Party A Who Lives Beside Me Episode 11 Recap
> Party A Who Lives Beside Me Recap
Days before payday, Ye Xuan, like many in the "moonlight clan," found herself in dire financial straits. Seeing her resorting to spicy strips for breakfast, Li Zenan kindly treated her to a hearty meal. Overwhelmed with gratitude, Ye Xuan playfully drafted a written promise, swearing to treat him to a lavish feast once she became rich. Li Zenan, finding her antics rather childish, nevertheless accepted her earnest gesture.
Later at the office, Ye Xuan dramatically recounted her encounter with a supposed thief the previous night, claiming Li Zenan's timely arrival had prevented her from calling the police. This prompted Yan Lina to suggest installing security cameras, a proposal Guo Tianlei immediately opposed.
Appearing uneasy, he offered to move into the office to guard 88 Ed himself, implying he needed the money for a down payment, but his suggestion was quickly rejected by the team, who believed the company's funds should benefit everyone, not just one individual. Xu Guoren then gathered everyone for an exciting announcement: 88 Ed had secured a commercial TV advertisement for Bean Shell Milk Tea.
The project boasted a significant budget and featured the popular celebrity Ji Ruxing, much to the delight of Ye Xuan and Yan Lina. To ensure the ad's success, Xu Guoren had hired the renowned advertising director Xiang Qian, known for his early fame and work with international brands, for a fee three times the market rate. The team scrambled to clean the office in anticipation of Xiang Qian's arrival for detailed discussions.
However, Xiang Qian proved to be notoriously unpunctual and difficult. He arrived late into the night, visibly intoxicated, complaining about not being picked up. After Xu Guoren's attempts at flattery, Xiang Qian, still in a drunken stupor, demanded foreign liquor. Resourcefully, Guo Tianlei instructed Ye Xuan to procure iced black tea and discreetly mix it with Erguotou to pacify him.
During their discussion, Xiang Qian laid out his stringent conditions: guaranteed budget, timeline, and equipment, the replacement of 88 Ed's production team with his own, a ban on anyone viewing the final cut before completion, and half of his remuneration paid upfront during the preparatory phase. He also belittled Guo Tianlei's past work, asserting that 88 Ed's team should merely observe and learn from his crew.
Everyone was upset by Xiang Qian's demands and questioned why Xu Guoren insisted on hiring him. Li Xinxia then clarified that the client's true interest lay in Xiang Qian's reputation, not 88 Ed's, which explained Xiang Qian's audacious demands, and Xu Guoren reluctantly agreed to his terms. Mao Tianyu expressed concerns to Li Zenan about 88 Ed handling the high-profile project, particularly given Xiang Qian's reputation for being difficult.
Li Zenan, worried that Ye Xuan and her team might struggle, proposed personally overseeing the production. Mao Tianyu teased him, suggesting his concern stemmed from romantic interest in Ye Xuan, which startled Li Zenan, causing him to spit coffee and accidentally stain Ye Xuan's cherished written promise. Enraged, Li Zenan promptly ejected Mao Tianyu from his office.
Xiang Qian further imposed unreasonable demands, including a motorhome, a maximum six-hour workday with overtime pay, and meals featuring no fewer than ten dishes. Despite these excessive requests, Xu Guoren continued to tolerate them. Ye Xuan confided in Li Zenan, feeling that their role had devolved from Party A to being even lower than Party B in front of Xiang Qian.
Li Zenan reassured her, explaining that enduring this humiliation would elevate 88 Ed to a top-tier domestic supplier and attract more renowned directors, making the current grievances a worthwhile sacrifice for greater value. When Guo Tianlei was unable to provide a motorhome as demanded, Xiang Qian abruptly halted production and insisted on an overtime payment for the delay. The escalating costs had already depleted the company's emergency funds and absorbed everyone's salaries.
Xu Guoren, contemplating bearing all the losses himself and discussing it with Aoke, was stopped by a furious Guo Tianlei. Guo Tianlei, unable to stomach the injustice, defiantly presented his 300,000 yuan house down payment, urging Xu Guoren to let them produce the ad themselves. Ye Xuan, He Yucheng, and Yan Lina quickly echoed his sentiment, offering to work without pay and confidently stating their ability to deliver.
Deeply moved, Xu Guoren initially hesitated to let them take such a risk, but the team’s unwavering solidarity and conviction that their intimate knowledge of the creative concept would guarantee success swayed him. He finally agreed, but Li Xinxia pointed out the critical absence of a director. Guo Tianlei then introduced an artistic bun shop owner, a friend with a distinctive look, to impersonate Xiang Qian.
Despite the owner's nervousness and protestations of never having watched TV, the team, led by Ye Xuan's emotional plea, convinced him. Xu Guoren quickly taught him four simple hand gestures—open palm for "start," scissors for "cut," fist for "hold," and a thumbs-up for "pass"—to navigate the shoot. The entire 88 Ed team worked tirelessly through the night, meticulously setting up the studio for the next day's shoot. On the day of filming, Ji Ruxing arrived at the set.
He Yucheng introduced the team members, including Ye Xuan as the art director. As filming commenced, Xu Guoren and Li Xinxia repeatedly whispered instructions to the fake director to minimize his dialogue. However, their nervous charade was almost exposed when Mr. Wang, accompanied by Li Zenan, arrived to oversee the production. The bun shop owner, overwhelmed by their presence, struggled to maintain the facade, fumbling his lines and gestures.
Xu Guoren subtly guided him with hand signals, but Li Zenan, observant, quickly noticed the discrepancy. During a break, Li Zenan, carrying a stack of lunchboxes, sat opposite Ye Xuan. Guo Tianlei, visibly panicked, made a hasty exit. Ye Xuan, flustered, tried to make small talk, but Li Zenan cut to the chase, directly asking her how much they had paid the "director." He acknowledged the danger if Mr. Wang discovered the deception and offered his assistance.
Their playful banter was not lost on He Yucheng, who watched them with evident sadness. As filming progressed, the fake director inevitably made more gaffes, but Li Zenan consistently stepped in, expertly providing artistic interpretations of the bun shop owner's unusual comments to Mr. Wang, effectively covering for the ongoing deception.
