Chapter 7 Chuchu and Aoran tidy up after dinner as episode 7 of Lost Romance begins. He can barely stop himself from sharing his cleaning rules. Chuchu asks if someone else lives there when she hears the front door open. The jig is up. Xiao’En attempts a plausible lie but Aoran sensibly tells the truth. Shock, horror for Chuchu. Tianjian thinks through his argument with Mingli over the company strikers and Uncle He’s advice. He holds a press conference on the result of the negotiation. Shanna and Jason discuss whether Tianxing will have a place in the company after he awakes, and the bigger question, what should they do about the overnight sensation Tianjian. After the press conference, Mingli congratulates Tianjian and informs him of his transfer to another department. He realises she’s seething but she refuses a proper discussion. Xiao’En serves fruit for Chuchu and Aoran, spying from the kitchen. Chuchu gifts Aoran a lantern to use during power outages. Xiao’En can’t stop herself from stepping in. She sends a message, saying it’s late and takes the plate to wash up. From the kitchen, she sees Chuchu falling and makes a running slide to catch her before Aoran can. Chuchu lands lip-to-lip on Xiao’En, while Aoran watches helplessly. He drives Chuchu home and attempts to kiss her, but pictures her kissing Xiao’En and freezes. Brilliant. He sends her home with advice about checking her wound. Xiao’En can’t sleep and her mouth hurts. Aoran realises Xiao’En interfered on purpose but still considers bringing her the first aid kit. He quickly changes his mind. At the hospital, Chuntian finds Xiao’En with a bruised face, wondering at the practices of the hospital. She talks about their friendship and how she misses her, leaving a favourite snack. In the office, Aoran is troubled and chats with Qingfeng, who confirms that Xiao’En is serious about her confession. He encourages Aoran to believe in her sincerity, dropping a trail of food for thought. Chuchu invites Xiao’En to lunch and digs for information. She asks if Xiao’En likes Aoran and says that she does too, feeling guilty when she’s with him because of her rival. She asks Xiao’En to give them her blessings and she agrees. Cooking dinner, Aoran observes her every move. Xiao’En tries to shoo him but he won’t budge. When she sits down to dinner she feels too uncomfortable, thinking he’s angry about her kissing the white lotus. To make an escape, she quickly finishes but he stops her from leaving, saying he has something to discuss with her. In his upstairs office, he confirms her feelings for him then offers her the thing she likes best about him – money. It’s severance pay. She pictures a scenario where she returns the envelope and begs to keep her job but can’t actually get her knees to bend. He reappoints her to the marketing department but gives her the severance pay anyway. She dances out, cash in hand. Aoran feels like he’s been swindled. Xiao’En packs, bidding her orthopedic bed a sad goodbye. She recalls Aoran’s words over the course of her stay and decides to leave a clean fridge by eating everything before she leaves. Using every possible device, she starts cooking and blows out the power. At a run, she checks on Aoran upstairs – but he’s got his lantern from Chuchu in hand. She heads back down to sort the breaker, feeling defeated. Afterwards, she returns to her feast but doesn’t enjoy it. At dawn she rolls out with her case, leaving Aoran to wander the empty house. While Aoran is noticeably grumpy at the office, Xiao’En’s colleagues celebrate her return and the reunion of the three bad lilies of Meteor Garden. Agreeing on lunch out, they invite Chuchu who escapes with excuses. Tianjian heads to his new office which turns out to be a cluttered, ancient warehouse with a handful of older employees. He’s the new Head of Entrepreneurship, which turns out to be a shrimp processing plant, the only business left in the department. Discussing Tianjian’s transfer, Uncle He says the plan was to phase out that department as those employees retire. Mingli’s mother arrives to carry on about Tianjian’s transfer but Mingli refuses to budge. The girls return from lunch and Xiao’En is pleased to see Aoran coming toward her, but he brushes