Office Girls Episode 9

This episode is still being brought to you by Playboy as that little trademark bunny continues to pop up here and there.

After the meeting, Manager Shi basically throws the entire project onto Xing Ren and Le Le. (Why is Le Le even involved with all this? She's not in sales or merchandising, she's in HR. What does she know about increasing sales revenue?) Zi Qi and Kai Er go for some coffee and discuss the project. Zi Qi's idea is to make the department store more family friendly, some place the entire clan would want to come to on the weekends. Sounds like Xing Ren has rubbed off on him. Kai Er is against bringing in a lower class, lower spending customer. They should instead concentrate on their high-end clientele. Zi Qi caves in and goes along with her vision.

The show has a new set and they're going to film as many scenes as they can on it. Xing Ren and Le Le are also discussing the project when Zi Qi drops by. The girls are noticeably cooler towards him and this is where he first hears about last night and Kai Er coming up to their apartment. (They don't mention how she was dressed in nothing but high heels and his shirt.) He goes to ask Kai Er about this and she innocently claims she was worried he would be hurting from being hung over so she went to ask Xing Ren for some aspirin. Zi Qi totally believes her.

Walking through the store Zi Qi spies Xing Ren staring at a (rather shoddy, IMO) doll house in a store window and he knows she's thinking about her own house.

We're back to the new set. Kai Er runs into Xing Ren and they get to talking. Kai Er does the old "Zi Qi says this and Zi Qi told me that" routine to further drive a wedge between our leads.

Back at his apartment, Zi Qi has bought the (shoddy) doll house and is attempting to put it together when he cuts his finger. He goes running upstairs hollering for Xing Ren, only to be surprised to find Kai Er is there as well. She's supposedly getting a recipe from Xing Ren to cook for him. Although he had been crying out for Xing Ren, Kai Er quickly takes over the nursing duty with his finger.

At work the next day Cheng Feng asks Xing Ren out for dinner but she insists it's her turn to treat him and invites him to her apartment for a home cooked frugal meal. Le Le is smart enough to make herself scarce. As she's walking down the stairs she runs into Zi Qi. She warns him not to go upstairs and interrupt the intimate dinner Xing Ren and Cheng Feng are having.

So naturally he does. After some fussing back and forth Xing Ren orders the interloper to leave. Cheng Feng just laughs and says Zi Qi must really be interested in her. Xing Ren is totally in denial but Cheng Feng is older and more experienced. He knows what he saw.

It's Friday and both teams make presentations to Cheng Feng. Zi Qi and Kai Er recommend a VIP only shopping night where the rich are the only ones allowed in to shop. Xing Ren (who did all the work because both Shi Te Long and Le Le are loads) proposes the store improve customer service in order to build loyalty with shoppers. In the end Cheng Feng decides both ideas have their merits and detractions, so why not combine and use both. Zi Qi has a little snippy fit and storms out of the meeting.

Later, seeing how unhappy she is, Cheng Feng offers to take Xing Ren on his motorcycle for a ride. They end up at the Great Wall of Taiwan. (Seriously, I don't know where they are but there's a big ol' wall up behind them.) Cheng Feng wants to punish Zi Qi for his outburst but Xing Ren comes to his defense.

They get up off the bench and start to head back to the bike when Xing Ren turns her ankle. Cheng Feng insists on checking her ankle out despite Xing Ren's protestations that she's okay. While he's feeling up her joint, a couple of bystanders recognize the famous designer and surreptitiously video the couple.

The video is an instant hit on the internet and by that evening even the entertainment shows are talking about it. Zi Qi is watching TV while trying to compose an "I'm Sorry" text message when he sees the video. He's so upset he tosses the pieces of the (shoddy) doll house up in the air.

At work the next day Zi Qi shows the video to Xing Ren and warns her the paparazzi will be coming after her. Just then he gets a phone call from Kai Er, who is crying and asking for him to come to her. She's at a hospital where her mother, who has been in a coma for several years, has taken a turn for the worse. Kai Er then tells Zi Qi all about her poor and abusive childhood. (If this were a kdrama the unconscious woman would be no relation, the doctor would have been paid off to say the diagnosis was grim, and the entire story of Kai Er's childhood would have been made up, all so she could score some brownie points with the chaebol's son. But since this is a tdrama I'm going to assume this is all true.)

Zi Qi is hanging out with his friend Paul. Paul knows Kai Er and says if she felt comfortable enough to tell her tale of woe to Zi Qi then she must be really in love with him. Zi Qi doesn't quite know how to handle that. But what about that other girl, Paul asks. Does Zi Qi like Xing Ren? He needs to make up his mind between these two women.