Episode Summary
Hu Manli confirmed Ding Zhiyuan's affair with Qiu Lisu, who had even funded his book club. After a humiliating public confrontation where Qiu Lisu brought up their lack of intimacy, Hu Manli's attempt to seduce Ding Zhiyuan backfired. He admitted he loved Qiu Lisu, asked for a divorce, and left home. Later, Hu Manli arranged a meeting with both Ding Zhiyuan and Qiu Lisu at the place he proposed, culminating in her desperate jump into a river. Seeing Ding Zhiyuan leave with Qiu Lisu solidified her heartbreak. Deciding to channel her pain into work, Hu Manli clashed with insurance agent Xue Xiaozhou over her client Ai Zhonghua's claim.
Spoiler Alert
So, Hu Manli isn't just suspecting anymore; she's got the goods on her husband, Ding Zhiyuan, and his affair with Qiu Lisu. We're talking love letters from Qiu Lisu and the revelation that Qiu Lisu actually funded Ding Zhiyuan's little book club venture. Ouch.
Naturally, Hu Manli isn't about to take this lying down. She confronts Ding Zhiyuan in public, aiming to shame him. Then, she tries to go after Qiu Lisu, but wow, does that backfire. Qiu Lisu doesn't just defend herself; she goes on the offense, hitting Hu Manli where it hurts by bringing up the fact that Hu Manli and Ding Zhiyuan haven't had marital relations in years. Double ouch.
Furious and refusing to just hand her husband over, Hu Manli gets a pep talk from her friend Zhong Ning. Step one in her "Save the Marriage" campaign? Send their son, Ding Da'er, to stay with her father so she can focus on the fight ahead.
Meanwhile, Ding Zhiyuan is literally avoiding going home, brooding downstairs. Qiu Lisu finds him and basically tells him to rip off the band-aid and end things with Hu Manli, assuring him she'll be waiting. Ding Zhiyuan is torn, mostly feeling guilty about how this affects their son, Ding Da'er.
When Ding Zhiyuan finally drags himself home, Hu Manli tries a different tactic: seduction. She sets up a candlelit dinner and even puts on a sexy dress. She lays it on thick, but Ding Zhiyuan is having none of it, dodging her advances like Neo dodging bullets until he escapes into his study.
This rejection is the final straw for Hu Manli. She follows him into the study, and all hell breaks loose. They argue, she starts throwing his precious books off the shelves in anger. Pushed to his limit, Ding Zhiyuan finally admits it out loud: he's in love with Qiu Lisu. Hu Manli explodes, screaming at him, calling him ungrateful, reminding him how she sacrificed and supported him to get where he is, only for him to discard her now that he's successful.
Feeling ashamed but resolute, Ding Zhiyuan drops the D-word: divorce. Hu Manli refuses, desperately begging him not to leave her. But he's unmoved, insisting his feelings for Qiu Lisu are genuine. He breaks free from her grasp and walks out, leaving Hu Manli alone amidst the emotional and physical wreckage of their home, haunted by memories of happier times.
Quick side plot check-in: We meet Xue Xiaozhou. He's juggling visiting his sick mother and dating his girlfriend, Wu Ya. Wu Ya hears Qiu Lisu (yes, the same one!) is planning to sell Xue Xiaozhou's family home and urges him to demand more money from her, complaining he doesn't earn enough. This pushes Xue Xiaozhou to decide to take on more fieldwork to boost his income. Keep him in mind.
Back to the main event: Ding Zhiyuan gets a text from Hu Manli asking him to meet... at the very spot where he proposed to her years ago. When he gets there, surprise! Qiu Lisu is there too, summoned by Hu Manli. Hu Manli makes one last attempt to plead with Ding Zhiyuan, warning him not to be fooled by Qiu Lisu. He refuses to listen and tries to leave with Qiu Lisu.
In a moment of sheer desperation, Hu Manli drags Qiu Lisu towards a nearby river and dramatically jumps in, seemingly trying to prove the depth of her love or despair. Thankfully, someone jumps in and rescues her. But the real blow comes as she watches Ding Zhiyuan walk away, hand-in-hand with Qiu Lisu. That image seems to extinguish any remaining hope Hu Manli had.
She walks home, barefoot and utterly defeated. The next morning, waking up alone, she feels completely lost. She takes out all her awards and trophies from the past twenty years, polishing them one by one, the weight of her perceived sacrifices and current reality crashing down on her until she breaks down crying.
However, not wanting to upset her father, she asks Ding Zhiyuan to keep their separation a secret for now. But she also warns him, with newfound steel in her voice, that he will regret leaving her. Channeling her heartbreak into action, Hu Manli throws herself into her work with fierce determination.
And this is where worlds collide. At work, she immediately clashes with... you guessed it, Xue Xiaozhou. He's handling an insurance claim for one of her clients, Ai Zhonghua, but has flagged it because the submitted documents are incomplete. He's refusing to approve the payout until everything is in order. Hu Manli tries to argue, then tries to charm him (adds him on WeChat, offers a discount coupon), but Xue Xiaozhou stands his ground, insisting on following procedure. Hu Manli is furious, gives him an earful, and then has to make the awkward call to her client to explain the situation.
So, Episode 2 leaves Hu Manli heartbroken but transforming her pain into professional drive, setting the stage for more conflict both personally and now, it seems, professionally with Xue Xiaozhou.
Just a reminder for viewers used to weekly drops: Chinese dramas often release episodes much faster, sometimes daily or in batches, so the story moves quickly! Stay tuned for what happens next.
