laundry, thereby making Zhe Qing lose Wen Xi's number. (~4:00) Oops.
2. Tonight, he sees her on the street, and she doesn't recognize him.
   
3. He tells his friend, Ling Yuan that the girl he's been looking for didn't recognize him today.   
4. Wen Xi, going by Wen Hao returns to work at GE Finance, and quickly runs into Zhe Qing, who also works here.
   

5. She's pretending to not know who he is. Six months ago, while she was waiting for her older twin sister, Wen Hao, to pick her, Wen Hao had right before her eyes in the car. So she's assumed her sister's identity and cut off all connections to Wen Xi, which includes Zhe Qing. She knows her sister must've discovered something illegal and was being threatened by someone named "V".

[Ep6] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. Wen Xi discovers that her sister has some horrible two-faced colleagues.
2. After the meeting, Ling Yuan hugs her as he thinks she's Wen Hao. She realizes this is her sister's secret lover.
3. Wen Xi gets drugged by one of her colleagues, and ends up falling asleep behind the wheel of her car.
4. Zhe Qing jumps from his motorcycle into her front passenger seat. (~13:00)

[Ep7] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. Wen Xi breaks up with Ling Yuan, her sister's boyfriend. He's not keen on this.
2. She tries to use Zhe Qing as a shield but he says even if she pays him a bunch of money,  he won't do it.
3. Later, at an escape room, she ducks down in front of Zhe Qing, to keep from being spotted by her colleagues. But it looks like she’s giving him... xD! (~9:40) [No screencap. It might get me banned. lol! I'm seriously surprised this passed censors.] 

[Ep8] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. The owner of Dark Bar saves her by taking her to the men's bathroom. xD Clearly, it's Zhe Qing in a mask and cap. Oh, TV blindness.

2. The way he grabs her by the throat. (~4:20) SMH.
3. This is not how I thought this triangle would turn out. *snicker*

[Ep9] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. In the morning, Zhe Qing sweetly wakes her up by shouting at her. (~1:07) XD!!
2. At work, she accidentally spills his water glass and wipes at his pants... to get his phone. But another employee, Lin Mu, sees them and thinks she's hooking up with him. (~2:45) [Again, no screencaps.]
3. Later, she's told to deliver some papers to Qian Mu [Cyan Wood per subs] which is next door to Dark Bar.
4. She ends up running into Dark Bar's mute owner who signs something at her. She later finds out that he'd signed that she was a dummy. xD So she enrolls herself for a sign language course.

[Ep10] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. Qiao Fei is upset with her because she's ruined her social life. First she was to busy competing with her, but when Wen Hao left for six months, she'd been promoted to director. Wen Xi finds her some "cute" boys.
2. Ling Yuan invites Wen Xi to go for a swim, and finds out that she can't swim well... which is unlike his Wen Hao.
3. She starts drowning and he ever so slowly extends his hand which she desparately grabs onto.
4. She then steals his Qian Mu access card. He expected this and calls to let someone know.

[Ep11] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. Wen Xi goes to Cyan Wood on her own to look through the files. Stupid.
2. When Zhe Qing almost gets run over by a truck to grab the files, she runs over and kisses him! (~5:23)
3. She tells him about her sister and confirms the document is the only evidence of money laundering. 
4.  He tells her to not worry but then he burns the papers! (~7:45) He did this so she wouldn't be in danger anymore, and he could meet "V". 
   
   
5. So he gets this meeting with "V", who turns out to be Ling Yuan who hides behind a screen and uses a voice modulator. Ick.
6. Later, Wen Xi wakes up and finds herself ties up to the headboard in Zhe Qing's room. (~11:30)
7. He gives her two options: Be sent abroad or... stay here as his fiancée.

[Ep12] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. At work, he actually kisses her on the forehead for all to see, including Ling Yuan.
2. After work, he wants a kiss from her and she leans over and gives him an epic eyeroll before buckling into her seat. xD! 
   
