This episode reveals some complicated relationships with brothers for both Ai Sha and Fei Yang. Ai Sha realizes that striking out on her own isn’t so easy, but even though her work life is stagnant, her relationship with Fei Yang continues to grow, even if she doesn’t mean for it to. Meanwhile, Xiao An starts to lose sight of herself, and everyone else around her sees it, even if she doesn’t.
Recap
Ai Sha’s mother brings some food upstairs for Dong Xue, but he’s not in his room and nowhere to be found.
Ai Sha reminisces about her childhood growing up with Ye Xuan while eating lunch. He was simultaneously a father, brother, and best friend to her. The most dependable person in her life. She always wished for him to be happy as one of her birthday wishes. She asks him to be friends forever.
Ye Xuan looks away. “What if I said I can’t? I don’t want to be happier than you. I want you to be part of my happiness. That’s my birthday wish every year.”
She starts to say something, but he interrupts, saying, “I’m sorry. I can’t be just friends with you anymore.”
She suddenly gets a phone call from her mother, who is worried sick about her missing younger brother.
Ai Sha decides to look in Dong Xue’s room for clues. She notices some computer parts on the ground and numerous open programming textbooks around his room. His exam prep books are stacked in a corner, clearly unused. She decides to go out and search the streets for him.
She and Ye Xuan go around to various electronic stores, asking if they’ve seen Dong Xue. Meanwhile, Dong Xue sneaks into the Chic office building and spies on Marguerite during a photo shoot. He clutches his heart, overwhelmed by Marguerite’s beauty. Zhen Zhen spots him and thinks he’s having a heart attack. She offers to do CPR on him. He runs away.
After the Chic-Golden Man employees head out to lunch, Dong Xue sneaks into the office and starts trying to hack into the network. Fei Yang, who is at a nearby coffee shop with his three key Golden Men, gets notified that someone is hacking in. He immediately gets to work defending the company site and seems to enjoy the challenge. The two go at it for a little bit, but Dong Xue is no match for Fei Yang, who quickly locks him out.
Defeated, Dong Xue heads out of the office, but gets boxed in by Fei Yang and his Golden Men on the way to the elevators. He tries to make a run for it, but gets caught. Fei Yang calls Ai Sha to come deal with him.
While they wait for Ai Sha to arrive, Dong Xue and Ni Mo have a stare down after Ni Mo tries to tell Dong Xue to “sit properly” without his leg up. Ni Mo ends up backing down, shivering that Dong Xue’s glare reminds him of someone else.
Steven asks why they don’t just turn Dong Xue over to the police. They have all the evidence they need. But Dong Xue doesn’t seemed concerned by the thought of getting arrested, and instead says it would just be another achievement for him.
When Ai Sha arrives, she demands to know what Dong Xue is up to. Dong Xue responds rudely, but Fei Yang tells him to treat his sister with respect, threatening him with the secrets on his laptop. Fei Yang tells Ai Sha that Dong Xue tried to hack into the company and wouldn’t say why. They were hoping that Ai Sha might be able to pry it out of him.
At first, Dong Xue is resistant, but after Fei Yang threatens to never return his laptop, he eventually admits the reason he tried hacking Chic. He shows them a photo of Marguerite on his phone.
Ai Sha calls a cab to take Dong Xue home. While they wait, she admonishes him for not taking his studies seriously and making their mother worry. Does he plan on not going to college and staying home forever? But he tells her not to pretend like she cares. If she really cared about him, she wouldn’t have moved out and abandoned him to fend for himself with their older brother and mother. The things that she couldn’t stand about their family bother him, too. He says she’s just like the rest of them. She only cares about her own work and doesn’t care about him. He tells her to stay out of his business. It’s the last thing he says before he gets in the cab.
Ai Sha sighs as she watches the cab drive away. Fei Yang heard their conversation, and walks up beside her to say that her brother is pretty impressive. He only managed to hack into Chic for a minute, but even that is something most people wouldn’t be able to do.
He suggests that she should be happy her brother shows such a talent for something. The true geniuses in the world don’t follow the traditional expectations of society. Besides, they’re pretty similar. Smart, talented, hard to get along with. They glare at people the same way. They both like trespassing into other people’s offices. They clearly have the same genes.
Ai Sha doesn’t find his comparison particularly flattering, but says she owes him one for the trouble her brother caused. He immediately takes her up on the favor, asking if she’ll meet someone with him tomorrow. Just for a meal. It’s someone who is really important to him and he’s worried that if she doesn’t meet him now she never will. Ai Sha agrees — after all, she has nothing but time now. He’s delighted, which amuses her, and says he’ll pick her up at noon the next day.
