Episode Summary
Hu Manli's former assistant, Tang Ling, sets a plan in motion to ruin her, using her husband Chen Fang to dig up dirt. While Hu Manli makes progress securing a major client, Wei Yuanxiang, by cleverly handling his father's insurance, Chen Fang uncovers a past insurance case involving Cao Ling that could frame Hu Manli for fraud. Chen Fang also uses photos of Hu Manli meeting a rival company's boss, Li Qingqing, to paint her as disloyal. At a major awards ceremony, Hu Manli is publicly snubbed, and simultaneously loses the Wei Yuanxiang account. President Jin confronts Hu Manli with fabricated evidence, including a coerced recording from Cao Ling, and fires her despite her pleas and explanations. It's revealed Chen Fang threatened Cao Ling into making the false statement. Hu Manli is left jobless and determined to fight back against those who framed her, particularly suspecting Chen Fang and Xue Xiaozhou.
Spoiler Alert
"A Better Life" Episode 3 Recap & Spoilers: The Walls Close In
Alright, so remember Tang Ling? Hu Manli's former assistant who sneakily stole a major client before jumping ship to the rival Taiying International insurance company? Well, she's not done causing trouble. Turns out, Tang Ling managed to snap some incriminating photos of Hu Manli having a private meeting with Li Qingqing, the big boss over at Taiying International. Tang Ling isn't getting her own hands dirty, though; she gets her husband, Chen Fang (who, awkwardly enough, works with Hu Manli), to start digging into Hu Manli's past, specifically looking for dirt related to old medical insurance cases.
Meanwhile, Hu Manli is hustling hard, trying to land clients using every connection she has. She gets wind that a potential whale, General Manager Wei Yuanxiang, has a father in the hospital with a fractured bone. Another agent, Casey, is already circling this potential big fish, but Hu Manli swoops in first, bringing her associate Chun Lu along for a hospital visit. Playing it smart, Hu Manli gifts Wei Yuanxiang some nice tea and, more importantly, presents a complimentary accident insurance policy she apparently took out for his father. Wei Yuanxiang isn't dumb; he figures out Hu Manli probably paid for this policy herself. Impressed by her initiative (and maybe her willingness to bend the rules for his benefit), he agrees to let Hu Manli handle his father's insurance claim entirely. Score one for Hu Manli, right?
Hold that thought. Chen Fang's digging, aided by Xue Xiaozhou, hits pay dirt. They uncover a potential bombshell from ten years ago: evidence suggesting Hu Manli might have conspired with a client named Cao Ling to commit insurance fraud. Xue Xiaozhou reports this straight to Chen Fang, who is practically giddy with excitement, ready to run to their boss, Jin Zhenhua (often called President Jin), and blow Hu Manli's career sky-high.
Hu Manli, completely unaware of the storm brewing, feels like she's finally hit the jackpot after five years of groundwork. She successfully pitches a massive 30 million RMB whole life insurance policy to Wei Yuanxiang. He admits he usually sees insurance agents as scammers but finds Hu Manli different. Won over by her smooth talking, he asks her to draw up a detailed proposal.
This is where it all crashes down. Just as Hu Manli is riding high, Chen Fang and Xue Xiaozhou march into President Jin's office. They spill the beans about the alleged fraud and slap down those photos of Hu Manli meeting with Li Qingqing from the rival company.
Cut to the glamorous Nanyang Star awards ceremony. Hu Manli arrives dressed to the nines, acceptance speech practically memorized, fully expecting to win. Chen Fang even gives her some fake "good luck" wishes. But when the video montage of the ten winners plays... Hu Manli isn't in it. The look on her face? Utter shock.
At the exact same time, Chun Lu arrives at Wei Yuanxiang's office with the insurance proposal Hu Manli prepared. But Wei Yuanxiang's secretary shows him something (we can guess it's related to the accusations swirling around Hu Manli), and he immediately dismisses Chun Lu. She quickly texts Hu Manli the bad news, adding another layer of disbelief and horror to Hu Manli's already terrible evening.
The hammer falls when President Jin summons Hu Manli to his office. Chen Fang and Xue Xiaozhou are there, laying out the "evidence" of the insurance fraud with Cao Ling. The issue? Cao Ling got a payout for breast cancer, but apparently, she already had breast cancer before buying the policy – something Hu Manli claims she knew nothing about. Chen Fang then produces a recording where Cao Ling explicitly states Hu Manli told her to lie about her medical history.
Hu Manli vividly remembers the situation: Cao Ling, whose son has autism, had begged her on her knees to help hide the pre-existing condition. Hu Manli tries desperately to explain the context to President Jin, but he's furious and ready to fire her on the spot. She tries calling Cao Ling, but her phone is off. It clicks for Hu Manli – Chen Fang must have manipulated Cao Ling to frame her.
Interestingly, Xue Xiaozhou later confronts Chen Fang privately, pointing out that he (Xue Xiaozhou) never gave Chen Fang that incriminating audio recording. Chen Fang gets defensive and tries to brush it off. Hmm, plot thickens there.
Desperate, Hu Manli tries one last plea with President Jin. She pulls out a twenty-year-old police report slip – a memento from when she was a rookie agent, got mistaken for a scammer in the suburbs, and Jin Zhenhua drove hours to bail her out. She begs him to "save her" again. Jin Zhenhua isn't having it. He chews her out, tells her to go crawl to Li Qingqing at the rival company (since he now believes she was planning to jump ship anyway based on those photos). Hu Manli admits she met Li Qingqing but swears she wasn't planning to leave. Jin Zhenhua doesn't believe a word and throws her out.
And the final twist? Chen Fang calls his wife, Tang Ling, practically crowing about his success. We learn that he went to Cao Ling and threatened her, saying she'd go to jail unless she made that false recording implicating Hu Manli. Cao Ling felt she had no choice.
Hu Manli, now fired and furious, suspects Xue Xiaozhou was used in the plot against her and vows to fight back.
Oh, and there's a little side drama: Hu Manli spots Xue Xiaozhou arguing with a woman named Qiu Lisu, who seems to be pressuring him to sell his house to save some company. Hu Manli, likely projecting her own stress and anger, jumps to conclusions, assumes they're having an affair, makes snide remarks to Qiu Lisu, and threatens to tell someone named Ding Zhiyuan about Qiu Lisu's supposed infidelity. Xue Xiaozhou uses the distraction to bail, while Qiu Lisu, fuming, basically tells Hu Manli to go right ahead and tattle.
Phew! So, Hu Manli's world just imploded thanks to a seriously calculated setup by Chen Fang and Tang Ling. She's lost her potential biggest client, got snubbed at the awards, lost her job, and her boss thinks she's a traitor and a fraud. Talk about a rough day at the office. The question now is, how does she fight her way back from this?
