The episode seem to have the theme of family love as its focus when we find many scenes repeating it. Still, when we were watching the episode, it felt like it was going in all directions with switches between what felt like so many different scenes that didn’t build on each other. There were a lot of little incidents happening that either were used to progress other things along or appeared to crudely tie up any loose ends.
We weren’t very excited when watching this episode. We didn’t find a lot we enjoyed. We’d say we paid attention to the Meng Ru Xi and Huo Tian Zhi parts. We like seeing Ah Wei on the screen and it was sort of nice that he gets a confession of his own even though it came out of nowhere. Everything else: we just watched because it was there on the screen.
Episode 18 Recap
Huo Tian Zhi makes a lot of noise as he continues to move around Meng Ru Xi’s room. When he comes across one of Meng Ru Xi’s undergarments on the floor, he recalls the intimate night he spent with Meng Ru Xi.
Meng Ru Xi, who had been awake, pushes aside her embarrassment and gets out from under the covers. She lies on her stomach and faces Huo Tian Zhi with a cute smile and says ‘Hi’ to him. Huo Tian Zhi returns the greeting with a ‘Hi’ as well.
Huo Tian Zhi says he’ll take responsibility for what happened between them the previous night. Meng Ru Xi declines, however. She firmly tells Huo Tian Zhi he doesn’t need to take responsibility before ending that and asks him if he wanted to have breakfast with her. Huo Tian Zhi will.
Meng Ru Xi and Huo Tian Zhi comes to be before Meng Ru Xi’s dad. Huo Tian Zhi panics. However, Meng Ru Xi’s dad is pretty relaxed about seeing Huo Tian Zhi coming out of Meng Ru Xi’s room. He even offers Huo Tian Zhi a seat. However, Meng Ru Xi feels it’s best Huo Tian Zhi leaves. After apologising to Meng Ru Xi and her father for troubling them both, Huo Tian Zhi leaves.
The sight of Huo Tian Zhi coming out of Meng Ru Xi’s room in the morning is not objected by Meng Ru Xi’s dad because it has benefits for business.
Meng Ru Xi’s father:
“Do you know that the shareholders of Yanis are selling their stocks? I will bargain hunt and slowly position ourselves. When I have a strong position within their group and you’re married in, we’ll have a say. Don’t worry. I have it planned out for you. This is a solid path.”
Meng Ru Xi objects to this. She wants to make her own decision on her future. Her father, however, tells her he has made his decision. This has Meng Ru Xi leave in anger.
Ah Wei thinks about his position with regards to Wei Fen Qing after watching on a couple-like display of Huo Ting En and Wei Fen Qing argue over the copyright of the coronation chicken sandwich which both had a hand in creating. Peng Xiao Bin listens on as Ah Wei speaks.
Ah Wei:
“The relationship between two people is mutual and both need to engage with each other. I became a part of Fen Qing’s world very early on. However, I actually never really entered her world. I also never really let her enter my world. Truth be told, she doesn’t even have an idea to who I really am. Maybe I cherish her too much. I always think about what I can do for her. Because of this, I let her slip away.”
Ah Wei’s dad feels it’s time for Ah Wei to come home. Ah Wei isn’t ready to come home yet. Ah Wei’s dad feels it’s because of Wei Fen Qing. This fact of Wei Fen Qing being the reason Ah Wei is reluctant to come home doesn’t concern Ah Wei’s dad. The concern Ah Wei’s dad has is Ah Wei not learning from his past experience with the ex-girlfriend who left him because his person is underwhelming.
Ah Wei’s dad:
“Son, when are you ever going to make progress? Was the lesson back then not good enough for you to learn from it?”
“Son, will you wake up? How do you suppose a man should protect his woman? Is it with his fists? No. It’s with the backing of a financially sound family background. This way, that woman is able to feel safe and secure with him for a lifetime.”
Ah Wei understands his dad’s thinking. However, he believes hard work can also obtain happiness. The two years he’s been out in the world, out with the night market people, he sees there are many in the world who don’t have a great family background to rely on yet they still can live well and be happy through relying on themselves and their hard work. Ah Wei express appreciation towards having such an opportunity to learn this different way of living and obtaining happiness from being with his night market friends, expressing how he would have not been able to learn all of this if he had lived at home.
