Episode Summary
Hu Manli's life unravels as she loses her job due to a scheme orchestrated by Chen Fang, who uses the naive Xue Xiaozhou as a pawn. While reeling from this and trying to hide her husband Ding Zhiyuan's affair with Qiu Lisu, Hu Manli gets drunk and reveals the affair to Xue Xiaozhou at the hospital. Chen Fang further ensures Hu Manli's downfall by having his wife, Tang Ling, anonymously report her, resulting in a two-year industry ban. Realizing he was manipulated and disgusted by the injustice, Xue Xiaozhou confronts Chen Fang and quits his job. He inadvertently takes Hu Manli's vital work notebook. Hu Manli attempts to salvage her client base through Chun Lu, while Xue Xiaozhou gets a new job at Taiying International, only to find himself working under Tang Ling.
Spoiler Alert
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The episode kicks off with Hu Manli catching Xue Xiaozhou and Qiu Lisu in what looks like a pretty intense, hands-on argument. Her mind immediately jumps to conclusions – thinking there's something shady going on between them. She almost fires off a text to her husband, Ding Zhiyuan, ready to expose Qiu Lisu (remember, Qiu Lisu is the other woman with Ding Zhiyuan), but she hesitates and deletes it. Maybe not worth the drama? Oh, the irony.
Later, Hu Manli visits her dad. He's heard she lost her job and tries to comfort her, bless his heart. But Hu Manli, trying to save face and probably shield him from her collapsing life, spins a tale about how she fired the company to pursue bigger and better opportunities. She even brushes off his concern and gets impatient when he offers some special tonic wine for Ding Zhiyuan. Clearly, she's not ready to let her dad in on the affair bombshell. She makes a quick exit.
Feeling utterly defeated, Hu Manli heads straight to a bar to drown her sorrows. Even the waiter there is someone she'd tried to recruit for insurance leads. He tries to explain his lack of progress, but she's way past caring about work – she just wants booze. And boy, does she drink. She gets completely wasted and ends up being sent to the hospital by the concerned waiter.
Meanwhile, Xue Xiaozhou finishes his shift and heads to the same hospital to check on his mom. As he's leaving her room, he stumbles upon Hu Manli, violently ill in the hallway. He tries to help, showing some basic human decency, but the moment drunk Hu Manli recognizes him, she latches on. She accuses him and Qiu Lisu of conspiring to get her fired and then just unloads all her misery on him. She brings up the Cao Ling situation – how Cao Ling begged her on her knees to hide her past breast cancer diagnosis (a big no-no for insurance) because of her autistic son, only for Cao Ling to apparently throw her under the bus later.
The doctors pump Hu Manli's stomach, and Xue Xiaozhou actually stays by her side through it all. When she groggily wakes up and sees him there, she warns him to stay away from Qiu Lisu, spilling the beans about Qiu Lisu's affair with her husband, Ding Zhiyuan. Xue Xiaozhou doesn't really engage or explain his earlier interaction with Qiu Lisu. Seeing she's conscious, he makes a quick exit to get back to the office.
The Plot Thickens (And Twists)
Back at work, Xue Xiaozhou gets an earful from his Team Lead, who heard he was responsible for Hu Manli losing her job. But then, the Team Lead drops the real bomb: it was all a setup orchestrated by Chen Fang! Apparently, Chen Fang has had it out for Hu Manli for a while but couldn't find a way to get rid of her. He saw Xue Xiaozhou, the naive newbie, as the perfect pawn. Chen Fang manipulated the situation, likely using the conflict over client Ai Zhonghua's late documents and the Cao Ling case, possibly even invoking their boss Jin Zhenhua's name, to make it look like Xue Xiaozhou was taking revenge, ultimately getting Hu Manli fired. Xue Xiaozhou is stunned – he realizes he was played, but it's too late.
And Chen Fang isn't done. After successfully ousting Hu Manli, he has his wife, Tang Ling, file an anonymous complaint against Hu Manli with the insurance association.
Rock Bottom and Ripple Effects
So, overnight, Hu Manli's marriage and career have imploded. She's spiraling. Her friend, Zhong Ning, tries to snap her out of it, reminding her about the massive monthly mortgage (over 20,000!) and urging her to find a new job ASAP. Hu Manli regrets turning down a high-paying offer from Li Qingqing earlier. To avoid looking like a total failure, she starts posting pictures on social media pretending she's living it up at fancy beauty salons.
Just as Li Qingqing, who genuinely admires Hu Manli, hears about the firing and asks her secretary to set up a meeting, Hu Manli receives devastating news: the insurance association has banned her from working in the industry for two years. She's floored.
Xue Xiaozhou sees the official notice about the ban and, finally understanding the full picture and the injustice, goes to confront Chen Fang. Chen Fang basically blows him off. Xue Xiaozhou then tries to plead Hu Manli's case to the big boss, Jin Zhenhua, explaining the manipulation. He argues that while Hu Manli broke rules helping Cao Ling, the punishment (losing her job and getting banned) is excessive. But Jin Zhenhua seems convinced that Xue Xiaozhou acted out of revenge due to their previous conflict over the Ai Zhonghua case. Xue Xiaozhou's explanations are useless.
Suspecting Chen Fang twisted the story to Jin Zhenhua, Xue Xiaozhou confronts Chen Fang again. Chen Fang doubles down, insisting Xue Xiaozhou used the Cao Ling situation to deliberately take Hu Manli down because of their prior issues. He even warns Xue Xiaozhou that going to Jin Zhenhua was a mistake. Utterly disgusted and frustrated, Xue Xiaozhou declares he's done and quits right then and there.
As Xue Xiaozhou packs his belongings and leaves, he runs straight into Hu Manli. She, unaware of his attempts to help or his own quitting, lays into him with sarcastic remarks. He fires back. While trying (and failing) to reach Jin Zhenhua, Hu Manli suddenly realizes her precious notebook – containing 20 years of invaluable industry experience and client secrets, her personal "treasure chest" – is missing.
On the bus, Xue Xiaozhou discovers Hu Manli's notebook mixed in with his stuff. He tries to call her to return it, only to find out she's blocked his number. Ouch.
Meanwhile, Hu Manli calls up Chun Lu with a proposition: she'll hand over all her client resources if Chun Lu works them and gives her an 80/20 split on the commissions. Chun Lu is obviously thrilled.
Xue Xiaozhou faces disapproval from Wu Ya about quitting, but manages to smooth things over by immediately applying for a job at a place called Taiying International. He aces the interview... only to be assigned to a team led by none other than Tang Ling – Chen Fang's wife.
Talk about jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire! Looks like the connections and conflicts are only going to get more tangled from here. Can't wait to see what happens next!
