Teacher Chen apologizes for bringing them all the misfortunes and asks her to bring the pocket watch to Saint Mary Cathedral in Shanghai. He pushes her down the hill to escape from the soldiers while he gets shot and dies. The soldiers find a button that fell off of Jin Xiu’s clothes and the leader, Maeda Ryuichi (Qi Ji), demands everyone to find her in order to retrieve the secret document.

Waking up after falling downhill, she returns home only to find her house engulfed in flames. Her entire estate is burned down and the only remnants they could find was a jade ring that was worn by her father. Devastated but left with no choice, Jin Xiu then heads to Shanghai to deliver the pocket watch as she had promised Mr. Chen and to find the assassinators to avenge her family.

Our male lead, Zuo Zhen (Huang Xiao Ming) appears holding a package of medicine. He is given a fight scene where 10 other attackers are not his match and while boarding the ship, our valiant Jin Xiu senses that he is being followed, brings him to an area where he can hide, despite his protests. While in the cramped ship, people bump into her, sending her right into Zuo Zhen’s chest, making her awkward. She moves away from him but right at that moment, an attacker appears and Zuo Zhen kisses her to conceal himself. He leaves swiftly after telling her not to bother him.

Feeling indignant, Jin Xiu follows him and tells him to apologize. At that point, one attacker finds them and directs his sword at Jin Xiu which Zuo Zhen quickly brings her into his arms and blocks it. He then gives her the package of medicine and pushes her away so that he can fight. The lead attacker takes hostage of Jin Xiu, demanding Zuo Zhen not to move or else he would kill her but Zuo Zhen replies that she has no relation to him and that he can proceed and kill her. Jin Xiu asks how he can be so coldblooded but Zuo Zhen replies that if she does die he would take proper care of her corpse.

Seeing their conversation, the attacker figures that Jin Xiu is not a bargaining chip, pushes her away to attack Zuo Zhen. Jin Xiu falls overboard during the chaos and Zuo Zhen grabs her arm just in the nick of time. As she tries to bring up her other arm, she drops the pocket watch and she pushes herself away from Zuo Zhen to retrieve the watch that has been dropped into the sea. While searching for the watch underwater, she loses consciousness and Zuo Zhen jumps in to save her.

After hearing that, Zuo Zhen takes off the necklace he has on and shoves it in her hand, telling her that this is his promise to her: if she were to encounter any problems in Shanghai, when she takes out the necklace, he will resolve the problem. As he gets into his car, one of his entourage, Tang Hai (Cai Jun Tao), shoves Jin Xiu aside and it turns out he had stolen the pocket watch from her which earns him a disapproving look from another one of Zuo Zhen’s right-hand man, Shi Hao (Yang Le).

In the car, they address Zuo Zhen as Er Ye and ask if he has gotten the medicine but he says that it’s been dropped. When he was saving Jin Xiu, she grabbed onto the packet of medication when she was trying to grab his hand and during the chaos dropped it into the ocean. The medicine was supposed to be for Mr. Feng and without the medicine, it is a problem. However, Tang Hai says that since they had specifically requested for Er Ye to personally bring back the medication, it must have been a trap laid out by Long Si who is affiliated with the Japanese. They then head directly to Mr. Feng’s place.

Back with Jin Xiu, a suspicious looking man pulling a rickshaw approaches her and asks her where she’s heading to. She tells him Saint Mary’s Cathedral and the man quickly takes her luggage saying he knows a short route directly there. Our naive heroine is being conned.

Zuo Zhen meets Mr. Feng who is his “Shi Fu” (which means mentor or teacher) and tells him he is incompetent for not being able to return with the medicine. This allows a chance for Long Si to criticize him and even hints to Mr. Feng that Zuo Zhen may have lost the medication on purpose. Zuo Zhen kneels down saying he is willing to take the punishment but Mr. Feng pardons him saying that in his state right now, he needs someone to take care of his business. Long Si continues to take this chance and says he knows of a medicine but requires Zuo Zhen to sacrifice a piece of flesh to use as part of the medicine. Zuo Zhen with a determined gaze, raises his dagger but as he brings it down, he is stopped by Shi Fu, who tells him that it’s not worth for him to suffer for his old life.

Outside of the estate, the hot tempered Tang Hai is outraged at Long Si working with the Japanese trying to obliterate Zuo Zhen and suggests they tell Mr. Feng about it but Zuo Zhen tells him not to get ahead of himself. He then reminds Zuo Zhen that Ying Dong has returned from France and Mr. Xiang (Xie Jun Hao), who is Ying Dong’s older brother, is holding a banquet to celebrate his return and asks if Zuo Zhen would attend. Zuo Zhen says that it was so fast, now Ying Dong has returned and Shi Hao reminds him that it was already two years since Ying Zhao left. Not getting a definitive answer from Er Ye, Tang Hai asks Zuo Zhen whether or not he will be attending the banquet but Shi Hao brusquely tells him that since Mr. Xiang had invited him, Zuo Zhen has no choice but to attend.

