Flourish In Time Episode 20 Recap
> Flourish In Time Recap
Having decided to go abroad to distance himself from his difficult father and spare Lu Miao's family further trouble, Jiang Haoyue began making arrangements. Meanwhile, Lu Miao's grandpa was admitted to a city hospital for treatment. After Lu Miao and her grandma returned home from the hospital, Lu Miao noticed her mother, Lu Fang, was still unwilling to forgive her father, Mr. Lu.
Despite the tension, her parents had prepared a bed for her grandma in Lu Miao's room, urging her not to stay at the hospital. Lu Fang insisted on sleeping on the sofa to ensure her mother's comfort. After confirming Lu Miao would stay with her grandma, Lu Fang and Mr. Lu left for the hospital to relieve Lu Miao's grandpa. That night, Lu Miao found her grandma meticulously documenting decades of her life with Lu Miao's grandpa in a notebook.
Seeing her grandma's fatigued appearance, Lu Miao comforted her, assuring her that grandpa would certainly recover. At school, preparations for the annual recommendation for admission were underway for senior students. Jiang Haoyue informed his teacher that he intended to give up this opportunity, as he had already decided to study abroad. This decision came as a complete surprise to his friend, Che, when Jiang Haoyue later revealed his plans.
Later, Lu Miao was engrossed in making "Safety bracelets" for her dad, mom, grandpa, grandma, and Jiang Haoyue. Her friend, Meng, playfully asked her to make one too, but Lu Miao teasingly refused, saying Meng wasn't family. Jiang Haoyue then arrived and offered to accompany Lu Miao to the hospital to visit her grandpa. At the hospital, Lu Miao and Jiang Haoyue found their grandpa in a non-responsive state.
Grandma assured them that while his mind might not be clear, he remembered them in his heart. Lu Miao noticed her grandpa had lost weight and was visibly worried, but Jiang Haoyue comforted her, promising that grandpa would recover.
Seeing Lu Miao's low spirits, Jiang Haoyue couldn't bring himself to tell her about his plans to study abroad, and when Lu Miao, noticing his quiet demeanor, asked if he had something to tell her, he simply replied, "No." That evening, Jiang Yi discovered Jiang Haoyue's application to go abroad, leading to a heated argument between father and son. Jiang Yi angrily confronted his son, accusing someone named Chen Lu of influencing him.
Jiang Haoyue asserted his independence as an adult, stating his mother abroad would handle all arrangements and that he would go regardless of his father's approval. Enraged, Jiang Yi tore up the application and brought up the money for Jiang Haoyue's artificial limb, which he claimed was owed to Mr. Lu. He sternly reminded Jiang Haoyue that he would always be his son and could never escape him.
Moments later, Lu Miao, who had been in high spirits earlier, returned home carrying two red bracelets she had made for her mom and grandpa, hoping they would bring safety. She became visibly upset after overhearing the argument between Jiang Haoyue and his father. The next morning, while waiting for the bus, Lu Miao overheard Jiang Haoyue listening to TOEFL speaking lessons through his headphones. She felt a surge of anger, perceiving his actions as an eager desire to leave.
Her friend, Ziye, tried to rationalize Jiang Haoyue's silence, suggesting he might have kept his plans private to spare Lu Miao sadness, but Lu Miao dismissed it, calling him selfish. Later, Jiang Haoyue received a call from his mother, who informed him she had rented an independent apartment for him near his school. She justified it by saying she had a new family and was concerned he might not adapt to living with them.
However, Jiang Haoyue, intelligent enough to understand her true intentions, realized she was actually unwilling for his arrival to disturb her new life and saw him as a burden. He challenged her, asking if she never intended to live with him, but she avoided the question, mentioning his younger brother. Jiang Haoyue, frustrated by her avoidance and true intentions, abruptly ended the call. Jiang Haoyue then had a poignant flashback to his childhood when his leg had just recovered.
His mother, visiting him, urged him to hide some money and called his father a "bastard" who would never change. Despite Jiang Haoyue's heartfelt plea to be taken away with her, she cruelly refused, promising only that she would take him away "one day." It was then that a young Lu Miao embraced a tearful Jiang Haoyue, assuring him that he still had her.
