Mr. Honesty Episode 19 Recap
> Mr. Honesty Recap
He Yuwen is found alone, drinking and watching Chaplin, clearly in distress. Li Zhe approaches her, pointing out that her deep affection and years of silent support for Fang Zhiyou are obvious to everyone, even to him, Fang Zhiyou's former best friend. He suggests Fang Zhiyou is either oblivious or intentionally exploiting her feelings, claiming her devotion means less to Fang Zhiyou than Xu Yiren's. He Yuwen, sensing his manipulative intentions, asks his true purpose.
Li Zhe proposes they work together to demonstrate to Fang Zhiyou that certain individuals are not to be trifled with. He Yuwen firmly rejects his offer, stating he has "barked up the wrong tree," but Li Zhe confidently asserts she will eventually seek him out. Meanwhile, Gu Bo surprises Xia Di with a new Yamaha R6 motorcycle, a bike she had only dreamed of.
After an exhilarating ride, Gu Bo confesses that he is not a poor student but is, in fact, "super-duper rich." As a gesture of sincerity, he offers her the bike. Xia Di, initially assuming he is merely renting the bike and pretending to be wealthy, hits him and calls him a bad actor.
When Gu Bo insists he truly is rich, her anger shifts, and she accuses him of having deceived her all along by pretending to be poor, threatening to block him completely. In a desperate panic, Gu Bo ridiculously claims he was only pretending to be rich, begging her not to cut him off. He then comes clean, explaining he only hid his wealth because he feared she would reject him and assuring her of his genuine affection.
Xia Di, however, asserts that love is unrelated to money. The real issue, she states, is her own reluctance to date someone younger, whom she can only see as a younger brother. At his mother Bai Lan’s tomb, Fang Zhiyou candidly shares his recent successes with Square & Circle, which has gained a strong foothold in the industry.
He then introduces Xu Yiren as the woman he loves, assuring his late mother that Xu Yiren will take good care of him. Their private moment is interrupted by the arrival of Fang Zhiyou’s father, Fang Zhanyang, and his sister, Fang Shiyu. Fang Zhanyang immediately criticizes Fang Zhiyou for not greeting his sister, revealing he intentionally rescheduled his visit to meet Fang Zhiyou.
He then disparages Square & Circle as a "small workshop" and suggests Fang Zhiyou join a larger firm like Huanyu. Fang Zhiyou dismisses his father’s concerns. When Xu Yiren steps in to defend Square & Circle, Fang Zhanyang dismisses her as a "stranger." Fang Zhiyou swiftly corrects him, revealing Xu Yiren is his girlfriend. This prompts Fang Zhanyang to question his judgment, asking what he could possibly know about a "little assistant."
Fang Zhiyou retorts that his father is the one who knows him "the least in the world." Later, Fang Shiyu laments their father’s "hypocritical" behavior and his tense interaction with Fang Zhiyou, urging her father to be gentler. Xu Yiren recognizes Fang Zhiyou’s underlying longing for a family and suggests he try to reconcile with his father.
Fang Zhiyou explains it's impossible, as true reconciliation would require his prideful father to apologize to Li Zhe's family for the past wrongs, an act Fang Zhiyou deems his father incapable of. Xu Yiren comforts him, understanding his emotional struggle caught between his best friend and his father. While having dinner with Li Zhe, Yu Qing recounts a childhood memory about a small wicker bird.
She claims that in the fifth grade, she got lost on Qing Mountain and was helped by a boy who gave her the bird. Li Zhe appears visibly troubled by her story. Later, at Fang Zhiyou’s home, Fang Zhiyou discovers the same wicker bird in Xu Yiren’s belongings. She cherishes it as a gift from her "savior" and narrates the same story of getting lost on Qing Mountain.
Fang Zhiyou, recognizing the bird, recalls Li Zhe’s childhood talent for weaving such objects. He remembers a game where he would draw an animal, and Li Zhe would weave it, leading him to believe this specific bird was one he had drawn. As more details align—Li Zhe having a villa in the Qing Mountain area and his family's troubles coinciding with that time—Xu Yiren remembers the boy told her a fairy tale about "kites and boats."
Fang Zhiyou immediately identifies it as "49 Kites and 49 Boats," their favorite childhood storybook. Convinced of the strong possibility, Fang Zhiyou urges Xu Yiren to confront Li Zhe directly for answers. Fang Zhiyou drops Xu Yiren off at her relatives' house, where she is slated to meet Li Zhe. Upon Xu Yiren’s arrival, Yu Qing, seeing the wicker bird in her hand, quickly snatches it and sends Li Zhe upstairs.
Yu Qing then confesses to Xu Yiren that she loves Li Zhe and has led him to believe that she was the girl from his childhood. She pleads with Xu Yiren not to reveal the truth, using the fact she kept Xu Yiren’s relationship with Fang Zhiyou a secret from their family as leverage. Despite Xu Yiren's initial refusal to give up such a special memory, she is moved by Yu Qing’s tearful plea about her lifelong feelings of inadequacy.
Xu Yiren relents. When Li Zhe reappears, she is unable to tell him the truth. Instead, she attempts to persuade Li Zhe to forgive Fang Zhiyou’s father, but Li Zhe firmly states it is none of her concern, causing Xu Yiren to apologize and leave. Outside, Fang Zhiyou asks if Li Zhe was indeed the boy from her past. Still affected by Yu Qing's plea, Xu Yiren denies it, claiming she was mistaken. Fang Zhiyou, however, sees through her lie.
At this moment, Xu Yiren’s uncle arrives and mistakenly believes Fang Zhiyou is harassing her. Fang Zhiyou introduces himself as Xu Yiren’s boyfriend, but the uncle’s surprised reaction reveals he was unaware of their relationship. Feeling deeply disheartened by her secrecy, Fang Zhiyou states he thought they could change for each other but now realizes his expectations were "one-sided," and he walks away. Back at her apartment, Xia Di finds a distraught Xu Yiren at her door.
Xu Yiren recounts the day’s events, expressing deep-seated insecurities about the gap between her and Fang Zhiyou and her fears of a breakup. Xia Di criticizes Xu Yiren for being too passive and submissive to Yu Qing, reminding her of their "avengers" pact. The following morning at work, Fang Zhiyou is in an exceptionally foul mood. He Yuwen arrives, focused solely on the Moon Bay project, unaffected by his demeanor.
When Xu Yiren approaches Fang Zhiyou with documents, she tries to explain that she stayed at Xia Di’s place the previous night. Fang Zhiyou, still clearly upset, responds with cold silence, taking the documents without a word.
