Episode 16 recap: Voluntarily filing for divorce.
Upon hearing that his son wanted a divorce, Old Qin angrily asked him if he had considered that if he were to do so, he would become a modern-day Chen Shimin. Qin's mother approached Zhao Xiufang, hoping that Anxin would voluntarily file for divorce. She was concerned that if Qin Feng were to initiate the divorce, it would affect his reputation at work. Zhou Kaize blocked Chen Ruohua's path, hoping to be given another chance by her.
After Qin Feng's passion had faded, he felt that he couldn't continue living like this and decided to propose a divorce to Anxin. Old Qin, upon hearing that his son wanted a divorce, angrily asked him if he had thought about the fact that he would become a modern-day Chen Shimin if he went through with it. Initially, Qin's mother also disagreed. She had initially wanted Qin Feng to wait until the advanced waves had passed before bringing up the topic of divorce. However, seeing that Qin Feng had made up his mind and in order to have a grandchild soon, she agreed to Qin Feng's divorce and came up with an idea: to have Anxin propose the divorce.
Qin's mother found Zhao Xiufang and showed her Old Qin's medical records, saying that the reason Old Qin fell ill was because Qin Feng didn't have a child. Now that Anxin was in this state, it would be best for the two families to part ways amicably. However, if Qin Feng were to propose a divorce, it would undoubtedly affect his reputation at work. Therefore, she asked Anxin to voluntarily propose the divorce.
Upon hearing Qin's mother's words, Zhao Xiufang became furious and accused Qin Feng of being both a whore and wanting to save face. Qin's mother told her to state her conditions, and Zhao Xiufang demanded the commercial property owned by the Qin family because it was worth two million. Qin's mother firmly disagreed and only agreed to let Qin Feng leave empty-handed and give Anxin an additional 300,000.
In order to achieve the goal of divorce, Qin Feng intentionally held Anxin's medical records and pretended to accidentally let her see them. When Anxin saw the record stating that it was not advisable to get pregnant, she asked her mother what was going on. Zhao Xiufang cursed under her breath and then told Chen Ruohua the truth.
It was only then that Chen Ruohua realized that Qin Feng and the Qin family had known long ago that she couldn't conceive. So she asked Qin Feng out, took the initiative to propose a divorce, and said that the reason of infertility sounded reasonable. When Qin Feng pretended to disagree, Chen Ruohua told him to stop pretending and asked him to leave quickly before she regretted it.
After the conflict with Zhou Kaize, Chen Ruohua quit her job. After arriving at the school, Zhou Kaize blocked Chen Ruohua's path, hoping she would give him another chance. These past few days, he had been thinking about how they had ended up like this, but Chen Ruohua told him that their situations were different.
Zhou Kaize, however, believed that they shouldn't be complacent just because of the disparity in their families' status. In order to prevent Chen Ruohua from rejecting him, he deliberately brought up the draft they had worked on together a couple of days ago. He claimed that if they made a few more changes, it could be published in a world-renowned financial magazine, with both of their names on it.
Sure enough, after hearing this, Chen Ruohua obediently went with him to revise the draft. Anxin shared her thoughts of getting a divorce with her mother, and Zhao Xiufang, with a bitter smile, told her daughter that she had known this would be the outcome. She comforted Anxin, saying that even without Qin Feng, she still had her mother.
Before going to obtain the divorce certificate, Anxin went to Qin Feng's workplace to speak highly of him, in order to not affect his job. Qin Feng saw Anxin talking to Manager Chu and thought she knew something, which made him feel extremely guilty.
Zhou Kaize started working at the news media center, but before he could settle in, his manager suddenly approached him and informed him that his mother-in-law had come by and bought coffee for everyone. After meeting Zhao Xiuli, Zhou Kaize asked her what she was up to and questioned whether her actions would backfire.
