Original subtitles

Mr. Gu.

I've respected you from the moment I met you

because you're Ruoxin's friend.

I believe you're a man of character.

I want to tell you

I don't have ulterior motives for being with Ruoxin.

I'll rely on myself to succeed.

I feel relieved for Ruoxin that you think this way.

But do you really think

that you can succeed quickly

by just relying on yourself?

How much is a young man's pride worth?

Compared to a successful career,

it's not even worth mentioning.

Tell me.

You're with Ruoxin.

What do you have that she doesn't have?

To be frank, she can help you.

Compared to your peers,

you'll save years of struggling.

And you'll gain even more.

That's why I say you're a smart kid.

Of course, nowadays,

there are many young people like you.

So I really don't mean to look down on you.

Yes, successful people like you

are born with a head start in life.

You would have a hard time

relating to entrepreneurs who came from nothing.

So I don't mind your prejudiced views about me.

But please respect Shen Ruoxin.

She's no fool.

If I were like you said,

someone who approached her with an agenda,

then do you see her

as someone who allows others to exploit and manipulate her?

She earned what she has now with her hard work.

It's enough that she understands me.

As for what others think, I don't care.

I know Ruoxin is strong-minded.

That's why I'm spending so much time and energy

to say this to you.

You should know.

Ruoxin had never asked favors of anyone for herself.

But today,

I can't believe that

she sought to pull strings

for your design competition.

She asked me for connections.

Now you stand in front of me

talking about self-respect.

Qi Xiao.

You have no right.

Take care.

-Bye. -Bye.

Qi Xiao.

Ruoxin, I'll help you.

I'll see you again.

Thank you so much for the nice arrangements.

Of course.

Get home safely.

Just follow my car until you reach the city.

Okay.

-Bye. -Bye. Drive slowly.

I'm going, handsome boy.

Bye, handsome boy.

What's wrong? You've been in a daze.

-I'm fine. -You don't look fine.

I'm really okay.

I'll follow your car.

Stay safe on the road.

-Drive slowly. -Okay.

I sent something to your phone.

Did you see it?

CALL ME SU XIAOWANG

You made an official account?

Sijia made it for me.

She said a personal brand is essential for a designer.

On the webtoon forums,

everyone goes for the platform.

All the traffic benefits the platform,

not me.

By opening an official account, I can build a fanbase.

I had no idea.

The third chapter already has over 2,000 views.

Congratulations.

For newcomers, 2,000 views are pretty good.

All thanks to Sijia.

She sent incentives to all her groups,

asking for clicks and shares.

If it weren't for her,

I really couldn't do it.

Su Yang, does this make you feel

that you owe Sijia too many favors?

She helped you so much.

Do you feel incompetent?

What do you mean by that?

I don't mean to offend. Don't misunderstand.

I just…

I can't explain.

I just feel like

I might not be good enough for Ruoxin.

I said I wanted to protect her.

I want to show her that I'm a man.

In reality, I just make her worry.

What's wrong? What happened?

I don't know what happened between you two.

But I'm very grateful to Sijia for everything she has done for me.

My only thought is to be even nicer to her from now on.

So, Qi Xiao,

whatever happened between you and Ruoxin,

I believe you two are good to each other.

Don't overthink it.

And your top priority right now is this competition.

If you win an award,

you can prove yourself

and hold your head high in front of Ruoxin.

By the way, there's one more thing.

Before you submit your design to the judges,

you need to register the copyright. Don't forget.

Okay.

ZHU LIN'S FASHION DESIGN STUDIO

I told you.

Don't worry about the investment.

Just focus on the competition.

The investor contract isn't in the studio.

Why would I leave such an important contract

in a busy store?

Tell me the truth.

Are there actually no investors?

Is that starter money from Ruoxin?

Who did you hear that from?

If it were from Ruoxin,

I would tell you right away.

Calm down.

Yes, Ruoxin told me not to tell you.

I'm just following orders.

See?

She knew you would react this way.

There you are, Ms. Zhou.

Someone has been waiting outside your house.

Yutao?

Ms. Zhou.

Why are you outside my house?

I came to visit you.

The last time we ate, you paid the bill.

I feel bad about that.

It's not a big deal.

Don't take it to heart.

Last weekend, I went to a nearby resort

with some college friends for two days.

The owner insisted on giving us

their own free-range eggs when we left.

It's of good quality, so I brought them.

Here, take it.

-Thank you so much. You're too kind. -You're welcome.

Did Xinxin go to the last classmate reunion?

