Episode 1 recap: Li Nai's master had his knife taken by Jiang Jie.
In the region of Baichuan, a distinguished guest once visited and summoned renowned chefs to prepare dishes. After the guest tasted their creations, seven chefs emerged as the winners. As a result, each of the seven chefs received a five-star engraved kitchen knife. This marked the formation of the Seven Great Families of Baichuan. Due to the monopolistic position of these seven families, many aspiring chefs without an inheritance were suppressed. In order to make a name for themselves, some grassroots chefs would specifically challenge the more famous chefs. This behavior was known as "duo dao" or "knife snatching."
In the culinary world of Baichuan, "duo dao" was akin to challenging a master in the martial arts world. According to the regulations of the culinary world, it would take a minimum of forty years to progress from one star to four stars. Achieving the status of a five-star chef was even more difficult. However, the rule of "duo dao" provided a shortcut for those unknown chefs to rise in rank. According to the culinary world's regulations, the winner of a "duo dao" competition would be promoted, while the loser would have to surrender all their knives and leave the profession.
Although Jiang Jie was only in his early twenties, he had already become the eighth five-star chef in the culinary world of Baichuan through "duo dao" competitions. After achieving this promotion, Jiang Jie set his sights on Xue Congming, who had a past grudge with him. Xue Congming's Black Fish Noodle Shop had already become a well-known establishment in the Baichuan area, and Jiang Jie intended to ruin his reputation.
Before going to challenge Xue Congming, Jiang Jie first gathered information about his current situation. Xue Congming currently had two apprentices, one of whom was named Cui Can. It was clear that Xue Congming had no intention of passing on his culinary skills to him. The other apprentice was named Li Nai. Li Nai had been studying under her master for quite some time, but her master had not passed on his expertise to her, which left her feeling very frustrated.
In addition to working and apprenticing under her master, Li Nai also operated a mobile noodle stall. In order to understand her better, Jiang Jie first went to Li Nai's stall and specifically ordered a bowl of Xue Congming's signature Black Fish Noodles. To his disappointment, Li Nai's technique in making the dish clearly did not reflect Xue Congming's true teachings. When Jiang Jie saw Li Nai cutting the black fish slices without holding the knife at a 30-degree angle, he couldn't help but offer her a few pointers.
Li Nai did not expect that this handsome young customer would actually have quite a bit of knowledge, so she took a closer look at him.
Before Li Nai could finish preparing the Black Fish Noodles, the urban management officers suddenly arrived. Li Nai quickly apologized to Jiang Jie and hastily drove away in her mobile food truck. Watching Li Nai's figure fade away, Jiang Jie couldn't help but shake his head, feeling that Xue Congming's successor was truly disappointing.
After the urban management officers left, Li Nai noticed that Jiang Jie hadn't left yet, so she continued making the noodles for him. When she brought the finished dish to Jiang Jie, unexpectedly, the urban management officers returned. In the midst of the chaos, Jiang Jie's bowl of noodles fell to the ground. As she fled, Li Nai told Jiang Jie that she owed him a bowl of noodles.
The next day, Li Nai arrived at the noodle shop to start her shift before the opening hours. To her surprise, a customer walked in, and it turned out to be Jiang Jie. Xue Congming recognized Jiang Jie and realized that he was the recently famous Jiang Jie. Xue Congming then informed his apprentice, Cui Can, that he knew Jiang Jie would come sooner or later, but he didn't expect it to be so soon.
Upon learning Jiang Jie's identity, Li Nai wanted to plead with him to spare her master, but Jiang Jie completely ignored her words. Once the competition began, Xue Congming worried that if he lost, he wouldn't have another chance to teach Li Nai. Therefore, he decided to teach her on the spot. After both sides finished making their Black Fish Noodles and the judges tasted them, Jiang Jie won with a score of 3 to 2.
Xue Congming's Black Fish Noodles were almost perfect, except they had a slightly fishy taste. Listening to the judges' comments, Li Nai couldn't help but recall the scene when she accompanied her master to the hospital. Her master had lost his sense of taste, so to preserve the taste of the fish noodles, the seasonings in the kitchen were always kept in fixed positions. Xue Congming acknowledged his defeat and handed his five-star knife to Jiang Jie.
After receiving the knife, Jiang Jie turned around and walked away. Li Nai chased after him and asked if he knew that her master had lost his sense of taste and took this opportunity to snatch the knife. Jiang Jie did not deny it. Just then, Xue Congming came out and told Li Nai to go back. When Jiang Jie heard Xue Congming call Li Nai's name, he was taken aback.
The female lead had the intention to steal the knife from the beginning. Teaching her cooking was the male lead's voluntary choice, but she kept it hidden before appearing in the knife-stealing competition. During that time, she was still working at the male lead's restaurant without informing him, and she even wanted to participate in the male lead's knife dish preparation.
That's betrayal.
Furthermore, she used the male lead's salary to secretly open her own shop, which is inappropriate. Criticizing the female lead has nothing to do with hating women. Some people are going overboard.
From a character perspective, her integrity is questionable.
Also, at the beginning, the male lead took her master's knife, although it was driven by his emotions and later proven to be a misunderstanding. However, the competition was fair, just, and transparent, and the knife-stealing rules were set by the league.
The closure of Master Xue's restaurant cannot be blamed on the male lead.
The male lead utilized his degenerated sense of taste, but taste is crucial for a chef, even if they are a five-star chef.
Overall, the male lead is not in the wrong, but we may perceive him as cold.
Additionally, it's normal for the male lead not to want any relationship with the female lead. Emotionally, he cannot accept someone who betrayed him, so why should he be criticized? It's hard to understand.
Furthermore, the male lead lost the competition due to unfair voting by Cui Jing. Although it has nothing to do with the female lead, the male lead did suffer a significant consequence. It's quite absurd that the male and female leads didn't suspect each other.
