Episode 21 Recap
Si Ping High School meets Qian Ren High School for the semi-finals. This semi-final round with a theme of seafood has the judges announcing Si Ping High School the winner for their creativity and impressive knife skills.
Wei Qi Zhen had replaced Chen Meng Chen in the semi-final round. Han Jie had not found Chen Meng Chen’s performance in the first round desirable as he explained that working in a team is something that is encountered in the cooking profession. The semi-finals was about working in a team, so Han Jie had wanted a team player. Chen Meng Chen having affected the team’s performance in the previous round because she wasn’t able to work well with the team, a test was held in the background. It gave Wei Qi Zhen, Amy Fan and Kong Meng Zhe the chance to fill the vacant spot in the team. Wei Qi Zhen became the successful one.
Upset, was what Chen Meng Chen felt when Han Jie made the announcement to her and the class in an early morning meetup in the kitchen classroom. She wasn’t able to believe Wei Qi Zhen’s inferior skills was replacing her superior ones. Si Ping High School will lose because of Wei Qi Zhen, she had told Han Jie; but, Han Jie only told her he will take responsibility for whatever the outcome and told her to return back to class. Chen Meng Chen ran out of the classroom.
Later on, Ma Chong Sheng appeared before Han Jie and Fang Xiao Rou in the faculty office, reporting that there was a worrying sight of Chen Meng Chen taking Wei Qi Zhen away. Wang Mai Zhi, Liu Xuan and Tang Hao was searching around the school grounds for them whilst the report was made. It seemed very worrying when no one could find Chen Meng Chen or Wei Qi Zhen after a good search around the school and no one could get in contact with either of them: Wang Mai Zhi wasn’t able to get through to Wei Qi Zhen when he called her and Tang Hao didn’t have a way to get in touch with Chen Meng Chen because he couldn’t find anyone who had Chen Meng Chen’s number. It was only when Fang Xiao Rou went to call Wei Qi Zhen on her phone that finally they were able to find the situation to be not as worrying as they had initially thought. Chen Meng Chen had simply taken Wei Qi Zhen away to give her some training.
Chen Meng Chen was seen training Wei Qi Zhen on how to thinly slice a gelatinous food item. It was quite the important training on hindsight when the dish the students had chosen to make—a seafood platter—for a semi-finals round that didn’t allow supervising teachers to cook required a team member with good enough knife skills to fillet a fish thin enough to make sashimi. Wang Mai Zhi couldn’t manage it—he tore the piece; and nor could Liu Xuan manage it when Tang Hao suggested she gave it a go—she was a little better than Wang Mai Zhi, but still not good enough.
Only after Chen Meng Chen called from the spectator area for Wei Qi Zhen to step up to the plate and told her to remember the training she gave was the team able to produce thin pieces good enough to make sashimi. Wei Qi Zhen’s impressive knife skills got noticed by the judges and it contributed to Si Ping High School beating Qian Ren High School.
So it’s cheers for Wei Qi Zhen for bringing the win to Si Ping High School with her impressive knife skills. Chen Meng Chen also gets recognition for her part in their win: Wei Qi Zhen thanks Chen Meng Chen for training her; Han Jie acknowledges her efforts and sees them as very awesome; Fang Xiao Rou tells Chen Meng Chen she has a part in the win; and Amy Fan thanks Chen Meng Chen and apologises for being difficult towards her and for not admitting that she is extremely skillful.
Chen Meng Chen seems to have received her classmate’s thanks well when she listened to each of them; however, when Tang Hao goes around to her and suggest everyone to give her a cheering like they had done for Wei Qi Zhen—a toss up into the air—Chen Meng Chen tells Tang Hao to stop and tells everyone to stop treating her so well. Continue hating her, she instructs them, before walking out of the room. Tang Hao catching up with Chen Meng Chen outside and having a talk with her, reveals Chen Meng Chen’s rejection of her classmates’ kindness as sadness that she has become useless to the team. Even though Chen Meng Chen had said her reason for training Wei Qi Zhen had been to have the opportunity to return in the next round, it seems seeing her classmates win without her in the team has gotten Chen Meng Chen to believe she no longer has a place in the team because she sees the team no longer needs her skills.
