Blossom in Heart Episode 26 Recap
> Blossom in Heart Recap
Long Deshui's concubine, Red Sleeve, becomes pregnant. Initially, Long Deshui wants her to abort, as he had previously promised his daughter, Long Mohua, that no concubines would have more children. However, Red Sleeve insists the child is a boy and she intends to keep it, which delights Long Deshui. He then abandons the abortion idea but worries about Long Mohua's reaction.
Red Sleeve attempts to reveal her pregnancy to Long Mohua while Long Deshui is discussing marriage with her, but Long Deshui quickly intervenes and sends Long Mohua away. Long Mohua, carrying crabs, arrives at the Lang family and encounters Lang Qingqing, who is on her way to the Langlichun workshop to see her two brothers, Lang Yueming and Lang Yuexuan.
Lang Qingqing informs Long Mohua that her brothers are now working there and it's quite lively, so Long Mohua joins her. Shi Diwen secretly follows them to Langlichun. At the workshop, Long Mohua suggests a gathering to celebrate Lang Yueming's official entry. Lang Yuexuan invites Fan Zhen and Gu Haitang; Fan Zhen politely declines, but Gu Haitang, unable to refuse the invitation, joins the celebration.
Lang Yueming proposes selling Langlichun's products internationally, an idea inspired by Gu Haitang's makeup box, and everyone agrees, believing that if foreign goods can enter the country, their own can also go abroad. After the celebration, Lang Yueming privately tells Lang Yuexuan that he is not at the workshop to compete for family property but because of Gu Haitang.
Lang Yuexuan, who is an adopted son but feels treated as family, assures Lang Yueming that he is not upset and promises to work cooperatively with him in managing the workshop. Lang Yuexuan also hopes Lang Yueming will always trust him to be on his side. Later, Lang Yuexuan, under the influence of alcohol, confides in Lang Sinian (his father) that both he and Lang Yueming love Gu Haitang and have made a pact to compete for her fairly.
Lang Sinian is surprised by their deep entanglement over a woman, finding their actions childish and disregarding Gu Haitang's feelings. He advises them to adopt a long-term perspective and recounts his own past, where he loved a Lang family maid who was sent away when he married Feng Chunyan (his wife). Lang Yuexuan expresses hope that Lang Sinian will understand his situation.
Red Sleeve later actively seeks out Long Mohua, informing her of the pregnancy and pleading to be allowed to keep the child, fearing she will have nothing when she grows old and Long Deshui finds new favorites. Long Mohua initially refuses, fearing she would lose Long Deshui's favor and not wanting to compete for family property.
However, after learning Red Sleeve cried all night and reflecting on her own harshness, Long Mohua suddenly develops a desire for a sibling, envying Gu Haitang for having a younger brother. She approaches Long Deshui, realizes he genuinely wants another child, and agrees to let Red Sleeve have the baby, but only after Long Deshui promises that all family property will be hers. Long Deshui is overjoyed, bows to Long Mohua, and eagerly shares the good news with Red Sleeve.
Feng Chunyan (Lang Sinian's wife) continues to try to matchmake Long Mohua and Lang Yueming, but Lang Yueming is not interested, declining her suggestions by citing workshop commitments. Shi Jizhou finds his son, Shi Diwen, drunk at home. Shi Diwen expresses his genuine desire to pursue Long Mohua but feels the gap between them is too large. Shi Jizhou harshly scolds him and compels him to pursue Long Mohua by any means necessary. Long Mohua frequently visits Feng Chunyan.
During one visit, Long Mohua brings a silk scarf and unintentionally reveals that the peach blossom lanterns, which Gu Haitang had offered, were all burned. Feng Chunyan, angered by this news, calls Miaolan, who places all the blame on Gu Haitang. Long Mohua then observes Lang Yueming preparing a hand warmer for Gu Haitang and encourages Lang Yueming to pursue Gu Haitang, believing this would naturally lead to her own relationship with Lang Yuexuan.
Gu Haitang frequently visits the temple (or Buddha hall) but consistently fails to encounter anyone worshipping her father's plaque. Similarly, Gu Xiahe also often visits the temple but never sees anyone worshipping his father's plaque. Returning late from the temple, Gu Haitang is deliberately challenged by Xinqiao at the workshop. Lang Yuexuan covers for Gu Haitang by falsely claiming they were together searching for spices. However, Xinqiao insists Gu Haitang manually sort and clean flower petals, which Gu Haitang performs.
Meanwhile, the female workers at Langlichun debate and compare Lang Yuexuan and Lang Yueming, with Xinqiao disparaging both brothers. Xinqiao quickly hides when Master Shang and Lang Yueming arrive. Lang Yueming, upon reviewing Langlichun's account books, discovers that costs, particularly the expensive official kiln ceramic bottles used for rouge packaging, constitute a large portion of profits. Master Shang explains that these bottles are a family tradition, passed down through generations, and believed to guarantee quality, whereas ordinary packaging might not.
Prioritizing profit maximization, Lang Yueming insists on switching to cheaper, ordinary ceramic bottles. He instructs Master Shang to keep this change secret from Lang Sinian and promises to bear all consequences. Later, Lang Yuexuan discovers customer complaints about Langlichun's rouge packaging, including damaged and leaking boxes, and learns from the shopkeeper/housekeeper that Lang Yueming made the unauthorized decision to change the ceramic bottles. Lang Yuexuan immediately confronts Lang Yueming about this.
After work, Lang Yuexuan brings Gu Haitang ointment for her swollen hands. Lang Yueming also brings her exquisite pastries and a hand warmer. Gu Haitang is put in an awkward position and initially reluctant to accept any gifts. Lang Yuexuan calls Lang Yueming away, causing Lang Yueming to directly place the hand warmer in Gu Haitang's hands before leaving. Gu Haitang ultimately goes home without accepting the other gifts.
