Rising With The Wind Episode 23 Recap
> Rising With The Wind Recap
As Xu Si's hand pain returns, Jiang Hu helps him apply ointment. They discuss their partnership's future, with Jiang Hu expressing concern that all business partners eventually separate, using the infighting at Fanyue as an example. Xu Si affirms his serious intention to change their relationship to a personal one, assuring her their bond would outlast any corporate structure.
They both acknowledge their worries over Teng Yue's new product plan, especially after their marketing campaign with Shangchun Art Project drew significant attention, which Aneda then capitalized on. Jiang Hu likens entrepreneurship to constantly digging and filling pits, confident she can overcome their current challenges, and Xu Si affirms his trust in her. The situation at Teng Yue grows more precarious when word arrives that Free Unicorn is halting all their OEM orders, leaving the workers distressed.
To build momentum, Xiang Zhaoyang begins her first livestream. She shares her personal connection to the brand, recalling how she loved drawing on the affordable shoes as a child. She details her plan to redesign a classic 100-year-old Teng Yue shoe, preserving its spacious toe box while modernizing the shape for a sleeker look and improving comfort. However, she candidly admits to her audience that there is internal disagreement and that the high cost of materials remains an unresolved challenge.
Meanwhile, Xu Si learns of a shoemaking technology founder, Zhou Qing, who will only discuss his project with him personally. At Teng Yue, Pei Zhiyuan notes the livestream's high viewership of forty to fifty thousand but questions how many will convert to actual sales. Impatient, he complains that Xiang Zhaoyang has made no progress on the design in a week, though another colleague urges for patience.
This pressure mounts on Xiang Zhaoyang, who fears she has hit a creative bottleneck and may never design anything better than her previous success, "Flowing Scenery." Sensing her struggle, Jiang Hu takes her for a run around the factory, which ends in a tie. Jiang Hu proposes a compromise: Xiang Zhaoyang will create two distinct lines.
One will follow Jiang Hu's marketing-driven, low-cost strategy (under 200 yuan), while the other will embody Xiang Zhaoyang's own vision of a comfortable, durable, premium shoe (at 599 yuan), with sales figures deciding the winning approach. Jiang Hu stresses their dire situation—with Aneda ahead and OEM orders gone—framing this launch as their only path to survival. As Xiang Zhaoyang requests the special fabric she needs, Jiang Hu promises to send over her market research to help.
Reinvigorated, Xiang Zhaoyang returns to her livestream and begins brainstorming color palettes, suggesting "Twilight Mist." At the factory, Master Zhang praises the new design but worries that the required fabric is too expensive. He mentions that a rival, Cloud Footwear, possesses a patented, high-tech fabric but is run by a notoriously grumpy director, Ye Guoming, who holds a grudge against Jiang Hu's father. Undeterred, Jiang Hu goes to Cloud Footwear to meet him.
After a long wait, Ye Guoming appears and immediately accuses her of trying to steal his patent. Jiang Hu refutes this, questioning why his patent was stolen before. Recognizing her as the daughter of his old rival, Jiang Qisheng, Ye Guoming flatly refuses to do business, stating his responsibility to Cloud Footwear is precisely why he must avoid any entanglement with Teng Yue, leaving Jiang Hu confused by his deep-seated hostility.
Xu Si meets with Zhou Qing but declines to invest in his smart shoe production line, as the R&D and implementation costs are far too high. He then meets with Du Weiye, who warns him that with Aneda's move and the loss of OEM orders, Teng Yue is doomed if the new products don't launch on time. Xu Si reassures him that the launch is a key performance metric and that he has a backup plan to ensure it happens.
While babysitting a young boy named Fei for his mother Mo Xiangwan, Xu Si decides to bring him to the Teng Yue cafeteria for dinner, using the child as an excuse to see Jiang Hu. At the factory, Fei gets excited by a large dog. Xu Si, who is afraid of dogs, nervously warns him away, and Jiang Hu has the dog led off.
Fei cleverly sees through Xu Si's ruse, telling Jiang Hu that Xu Si wanted an excuse to see the "pretty sister" and make her his girlfriend. Jiang Hu is amused and surprised to learn Fei's mother is the famous CEO of Qingyuan Culture. When Xu Si mentions he's flying to Germany, Jiang Hu's initially brief well-wishes displease him, so she offers a more elaborate blessing. He then complains of a stomach ache, prompting Fei to ask if he's whining for Jiang Hu's attention.
