If you’re lost on any of the characters, I did a quick rundown of them at the top of episode 1 that you can consult.
Recap
Tian hides his drawing of the opera singer and deals with work. A worker named Dong is accused of cheating another worker on his wages. Tian orders that all wages go through him in the future, pleasing his father Song but not Song’s second wife, Chan.
Her son, Yang, is busy rescuing women from being assaulted by Japanese soldiers. He shows up bruised and late for dinner and Song berates him and compares him to Tian. Tian tries to make peace, but Yang is sarcastic and leaves.
At Bua’s, Tian gets the real story from his brother. He wants Yang involved in business, but Yang feels it’s better for Tian if he stays out of it. Tian speaks vaguely of having some reason he’s not suited for the job, and Yang wants to help him but Tian won’t say more.
Tian is the favored son, but his mother Li worries because, her words not mine, he isn’t a real man like Yang. When an attractive worker named Mud tries to seduce Tian, Li only encourages her.
Tian lectures Mud about respecting herself and confronts his mom. He’s done everything she’s ever wanted, but he can’t change who he is. He feels she doesn’t love him and is doing it for himself. She slaps him.
Chan is spying on them and hoping to find the secret, which Nuan points out they haven’t learned in ten years. Nuan is fun. Chan is encouraged by seeing Li so fearful.
The next day, Li talks to Song about Tian taking over. Song is tired and ready for it, but Tian has to be married first. Chan sees Li rushing things and knows she needs to hurry before Tian comes to power.
Yang gets Tian to sneak out and see the opera, against their father’s wishes. They separate, and each gets a meet-cute. Yang literally gets run into by a woman carrying a vase. She wants to sell it but has to smash it on the head of the potential buyer to keep him from assaulting her. Yang helps her hide.
Meanwhile, Tian gets slow motion and intense looks with a handsome man selling candy.
The brothers sit down for the opera, but it’s an adaptation to protest the Japanese soldiers, who burst in. Bayonets and bullets fly. Yang rescues a child and Tian is rescued by his candy man, who stabs a couple of soldiers. Tian presses his handkerchief on the man’s wound before Yang finds him and they leave together.
At home, the whole family is waiting. Yang insists he wanted to see the opera and takes all the punishment. Tian tries to take the beating with him but is dragged to his room.
Chan prods her son’s injuries rather than taking care of them, trying to get him to help find Tian’s secret. Yang vows to stay by Tian’s side.
Li worries about her treatment of Tian, but the next day she sets Tian up with Yang’s meet cute, Lady Pin. Tian isn’t interested, and when Lady Pin fake-falls to get some skinship, Yang appears to catch her. Pin wants Yang to pretend they never met. He teases her about what he’ll do if she makes him angry.
Chan is feeling even more threatened by this potential marriage and sneaks into Tian’s room. When she finds the hairpin she figures it’s for Pin and puts it away. Tian and Li walk into the room, arguing about Pin and talking vaguely about Tian’s secret.
Tian finds Chan in the closet, listening in.
Thoughts
Li’s comments about how her son needs to be a real man are awful. The show is on Tian’s side though, and when she tries to force women on him it’s presented as horrible. He’s repulsed and hurt.
It’s also awful because she loves him and thinks she’s doing what’s right (excuses many parents use for abuse). It makes it harder for him to go against her and hurts him even more. He’s worked hard to be the model son everyone wants him to be and has to keep this secret because he refuses to be a liar. The unfairness is clear.
Chan is more comedically horrible, and her antics with Nuan amusing. Points to the show for making fun of how, with last episodes time jump, she has been trying to find Tian’s secret for 10 years. The bit of back story we got here, that she was married to Song to get her family out of debt, gives her a smidge of depth. It seems her situation has always been difficult.
Most of the characters are in frustrating situations that are out of their control. Tian has his secret but he also couldn’t do anything to help Yang against their father. Yang is the second son and is treated differently from his brother. Lady Pin’s family is in debt and it’s on her to fix it. Mud and Dong are both workers hoping to improve their situations.
At the end of the day, Song has the most control, and he’s angry and tired.
I’m glad Tian clearly managed to keep the hairpin, but his home life is so miserable. It’s a relief that he has Yang and Bua. He’s such a good guy, and his sweet smiles after making eyes with his candy man were delightful. But for all his gentleness, like all the characters in this show, he takes things pretty well in stride. His new crush stabbing a few people didn’t put him off at all.