past, heading straight for Chuchu who’s picking files off the floor. Xiao’En ponders the author’s creation of a super GPS that ensures the leads always find each other. The Girls imagine Chuchu is telling Aoran all sorts of things about them, getting them in trouble. Qingfeng notices Xiao’En’s reaction. In the breakroom, Xiao’En stamps out her frustrations over the love story of two fireflies whilst she doesn’t glow, veering toward giving up again. Chuchu enters with no social graces and Xiao’En tries to teach her a few things, believing if Chuchu becomes more independent she’ll no longer need the CEO to rescue her at every turn. She drags a flustered Chuchu into a conference room. Aoran gets a call from security about it but Qingfeng tries to calm him. He’s dead certain she’s trying to attack Chuchu on her first day back in the office. Xiao’En gives Chuchu a ‘survival’ course, explaining the psychology of groups. She acts out scenarios to explain how it works with surprising solutions to every issue. Aoran and Qingfeng listen at the door but Aoran still suspects her. Qingfeng suggests he continue monitoring Xiao’En just to be sure. Chuchu puts her lessons into practice, immediately finding success. Xiao’En gives her the thumbs up and helps when she sees Chuchu in need. The other girls begin to notice their friend teaming up with the enemy. Aoran receives a report from security with photos of Xiao’En and Chuchu. Qingfeng is keen to see Xiao’En’s true colours as well. The Girls plot to throw water on Chuchu but Xiao’En blocks it. She explains that they’ll get to see a happy CEO if they don’t mess with his girl. She explains the ‘if you can’t beat ‘em’ theory of getting closer to him by understanding what’s great about Chuchu – thereby learning the secret to increasing their own Aoran-attracting skills. Upstairs, the guys flick through the security photos and Qingfeng asks for copies as a keepsake. Aoran stares at him in disbelief. Now all the girls seem to be getting along with Chuchu. Qingfeng observes that its because Xiao’En has established harmony among them. Aoran asks if its Xiao’En’s photo that Qingfeng wanted but frustratingly doesn’t receive a reply. At the bus stop, Chuchu gives Xiao’En a handmade thank you, explaining her help has given her confidence to take the initiative with the CEO. What?
The Episode Review
Well, that’s not what was supposed to happen. Xiao’En worked so hard to turn Chuchu into an independent creature. Well, she’s succeeded in giving her confidence and in convincing Aoran that she’s not trying to hurt Chuchu (that one without even trying.) She even created harmony among the marketing team – there’s something. But when you’re not the protagonist, your evil plans -however sugar-coated – are doomed to fail. Seriously though, you’ve gotta hand it to Xiao’En. She does go to amazing lengths to get between Aoran and Chuchu, including that daring third-base slide to catch a falling Chuchu. The landing lips-first thing was another great opportunity to tickle the tropes. As a bonus, Aoran looked like he might have been a little jealous – certainly traumatised in any case. If anyone knows how to play Aoran, its Qingfeng. He eggs him on to dig for the truth about Xiao’En with a turn of phrase designed to make him consider. He’s more than the typical stable sounding board of most romance novel best friends, actively moving the plot along with his not-so-secret comrade Xiao’En. Can’t get enough of sweet-faced bestie Qingfeng? Played by Simon Lian, does he seem a little familiar to you? A former Taiwanese pop-idol you can probably find him on music videos with group SpeXial. He was a member up until 2017 then left his company and with it the singing group. You can also find him in dramas Men with Swords (Viki), Angel ‘n’ Devil (Netflix, Viki) and GTO in Taiwan (Viki). Meanwhile, in the real world, Tianjian is sent to rot in the department waiting to retire. It doesn’t look like even his mother can save him. Think he’s got hidden skills to liberate himself? With both Tianxing, Chairman He and even Xiao’En all uncommunicative, there’s not a whole lot of action there. But looks like they’ll be gearing up for something soon as Mingli makes a bid for total control of Tianjiang.
