Episode 20 recap: Qiang Mujie and A Bao engage in a hidden struggle.
Wang Mingzhu and A Bao compete for Walmart's orders. Ye Shu advises A Bao not to confront Wang Mingzhu directly and suggests approaching the situation from downstream. Wang Mingzhu and A Bao openly compete, refusing to back down. Wang Mingzhu and Wei Hongqing establish their company in the Bin Peng Business Building in Hongkou District, where the environment is poor and a mix of people from all walks of life gather. Due to limited funds, Wang Mingzhu and Wei Hongqing have no choice but to temporarily settle there.
Ye Shu has had a conflict with his niece, Jin Hua. However, in order to secure the order for the Walmart jeans, he personally approaches Jin Hua to negotiate the business. Ye Shu waits for an afternoon, but Jin Hua only talks to him for less than five minutes, adopting a strictly business-like attitude and asking him to participate in the bidding process. Disappointed, Ye Shu leaves and coincidentally encounters Wang Mingzhu at the Foreign Trade Building. Ye Shu learns that Wang Mingzhu has been affiliated with the General Foreign Trade Company and has also set her sights on the same order.
Ye Shu reminds A Bao not to confront Wang Mingzhu directly and suggests finding a breakthrough from downstream. Little Ning Bo has formed an alliance with several clothing factories to compete with Wang Mingzhu based on low costs. Wei Hongqing, using his father's reputation, seeks help from fur company owners in Haining. They advise Wei Hongqing to return to Haining for development and not to get involved in the troubles in Shanghai.
Wang Mingzhu hurriedly looks for Wei Hongqing and encounters A Bao downstairs. Wei Hongqing, in a bad mood, quickly gets drunk and runs out, vomiting uncontrollably. A Bao wants to take Wei Hongqing home, but Wang Mingzhu politely declines. She openly competes with A Bao for the Walmart jeans order, with neither of them willing to give in. You Piao Li comes to find A Bao and encounters two lawyers brought by Qiang Mujie from Hong Kong in the elevator. You Piao Li recognizes them from Zhi Zhen Garden and secretly takes the trash they threw away. You Piao Li, Commander Cai, and Fat Aunt piece together the fragments of the garbage, including a legal opinion and a letter to all shareholders, along with the numbers 6.5.2. A Bao suspects that Qiang Mujie deliberately did this to provoke him, hoping to lure him in. A Bao decides to personally go find Li Li to gather more information.
A Bao treats Li Li to hot pot, and Li Li finally gets this opportunity. She brings up Buffett's saying, implying that Qiang Mujie intends to acquire the company. A Bao is surprised because he had thought Qiang Mujie came to Shanghai to cause trouble and make some quick profits, seizing an opportunity. He didn't expect Qiang Mujie to target a listed company.
A Bao suggests buying stocks from the "Three Nos" sector. At that time, there were four such stocks, but A Bao eliminates Deep China and Shenbei Electric because they don't have the numbers 6 or 5. This leaves only stocks 601 and 603. A Bao seeks insider information from Li Li, who asks for an additional 300,000 yuan in exchange for the intelligence.
Commander Cai planted an undercover agent, Xiao Ai, by Qiang Mujie's side, but Qiang Mujie discovered it, and Xiao Ai was fired from the hotel. Commander Cai soon realized that Qiang Mujie had also placed informants around them and instructed them to report on A Bao's every move. On March 3, 1991, Qiang Mujie reserved a private room at Zhi Zhen Garden, and A Bao called Li Li to arrange a meeting after her Olympic bid ended.
Qiang Mujie and Li Li had known each other for five years, and he had always considered her a friend. He reminded Li Li not to betray their relationship for the sake of emotions. Li Li became extremely angry and comped all of Qiang Mujie's expenses at Zhi Zhen Garden, telling him not to come back again. As he left, Qiang Mujie recommended stock 601 as a token of gratitude.
Li Li met A Bao at the hot pot restaurant and returned the deposit of 300,000 yuan. A Bao proposed a partnership where he would provide the stock funds, and Li Li would provide the information. He promised to give Li Li a 15% commission, but Li Li negotiated it up to 18%. They agreed to meet the next evening at the same place for the final decision.
Qiang Mujie went to Ye Dongjing to find Ling Zi. The two reunited after a long separation, and their excitement was evident. They had met in Tokyo, where they quickly became close friends who could talk about anything. At that time, Qiang Mujie was an intern studying abroad in Japan, and Ling Zi had invited him to attend the opening of her business. Qiang Mujie readily agreed.
