Asian Addicts Anonymous

Step 14: Is it Revenge or Love?

I kind of really wanted to curse at Ren Wei in this episode. He isn’t as bad as he was in the beginning and seems to be evolving into a much better character, but he still has far to go. Part of his being so annoying is he is completely lost between love and revenge. Since I don’t think he really knows or understands love (and he admitted to Ai Xing he’s never before wooed a girl because they all came on to him first) and since he’s been hell bent on revenge, I think he is totally lost and confused. Why isn’t he satisfied? Why is he giving Jing Jing a way out (after going back on his word yet again) when he has already declared he wishes to watch her and her mom suffer? Oy. When he wakes up and smells the coffee, will it be too late, or will he be able to change and win Jing Jing’s love?

This episode really was good for those completely shipping Ai Xing and Tian Ze. For once, they had a harder time adamantly refuting feelings or a relationship. Is it really because of Jing Jing that these two never hooked up during their 4-year friendship? And I am so loving the growing relationship between Ai Xing and Ling Li. These two are a riot together. In some way, I wonder if Ai Xing reminds Ling Li of her younger self… Ling Li did originally take a shine to Ai Xing (until the whole Ren Wei-rival situation erupted). And poor Ai Xing. First Jing Jing requested she look after Tian Ze for her and now Tian Ze is requesting that Ai Xing look after Jing Jing for him.

We pick up with Tian Ze and Ren Wei on the roof of Ren Wei’s office. Tian Ze is laying down the law when it comes to Jing Jing. Ren Wei better treat her right or else! LOL. Well, I guess since Tian Ze really doesn’t fully understand the situation (since Jing Jing missed her chance thanks to Tian Ze’s earlier actions) he really thinks there is some feelings involved (well, Ren Wei does have them, not that he completely understands them). Ren Wei, like always, hates being lectured. He’s a man in a powerful position, what right do his peons have to give him advice or tell him what to do? Well…he does have a point, but then again, Ren Wei make have climbed his way tooth and nail to the top, but he’s got a lot to learn and actually NEEDS to be lectured. Then wet get a random scene of Tian Ze jogging while thinking about Jing Jing and all I can think of is Secret Garden in which Hyun Bin’s character asks “Is this your best? Are you sure?” That night Ren Wei stares at a picture of his family and asks his dad if he saw everything. Ren Wei finally got revenge. Funny, why doesn’t he feel satisfied?

The next day when the Mengs and Ren Wei get together to sign the contract, Ren Wei puts a stop to it by saying the agreement was 100% Tian Ze’s idea and Ren Wei is not sold on it. Ren Wei then reveals the relationships between everyone and says he doesn’t think this setup is fair for him. Mr. Du assures Ren that neither he nor Tian Ze put their personal feelings with their business dealings. He then asks if Ren Wei is refusing to sign and pay back Fu Hua’s debt. Ren Wei replies that he never said he wouldn’t pay the debt, but nor will he sign the contract. This angers Jing Jing. So what on earth is Ren Wei doing? Will Ren ever stop playing his games?

Mrs. Meng and Jing Jing return home and Mrs. Meng begins panicking. Will the banks come looking for them again when the next loan comes due? They’ve already lost everything, they have nothing left! Um. Well, if you look at the fact that they are living in a nice sized apartment with their designer clothes and jewelry, do they really have nothing left? Mrs. Meng then rushes into her room to look for something to sell and this hurts Jing Jing, but there isn’t much she can do at this stage of the game. She then looks at a text Ai Xing sent asking her what happened and to come and talk to her if she needs a friend.

Ai Xing gets home to find the apartment a complete mess with Tian Ze trashing everything. Ai Xing rushes in to stop him. Has he lost his mind? What happened. Instead of directly answering, Tian Ze tears up and talks about how useless he is. He stayed by Ren Wei’s side to help Jing Jing, but he failed to do that in the end. He sits down on his couch and looks at Zhi Xing’s drawing. How much better would it be if he was like Zhi Xing who doesn’t have such cares or worries. Ai Xing, hurting for her friend, decides to treat him like Zhi Xing to calm him down. She squats down and talks to him like a child – like he really is her little brother. Jing Jing then shows up, sees the mess, and sees Ai Xing hugging Tian Ze’s head to her and stroking his hair. Needless to say Jing Jing leaves without a word.

