An awesome episode! We enjoyed it so much! There were parts we paused or rewinded to make sure we got in every word! :oP :oP.
The big event in this episode is the power struggle for the company that’s happening between Huo Ting En’s mother and Huo Tian Zhi’s mother. The episode doesn’t stay on it for very long, but it sets things up. The situation that’s building from it is a challenge that may require the help of Wei Fen Qing. Huo Ting En gets challenged to change the menu of the ambassador banquet to Taiwanese street food. This seems to be what’s coming next.
With the mother, we had always thought the mother that had been introduced was Huo Tian Zhi’s mother. This episode reveals that the mother we’ve been introduced to is actually Huo Ting En’s mother. Thinking back, we don’t think we’ve ever seen Huo Tian Zhi address the mother we’ve been introduced to as ‘Mum’ face-to-face. There was only one scene where Huo Ting En, Huo Tian Zhi and the mother were in a scene together and we think it was only Huo Ting En who ever addressed the mother as ‘Mum’. Huo Tian Zhi did say ‘Mum’ when he came into Huo Ting En’s office when Huo Ting En questions Peng Xiao Bin about another odd reservation, but not told it wasn’t the mother we’ve been introduced to. We also should have paid more attention to the family portrait that was in one of the episodes. That would have gotten us to see which mother we’ve been introduced to. So, oops. Quite an oversight of ours! The mother that is challenging Huo Ting En only makes her appearance now in Episode 8. She’s definitely not very nice. She’s shown to have great dislike towards Huo Ting En and his family. She’s one who does not like any of the Huo possession going to anyone but a legitimate Huo member.
A Huo family member who loves Huo Ting En dearly though is the grandmother. She comes across as fun-loving, regular and down-to-earth. She sees all her grandchildren—blood-related or not—as her grandchildren. We enjoy these types of grandmother characters. These types of fun-loving, regular and down-to-earth grandmother characters can give a bit of help in fighting against people like Huo Tian Zhi’s mother when backed into a terrible corner!
We love this scene! Huo Ting En does the typical masculine move on Wei Fen Qing—or more like Peng Xiao Bin! Peng Xiao Bin’s comment after the moment where Huo Ting En was angry at Wei Fen Qing was hilarious! Peng Xiao Bin says, “So this is how it feels to be backed into a wall… It’s pretty good!” He didn’t seem like he was enjoying it! His face was so contorted. It was a really funny scene. Great way to have this typical scene in without the cliché feel.
And then this funny scene is followed up with a very serious scene of Huo Ting En holding enough of his anger in to teach Wei Fen Qing a component of the Curry Lobster dish she so desperately wants to learn to make. It was a pretty cool followup scene to the funny one!
We’re so intrigued by Huo Ting En’s ability to hear Wei Fen Qing’s thoughts! We don’t think he’s developed the skill to read minds, though. We’re guessing he’s only able to do so when it really matters or it’s just something else that makes him guess what Wei Fen Qing is thinking accurately. But, we can’t be sure. The Perfect Match is a quirky drama, so maybe Huo Ting En may just have acquired the skill of reading minds! We don’t mind. We like this sudden special ability of Huo Ting En’s. It makes things interesting for Wei Fen Qing and Huo Ting En!
Episode 8 Recap
The night of hitting and Huo Ting En’s words, ‘I won’t let you off!’ (or ‘I won’t be finished with you!’), seem to have helped Huo Ting En remember what had happened after the wine party. After both he and Wei Fen Qing removed their clothes and ended up in the clothes they woke up in, they fought over the bed. Wei Fen Qing kept pushing Huo Ting En off and repeatedly shoved him at the face with her hand and foot. He warned Wei Fen Qing he was getting mad then said a similar sounding sentence to ‘I love you’: ‘Wei Fen Qing, I won’t let you off’. He then towered above her like the sea monster Wei Fen Qing had called him to be and crashed down onto the bed.
Huo Ting En is ecstatic about finally remembering what had happened between him and Wei Fen Qing. He taps Wei Fen Qing on her cheek to wake her up to tell her she had heard the speech in the video wrong. Huo Ting En is curious about the reason why she had brought the video to him and questioned him with it, though. Wei Fen Qing denies questioning him before admitting to it and saying it’s so she could reject him.
