Introduction
In the first part of this article series, The Best Thing: Drama Info and Recap Episodes 1 to 8, we find out at the end of Episode 8 that a boy calls Su Ye “Dad”. It’s clear up soon in Episode 9. What I like about The Best Thing ( 爱你 ) is misunderstandings don’t drag on for several episodes and the main couple has a healthy relationship.
About Blue Tulips
I purposely chose the image you saw in Episode 4 when Xi Fan shares the blue tulips she bought with Su Ye. She says that blue tulips are rare. In reality, blue tulips do not exist in nature. Since a long time ago, the pursuit to create a true blue tulip has been a long-standing goal for horticulturists and breeders, but the color blue is simply beyond the natural color range of tulips. If you heard about “blue” tulips, the color is not blue but a variety of shades of purple or violet that may appear blue under certain lighting conditions. Tulip colors are determined by pigments called anthocyanins, which can create a range of colors, but not true blue.
Now the blue color you see in the drama, it’s not shades of purple or violet, thus the tulips used in the drama are either white tulips dyed in light blue colors or they’re artificial tulips made of silk fabric.
Why does the drama insist on having blue tulips? The color blue, in general, is associated with tranquility, peace, and serenity, and the idea of a blue tulip can symbolize a calm, enduring love or a peaceful home.
And why tulips? There are light blue flowers in nature such as hydrangeas or delphinium that are popular. Tulips traditionally are not TCM ingredients. However, according to Su Ye’s grandpa in Episode 21, tulips can remove dampness and deodorize. Tulips are used a lot in this drama because they’re Su Ye’s mother’s favorite flower.
Drama Recaps Episodes 9 to 18
Episode 9
Xi Fan is shocked upon learning that Su Ye is a father. Her friends agree that Su Ye deliberately conceals the fact that he has a child. That night Xi Fan and Xiang Ya get drunk. Yi Shen picks Xiang Ya, but Xi Fan walks home herself. She meets Su Ye but she rejects his help to send her home, instead, she calls him “trash”. Poor Su Ye is so confused.
On Sunday the hotel staff and Su Ye meet for consultation. Su Ye takes Li Jie and Fang Ke Xin with him. Xi Fan is with Xiang Ya and Yi Shen. Misunderstanding is cleared during dinner with the six when Yi Shen, as Marketing Manager, wants to prepare a toy gift for Su Ye’s son. The TCM group is confused and Xi Fan, while pouting, explains that she saw Su Ye with a boy who called him “Dad”. Li Jie and Fang Ke Xin explain that the boy is just a patient while Su Ye smiles widely and the embarrassed Xi Fan wants the ground to open and swallow her, lol! After that, Su Ye understands why Xi Fan called him “trash” last night and feels that she likes him. He’s very happy!
Episode 10
This episode has a lot to do with TCM when the six of them go to the herbal farm run by Su Ye’s grandfather. There are a lot of explanations about a variety of herbs and their benefits for health. After that, there is also the elderly tour group to the hotel.
Not related to the main plot, but I love the filming location for the hotel, especially the place shown in the above image, where Xi Fan, Xiang Ya, and Yi Shen usually hang out during work breaks.
Episode 11
Su Ye invites Xi Fan to his home again for another meal, this time with an excuse to thank her for helping his little patient (the one who called him “Dad”). When Xi Fan looks around his house while he’s cooking, she sees a key ring. Next to the key ring, there is the ring she gave him last time to help him pretend that he’s married. But he lied that he lost it. She asks what it was. Su Ye panicked thinking about the ring but she asked about little bones next to the ring. Su Ye explains they are dragon bones used for TCM. But in fact, Xi Fan saw that ring and wondered if he had been married before.
Xi Fan can’t sleep well after thinking about the ring and the next day she wakes up with a stiff neck. She goes to Su Ye for treatment and he gives her a massage to fix her stiff neck. The massage seems romantic since their bodies are close to each other, but in fact he fixes her back and her back hurts!
Episode 12
Xi Fan comes to Su Ye’s home to discuss aromatherapy for her application materials to study abroad. The education agent calls her and they have a long phone convo that Su Ye falls asleep on the couch. Xi Fan tries to resist the temptation to kiss the sleeping beauty. Luckily, or unluckily the doorbell rings!
Li Jie stops by Su Ye’s home and meets Xi Fan. She’s so embarrassed that she says goodbye to Su Ye. Li Jia spreads the news everywhere about Su Ye and Xi Fan. Su Ye doesn’t deny it, lol! His grandpa urges Su Ye to bring Xi Fan to his house, but Su Ye and Xi Fan are not officially a couple, so he doesn’t want to scare her. Eventually, she meets his TCM friends and colleagues since she is ditched on her blind date (arranged by her mother).
After the party with the TCM gang, Xi Fan becomes drunk. When Su Ye takes her home, she kisses him and thanks him for liking her. He’s also swayed by her confession and kisses her, too. He sends her home and meets her parents. The next day, Su Ye decides to officially confess to Xi Fan.
Episode 13
The next day, Su Ye officially confesses to Xi Fan. But to his shock, she rejects him! Her reason is that she’ll study abroad so she doesn’t want a long-distance relationship. Su Ye is very confused, she kissed him last night but now she rejects him!
Xi Fan’s reasoning seems logical, but Xiang Ya advises Xi Fan not to be trapped in the mindset of not falling in love for the sake of studying abroad. Xi Fan actually rejects Su Ye because she doesn’t feel confident enough to enter another relationship after her previous relationship failed.