Back in the present, overwhelmed by a mix of emotions, Jiang Haoyue recorded a long message for Lu Miao, expressing his innermost thoughts. In it, he recalled their shared past, from the time she forced chocolate into his hand when he was pretending to sleep, to their shared joy of raising a pet chick, and his many fights for her in middle school.
He thanked her, confessed his plans to study abroad, and assured her his mother would take care of him. He encouraged Lu Miao to continue studying hard in his absence and promised he would never forget her. Feeling dejected, Lu Miao took her pet chick, Congcong, for a walk along Binhai Avenue. There, she encountered Su Daifei, who was jogging while wearing a posture corrector. Su Daifei noticed Congcong and Lu Miao noticed Su Daifei's unique exercise gear.
Su Daifei, aware of Jiang Haoyue's plans to go abroad, asked Lu Miao if she would be accompanying him. Before continuing her run, Su Daifei offered Lu Miao some advice: "When you don’t know what to do, just run ahead. You’ll find the answer at the end." She then proceeded to run along the levee. Meanwhile, Lu Miao's grandma, while out for exercise, was accosted by two young men attempting to extort money from her.
Jiang Yi happened upon the scene and intervened, fending off the thugs and ensuring her safety. Elsewhere, Mr. Lu, trying to cheer up Lu Fang, bought a new sofa she had always wanted. He even attempted to save on delivery fees by hauling it himself, with Lu Miao's help. However, their efforts were in vain. Upon returning home, Lu Fang immediately demanded that the sofa be returned.
She argued that with Lu Miao's grandpa hospitalized and requiring funds for treatment, and Lu Miao's tutoring fees to consider, they simply couldn't afford such a luxury item. She lamented about constantly thinking of money and questioned if their marital issues could be resolved by a mere sofa.
Overwhelmed by her mother's persistent focus on financial strain, Lu Miao, having suppressed her emotions for days, finally erupted in frustration, asking why everything had to revolve around money and expressing her family's desire for her mother to stay, not leave. She then angrily told Jiang Haoyue, "You've already decided to leave, don't worry about our family matters anymore." Jiang Haoyue gently pulled Lu Miao back, trying to calm her.
Later, Mr. Lu sat down with Jiang Haoyue for a heartfelt conversation. He acknowledged Jiang Haoyue's decision to go abroad and stated his full support if it was for a better future or to be reunited with his mother. However, Mr. Lu firmly stated his disagreement if Jiang Haoyue was leaving because he felt like a burden to the family. He emphasized that he had always treated Jiang Haoyue as his own son and never considered him a burden.
Jiang Haoyue expressed his deep gratitude, reiterating that going abroad was genuinely beneficial for him in all aspects. Mr. Lu respected his decision as an adult and reassured him that he was welcome to return at any time if he found life there difficult. Jiang Haoyue thanked him again. Lu Miao’s dad comforted her later, telling her that her mom had been wearing the red bracelet Lu Miao made, indicating her underlying affection.
The next day, Lu Miao went to the hospital to apologize to her mother. Her mother, Lu Fang, also acknowledged her own difficult mindset and apologized to Lu Miao. Lu Fang informed Lu Miao that she and her father would be returning to their hometown the following morning and assured her that her grandpa would recover once back home.
When Lu Miao tentatively asked if her parents would still get divorced, her mother replied that they would address that matter later, prioritizing her grandpa's health for now. Meanwhile, back at home, while packing his belongings, Jiang Haoyue discovered an old video from his and Lu Miao's childhood birthdays. The video showed them drawing together, a young Lu Miao gently touching a chick, and a family photo being taken.
In the video, a young Jiang Haoyue asked if they would ever separate, to which young Lu Miao confidently told him it would be a "very, very long time." Recalling these cherished memories, Jiang Haoyue went for a solitary walk by the sea, gazing out at the waves, clearly reluctant to leave the city where he grew up and the person who had been by his side for so long.
