Love Won’t Wait 如果，爱 premiered on May 27, 2018 and the episode begins with Wan Jia Ling (played by Cecilia Cheung) getting ready and heading off in a chauffeured car. We next find them stepping out of a jewelry convention where Jia Ling and her mother-in-law, Zhang Yi Di (played by Tian Min), are flocked by reporters.
Zhang Yi Di is caught off-guard when one reporter asked how she was as a mother-in-law. She then throws the question to Jia Ling who was utterly unprepared but politely answered that they have a good relationship. The ambush interview is stopped by Zhang Yi Di’s assistant, Yang Hui (played by Gao Sheng Han).
In the car, Yang Hui expresses her disapproval over how Jia Ling handled herself in front of the reporters and that she should never look nervous since it can be misinterpreted and thus affect her mother-in-law’s image. Jia Ling apologizes and eventually, gets off the car to walk since her mother-in-law said she was tired and needed to rest.
We then see Jia Ling’s dad, Wan Shi Cheng (played by Zhang Shuang Li), leading a group morning exercise and reciting their mantra before opening the doors to their restaurant. You then see the dad excitedly showing off flowers from Jia Ling and her husband, Song Qiao Zhi and her mother-in-law, Zhang Yi Di.
We see in the next scene, Song Qiao Zhi (played by Vanness Wu) is surrounded by angry shareholders demanding to know why the president of HS Group is only meeting him and not anyone else. The shareholders are angry that the uncertain of his condition is causing damages to their stock prices. They even insinuate that they have heard rumors of the president being brain dead which was immediately dismissed by Qiao Zhi.
Back at the restaurant, Wan Shi Cheng, continues to brag about his kids. He starts with his daughter-in-law, Zheng Qing Tian (played by Ni Jing Yang), who’s a smart and skillful chef. He continues with his youngest daughter, Wang Jia Ni (played by Feng Ruo Yu), who is now a senior executive for a travel company. You can see his son, Wang Jia Le (played by Huang Shuo Wen) trying to catch his father’s attention but fails. He fondly calls his three daughters his 3 Golden Flowers. He quickly excuses himself to check on his daughter since the opening ceremony is about to start.
We next see Jia Ling with her bruised feet aboard a bus where she meets Lu Yang (played by Bie Thassapak Hsu) who offers her bandaid for her battered feet. She receives a call from her husband who coldly asks why she called. She said it’s nothing and lies when he asked if she is with his mom.
While waiting for the ribbon cutting ceremony, we see Jia Le taking photos with one of the wait staff. This made his dad angry with his son and his incessant flirtatious antics that he chased him around until Jia Le runs toward the kitchen and hides behind his wife.
Wan Papa is sorely disappointed when he finds out that Jia Ling and Jia Ni are not around for the ribbon cutting and he is advised that if he doesn’t do it now, he will missed out on the good Feng Shui hour so he proceeds with the ceremony without his daughters.
In the next scene, we find that Qiao Zhi arranges to meet Lu Yang for his medical expertise but Lu Yang is less than pleased and definitely not impressed with Qiao Zhi. I am guessing Qiao Zhi wants to get Lu Yang to look after the president for his still-unknown illness.
Wan Papa is finally able to see his two daughters, Jia Ling and Jia Ni. They are in the hot seat for being late to such an important occasion. Jia Le thinks that Qian Zhi has been ignoring their family and treating them like dirt so he’ll make sure there will be consequences but their dad thinks that Qian Zhi is still better than some people who were in attendances (hinting at his son, Jia Le).
Jia Ling comes home and throws her bag onto the sofa and removes her shoes. We know that she’ll get in trouble as soon as we see Zhang Yi Di aka MIL walking towards her. Her MIL continues to berate her about keeping up appearances. She further asks why the doctor called saying that Jia Ling has not yet come in to see him.
You can tell Jia Ling’s at her wits end with all the criticisms from her MIL and it didn’t help when her MIL reveals that she knows that her husband is staying in the hotel instead of at home with his wife. Like her own mother, her MIL is asking when they’ll be having their second baby.
