Dine With Love Episode 2 Recap
> Dine With Love Recap
Upon discovering Yu Hao's text message from Jin Xuan, Su Kelan serves him a seemingly simple fried rice dish. She explains that simple, readily available ingredients can create the easiest form of happiness, a taste one often misses most, calling it "the ordinary taste for the extraordinary." Yu Hao, however, is critical, believing that things easily obtained are just as easily forgotten and abandoned.
Realizing Su Kelan faked an apology message from him to the program team after seeing her interact harmoniously with them, Yu Hao confronts her. Su Kelan admits to it, explaining her intention was to resolve the grievances between him and the team. Enraged, Yu Hao demands she immediately call Jin Xuan and confess. Su Kelan pleads to go home first to cook for her mother, who is hosting her boyfriend, Li Xun, and his mother.
Dismissing her excuse, Yu Hao criticizes her as a "person full of lies" and tells her to order takeout. Su Kelan argues that it is her private time and she has already worked overtime. When Yu Hao threatens her job, stating that only the weak talk about emotions, a frustrated Su Kelan calls him a "working machine" and declares she will resign if it's the only way to care for her mother.
Meanwhile, at Su Kelan's home, her mother is playing mahjong with Han Meng's parents and Li Xun's mother. The latter complains of a stomachache, blaming free pig intestines from a restaurant, revealing she left a bad review. Han Meng exposes them for greedily taking the free food and then slandering the restaurant. She then confronts Li Xun about a blind date he had at that same restaurant while still with Su Kelan.
Li Xun denies it, but his mother escalates the conflict, insulting Su Kelan's mother for her chronic illnesses and claiming they were doing Su Kelan a favor by dating her, even demanding a "companionship fee." Enraged, Su Kelan's mother throws water at them. Su Kelan shields her mother and falls, leading Han Meng to physically attack Li Xun's mother as her parents try to break up the fight. The chaos is interrupted by Yu Hao's unexpected arrival.
Li Xun immediately tries to ingratiate himself, but Yu Hao grills him on basic marketing data for the Chengdu market, which he fails to answer. Yu Hao promptly fires him. As he leaves, he advises Su Kelan to "have better taste" when picking a man. When Su Kelan follows him out to object to his interference, Han Meng taunts Li Xun, claiming many men, including Yu Hao, are pursuing Su Kelan.
Li Xun's mother accuses Su Kelan of cheating and threatens to hang banners at the company, but Yu Hao calmly details the legal consequences for libel, causing the mother and son to beat a hasty retreat. Later, at the Chrysanthemum Restaurant, Su Kelan uses the excuse of a lost wallet to review surveillance footage. Yu Hao, who is also there with his uncle, Gong Wenxing, hides and observes her.
On the footage, Su Kelan sees Li Xun on his blind date and then spots Yu Hao in the background, realizing he knew about the deception all along. She leaves, understanding the truth. Su Kelan calls Jin Xuan to confess about the faked message, but he reveals he already knew, given Yu Hao's personality. That evening, Su Kelan texts Yu Hao, apologizing for her resignation threat and the faked message.
She also points out that his use of a body double is equally deceptive, urging him to be honest if he chooses to participate in the show. Reading her rational message, Yu Hao is surprised she isn't more emotional after a breakup. Realizing she accidentally took Yu Hao's car keys, Su Kelan goes to the office to return them. Yu Hao is inside, secretly eating the fried rice she made earlier.
He texts her to leave the keys in the pantry to avoid being seen. Su Kelan then initiates a text negotiation for cooking lessons. After some haggling, they agree on a price and schedule, and she agrees to draft a contract. Later that night, Yu Hao secretly watches as Su Kelan cries while disposing of Li Xun's belongings, and sees her accidentally burn her hand. He then uses his cat, Wan Shun, to deliver burn ointment to her doorstep.
The following weekend, Su Kelan arrives with a contract, establishing herself as "Party A" to emphasize respect for the teacher. The first dish is scrambled eggs with tomatoes, chosen for the "Taste of Separation" theme to evoke a sense of nostalgic longing. Though Yu Hao scoffs initially, he follows her guidance.
After he successfully cooks the dish, Su Kelan offers free additional hours, subtly revealing she knows he sent the burn ointment by mentioning the leftover fried rice in his office. The subsequent filming sessions go smoothly with Yu Hao's cooperation. However, Li Xun continues to message Su Kelan, hoping to use her connection with Yu Hao to get his job back, which infuriates Han Meng. The conversation is overheard by Jin Xuan.
To improve crew morale, Su Kelan arranges a team dinner at the Chrysanthemum Restaurant, which Yu Hao reluctantly agrees to sponsor. At the restaurant, they find a couple's duet competition in progress. On stage, Li Xun is falsely boasting about being a "Grand Champion" singer from his university. Determined to expose him, Han Meng pulls Su Kelan on stage, revealing that they were the duo who actually beat Li Xun in the past.
They perform a song and win the competition. As Li Xun's new date mocks Su Kelan, Jin Xuan is about to interject when Yu Hao calls Su Kelan away, leading the crew to their table for dinner.