Why not have another competition instead of portraying the male lead as someone solely driven by romantic emotions? Is the family feud really less important than the female lead's feelings? Besides, if there was genuine talent, it wouldn't have mattered much.
The more I watch it, the more I feel sorry for the male lead, Jiang Jie. He really had a tough life since childhood, and yet he managed to become such an outstanding chef in such an environment.
If the female lead is a ray of light in his life, it's just a fleeting light that existed in the past.
Jiang Jie has to face most things on his own... I can't imagine how he has spent all these years. Perhaps it was not wrong for Master Li Nai to refuse Jiang Jie's plea for help back then, but for Jiang Jie, it was truly adding insult to injury.
And it happened on a rainy night, with a desperate child's pleas being rejected... What could young Jiang Jie do?
He achieved what he has through years of hard work and dedication. Maybe when he first appeared, everyone thought he was aloof, cold, and arrogant, and even felt that he lacked empathy.
But how could he become a cheerful and sunny child when he didn't grow up in a warm environment? For him, the only light was Li Nai, but Li Nai was on the opposite side, wanting to compete with him...
So it's really heart-wrenching. Jiang Jie in these episodes feels so broken, with tears in his eyes... How can an ordinary person bear so much?
Oh, maybe in the end, the female lead turns out to be a brilliant law student from a prestigious university. She might file a lawsuit against the alliance based on anti-monopoly laws.
Then there wouldn't be a need for all this comparison and competition. Doesn't China have anti-monopoly laws? If a company loses in a knife fight, it should just gracefully close its doors.
As long as one company finds an expert to defeat the others, the rest would have to close down, isn't that a monopoly?
Also, did all these five-star companies sign contracts with the alliance?
If they didn't sign any contracts, they wouldn't need to comply with any knife-fighting or closing-down rules.
Why are fruits almost always round? Botanists have explained that among objects with equal volumes, only the circular shape has the smallest surface area. When fruits grow into a round shape, there is minimal evaporation on their surface, and pests have fewer footholds.
No matter which direction the wind blows, its impact on the surface of the fruit is minimal.
People should strive to be well-rounded in their actions. We should learn from fruits and minimize our outward appearance, practicing humility and eliminating arrogance.
Shrinking oneself is a form of inner strength, allowing us to withstand the storms that come our way. This is what is meant by being low-key in the world. Whether at home or in society, maintaining a low-key demeanor prevents us from being harmed by others.
The sense of destiny between the male and female leads in the sweet trap is truly touching. When the male lead, Jiang Jie, first appeared, you could feel his arrogance and coldness.
However, as the plot unfolds, you gradually discover that he is someone with a tragic background.
Due to his exceptional culinary skills, his biological father was harmed by his uncle, and he was separated from his sister.
Jiang Jie's childhood was unfortunate, but fortunately, he met Li Nai, who became a ray of light in his dim life.
It's unimaginable how scared a child must be to face so many strangers in a welfare institution, unable to go home and with no way to protect his loved ones from harm.
This helps me understand why Jiang Jie wants to become famous and achieve five-star chef status now. The pain he experienced as a child was deeply ingrained, and if his sister were to become his enemy, it would be even more heartbreaking.
Jiang Jie's childhood was filled with misfortune, but he also encountered Li Nai, a sunny girl. Why would Jiang Jie not be able to forget about Li Nai?
Who could easily forget the warmth they encountered in such dire circumstances as children?
Although they temporarily have different positions, they both influence each other.
Jiang Jie constantly worries about Li Nai, and Li Nai is kind, optimistic, and cheerful—a complete little sun. When they are together, there is a strong sense of redemption, as they save each other.
This is also something I really like.
What touched me the most about this drama is the relationship between the female lead, Li Nai, and her foster father. Her foster father showed her great love and care after adopting her from the welfare institution, which allowed her to grow up happily.
Despite being an orphan, the female lead has a more cheerful personality than many others. She is lively and adorable, and she doesn't fear difficulties. Perhaps it's the love from her foster father that nurtured her in this way.
Although her foster father is now suffering from dementia and cannot remember things, he remembers the balloons she liked when she was a child, and he remembers to buy things for her.
Despite not being biologically related, the female lead has always been the only daughter in her foster father's heart.
Therefore, the female lead has always felt close to her foster father. If he hadn't fallen ill, they would have been so happy together.
I was immediately inspired by the optimistic nature of the female lead when I started watching the drama. Indeed, it's characters with such personalities that attract us. Even when faced with difficulties, she remains cheerful. Even when the noodle shop she works at closes down, she doesn't let it defeat her.
As a warehouse manager, she actively learns and strives towards her initial goal.
When faced with issues of principle, she immediately rejects taking shortcuts just to succeed or defeat the male lead. Instead, she focuses on her own efforts. This is the kind of female lead we love in TV dramas!
I look forward to the growth and achievements of the female lead. I hope Li Nai can step by step realize her goals and become an outstanding chef.
I can't believe we have to say goodbye so soon. I can't bear to part with Li Nai, who has always stood firm in her position and done everything possible to protect the people she cares about.
I can't bear to let go of Jiang Jie, who has silently loved her for 10 years, even though no one would remember. Fortunately, they were given a chance to recognize each other, and amidst the countless moments of being lost, he found her.
She, in turn, slowly healed him. They are each other's redemption and reliance. Who said that childhood sweethearts can't withstand the test of fate? It's simply because they love each other enough and trust each other deeply.
Jiang Jie will accompany Li Nai through every competition and help her accomplish everything she desires. In Jiang Jie's world, there is only Nai Nai. They quickly have their wedding and live a happy life together.
Even if it's a trap, they want to try it to find out. This time, they willingly fall into your trap.