Of course she did. Didn't she tell you?

No.

She even brought her boyfriend.

Xinxin has a boyfriend?

That's right.

Didn't you know?

I didn't know.

You've met him.

The handsome guy at the dinner last time, Qi Xiao.

You're mistaken.

Qi Xiao is her assistant,

not her boyfriend.

He's 12 years younger than her.

You're mistaken.

Ms. Zhou, I'm not at liberty to go into detail.

Anyway, you can ask Ruoxin.

-I'll get going. -No, wait.

Qi Xiao?

Please bring these two items upstairs

to unit 401.

Where are you going?

Ms. Zhou!

Ms. Zhou, where are you going? Ms. Zhou!

Mom.

Mom, what are you looking for?

What are you looking for, Mom?

Mom, what are you looking for?

Mom!

Mom, what's wrong?

When I went on the trip,

I prayed for a relationship for you.

But I didn't expect it to come so fast.

This relationship isn't what I wanted.

I heard it from someone.

You have a boyfriend. Is that right?

Did Gu Yutao tell you that?

It doesn't matter who told me.

Just answer me. Yes or no?

I don't want to hide it from you.

Yes, I'm dating.

Who are you dating?

I think it's still premature.

It's not steady yet, so I didn't tell you.

Premature.

He does look immature

and he'll never mature.

Why?

Why did you hide it from me?

I just didn't want you

to be like this, so--

Like what?

Are you worried about me?

You should worry about yourself.

When you're 40, he'll be 28.

When you retire,

he'll be in his prime.

When you two hold hands

and walk on the street,

what will people think?

Besides,

Qi Xiao's mom and I are acquaintances.

Have you ever considered my position?

She'll point at me

and say my daughter kidnapped her son.

Mom, you're being offensive.

Qi Xiao's mom

doesn't oppose us.

On the contrary, she's quite supportive.

So she knows.

She knows.

Gu Yutao knows it too.

The whole world already knows.

Except for me.

I didn't know.

I've always thought of Qi Xiao

as a kid.

A good kid.

I even took it upon myself to set him up with someone

and spoke praises of him.

Little did I know,

in the end,

he went after my daughter.

I'm such a fool.

Mom, Qi Xiao and I--

Don't mention him!

Are you happy now?

You're family with them now.

I'm an outsider.

I can't do anything about you.

That's why you kept it from me and humored me.

You lied to me.

Mom.

ZENGZISN

I'm coming!

Coming.

Who is it?

Come in.

Yilan, why are you here?

We're not on the same wavelength now.

If I take this,

I'll feel guilty.

Don't go! What do you mean?

You're confusing me.

Come in first. Come in.

What's going on?

Come in first.

What do you mean?

Why don't you want the shawl I gave you?

Take a breath.

-Don't take me for a fool. -What?

You've been doing undercover work.

You've been patronizing me.

-What? -I want to ask you.

Are you ready?

I came here today

to ask you frankly.

Your son and my daughter.

When did you find out?

Yilan, you already know everything?

Actually, I've been looking for a chance to talk to you.

-But-- -Give me a break.

You've robbed me blind.

I looked around now.

I have nothing left.

I'm all alone.

Those two must have lost it.

They must have lost their minds.

Yilan.

They're dating.

Isn't that great?

Great?

Why should we deceive ourselves?

How old is your son?

How old is my daughter?

They're 12 years apart.

A May-December romance.

How trendy.

But this time,

is your son serious?

Yilan, my son is serious.

He really is serious.

All these years,

Qi Xiao has never been so serious

about loving a girl.

He told me he's certain.

His mind is set.

He isn't playing around.

He's not just having fun

in the heat of the moment.

My daughter is so outstanding.

Doesn't he feel any pressure being with her?

Can he control her?

Why are you kicking up a fuss?

Yilan, I'm not kicking up a fuss.

They just started dating

and you're already talking about splitting them up.

Yilan.

Qi Xiao really likes Ruoxin.

Let me tell you.

I can't guarantee anything else about my son,

but there is one thing

I can confidently tell you.

He has a strong sense of responsibility.

Ever since he was a child,

no matter what he did,

he would see it to the end.

He has liked Ruoxin for a long time.

I can see it.

You have to believe me.

That day at dinner,

I don't know if you saw it or not,

but I did.

When my son looked at your daughter,

his eyes were lit up.

When your daughter smiled,

my son was so happy that he could fly.

When your daughter frowned,

my son was worried out of his mind.

Yilan, as his mom,

my biggest wish in life

is for my son to be happy.