At the Meng apartment, Jing Jink seeks comfort and to comfort her mother. She asks to sleep with Mrs. Meng and her mom scoots over and let’s her daughter in bed. Jing Jing says this is the first time for such an event and Mrs. Meng explains how it isn’t. When Jing Jing was a baby, she couldn’t sleep unless she held onto someone’s index finger, so Mrs. Meng always slept with the baby Jing Jing. Aww. The emotional Jing Jing then offers her own finger and says this time she will do it for her mom. I am liking that their relationship is slowly getting better and that Mrs. Meng is leaving her denial behind her and going back to being a little bit more like a mother.

The next morning with stacks of bills coming due, Jing Jing has no choice but to call Ren Wei and arrange to meet. Jing Jing is not happy to meet at a bridal store. Ren Wei then drops the bomb! He asks Jing Jing to marry him to save herself from the mountain of debt that is threatening to swallow her and her mother whole. Jing Jing is astounded by this proposal and rushes out, but Ren Wei stops her. He knows all about being in debt and how hard it is to recover. He will keep his end of the bargain if only Jing Jing marries him. He will give her freedom, he will guarantee that she isn’t alone. And you know that this is 100% of Ren Wei liking Jing Jing. As much as he wanted to hurt the Meng’s, he just can’t bring himself to completely destroy Jing Jing as she has touched his icy heart. The proposal is overheard by Ai Xing’s coworker Min. Office gossip to follow! I had to love how Jing Jing swears she will never love him nor will Ren Wei ever be loved by anyone. Will that come true, or will Jing Jing eat crow and fall for Ren Wei?

At the office, Ai Xing asks about Chen and Ling Li says she still hasn’t heard from him, though she did apologize. She then complains about Ai Xing soiling her bible. All those years spend building trust with her clients and in one day, Ai Xing destroyed it. This saddens Ai Xing. What can she do? Does Ai Xing really not know? Ai Xing then recalls Ling Li’s first lecture about using coquetry to help land a deal. Oh. No more fake seductiveness, please. Ai Xing is really bad at acting like that. Ren Wei comes in to speak to Ling Li and Ai Xing goes to leave without greeting him. This earns her a scolding from Ling Li and Ren Wei so Ai Xing reluctantly greets him and then proceeds to badmouth him. Again, he threatens to fire her and again she says she doesn’t care. At this point, Tian Ze shows up since Ren Wei refuses to answer his calls.

Ren Wei and Tian Ze go into his office while Ai Xing and Min eavesdrop outside. Tian Ze wishes to know what the plan is now that he refused to sign the agreement. Ren Wei says he has already delivered an option to Jing Jing so the ball is in her court. Tian Ze wishes to know what it is, but Ren Wei tells him to ask Jing Jing himself. Ay de mi. Meanwhile, Min asks Ai Xing if Jing Jing will really marry Ren. Ai Xing is floored by this. There is no way Jing Jing will marry that man after everything he’s done to her and her family. Min insists on what she saw, but Ai Xing adamantly says Jing Jing will never marry Ren Wei. Ling Li comes up and asks whose getting married before loudly scolding the girls for gossiping instead of working. Ren Wei then comes out and talks about them being so lively before going off with Ling Li. Ai Xing then asks Tian Ze if he did something stupid like try to resign again. Ling Li, while in the car with Ren Wei, wonders why he didn’t fire Tian Ze or why the younger man didn’t resign. Ren Wei explains that Tian Ze did, but Ren refused to accept it. Ren Wei believes its better for them both to be closer. Hmmmm.

Ai Xing gets ready to leave the house and sees Tian Ze sleeping surrounded by books and files. Ai Xing cleans up the workspace and makes him bread with peanut butter and jelly (not together, but on separate pieces of bread). She sets the food and coffee in front of him and leaves. Tian Ze wakes up, notices the food and drink, and immediately calls out to Ai Xing, but she isn’t home. Strange. What is she doing on her day off? He then sits down with a big smiles and bites into his snack while going back to work. So what is Ai Xing doing on her day off? She is going to Mr. Chen’s office. His secretary informs her that he will be out all day, but Ai Xing sits and waits.