Next we see Zhou Li Na (played by Pu Xing Yu) being kicked out by her landlady. With her baby daddy in jail, Li Na is left homeless and alone with her baby until she sees Jia Le walking pass. She suddenly has an idea how to save her baby when she remembers that one year ago, she helped him to a room one night when he was drunk but just when he looks like he was about to kiss her, he fell asleep on top of her so she got up and left.
We see Jia Ling in the next scene talking with a pair of school kids and seemed quite familiar with the two. One parent mistakes her to be a co-parent in the school which causes an awkward pause until another parent explains that she had a son, Song Yi Xuan, who died 3 years ago when he was hit by a car on that very street. The other parent further infers that she’s mentally ill because she’s there everyday.
Lu Yang relays that surgery on the president will be possible. Qian Zhi gives him a script for the upcoming press conference as well as answers to potential questions that the media may ask. Lu Yang is reluctant to give in to his request as it’s not part of his job description. Qian Zhi asks his assistant to watch out for Lu Yang as he might cause problems because of his stubbornness.
Before he leaves, his assistant tells him that Jia Ling will drop by and this triggers a memory of an old conversation with his wife about having a second baby. He isn’t quite on board with the idea since he feels that his wife is not mentally ready. This is because she still goes to his school and cleans their son’s room diligently daily.
In the memory, she leaves as she doesn’t want to argue inside their son’s room because he doesn’t like it when the argue. As he remembers his son, he suddenly saw an image of his son reminding him not to fight with his mom but then image when away.
He starts crying and this causes him to have flashes of memory of him shaking his wife, his son right before he got hit by the car and a shoe that flew away when he got hit.
He isn’t in the mood to see his wife when he sees her inside the room and calls for a cab right away. He gives her some lame excuse of having some things to do in the morning and to save face, she says she is also tired and wants to rest.
As she steps off the elevator, she gets a call from the MIL asking if she is with Qiao Zhi and just like before, she lies about it again and says they are together and he is in the shower. Lu Yang overhears this again as he sees her walking away.
The next scene we see Wan Papa motivating the restaurant staff for their first official day of business but there is an unexpected guest. Zhou Li Na arrives announcing that Jia Le is the father of the child she’s carrying. I don’t know how or why the entire staff know who Zhou Li Na is but that’s a question for another day.
Naturally, Wan Papa questions whether Li Na is telling the truth or not and she is prepared. She has with her the results of a DNA test and this sends Wan Papa over the edge. He’s seeing red and is itching to give Jia Le a beating when Jia Ling arrives and protects her brother.
As the tension dies down, Wan Papa wants to protect Qing Tian so he wants to keep this a secret from her but the entire family wants to tell her the truth. The episode ends with Jia Ling answering a phone call asking where someone is.
I wonder who is on the other line…??
First Impressions: I am hooked! I feel sorry for Jia Ling for having a controlling MIL and a cold-hearted husband. I don’t know how she deals with it day in and day out. It must be exhausting! My two cents on the episode –
1. I don’t understand why Jia Ling walks all the way to the bus station when it is easier to take a cab or call for an uber though it does make her all the more sympathetic.
2. I wonder why they didn’t explain why the dad seems a little testy when it comes to his only son especially when, in the Chinese culture, we are used to the parents usually spoiling the son. I don’t blame him though. Jia Le does look a bit pervy. Haha!
3. I was taken aback when I heard Cecilia’s voice. While it’s not uncommon for actor’s voices to be dubbed (Cecilia is Cantonese so she’s probably not fluent in Mandarin), I feel that the voice actor did not do her acting any justice. Jia Ling comes off as emotionless and it ruins the scene for me.
Anonymous
This drama is the Chinese remake of K-drama "Happy Home" starring Lee Sang Woo & Kim So Yeon (who met and fell in love during the filming of this drama) who eventually married in real life.
Sunny
Really? I hope they gave the original credit.
Sunny
Thanks for the recap. The characters sound so unbearable especially the awful mother in law.
LuEaddy
It’s 4 years later and am really wanting English subtitles for the complete show! Hooked after the first 6 episodes with English subtitles.