Episode Summary
A former TV host living a modest life in Canada tries to impress a successful old rival who took her job. Her husband works extra hard to support her facade of wealth. However, the visit exposes their insecurities, and the husband discovers his wife is secretly taking birth control despite claiming she wants a child.
Spoiler Alert
Episode 1
From Prime Time to Penny Pinching
We start with a glimpse of the glory days. Zhang Ran is at a TV station. She looks totally in her element. She is about to interview a famous foreign financial big shot. The director yells action. She is a star.
Then reality hits hard. It is 2018. We are in Toronto, Canada. Zhang Ran sits in a car with her husband, Fu Yudong. The vibe is very different now. They love each other, but money is tight. Zhang Ran sees a designer bag she loves. She walks away because it costs too much. They are saving for a future. Later at dinner, she drops a bomb. She tells Fu Yudong she wants to have a baby. He is clearly touched.
The Bag and the Humblebrag
Fu Yudong decides to be the hero. Zhang Ran is cutting fruit at home when he walks in with a gift. It is the bag. She scolds him for spending the money. But you can tell she loves it.
She immediately needs validation. She takes photos with the bag and posts them online. She wants to show off. But the internet is cruel. Time passes, and nobody likes the photo. She complains about the silence. Fu Yudong gives the post a "like" just to make her feel better. It works.
Then her phone buzzes. It is an old friend, Yuan Yuan. She is coming to Canada. This news shakes Zhang Ran. They start texting. Yuan Yuan asks about Zhang Ran's "white husband." Zhang Ran almost types that she is single. She looks at Fu Yudong and feels guilty. She deletes the text. She keeps the truth to herself for now.
Dinner with a Side of Shade
Yuan Yuan arrives. Zhang Ran and Fu Yudong go all out. They dress up. They want to look successful. They sit down for dinner, and the charade cracks immediately. Yuan Yuan sees Fu Yudong. She realizes the white husband is history. She texts Zhang Ran right at the table to ask about the divorce.
Yuan Yuan is brutal. She talks about buying a house in Canada. But then she trashes the Canadian lifestyle. She says she could never live in such a place. Every word is a subtle dig at Zhang Ran.
We get the full backstory here. Years ago, Zhang Ran left her TV job to follow that interviewee—the white guy—abroad. That left her position open. Yuan Yuan took that spot. Now Yuan Yuan is the famous financial host. She flaunts her success. Zhang Ran is just a "daigou," buying things for people back home to make ends meet. The contrast hurts.
The Hustle and the Lie
We jump back a bit to see how this dinner happened. Fu Yudong needed cash for that bag. He went to his boss. He demanded a raise. The boss hesitated. But Fu Yudong had leverage. The boss uses Fu Yudong's PhD credentials to scam clients. Fu Yudong threatened to pull the plug. He got the raise. He also started doing side jobs fixing electrical wiring during house inspections. That is how he bought the bag. He even borrowed his boss's car to impress Yuan Yuan.
The episode ends on a quiet, heavy note. It is bedtime. Fu Yudong makes a discovery. He finds Zhang Ran's birth control pills. She said she wanted a baby. The pills say otherwise. He knows she lied. He also knows the dinner with Yuan Yuan crushed her spirit. He chooses silence. He gets into bed. She joins him. They hug tightly in the dark.