“Let it be then,” Wei Fen Qing says. “I knew it wasn’t possible. It was a misunderstanding in the end.” These words, Huo Ting En seem to hear disappointment within them. He turns serious. He asks Wei Fen Qing what she’d do if what happened was not a misunderstanding. He wishes to hear her answer. Would her answer be ‘Yes’ or ‘No’?
The unwavering gaze Huo Ting En holds and his close proximity has Wei Fen Qing lack a response for many moments before she pushes him away telling him she won’t answer his hypothetical question. She directs his attention to his phone of which she says is ringing. She gets herself out of the confinement of the tent.
The camping trip comes to an end when the call Huo Ting En gets is from Huo Tian Zhi telling him his grandmother has been admitted to the hospital for a fall.
On the drive to the hospital, while Wei Fen Qing says for Huo Ting En to not worry too much because she feels his grandmother will be fine just like how her mum was fine when she was very sick one time, Huo Ting En is worried. He asks Wei Fen Qing if she could quieten down a bit. However, Wei Fen Qing wanting to keep Huo Ting En’s mind off of the matter and seeing her method was working, she continues chatting away.
She tells Huo Ting En how her mother’s wish is for her to get married. However, she isn’t sure if she should get married because she wants to keep being by her mother’s side. Huo Ting En responds she’s a bit early to think about marriage when she’s still so young.
Huo Ting En hints his situation with Meng Ru Xi to Wei Fen Qing when he continues the conversation with expressing how he is now able to see that all parents have the same thinking when it comes to their children and marriage. They all wish for their children to quickly have a career, get married and have kids. One thing differs with his mother, though: his mother thinks about alliance of companies through marriage.
The conversation has distracted Huo Ting En from thinking about his grandmother for this time. But he asks for quietness again after he speaks about his grandmother who also wishes for him to get married and give her great grandchildren, but she just can’t bear to nag him about it.
At the hospital, Huo Ting En finds his grandmother is doing fine when he enters his grandmother’s hospital suite that his mum and Huo Tian Zhi had specially asked the hospital to provide for their grandmother. Huo Ting En’s time there becomes one where he gets pressured into agreeing to moving back home to live for a time. He agrees to move back home after he finishes his work on the ambassador banquet.
Wei Fen Qing had been waiting outside whilst Huo Ting En was with his grandmother. Huo Ting En pops out to tell Wei Fen Qing he isn’t able to take her home. He needs to take care of his grandma. However, when Wei Fen Qing says she’ll get Ah Wei to pick her up after Huo Ting En had asked how she was going to get home, Huo Ting En, all of a sudden, does have 30 minutes spare to take Wei Fen Qing home.
Ah Wei is found by the stairs on the other side of the entrance door when Wei Fen Qing opens it to head up to her apartment after Huo Ting En dropped her off. She gets an earful from Ah Wei about how he had been waiting by those stairs for her to come home the entire night; how she mustn’t be watching the news on TV reporting about how dangerous it is out on the streets at night; and how she hadn’t come home for three of the days since beginning her training at La Mure. He wonders if it’s that she was with Huo Ting En yesterday night.
Wei Fen Qing tries to get away without telling Ah Wei where she was yesterday night. However, Ah Wei pulls her back and asks once more where she was last night. He isn’t able to get an answer out of Wei Fen Qing, though. She says she’s 26 years old—old enough to take care of herself. She then manages to get away from Ah Wei when he has the idea of making his second birthday wish to make sure his want comes true. Facing away from Wei Fen Qing and eyes closed, Ah Wei wishes Wei Fen Qing doesn’t stay out all night ever again.
Meng Ru Xi comes to realise on her own Huo Tian Zhi had been behind the flowers and card she received some time ago after getting confirmation from Huo Ting En of the fact that he never had any interest in her and had no desire to date her during the breakfast date she had asked him out on. Meng Ru Xi isn’t fazed by this misunderstanding Huo Tian Zhi had created, however. She will chase after Huo Ting En herself. She’s looking very determined and confident when, after Huo Ting En had left their breakfast date, she says aloud she always gets what she wants.
