Stay With Me Episode 21 Recap
> Stay With Me Recap
After Cao Zhong's return to D. U. was approved, Li Weiwei playfully argued with Chen Yidu about his promise, asserting she had won. Later, Leo pursued Tiffany, attempting to convince her to let him stay at her villa, claiming he was scared of being alone after Li Weiwei moved out, and using the excuse that Tiffany had previously caused trouble for Weiwei by giving Chen Yidu incorrect information. Tiffany, however, found his antics tiresome and refused.
Li Weiwei, still harboring a playful grudge against Chen Yidu, tricked her way into his house. She then joined him on his balcony for drinks and conversation. As they drank a crate of alcohol, Li Weiwei expressed happiness about seeing "lovers meant for each other." Chen Yidu wondered if she was truly reverting to her old, loyal self.
When Chen Yidu finally needed to use the restroom, Li Weiwei revealed she had locked the balcony door and demanded he formally allow Cao Zhong to return to work at D. U. To gain permission to use Weiwei's house's bathroom, he begrudgingly agreed, and she took a picture of him stuck on the balcony as proof. Cao Zhong was welcomed back to D. U.
by his colleagues, and he boasted about his return, offering to share his "secret" of overcoming Chen Yidu in exchange for a feast of bullfrogs, crayfishes, chicken feet, and beer. At Ling Long, Zhen Ni received a large bouquet of roses, initially believed to be from Manager Huo for Li Weiwei. However, the card read "I love my little honey" and was addressed to Su Fei, sparking curiosity among her colleagues.
Later, Secretary Ou gave Zhen Ni a "flower that will never wilt," a decorative pin, accidentally pricking her in the process. He carefully bandaged her hand, and Zhen Ni expressed her fondness for the gift. Separately, Chen Yidu urged Li Weiwei to focus on helping herself, now that she had helped Su Fei and Cao Zhong. Tiffany called Chen Yidu, alerting him to a strange email sent to all company employees.
Leo, who was tasked with shadowing Tiffany for twenty-four hours to prevent her from disturbing Chen Yidu's one-on-one design tutoring with Li Weiwei, intercepted her. Chen Yidu, meanwhile, discovered the "strange email" contained embarrassing photos of him in the bathroom, sent by Li Weiwei. He chased her, and she claimed it was an accidental send, begging him not to hit her face. He then leaned in and kissed her.
Meanwhile, Huo Xiao received a witness, Miss Fang, concerning the Paris fashion show arson case. However, Miss Fang's unusually precise recall of the perpetrator's clothing, down to the exact colors and styles worn by Chen Yidu, made Huo Xiao suspicious. He concluded that someone had deliberately provided them with a coached witness, part of a larger scheme.
At a Ling Long company meeting, Huo Ruiyong proposed that Li Weiwei should dedicate all her energy to the women's casual wear section, abandoning the already mature bridal gown business. He argued this move would make Ling Long more vibrant and aid their entry into Fontaine Bleue Wear Department Store. Under Huo Ruiyong's provocation, Li Weiwei defiantly declared she could make the women's casual clothing section as successful as bridal gowns.
Chairman Huo agreed to the proposal, setting a condition: if the monthly sales of the women's casual wear section reached one-third of traditional wedding gown sales, Li Weiwei would become the Senior Design Director of Huo's, overseeing both departments. Li Weiwei accepted the challenge. Following the meeting, Li Weiwei discovered that the women's casual wear section did not actually exist, realizing Huo Ruiyong had tricked her.
She lamented that creating a nonexistent department and achieving such a sales target within a month was an impossible task. However, her loyal design team, led by Su Fei and Cao Zhong, collectively decided to follow her. They submitted requests to transfer to the newly formed women's casual wear section, or they would resign, emphasizing their commitment to Li Weiwei. Her team then rallied around Li Weiwei in her new, rather bleak office location near the bathroom.
They assured her of their loyalty and expressed their belief that she would lead them to greater earnings in the future. Deeply moved, Li Weiwei thanked them and vowed to fight hard. Li Weiwei then approached Huo Ruiyong, demanding a budget for the new women's casual wear section. Huo Ruiyong refused, stating that company policy dictated capital be allocated to profitable departments. He suggested she, as an able person, should find her own path.
Faced with no funding for raw materials, equipment, or promotions, Li Weiwei felt desperate and decided to sell her collection of luxury bags to secure initial funds. Chen Yidu decided to give Li Weiwei one-on-one intensive design lessons for women's casual wear.
Learning of Li Weiwei's struggles, Tiffany, having seen the official announcement online about Li Weiwei's new role, scoffed at the idea of a bridal gown designer moving to a nonexistent casual wear department, comparing it to a luxury car manufacturer making tractors. She predicted Li Weiwei would soon be in for a show. Huo Xiao, worried for Li Weiwei, confronted his father, Chairman Huo, about the transfer.
Chairman Huo explained he intended to use the challenge to train and cultivate Li Weiwei, believing she could create a new profit source for the company. Huo Xiao angrily asked to go to the casual wear department to help Weiwei overcome the difficulties. Chairman Huo readily agreed, but on the condition that Huo Xiao must apply for a demotion to become the department manager for the women's casual wear section, with Huo Ruiyong taking over as Ling Long's General Manager.
Huo Xiao agreed. Li Weiwei decided to leverage Ling Long's bridal gown brand advantage, incorporating the design sense and trendiness of bridal gowns into casual wear design to emphasize women's individual beauty, with the slogan "You can be different." Chen Yidu suggested that to meet the diverse style needs of female customers, elements like knitwear and prints could be added to the design to make it modern and stylish.
Huo Xiao paid out of his own pocket to provide the necessary fabric and computer equipment for the women's casual wear department. He announced to the employees that he would take office as the department manager of the women's casual wear department from that day forward, and would advance and retreat with them.
Meanwhile, Huo Ruiyong finally became Ling Long's General Manager as he wished, but found himself with only Secretary Zhu and Kang Xing as his team, as other designers, upon hearing he would lead them, all backed out. The best way to learn design is to observe others' work, but fashion stores typically have a "no competitors" policy, and Li Weiwei's recognizable face, often seen on fashion magazine covers, made open visits impossible.
Inspired by people in mascot costumes distributing flyers, Li Weiwei and Chen Yidu disguised themselves as Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse to secretly learn from other fashion stores. Huo Ruiyong, seeing the women's casual wear department's spirited resolve, plotted to block the toilet of their nearby restroom, hoping Huo Xiao and Li Weiwei would give up. Su Fei and her team decided to fight fire with fire. They pretended to be friendly, sending two cups of coffee to General Yong.
After he went into the restroom due to urgency, they locked him inside, making him endure the smell. Chen Yidu then made Li Weiwei set up a street stall on a skybridge with clothes bought from a fashion store, aiming to teach her customer communication skills and preferences. Unexpectedly, they encountered administrative law enforcement cracking down on illegal stalls, leading to a chaotic scene. Leo accidentally learned that Tiffany also lost both parents.
This shared life experience made Leo look at Tiffany with less mischief and more a sense of kinship and empathy. Huo Xiao invited Li Weiwei to their dollhouse to discuss work. Weiwei intended to explain about breaking off their engagement, but Huo Xiao interrupted, announcing that he had officially taken office as the manager of the women's casual wear department and had already resolved the funding issues by selling some of Huo's shares and investing them all into the department. Huo Xiao's kindness made Weiwei unable to bring herself to discuss ending their engagement. Later, while Leo was with Tiffany, he noticed someone had been following them the whole time.
