Go Ahead Episode 1 Recap
> Go Ahead Recap
In 1999, outside Li Haichao's noodle shop, his daughter Li Jianjian was playing alone at the door. A moving truck passed by and a chair fell off the truck. Hearing the noise, Li Haichao rushed out to check on his daughter. A man also got down from the truck—it turned out to be Ling Heping, a police officer who had just moved into the apartment above Li Haichao's.
After a brief exchange, Ling Heping's wife Chen Ting urged him to return quickly. Ling Heping introduced his wife and son, Ling Xiao, to Li Haichao. Warm-hearted Li Haichao even offered to help them move later. At their new home, while unpacking, Ling Heping and Chen Ting chatted. Chen Ting mentioned that Li Haichao’s wife had passed away the previous year. Ling Heping sighed about how hard life must be for Li Haichao’s family.
But Chen Ting said their own family wasn’t much better. Noticing Chen Ting was in a bad mood, Ling Heping quickly changed the subject, saying he had to report to the police station. When Chen Ting went into Ling Xiao’s room, she found a photo hidden under his bed—a family photo of the four members of the Ling family. It turned out they once had a daughter who passed away young.
Chen Ting, struck in her pain, tore the photo and threw it in the trash downstairs. Just then, Li Jianjian came by with an ice cream for Ling Xiao, but Chen Ting coldly told her that Ling Xiao didn’t eat ice cream. Li Jianjian saw the discarded photo, secretly picked it up and took it home, carefully piecing it back together.
When Li Haichao saw the photo while calling Li Jianjian for dinner, he realized the Ling family once had a daughter who likely died young. He guessed that’s why Chen Ting had torn the photo. He reminded Li Jianjian not to bring it up again. He was going to throw the photo away, but Li Jianjian begged him to keep it, and he finally agreed.
The next morning, their neighbor Aunt Qian visited Li Haichao and introduced him to a blind date, He Mei. Li Haichao brought Li Jianjian, and He Mei brought her own son, He Ziqiu. Upon meeting, Li Jianjian vaguely realized that her father was trying to find her a stepmother, and she angrily hit Li Haichao and ran off. Aunt Qian told Li Haichao to stay while she went after Li Jianjian.
Seeing that He Ziqiu also wanted to go out, He Mei let him go play too. Back at the noodle shop, Li Haichao and He Mei chatted. He Mei worked at a shopping mall counter and had to stand ten hours a day, with no time to cook for He Ziqiu. Li Haichao offered to have He Ziqiu eat at his shop. In the park, Li Jianjian showed hostility toward He Ziqiu and chased him with a water gun.
On their way home, Li Haichao and Li Jianjian ran into Chen Ting and Ling Xiao. When Chen Ting learned about the blind date, she felt it was too soon—Li Haichao’s wife had only been gone for a little over a year. She criticized him for moving on so quickly and later complained to Ling Heping, who defended Li Haichao. Dissatisfied, Chen Ting also scolded Ling Heping for caring only about work and not the family.
Li Jianjian remained hostile toward He Ziqiu but liked Ling Xiao very much. One day, Li Haichao gave her a basket of hickory nuts to take to the Ling family. When Ling Xiao answered the door and saw the nuts, something about them triggered him emotionally—he shoved Li Jianjian and slammed the door. Hearing the commotion, Li Haichao got angry seeing Li Jianjian pushed, but she dismissed it, thinking Ling Xiao just didn’t like hickory nuts.
She even said she would bring him candy next time. Ling Heping found out and wanted to bring Ling Xiao over to apologize, but Chen Ting refused and argued with him again. He Mei brought He Ziqiu to the noodle shop to eat noodles. When Li Jianjian saw He Ziqiu again and playing with her toys, she was quite unfriendly to him, while Li Haichao was very patient. Seeing this, He Mei began to change her view of Li Haichao.
She even visited his home that day. As they chatted, she admired how well he managed raising a child alone. Embarrassed, Li Haichao joked that if she ever regretted it, she could let him raise He Ziqiu—he liked kids. Ling Heping and Chen Ting quarreled all the time. All the neighbors knew their relationship wasn’t good. Not wanting to go home to fight again, Ling Heping had lunch at Li Haichao’s shop.
Aunt Qian and Aunt Fang advised him to communicate more with Chen Ting and not keep giving her the cold shoulder. That night, Li Haichao returned home and heard another argument from the Ling family. He saw Ling Xiao reading alone in the hallway. Feeling sorry, he invited Ling Xiao to come play at his home, but Ling Xiao refused.
One day, Ling Xiao was reading alone in the park when Zhu Peng, a neighborhood kid, led a group of children to bully him. Li Jianjian rushed in to help and fought Zhu Peng. He Ziqiu also joined to help. All three kids got hurt. Zhu Peng’s mother went to the Li home to complain, but Li Haichao smoothed things over with a few words.
After they left, He Mei told the kids to wash up for dinner, but Li Jianjian was in a sulky mood. Then Ling Xiao suddenly knocked on the door and brought iodine for Li Jianjian and He Ziqiu. Back at home, with no one to cook for him, He Ziqiu had to eat instant noodles alone. Chen Ting, getting up, felt guilty when she saw this. Ling Xiao could only say he liked eating instant noodles.
Aunt Fang and Aunt Qian came to the Ling home and also saw Ling Xiao eating noodles. He made them tea and then said he was going out to play, but in reality, he was just reading alone in the hallway. The two aunts wanted to advise Chen Ting to socialize more and not stay home all the time, but she barely listened.
That night, when Ling Heping came home, Chen Ting argued with him again, believing he had asked the neighbors to lecture her. Exhausted by her emotions, Ling Heping sat silently. Ling Xiao, as usual, sat in the hallway. Li Haichao and his daughter invited Ling Xiao over for dinner again. This time, he didn’t refuse.
After dinner, Li Jianjian gave Ling Xiao the photo Chen Ting had thrown away and told him comfortingly that his sister had become a fairy at sea. But Ling Xiao said Li Haichao was lying—his sister and Li Jianjian’s mom were dead, and when people die, they are gone forever. He said you have to throw away things belonging to the dead and forget them. Seeing Ling Xiao didn’t believe otherwise, Li Jianjian quietly took him to her father's room, saying she would show him Li Haichao’s secret.
