*WARNING*: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. If you DO NOT want to be spoiled, please DO NOT read. You have been warned.
This episode opens with a cryptic song in the night while everyone was supposed to be sleeping. The song awaken Long Tai and he stepped out to investigate.
Interestingly, it was his mother. (So is it all a dream or what?) YUP, it was a dream. But it showed how much Long Tai misses his mother. And her wise advices.
After that premonition dream, Long Tai decided to bury his mother’s ashes by the tree. However, according his words, he only buried half of her ashes by the tree and the other half would follow him back to Japan. Though somehow his old man was able to convince him otherwise. Well, at least some of the old man’s words reminded him of what his mother said previously regarding his father and brother. At least he was curious about his brother to stay after all.
It was revealed from one of the townspeople that the Long family and the Zhao family had a history which dated back to their ancestors so it wasn’t just some recent feud between the two. At least some people were sympathizing with Ren Mei in this whole situation.
As the servants were helping Long Shou Cheng get ready to greet the Zhao family (who were supposedly sending Ren Mei over), Long Shou Cheng was stating that Ren Mei was such a nice and kind girl that they should treat her well while she was there to ‘fulfill her duties for the bet’, the servants immediately objected. Even almost strangling their master, nice? (LOL) Seriously, I kept pondering the roles between master and servants with their fierce reaction to the matter. It was almost like Long Shou Cheng was scared of them, lol.
Finally agreeing to appear all grim and powerful in front of their “enemy”, they opened the door and stepped out as a united force. Yet as Ren Mei got out and made her way toward her new ‘habitat’, her grandma actually wanted to grab a hold of her hand. To stop her? Suddenly, I’m not so harsh toward the grandma anymore. But I was mad at her brother for his cunning ways. She was his sister after all, why do such cruel things to her? (The impression of an older brother always protecting his younger siblings had really etched its way into my mind after witnessing real life circumstances and even in the dramas that I found it hard to believe. Not impossible, but it was so sad to see such scenes. Each family have their own stories and problems, but this was just so heart-breaking for Ren Mei. More details will probably unfold to explain Ren Hu’s reasons for hating his sister – or not, but for now, the production team is doing a very good job of making me hate Ren Hu.)
Conflict ensued within the group of three – master and servants – again as they returned to their resident and was deciding the next step. This time though, they were communicating through their eyes and silent gestures as Ren Mei waited for her fate. The poor girl was looking at the ground the whole time, not daring to face them. Though appearing quite fierce when she was convincing her boss to stay tough with Ren Mei to show the Zhao family what they were really made of, Ah Pan Jie soon warmed up to Ren Mei’s sweet smile and her sincere greeting along with their boss. The only one still managing to keep up the fierce front was Lao Tu, whom took it into his own hands to set Ren Mei straight. OR more like he turned everyone’s smiles upside-down, lol. OMG, he was taking over the boss’ role major time with ordering Ah Pan Jie around and assigning tasks, lol. His boss should take some notes from him.
And as Long Tai was telling his mother how he didn’t want to stay, he overheard Ah Pan Jie telling Ren Mei their ‘rules’ (LOL) hence the collision (literally) once again. It was funny and a bit strange that she should be surprised he was there. I meant if she had mistaken him for Tian He previously, then it made sense he was there.
As Ren Hu was busy ranting bitterly about how Long Tian He didn’t even care to acknowledge his existence, we found out why Grandma Zhao hated Ren Mei’s mother so much and ballet in general. The car accident was supposedly Ren Mei’s mother’s fault in Grandma Zhao’s version. (So we have another piece of the puzzle, but not quite because each person have his or her own perspective. SO the true version–or fuller version–would be out later.)
Long Tai finally found out through Lao Tu what the full version of the story was regarding his bet with Long Ren Hu earlier. YUP, he jumped in while they were in the middle of the competition, so of course he needed the full version of the story to understand the situation better. Yet it was so funny that Lao Tu was saying it was Long Tai’s fault that Ren Mei had to stay there and be the ‘slave’. YET of course he had retaliated and said it was only right to show the Zhao family about their capabilities, lol.