Wang Mai Zhi, for the forth time, catches up with Wei Qi Zhen after the competition to try to get back the good friend relationship status he had with Wei Qi Zhen that he had destroyed with his thoughtless demonstration of image being top priority when he covered Wei Qi Zhen’s mouth and told her not to say ‘Girlfriend’ so loud after he revealed to her what he wanted as a reward for winning the first round of competitions. He had already tried three times to bring Wei Qi Zhen back to him. But each time, Wei Qi Zhen chose to distance herself from him.
In Wang Mai Zhi’s first attempt, it took place in the school walkway after the announcement of Wei Qi Zhen being a participant in the competition. He had waited behind a beam for Wei Qi Zhen to appear. When she appeared and he went to bring her into what seemed like a headlock to take her to a more secluded location to talk, he was left empty. Wei Qi Zhen dodged him. He tried leading her along in a more regular way, leading her by the hand, but Wei Qi Zhen snapped her hand away and told Wang Mai Zhi to say what he needed to say at the place they stood.
"Weirdo Zhen, how am I supposed to say anything with so many people over here? Do you not want my apology?" Wang Mai Zhi said to her. She didn’t require one, she told him, because it was she who was much too foolish for thinking sincerity was enough to move someone when there are some who just didn’t care for it.
"What will it take in order for you to pay attention to me?" Wang Mai Zhi asked Wei Qi Zhen when she made a move to leave and he stopped her. Wei Qi Zhen didn’t put blame on Wang Mai Zhi’s need to be seen in a certain way. "I’m just clear about how I’m not suitable to be Wang Mai Zhi’s good friend," she said. Wang Mai Zhi didn’t understand why and asked why. "This sort of a secret friendship, it won’t be good for you if by chance others find out. That’s why I’d rather we be regular classmates. This way, at least I won’t have to worry about others finding out, about angering you further or worry about you hating me more."
Wang Mai Zhi was moved enough by those words to take a step closer towards Wei Qi Zhen and recognised he was causing her pain when she took a step back from his approach: "Am I making you very sad?" Wang Mai Zhi asked Wei Qi Zhen. "No," Wei Qi Zhen replied. "I’m just very clear about what my existence means."
Wang Mai Zhi was then left without further ways to bring Wei Qi Zhen back to him, forced to walk away after Wei Qi Zhen said she has been happy and said good bye to him.
The second attempt was when Wang Mai Zhi found Wei Qi Zhen with Chen Meng Chen in the kitchen where Wei Qi Zhen was being trained by Chen Meng Chen how to slice a gelatinous food item. Wang Mai Zhi had offered Wei Qi Zhen his own time to train her. However, Wei Qi Zhen rejected the offer. Wei Qi Zhen explained she preferred Chen Meng Chen over him because her training was more vigourous. She’d be able to improve faster with Chen Meng Chen training her. Yet again, Wei Qi Zhen preferred to not be around him. And yet again, Wang Mai Zhi could only let her be. He told her he hoped she wouldn’t regret choosing to continue training with Chen Meng Chen before he exited the room and accepted Wei Qi Zhen’s decision to keep distance from him.
He had much more luck just before the competition, however. This third attempt, he managed to get Wei Qi Zhen to agree to follow him to stand just outside the room the team was waiting in before the competition. He got Wei Qi Zhen to agree to wear the lucky charm he made for her for the competition. It did take Wang Mai Zhi to say that rejecting the gift will affect his mood and it could result in him losing the competition, however. Nevertheless, Wei Qi Zhen accepted his gift and agreed to wear it.