A Bao waited for a long time at the hot pot restaurant, but Li Li never showed up. Disappointed, A Bao had no choice but to leave. After careful consideration, Li Li ultimately stood him up. Instead, she instructed Min Min to purchase 50,000 shares of stock 601 every day and called A Bao to recommend the stock to him. A Bao suspected that Qiang Mujie was up to something and decided to buy stock 603 instead.
Ling Hong is Ling Zi's best friend. When Ling Zi was in Japan, she often took care of Ling Hong. So when Ling Zi returned to Shanghai to open a store, Ling Hong also opened a small shop in Shanghai.
Ling Zi's Ye Dongjing often struggled to make ends meet and relied entirely on Mr. Bao's support. Ling Zi was also extravagant with money and often took advantage of Mr. Bao's funds.
However, Mr. Bao treated Ling Zi as his third savings account, and Ling Zi knew it and agreed to it. She constantly took money from Mr. Bao as a way to help him in case his business failed in the future.
This money would serve as a safety net for Mr. Bao.
That's why Mr. Bao tolerated Ling Zi's behavior of inflating prices. Mr. Bao knew that Ling Zi had his best interests at heart, and considering how Ling Zi had helped him a lot when he was still a small Bao, even if Mr.
Bao's business kept growing and never faced bankruptcy, he still gave Ling Zi money to ensure that she would live a worry-free life in her later years.
Although Ling Zi loved taking advantage of Mr.
Bao's money, and Ye Dongjing was always struggling financially, her business acumen and tactics were actually quite good. You can see this when Ling Zi asked Mr. Bao to withdraw his shares from Ye Dongjing and when she single-handedly managed and interacted with customers at Ye Dongjing.
In the early stages, Ling Zi relied solely on Mr. Bao, so she didn't focus much on her own business. But in the later stages, Ling Zi's abilities truly shone.
However, Ling Hong is different from Ling Zi.
Although they are good friends, Ling Hong doesn't possess Ling Zi's business acumen and tactics. When they were in Japan, Ling Zi could work at an upscale club, while Ling Hong could only work at an inexpensive ramen shop.
Ling Hong was skilled at adding extra dishes for acquaintances, indicating that she often did this. However, her boss noticed this behavior, which caused dissatisfaction. She often received care from Ling Zi when they were in Japan.
After returning to Shanghai and opening a shop in a good location, Ling Hong didn't have much business and could only rely on overcharging regular customers to make money.
This behavior greatly affects interpersonal relationships, as no one wants to be overcharged!
In the earring incident, Ling Hong also cheated Miss Wang out of 26,000 RMB, which is not a small amount. As a result, Miss Wang lost her job and caused a big argument between Mr. Bao and Ling Zi.
Ling Hong is somewhat clever but not very much so, and her behavior easily hurts her friends.
When Ling Hong sees Ling Zi's determination and how she can still strive for her own career even without Mr.
Bao, Ling Zi shines brightly in her work.
Ling Hong sees Ling Zi as her role model and is undoubtedly inspired by her to pursue her own life. She has always been taken care of by Ling Zi, but now she wants to truly be herself and work hard in her youth.
So Ling Hong leaves to embark on her own new journey. Although Ling Zi is reluctant, she supports Ling Hong. Their silent gaze speaks volumes, and they both understand it in their hearts.
I believe that even though Ling Hong has now separated from Ling Zi, they will eventually meet again. At that time, they will undoubtedly be even more outstanding than they are now.
In the TV drama "Blooming Flowers," Lu Si is the head waitress at the Honglu Restaurant. Ye Shu speaks highly of the Honglu Restaurant, and Lu Si's exceptional abilities as the head waitress are evident.
Lu Si, Min Min, and Little Jiang Xi all come from the same place. They work as head waitresses in different restaurants on Huanghe Road, and their positions appear equal on the surface.
However, when Min Min makes a fortune in the stock market, it upsets the balance.
Min Min not only buys a car but also shares the money with her colleagues who invested in stocks together. The restaurant owner also shows great care for Min Min. Little Jiang Xi secretly looks on with envy, observing from the shadows.
After a dinner gathering with the three of them, Little Jiang Xi proposes to Min Min that they invest in stocks together. However, Min Min refuses when she learns that Little Jiang Xi has a substantial amount of money and provides vague explanations about its source.
