WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. If you DO NOT want to be spoiled, please DO NOT read. You have been warned.
Back at the tea plantation, they worked hard all morning so they truly deserved a break. They all scattered around, trying to find a good spot to rest and eat before continuing on. As Xiao Yu and Xiang Xiang settled down at a spot, Xiang Xiang was pondering what food they had in the lunchbox when Xiao Yu looked over to where Zhong Ze was sitting nearby. She got up again and made her way toward him, not even replying to Xiang Xiang’s question. Yet Xiang Xiang was able to see where Xiao Yu was heading toward.
Xiao Yu offered Zhong Ze lunch yet he said he wasn’t hungry. She found it hard to believe. (Same here.) She insisted that he ate, shoving the food container toward him yet he was questioning her about her ‘meddling into his business’ again. She said she didn’t mean to. He went on to talk about how she had meddled into his and Ah Bao’s business as well, stating that it was between him and Ah Bao. He didn’t want it to cause Ah Bao and the others to misunderstand. She told him not to worry since she was always like that, it wouldn’t cause any misunderstandings about their ‘connection’ or whatever relationship they had. He got up from his spot and said firmly that there wasn’t any sort of relationship between them, and he was just there to do his job, nothing else. He didn’t want anyone to affect his work while he was there, etc. She was more than surprised by his reaction. Even Xiang Xiang stared after him as he made his leave.
Before he got any further, Zhong Ze received a call from Auntie Ke Ren saying that his friend from Taipei was there to see him. He was more than confused, wondering who the other person could be. Still, he was on his way back to check the matter out.
When he finally returned to Auntie Ke Ren’s shop, he realized it was Ah Sir looking for him. It was indeed strange, because like he stated, Ah Sir definitely showed up out of nowhere. What was even more troubling was Ah Sir’s reaction upon seeing Zhong Ze. Ah Sir immediately jumped up to hug Zhong Ze, crying out that he missed Zhong Ze very much. That had caused some curiosity from Auntie Ke Ren, but she didn’t say anything. She didn’t get a chance to be nosy, because Ah Sir went on and on and on about how he just got dumped, and he got conned by someone. It didn’t end there with Ah Sir saying how could there be anyone so despicable as to play with his heart like that, etc. Zhong Ze finally got a chance to tell Auntie Ke Ren that he was going to take his friend for a walk, dragging Ah Sir out of there before any more interesting details developed. Auntie Ke Ren wasn’t the only one staring after the two with much curiosity, because Auntie Chun Hua soon came over to check on the situation.
As the others at the tea plantation had to deal with the rain pouring situation and how it would affect the tea leaves, Zhong Ze took Ah Sir back to his place. (Not the current habitat living with Xiao Yu, Auntie Ke Ren, and Ah Bao, but the luxurious apartment Li Li had arranged for him previously.) Ah Sir was really impressed with the place, stating that it must be equivalent to a 5-star hotel arrangement. Indeed, the place was really full of luxurious items. According to Zhong Ze, it was his first time coming there. (It made sense since he’d been at General Street up to then.) Ah Sir couldn’t believe it, taking a snipe at Zhong Ze yet Zhong Ze returned the favor. Ah Sir then reminded Zhong Ze that he just got dumped so Zhong Ze should tone down on the attacks a bit to spare his feelings. Once again, Zhong Ze pointed out that Ah Sir always go through the ‘lost love’ phase like going through the 3 daily meals. Ah Sir was back to how Li Li must be in love with Zhong Ze after Zhong Ze disclosed that Li Li actually lived upstairs. Kidding asides, Zhong Ze inquired about Ah Sir’s progress in breaking into the system to acquire some information from Xie Bo Tao. Ah Sir said it wasn’t that easy or something along that line since he was still working on it. Zhong Ze chided him for showing off and stating that he could break into the U.S. high secured system. Ah Sir said to wait until he dated a C.I.A. agent, lol. OMG, Ah Sir just went through ‘lost love’ yet he was already stating his interest in Auntie Ke Ren? LOL! No wonder Zhong Ze said that his ‘lost love’ phase was like eating the 3 daily meals. Talking about Auntie Ke Ren, Ah Sir made a comment about her strange tofu and rushed to the restroom before Zhong Ze could talk about anything else.
