Joe Chen & Huang Xiao Ming’s lack of chemistry

I don’t know why, but I’m still not very into their whole relationship right now. I can see the producer’s weak attempts to create cute moments to sweep us off our feet but most of these moments are so cringe-inducing and awkward.

Hopefully it gets less weird as the drama proceeds.

We start the episode with where we ended off last episode, where Jin Xiu and Ling Lin went exploring to see where the sources of the weird noises originated from in the Mei Hua offices. At last they found this lab where medicine was being made.

They assumed that it was made for make-up, but it was later revealed by Long Yi that it was the medicine made by the underground network for the soldiers fighting against the Japanese army. This was the exact thing that Long Yi sent Ming Zhu investigate about in Mei Hua.

Ming Zhu was first ridiculed when she wanted to join Mei Hua. I mean, if I was Boss Ling I would judge her too – Ming Zhu’s just a mere pretty face who earned her status and wealth just by being pretty. She had no place in being an executive in such a prestigious company.

Xiang Shao, knowing of Ming Zhu’s desire to get into Mei Hua, made Boss Ling an offer she couldn’t refuse. He also bought up the shares of the shareholders that Boss Ling had worried about all along, and gifted it to Boss Ling.

So, Ming Zhu became an executive.

It was also during this press conference where Boss Ling revealed at the big ‘Red Make-up Ball’, which is a prestigious ball and celebration of Mei Hua, that Jin Xiu would dance the opening dance because she’s been an outstanding employee.

Meanwhile Ming Zhu tries to negotiate with Boss Shum.

Boss Shum had a disagreement with Xiang Shao earlier about working with the Japanese. Xiang Shao, being the head, said to decrease the cooperation between the companies and the Japanese, but not to stop it completely, because the Japanese could well win the war.

Boss Shum has a lot of business with Japanese so he’s like “Uh, no” and decides to increase rent on all his properties as a tactic to force Xiang Shao to changing his mind. This is because a lot of Xiang Shao’s factories are rented from Boss Shum, and this would cost Xiang Shao a lot of money.

Ming Zhu tries her hand at negotiating and gets insulted by him. Boss Shum says that he’ll do whatever she wants, if she sleeps with him (hey at least she doesn’t fall for it, right?).

Ying Shao witnesses her humiliation and decides to handle Boss Shum on his own. Again it’s his inferiority complex kicking in, where he’s like “The Xiang family doesn’t only have one man (his brother), they have ME too”. Well, you gotta start acting like one.

But nope, he doesn’t. He actually picks the least manliest avenue to go down, which is to target Boss Shum’s daughter.

Like really? There is no competition with the first male lead and the second male lead, because Ying Dong is just so undesirable.

Anyways, Boss Shum’s daughter, Shum Meng, is so adorable. I find her to be cuter than Jin Xiu and her acting as an innocent and naive girl is much more bearable.

Jin Xiu decides to learn how to dance at home. Zuo Zhen, originally going to visit her, decides to spy on her once again through her window like a creep, and finds out.

Zuo Zhen Stalker Tally: 4

He decides to learn dancing on his own, and he even fantasizes about dancing with Jin Xiu.

Ok it’s undeniable that he only gets away with being so creepy only because he’s good looking ok?

Which leads me to this video:

Imagine this guy fantasizing about dancing with you:

But Zuo Zhen succeeds. He goes over to Jin Xiu’s house, returns her the jade bangle, and teaches her to dance.

Finally, the day of the ‘Red Make-Up Ball’. Apparently Jin Xiu’s dress is really ugly, because everyone judges her for it. Luckily, Zuo Zhen steps in and prepares her with a beautiful dress and jewelry.

And I just want to say this woman kept singing noises and sounds the whole time. It was like “Hula Hula Hula Hei” and a bunch of gibberish. It was strangely mesmerizing.

Jin Xiu has a total Cinderella moment when she’s changed into the nice dress and jewelry (and I swear, she was wearing a pair of Louboutins on her feet ok), and take the first dance with Zuo Zhen.

Later on that evening she confronts a bunch of women gossiping about Ming Zhu. They say very nasty things about her, about even though she’s wearing all this nice jewelry, it can’t hide her ‘dirty’ body that’s been with so many men, since she was an escort.

Jin Xiu stands up for her, only to get confronted by Ming Zhu afterwards about all that Ming Zhu has suffered.

Ming Zhu once again swears to kick her out of Shanghai. She said that way in the beginning when she first reunited with Jin Xiu and Jin Xiu’s not any closer to getting kicked out than she was before.

ADSFLSAJDF Ling Lin is so adorable. He acknowledges all of Jin Xiu’s suitors and says that he wants to get ahead… so he proposes. He is just so cute with a boyish charm. He gets rejected of course, but he’s just so damn cute.

Jin Xiu invites Zuo Zhen to her place for dinner, where she tries to cook him a dinner.

Remember how I said in earlier recaps that she reminded me of a girl that screamed at everything in my gym class? Well here she goes again. She’s cooking, and she’s screaming at her f*cking frying pan.

What did you expect?! Is this supposed to look cute?! It just looks her look dumb and incapable of doing any basic human activity without getting someone else’s help. Seriously I was so unimpressed BUT…

WHAT. SERIOUSLY? MUST YOU SAVE HER FROM EVERYTHING?

Zuo Zhen hears her screaming and he does this awkward corny hug behind her and twirls her in the opposite direction to safety, and this is all done in slow-motion. THIS IS SO UNNECESSARY AND SO DAMN AWKWARD.

At a certain point he need to allow Darwin’s Law to take its place and stop trying to save her at every chance. He can’t fight against evolution.

Back to Ying Shao. He goes full dirtbag and uses Boss Shum’s daughter as bargaining chips to get him to sign a contract. Originally hiding in rural suburb, he ‘elopes’ with her to Shanghai after making her fall in love with him.

Somehow he gets her underwear to prove to Boss Shum he has her, so I think it’s implied that he had sex with Shum Meng.

Shum Meng explains to her father that she loves Ying Shao and willing to give up everything for him. At this point Ying Shao feels ashamed and realizes what he’s done, and he’s shitting bricks. He completely lied to this girl and will probably ruin her if he left her.

Boss Shum signs the contract and agrees on all terms even though the contract solely favours the Xiang family. Ying Dong presents this contract to his brother, and Xiang Shao flips out.

He rips up the contract and tells Ying Dong that they would rather lose money rather than face and integrity – which is something that they won’t be able to get back from this incident. He cooly walks away.

Ming Zhu tries to get Jin Xiu fired but failed. Boss Ling puts her in her place.

In our last scene… Zuo Zhen goes to Jin Xiu for medical attention for a wound that he got. She says something in passing like, “No one would want to marry you, since they’d always have to worry about you,” and he gets weird again. He keeps saying things like “My woman would be the luckiest, and she would be the envy of all women in Shanghai” blah blah. I feel like I could come up with more romantic things to say than he does – I would just get creeped out. I would swipe left or unmatch him.

TRAILER:

So in the trailer, we see Jin Xiu being dumb af again, and sliding down a cliff. Having unequivocal love for her, Zuo Zhen decides to save her, and ends up sliding down the cliff instead. WILL THIS BE THE DEFINING MOMENT WHERE JIN XIU FALLS IN LOVE FINALLY? I’m so sick of the push and pull of  her reluctance and his persistence that I’m hoping the pace picks up.

IM SO PISSED i lost 13/14 after i updated this. I know why now. I’m so frustrated that I don’t know when I’ll do 13,14 again anymore…. ARGH. So pissed.