Meanwhile, Jin Xiu is still trying to find her way into the Paramount. The doormen discovers her tricks and pushes away, sending her falling into the arms of Ying Dong. Ying Dong introduces himself as a friend of Jin Xiu and asks the doormen to do him a favor and let them in because he knows Ying Dong. To his dismay, the doormen has no idea who Ying Dong is and claims they only follow the directions of Mr. Xiang. Angered that his own name doesn’t have enough power, Ying Dong is about to start a fight but Jin Xiu stops him and he leaves, determined to bring her in. He finds a ladder in the bushes and helps her climb in through the window. When he gets in, he heads straight to his room and changes into a proper attire.

Jin Xiu thinks he is stealing someone else’s clothes and questions him, but he replies that he is only borrowing the outfit and will return it. Seeing that her clothes are not acceptable for the occasion, he brings out a cape and when she refuses to put it on (probably because she thinks he is stealing it), he personally puts it on for her.

At the dance hall, she is weaving through the crowd looking around for Zuo Zhen but accidentally bumps into girl. In revenge, the girl trips Jin Xiu. She falls right into the arms of Zuo Zhen and her hands land right on his chest. The episode closes with Zuo Zhen frustratedly saying “Why is it you again!”

The song ends and Mr. Xiang escorts Ming Zhu off the stage. We see that the girl who tripped Jin Xiu is Ming Zhu’s attendant, Jing Ling. Mr Xiang and Ming Zhu is about to have a glass of wine but before she can take a sip, Ying Dong snatches the glass of wine from her hand and downs it in a single breath. Mr. Xiang questions why Ying Dong has arrived late to the banquet when he is the star of the night and he bitterly replies that people came to see his brother and not him. Before they could continue the conversation, the guests are asking for Mr. Xiang and he excuses himself. Ying Dong remarks that he is always being treated like a child. Seeing that Ying Dong isn’t in a good mood, Ming Zhu tells him that his brother cares a lot about him but Ying Dong replies that since he is his brother, it’s normal for the older brother to worry for the young brother.

Ming Zhu tries to tell him that there are a lot of other people who worry about him but Ying Dong snaps back asking her to name the person. Before she can reply, a man gets rowdy and causes a ruckus, claiming that he hasn’t gotten any nice wine yet. Ying Dong in the mood for a fight, says that only dogs can’t taste good wine, causing the man to get belligerent. Zuo Zhen steps into the game, thoroughly suppressing the man with just one arm. Ying Dong complains that Zuo Zhen stepped in too soon and he hasn’t had enough fun yet. Mr. Xiang finally steps in to end the ruckus and tells the waiters to kick the customer out. The said customer signals his men to attack and men jump out of nowhere and it turns into a chaos. Ying Dong’s first reaction is to protect Ming Zhu, quickly escorting her away from the fight.

Seeing Ming Zhu leave, Jin Xiu runs after her but is knocked out unconscious by those who are fighting. Zuo Zhen saves her from being cut in the throat and even takes a blow for her when someone tries to attack her. He tells Shi Hao to look after her while he continues to control those men. A gun appears out of nowhere and is pointed straight at Zuo Zhen. Zuo Zhen, not even slightly scared, looks at the gun holder straight in the eyes, and says “I bet you won’t dare to shoot.” While the man is shaking with the gun in his hands, Zuo Zhen grabs the gun and sends the man crashing into the tables. Completely defeated, all the men scrambles away.

Long Si walks in applauding and says that that he was impressed with Zuo Zhen’s swift moves but then asks if they needed men to protect the club. (Gangs go around to businesses demanding owners to pay them “protection fee” and if they don’t pay, the gangs then create problems making it very hard for them to continue with their business. Long Si is basically asking Mr. Xiang to pay him protection fee and he will have people “protecting” their business.) The hot-tempered Tang Hai starts to insult Long Si and Long Si says that since Zuo Zhen hasn’t taught his underlings properly, he would need to teach Tang Hai a lesson. Zuo Zhen replies that if Long Si is willing to start a fight, then he is willing to reciprocate.

Zuo Zhen and Ying Dong are great pals and they are happily drinking wine together. Ying Dong complains that the wine is too bitter but Zuo Zhen tells him to forget about events in the past. He is referring to Ying Dong and Ming Zhu’s past. He continues to says that no matter how bitter a cup of wine something is, it’s just liquid. After gulping it down, just let it go. Don’t think too much about it. Changing the topic, Ying Dong asks why such a busy person is personally looking out for him.

