So at the end of the last episode our male lead ate a delicious looking soup. But it highlights a step towards change in his thinking because he ate a food that could potentially have/had at one point feces in it--and then he could not pay because he was pick-pocketed. Our female lead nicely pointed out how he endangered them by flashing his money bag, and that without money they could still survive because the 98% without money (like our female lead) still manage to survive in spite of being broke.
Naturally, this baffled him.
The guy who saved the REAL Xue Er//he was looking for Li Jun who I guess she was in love with and he is with his WIFE (oh oh! talk about a two timing bastard!) and then our poor doctor (in a nifty hat I must add) has to return and tell the truth to the stunned Xue Er who now realizes her life is pretty much ruined b/c of this guy :/
Back to our main leads. Our female lead is yet again schooling our young male lead on the finer points, like how it is not worth it to cry over spilled milk (basically) and he agrees (another step towards change).
She ties him to a tree AND blindfolds him to bathe, a bit over the top if you ask me. She doesn't even tie him to the side facing away from her while she gets naked and bathes (Really??she loses points for smarts here). And she ties a really bad knot (where did she even get the rope?).
She's splashing around in the water in a prolonged 3 minute long bathing scene and he is just sitting there watching, which is the best part. He looks kinda amused/semi interested. Fans of this actor can note his good use of facial expressions, which I think trump his dialogue in this drama (is it the script or the actor? hmm) And then she nearly kills him again with her martial arts (but a natural response) and he fakes unconsciousness and pulls her on top of him--now covered in dirt but both still looking good (why he would do this after yet again making fun of her body--prove a point? what point?that he likes her but can't face it? i would too if I liked a blockhead, maybe, but I probs would have gone to team housekeeper so the point is moot)
.He learns she is taking him the wrong way (here would be a great chance for her to tell the truth!) she tells half of the truth and THEN she beats him up again, makes him vomit, all because he wants to go home. Sorry, but I don't like this, even if you suspend disbelief it just isn't funny (in my opinion) I think it is pretty dumb his reaction is normal, hers was not. Basically she is willing to kidnap someone for her goals. Now she's leading him around on a rope (yup).
After a bad choice of transportation--the ferryman is a secret ninja--and he yet again nearly drowns he forces a long kiss on her while she does CPR and she surprisingly is not mad (here would be normal to be mad).
Positives: Our leads see that they agree on maybe 5% of things now. The real Xue Er holds it together in spite of learning the truth about the man she loved being a deceiving cheater.
Negatives: Both leads continue to behave moronically, and cruelly, towards each other (and it isn't even funny//some dramas can pull this off well)
Neutral: I think our male lead is holding back because he desires her (at least physically)
Facts: She is awful at knots, and WHERE does this rope even come from?? Wouldn't he get rope marks?? (suspend disbelief again...)(no one thinks it is strange that she is leading a man around on a rope). I also notice our male lead throws up a lot but he gets points I guess for still looking good?? (But then how does that make me sound?)
Theory: Our male lead is tolerating the female lead because he wants her in bed and our female lead is...our female lead is...quite something...
Hopes: Housekeeper shows up and knocks some sense into them, or something. I pity him. He is getting schooled by two people who remain quite oblivious of the schemes targeting them. I think they are running on pure luck at the moment. But remember...together they can do anything o_O
I rate this episode a 6.9 because it was peppered with a few moments of them not bickering in silly fashions and I am looking forward to this confrontation with housekeeper, who is currently my favorite character. I normally enjoy skinship scenes but without chemistry, it fizzles.