3. This table isn't long or far apart enough for the two of them.  
   
4. He's always carrying her around. And this was uncalled for - propping her up on the edge of the balcony. (~6:30)  
5. When he dumps her onto the couch, she reaches up and accidentally rips open his pajama top. He teases that she just wants his body. 😏

[Ep13] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. His jealous forceful kiss in the car. (~1:00) He's practically eating her face here! 
2. He doesn't want her to be at Qing Mu. So he ties up her wrists and then chains her to the tub. PIC
3. She gets drugged by Lin Mu, who sets her up with a man.
4. Zhe Qing as Dark Bar's owner and Ren saves her from getting raped. Again. 
5. His turn to feed her water with his mouth. (~8:00) But he has to remove his mask to do this and she drowsily gets a glimpse of his face and says his name.
6. Oh, here's a 2CP, A Ren + Qiao Fei. (~10:00) OWYM [This actor looks younger than his listed age of 20.]

Later, Wen Xi wakes up and returns to the bathtub where he's waiting. She thanks him for saving her but he denies this. He examines her lips and says her lipstick is missing. This entire candle scene is bizarre and cruel.

[Ep14] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. He hovers over her, but this time she pulls him closer and then shoves him away and leaves for her room.
   
2. Ling Yuan suffers abuses at the hands of his father and calls Zhe Qing about having a craving for chocolate. 
3. Zhe Qing gets her three-months leave from work. She doesn't know why.  
4. She drugs him to sneak out of the house later that night. It doesn't work as he's waiting by the stairs for her. 

[Ep15] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. To prevent her from leaving, he forcefully kisses her. This scene is kind of scary - she's walking backwards up those stairs! (~1:15) They finally stop right outside the bedroom door. So he gives her two choices: They can go to sleep or they continue this... She gives up and quickly retreats to her own room.
2. Again how does she not know it's him with the cap and mask? Her sign languages classes are paying off as they have a full conversation now. She asks for his name and he points at a nearby fish sign - Yu.
3. New rumor at work: She's pregnant. She's angry with him for this. I liked his leg hook around the chair leg. lol Double chair bidong.

 

[Ep16] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. Dinner date doesn't go well... as the power goes out and Wen Xi runs away. 
2. In the dark chaos, Zhe Qing ends up holding Wen Xi but it's actually A Ren, who thinks it's his Qiao Fei jie. xD His jie is also the one who flipped off the power switch.
   
3. Zhe Qing finds her at the swimming pool and rescue her as she's drowning. (~8:00) She doesn't tell him who had pushed her in. Ling Yuan.
4. At home, he receives a call from "V" telling him that his woman never stopped investigating GE.
5. He ends up having to retrieve a key from a fire. (~14:00)
6. He returns home and she notices that he's very pale. But he tells her he's fine and goes upstairs. She runs into the bathroom and she tends to his burnt arm. He realizes that she like him. It goes from noses touching to passionate kissing. (~15:00) She stops him and says if he truly likes her, then he should stay by her side. She leaves the bathroom.

[Ep17] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. Just as he's about to knock on her door, he receives a message from "V" telling him to get rid of Wen Xi and he'll agree to meet him.
2. After meeting Ling Yuan, she returns home to ask Zhe Qing to stay by her side. He agrees. When she's asleep, he replies to "V" that he won't let anyone harm Wen Xi. 
3. It's Day 1 for our couple and he takes her on vacation... where they are joined by Qiao Fei and A Ren. This game isn't going well as Zhe Qing won't go easy on A Ren.  
   
4. This kiss continues but they're interrupted by his phone. (~13:45)
   
5. So she's a bit of a clinger...and she sits on his lap as he's working. (~15:00) xD Amy said koala. More apt!
   

[Ep18] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. Main CP finally do the deed. (~0:35) 
2. Commence the cuddling in bed positions. (~1:55) 
   
3. He submits her fingerprints to the company, thus making her a fraud. So she gets fired from their company. [He's trying to save her and doesn't tell her. Ben dan.]
4. She can't stand this final betrayal and breaks up with him. (~14:50) 

[Ep19] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. Qiao Fei exits the company with her. And then Wen Xi tells her the truth about her identity.
2. She goes to Ling Yuan's art gallery and finds the painting in her sister's photos. She sees someone faniliar, Yu, walking by, so she follows him out. Romantic. Ha. 
   
3. He returns to Dark Bar and A Ren patches him up. [You're welcome.] He then realizes his pendant is missing.
   
4. Wen Xi has found it and opens it to reveal a photo of Wu Yang Qing with a little boy. She then realizes that Yu may actually be Yu Zhe, Wu Yang Qing's son.
   

