Deep Affection Eyes Episode 16 Recap
> Deep Affection Eyes Recap
Following his official return to Hanhai Group as "Little Mr. Li," Li Jinyu's relationship with his mother, Li Lingbai, proved to be far from harmonious. Li Jinyu confronted his mother, demanding control of the Harbor project in exchange for deleting incriminating surveillance footage. He asserted his right as a son to share her burden, but Li Lingbai saw through his facade, recognizing his intent for revenge.
Despite her reluctance, Li Lingbai agreed to hand over the challenging Harbor project, warning Li Jinyu to cease any investigation into Wang Xingsheng's disappearance and to avoid bringing trouble to her. Li Jinyu, in turn, vowed to get what he deserved, emphasizing his desire to avoid making things "too ugly" between them, wanting them to be "a loving family."
After he left, Li Lingbai instructed her lawyer, Ms. Wang, not to worry about the project's existing issues, hinting that Li Jinyu would now handle them. At a subsequent celebration, Li Jinyu and Ye Meng’s unspoken marital status created tension. Gou Kai, a childhood friend of Li Jinyu and a member of the "Jiangbei Trio," introduced Ye Meng as the "face of our company," praising her appearance and business acumen.
He then introduced Li Jinyu as "Silly White Sweet Li Jinyu," revealing his 15% stake in Hanhai Group, to which Li Jinyu feigned ignorance of his own significant family background. Li Lingbai arrived, publicly commending Li Jinyu for taking initiative to ease her burden, expressing pride in his obedience and filial piety despite his years abroad.
Later, Gou Kai offered to drink on Ye Meng's behalf, stating she couldn't drink, which prompted Li Jinyu to challenge Gou Kai's authority and question why he would drink for Ye Meng, pointedly asking if she wasn't already married. After Ye Meng left for the restroom, Li Jinyu followed, confronting her about pretending not to know him in public and accusing her of fearing Gou Kai's disapproval, while she retorted that he was more afraid.
After the party, Li Jinyu offered to drive Ye Meng home, but she declined, mentioning her lawyer friend had information about Wang Xingsheng. Gou Kai, eager to drive Ye Meng, insisted due to everyone having consumed alcohol. Li Jinyu then attempted to join them, but Ye Meng subtly dismissed him.
In the car, Gou Kai warned Ye Meng about Li Jinyu, painting him as a "wild and reckless" individual during his time abroad who only pretended to be filial to Li Lingbai, engaging in smoking, fighting, and drinking. Ye Meng redirected the conversation to Wang Xingsheng, urging Gou Kai to share his information.
Gou Kai revealed Wang Xingsheng had a fraud conviction related to illegal fundraising in Ning Sui, which involved land that Hanhai Group later acquired for the Harbor project. The case occurred in August 2016. Ye Meng realized her mother’s suicide in July 2016, followed by Wang Xingsheng’s imprisonment and Hanhai’s takeover, was too coincidental.
As they spoke, Gou Kai noticed they were being followed, a fact Li Jinyu simultaneously realized while in his own vehicle, indicating Li Lingbai was having him tracked. Later that night, Li Jinyu entered Ye Meng's hotel room, admitting he had followed her. When Ye Meng threatened to call the police, Li Jinyu asserted his right as her husband. Exhausted by his secrets and conflicting actions, Ye Meng proposed a divorce, presenting him with papers.
She expressed her weariness from trying to guess which of his words were true. In response, Li Jinyu explained that he returned to Li Lingbai's side to investigate and provide her with answers, warning that Li Lingbai was ruthless and likely already taking action. He pleaded with Ye Meng to let him handle the Wang Xingsheng investigation to protect her, but Ye Meng insisted on uncovering the truth about her mother, regardless of the danger.
Li Jinyu then confessed that Wang Xingsheng was an eyewitness to his own mother's suicide, but had never revealed the truth, leading Li Jinyu to suspect Li Lingbai’s involvement in his mother’s death. He then sadly departed. Meanwhile, Fang Yanen, upon learning about Li Jinyu’s true identity and the intertwined mystery of their mothers’ deaths, expressed her shock at the "cheesy" situation and how unfamiliar Li Jinyu had become, even questioning if his Ning Sui persona was a "twin."