Wang Mai Zhi failing to show Wei Qi Zhen he was willing to let go of upholding his image made Wei Qi Zhen continuously choose to keep a distance from him. But this forth try outside the competition venue, Wang Mai Zhi slowly comes to understand the need to let go of liking to be seen in a certain way.
Wang Mai Zhi traps Wei Qi Zhen in his arms from behind to stop her from running away. "Quickly let go. Our classmates are coming out soon," Wei Qi Zhen says. "I will not let go. What’s so embarrassing about being with you?" Wang Mai Zhi says to Wei Qi Zhen. Wang Mai Zhi’s reluctance to let her go and want to remain as they are seems to be good enough proof to Wei Qi Zhen that Wang Mai Zhi is finally understanding what she needs for him to show her to let him in again. She brings a hand up to Wang Mai Zhi’s one that was keeping her trapped in his arms and holds it. She smiles and allows Wang Mai Zhi to continue hugging her from behind.
But Wang Mai Zhi overestimates his ability to throw away his habit of looking good. He immediately snaps away from Wei Qi Zhen as soon as he spots Liu Xuan, Ma Chong Sheng, Amy Fan and Kong Meng Zhe in the distance coming out from the building. Wang Mai Zhi’s abrupt action leaves Wei Qi Zhen looking sadly down at the hand that once had his in its grasp. The many moments of exchanging looks back and forth with Wang Mai Zhi and finding him continuing to separate himself from her when classmates keep their attention on them makes Wei Qi Zhen decide to leave. "Good bye," she says to Wang Mai Zhi then briskly walks away from him and towards her other classmates.
Wei Qi Zhen briskly walks away with the lucky charm Wang Mai Zhi gave to her in her hand. Possibly, she’s asking for it to give the luck she needs to get Wang Mai Zhi to choose her over his image. The lucky charm seems to grant the request: Wei Qi Zhen very near to making it to standing with her other classmates, Wang Mai Zhi calls out to her. "Weirdo Zhen!" Wei Qi Zhen immediately stop walking. Wang Mai Zhi runs to be face-to-face with her. He pulls her in and shocks her with his hug. Liu Xuan, Ma Chong Sheng, Amy Fan and Kong Meng Zhe are as shocked as Wei Qi Zhen. Shock turns into happiness for Wei Qi Zhen when she hears Wang Mai Zhi tell her, "I like you," and continue to hug her in front of their classmates. She’s a little out of breath from Wang Mai Zhi’s tight hug that he says he won’t relax because he will simply give her CPR if she does faint from it, but she’s happy as she smiles and brings herself to return him a better hug.
Wei Qi Zhen officially his girlfriend, Wang Mai Zhi expresses what Wei Qi Zhen can expect from him: "In the future, you’ll be my responsibility. Even if the sky comes crashing down, I will be there to shield you," he tells Wei Qi Zhen on their walk home hours after the competition. He makes Wei Qi Zhen know to draw boundaries with others: "In the future, only I can bully you and I’m the only one who can lead you by your hand." He has rules she must abide by because he’s her boyfriend. First asking Wei Qi Zhen to hand her phone to him so to allow him to change the entry for his phone number to ‘Boyfriend’ then calling Wei Qi Zhen on her phone so she can see the change he made, he tells her the rules: "You are not allowed to avoid me; when you see me, you cannot run away; and you cannot reject my phone calls because I’m your boyfriend."
After giving Wei Qi Zhen these rules, he has Wei Qi Zhen find the surprise item he stored inside the lucky charm he gave her. "Oh! The most handsome on Earth!" Wei Qi Zhen says. What Wei Qi Zhen pulls out and is looking at is a smiling photo of Wang Mai Zhi with his arms forming a heart. "You now know I gave a lot of thought into it, right? When you were in the competition, I was there by your chest cheering you on." The present isn’t free, though. Wang Mai Zhi expects a present for the present he’s given. He asks Wei Qi Zhen for one. Wei Qi Zhen didn’t prepare one for him, though. Also, she doesn’t have much pocket money left this month. Wang Mai Zhi doesn’t want a present that’s bought with money. "I want the present good friends can’t do," Wei Qi Zhen knows what he means. She gives him a kiss on his cheek.