[Ep20] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. They return to the gallery to find her sister's phone which has evidence of Wangqing's money being funneled to GE.
2. Wen Xi has been drugged again and Yu is there to catch her. She removes his mask but they're seen by Ling Yuan.
3. Ling Yuan is more concerned about making GE better. Zhe Qing wants justice for his father who was framed.
4. Wen Xi wakes up and hugs Yu... but it's actually Ling Yuan. C'mon, does this cap-and-mask combo have cloaking abilities? 🙄

[Ep21] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. She tells him that she'll take him to the cellphone. But she actually tries to run away from him as Zhe Qing already has the phone.
2. In their rooftop scuffle, Ling Yuan falls off and she grabs onto his arm. He refuses to climb back up, and fortunately, Zhe Qing shows up by her side to help.
3. Now Zhe Qing tells her about his father losing everything, and how he's been trying to pay off the debts. She thinks he's been using her this entire time. He explains that he's been protecting her as Ling Yuan wants her dead. She won't take him back as he chose to do these things on his own and didn't communicate with her. (~4:50)
4.  She tries to leave but he continues following her around and holding onto her over and over. He finally breaks down crying and apologizes for being too arrogant. (~10:00) They're back together.

[Ep22] [Jump to: Top | Comments]



1. The next morning, Zhe Qing wakes up and becomes panicked when he thinks she's left him. These lucky, lucky sheets though. (~0:20) 😏
2. She pops in and says she'll go get them breakfast. At the convenience store, she gets kidnapped by Ling Yuan's father and his henchmen.
3. Zhe Qing brings him the phone in exchange for her. But he'll need to find her, who may only have hours to live.
4. She's in the car with Ling Yuan.When Zhe Qing arrives, he leaves the car and its keys to Zhe Qing. Zhe Qing gets in and the car suddenly starts driving on its own. It's being controlled by an app on Ling Yuan's phone, and the brakes have been disabled.

[Ep23] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. The car flies off of Clifford [I didn't miss you] but the two manage to escape watery death and stay on dry land.
2. Wen Xi is devastated that Wen Hao's phone has already been destroyed by Ling Yuan's father.
3. At the car shop, these two guys appear and one yells "What are you doing?!" gets slapped and backslapped by Wen Xi. (~2:00) lol! Laughing at the guys actually. So they manage to get their data and the shop owner reports back to Ling Yuan.
   
4. Six months ago, Wen Hao had seen the Wangqing data on Ling Yuan's phone so she'd taken it. Then she'd hidden it in the painting. Beats me how anyone didn't notice the lipstick on or rip in the painting. Ling Yuan later watched surveillance footage of her theft. However, she'd refused to hand it over and told him to turn himself in. And now he knows that his father was the one who disabled Wen Hao's car's brakes! 
5. When his father asks about their nuisance, Ling Yuan, having nothing to lose, replies both are still alive. 

[Ep24] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. Zhe Qing and Wen Xi get into a car accident and then get kidnapped by Ling Yuan's father's men.
2. Wen Xi wakes up and his father tells her that Zhe Qings dead. He leaves and sends in the doctor to prepare her for brain surgery. She closes her eyes and hears a familiar voice asking her why she isn't struggling. It's Zhe Qing!
3. Ling Yuan wearing Yu Zhe's customary dark clothes, appears behind his father and holds him at gunpoint. Shots are fired and Ling Yuan dies. It's over for GE and Zhe Qing's father's case is reopened.
4. Qiao Fei has a startup now and A Ren persuades her to let him join the company.
5. A Ren calls Zhe Qing who ignores his call and even throws the phone across the room. (~9:30) lol
6. When he hears Wen Xi entering the room, he promptly pretends to be asleep in his chair. She knows he isn't and she yanks on his ear until he yelps in pain. He says he's injured.
7. She points out that it's been months. He says his body isn't in good condition. She smirks and says ou, she understands. He quickly gets up to pick her up and then puts her up on the counter. He kisses her but she reminds him to check the parcel. (~10:15)
8. Inside is his Dark Bar outfit and a notes that says "Don't slack off. This isn't over yet." Dundundun.

The End.

[Sp1] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. Zhe Qing waits for Wen Zi as he's wearing a wedding band!
   
