Jian Jian and her brothers have their moments this episode, but this one is really all about her friends. Tang Can decides to give her acting dreams another chance. Ming Yue tries to be a bridge between her parents.
Recap
Tang Can and Jian Jian are the only ones up and in the dining room in the morning, since Ming Yue stayed over at her parents’ place and Zi Qiu and Ling Xiao are out. Tang Can tells Jian Jian that she read a play script yesterday. Jian Jian immediately guesses that she’s acting again, knowing that Tang Can wouldn’t be able to stay away for long. She gives Tang Can her support and tells her that she should just go for the audition. If she makes it, then she gets to act. If she doesn’t, then she just goes back to her museum job.
Jian Jian asks Tang Can what she would think if someone accused Jian Jian of plagiarism. Tang Can immediately rises to Jian Jian’s defense. She was born to carve wood. How could she plagiarize? Jian Jian smiles, joking back that Tang Can was born to act.
Tang Can hops up, encouraged by Jian Jian’s support, and says that she’ll schedule her audition and take a day off from work. She already memorized her lines last night.
Jian Jian goes to check on Mei Yang, who invites her into her room. Jian Jian looks around, marveling at how Mei Yang had tidied up the room and even organized her studio. Mei Yang thanks Jian Jian for letting her stay in her room, then gifts her a pink speaker to use instead of the earphones, which Mei Yang noticed looked worn. She plans on moving back in with her mother.
Jian Jian reminds Mei Yang to not fight with Chen Ting too much. In the end, Chen Ting is still her mother and she will still have to deal with her in the future. Mei Yang retorts that Jian Jian doesn’t have a mother, how would she know? But Jian Jian has eyes and has seen how Ming Yue and Tang Can fought and had to deal with their own mothers.
Mei Yang suddenly apologizes for the way she treated Jian Jian when she was younger. Jian Jian thinks there’s no need for her to apologize. The matter happened so long ago and Jian Jian wouldn’t hold a grudge against a kid like Mei Yang.
Jian Jian is already at the studio, working on a piece of wood, when Zhou Miao and Du Juan show up. Zhou Miao starts criticizing Jian Jian for having the audacity to work here without finding her photo. Does she know how costly and damaging a plagiarism accusation can be Jian Jian pretends to not listen and not care. Du Juan shoos Zhou Miao off.
Mei Yang asks to get off work early so she can help her mother move. She notices that the selection of desserts is smaller than usual. They’re not selling well.
Zi Qiu calls Zhao Hua Guang again, asking for the hospital where his grandfather is. Zhao is away from home and says that he’ll have to wait a few days. Zi Qiu is impatient for the photo, but Zhao just calls him un-filial for valuing a photo over his own family.
Tang Can auditions for the play while Zhuang Bei waits nervously outside the auditorium. When she exits, she looks defeated and squats down on the floor, sniffling. Zhuang Bei tries to comfort her by blaming himself for not minding his own business, but Tang Can surprises him by suddenly springing up and hugging him. She laughs and says that she got it.
Zhuang Bei freezes, then starts to reciprocate her hug, but before he can, she pulls away again, beaming about how they said she did very well and even clapped for her. She got the part!
Ming Yue meets up with her mother and father for lunch. Her mother waits for her to show up before entering the restaurant, not wanting to face her father alone. Over lunch, Ming Yue’s father airs all his grievances with Yu Xiang. She tries to interrupt, but Ming Yue gives her a look and she stays silent, letting her husband speak.
Qi Guo Qing insists on a divorce. Yu Xiang tries to protest, but he refuses to budge. She finally says that fine, they can meet at the courthouse tomorrow. She stands up to leave, but Ming Yue tugs on her wrist, asking her to stay for this meal as a family. Ming Yue also has something she wants to say to her parents.
Ming Yue tells her father that she respects his choice of wanting to divorce her mother, but also says that she’s certain he will regret it if he does. She points out how much her mother has provided for him — her mother does all the cooking, cleaning, and other household chores. She cares for her own parents and her in-laws. She always took Ming Yue to all her extra classes, and she did all of that while working a full-time job.
Ming Yue used to like her father more, because he always let her do what she wanted and was never as strict as her mother. But as she grew up, she realized that it wasn’t because he cared, it was because he didn’t want to argue with her mother and make a fuss. Her father claims that he was just trying to keep their family together, but Ming Yue knows better. He was just trying to avoid their family’s problems, just like her. She admits how the only ways she knew how to rebel were ways in which she harmed herself, like how she purposely flunked the gaokao. She tells her father that she never asked him for help because she knew he would never take her side and risk offending her mother.
Ming Yue suggests that her father is the one responsible for turning her mother into this person who doesn’t even bother discussing before making her own decisions. He enabled her, and now he’s going to abandon her?
Ming Yue turns to her mother and takes her hands, reassuring her that she’ll still have a good life after the divorce. And she’ll have her.