I know what you're worried about.

Your daughter is much older than my son.

To be frank,

she's also past the ideal childbearing age.

But that's all right.

As long as they're happy,

whether they have children

isn't that important to me.

I respect their decision, Yilan.

But the biggest regret in life

is not having a choice

and not getting what you want.

It's nothing personal.

You and my daughter sing his praises.

I also think he's nice.

But they have chosen

the most difficult path.

They will face a lot of pressure from society.

Nobody will support them.

Many years later,

when your son

has gained experience,

maybe they will want

to go in different directions.

They'll still end up breaking up.

What will my daughter do then?

She can't afford it.

Yilan, why do you care

about what other people think?

Our children's happiness is what matters the most.

We're both moms.

I understand.

Truly, I understand.

When the kids were little, we told them

we had to rely on each other.

Now that they're grown up,

they're flying off on their own.

It'll kill a part of us.

A piece of our hearts will stay with them.

I understand.

You're right. I raised Ruoxin on my own.

Every family has its own problems.

Today, I don't want to talk about her dad.

I just want to talk about my daughter.

She had cola splashed in her face.

You know about that, right?

I always taught her

that one who only knows hatred

has no future.

So even now,

she won't tell me anything.

She carries the burden herself.

But I'm a mom.

I hope she will soon find

a mature

and reliable man

who can protect her.

Yilan, how do you know

my son can't protect her?

Apart from being younger than your daughter,

in what way is he inferior to others?

Yilan.

I'm not as capable as you.

In terms of being a mom,

I really can't compare to you.

Look at you.

You're in control of your work and life.

You're a respected teacher at school.

Your house is in order.

But I can't.

I'm not as competent as you.

When Qi Xiao's dad left,

my entire life fell apart.

I couldn't do my job.

I couldn't keep my house in order.

One meal might end up burnt.

The next meal might turn out raw.

The clothes I bought for my child

were either too big or too small.

I couldn't do anything right.

In terms of being a mom,

you might get a perfect score,

but I might not even get 50 points.

But Yilan,

I believe there is one thing

at which I outshine you.

That is,

I believe in my child.

When Qi Xiao's dad left,

Qi Xiao was only six years old.

Many neighbors told me

not to tell him about it.

Just tell him

that his dad is on a business trip.

Or tell him

that his dad went abroad.

Otherwise, it'll affect him.

That night,

I mulled it over.

I felt that

I should still tell my son the truth.

He has the right to know the truth.

I pulled my son aside that day.

I told him,

"Qi Xiao, your dad is gone.

You'll never see him again.

If you want to cry,

just cry.

Because I feel like crying too."

That night, we hugged

and cried all night.

The next morning,

I wiped my tears away

and talked to him.

"Your dad is gone.

But I'm here.

As long as you love me

and I love you,

this family will still be here.

Your dad used to do all the work.

I don't know how to do anything.

But from now on,

I'll take care of everything around the house.

I'll do my best.

And you?

You must help me.

Let's work hard together."

He took my hand.

He told me,

"I will, Mom.

I'll work hard with you."

A six-year-old child.

All these years,

we have stumbled through life,

held each other up, and supported each other.

We made it.

Everything has changed.

There is only one thing

that hasn't changed.

I believe in my child.

Yilan, think about it.

The kids are grown now.

Society has changed.

You still want

to arrange everything for her.

Let me ask you.

How long can you keep doing that?

Ruoxin is exceptional.

Why don't you believe in the choices she makes?

It's not that I don't trust her choice.

But as her mom,

I'm just scared.

Yilan.

Don't be scared.

When you're scared,

just keep in mind

that she still has you.

If she has you, everything will be all right.

PRODUCT SUBMISSION

SUBMISSION ACCEPTED

Do you know?

Before this,

Ruoxin had never asked favors of anyone for herself.

But today,

I can't believe that she sought to pull strings

for your design competition.

She asked me for connections.

Now you stand in front of me

talking about self-respect.

Qi Xiao.

You have no right.

Calm down.

Yes, Ruoxin told me not to tell you.

I'm just following orders.

SHEN RUOXIN

ACCEPT

Hello?

Qi Xiao, I want to tell you something.

My mom knows about us.

Did you tell her?

It wasn't me. Someone else did.

Someone else? Who?

Was it Gu Yutao?

It doesn't matter now.

I knew he was up to no good.

So what now?

I'll talk to her.

Don't look for her.

She's upset right now.

I called to say that

if she calls to criticize you,

then…

I'll just say I like you.