The night market crew become worried about Yu-jie (Xie Li Jin), the oyster omelette stall owner. Uncle Spare Ribs (Gao Wei Ting) inform Yu-jie has not opened her stall for days and she’s nowhere to be seen at home. Yu-jie also has their group’s money contributions.
While the night market crew feel concerned about Yu-jie’s well-being, Huo Ting En feel Yu-jie may have hidden something from them.
Huo Ting En:
“I feel there’s logic in what Xiao Bin said. Perhaps, it’s not entirely as serious as doing a runner with the money. But, at the very least, we can be sure of one thing: it’s that she didn’t clarify anything with you all. She hid something from you. She is but a night market stall buddy. Do you truly know her?”
The night market crew disagree with Huo Ting En’s view of the situation.
Uncle Spare Ribs:
“Yu-jie is just like family to us. So, no matter how she looks in another’s eyes, whatever it is, we will help our family. We will support her to the end. Just like you, we also regard you as family. We help you and trust you. So, I believe Yu-jie wouldn’t do something like that.”
Wei Fen Qing:
“That’s right. No matter what, Yu-jie is family. We should first make sure she’s okay. That’s the most important thing. Let’s find her first before talking again.”
The night market crew break into groups to look for Yu-jie.
Whilst on the task of looking for Yu-jie, a confession comes from Zhen Zhen (An Ji), the balloon shoot stall owner, to Ah Wei.
Zhen Zhen:
“Ah Wei, I’ve had something I wanted to say to you for a long time. I know there are things where once they’re said, we may not be able to stay as friends. But, I want closure. Ah Wei, I like you.”
Ah Wei:
“Zhen Zhen, you are a really good and awesome girl. But you should know I already have someone I like. I’m sorry.”
Zhen Zhen gets out a big exhale before she asks Ah Wei if they are still friends. Ah Wei says they definitely are still friends. Zhen Zhen leaves with a held back sadness. She wipes a tear in her eyes after she sits with Ah Wang (Stanley Mei), the barbecue meat stall owner who yawns then stretches his arms looking to want to put an arm around Zhen Zhen to comfort her. He never makes it to completing the move when Ah Wei spots Yu-jie up ahead to where his eyes looked. He has Ah Wang and Zhen Zhen see if he’d seen correctly before instructing them to head up to Yu-jie.
Meanwhile, Wei Fen Qing along with Huo Ting En and Peng Xiao Bin are at Yanis after Wei Fen Qing finds out Wei Cheng Yang was not being paid for his work and the company was not giving him the credits to graduate. She speaks to Huo Tian Zhi at his General Manager office.
Wei Fen Qing:
“My brother, Cheng Yang, interns here. Why is he being taken advantage of? I will let you off on the prolonged work. But, you are now not paying him his wages. Are you simply using him as free labour? Futhermore, your company threatened him with saying that if he doesn’t continue working, you won’t give him his credits, stopping him from graduating. Is this how Yanis does things?”
It’s Gong Mei Li who had given the order. Huo Tian Zhi and everyone is informed of this after Huo Tian Zhi agrees to Huo Ting En’s request to bring the person in charge of the interns to come in and explain the situation.
We see the situation that’s taking place at Yanis is Yanis seemingly having some financial issues. Before Wei Fen Qing entered demanding explanations for why Wei Cheng Yang wasn’t being paid for his work, we heard Huo Tian Zhi surprised by some bill he wasn’t aware was coming again next month.
In front of Huo Ting En and the others, Huo Tian Zhi doesn’t budge from listening to Huo Ting En’s criticism of not undoing Gong Mei Li’s order. After they leave, though, Huo Tian Zhi instruct the person in charge of the interns to give Wei Cheng Yang what he was entitled to.
Wei Cheng Yang is actually fine with the situation, though.
Wei Cheng Yang:
“Actually, it’s okay. I had wanted to drop out from school since early on.”
“Even if I obtained these credits, it’s for you and Mum. I don’t want to waste time studying.”
This response from Wei Cheng Yang doesn’t go down well with Wei Fen Qing. She wants Wei Cheng Yang to at least get an education if he isn’t going to become a chef.
Wei Cheng Yang:
“Rita and her family support me. Why do you and Mum force me again and again?”
“So long as it doesn’t go according to you or Mum’s dream, everything is my fault and I deserve to die!”