Unfortunately, Ming Yue’s words don’t seem to sway her father, who still schedules a meeting time to finalize the divorce for the next day. After he leaves, Ming Yue offers to move back in with her mother for the next few months before she leaves for Beijing. Her mother shakes her head, saying that she needs to get used to being alone. She thanks Ming Yue, never having thought that Ming Yue would speak up for her. Ming Yue smiles and says that as a journalist, her duty is to speak the truth and be fair.
Mei Yang shows up at Chen Ting’s new apartment, on her best behavior trying to make amends with her mother. Chen Ting acts unhappy to see her, continuing to make comments about why she’s back when she decided she didn’t want her as a mother, and forcing Mei Yang to coddle her. When Chen Ting finds out that Mei Yang has been working at Zi Qiu’s coffee shop, she forbids her from continuing to go there. Can’t she tell how much he hates them?
Mei Yang protests, saying Zi Qiu isn’t that kind of person. Everyone has their own matters to take care of. Does Chen Ting really think people have so much time on their hands that they’re thinking poorly of them all the time? She mutters that her mother is delusional.
Chen Ting smacks Mei Yang’s shoulder, accusing her of betrayal and saying that now both she and Ling Xiao have been brainwashed. She starts ranting again about how they probably all hate her and wish they could ignore her. Instead of engaging, Mei Yang says she just won’t talk to her anymore. When Chen Ting keeps talking, Mei Yang chants, “I can’t hear you!”
Zi Qiu shows up at Jian Jian’s studio to pick her up for dinner. He has cups of coffee for everyone, but Zhou Miao rejects his, sitting in a corner on the couch and looking sulky. After Zi Qiu and Jian Jian leave, Du Juan admonishes Zhou Miao for his attitude. Zhou Miao is incredulous that Jian Jian can act like nothing is wrong. He thinks that Jian Jian obviously plagiarized Yu Fei and calls Du Juan naive. Jian Jian isn’t looking for the evidence because there is none. Does Du Juan really want to go down with her and pay the penalty for breaking the contract with the international buyer? He suggests Du Juan dissolve her partnership with Jian Jian and partner up with him instead.
Xiao Zhu, Hai Chao’s employee, gossips with Zi Qiu and Jian Jian about He Mei and Hai Chao’s relationship. Jian Jian gleefully points out to Zi Qiu that if their parents get married, they’ll finally be on the same hukou. Zi Qiu is less enthusiastic — what if He Mei hurts Hai Chao again? Jian Jian tries to convince Zi Qiu to spy on the two of them during one of their dates the next day. Hai Chao gets suspicious that they’re up to something.
Tang Can tells Zhuang Bei that he doesn’t need to drive her to and from her rehearsals. She can call a taxi herself. But Zhuang Bei claims it’s convenient for him. Tang Can teases him about having a crush on someone at the theater — the lead actress? He says that Tang Can is prettier than the lead actress. She teases him for not liking pretty people like her. He tries to explain himself, but she holds up a hand, saying she doesn’t care anymore. She prefers being friends with him.
They run into Ming Yue and her mother outside their building. Zhuang Bei quickly makes an excuse to leave, barely acknowledging Ming Yue, but then Ming Yue makes an excuse to catch up with him, asking Tang Can to take her mother back to their apartment.
Ming Yue apologizes to Zhuang Bei for how she reacted to his confession. He did nothing wrong and didn’t deserve to be treated like that. She’s thought a lot about why she reacted the way she did and realized that she didn’t hate him; she’s always hated herself. She’s always felt inferior and never understood why anyone would like her. When she learned that Zhuang Bei fell in love with her at first sight, she was afraid that if he got to know her better, his feelings would fade. The idea of love at first sight is intimidating. It implies that someone is perfect, but Ming Yue knows she isn’t perfect. She’s full of holes.
Before, she didn’t really understand what it meant to grow up, but now she feels like she should be grown up. Her parents are getting divorced, and she feels like she should be able to hold this family together.
Zhuang Bei smiles a bit awkwardly, but tries to comfort her, saying that maybe this divorce can be a good thing. She also shouldn’t beat herself up over her flaws. Everyone has flaws; he does, too. He also treated someone else badly when they confessed to him and now he regrets it a lot.
They trade gratitude and compliments, each calling the other too nice. Ming Yue asks if she can add his contact info back. He teases her, saying maybe not, but then agrees.
Commentary
I’ve been ignoring Zhou Miao this whole show because I feel like he really doesn’t deserve the internet real estate to have words spent on him. He is so slimy and annoying! Those are all the words he deserves.
It seems like Zi Qiu was really able to get through to Mei Yang last episode. This episode, she’s exhibiting that key to the adult world that Jian Jian talked about: patience. Her way of being patient is essentially going “la la la, I can’t hear you,” but at least now she’s humoring Chen Ting — while still calling her out — instead of fighting all the time.
This episode was also really big one for Ming Yue, who finally seems to come to terms with herself. The way she described all of her insecurities and fears to Zhuang Bei about not understanding why someone would like her felt so relatable. From the outside, it seems weird that someone who outwardly has their life so put-together could be so insecure, but Ming Yue’s insecurities also feel so real.
The Drama Llama 