Mr. Fighting Episode 21 Recap
> Mr. Fighting Recap
Hao Zeyu proposes to Niu Meili to terminate their contract, stating that she originally signed him because of Teng Dan, and now that Teng Dan is gone, he feels he is no longer a "money tree." Niu Meili is unwilling to abandon him, understanding that Hao Zeyu feels he has lost a mentor and friend, but she too has lost her best friend.
She is heartbroken and advises Hao Zeyu not to be influenced by online rumors, as Teng Dan is watching over them from above. Hao Zeyu's home address was doxxed by netizens, leaving him nowhere to go. Fu Zi makes up the sofa for him to sleep on for a few days, also advising him to stay offline to avoid online "keyboard warriors" and their distortions. Fu Zi, however, does not give him Teng Dan's sweater and suicide note.
Fu Zi's father complains about having to serve the "young master" who now lives with them, contrasting it with Fu Zi previously serving him, but still prepares a quilt for Hao Zeyu due to the cold. Hao Zeyu is kept awake at night by Fu Zi's father's continuous snoring. Unable to sleep due to the snoring, Hao Zeyu knocks on Fu Zi's door.
Fu Zi opens the door and lets him sleep on the bay window in her room, and they talk while looking at the moon. Hao Zeyu remarks on the "feng shui reversal," as during their time with the crew, he slept in a bed and Fu Zi on the floor, but now it's reversed.
Fu Zi's father wakes up to use the restroom, notices Hao Zeyu isn't on the sofa, hears his voice from Fu Zi's room, and, alarmed, immediately rushes into Fu Zi's room, grabbing Hao Zeyu's ear and scolding him. Fu Zi tries to explain that they used to sleep in the same room when on the crew, but this only makes things worse.
Fu Zi's father scolds Fu Zi, threatening to confine her to her room, and drags Hao Zeyu downstairs by the neck, back to sleep on the sofa. They argue in the living room before returning to their rooms, but Hao Zeyu barely lies down before Fu Zi's father's snoring starts again. Unable to sleep at night, Hao Zeyu sleeps for an entire day, until dark, leading Fu Zi to worry he might be sick.
Hao Zeyu explains he hadn't slept so well in a long time; he used to be constantly tense, but now with no other options, he sleeps soundly. Fu Zi's father is about to wake Hao Zeyu when he sees him wrapped in a quilt, sitting on the sofa, staring blankly. Teng Dan's insurance money has arrived; it required payments for a year, meaning she started paying when she was financially strapped a year ago.
Hao Zeyu instructs Fu Zi to use the money to pay off Niu Meili's debts, then donate the rest to the address he provides, which is a stray dog donation center. Hao Zeyu spends the entire day sitting blankly on Fu Zi's rooftop, worrying Niu Meili. She laments to Fu Zi's father that even when cornered, Hao Zeyu still thoughtfully wanted to repay her debts.
She believes that although he cannot work in his current state, the insurance money might last a few months. Fu Zi returns after donating the money and tells them the remaining funds won't even last a month because it was all donated to the stray dog donation center. Niu Meili is speechless with anger after seeing the donation receipt and complains to Zhao Xiaobei, asking for advice.
Zhao Xiaobei advises her to cut her losses and terminate the contract with Hao Zeyu, as he cannot work in his current condition. Niu Meili considers this "add insult to injury" and refuses, remembering Hao Zeyu was the first to rush to save her when she was trapped in the suburbs and that he used the insurance money to repay her debts; she cannot be ungrateful.
She states she'd rather be poor forever than be a cold-hearted rich woman, believing relationships shouldn't be as superficial as Zhao Xiaobei suggests, maintained solely by self-interest. Realizing they don't see eye-to-eye, Niu Meili tells Zhao Xiaobei to leave, expressing her sadness that she found him to be exactly the kind of person who only cares about money, despite her earlier hopes.
Zhao Xiaobei, having grown up at the negotiation table and accustomed to human callousness, cannot understand Niu Meili's feelings. After Zhao Xiaobei leaves, Gu Dapeng arrives with two large watermelons to comfort Niu Meili, and they chat while eating. Hao Zeyu remains seated on the rooftop, ignoring Fu Zi's calls for him to eat. Fu Zi's father tells Fu Zi that Hao Zeyu's emotional wounds need time to heal on their own.
However, Hao Zeyu suddenly bursts in and asks Fu Zi's father if he knows carpentry and asks him to teach him. Fu Zi seizes the opportunity to tell Hao Zeyu he must eat first if he wants to learn carpentry, and Hao Zeyu, obediently, eats heartily. Fu Zi and Fu Zi's father are both surprised by his sudden change.
Early the next morning, Fu Zi's father wakes up and is anxious about not seeing Hao Zeyu, immediately waking Fu Zi to search for him. Just then, Hao Zeyu returns with a group of people, having bought a set of carpentry tools and materials, urging Fu Zi's father to teach him while his enthusiasm is high.
In the small courtyard, Hao Zeyu diligently learns carpentry from Fu Zi's father, pondering and studying it all the time, while Niu Meili and Fu Zi watch. Fu Zi's father visits a furniture store to look at beds for Hao Zeyu. Fu Zi calls him, amused and exasperated, to say Hao Zeyu is contemplating sawing down the old elm tree in the courtyard.
In the middle of the night, Fu Zi is woken by the sound of Hao Zeyu sawing wood. Hao Zeyu proudly tells her he feels a great sense of accomplishment at that moment, and his pride swells with each chair he makes. He tells Fu Zi a story about his father: when Hao Zeyu was a child, his father made him a chair, which was very meaningful.
His father was poor his entire life but never let Hao Zeyu suffer any grievance; he would find ways to buy Hao Zeyu anything he wanted, so Hao Zeyu always wore new clothes while his father always wore patched or torn clothes. The theater troupe was not doing well, so his father earned money by doing carpentry. Once, Hao Zeyu wanted a pair of jeans, hoping his father could sell a finished chair to buy them.
However, a client was overly critical during inspection, and the jeans were ultimately not bought, leading to a big fight between Hao Zeyu and his father, and Hao Zeyu running away from home. Three days later, Hao Zeyu returned home without being scolded, finding his father's eyes red from exhaustion.
The chair his father made remained by Hao Zeyu's side, his father's only relic, and his father told him that sitting on this chair meant he should be upright as a person and careful in his actions. Hao Zeyu didn't understand his father then but later understood his father's hard work and vowed to buy the best chair in the world.
Fu Zi comments that Hao Zeyu has been naive since childhood, but perhaps naivety isn't so bad, as maturity is often forced by desperation; Hao Zeyu states that naivety is precious and he would remain naive forever if he could.