As Ren Mei was still pondering about her fate for the upcoming days staying there, Long Tai rushed in and ordered her to leave immediately. Even after Long Tai told her it was none of her business and how he was the one involved with the bet so he could have a say in it, Ren Mei still decided to stand her ground about staying in place of her brother. What else could Long Tai do except storm out in a typical dramatic exit style? (YUP, slamming the door and all.)
Meal time so Lao Tu and Ah Pan Jie were putting in every single piece of food they could find on the table for Long Tai, still under the impression that he was Tian He and needed his nutrition, lol. What was funnier was how Long Tai was thinking the way they were feeding Tian He, it was impossible that he didn’t have high blood pressure or stroke already, lol. But Long Shou Cheng soon moved the topic of conversation to Ren Mei – to which they learned Ren Mei was ordered to eat by herself in the kitchen because she wasn’t supposed to eat with ‘the master’, lol. OY, what were they?
While Lao Tu and Ah Pan Jie were bragging about their ‘torture’ method of letting Ren Mei eat only a bit of food, etc, Ren Mei was feeling like she was practically in Heaven! YUP, Grandma Zhao only allowed her to eat vegetables after she got fat, etc SO now having meat at meal time was like living in Heaven to her. It was too good to be true. OMG, it was so exaggerated but so funny at the same time with fireworks in the background. Ren Mei was so cute. I guess if Lao Tu and Ah Pan Jie knew what types of life Ren Mei was leading before, they wouldn’t be so proud of their ‘torture’ technique.
It got even cuter as Long Tai was ranting on and on about how they were a senseless bunch, fighting over stuffs. AND how Rou Bao Mei (肉包妹) was even dumber to agree to stay at this place, etc. OY, so he was really worried for her. His mother pointed it out, lol. (Well, it might as well be him talking to himself but it was cuter with having the image of his mother pointing it out to him. In a way, it might be his own version of how he was still able to talk to his mother like old times, seeking wise words from her.) So after the talk with “his mother”, he finally agreed to stay. (Or it might as well be him trying to convince himself to stay since deep down, he was really curious of this place anyway.)
First day and Ren Mei was already hard at work, proving to others that she could do it, not going to let her grandma down. Or the Zhao family for that matter. Super woman indeed! And what caught Long Tai’s eyes wasn’t just her hardworking attitude but how she tended so carefully to the tree his mother really loved. AND he finally admitted that she was cute, lol. Yup, he was sneaking up on her when she fell asleep by the porch. (But that was before he realized she have a ‘sinus’ problem, lol.) He did some of her work for her, but that also discredited her previous efforts, which was a shame. I guess they needed some misunderstanding to push the plot forward but poor Ren Mei. AND I spoke too soon again since it was really great to see that the little mix-up got sorted out just a few seconds later at meal time.
OMG, Long Tai was so fierce. Yet he was just trying to get her to leave so she wouldn’t have to do ‘slave’ work anymore. It was cute that he refused to acknowledge his ‘caring’ for her part, lol. But then Long Tai recruited Lao Tu and Ah Pan Jie on his team to make Ren Mei’s life even more miserable, nice? Yeah, he was definitely trying to drive her out of the house here since talking to her ‘nicely’ didn’t work. Ah Pan Jie was caving though since she thought it was too much, but Lao Tu was getting his way so of course he agreed.
It was so funny watching Lao Tu and Ah Pan Jie sneaking around, spying on Ren Mei. They were indeed pondering why Ren Mei looked so happy working like that. AND why she was so fast with her moves. But the priceless moment must be saved for when Lao Tu stuck his hand in one of the edges of the sink and ended up hurting himself! LOL! I kept using the word ‘cute’ but couludn’t help it. Long Tai was so staring at Ren Mei AND he still dared to say, “Who’s treating her like family? Who wants to eat with her?” LOL! Still in denial mode, but so cute, lol.
Dinner time. It’s almost like familiy dinner, eh? LOL! But Long Tai need to work on his listening skills, lol. Ren Mei said Lao Tu was her ‘elder’ so it was only right that he was strict and fierce toward her. Was he trying to be her ‘elder’? LOL!
