the downward slope

We’re heading down this downward slope of sadness and despair where everything goes wrong.

I’m writing this from my bed.

Ying Dong, fails to impress yet again, and gets approached by Long Yi while Ying Dong is at the race track. The racetrack is running into troubles and and Ying Dong needs continued funding or complete control – so Long Yi offers to settle it over gambling.

And Ying Dong, having the temper and intelligence of a 3 year old, agrees. OK we can all see how this ends badly right?

WELL long story short, Ying Dong loses everything (again, we were all expecting this).

Maybe someone should actually tell him, “Yes, you are a failure, especially on everything you, only because you carry the conviction that you live in your brother’s shadow. Instead of critical thinking and acting through strategy, you act through pride and emotion. You dumb nutsack.”

He loses the racetrack, Ming Zhu, and also his own life in the bet.

Luckily Xiang Han Chuan bails him out (yet again) since he’s the older brother, and loses half of the Xiang family’s money in order to save him. Finally, Ying Dong realizes he’s wrong yet again.

And is it just me that’s bothered that sometimes Ming Zhu wears circle lenses in some scenes and some other scenes she doesn’t? C’mon girl, CONTINUITY. I don’t know if it’s that noticeable for other people, but I can’t unsee it and look for it now.

Ying Dong reacts again like an angsty rich teenager and decides to leave town to ‘find himself’ – yet another selfish decision. After you lose half of your family’s money, you decide to avoid and escape it all by travelling and ‘finding yourself’. Somehow you still twist things to make it about you.

Long Yi approaches Huang Pu Community (the name of the triad) and requests to work together. Zuo Zhen refuses, and there is nothing that Long Yi could do further about it.

Additionally Long Yi found out that Jin Xiu was living in Zuo Zhen’s mansion.

Jin Xiu gushes about how lovely her life is and how happy she is to be with Zuo Zhen. Long Yi wishes her good luck, and as soon as she turns her back, he makes this creepy angry frown like he’s planning something evil.

Since Ying Dong left, Ming Zhu decided to leave too, because she realized that she was the threat to Xiang Han Chuan. She decides to leave inconspicuously (which, if you are ever trying to be inconspicuous, do not dress in all red ok?).

Long Yi creepily shows up at the harbour too – somehow he always knows where she is. Ming Zhu starts to black out.

Turns out this ‘gift’ that Long Yi had gave her was addictive and laced with opium. If she just doesn’t have it for a day, it’ll seem like she has ants biting every part of her body.

Which I was like – ok c’mon Ming Zhu, this is the guy that laced your drink so you’d get raped, and he’s trying to control your every movement at all costs, AND YOU DECIDE TO SMOKE WHAT HE GAVE YOU?! C’MON GIRL GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME.

So Ming Zhu can’t ever escape, because she’s hooked onto the opium now.

In other news… does it bother anyone else that Jing Ling’s magically back? LOL.

Jin Xiu couldn’t eat during dinner and felt nauseous, and her taste in food also changed. From that, Zuo Zhen got her a doctor, and found out she was pregnant!!!

Which they took it surprisingly well, considering that they’ve been dating for literally less than two months. Guys, aren’t you both moving a bit too fast? 

And the doctor could suspiciously feel the fetus’s pulse after a month of pregnancy, whereas in modern technology, it takes us two months to feel the fetus’s pulse. Must be a super baby.

Long Yi finds out about Jin Xiu’s pregnancy and he flies into a crazy rage of jealousy.

I guess mostly because it confirmed that it’s a ‘done deal’, that he’ll never have Jin Xiu, since she has a child with another man, and it also confirms that Jin Xiu had had sex with Zuo Zhen. He makes this crazy angry look, and decides to plan against Zuo Zhen in order to run things smoothly for the Japanese Empire.

Jin Xiu is sick of getting cooped up inside the house because she’s pregnant, so she begs Zuo Zhen to let her go out to the market. She buys a bag of pears, and she accidentally drops the bag when a man bumps into her.

Turns out the man had dropped a bomb into her bag. Luckily Jin Xiu didn’t return to the car immediately, because the target of the bomb was Zuo Zhen. It was set up by Long Yi, so that Zuo Zhen would die, Boss Fung would be blamed, and so Long Si could be the leader of the triad. This way, the Japanese could have business deals with the triad.

Unfortunately Ma Zi Liu had held onto the bag – so he took the entire explosion and died.