Jing Jing and her mother visit an uncle who was once close with their father. They wait and wait with the hopes that he will be able to help them with the company and their subsequent debt. Jing Jing goes to the bathroom and overhears her uncle (who was really hiding in his mansion the entire time) saying that he would never loan them money as he is sure that is what they are there for. He catches sight of Jing Jing who smiles and apologizes for making him a prisoner in his own home and telling him that her mother and her just stopped by to reminisce about the old days. Her brave front crumbles a bit after she turns her back, but she straightens her spine and tells her mom that something urgent came up at the office, so they will have to leave.

Meanwhile, Ai Xing waited for the entire day and was kicked out of the office when they had to lock up. The secretary urges her to make an appointment and come back later, but Ai XIng refuses to do that. Mr. Chen watches this from above and smiles at Ai Xing’s persistence. And sure enough, Ai Xing goes back the next day to sit and wait. She even brings the secretary a drink. Aww. How sweet. That night the secretary gives her coffee and tells her that Mr. Chen refuses to see her so she should just give up. Ai Xing already knows this. However, she won’t give up as she wishes to speak to him at all costs to make amends for what happened. Since she wasted his time, she will waste as much of hers in retribution. Mr. Chen then comes down with a file needing to be copied by the secretary. Having never met him, Ai Xing just thinks he’s another worker (albeit a higher up one). She quickly takes the file to copy for him. And when I watch this scene, having worked with copiers before, I wonder why she chose to copy every page individually instead of using the paper feed tray at the top of the copier? It’s awesome and makes life so much easier as it will take the papers and autofeed them into the copier to copy for you. She then brings the copied file to Chen who asks why she wants to see the director. She replies she wishes to apologize for being sick and missing the appointment. Ling Li comes in at this time and Mr. Chen signals her so she doesn’t say anything. Mr. Chen then leaves and Ling Li announces she is there to pick Ai Xing up and then tells Ai Xing that the man she addressed as “uncle” was the director Chen she was looking for. LOL.

The two go out for a meal and drink afterward and the topic turns to Ren Wei. Ling Li explains that while she likes him, she understands he’s a very lonely man that you cannot get close to at all. He always keeps some part of himself distant. Ling Li then explains she wasn’t after Ren Wei for his money as she is independently wealthy. When Ai Xing learns this, she immediately latches on to Ling Li and begs to be taught the secret to saving money and becoming wealthy. Ling Li asks why Ai Xing wants to be wealthy and seems satisfied of Ai Xing’s answer about taking care of her disabled brother and old Granpa. It’s really nice to see these two have these scenes together. In away, Ling Li is becoming the best friend that Ai Xing needs in certain respects as Jing Jing (even when she needs Ai Xing) distances herself and won’t always tell her what’s going on while Ling Li is almost a completely open book and tells it like it is.

Since meeting with the uncle didn’t work, the Meng’s try to meet with his wife Lily. When the talk turns around to how Mr. Meng helped invest in a deal with China with the uncle, Lily starts looking very uncomfortable. Looks like she has no problem in meeting with the two socially even with their hardships, but she doesn’t want to help them out of the bind they are in. So what does Lily do when the talk comes around to investing in Mei Ze, she takes a phone call talking about how she isn’t into investing at the moment as that is what everyone wants her to do and she especially isn’t interested in losing more money on land development that doesn’t deliver what is promised. Lily then apologizes and leaves to finish her phone call, which was obviously played out that way to keep the Meng’s from begging for help. So tacky and unrefined and very obvious. She didn’t let them save face at all.

The Mengs get home and Mrs. Meng is very tired and depressed. Jing Jing tries to convince her mom to eat something when Ai Xing shows up with groceries for dinner followed by Tian Ze. Awkward. Tian Ze drops off his groceries in the kitchen and changes the light bulb in the bathroom. Seriously? Two grown women can’t change their own light bulbs? The awkward atmosphere grows and Jing Jing goes to see if Ai Xing needs help. Ai Xing has things under control and dinner is almost done. Tian Ze then comes in and complains about Ai Xing adding water to the soup. This bickering makes Jing Jing comment on how they sound like a couple. More awkwardness increased by the fact that their denials were not hot or immediate but slow and awkward. They do protest, though and Jing Jing says it can’t be the first time they heard they are like a couple. Ai Xing then sends Tian Ze out of the kitchen to set the table. Not sure that saved the situation or not.