Back at Auntie Ke Ren’s shop, Xiao Yu and Xiang Xiang returned and sat down at the table to rest. As Xiang Xiang mumbled about the day being lost with the rain and all, causing their delay in progress with picking tea leaves, Xiao Yu was lost in thoughts, still thinking about what Zhong Ze said to her earlier. Well, things that he said to her regarding how she shouldn’t change his livelihoods, etc. Seeing how distracted Xiao Yu was, Xiang Xiang didn’t want to talk about Zhong Ze and Ah Bao’s situation anymore. She pretended to have forgotten and ended up turning on the radio to listen to music. Yet what greeted them over the airwaves was more weather forecasting about the continuous rain. Xiao Yu snapped out of her thoughts to go take care of the situation – with Xiang Xiang in toll. They went to borrow raincoats from one of the neighbors so they could continue to work on the tea plantation, wanting to do as much as possible to help save the tea plantation before the storm hit. Xiao Yu even recruited Dan Zhu to help, considering how it was his father’s tea plantation. From there, they went to recruit some more people to help as well. While all of that was happening, Ah Bao stood nearby watching, thinking to himself. Was he having second thoughts?
After a long day of hard work, they were able to wash up a little before heading home to take a real shower. It was also while Xiao Yu and Auntie Ke Ren were heading home that Xiao Yu received a text from Xiang Xiang. Xiang Xiang sent Xiao Yu a picture of Xiao Yu working hard at the tea plantation earlier in the day. She had snapped several earlier, seeing how hard everyone was pitching in–and said that she was so touched by it. She even disclosed that she had sent one picture to Zhong Ze as well. Upon hearing that, Xiao Yu was really shocked. She wasn’t fearing that he might yell at them later, but more like the picture was too ugly. Yet Xiang Xiang said it wasn’t so, and went on to elaborate that Ah Ze had been helping Uncle Zhu a lot so she wanted to send the picture to him to tell him how hard they were working as well so he could be touched by it. Another round of teasing ensued but was short-lived, because Xiao Yu was called home so the girls said their temporary goodbyes. After Xiao Yu left, Xiang Xiang revealed to her mother that it seemed like Ah Ze and Xiao Yu had a fight so she wanted to send the picture to Zhong Ze to patch things up between the two. (And as a followup, Zhong Ze did receive Xiao Yu’s picture from Xiang Xiang. He was quite troubled by it yet Ah Sir poke his head in to check and commented on it, asking about the girl. Zhong Ze was looking at him kind of fierce, asking what he wanted. He dodged out of the situation by saying that he wanted to ask if Zhong Ze was hungry, lol. Zhong Ze actually called back home to tell Auntie Ke Ren that he wasn’t coming back that night since he was still accompanying his friend, but he also told Auntie Ke Ren to pass the words on to Uncle Zhu about how hardworking everyone was. Xiao Yu overheard somewhat of the conversation and asked for further details yet was disappointed that Zhong Ze didn’t mention her.)
The next day at work, Zhong Ze had to play the prince in shining armor to save Li Li from her ex-boyfriend. Li Li’s ex-boyfriend, Eddie, was portrayed by non other than one of the stars of Rookies’ Diary, Fu Zi Chun. (Hey, he did say the name of the drama in Episode 42 of Rookies’ Diary so of course, it made sense he was involved in this drama.) A very small role yet played an important part in securing Zhong Ze’s spot in the overall revenge plot. Zhong Ze told Eddie that he was Li Li’s current boyfriend to shoo Eddie off. Zhong Ze actually thought a bit before making the move with claiming to be Li Li’s boyfriend. It was what Li Li had said previously and also what Ah Sir said to him. It only made sense that he went with it in aiding his revenge plot. Even if it was going down the despicable route with deceiving Li Li.