Huo Ting En is outside Wei Fen Qing’s apartment block. He’s there to take her to work. Wei Fen Qing is confused why he has come to take her to work. Huo Ting En reminds her of the fact that her motorbike is still up in the mountains. He tells her to hop into his car.
What follows is Huo Ting En seemingly having the ability to read Wei Fen Qing’s mind. Wei Fen Qing says, ‘Okay’ in her mind, but she doesn’t make a move to get into Huo Ting En’s car. Huo Ting En asks Wei Fen Qing why she’s still standing there after saying ‘Okay’. Wei Fen Qing does notice how odd it was that Huo Ting En had just responded to what she spoke in her mind, but she doesn’t become alarmed by his apparent ability to read her mind until he reads her mind a second time.
‘It’s so strange…’ Wei Fen Qing thinks—a thought, we presume, is in response to why she was obediently following Huo Ting En’s instructions again. She first listened to him when he told her to hop in the car. Now, she was putting on her seatbelt as Huo Ting En had told her to do.
“What’s strange?” Huo Ting En asks. “What is it you’re finding strange?” Huo Ting En asks after Wei Fen Qing turned to him shocked and in disbelief. She asks if she had said anything. Huo Ting En asks if she hadn’t. “No,” Wei Fen Qing responds.
They make a start for work. Arriving, Wei Fen Qing thanks Huo Ting En for the ride. She begins making her way into La Mure when rain suddenly starts pouring down onto her. Huo Ting En comes to her aid: he brings his jacket over her head and leads her to shelter.
Huo Ting En’s gesture confuses her. She asks Huo Ting En why he had to get out of the car and become wet because of it. He says it’s that she didn’t have an umbrella. He also had forgotten to bring one with him as well. Wei Fen Qing asks why he gave her a ride to work today. Huo Ting En just wanted to.
What Wei Fen Qing finds stranger than Huo Ting En giving her a ride to work is her reaction to Huo Ting En taking out his handkerchief and using it to dry her forehead and get locks of hair out of her way for her. He also hands her his handkerchief and tells her to use it to dry herself off before he says he will be in later on because he has some things to take care of. Wei Fen Qing smiles after all of those words and actions from Huo Ting En. She’s in that moment for a brief time before she snaps herself out of it. She tells herself to listen to Ah Wei. She should distance herself a little more from Huo Ting En.
A board meeting takes place whilst Huo Ting En accompanies his grandmother for a time until he attends the board meeting. During this time where Huo Ting En accompanies his grandmother, we’re told the reason Huo Ting En is currently accompanying his grandmother. It’s to keep the peace between Huo Ting En’s mother and Huo Tian Zhi’s mother.
We’re shown the difficult relationship Huo Ting En and his family had with his stepmother through Huo Ting En’s recollection of when he was younger and living under the roof of the Huo family. Huo Tian Zhi’s mother had made it known to Huo Ting En and his sister they were not welcomed to be part of their Huo family. One occasion where Huo Ting En made curry for Huo Tian Zhi’s father to try, Huo Tian Zhi’s mother threw the bowl in the sink and told Huo Ting En his curry wasn’t good even when she’d found it to taste good. She accused him of wanting to inherit their family restaurant. Another occasion where Huo Ting En made a dish for Huo Ting Li, Huo Tian Zhi’s mother told Huo Ting En the dish he just made was just an unpopular dish. She mentioned about an abundant amount of Huo family kitchenware which the two hadn’t seen before. She warned them to never touch their things as they please. Otherwise, she’d go to their mother and begin an argument over it.
In these memories of Huo Ting En’s, we see Huo Ting Li dissatisfied with their stepmother’s poor treatment of them. She didn’t understand why Huo Ting En allowed Huo Tian Zhi’s mother to treat them so poorly. Huo Ting En had the reason of being grateful to the Huo family for giving their family food to eat and a place to stay. We also see that Huo Tian Zhi had always treated Huo Ting En and Huo Ting Li like his real brother and sister. He’d shared his cake that his mother bought for him with them both. Huo Tian Zhi told Huo Ting En that what belongs to him also belongs to Huo Ting En after presenting his cake before Huo Ting En, but Huo Ting En said the cake was his then told Huo Tian Zhi he’d never take away what is his from him.
