Episode Summary
Jiang Chen and Ren Jiatong clash over similar proposals, but Ren wins out by being more practical. Li Ke discovers that a rival lawyer instigated the trouble with Liang Xiaosong, leading to a resolution of the social media crisis. The interns form a team to submit a final report, but Ren maintains strict emotional boundaries with Jiang Chen despite his attempts to connect.
Spoiler Alert
Reality Checks and Rival Lawyers
Jiang Chen thinks he has the golden ticket. He analyzes the numbers for the Nuanchao company and pinpoints the core issue: a lack of cash flow. His solution is simple. Get financing, pay the landlord and the tenants, and the crisis ends. He walks into the meeting with Bai Xiao feeling confident. Bai Xiao shuts him down immediately. Ren Jiatong already submitted a plan with the same financing idea. The difference is that she also included a deep-dive analysis of the victims. Jiang is late to the party.
He doesn't handle this well. Jiang corners Ren privately and accuses her of stealing his logic. Ren doesn't flinch. She explains that her proposal won because she did the homework. Clients need actionable solutions, not just theoretical frameworks. She thanks him for his help in the past, but she draws a hard line. This is a competition. She isn't going to let personal feelings mess up her professional game. She has bigger fish to fry anyway. She plans to contact Liang Xiaosong, the guy causing the social media storm, directly. She knows online mobs don't care about the truth, so she has to go to the source.
Trust Is a Liability
Guo Xiaoyu is spiraling. She came in last place in the previous round and the anxiety is eating her alive. She begs Ren to let her join her team and offers up her research as tribute. She also tries to get some personal insight from Zhu Zhisheng regarding Zhou Nian’s breakup. Zhu is brutal. He asks her to choose between work and love. He refuses to explain himself further. His point is clear: if you work this hard, you stop communicating, and the relationship dies.
Huang Yue also wants to join the winning team. Guo makes a rookie mistake here. She spills the team's entire strategy to Huang before even asking Ren. Ren is annoyed. She pulls Guo aside and gives her a harsh lesson from her time at her old firm. You have to keep boundaries. Even teammates are potential enemies. Guo pushes back. She thinks friendship matters more than the competition. Ren eventually lets Huang join, but she texts Guo later to clarify. She only let Huang in because she has useful skills. Guo needs to watch her back.
The Setup
Li Ke is having a rough time finding a team. He overhears a conversation that changes his perspective. Bai Xiao actually fought hard to keep Jiang Chen in the game. If not for him, Jiang would have faced worse punishment than a point deduction. Jiang’s stubbornness is hurting the firm’s deal with Nuanchao. Li Ke tries to talk sense into him. He suggests a private apology to Liang Xiaosong. Jiang refuses on principle.
Li Ke doesn't give up. He watches the video of the incident over and over. He notices something odd. There is a suspicious man whispering in Liang Xiaosong’s ear. He takes this intel to Ren. They track Liang down together. They drop the truth on him. The man egging him on was Wang Yu, a lawyer from a rival firm. Liang was being played. He realizes his mistake and writes an apology statement.
Cold Shoulders
The team finally coalesces. Ren, Jiang, Guo, Huang, and Li Ke submit a joint report to Zhou Nian. Yan Fei stays independent and submits her own. The group tries to do a nice thing for Zhou Nian. They apologize for the trouble and give him flowers to help him win back his girlfriend.
The celebration is short-lived. Ren gets a call from her mother asking for money. Her mood crashes. She skips the team dinner and goes home. Jiang sees this and leaves too. The rest of the group hangs out and gossips about Wang Lu, who is apparently thriving at another firm. Later that night, Jiang tries to bridge the gap. He texts Ren. She responds with strict professional boundaries. Jiang feels the rejection.