Which I’m like what. This does not adhere with what I read on Tumblr about the book summary.  Either the drama deviated a lot from the book, or the Tumblr had inaccurately wrote about the summary? I wouldn’t know. But, luckily I found a three minute summary (that is accurately predicting what has happened):

Up until now, if you’ve been following the recaps, you’ll know what’s happened. This is what is predicted to happen afterwards:

• Jin Xiu and Zuo Zhen live a poor lifestyle for a bit because Zuo Zhen is trying to stay low
• Meanwhile Zuo Zhen gathers evidence to prove that he didn’t kill Boss Fung
• Zuo Zhen proves he’s not the murderer, and becomes the leader of the Huang Pu triad (the biggest boss)
• Long Yi finds out that Jin Xiu is the daughter of the Rong family he killed
• He makes Jin Xiu believe that Zuo Zhen was behind her family’s death
• Jin Xiu tries to kill Zuo Zhen
• Jin Xiu runs away from Zuo Zhen, and gets viciously beaten up and loses her baby 😥
• Zuo Zhen tries to find Jin Xiu again, but he can’t…
• Jin Xiu leaves Shanghai and bumps up with Ying Dong
• Half a year later, they return to Shanghai, pretending to be husband and wife
• Jin Xiu tries to kill Zuo Zhen again
• Turns out Jin Xiu and Ying Dong had joined a patriotic club and Zuo Zhen was holding one of their members captive – this is why Jin Xiu and Ying Dong returned to Shanghai
• Zuo Zhen releases that member, but does not allow Jin Xiu to go
• Zuo Zhen does the duties for the ‘patriotic club’ for her, and this makes Jin Xiu realize that Zuo Zhen would give up his life for her (uh duhhhh)
• They finally have a heart to heart, and realize that they fell into Long Yi’s trap
• They decide to get revenge together
• Ming Zhu realizes Long Yi killed the Rong family, wanted to get revenge, but failed
• Long Yi uses Ming Zhu to threaten Xiang Han Chuan – and Xiang Han Chuan gives up his life for Ming Zhu
• Long Yi tries to bomb Ying Dong and Zuo Zhen, and tries to kidnap Jin Xiu
• In the last moment, Zuo Zhen shows up and stops the kidnapping and a huge mortal combat happens
• Jin Xiu and Zuo Zhen work together to fight, realizing that dying together for revenge and for their country is one of the luckiest things that they could do in an unlucky situation

Shit gets heavy.

Anyways, onwards we the recap:

Zuo Zhen gets set up by Long Yi. He goes to Boss Fung’s to ask him to step down as he already had control of Boss Fung’s men. Except that Boss Fung was already dead when Zuo Zhen got there.

Long Si shows up (really, Long Si was sent by Long Yi to murder Boss Fung) with everyone else, and tries to arrest Zuo Zhen.

In the chaos, the police commissioner’s son was murdered too, as part of the plan by Long Yi. This is so the police commissioner would be angrier and more compliant in arresting Zuo Zhen.

Zuo Zhen finds out and escapes with Jin Xiu from his mansion, by wearing a police uniform to try to avoid attention. They’re walking in the streets of Shanghai, and they see Long Yi.

Long Yi tells Jin Xiu to run away and not trust him, but Jin Xiu refuses. Zuo Zhen and Long Yi engage in a fight. Zuo Zhen and Jin Xiu manages to get away.

Zuo Zhen manages to get away from the police by dressing as a rickshaw puller, and they manage get to safety.

In the trailer, Jin Xiu and Zuo Zhen have such a hard life living under the radar btw 😥 I hope it only lasts for only a few episodes. I can’t bear it.

Meanwhile, Long Si tries to take on Boss Fung’s spot inside the Huang Pu triad.

Everyone’s like “Um, how about no?” except that Long Yi shows up with gifts for everyone: fingers and ears of the voting members’ significant others.

The voting members acted alarmingly complaint and surprisingly calm since those are the limbs and organs of their LOVED ONES (I would not want to be married to one of them).

Shi Hao and Tang Hai on the other end are tortured by Long Si for the whereabouts of Zuo Zhen.

So far, I don’t have many feels left at this point since I kinda know what happens later in the drama now. I’m really dreading for when Jin Xiu and Zuo Zhen separate though – and I really hope that maybe, just maybe, they can live a happily ever after ending.

Read episode 29, 30 here!