She shared her own struggles with a complicated divorce, emphasizing to Ye Meng that divorce was far from simple and detailing her efforts to organize years of financial records. Later, Qiao Maimai visited Fang Yanen’s clothing shop, revealing that Cheng Kairan's Blue Sapphire Bar was suffering from malicious online reviews. Fang Yanen deduced that Chen Jian was behind the attacks, which Cheng Kairan confirmed, admitting he had even splashed paint on Chen Jian.
Concerned about the negative impact on Cheng Kairan’s business and reputation, Fang Yanen suggested they reduce contact. However, Cheng Kairan became deeply upset, tearfully insisting on maintaining their friendship and his visits to her shop, despite her concerns about gossip, leading Fang Yanen to drop the suggestion.
Back in Ning Sui, Jiang Luzhi confronted Gou Kai, furious that he had transferred her out and brought Ye Meng back to replace her on the Harbor project, breaking his promise to return her to his side. Gou Kai dismissed her accusations, claiming there was a "glitch" and stating the project was originally Ye Meng's, so he was merely restoring her to her rightful position. Jiang Luzhi accused him of using her as a pawn to undermine Ye Meng.
Despite Gou Kai's attempts to deny it, Jiang Luzhi defiantly declared her resignation, asserting that she knew Ye Meng was married and wished Gou Kai ill in his pursuit of Ye Meng. While handing over her work to Tai Mingxiao, Jiang Luzhi learned that the new person in charge of the Harbor project was Li Jinyu, identifying him as the son of Hanhai Group's president and Gou Kai's childhood friend.
Although she feigned unfamiliarity, her existing awareness of Li Jinyu's 'fake' divorce to protect Ye Meng, coupled with this new knowledge, allowed her to leverage Ye Meng's situation to threaten Li Jinyu and secure the position of PR head for the Harbor project. Soon after, Ye Meng arrived at the Harbor project site with Gou Kai.
Li Jinyu announced he was now in charge, discontinuing outsourced public relations and forming his own team, with Jiang Luzhi as the new PR head. When Gou Kai protested, citing contractual obligations, Ye Meng skillfully intervened, highlighting a clause that prevented arbitrary contract termination and threatened a lawsuit, warning of negative publicity that could delay the project's trial operation.
Faced with this, Li Jinyu agreed to let their team remain but demanded a revised plan within a week, adding that he would assign Cheng Kairan as the new operations manager for the project's shops. Later, Cheng Kairan confronted Li Jinyu, surprised by his hidden identity as the Hanhai Group owner’s son. Li Jinyu revealed that Ye Meng wanted a divorce and confessed his fear that Li Lingbai was involved in Ye Meng's mother's suicide and Wang Xingsheng's disappearance.
He explained that he assigned Cheng Kairan to manage the shops as a way to secretly help him investigate Li Lingbai and prevent Ye Meng from continuing her own dangerous investigation. Cheng Kairan, though initially worried about Fang Yanen's reaction, eventually agreed to help Li Jinyu, understanding the gravity of the situation.
Ye Meng, suspecting a clandestine alliance, called Fang Yanen, expressing her belief that Jiang Luzhi and Li Jinyu had reached an agreement, particularly as Jiang Luzhi had not exposed her marriage to Li Jinyu. Ye Meng also noted Li Jinyu had given Cheng Kairan control of the shops, suspecting this was another tactic to impede her investigation. She asked Fang Yanen to investigate Cheng Kairan and discern Li Jinyu's true intentions. Fang Yanen readily agreed.
In the following days, Ye Meng and Li Jinyu maintained a strictly professional relationship at work and a distant one at home. Desperate, Li Jinyu called his brother, asking him not to tell their grandmothers about his quarrel with Ye Meng and to prevent them from coming over. However, his brother immediately informed them, leading the grandmothers to rush to their home with chicken soup, much to Li Jinyu's chagrin, as he tried to deny any marital issues.