I want to be with you.

I'll be good to you. I'll put her at ease.

Qi Xiao,

don't tell her that for the time being.

She's angry right now.

She won't listen.

She'll think you're still young and starting a business,

so she won't take you seriously.

-Later-- -Does she not take me seriously?

Or do you not take me seriously?

Is it her or you who doesn't believe in me?

Qi Xiao, what's wrong?

It's nothing.

I want to tell you this.

I've submitted my competition entry.

I want to see what I'm truly capable of,

even if I get eliminated.

What's gotten into him?

WHAT'S WRONG?

-Hello? -Hey, Ruoxin.

I was passing by your house.

There's some progress regarding Qi Xiao's competition.

I want to talk to you.

Do you want to come downstairs?

Or should I come upstairs?

You don't have to come up.

I'll come down.

Yutao.

Let's have some tea while we talk.

No, I have some work left to do.

What is it?

It's not much.

It's the competition you told me about.

It's hosted by my friend.

They happen to be free tonight and want to have dinner with you.

So I came to ask you if you're free.

I'm not free today.

Let's not arrange this first.

What's wrong?

You're not free today?

When will you have time then?

Don't worry about setting things up.

I've arranged everything.

You're quite fast.

Listen, it's best to make contact

sooner rather than later.

From what I know,

the organizers have already received hundreds of submissions.

What are you waiting for?

I thought about it.

Qi Xiao has a lot of self-respect.

He might not be able to accept

using back channels and connections.

Really?

You're kidding.

Dating a kid must be so tiring.

He's not capable of much,

but insists on having a noble heart.

Pulling strings and using back channels.

Is it that easy to do?

Does he think it just takes a humble request?

It depends on who's willing to help him!

Other people nurture children.

You're nurturing your boyfriend.

I feel tired on your behalf.

Everyone has something they won't compromise on.

I quite admire this about him.

All right, as long as you enjoy it.

I'll hold off on the dinner.

The results will be out in two weeks.

You can give me a call anytime if there's anything.

Thank you.

Yutao, I want to ask you something.

Go ahead.

Did you tell my mom

about me and Qi Xiao?

Yes.

I brought her some souvenirs

and we chatted a bit.

You're so thoughtful.

"For you, a thousand times over."

Remember the book?

You gave it to me in college.

Yes.

Before you went abroad,

I gave you The Kite Runner.

Since you have a good memory,

you should remember I hate owing favors

and I don't like others interfering in my business,

even if it's out of concern.

You really are Iron Woman.

You're an impregnable fortress.

I'm impressed.

I'm really curious how the kid

burrowed his way into your heart.

I suppose it's fate.

Okay.

I hope you have a chance to see it to the end.

Call me anytime.

Bye.

Bye.

Why are you here?

Why did Gu Yutao come to see you?

It's nothing.

He was just passing by and spoke to me about something.

What's wrong?

What's wrong, kid?

Are you jealous?

I'm not a kid.

I'm your boyfriend.

Give the 200,000 yuan back to Ruoxin.

-Why? -Just do as I say.

I'll take care of the funding.

What do you have in mind?

I have a friend from college

who works at an investment firm.

I can ask him.

Qi Xiao,

the 200,000 yuan

was spent on rent, renovations,

and miscellaneous expenses.

There's only about 80,000 yuan left.

I know.

I know you want to prove yourself to Ruoxin.

But she did it for our own good.

We can pay her back

when we accomplish something in the future.

Isn't that great?

If you win the competition--

What if she also arranged for me to win an award?

Do you mean…

Would you be able to accept that?

If I accept it,

how am I any different from those freeloading pretty boys?

Is this why I'm with her?

Am I that kind of person?

Of course not.

If you were like that, you could just find a rich woman.

Stop it.

Hey!

Xiaozhang.

Last night, Lisa asked three questions about the weekly report via WeChat.

Reply as soon as you see it.

Are you up?

Do you want a ride to the studio later?

No, thank you.

I'm already at the studio.

He has been acting weird lately.

Is the competition too stressful?

Hello?

Ms. Shen, we added one more to the interviews

for the position of your assistant this afternoon.

The resume is in the system now.

-Please take a look. -Okay, thank you.

RESUME

HOW ABOUT DINNER TOGETHER TONIGHT?

SEND

I'M BUSY WITH THE STUDIO OPENING TONIGHT.

Hey, Sijia.

Ruoxin, are you free for lunch?

I need your advice on something.

Sure, no problem.

Are you having lunch with me because you heard the news?