Lu Si, on the other hand, is not swayed by the temptation of money or consumed by desires because she knows well that the stock market can be a heaven or hell with a single thought. Her colleagues don't understand her choice.
They wonder why she doesn't follow Min Min, considering their close relationship, and want Lu Si to lead everyone in seeking wealth with Min Min. Lu Si's explanation is simple: she doesn't want to take risks, and she's afraid of losing.
It's not something she will do.
From this, we can see that Lu Si is a very intelligent and composed girl. She possesses strong independence and doesn't follow the crowd. She is skilled at thinking for herself, has unique insights, and remains steadfast in her thoughts and beliefs.
In such an environment, where others are easily influenced, she maintains her true self and stays calm. This is truly admirable.
Among the three characters, Lu Si has a commendable personality. She always has goodwill towards others.
She has also advised Little Jiang Xi not to invest in stocks, explaining the pros and cons of the stock market to her. Unfortunately, it's hard to convince her with kind words...
Regarding the TV drama commentary:
Mr. Bao didn't get into trouble because he initially invested 15 million RMB to buy shares of company 603. Then, after Mr. Qiang announced the acquisition of company 601, Mr.
Bao made his purchase. Therefore, there was no insider trading involving advance knowledge of the information.
Mr. Bao's purchases are as follows: The first purchase involved 15 million RMB at an average cost of 18 RMB per share (approximately 830,000 shares).
The second purchase involved 500,000 shares at a cost below 17 RMB (for ease of calculation, let's say 8 million RMB). In total, he acquired 1.33 million shares with a cost of 23 million RMB and an average price of 17.2 RMB per share.
When it comes to selling, Mr. Bao had a positive outlook and set a target price of 30 RMB per share. By the time the price reached 37.8 RMB, he had already sold 40% of his shares. To simplify the calculation, let's assume the average selling price was 34 RMB per share (at this point, the price had already doubled).
Afterwards, for every 0.20 RMB increase in price, he sold 50,000 shares (a total of 600,000 shares, or approximately 8 million shares when fully sold). Considering the final average selling price of 39.4 RMB (resulting from a final price of 37.8 RMB + 3.2 RMB increase), we can conclude that he made a profit of 2.3 times on the 60% of shares sold.
In any case, Mr. Bao made at least 25 million RMB in profit.
A Bao's ambition lies in the stock market, and he has come to realize that even if he fails to secure the denim order, as long as he focuses on foreign trade processing, he will inevitably be in long-term competition with Miss Wang. This is something he least wants to see because Miss Wang has been a significant help in his career.
So he might as well let go now.
Furthermore, Miss Wang's departure on the 27th was due to the pearl earrings he gave her. He feels obligated to return the favor and help Miss Wang in a critical moment.
As for Ye Shu, his intentions differ from A Bao's.
Ye Shu wants to leave a way out for A Bao. Perhaps it's because he, as someone who has experienced a great downfall in life without leaving a way out for himself, wants to ensure that the younger generation has an escape route so that they don't meet a tragic end.
A perfect example of this is Mr. A's death in the drama. That's why many people say that no matter how we strive forward, we must always leave ourselves a way out.
Securing the order is something Ye Shu must do, and A Bao expressed his thoughts in a subtle way at the time, but he couldn't persuade him.
It was a difficult situation, so he had to help Miss Wang while secretly undermining Ye Shu's efforts to assist him.
Ye Shu's care for A Bao is genuine, so no matter how you put it, A Bao owes him.
But let's be honest, in the end, Ye Shu's business warfare lacked compassion, while A Bao's business warfare had compassion.
The ultimate conflict boils down to the fact that A Bao's business battle was much larger than Ye Shu's, not even by a bit.
A Bao's wings are getting stronger, and one day he will soar. He won't care about the Yellow River Road or Nanjing Road, and he won't care about those 200,000 pairs of jeans.
In his eyes, even if it were 2 million pairs of jeans, they wouldn't compare to the bond he shares with Miss Wang. Moreover, the sky is his arena.
Miss Wang's way out is A Bao, but she has severed her own path. Ling Zi's way out is A Bao, but she has also severed that path.
They both gave it their all, so before the final battle, A Bao said, "If we win, both of us win. If we lose, only one person loses.
A Bao also cut off his own path. Yes, that's why I believe that the core of this drama is to express that being loyal, giving it your all, and not leaving yourself a way out is the true spirit of that era.