Wei Cheng Yang runs out on Wei Fen Qing, leaving Wei Fen Qing calling out to him. Huo Ting En says for Wei Fen Qing to let Wei Cheng Yang go and not continue making him do things he doesn’t want to do. Huo Ting En uses the situation of him and Ting Li to back up his view on handling Wei Cheng Yang.
Huo Ting En:
“With my sister, the more I wanted my sister to do such and such, the more she doesn’t. They’ll be very rebellious. It’ll only have the opposite effect.”
Huo Ting En, Wei Fen Qing and Peng Xiao Bin are brought over to gather with Ah Wei and the night market crew to hear Yu-jie explain her situation.
Yu-jie:
“I’m sorry I didn’t contact everyone and caused everyone to be worried. My mother-in-law has dementia. She usually forgets this and that. Often, when she finishes eating, something disappears. Small things usually gets lost. But this time, she lost everyone’s money contributions.”
Yu-jie had the bag with the money after a meal with her mother-in-law. Yu-jie had tried watching her everyday to hopefully see her find the bag with their money in it, but had no luck. Huo Ting En comes up with an idea that he hopes can have Yu-jie’s mother-in-law show them where it is with turning on her body memory.
Huo Ting En:
“If you ask a person to repeatedly do one thing, just one thing, their body will make it into a habit. Habit will become a reflexive action.”
Huo Ting En turns his attention to Wei Fen Qing and uses this explanation to explain his view on handling Wei Cheng Yang’s situation.
Huo Ting En:
“The problem between you and Cheng Yang is the same. You always tell him off. You hope that he studies. His backlash is a kind of reflex because he’s used to being yelled at by you already.”
“You should speak to him calmly. Otherwise, there will always only be fighting.”
Back to getting Yu-jie’s mother-in-law to show where the bag with their money is, Huo Ting En goes to find out the food Yu-jie’s mother-in-law ate. The food she ate was egg fried rice. He comes up with the idea that soy sauce could be the trigger to have Yu-jie’s mother-in-law show them where she’d placed the bag.
After Huo Ting En finishes cooking the dish, Yu-jie’s mother-in-law comes alive. She leads them all to an empty home where Yu-jie explains was the previous home she lived in. Yu-jie’s mother-in-law goes to open a container with possessions. She begins speaking as she holds up a bag of biscuits then a pearl necklace.
Yu-jie’s mother-in-law:
“Mum is sorry towards you. The family is extremely poor. I can only save bit by bit for you. Mum won’t eat these biscuits. I’ll leave them for you when you go studying. The enrollment fee is a lot more. This will be your enrollment fee. This should be enough.”
The person Yu-jie’s mother-in-law was talking to is Yu-jie’s husband and Yu-jie’s mother-in-law’s son who had died at around Huo Ting En’s age. His name is Ah Xiong—as we find out, when suddenly, Yu-jie’s mother-in-law runs up to Huo Ting En and hugs him.
Huo Ting En simply plays the role of Ah Xiong. Huo Ting En responds to Yu-jie’s mother-in-law’s words that expressed her missing him and wanting him to see the many good things she saved for him. The words Huo Ting En says are those he says as if he’s speaking to his mother. As Huo Ting En responds, we are shown periods of time in Huo Ting En’s childhood.
Huo Ting En:
“Actually, I have never blamed you.”
“Mum, do you still remember? I was very naughty when I was small. I would always get into fights.”
“Our family was poor when I was small. We didn’t have money. When there was good food, the first person you thought of was me.”
“I was much too headstrong when I was small. I usually spoke words that were hurtful to you.”
“I know I was wrong. I didn’t do it on purpose. I love you very much. I love you very much. I know you love me, too. Thank you. Mum, thank you for loving me.”
The incident with Yu-jie’s mother-in-law seem to have Huo Ting En feel he’d not shown appreciation for the love and care his mum had given him. He meets up with his mother and expresses thanks for raising him and provides her an apology because he feels he always needs to.
This meeting is also one where Huo Ting En is caught up with the situation around the secret Huo Tian Zhi and Gong Mei Li has between them regarding Gong Mei Li moving company funds without permission (Episode 16).
Huo Ting En’s mother:
“Ting En, Tian Zhi really needs you. He truly needs you. Back then, Tian Zhi insisted on you renouncing from your duties was because he knew Gong Mei Li secretly embezzled funds. The investment failed to the point where the money is unable to be recovered. He didn’t want to betray his mother. He also didn’t want you, his big brother, to become the scapegoat. So he just played the bad guy and insisted on kicking you out from the Huo family.”