Qi Zhen Kai is exhausted and possibly drunk after another long day of work and is angry that Ai Sha still hasn’t responded to his job offer. If she won’t work for him, then she won’t work for anyone. He tells his assistant to blacklist her if she doesn’t respond, and gets even more angry when he remembers how she called him the “acting chairman” of EC (presumably because his ill father is still officially the chairman.)
The next day, Ai Sha puts on makeup and spends some time picking an outfit for her lunch appointment with Fei Yang. She starts to overthink it and reminds herself that it’s just lunch, not a date. But Fei Yang is still stunned speechless when he sees her and almost forgets where he parked his car.
He takes her to his family’s house, where he introduces her to his father and mother. Both parents immediately take a liking to Ai Sha. Fei Yang’s mother made some fish soup after hearing that Ai Sha recently had surgery, and Fei Yang’s father was supposedly so excited Ai Sha was coming to visit that he couldn’t fall asleep the previous night. Ai Sha learns that she’s the first woman Fei Yang has ever brought home to meet his parents. She looks at him thoughtfully.
Fei Yang’s father, communicating via hand motions to Fei Yang, tells him to stop bullying Ai Sha, which makes Fei Yang petulant and Ai Sha smile. He also says something to Ai Sha, which Fei Yang reluctantly conveys only after his mother admonishes him. Fei Yang’s father tells Ai Sha that if Fei Yang ever makes her mad, she should tell him, and he’ll punish Fei Yang for her.
Later, Fei Yang and Ai Sha have some dessert in the kitchen, and Fei Yang thanks her for coming with him today. It made his father very happy. He explains that his father became completely paralyzed after a serious car accident five years ago. He was on his way to the airport to attend Fei Yang’s graduate school graduation in the U.S. Since then, he’s been unable to move or speak, and the damage to his internal organs was so severe that his body may fail him at any time. It was because of his unstable condition that Fei Yang decided to return to Taiwan so that he could visit his father more frequently, even if he can’t live with him.
Ai Sha asks why he can’t live with his parents. Fei Yang looks away and laughs it off, saying he doesn’t want to be his parents’ third wheel.
She asks why he brought her home to visit his parents. Fei Yang is worried is father doesn’t have much time left. So while he could, he wanted his father to meet someone he truly likes. They stare at each other for a moment, then laughs a little and looks away.
They sit in silence for a little while before the butler comes in and tells them that they’re invited back upstairs to eat fruit with Fei Yang’s parents. On their way to the stairs, they run into Qi Zhen Kai, who has returned early from the gym. Both he and Ai Sha are surprised to see each other, but he acts like he’s meeting Ai Sha for the first time. He heads upstairs first, but gives Ai Sha a backward glance. Meanwhile, Ai Sha lingers downstairs for a moment before following Fei Yang.
Later, Ai Sha runs into Zhen Kai on her way downstairs. He asks her what her decision is on the job offer. She tells him that she has to politely decline. Even if she’s past the age for dreams, there are still things she wants to do and she’ll never succeed if she doesn’t try. He seems to accept her rejection with good humor, but then asks her to keep his job offer to her a secret — including from Fei Yang. She’s already rejected him — she wouldn’t want to create ill will between him and his brother, right? He maintains his smile, but Ai Sha watches him go with narrowed eyes.
Before Ai Sha and Fei Yang leave, Fei Yang’s mother takes Ai Sha’s hands and says she has some more things she wants to say to her. She starts telling Ai Sha that she can tell Fei Yang really likes her, because she does, too. She can see why Fei Yang would like Ai Sha, and she knows that he can sometimes be immature, but he’s kind-hearted and would never hurt anyone. He’s the kind of person who, when he likes someone, wants to shout it out for the whole world to hear. Fei Yang is embarrassed, but his mother forges on. She tells Ai Sha she hopes Ai Sha will come back and visit frequently and that it would make her very happy if Ai Sha and Fei Yang were to be together. Ai Sha smiles but looks awkward. This makes Fei Yang really embarrassed and he tries to apologize to Ai Sha on his mother’s behalf. His mother lets them go, but refuses to let go of Ai Sha’s hand. Fei Yang has to insert himself in between them so that he and Ai Sha can escape. (But it’s adorable.)
Fei Yang tries to make more excuses for his mother as he walks Ai Sha home, but she tells him not to worry about it. She likes his parents quite a lot. He’s surprised. “And what about me?” he asks.