2. She returns and he sulks about waiting for half an hour. She reminds him that she waited three years for him. So he waits some more... 
3. When he sees her in the dress, he tells her that she looks like she's gained weight. She angrily stomps into the fitting room. He quietly follows her and then closes the curtains. He makes it up to her in another way... 😏
   
4. For their interview... he's left marks over her neck area! xD
   
5. How do they envision their lives ten years from now?
   WX: Happy, with two children, a son named Xu Qing Xi and a daughter named Xu Mu Xi. He's picked out both names.
   XZQ: We've decided on the names together.
   WX: He'll be out of a job and at age 35, dealing with a dad bod, weight gain, hair loss, and all that fun stuff. XD! But she'll still love him.
   XZQ: He'll still be Wen Xi's favorite... and don't want to imagine the rest of it because he wants to experience it with her. This is actually sweet.
   
6.  What would they say to each other ten years from now? 
   WX: Ten years from now, he doesn't have to shoulder everything alone. He'll have learned to be a bit more affectionate. She's promised to protect both Xu Zhe Qing and Yu Zhe. And she will love him more than anything. 
   XZQ: [Laughs, then suddenly very serious] It's a secret.
   
   
7. Later, they look at the photos on the cameras and she says something is missing. She whispers into his ear.. 
8. Pan to her running to him in a flurry of white. He catches her and lifts her up to spin her around in the wedding dress. (~4:55) Cute. Recall to Ep1.
   
   
   

[Sp2] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

1. The evening when he had lifted her fingerprints, he really did measure her ring size!
2. His unromantic very domineering proposal. He says her name loudly, so she raises her hand and says she's here. He roughly grabs her wrist and then slides the ring onto her finger. He asks if he still has a chance. With a tiny smile, she says they'll see. He picks her up and sits down on the bench with her on his lap. Ren Yun Jie's voice seems unedited here.
   

Full stop here. The next four are essentially interview / BTS clips. 

[Sp3] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

• Q&A, where Ren Yun Jie is much cuter than he ever was in the series. 
  

[Sp4] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

• Watching Ep11. He says she looks great from every angle. She comments about his long legs, Mr. Model Xu. The look on his face. xD

[Sp5] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

• BTS of Wen Hao and Ling Yuan’s hotel scene. He says he’s much smoother than Zhe Qing. Guess who runs in and even pouts? Ling Yuan says he’ll touch him instead next time. [Enjoy Ren Yun Jie‘s arms here.]

[Sp6] [Jump to: Top | Comments]

• BTS of Ep1's lifts and carries, plus there's a sexier edit! [Because they cut out all the peeping pervs. But no BTS for the one-armed carry.]

Remarks

by FanFanX

Trigger Warning: Assault, Sexual Assault, Sexually Suggestiveness, Violence

[First Impression (Ep1-3)] The first three eps are the sexiest ones, even though Xu Zhe Qing is decidedly too rough with Wen Xi. Definitely giving Mysterious Love's opening vibes for many of these scenes.  

[Cast&Crew] New faces on the scene, with a tall drink of water in the shape of Ren Yun Jie [who doesn't resemble another actor]. 😉 

[Behind the Scenes] 

[OST] 

[CP Name] 

♥ Qing Xi CP ♥

Xu Zhe Qing 徐哲青 + Wen Xi 溫兮

= Qing Xi CP 青兮夫婦

Other CP names here.  

[Ending] Happy as 🐨s.

[A Highlight] One-armed carry.

[Review & Rating]

Aesthetics: A

Acting: B/C 

Plot: C

One-armed carry? Yes! Now let’s all gawk at ML. Ou, but we’re annoyed that he grabs FL by the throat, arm, etc… 

• Both having fake identities, endless misunderstandings, lack of proper communication, and a meandering “plot” makes this series frustrating. 
• Petty ML keeps saving the damsel in distress.
• 2ML doesn’t know when or how to quit either. 
• And there’s another couple running around in the background.

This has the feel of a low-budget mini from start to finish. So what does this series do well to keep it from being downrated to a 1? Keeping our main CP in compromising situations at all times. 😏

Is this worth watching? It depends. Is six hours considered a short or long amount of time for you? There are also two special eps. 

Random Recommendation: 

Rating: 2/5