However, Zhao Xiuli told him that she had originally planned to leave by train. But she was worried that if she left, Zhou Kaize would once again deceive Chen Ruohua with sweet words. She didn't want her daughter to waste her youth on such a scumbag like Zhou Kaize. Therefore, she warned Zhou Kaize to stay away from her daughter in the future.
Zhao Xiufang and Qin's mother met, and Qin's mother handed over the 300,000 yuan to her. Seeing Qin's mother acting so self-righteous, Zhao Xiufang couldn't help but question her conscience. She pointed out that after the divorce, Anxin even went to Qin Feng's workplace specifically to speak highly of him, not knowing that Qin Feng had cheated.
Qin's mother told Zhao Xiufang to stop talking nonsense and asked her to provide evidence. Zhao Xiufang resisted the urge and ultimately didn't show the disgusting photo. While the two were talking, Old Qin suddenly approached and handed over the property deed for the commercial property to Zhao Xiufang. He told her that their family indeed owed Anxin, and this property would serve as compensation for her. The property deed was in his name, and Anxin could transfer it whenever she wanted.
Upon hearing Old Qin's words, Qin's mother asked if he had gone crazy. Seeing that Old Qin was determined, she angrily turned and left.
I understand every character in the drama, except for Ruohua's mother, who is difficult to accept. I can understand Anxin's self-destructive behavior and the anger she directs towards her family after the car accident.
I can also understand her husband's inability to accept his wife's disability and his affair with another person who shares the same illness. I feel like they are not entirely at fault, but at the same time, it's hard to condemn anyone.
The difference in approach between Xiuli and Xiufang when it comes to their daughter's love life is significant. Xiuli always seems to create trouble when it comes to her daughter's relationships. She becomes overly eager to gain benefits from Zhou Kaize, which actually pushes him away and causes her daughter to rebel and easily fall into Zhou Kaize's "trap." On the other hand, Xiufang is quite clever.
She is well aware that Qin Feng dislikes Anxin but instead of confronting Qin Feng directly, she goes to his workplace to praise him and present him with a plaque. She puts him on a moral high ground, making it difficult for their family to easily divorce and ensuring that she secures the maximum benefit for her daughter, even if she can't control a man's change of heart.
Is this really not a horror movie? From the beginning until now, the progression of characters' personalities, experiences, and states has instilled in me a physiological fear. The illogical love between Qin Feng and the manager, their respective family backgrounds and career paths, Ruo Hua and Zhou Hai Wang's love, Ruo Hua's twisted family relationships, and Zhou Hai Wang's enigmatic views on love.
It's all so terrifying...
Looking back at when I just graduated, I really admired Chen Ruo Hua's courage to stay in Beijing. It's really difficult to stay in Beijing. It's extremely hard to find a job, especially for someone like me with just an undergraduate degree.
Even finding a job at a private hospital is difficult. And the pace of life is much faster than in Kunming, everything is more expensive in Beijing. I feel like the quality of my life has decreased a lot compared to when I was in Kunming.
In Kunming, I would buy fruits by weight, but in Beijing, I feel a bit reluctant to even eat fruits.
Compared to Anxin, Anxin is just a naive and innocent character. Xiufang made one phone call and used a security guard's cliché to obtain evidence of the affair. Anxin was dumbfounded by the news that she couldn't have children, but fortunately, she calmly and politely asked for a divorce and didn't ask for much in terms of property.
She even spoke well of him to his superiors. But on the other hand, once she found out about Qin Feng's affair, she felt like she would show off and was looking forward to it?
??? (Let the fight begin, let the fight begin).
Auntie and Second Aunt truly live up to their sisterhood. Their methods may differ, but it's evident that Auntie is naturally an optimist. Life has bestowed hardships upon her, and although she may complain, she always faces everything with a positive and optimistic attitude.
She doesn't let her negative emotions affect her family. On the other hand, Second Aunt, also burdened by the hardships of life, cannot accept it. She wants to drag everyone around her into the same pain she experiences, and that's when she feels happy.
Their professions and personalities have led them to completely different paths when facing hardships.