For a moment, she’s at a loss for words as she looks at him and then away again. She finally says that he doesn’t find him quite as loathsome anymore.
“So you do you loathe me or do you like me?” he asks persistently.
She smiles and thinks about it for a moment, then settles for, “Somewhere between like… and dislike.” And then she quickly excuses herself to go buy some doughnuts.
Fei Yang says that he never would have guessed Ai Sha was a glazed doughnut kind of person. It seems too plain for her. She admits that this is the first time she’s had a glazed doughnut in a long time. Her father used to buy them for her whenever he picked her up from school, but after he left, she never bought this particular flavor for herself again. Until now, and it tastes just as good as she remembers.
He suddenly leans in and she shies away suspiciously, but all he does is wipe some sugar from the corner of her mouth. (I don’t see anything though. Does he have microscopic vision?)
Ai Sha awkwardly wipes her face. Her watch chimes and she hurries to silence it. “Are you sure your watch chimes because you loathe me, and not because you like me?” he asks with a smirk. She rolls her eyes at him and says he asks too many questions.
He points out that she never answered his last question: does she like him or not? She avoids answering by saying that he should at least wait for her to finish eating before asking her these kinds of questions.
She has a question of her own for him. She never knew that he and Qi Zhen Kai were brothers. He lets out a wry laugh and says that there are probably only five people who know who he really is. His mother is his father’s second wife. For whatever reason — maybe for the sake of EC Group’s corporate image or for Qi Zhen Kai’s mother’s feelings — Fei Yang took on his mother’s surname and his mother is known to the public only as his father’s caretaker. No one knows who they really are. Fei Yang was sent to America to study, starting at a young age. The only family he saw was Zhen Kai, who would come visit during summer breaks. Other than his parents, his brother is the person who treats him the best.
His brother is the reason why he wanted to acquire Chic. The first few years after their father’s accident, EC Group did poorly, until Zhen Kai’s position at the company stabilized. Fei Yang and Ai Sha both understand how fast-paced and cutthroat the internet industry can be. His goal with Golden Man is to gather data and trends to inform Zhen Kai and his business decisions and make EC Group a stronger company. His dream is to prove that he can help his brother make EC Group successful, so that he and his mother can be recognized as part of the family.
Ai Sha looks at Fei Yang with wide, empathetic eyes. Fei Yang leans in close and closes his eyes. Ai Sha stares as his face gets closer. She leans back a little, but then lets him get closer and starts to close her eyes… but then Fei Yang’s phone rings, ruining the moment.
Ai Sha quickly excuses herself, saying that she’ll head home on her own since he seems busy. Fei Yang fumbles to reject the call, saying he’s not busy and that he can walk her home, but she says there’s no need. She tosses him an extra doughnut she was saving for later, then walks away. He stares after her. His phone rings again, and he angrily tells whoever is on the other end that if they dare call him during off-hours again, he’ll give them a pay cut.
Zhen Kai asks the family butler if he has an answer for the question he asked last time. The butler responds that he only knows how to take care of his father’s needs. He doesn’t know anything about a will. Zhen Kai frowns and sighs.
Ai Sha’s mother calls her just to fret about her lack of job and finances again. After she hangs up, Ai Sha is about to go to bed on her couch, then remembers that she’s trying to get rid of her bad habits. She lies down on her real bed, but can’t fall asleep.
She gets a text from Killer Whale on Ocean’s Heart, asking if she’s still awake. Fei Yang invites her to chat with him a bit if she can’t sleep. While they text each other, he imagines that she’s actually lying next to him in bed.
Ai Sha admits that she can’t sleep because she’s had some complicated feelings lately. There’s a person who has been on her mind. Someone she doesn’t loathe that much. He asks why she’s always thinking of him. Probably because he keeps hanging around and won’t go away even when she asks him to. She stops responding — she’s finally fallen asleep.
Fei Yang giggles to himself as he thinks about Ai Sha thinking about him.
At Golden Man-Chic the next day, there’s some bad business news. Female user engagement keeps declining. User analysis suggests that people are finding Chic’s content unoriginal and that ads are less effective. Jing Jing thinks the root cause is a lack of effectiveness in marketing. Everyone looks at Xiao An, but she just looks down and doesn’t speak until Ni Mo knocks on the table in front of her.
Xiao An looks around nervously, then says that the campaigns they’re currently running were all signed off by Ai Sha when she was still at the company, so there shouldn’t be a problem with them. She suggests that it’s the sales department’s fault for not finding high quality products that appeal to users. Jing Jing glares at Xiao An. Fei Yang moves on to the next agenda item.