While Zhong Ze got to save the day for Li Li, Ah Bao got to do the same for Xiao Yu. It so happened that Xiao Yu had taken on a delivery job to help her mother with the financial situation. (Yes, the second call her mother received last night was regarding some financial matter so Xiao Yu pretended to drink tea yet was listening in and realized how serious the situation was hence seeking out another job to help.) Unfortunately for her, a car almost hit her while she was riding around on her bicycle, causing her to fall off and hurt her leg. Ah Bao rode by on his motorcycle and saw her hence helping her. She was surprised by his intention and didn’t want to let him help at first but he picked her up and ended up carrying her to his motorcycle. (Hilarious moment but still…) Actually, Ah Bao didn’t want to help her at first, considering how he spotted the files on the ground, and even scolded her for being a double-faced person. The papers were actually for Li Li’s company so that was why Ah Bao said that she was helping the enemy yet she was scolding him previously. Yet she yelled right back, stating that she was as reluctant. She had no choice but to do the job and try to help her mother.
Things got tenfold more interesting when Ah Bao and Xiao Yu arrived at Li Li’s company. Well, it was surprising for both seeing Zhong Ze there with Li Li, considering how they still didn’t know of his link to the other party. The showdown between them all this time started off with Xiao Yu detaching herself from Ah Bao’s aid (since he was holding onto her to maintain her balance because her leg was still hurting from the accident earlier) and walked over to grab a hold of Zhong Ze’s hand, hauling him back to her side. That really made Li Li jealous, considering how Zhong Ze didn’t seem to mind Xiao Yu holding onto him (despite the fact that he had clarified many times for her to distance herself from him). Then what was even more with how Xiao Yu had to separate herself from Zhong Ze to break up the fight between Ah Bao and Yao Shi Hong AND Zhong Ze made a comment about how their “relationship” was really growing with them fighting two days ago but now was so close. (YES, Zhong Ze was trying to talk smack, but he was definitely jealous.) But Zhong Ze soon abandoned his “bitter” mood to chide Xiao Yu for her carelessness after she recounted how she had fallen and Ah Bao was just helping her. Though he was chiding her, his face expression showed that he was just worried. That little “concern” sign from Zhong Ze had caused a glare from Li Li. And the little “chiding” bit ended up becoming Zhong Ze and Ah Bao’s side argument again, because Ah Bao said he would help Xiao Yu home and apply ointment on her later. Yet Zhong Ze went on to attack Ah Bao with how he was such a grown man but didn’t have a job, he was just good at accompanying girls around (i.e. snapping at Ah Bao’s comment about having followed Xiao Yu all day long). Xiao Yu soon broke up the fight and delivered some documents to Yao Shi Hong. With that, Yao Shi Hong took it into his hands to mock them by stating how all the ruptures were for nothing, considering how they had to rely on working for his company to earn money. Ah Bao really wanted to attack Yao Shi Hong yet he held it off until after Yao Shi Hong signed the forms to acknowledge that he had received them. Ah Bao had snatched the documents out of Yao Shi Hong’s grasp and tossed it into the air, causing it to become all disorganized. Ah Bao then stated that it was their responsibility after the acknowledgment form had been signed already hence it didn’t have anything to do with Xiao Yu anymore. Xiao Yu, once again, tried to break it off. But what was worth noting the whole while Yao Shi Hong was rattling off and mocking Xiao Yu was how Zhong Ze had looked at Xiao Yu, seeing how much she had to endure in order to earn money. His expression said that he was hurting for her, seeing how she just took all the embarrassment without a peep–like she typically would with her lively self. Anyway, after that was done, Ah Bao tried to haul Xiao Yu out of there since their business was more than done. Yet Xiao Yu tried to stop him, wanting to say something else to Zhong Ze. Ah Bao didn’t let her, but only rattled some more taunting words toward Zhong Ze before leaving with Xiao Yu. Xiao Yu turned around to look at Zhong Ze again, still protesting. Zhong Ze, on the other hand, was looking after them–half dazed and half jealous. That didn’t go unnoticed with Li Li, who soon stepped over to remind Zhong Ze of their meeting–and a promise to take him to lunch later. After all that was said and done, the most benefitting from the situation was Yao Shi Hong, because he had spotted the unease from Zhong Ze upon seeing how close Xiao Yu was to Ah Bao. Yao Shi Hong was indeed filing that little interesting information away for future use.