What kind of news?

Headquarters will be carrying out

an organizational restructuring.

It'll affect every region in the country,

but the East China region will bear the brunt.

Really?

No wonder.

Ruan Ye has been frowning for the past few days.

I guess you really didn't know.

Our New Energy Department will be expanding.

We'll have our own auxiliary departments.

Then that means Mr. Liu will lose his power.

Do you have anything to tell me?

What should I be saying?

I repeat.

The New Energy Department will be expanding.

We'll have our own HR Department, Administration Department,

and Legal Department.

I…

Speak properly.

Ruoxin, do I have a chance?

Can I still work with you?

If you want to, I'll do my best to help you.

Ruoxin, you're so nice.

I'll buy you milk tea later.

Forget it.

You didn't ask me out for this.

So what is it about?

The thing is,

Su Yang created a public account.

It's getting good responses.

He has a webtoon about a cat.

We made emojis with the cat webtoon.

It turned out surprisingly popular.

A company called Su Yang today,

saying they want to buy the rights

and they'll manage it.

-Guess how much they offered. -How much?

It's 200,000 yuan.

That's great!

It's a recognition of Su Yang's work.

Su Yang is very happy.

But we're quite conflicted.

Although 200,000 yuan is a lot of money,

this cat webtoon is

the result of Su Yang's hard work.

Selling the copyright

is a difficult decision for us.

Ruoxin, what do you think?

Show me Su Yang's public account

-and the emoji pack. -Okay.

I sent it to you.

I got it.

It's nice.

Su Yang's public account

is managed quite well.

You can give him this advice.

The price doesn't have to be set high,

but keep a portion of the rights.

I see.

Ruoxin, you're so smart.

Look.

Even webtoon management companies are doing so well now.

You can use this opportunity to test the waters.

Work in-depth with an established company

and learn how they operate.

Get some experience.

Ruoxin, you're really amazing.

Your advice really hits the spot.

I've had a revelation. It's true.

Strategic thinking is very important.

If I were Qi Xiao, I wouldn't mind if you were secretly helping me.

The more you help, the better.

What? What's this about Qi Xiao?

Qi Xiao told Su Yang.

Their studio doesn't have any investors.

You gave the money.

He also said

that you asked Gu Yutao

to pull strings for him in the design competition.

Where did he hear that?

In any case, Su Yang said

Qi Xiao has been in a bad mood lately

and says you don't trust him enough.

Ruoxin.

Did you two have a fight?

So that's why.

Why didn't he

tell me himself then?

Qi Xiao actually cares a lot

that you approve of him.

Good afternoon, everyone.

I'm Liu Yiyi,

an East China University of Science and Technology graduate.

I worked part-time throughout college.

Regarding energy conservation…

I want an interview.

I was very interested to know that Zenpro's New Energy Department is hiring.

I hope you will give me this chance.

I look forward to working with you.

Tell us what you can bring to our team.

Although I'm a newbie and don't have much work experience,

I believe that as long as I work hard, I won't let you down.

Ms. Shen.

You started out as a newbie, right?

Before you had your first job,

you had no work experience.

Please give me a chance.

I promise I'll do a good job.

Ms. Shen?

Ms. Shen?

Do you have any other questions?

Everyone has to start somewhere

and build up experience from nothing.

But this position

requires a lot of hard work.

It requires plenty of resilience.

It also requires creativity.

It's not easy being my assistant.

Can you prove to me

that you're more than capable?

Okay, thank you.

I told them.

I'm different from them.

I think it's not a big deal for the man to be younger.

The young boys these days are quite fine.

It's still a huge age difference.

What year is this?

We're in the 21st century.

Think outside the box.

Hello.

-Ms. Zhou. -Ms. Zhou! Have a seat.

It sounds lively here.

I want to join in.

You be the judge. Tell me if I'm right.

What is it?

She's talking about her niece.

Go on.

What about your niece?

My brother's daughter got divorced two years ago.

She finally got herself a new boyfriend.

Isn't that nice?

My brother and especially my sister-in-law…

My goodness!

They're determined to break them up.

What are they doing?

His daughter isn't a kid anymore.

She has a younger boyfriend.

They're happy together.

Isn't that great?

Why are they worrying so much?

My goodness.

We're parents.

One word. Scared.

An older woman with a younger man?

Sometimes, it's a matter of traditional views.

We can't convince ourselves to accept it.

I'm different from you.

I think an older woman with a younger man

is the best match.

Tell me why.

Subtitle translation by: Renee Luk