Regardless of success or failure, no regrets in life. So in the end, will A Bao fail? That's not the thing I care about the most. I just believe that A Bao won't fail because in the end, the spirit of that era, represented by Ye Shu, will surely return.
Episode 26 is hilarious. Ye Shu was planning for CEO Bao, and several factories were waiting for the Walmart order. But A Bao insisted on helping Little Wang. Did he ever think about what would happen to those factories if Ye Shu lost that order?
Who would bear the financial loss? Who would apologize? He's truly despicable. In reality, people like him can never rise up. Ye Shu should quickly leave A Bao, and as for Little Wang, she only relies on relationships.
But no, Mr. Wei even kneeled down because of her. And now, you say you want to prove yourself, then don't use the car. The car was given to you by CEO Bao, not Li Li. Yet, you speak with such arrogance and pride.
It's ridiculous. It's driving me crazy.
Why is Night Tokyo always in debt? My guess is that when CEO Bao often comes, he brings along a bunch of friends, many of whom directly sign contracts. There's a reason behind CEO Bao frequently dining and wining in the store for so many years, just like Lin Hong.
When she couldn't afford the rent, she even exploited her own sisters. Although it's not like she likes Ling Zi, her initial intention was also to make Night Tokyo successful, just like how Lin Hong didn't want to exploit Ling Zi, but she couldn't even afford the rent anymore.
In-depth analysis of character behavior and motivations, whenever talking about Miss Wang, there is always the most empathetic connection. The emotional focal points of the character: invincible, rising against the wind, seizing opportunities, and having a broad vision.
These wonderful qualities converge in one person. But what moves me the most is Miss Wang's powerful spiritual core: enduring thousands of trials and hardships, standing strong against all winds from the east, west, north, and south.
She can be a poet singing all the way at No. 27 on the Bund, engaging in game theory over drinks on Huanghe Road. She can also come to the workers' warehouse and get down to the humblest level.
Wherever she goes, she can win applause. She is a typical charismatic figure, an extraordinary and charming leader.
This is because whether it's a glamorous job or a humble one, she believes that it's all about doing practical work and making contributions to society.
As long as it involves labor, she considers it honorable. Pay attention to what she said when she was sent to the warehouse: "Learn!" This shows that she always has a heart for contributing to society and doesn't get discouraged.
This minimal annoyance fits quite well with Tang Yan's personality. In the end, when Miss Wang, wearing a raincoat, shouts in the strong wind, "I am the captain of my own ship! ⛵️," I finally understood the cleverness of Wong Kar-wai's character development.
It goes from the surface to the depths, from the external to the internal.
This shout is not only an individual's courage but also the voice of the youth that the times demand. The times create heroes, and Wong Kar-wai creates a shining example of a woman.
Tang Yan forges the brilliant essence of Miss Wang.
When it comes to Miss Wang and Mr. Bao, they can be considered as love-hate rivals. A Bao and Xiao Wang, both of them were brought together by the foreign trade company. From then on, their journey of collaboration began.
But as they say, there's a fine line between success and failure. A Bao and Xiao Wang never expected that a pair of pearl earrings gifted by A Bao would end Miss Wang's career, all because of malicious reporting by their colleague, Mei Ping.
After being questioned, Miss Wang was reassigned to a factory.
After confirming Miss Wang's innocence, she resigned and partnered with Mr. Wei to start the Mingzhu Company. Their first order was to compete with Mr.
Bao for the Walmart jeans contract. Miss Wang offered an extremely low price, and Ye Shu gained a lot of information through Mei Ping. Driven by determination, Miss Wang didn't hesitate to drive from Shanghai to Shenzhen, even encountering a gang of car thieves who injured her during a robbery.
But she still didn't give up on finding a factory. She urgently needed to get the production started. However, with the approaching Chinese New Year, price issues, and Mei Ping's interference, her entrepreneurial journey and the first order were filled with difficulties.
Mr. Bao knew about Miss Wang's predicament and, despite being competitors on this order, he still decided to help her silently, providing support and helping her find a factory. However, Miss Wang noticed and refused his help.
In a business context, a normal businessman wouldn't refuse Mr. Bao's assistance. But Miss Wang declined. She knew very well that accepting Mr. Bao's help would make her life much easier.
However, in doing so, she would never grow, and there would never be a place for her on Huanghe Road.
Previously, Mr. Bao had slapped her on Huanghe Road, leaving a deep impression on her.