Huo Ting En’s grandmother tells Huo Ting En he shouldn’t give things up. She’s speaking about his position as General Manager of Yanis and La Mure. It’s because she recognises the hard work he’s put into their company. It was Huo Ting En who helped Yanis out when they were in a crisis situation which seemed to have a very high possibility of seeing Yanis going under without Huo Ting En’s help.
Huo Ting En’s grandmother wants Huo Ting En to understand he has her backing in doing whatever he wishes to do (with regards to Yanis and La Mure, we presume). He can simply just put his hands on it and do it. Huo Ting En, however, has the same thinking as he had when he was younger. He tells his grandmother that Tian Zhi is her only grandson and he’s willing to give up his General Manager position and La Mure to Tian Zhi.
Huo Ting En’s grandma is terribly dissatisfied hearing this. She tells Huo Ting En to delete those things he said because he is one of her three grandchildren. He’s her first grandson, followed by Tian Zhi and then followed by her granddaughter, Ting Li. He can leave La Mure and go venture out into the world; however, he can never give all of Huo’s properties to the Huo family. He’s the person in charge of La Mure. He needs to remember only two things. They are: what’s good for La Mure and the thing he really wishes to do. Huo Ting En’s grandmother then tells Huo Ting En to go make the right decision and do the right thing.
At the board meeting, Vice-chairwoman Gong (Huo Tian Zhi’s mother) announces the menu for the ambassador banquet has changed to Taiwanese street food. It’s a challenge that sees Huo Ting En agree to—much to Vice-chairwoman Song’s (Huo Ting En’s mother) disappointment as she sees it as Vice-chairman Gong’s way of putting Huo Ting En and La Mure in a difficult position. She also feels he’s always listening to the other vice-chairwoman. However, it’s not that Huo Ting En doesn’t know this or is always listening to the other vice-chairwoman. It’s simply that Vice-chairwoman Gong just sees herself as first. They are second.
After Huo Ting En leaves, we hear Huo Ting En’s mother reveal a mother’s concern for her son. She understands her position of Second in the Huo family. However, she doesn’t accept Huo Ting En being second, always being subservient to them and accommodating them. She feels they can change it with the support of a powerful partner. It’s the reason she wants him to marry Meng Ru Xi.
Wei Fen Qing has become uncomfortable around Huo Ting En after the events in the morning. At La Mure, Huo Ting En and Peng Xiao Bin finds it difficult to have a moment with Wei Fen Qing to ask for her help with their situation with the ambassador banquet when she uses excuses to get herself away from Huo Ting En.
Peng Xiao Bin realises Wei Fen Qing is avoiding Huo Ting En. He manages to catch her at the storeroom and have a talk with her about what was going on between her and her ‘Darling’ (Huo Ting En). Nothing was going on between them, Wei Fen Qing says. Peng Xiao Bin eventually manages to have Wei Fen Qing tell him the reason for her behaviour towards Huo Ting En.
It’s that Huo Ting En is hard to get along with, hateful, full of himself and is the one who lacks the qualification to be her boyfriend and not the other way around like Huo Ting En had shown the fisherman (Episode 3). Wei Fen Qing explains she’d not be at La Mure for even one minute were it not for the Curry Lobster or the seven day training.
The explanation Wei Fen Qing gives is heard in part, possibly entirely, by Huo Ting En. He moves towards Wei Fen Qing, taking Peng Xiao Bin down along the way, and seeing red as he asks her if she hated him that much and whether it was that she really saw him to be such a terrible person in her heart as she had expressed a moment ago. Huo Ting En tells Wei Fen Qing to follow him. He will fulfill her wish right now.
With the anger and disappointment that Huo Ting En seem to hold in as he knocks bowls into the other on the table after finishing with them, he teaches Wei Fen Qing how to make the risotto in his Curry Lobster dish, step by step and to the final step. He leaves immediately after finishing.