Su Ye is confused and angry at the same time because he’s sure Xi Fan likes him. He doesn’t mind a long-distance relationship if she wants to study abroad. Or did she just use him to mend her heart after being heartbroken with her failed relationship? Fang Ke Xin advises Xi Fan not to toy with Su Ye’s heart since in the past his ex broke up with him before she studied abroad and she never came back. Xiang Ya meets Su Ye and explains that Xi Fan only had one love with Yan Heng for seven years. After graduating from university, they had a long-distance relationship and it was very hard and in the end, it failed.
Episode 14
Thank goodness for the help of Fang Ke Xin and Xiang Ya, explaining to the other party that even though Su Ye and Xi Fan don’t see each other anymore, they understand the other party’s situation and past life.
The Spring Festival is here, and Su Ye returns to his father He Sheng’s hometown. I love his hometown and the feel of the countryside, so I screenshot one below. Su Ye ends up helping people with their ailments. Su Ye and his father are still on bad terms since he refused to follow his father’s path of becoming a Western medicine doctor. Moreover, the father returns with a girlfriend and her son.
Su Ye tests Xi Fan by texting her to wish the Chinese Happy New Year. She replies and he calls her. They end up videoconferencing. She always thought that he was angry at her so she didn’t dare to contact him. Since she remembers that it’s his birthday, she celebrates a simple birthday for him. Their convo is awkward but endearing.
Episode 15
After the New Year celebration is over, Su Ye comes back and gives Xi Fan two jars of red beans he made himself and a few prescriptions of red bean medicinal food. Xi Fan wonders why he’s not angry. Su Ye says that he had been through a similar situation when he was dumped by his ex. He ate red beans and other medicinal foods. Su Ye advises Xi Fan to love herself first and live well. He says she can take her time, but if possible to heal herself soon, lol!
Xi Fan takes a hotel guest lady to see Su Ye. When he finishes examining the lady and they are ready to go, he wants to check up on Xi Fan. When he checks her pulse, he finds out that she has been accepted to the school abroad but doesn’t tell him. He then makes a serious face and she asks if anything wrong with her health…
He says: “Nothing major. Just… you’re a bit heartless.”
Episode 16
After the New Year vacation, things seem to get better with everyone. Yi Shen and Xiang Ya, Xi Fan’s besties, become a couple. I feel bad for this couple and the actor and the actress who played them. Because this drama focuses on TCM, the romance plot is mostly between Xi Fan and Su Ye. I never see Yi Shen and Xiang Ya’s romantic scenes besides their bickering scenes. Fang Ke Xin, who has a crush on Su Ye, decides to move on.
Su Ye suddenly texts Xi Fan, wanting to see her. When she sees him, he’s drunk. He blames her for not eating the red beans and has a follow-up appointment. Also, she hooked him (while hinting when she was drunk and kissed him). For that, she has to take responsibility and not abandon him. She promises that she won’t abandon him and sends him home. After she leaves, he’s suddenly sober up. He’s not drunk at all!
Su Ye complains that Xi Fan hooked him like a fish with a kiss.
Just as Su Ye was waiting for Xi Fan to eliminate the old sores named Yan Heng, Yan Heng appears. He’s a VIP guest. He and his team will come to participate in a project bid and he also moves to the city. On the first day of Yan Heng’s check-in, he looks for Xi Fan. She’s hiding and Yi Shen and Xiang Ya are not happy seeing Yan Heng either. Yan Heng brings a large bouquet of red roses but Xi Fan throws it to him. Xiang Ya and Xi Fan are reprimanded by the boss to maintain professionalism.
Episode 17
With Yan Heng’s appearance, Xi Fan’s symptoms return. She has insomnia again, and even nightmares and anxiety. When Xi Fan gets off work, Yan Heng has already waited for her, she has no choice but to go to have dinner with him. Yan Heng takes Xi Fan to the place they used to go, hoping that she will rekindle their old love. However, her feelings for him are no longer there. She feels suffocated so she calls Su Ye for treatment that evening. She drops her aromatic sachet in Yan Heng’s car, so he knows where she goes. He follows her to Su Ye’s clinic. Yan Heng ridicules TCM and insists on waiting for her to finish the acupuncture. He has a hunch there is something special between Su Ye and Xi Fan. Su Ye hints Xi Fan to escape from the back door until the clinic is closed. When he’s off work, Su Ye goes looking for her and comforts her.
Episode 18
After Yan Heng completed the project signing ceremony, he brought many gifts to Xi Fan’s parents. Although he admits his mistakes he felt Xi Fan was in his way to gaining a foothold in the company which was why he broke up with her. Xi Fan has a fierce argument with him, and her parents are so angry with Yan Heng that they kick him out, but not before passing Su Ye who is bringing medicinal food for Xi Fan and her family, like a prospective son-in-law, lol. Xi Fan hides in her room, comforted by Su Ye. Xi Fan decides to take two days off from work to avoid Yan Heng. Yang Heng leaves the city and gifts Xi Fan her favorite perfume. But when she sprays it, she sneezes and suddenly realizes she has changed. She doesn’t like that perfume anymore and hasn’t wore it for a long time.
Xi Fan runs to find Su Ye. Her excuse is to get a new sachet of aromatic herbs. But the real reason is to propose to him to be her bf. He asks if she has thought about it. When she confirms they hug and kiss.
Conclusion
Yay! We can say after the end of Episode 18, they officially become a couple. However, we still have the last eight episodes to go. What issues will they have in the future? And how about Xi Fan’s plan to study abroad? Read the last recap of part 3 of this series: The Best Thing: Recap Episodes 19 to 28 (Final)!