Thoughts
This episode started off with parts we didn’t care for. The entire scene with Chris was rather pointless and unnecessary. It seems to serve to send the actor off and maybe to share to the world Chris Wang’s baby. We thought where it ended in the previous episode was enough to show it’s the end for the Chris character.
The Wang Mai Zhi and Wei Qi Zhen parts: the best parts, definitely! Finally Wang Mai Zhi does what we’ve been wanting him to do! We were so happy to see him show everyone that he likes Wei Qi Zhen. Amy Fan’s reaction to Wang Mai Zhi hugging Wei Qi Zhen was the best! It’s like, "Oh… That’s unexpected," sort of a reaction. Hehe.
The confession scene was accompanied by a soundtrack in the background. When it came on after Wei Qi Zhen says good bye and walks away and Wang Mai Zhi was thinking, we thought it sounded a lot like Ben Wu’s singing. We found out we were right when we went searching for the song! The song is titled, 陪你飛 by 吳思賢 – Fly with You by Wu Szu Shien (Wu Szu Shien is Ben Wu’s Chinese name). Finding that out, it makes that scene so much cooler!
陪你飛 by 吳思賢 is one of two new soundtracks that featured in the episode. The other one is 你一直在心中 by 吳莫愁 – You’re Always on My Mind by Wu Mo Chou. (We think it’s new…) It came in when Wei Qi Zhen was crying after leaving Wang Mai Zhi in the school walkway scene and a montage of past scenes of Wang Mai Zhi and Wei Qi Zhen entered. The artist has a very interesting voice. Love Cuisine really does choose interesting soundtracks for the series! We just wish the writing and plotting matched the greatness of the soundtracks they’ve used for the series, though.
Back to the Wang Mai Zhi confession scene. There were some things that dampened the greatness of the confession scene: that kiss on the cheek Wei Qi Zhen gave to Wang Mai Zhi was held unnaturally long and they made us notice the shot of the shoes during this kiss scene because they had one earlier. It took us out of the sweet moment and made us wonder if they were lacking shots.
The moment just before the confession where Wang Mai Zhi ran to Wei Qi Zhen to hug her and confess in front of everyone: it wasn’t at all bad, but with the slow motion shot that added extra dramatic effect, it made us ready ourselves for a cringy moment. This scene came in before an intermission and it was repeated in normal time. The normal time version of it felt better and didn’t make us think something cringy was going to come.
Wang Mai Zhi had Wei Qi Zhen’s number under ‘Kiwifruit Without Seeds’. It was interesting so we had to mention it! :oD :oD. We’re sure it’s just going to be ‘Wei Qi Zhen‘ or ‘Girlfriend’ now! :oP :oP. Awesome!!
The fall out that happened between Wang Mai Zhi and Wei Qi Zhen really did bring some good lines coming from Wang Mai Zhi in this episode. We liked: "Am I making you very sad?" This sounds very regular, but these sort of words showing he’s noticing Wei Qi Zhen doesn’t come out of Wang Mai Zhi a lot, so it’s quite impactful. It was also impactful when it was said after Wei Qi Zhen had backed away from his step forward towards her.
There’s the line, "Do you know who she is to me?" Wang Mai Zhi says that after he felt Chen Meng Chen was mistreating Wei Qi Zhen when he came in seeing Chen Meng Chen getting a plaster out and about to wrap it around the finger that Wei Qi Zhen had grazed with her knife. It was really fun watching Wang Mai Zhi stumped by Chen Meng Chen’s “I don’t know. Who is she?” Hehe. :oP :oP.