But anyway, moving on, Ren Mei got everyone beyond shocked when she admitted that she hadn’t eaten that one dish for like 10 years now. Awww, everyone was feeling bad for Ren Mei now. Hard to blame them with all the questions because regardless of how they saw Grandma Zhao favoring Ren Hu, after all they were one family so how could she be denied of all the delicacies, right? (Of course Grandma Zhao have her own reasons but to the Long family, it seemed really off.) Honestly though, Ren Mei’s obesity problem arose from her emotional and psychological issues, NOT totally because of what she ate. She did sneak eat noodles and stuffs that one time (and possibly some others). But I think that wasn’t the root of it all.
Just as Ren Mei was celebrating over the fact that everyone was treating her so well at the Long resident, she received a text message from her brother, stating that he wanted to meet her at the back of the house. She was sure deceived because he wasn’t even asking for her well-being. He was just there to extract some information regarding Long Tai after overhearing the employees discussed about the irrational way of how Tian He could recover so fast. That was so messed up! I thought he wouldn’t stoop so low YET Ren Hu was capable of manipulating his sister into helping him by luring her in with her ‘ballet’ dream.
Too funny, ghost stories! The light just have to flicker and go crazy at that time while Ren Mei was trying to spy on Long Tai. But oh well, more time for Ah Pan Jie to tell ghost stories and our princess fainted, lol. (Ren Mei had to ask, but did the answer have to be that scary? LOL….) Lucky Ah Pan Jie steered things around, trying to reassure Ren Mei that no ghosts exist, etc. And I thought it was only Ren Mei who was afraid of ghost. Even Long Tai was a scaredy-cat when it came to ‘ghosts’, lol. The ghost theory was soon dismissed when Long Tai realized it was Ren Mei all along at breakfast.
So cute with seeing Ren Mei on the steamed bun. But it was driving Long Tai crazy, lol. Seriously, he was confusing them, lol. Since he just dismissed himself with the excuse that he wasn’t hungry and didn’t have an appetite for it.
Ooooh, the time finally arrive to test if Long Tai was really Tian He or not. I guess because Ren Mei was half curious and half motivated because of her brother’s promise hence wanting to go forward with it. She wasn’t all into it though since she did try to stop him and was somewhat freaking out. Not to mention worried. And even dreamed up of a possibility for the outcome. Then she was struggling so bad that she ended up stopping him–without a reason. Of course that riled him up since he did offer her half seconds ago. I thought the contents would all spill out or the bowl would topple over with their fighting yet it didn’t.
The result? He fainted and landed himself in the hospital. (YUP, the same thing happened to his brother happened to him.) And I thought he was just teasing her with faking the fainting spell after hearing her ask about his well-being. Poor Ah Pan Jie getting scolded by Lao Tu this time–and it wasn’t her. Ren Mei did reflect on it though so it wasn’t all for nothing. (I do understand that her brother had used trickery to get her to help but I just hope it wouldn’t get so far that she ended up doing other irreversible damages.) BUT what in the world was Ren Hu doing? Really trying to kill Long Tai? (Or he was just mad and wanted to prove something?)
The episode ended with Grandma Zhao promising Ren Hu he will have his own ‘stage’ while Ren Hu silently vouched to let Tian He see what he was made of. Creepy or just plain annoying? We’ll see.
Anyway, another great episode. The pace is still great and full of excitement too.
*All images were captured by DTLCT
On one level MRLT is very obvious and slapstick. But it also has its moments of depth and sophistication. The entire nexus between food and attraction is not only funny but quite thought provoking. I loved your screen cap of Ren Mei’s face superimposed on the meat bun. I wish the writers had the courage of their convictions and she remained chubby throughout–but I suspect from the title sequence and the coming attractions she is going to become skinny. Damn.
Yeah, they must follow the ‘restoring to beauty’ course to attract more viewers (I guess). But I’m glad (like I said in the pm to you) that they have some background story to it, not just so into trying to change Ren Mei to skinny just because. They did address some conflicts as the plot moved forward. You’ll see that they go into more details in episode 4.
Regarding the title, I had a guess that it was because of the name of the hot springs that both families run, that’s why, i.e. the Zhao family’s hot spring is called Mei Ren Tang vs. the Long family’s hot spring is called Long Tang hence the title being Mei Ren Long Tang instead of repeating the ‘tang’ part twice. Since Grandma Zhao’s name is Zeng Mei Ren (aka she named the place after herself) and the Long family used their last name. But of course that was just my guess, lol.