Ah Wei is outside his father’s home. Ah Wei standing outside seem perfectly-timed when Ah Wei’s dad appears to have wanted to see him and have a talk with him. Ah Wei’s dad pulls out a cheque. He says he had heard about the night market people wishing to open a restaurant. The cheque is to help Ah Wei help them in that. There is a condition that comes with accepting the cheque, however: Ah Wei must come home.
Ah Wei’s dad:
“As long as you are willing to come home, I can give the entire company to you. You can do whatever you want. It can be to the extent of protecting that woman well. Didn’t you say she doesn’t look at your money or your family background? This is the best. Bring her home. You said that she doesn’t have a powerful family background. That’s all right. I can accept her. Just bring her home, okay?”
Ah Wei tells his dad that the reason why he’s standing outside their family’s home is because he loves him. He goes to say that Meng Ru Xi also shows her love to him when she agrees to arranged marriages. Ah Wei then criticises the way his dad loves—the way he loves with the offer of the cheque to help him with Wei Fen Qing, for example.
Ah Wei:
“Dad, I feel there are many ways to show love. I don’t agree with your way, however. Take this back. I want to rely on myself.”
Ah Wei’s dad takes the cheque that Ah Wei extends to him. He tears it up and gives Ah Wei his disagreement on Ah Wei’s criticism of him and how he loves.
Ah Wei’s dad:
“Love is not saying it over and over. Love needs a big and powerful financial shield. When someone takes away your woman one day, I’ll see if you’ll use any means to snatch her back. I’ll see if you’ll think that this thing is not important. When that time comes, you come tell me again if money isn’t useful. When that time comes, tell me again if this father loves you or not.”
The episodes ends with Ah Wei at Wei Fen Qing’s place. He sees a display of Wei Fen Qing and Huo Ting En kissing. He’s just outside the door. Following the kiss, we find Huo Ting En asking Wei Fen Qing when she’d marry him.
Wei Fen Qing:
“Flowers, presents, chocolates. I haven’t even received these and you want me to marry you?”
Huo Ting En:
“When I’ve prepared them, will you marry me right away?”
Tomorrow morning is when Huo Ting En is thinking of getting the three things for Wei Fen Qing. Wei Fen Qing wonders why Huo Ting En is in such a hurry to marry her.
Huo Ting En:
“I’m afraid someone will take you away.”
Wei Fen Qing tells Huo Ting En they will talk about it again tomorrow. The conversation briefly moves onto nicknames when Huo Ting En wishes Wei Fen Qing to call him something else other than what she used to call him by when they were working at La Mure—Chef—and he didn’t want her to call him by Ting En because his mother called him that. After this, Huo Ting En goes to the bathroom.
Ah Wei comes into the house. Wei Fen Qing finds Ah Wei’s behaviour odd after she greets him and Ah Wei looks unsure and appears to look nervous. It’s that Ah Wei wants to confess to her. He confesses.
Ah Wei:
“I like you.”
Huo Ting En returns from his trip to the bathroom very soon after this moment. He greets Ah Wei.
Comments:
The Perfect Match has not been very big on drama, so we’re expecting the follow up for this end scene to be Ah Wei saying to Wei Fen Qing he’s okay she doesn’t feel the same way and it’s just that he wanted to get his feelings out in the open and hopes they can still be friends. Huo Ting En looked like he hadn’t come back in time to hear anything. So, maybe we might even see it swept under the rug immediately—just like that confession from Zhen Zhen to Ah Wei.
That confession from Zhen Zhen to Ah Wei came in and then out. Ah Wei was seen spending a brief moment with some empathetic expression then he went right back to a neutral expression and back to the task of looking out for Yu-jie. Zhen Zhen rarely appeared. Though it’s great that Ah Wei is not left without someone liking him and confessing to him so that he comes across as desirable too, but this was too sudden and random for us to really appreciate it. There hasn’t been any real development in past episodes to show that someone liked Ah Wei. They could have had Nai Nai or a random girl we’ve not been introduced to before confess and it’d have the same effect. Nai Nai is Zhen Zhen’s little sister, by the way.
ADVERTISEMENT
