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
Dong lies at Jia and Li’s feet as Jia explains that the beetle orchid are poisonous mushrooms that grow on insects, but she’s refined to work on people. He’s paralyzed and would die as mushrooms grow out of his body, but she’s putting him out of his misery first.
There’s dramatic cross-cutting as Jia stabs with her knife and Li prays at a temple.
An uncomfortable family breakfast the next morning is interrupted by news of Dong’s disappearance. Chan accuses Li of being involved and tells Song about everything, including that Tian has a secret. Then Dong’s body is found.
Bua found it, but can’t confirm Chan’s story except that they were out last night. A pouch with workers’ wages is found on Dong, and it’s assumed he stole them and ran. Chan accuses Li of setting this all up. Yang looks over the body and finds no signs of a fight.
A flashback shows us that Jia was actually stabbing a hole in the boat and setting everything up.
Song believes Li over Chan, which infuriates Chan.
Yang has questions for Bua about discovering the body and Bua wants to know if Tian really has a secret. Chan has Nuan looking for evidence, and she hears Jia asking the other workers about where Dong’s body has been taken. Jia has to get to it before it grows mushrooms for people to see.
The investigative teams of Yang and Bua and Chan and Nuan converge on the boat, but then Bua gets called away. Song and Li want her to be Tian’s adoptive son, but a spying Chan knows this is just to get Tian more family protection.
Chan brings up her suspicions at the dinner table, but Song harshly puts both her and Yang down. Alone with Yang, she says she realizes no matter what they do they won’t be respected by Song.
Pin is looking to get a job to help her family, and her father is so inspired he’s going to get involved in some shady business deals.
Li wants to get Song to have Dong’s body burned quickly. Song feels she is innocent and doing this will make her look guilty. Chan, who has been spying again, sends a reluctant Nuan to figure out why the hurry to get rid of the body.
Yang follows Nuan and stops her, but then they both hide and see Jia show up to watch over the body.
Yang helps Pin keep her father from getting scammed by pretending to be a Japanese soldier. He and Pin work well together and tease each other afterward over noodles. Pin though, still doesn’t see any option but to marry Tian.
Chan goes to get Ma’s help secretly, giving him information. After she leaves, Ma makes it clear that he wants to take over the association.
Tian is looking at pretty things at the market when he discovers a young boy, crying and lost. It’s Jiu’s brother.
Jiu comes home to find Tian playing with his siblings. Tian notices Jiu still has his handkerchief, and Jiu tends to a splinter in Tian’s hand like it’s a stab wound. Tian charms Jiu’s siblings until they go to sleep, and then falls asleep at the table. Jiu comes back in and stares adoringly.
But when he walks Tian home, he again tries to put Tian off. While Tian doesn’t see their worlds as different, Jiu does. Jiu looks upset and walks away, leaving a sad Tian behind.
Thoughts
At least gravity isn’t dragging all the characters to the ground this episode.
I feel like this episode is the test for anyone who isn’t sure they like over-the-top soap opera nonsense. Either you enjoyed poor Chan’s constant demands and super intense attitude as she argued her point while Li smugly got away with it, or you found it tedious.
I love it. Poor Chan’s life is this nightmare where she’s actually telling the truth about this whole ridiculous situation and gets yelled at instead. And then Yang gets yelled at for sitting there. I definitely feel bad for Yang and I’d almost feel worse for Chan, but then I remember she tried to kill Tian with a snake in the first episode. This is the bizarre world these people live in.
Speaking of their bizarre world, I love the grotesque nature of the beetle orchid. There’s something viscerally horrible about a poison that causes a body to sprout mushrooms.
Jia and Li working together are pretty amazing, it’s too bad they’re basically working against Tian. I like that Li is shown having some guilt over doing this, even if it’s not much use for Dong. Not that anyone will miss him.
Yang and Pin working together in this episode show that they both have this fun spirit of adventure. There’s a nice pragmatism to Pin too, Tian is very nice and not the worst guy to have to marry to save her family.
Not too much Tian and Jiu in this episode, which is why it probably wouldn’t satisfy someone wanting a BL. I like the amount of screen time spent on the larger story that deepens all the characters. That way I really understand everything at play when the characters interact. And what little time Tian and Jiu have together is full of sweet looks from Tian and intense stares from Jiu, which keeps me happy too.