And then there’s the line after the confession. "In the future, you’re my responsibility. Even if the sky crashes down, I will be there to shield you." This was so sweet and satisfying to hear coming from Wang Mai Zhi. We want more lines like these! We don’t mind really unoriginal and cheesy lines coming from him in the future at all! How we see it is that the greater difference in social status between two characters and the more mismatched they seem to be, the cheesier/cornier the lines characters can say to the other when they finally get together! Love!
The swap out of Chen Meng Chen to get Wei Qi Zhen into the competition, we don’t know if it’s harsh or not that Chen Meng Chen got replaced because she said for the team to give up and admit defeat when Liu Xuan lost the team’s stock for their stew in the previous round against Shi Wen High School. She did lose her cool, but we think a serious talk about her attitude and a warning to improve her attitude would have been enough to make her conform. Chen Meng Chen being replaced because she lost her cool really felt overboard. It’s probably written to move the Wang Mai Zhi and Wei Qi Zhen relationship along and give character development for Chen Meng Chen, but it doesn’t seem correct or realistic. Guess, we should know by now that Love Cuisine is not about being correct, realistic or logical development when we’ve come the series just springs up with anything and everything and can bring on outcomes that surprise.
Chen Meng Chen written to be replaced did bring some cool scenes between Chen Meng Chen and Wei Qi Zhen, though. We love Chen Meng Chen’s "Wrong, wrong, wrong" shots when Chen Meng Chen was teaching Wei Qi Zhen how to slice a gelatinous food item. Chen Meng Chen was very cute when she ‘pat-pat’ Wei Qi Zhen’s bandaged finger. We saw a whole different side to Chen Meng Chen here. Guess that was what these scenes were for: to show that Chen Meng Chen looks tough and mean, but she is actually quite nice and show she is a team player with a good heart.
Fang Xiao Rou, we feel this is a character the writer gives all the annoying lines and actions to. Fang Xiao Rou was seen to be the party pooper when she gasps at the sight of Wang Mai Zhi in a hug with Wei Qi Zhen. While Han Jie says ‘finally’ and shows no problems with the relationship, Fang Xiao Rou quickly goes splitting the two up and says they can’t date. We know she was just looking out for Wang Mai Zhi and Wei Qi Zhen because she didn’t want them to be disciplined for the display of affection, but we didn’t want Fang Xiao Rou to do that!
There wasn’t a whole lot of Fang Xiao Rou and Han Jie in this episode. Their part in the episode was just teachers. Not much on their relationship. It was actually quite pleasant to watch the pair as teachers talking about teacher stuff. It was refreshing!
We wonder what the next and final episode has in it. Love Cuisine seems to be a series that doesn’t have a final arc to conclude. It only has ‘things’ to conclude—that is, if they are going to choose to conclude them!
There’s the principal’s son issue. This is no longer as fun as we had found it at the beginning. Without Su Ying Jun being developed as the person who comes in episode after episode belittling Han Jie and favouring Wen Zhen Yu, it’s just another fact to reveal about Han Jie. No reaction like Su Ying Jun being supershocked. Fang Xiao Rou’s shock won’t be fun, either. Fang Xiao Rou has been continuously been inferior to Han Jie the godly figure in the cuisine world and the school. So, this will just keep making her inferior in yet another way when she finds out that he’s actually the principal’s son. The shock from Jiang Pei Ying when she finds out that the person she wanted to make an impression on and turn into her boyfriend is none other than Han Jie is a little funner, but still not terribly entertaining. And same goes for Li Zhi Chao realising that the ‘daddy’s boy’ who is threatening his chances of being the next principal of the school is none other than Han Jie—not anything exciting, either.
Olives House in Taiwan—we have no idea how this will be included.
In this episode Yong Sheng High School was mentioned alongside Qian Ren High School. So, we’re guessing Yong Sheng High School is the next and final school Si Ping High School is going up against.
The soundtracks that featured in this episode:
陪你飛 by 吳思賢 (Fly with You by Ben Wu)
你一直在心中 by 吳莫愁 (You’re Always on My Mind by Wu Mo Chou)
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