At that time, she had vowed to help Mr. Bao get his revenge. Miss Wang wasn't competing with Mr. Bao for pride; she was competing with herself. She wanted Xiao Wang, who had separated from Mr.
Bao, to succeed as well. She wanted to become the captain of her own ship.
Mr. Bao meets with Li Li, and Li Li instantly realizes that Mr. Bao wants to get some information. Li Li tells Mr. Bao, "Buying stocks means buying the company," which makes Mr. Bao understand Mr. Qiang's intentions right away.
Based on Li Li's words, Mr. Bao immediately focuses on two stocks, 601 and 603. However, he needs to choose one. Mr. Bao wants to cooperate with Li Li to gather more information.
At this moment, Mr. Qiang shows up at Zhenyuan Garden and approaches Li Li, not hesitating to "threaten" her.
Before leaving, Mr. Qiang specifically writes down the stock number 601. This greatly confuses Li Li to the point that she misses the pre-arranged meeting with Mr. Bao.
Fortunately, in the end, Li Li decides to disclose what she has learned to Mr.
Bao. It has to be said that Mr. Qiang's plan really worked.
This series of actions is not only a test for Li Li from the Shenzhen gang but also serves as the catalyst to involve Mr. Bao.
By revealing the answer directly and leaving the choice to Li Li and Mr.
Bao, Mr. Qiang sets the stage. However, Mr. Bao chooses to buy 603. Does he not trust Li Li?
I don't think so. After the previous turmoil they went through, Mr. Bao and Li Li have gained an understanding of each other.
Trust those you employ, and be suspicious of those you don't.
Their ability to work together is based on mutual trust. Mr. Bao's lack of trust is directed towards Mr. Qiang. Whether it's 601 or 603, it was always a gamble.
Later on, reality proves that the correct choice was 601. Although Mr.
Bao didn't buy 601, he still gives Li Li 18% of the profits as promised.
Li Li also provides a crucial hint. Based on that, Mr. Bao speculates that the highest price for 601 would be around 40 yuan.
Mr. Bao enters the market at that moment.
However, it turns out that it's a fortunate mistake for Mr. Bao to enter late.
Although he didn't make as much profit as Li Li and the others who entered earlier, Mr. Bao remains clean-handed.
Li Li and Mr. Qiang are both called in for questioning, but Mr.
Bao has nothing to worry about. In this wave, Mr. Bao is the winner.
President Bao's foreign trade business had always been in cooperation with Miss Wang. Miss Wang worked at the company on the 27th, and the collaboration between President Bao and her was mutually beneficial.
Miss Wang is a principled person, but she was framed by her colleague, Mei Ping, because of a pair of pearl earrings given to her by President Bao.
She was first sent for training and later cleared of any wrongdoing, but she decided to resign and start her own company.
President Bao's attitude was clear - he valued Miss Wang as a person. However, despite Mei Ping causing harm to Miss Wang, Ye Shu still treated her politely.
Even President Bao couldn't understand this.
I believe Ye Shu was setting a trap for Mei Ping. As soon as Miss Wang left, Mei Ping took over her position and assumed her previous role.
She initially tried to get close to President Bao, but he avoided her.
On the other hand, Ye Shu received her politely.
When Mei Ping asked Ye Shu to give her more guidance, he provided her with a few suggestions.
Firstly, he advised her to act like a department head even though she hadn't been promoted yet.
Secondly, he told her to dress with style and make sure she stood out in a crowd.
Lastly, he emphasized the need for her to have a proactive attitude. Ye Shu's words had a profound impact on Mei Ping.
In my opinion, Ye Shu's guidance to Mei Ping was more like a way to elevate her.
He knew how to undermine someone without being obvious. Of course, on the other hand, it was also because Mei Ping represented the company on the 27th, and Ye Shu wanted to give them face.
However, in the latest development of the plot, Mei Ping has become Ye Shu's "mole" in the company on the 27th. Previously, President Bao had always been in contact with the company on the 27th through Miss Wang.
Now that Miss Wang is gone, someone needs to take her place in the company. Mei Ping was the person chosen by Ye Shu.
It's not that Ye Shu values Mei Ping so much as a person, but rather that he sees through her.
She is ambitious and eager to establish a connection with President Bao. Therefore, Ye Shu gave her a little favor and offered some guidance.
In order to firmly hold onto this connection, Mei Ping will not hesitate to provide information to Ye Shu.
This is why Ye Shu is willing to engage with Mei Ping, primarily because she is easy to handle and manipulate.