One of the ingredient Huo Ting En used in the risotto is saffron. He’d hurled the pottle towards Wei Fen Qing after he added it into the cooking. After Huo Ting En left, Peng Xiao Bin comes in explaining the reason Huo Ting En adds saffron to his risotto: though Huo Ting En has a sharp mouth, he’s very romantic. Peng Xiao Bin tells Wei Fen Qing about a legend of the saffron flower. The legend tells a story about a farmer who couldn’t bear to say goodbye and see the saffron flower wither. The farmer therefore prayed to the flower God to let the flower bloom at the last moment of autumn. Through this legend, the saffron flower represents true love and fond attachment—’I will wait for you at the former place’.
Peng Xiao Bin leaves Wei Fen Qing in thought after telling Wei Fen Qing about how everyone at La Mure can’t bear to see her leave. That’s particularly more so for Huo Ting En.
Following this, we see Huo Ting En struggling to come up with a menu of Taiwanese street food for the ambassador banquet that is taking place tomorrow. Meanwhile, Wei Fen Qing works to follow the steps Huo Ting En had taught her in making risotto. Through Peng Xiao Bin’s report to Huo Ting En, we’re told Wei Fen Qing successfully makes the risotto and is ready for the final test that is taking place tomorrow. It will decide whether Wei Fen Qing will pass and go home or fail. With regards to failing Wei Fen Qing, Peng Xiao Bin feels Huo Ting En can make that decision to fail Wei Fen Qing if he wishes for her to stay. Huo Ting En’s response is he will let her go home.
The episode concludes with Huo Ting En taking Wei Fen Qing up to the mountains to retrieve her motorbike. Wei Fen Qing had initially declined the offer and chose to retrieve her motorbike by calling a taxi. However, Huo Ting En brings her to take up on his offer with saying it may be the last time he will be able to drive her.
At the mountains, Wei Fen Qing clears up the misunderstanding between them. She tells Huo Ting En she hadn’t meant what she said and he shouldn’t take it to heart. Huo Ting En says he knows she didn’t mean to say what she had said. It’s simply what was coming from her heart. This response from Huo Ting En has Wei Fen Qing struggle to express her thoughts aloud. Huo Ting En hadn’t understood her. She speaks them in her mind, however. Once again, Huo Ting En hears them. He hears her say she never hated him and how she wishes to apologise so it wouldn’t be so awkward. He asks Wei Fen Qing if they are what she wanted to say each time he heard each thought. When Wei Fen Qing confirms, Huo Ting En steps out of the car and waits to hear Wei Fen Qing’s apology outside.
Wei Fen Qing apologises for acting odd every time she’s around him. She was nervous about tomorrow’s final test. We can then only guess that Huo Ting En was trying to have Wei Fen Qing elaborate further when, after Wei Fen Qing apologised and explained her reason for her behaviour today, he goes to confirm once more with Wei Fen Qing whether her behaviour today was because she was nervous about the test tomorrow. Wei Fen Qing confirms that it is the reason.
It seems Wei Fen Qing has uncertainty towards leaving La Mure and Huo Ting En when she goes to confirm with Huo Ting En what would happen if she passes or fails. Huo Ting En’s answer to her passing is simple: she will leave. However, with the response to if she fails and whether she will continue to be at La Mure, Huo Ting En returns a question: do you want to stay? “Do you want me to stay?” Wei Fen Qing returns back. “Do you wish I’ll have you stay?” Huo Ting En asks.
Wei Fen Qing doesn’t answer. She instead runs to the shooting star she sees going across the night sky. She makes a wish which she includes Huo Ting En in it: “I wish that La Mure, Huo Ting En, the people at the night market, my mum, my younger brother and I will be healthy, happy and safe. The most important thing is that everyone is happy. Please. We must be happy.”
After the wish, Wei Fen Qing suddenly becomes stiff from the darkness. “Why has it suddenly become so dark?” She calls Huo Ting En. Huo Ting En goes to her and takes her hand in his. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”
Final Comments
Wasn’t the end scene cute? We thought it was!!!! We like that both tried to figure out what the other wanted. LOVE!
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