Episode 8 recap: Jiang Xiao Yuan is working hard for promotion and assessment.
Jiang Xiao Yuan spent the whole night practicing haircutting at the hair salon, cutting ten different hairstyles. However, she felt that she hadn't reached the desired level. Chen Fang Zhou, upon learning about this, urged Jiang Xiao Yuan to go back and rest. Chen Fang Zhou looked at the ten hairstyles with a heart full of distress. Unexpectedly, as Jiang Xiao Yuan walked out, she fainted. Chen Fang Zhou heard the commotion and immediately rushed Jiang Xiao Yuan to the hospital, where it was discovered that she had a fever. In order to let Jiang Xiao Yuan rest properly, Chen Fang Zhou granted her a two-day leave and reminded her that learning is a gradual process and she shouldn't push herself too hard.
Jiang Xiao Yuan looked at Chen Fang Zhou's concerned face and guessed that if Chen Fang Zhou knew she was just a time-traveler and not the original Jiang Xiao Yuan, he would probably dislike her, just like Qi Lian did. This made her feel sad, so she openly expressed that she was working so hard just to prove that she wasn't a useless person.
Upon learning that Jiang Xiao Yuan was sick and hadn't been eating properly, Qi Lian brought her some food. When Jiang Xiao Yuan saw Qi Lian at the door, she wanted to close it, but Qi Lian was faster and had already entered. Qi Lian directly took out the food and asked Jiang Xiao Yuan to sit down and eat. Jiang Xiao Yuan resisted, but Qi Lian decisively pulled her and made her sit down while handing her a spoon, signaling her to eat.
Jiang Xiao Yuan didn't want to eat, but Qi Lian emphasized that the body belonged to the original Jiang Xiao Yuan, and she wouldn't allow her to go hungry. Qi Lian forced Jiang Xiao Yuan to eat, and reluctantly, she complied. Her eyes stared fiercely at Qi Lian, filled with defiance.
As Qi Lian looked at the stubborn and strong-willed Jiang Xiao Yuan, memories of the original Jiang Xiao Yuan with the same temperament came to mind, and his gaze became complicated. Jiang Xiao Yuan reminded Qi Lian to recognize who was in front of him, her face marked with tear stains, and she angrily threw the food tray away.
Qi Lian looked at the scattered food and tray on the floor, feeling a burning anger inside. At that moment, the phone rang, and Qi Lian quickly answered the call, while Jiang Xiao Yuan went back to her room, closed the door, and silently shed tears. The call was from Grandma Jiang, who informed Qi Lian that she had fallen ill but was fortunate to be saved by timely medical treatment. Grandma Jiang wanted to talk to Jiang Xiao Yuan, so Qi Lian asked her to help.
At that moment, Jiang Xiao Yuan was feeling very down. She had never met her grandmother since birth, and even though her family was wealthy, no one took care of her. She grew up on her own, so she didn't know how to communicate with Grandma Jiang and refused to help.
Qi Lian recalled his own experience of growing up alone. As a young child, he always faced solitude when he returned home. He would sit on the branches of a tree in the courtyard and quietly observe his surroundings. This had been the case from childhood to adulthood, so he could empathize with Jiang Xiao Yuan's feelings. He didn't approach Jiang Xiao Yuan, but he still hoped that she would consider helping out. He explained that Grandma Jiang had been saved by the original Jiang Xiao Yuan's efforts, and he hoped there would be no regrets between them.
In the end, Jiang Xiao Yuan agreed to help. When Grandma Jiang detected the hoarseness in Jiang Xiao Yuan's voice, she expressed concern about her illness and spoke affectionately, making Jiang Xiao Yuan feel warmth. Their first conversation was somewhat successful.
Tomorrow was the day of the assessment at the hair salon. Chen Fang Zhou hoped that Qi Lian would attend the event at the salon and mentioned Jiang Xiao Yuan's recent efforts. He wanted Qi Lian to encourage her. However, Qi Lian knew that Jiang Xiao Yuan might not want to see him and declined Chen Fang Zhou's proposal.
As the assessment was about to begin, Chen Fang Zhou brought out four different test papers and distributed them to the four employees participating in the assessment. To prevent cheating, he specifically reminded them that the test questions were not the same. Both Xiao K and Jiang Xiao Yuan scored full marks, so they were promoted to the next level. Upon seeing this, Xiao Ling couldn't help but feel a bit unhappy, as Jiang Xiao Yuan's success would make her, who was not qualified to participate, even more annoyed.
Chen Fang Zhou had originally prepared the questions that Jiang Xiao Yuan was good at, but Qi Lian switched them to advanced technician questions at the last minute. Chen Fang Zhou remained calm on the surface but privately called Qi Lian to clarify the situation. After learning that Qi Lian had done it intentionally to let Jiang Xiao Yuan speak for herself based on her abilities, Chen Fang Zhou accepted Qi Lian's explanation.
The employees usually saw Chen Fang Zhou treating Jiang Xiao Yuan well, but during the exam, Jiang Xiao Yuan was given an advanced question. They couldn't help but feel that Chen Fang Zhou was quite fair. Although Jiang Xiao Yuan's technique was not fast, indicating that she was still a beginner, her work was decent. However, she didn't check the curling iron, unaware that some were faulty, resulting in an outcome that didn't match the pictures. Jiang Xiao Yuan learned that the model had a date that evening, so she designed a playful hairstyle that accentuated her best features, impressing everyone. However, Qi Lian gave the only promotion opportunity to Xiao K, which made Jiang Xiao Yuan feel that Qi Lian couldn't accept that she was better than the original Jiang Xiao Yuan. She decided not to rely on Qi Lian's connections and to establish herself at the hair salon on her own.
Money gives a person confidence. If the female lead before time-traveling could have learned some financial management skills from her father and not followed the male lead's arrangements (which are flawed, by the way), such as the idea of "living for the original life" and the knowledge and skills the female lead acquired— even if the original life returns, she wouldn't have those skills, right?
The female lead could have started with some initial capital and earned money through investments. Isn't that better than struggling with odd jobs? The author's plot has a small issue here. Can't a wealthy heiress know anything?
It's just too much for the sake of establishing the male lead's decisive role in the story.