While Tian Ze sets the table, Mrs. Meng comes out and thanks him and apologizes to him. Tian Ze then says that she was right. He hadn’t been considering her daughter’s future and he feels badly for that. Poor Mrs. Meng looks horribly guilty at that. It also looks like she wishes to interject and tell him differently, but she can’t. At least she is realizing the error of her earlier ways and had the decency to apologize and admit she was wrong.

Dinner is over and the three friends go outside only to find Ren Wei. Did Jing Jing invite him over? Jing Jing angrily replies that she didn’t. Oy. Ren, being Ren decides to do his best to put a damper on things even more. He asks about who met who first. Ai Xing replies that she met Jing Jing first. Ren Wei then asks the question that is on everyone’s mind: why was Tian Ze with Jing Jing instead of Ai Xing? Just what is their relationship? Before anything more can be said on that front, Jing Jing takes Ren Wei’s hint about talking about marriage and goes off with him leaving Ai Xing and Tian Ze alone. I have to admit when Ren asks if they need a ride, their replies were exactly the same and in perfect unison with pretty much the same attitude. What more proof do you need of them being the perfect couple? Now, after Jing Jing and Ren Wei leave, Tian Ze does something confusing. He tells Ai Xing to not reply seriously if Ren Wei asks that  question again. Um. Just what is that supposed to mean? I actually think he was going to say something else as there was a brief pause and his expression changed, but then he changed it to what he did say.

In the car, Jing Jing wonders what on her Ren Wei was trying to do. Ren Wei replies he is just asking and isn’t she curious herself? Ren Wei also explains that when it comes to men and women, women don’t understand how much of an allure they have and men don’t necessarily understand how drawn they are to the woman. In Ai Xing’s case she is too ignorant of her appeal and Tian Ze is too confident (of what exactly?). Doesn’t Jing Jing know she is the only reason the two aren’t together now as Tian Ze didn’t have to choose to live with Ai Xing when he left his house? Ouch. Now, Ren Wei has a point, but I believe this is actually him being self-serving. Why? He wants Jing Jing to concede and marry him and what better way than to play on that insecurity she always had about Tian Ze and Ai Xing? He is making sure he leaves her nowhere to turn so she can only go to him. Ren Wei then takes her to his new apartment that he basically bought as their newlywed home. He offers to even let her mother move in. He will concede to have just a ceremony and if things work out, they can make it legal in the states which means if Jing Jing leaves him, she will be entitled to half of everything he owns. Wow. That is…unexpectedly nice of Ren Wei. What will Jing Jing choose?

The next day at work, Ling Li is reading off the sales report and Ai Xing sold two units of the Mei Ze project!!!! Say what? Well, Ling Li was the one who actually sold him to Chen, but he only agreed to buy thanks to Ai Xing’s sincerity. This shocks Ai Xing and she is in a daze until it sinks in and then she is her usual hyper, excited self. She finally sold something! Did you see that ma? I loved this moment and loved how Ai Xing wanted to show her love to Ling Li and chases her around trying to kiss her. LMAO. I also love how Ling Li is like a proud mama (even though she’s probably only 10 or so years older at most).

We then end this episode with Mrs. Meng paying a visit to Tian Ze and Ai Xing to thank them for all they have done in this time. Ai Xing says it is nothing and tells Mrs. Meng to call or come over whenever she’s lonely. Mrs. Meng is taken aback by how similar Ai Xing is to a friend from her past. I wonder what Mrs. Zheng’s maiden name was? Because Ai Xing is a Zheng from Mei Ze, so if her mom didn’t change her name, would Mr. & Mrs. Meng recognize just who Ai Xing is? Anywho, Mrs. Meng reveals Ren Wei’s revenge plot and begs the two to help her daughter.

Next episode sees fireworks and Jing Jing agreeing to Ren Wei’s proposal?