Jing Jing confronts Xiao An in the restroom, asking who she thinks she is to say that her clients aren’t quality. Xiao An claims that she’s just telling it like it is. If Chic isn’t selling products that appeal to users, no amount of marketing will help. She tries to leave, but Jing Jing blocks her way, saying that the same products sell on other platforms. Why can’t Chic do the same? It must be a marketing issue.
Xiao An just repeats that the current campaigns were all Ai Sha’s ideas. If Jing Jing has a problem with them, then she should go find the person responsible, Ai Sha. Jing Jing responds that it looks like Xiao An didn’t actually learn anything from Ai Sha. Xiao An points out that Jing Jing was the first person to acknowledge her abilities. But Jing Jing tells her to remember her place: she’s only an acting marketing director right now. If Chic’s growth continues to decline, she won’t be able to keep her position.
Xiao An retorts that Jing Jing should worry about herself. Instead of hanging around old men maybe she should focus on getting some quality clients. Xiao An says that unlike Jing Jing, she’s still young and has time.
Jing Jing storms out of the bathroom back to Chic, brushing roughly past Steven without a word. Xiao An soon follows, but Steven grabs her arm, stopping her. He warns her that a person is most likely to lose themself when they think they’re at the top of a mountain but have forgotten what shoes they’re wearing. If they’re not careful, they might fall all the way down to the bottom. Xiao An shakes him off and glares, but he just walks away without another word.
Fei Yang, Xi Jun, and Ni Mo complain that women are so complicated and hard to understand. Can they just let the women handle their own issues? But Fei Yang knows he can’t do that. He just acquired Chic and still has to prove himself. Xi Jun laments that even though the sales and marketing departments were feuding when Ai Sha was here, at least they could work together. Now they can’t even do that.
The gossip more about how women and their relationships are mysterious and complicated and unfathomable. They’re enemies one moment, friends the next. The depth of their friendship is measured by whether their periods are in sync or not. Etc etc. Xi Jun picks an easy task to handle and heads out. Ni Mo asks Fei Yang if he can revamp the Ocean’s Heart app to integrate it with Chic and Golden Man’s platforms. Fei Yang gives him permission, and he runs off too, leaving Fei Yang with the rest of the work.
Fei Yang groans and then does what he usually does when he doesn’t want to work: he wonders what Ai Sha is doing. He pulls up her location on his phone and sees that she’s at another company’s office.
Ai Sha talks to a CEO about a marketing consultant position, but in the middle of her interview, she’s suddenly dismissed after the CEO is relayed a message from EC Group. Her next client doesn’t even show. She’s on the way to meet with another client when he calls to cancel. It’s the same story with another client she was scheduled to meet.
With nothing to do, she heads to Ye Xuan’s restaurant. She’s about to go in, but then decides to leave after she remembers what he said earlier about being unable to be friends anymore. Ye Xuan spots Ai Sha walking away and abruptly leaves to run after her. He chases her for a few blocks, but then gives up after he gets stopped at a red light on one side of a major intersection.
Ai Sha goes to another restaurant for dinner, but finds out that they’re only seating parties of two or more. She’s about to leave when Fei Yang suddenly shows up and says he’s her party of two.
He chatters on about what they should order while flipping through the menu. He finally realizes that she’s not responding and looks up to find her staring at him suspiciously. She finds it odd that she’s always randomly running into him.
“Are you spying on me?” she asks.
More adorable, heartwarming interactions this episode. I love seeing Fei Yang and his father interact, and throwing Ai Sha into the mix? Brilliant! I really like how Fei Yang has slowly worked his way into Ai Sha’s heart. She acts like she’s annoyed by him, but at this point she seems to secretly find him endearing.
Fei Yang is like a little puppy in so many ways, but especially in his relationship with his brother. It makes sense why he would feel such adoration and loyalty for his brother, the only family member he was really able to spend time with growing up. Unfortunately, while his ambitions and intentions are pure, Zhen Kai is much more complex. I’m sure Zhen Kai cares for Fei Yang, but like I suspected in a previous episode, it seems like he also feels threatened by Fei Yang. He would very much prefer his brother stay a harmless, puppy-like younger brother who just plays around rather than be an ambitious entrepreneur amassing his own corporate power.
I’m not sure I like this turn that Xiao An is taking. She’s taking the worst pages from everyone’s books. Shirking responsibility onto other people and tearing others down with words instead of accepting responsibility. I appreciate Steven’s warning words to her. She’s losing sight of herself. At least Fei Yang seems to have a clear head.
The Drama Llama 