Ah Bao and Xiao Yu finally made it home after a long day of delivering documents. However, Xiao Yu told Ah Bao not to let on that she had hurt her leg, not wanting to let her mother worry. Ah Bao got the hint and they only focused on eating dinner. Ah Bao looked like he hadn’t eaten for several years or something, lol. But it was hard to blame when he was seriously working hard all day with helping Xiao Yu. Ah Bao only seemed to lose his appetite upon the mention of Ah Ze. Well, Auntie Ke Ren was saying how Ah Bao shouldn’t eat too fast since they needed to save some food for Ah Ze. Yet it was kind of sad for Ah Bao when Auntie Ke Ren told Xiao Yu to eat more but told him he didn’t need to. (Well, it was hard to blame her, considering how she didn’t know how much he’d helped during the day. Not to mention, his reputation wasn’t all that good around the place of recent – after the constant fights–whether she witnessed first hand or not.)
Then it was disclosed through a conversation between Zhong Ze and Li Li of how Li Li came to like Zhong Ze. Apparently, they met already in the past. It was the time when Li Li returned from the U.S. and was struggling with her Chinese, but it was her last straw with proving herself so that her father would let her stay. While she was at the university’s library, some girl snatched up the book that she needed and didn’t care to acknowledge her. Zhong Ze overheard what was going on and later lent her his notebook. He probably had forgotten already, but only realized it was her when she recounted the story again. The reason she was so brave in telling her story was because she had already lost her chance in the past with not being able to see him again when they were still in school to fulfill her wish with thanking him and confessing to him hence wanting to say it out now, even clarifying that the person she talked about during their first meeting (in the present time) was actually him. She also disclosed that after finding out that he worked at the company and what had happened with his boss, she told her grandfather to have him transferred there to help her with the land acquirement case. That didn’t make Zhong Ze anymore happy or proud of himself. Nor was he feeling touched of her confession. Instead, it was more troublesome for him. He realized what kind of situation he was getting into. Even if it was he who had helped her in the past with her exam, but seeing what she’d done for him by rescuing him out of the other sticky situation, how could he go forth with his plan? Their conversation was interrupted by his phone ringing. It was Xiao Yu calling him. (Probably asking when he would be home for dinner.) He didn’t pick it up but chose to turn his phone off. Li Li’s smile actually restored after that worried look upon seeing Xiao Yu’s name on the screen. Yet Li Li didn’t realize that Zhong Ze was struggling inside greatly with Xiao Yu’s images haunting his mind. And that was when Zhong Ze responded to Li Li’s confession, stating that from now on, it was up to her when their relationship would break off. (So yes, they’re officially dating.)