Zuo Zhen says he has always treated his friends properly and it’s Ying Dong who has forgotten about him when he was in France. Ying Dong jokes saying he had to take care of his French girls because a girl’s heart changes quickly but a brother’s heart stays the same. While Ying Dong expresses his thought about continuing to play while he’s still young, Zuo Zhen reveals that he is giving him Lion’s Jungle Hotel, to celebrate his return to Shanghai. Apparently, Lion’s Jungle Hotel is Shanghai’s largest hotel and Mr. Xiang gave it to Zuo Zhen. Zuo Zhen then adds that he has sent a friend to the hotel and that he will pay for all her expenses but Ying Dong tells him not to worry about it. He tells Ying Dong not to let her know it is him who sent her there.

In the middle of the night, Ying Dong and Ming Zhu, each separately in their own room, are looking at a black pearl earring. It seems like both of them have not forgotten about each other.

Jin Xiu wakes up in the morning in a luxurious hotel room dressed in a frilly western styled dress. Xiao Lan, the maid, greets her and tells her that it’s Ying Shao who told them to look after her. On the other hand, Ying Shao finds it interesting that Zuo Zhen who he has never heard of having any female friend, has sent a girl to his hotel. He decides to check her out. Back at the room, Xiao Lan comments that Jin Xiu looks pretty and finds that she resembles Ming Zhu. Jin Xiu asks her to tell her more about Ming Zhu and finds out that she used to be a lounge dancer who accompanied men for a living. Ying Dong, later on, hired her to perform at Paramount and she later married Mr. Xiang and now lives in a luxurious house at 9 Fok Ying street. Jin Xiu repeats the street name to herself to commit it to memory.

Seeing the door to Jin Xiu’s room ajar, Ying Dong directly walks in. They are both surprised upon seeing each other and Jin Xiu proceeds to ask if it was him who brought her to this hotel. Ying Dong cleverly evades the questions, citing it doesn’t matter who brought her to the hotel and proudly tells her to mention his name if she were to encounter any problems. He then stares at Jin Xiu and without taking his eyes off of her, he moves closer, only to find a bruise on her forehead, which he tells her he will send over the medication to treat it. She asks Ying Dong about Ming Zhu, after seeing him protect her yesterday and is shocked to find out that she is his sister-in-law. She tells him she is Ming Zhu’s sister, but upon hearing that she has been telling others that all of her relatives have passed away, Jin Xiu doesn’t believe it and heads out to look for her sister.

Jin Xiu arrives at the entrance to Ming Zhu’s estate but the housekeeper doesn’t let her in thinking that she’s lying about being Ming Zhu’s sister. Jin Xiu causes a ruckus, making another attendant, Ying Di, to come out. Ying Di lets her in after believing that she isn’t a swindler and takes her into the house. The girl who tripped her at the banquet, Jing Ling, comes out. Outraged that a stranger is let in house, she tries to force her out and but Ming Zhu comes out before Jin Xiu is taken away.

Ming Zhu pretends that she doesn’t know who Jin Xiu is and purposely shows off her wealth by asking her attendants to cook her an expensive meal. She kindly tells her to stay for dinner but emphasizes that she doesn’t have time for her. Jin Xiu tells her she isn’t here for a meal and Ming Zhu thinks that she wants money so she instructs her attendant, Jing Ling, to bring out money and preoccupies herself with the newspaper.

As Jin Xiu talks about their childhood times and how she has been searching for her, Ming Zhu gets pissed off and tells her to stop talking. This makes Jin Xiu realize that Ming Zhu had recognized her all along but pretended not to know her. Jin Xiu continues telling her about how the whole family was killed causing Jing Ling to slap her for disobeying Ming Zhu’s words.

Ming Zhu tells her that she won’t feel sad about Jin Xiu’s family dying, which shocks Jin Xiu. Jin Xiu pleads with her and tells her they are the only relatives left in this world. Becoming more agitated, Ming Zhu discloses about her hard and tragic life after she was kicked out of the Rong residence and grabs Jin Xiu by the shoulders, informing her that after her mother died, Rong Ming Zhu doesn’t exist anymore.

She throws money at her, demanding her to scram out of sight. Jin Xiu picks up the money and gives it back to her, muttering that she will stay in Shanghai and wait for her to accept her. Jin Xiu leaves wondering what to do next now that her only relative has rejected her. Jin Xiu has made another enemy, as Jing Ling vows to give her a bad time whenever she sees her.

Anyways, as our producers predictably find every opportunity to showcase a shirtless Huang Xiao Ming, we get a scene of Jin Xiu replacing bandages on his wound because now she’s his resident doctor now. LOL she could have walked around him with the bandaging but nope, obviously the producers would make us feel uncomfortable with the amount of closeness that they were at.

Anyways there is another failed assassination attempt on him again, where these guys break in to kill him. One of the assassins, even though he’s about to die, confesses up who he works for, aka Long Shao.

Again Jin Xiu has some serious proprioception and balance problems because she falls twice onto Zuo Zhen. Once, where she ‘falls’ into him and awkwardly kisses his chest because the producers like to push us over the edge. The second time she trips over a dead body into his arms.

She must have suffered some serious damage to her cerebellum when she got knocked out in the ball. I would get it checked out.

In this last scene, Zuo Zhen awkwardly claims Jin Xiu as ‘his’ because she saved his life three times. She, like any normal human being, reacts with a ‘WTF’ because that is possibly one of the most illogical slippery slopes in history.

So far, this drama is still damn cheesy. Anyways, I do a lot of nitpicking in this post about the cheesiness but it’s actually not a bad drama. I like how it’s predictable so far – I just hope the producers won’t throw us a curveball too soon. I think I’ll read the synopsis of the book that it’s based on to prepare my weak heart.

Long Si again tries to take Zuo Zhen down by getting the elder to side with him and using Jin Xiu against him (knowing that she is Zuo Zhen’s weakness). Long Si blames Jin Xiu for making Zuo Zhen lose the medicine (episode 1), this dude should really come out with better tactics. Zuo Zhen says it was an accident and Jin Xiu is not to blame and that if they want to take her life then they will also have to take his. Before the elder makes a decision, Jin Xiu tells the elder that she can help him even though the medicine is lost. Elder considers this and tells her that if she can really make him better, he can spare their lives.

Ying Dong has a headache and Jin Xiu massages his head. He remembers that Ming Zhu used to use a similar method and he then thinks of Jin Xiu as Ming Zhu and almost kisses her but is then interrupted…… Awkward to say the least. (Ying Dong does not love Jin Xiu, he sees her as Ming Zhu’s shadow).

Oh my god.. Abs… Abs… Now here comes the moment when Zuo Zhen proclaims his love… Incorrectly of course.

He DEMANDS (oh yes he did) Jin Xiu to be his woman! Oh my god…. I’m gushing! But she totally knocks him down. lol. She sarcastically asks if he has a fever, and he asks her isn’t this what she wants? He says that she rescued him many times and that she looks after him every day and isn’t that a sign of affection for a guy. And here comes the ouch part…. She replies it was merely accidental that she happens to save him.

Episode 6 RECAP

Our troublesome puppy, Ying Dong, is tortured in prison by the guards. (I actually don’t feel bad for him. He deserves it!) Punched in the face and slammed against the bars, he snaps ineffectually, “How dare you hit my face! If my big brother learns of this, he’s going to kill you!” This specific guard doesn’t care for their “cheap” money and continues to batter Ying Dong. Jin Xiu waits outside the entrance and even though Zuo Zhen’s car pauses nearby, he orders Shi Hao to drive on, remembering her words the other night when he forced himself on her and was denied. Dude. So wrong.

After hearing that Mr. Xiang is away on a business trip, Jin Xiu has no choice but seeks help from the one man she promised not to ask for help from. I don’t know how she does it, maybe there are fire wheels attached to her heels, but she’s faster than Zuo Zhen’s car! He orders Shi Hao to keep driving straight even though she’s right in the middle of the lane like a lunatic with her arms outstretched. He screams “Halt!” seconds before the bumper crashes her fragile knees.

Zuo Zhen hops out of the car and grabs her collar, “Do you not want to live anymore?!”, but that somehow triggers pain in her knee (for sitting outside the police department all night) and she winces. Man, I think he needs to get his brain checked out too. She can walk but of course, he swoops down and picks her up bridal-style and carries her to his mansion and onto presumably his bed. He sternly repeats, “Sit there. Don’t move.”

He returns with a medical kit and starts dabbing medicine onto her wound while she flinches from the pain. “You should take better care of yourself. Don’t always get hurt and show up injured in front of people because that would only bring them trouble.”

Without meeting her eyes, he reminds her of her own words, “You said you would never step foot inside this house, so what force on earth brought you here?” She calls him petty, those words were said out of haste. He’s a man so why is he measuring every tiny bit of details with a girl. He stops pursuing that topic. “Say, what is it?”

Her tone softens, “Can you please save Ying Shao…” which is when his eyes flit up to her face and his hand intently dabs harder into the wound, rendering a scream out of her. “You sought me out for this reason?” In a long-winded fashion, she explains how she saw Ying Shao captured and taken to the police department and yet the guards denied it. “Hurry and save him. Whether he’s alive or dead, no one knows…Isn’t he your friend, why aren’t you a bit concerned?” He glares at her, “Why is it related to you? Why are you in such urgency?” Jin Xiu: “Because he’s also my friend. Of course, I have to save him.” He wraps bandage around her knee while questioning her position in the matter. Why should almighty him agree to help a country girl like her? What could she possibly offer in return? “I can do anything! I can do it!… Unless it involves myself…” Dirty thoughts, Miss Virgin?