Later that night at Zhong Ze’s apartment, Ah Sir was making fun of Zhong Ze and calling him names again. Zhong Ze reminded Ah Sir he didn’t have to eat his foods and scold him at the same time. Zhong Ze told Ah Sir he could just return to Taipei. Yet Ah Sir stopped him and rescued the lobsters again. He even went on and on about how Zhong Ze was such a good person hence being able to inherit such luck. (Ah Sir was poking at how Zhong Ze could just embrace one person on one hand and hold the other on the other hand.) Zhong Ze was more than annoyed by Ah Sir’s mocking. He could only resorted to taking the food away from Ah Sir again. But Ah Sir was back at it. (OY, those two men were indeed too childish at times, fighting over food.) Back to the serious side, Zhong Ze was saying how if it wasn’t for Li Li, he would’ve been off by Xie Bo Tao already. He concluded that Li Li was now a very important person to him–if he wanted to forgo with the revenge plot. (So his reluctant look previously was just a temporary feeling?) After hearing those words, Ah Sir interfered once again. This time, in seriousness. He told Zhong Ze that it wasn’t right to use Li Li like that, considering how she truly liked him, and there was also Xiao Yu. Zhong Ze said that he already talked with Xiao Yu, stating that after he left, things would return to normal for her. Ah Sir chided Zhong Ze for not listening to his words, warning Zhong Ze not to use such means to achieve his end anymore or one day he would end up like Xie Bo Tao, all cold and heartless, etc. Zhong Ze didn’t care, only wanting Ah Sir to investigate into Xie Bo Tao’s weakness.
Though dodging Ah Sir’s lectures, but Zhong Ze was seen reading Xiao Yu’s message and chiding her for being silly. He even scolded her for being too trusting, considering how he was only a tenant at their place. Yet that didn’t stop him from looking at her picture (the one Xiang Xiang sent previously) and smiled to himself. Xiao Yu, on the other hand, was seen entering his room and placing his clothes inside. It was like she was just doing some chores for him as well. She thought that he was still out working late, thinking how much effort he had to exert to help them. And as Zhong Ze was looking at Xiao Yu’s picture, he was thinking even if he would cause them grief in the future, he could at least help Uncle Zhu with completing the task of tea and all, not wasting everyone’s effort. (So much for it!) Meanwhile, Xiao Yu’s cell phone beeped and she thought it was Zhong Ze responding to her text message but it wasn’t so. Disappointed, she returned to her own thoughts again. So they were both thinking of each other that night, even if there were no interactions at all. (Well, the text message didn’t count as much since he didn’t respond.)
The next day, Zhong Ze returned to General Street and was told by Dan Zhu that Uncle Zhu hadn’t been home for two days, insisting on taking care of the tea leaves, etc. Zhong Ze, seeing how worried Dan Zhu was, promised to bring Uncle Zhu back. On his way to the mountains, Zhong Ze’s trip was unfruitful. He ended up lost on one of the turns. What was even more was how he had locked his keys in the car hence not being able to go back in to seek shelter when the rain hit again. In the midst of it all, he was forced to remember his father’s passing. (Jun Ya’s acting at this point was really, really good with his haunting expression and fear, merging in along with the kid’s reaction in the flashback.) It wasn’t until Dan Zhu recounted to the others how Zhong Ze had gone up the mountains to look for Uncle Zhu that Xiao Yu rushed to find him. (Interestingly, Uncle Zhu already made it home safely because he had hitched a ride with Lao Xiong earlier before the rain hit again.) The reason why Xiao Yu had to personally go was because the genius left his cell phone in his car so no one picked up. Not to mention how Uncle Zhu was suggesting that he had already been snatched by ‘someone’. (Yeah, old places with old legends and ghost stories.) Luckily, Xiao Yu could use her bike to search or the progress would be even slower in finding Zhong Ze. (And though her leg was still hurting, she didn’t care. It was too important to care at the moment.) Xiao Yu took him to a shrine nearby to seek shelter from the rain. She even found some food and towels for them to eat and dry up while they wait for the rain to let up. He was doubtful about the food yet she told him that it was left by the townspeople so whenever they were up there, they could get some food to eat and rest after working around the area, etc. She even told him about the amulet that was made by the mothers of General Street for each of the kids to protect them from harm. He was doubtful. Yet she told him it was true, considering how it was the gods sending rain hence allowing her to find him. (Oh really?) But anyway, she said that her name was “Xiao Yu” hence rainy days were her lucky days–and that she really liked “xiao yu”. That was when he spoke up to say that he hated “xiao yu” the most. (Wah….)
*All images were captured by DTLCT