Sweet Combat Episode 20 Recap
> Sweet Combat Recap
The school principal summoned Fang Yu, Cheng Yanan, and Song Xiaomi, informing them they were selected to participate in an observation match in Macau. The three girls cunningly feigned reluctance to accept, ultimately prompting the principal to begrudgingly cover all the expenses for the trip. Ming Tian was then appointed as their accompanying coach. While he felt unqualified for the role, both Cheng Yanan and Song Xiaomi adamantly asserted his suitability.
Shortly after, Fang Yu received a call from her grandfather, necessitating her immediate departure to her family company. Later, at the Taekwondo club, Song Xiaomi effortlessly pinned Sun Hao to the ground. Ming Tian intently observed their techniques, noting subtle weaknesses, a keen eye that Cheng Yanan had specifically relied upon when entrusting him with the coaching duties.
Back at Fang Group, Fang Yu quickly changed into professional attire and headed to her grandfather's office, only to find Wang Shiwei already there. Her grandfather deliberately created opportunities for the two to interact. Wang Shiwei seized the chance, coercing Fang Yu into agreeing to have dinner with him.
To deter him, Fang Yu set an impossible condition: the restaurant had to be run by a French chef but serve both Zha Jiang Mian (noodles with fried sauce) and Kaiseki (a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner). Meanwhile, Sun Hao, eager to join the trip to Macau, found himself unable to afford the self-funded portion due to his family's financial struggles. The next day, Fang Yu and her brother Fang Zhou had dinner with their grandfather.
The topic of Wang Shiwei came up, and Fang Yu received some blame from her grandfather, but Fang Zhou promptly stepped in to defend his sister. Elsewhere, Cheng Yanan, still in bed, heard a WeChat notification. It was another message from Luo Guanyan, detailing the 25th reason why he liked her. Though Cheng Yanan playfully scoffed, she was secretly delighted. Later, Cheng's father, cycling on the road, accidentally collided with Sun Hao's mother, causing her to fall.
As he helped her treat a minor foot injury, he noticed seven distinct moles on the sole of her foot. Sun Hao's mother recognized Cheng's father from a previous pre-match encounter. However, Cheng's father, in his obliviousness, brought up Luo Guanyan's victory over Sun Hao. Sun Hao's mother abruptly grabbed her bag and left, leaving Cheng's father standing alone, feeling an unexpected stirring in his heart.
After class, Fang Yu received a call from Wang Shiwei, but her gut told her emphatically not to answer. Outside the school, Ming Tian spotted Wang Shiwei and quickly tried to text Fang Yu a warning. Before he could, Wang Shiwei called him over, asking about Fang Yu. Ming Tian feigned ignorance, claiming not to know her. Wang Shiwei then lamented why a girl would spend her time fighting when she could simply dress up and be pampered.
Ming Tian internally scoffed at Wang Shiwei's lack of understanding about martial arts and wondered why Fang Yu would associate with such a person, contemplating whether he should warn her despite feeling he had no right to interfere. At that moment, Fang Yu appeared. Wang Shiwei, having surprisingly found a restaurant that met her bizarre criteria, eagerly approached her.
Cheng Yanan, sensing the awkward situation, swiftly pushed Fang Yu into Wang Shiwei's car but not before inviting all the female students from Zhengze University to join them. Wang Shiwei maintained his composure until Song Xiaomi and Sun Hao arrived with their respective groups of friends, making him visibly uncomfortable. Cheng Yanan, determined to make Wang Shiwei pay, even called the school director to join the meal, utterly overwhelming him.
After the extravagant and chaotic dinner, a very full Cheng Yanan gloated over Wang Shiwei's maxed-out card from the meal. Fang Yu, however, reflected on Ming Tian's unusual behavior at the school gate, feeling he might be upset with her. She wanted to explain, but Cheng Yanan stopped her. Cheng Yanan confessed her intention was to use Wang Shiwei to provoke "that piece of wood," Ming Tian, hoping it would make him finally confess his feelings to Fang Yu.
Meanwhile, Ming Tian sat restlessly at home, increasingly irritated by the thought of Wang Shiwei and convinced he should warn Fang Yu to stay away from him. Cheng's father remained troubled by the seven moles on Sun Hao's mother's foot, recalling his late wife's dying wish that he find someone with seven moles on their foot to spend his life with. As Song Xiaomi helped Sun Hao with his leg stretches, she discussed Wang Shiwei's pursuit of Fang Yu.
She saw Wang Shiwei's efforts and Fang Yu's grandfather's potential involvement in a pre-arranged marriage as a serious threat, serving as a wake-up call for Sun Hao. Song Xiaomi resolved to intensify her own efforts to win Ming Tian's affection, aiming to share all future happy memories in Macau with him. Later, while Fang Yu was training, Ming Tian appeared. She initially thought he had something to say, but he simply began his own training in silence.
Cheng Yanan then entered, deliberately bringing up Wang Shiwei and his persistent pursuit of Fang Yu, aiming to provoke a reaction from Ming Tian. However, Ming Tian outwardly remained impassive. Fang Yu, sensing Cheng Yanan's intentions, warned her, and Cheng Yanan wisely left. As Fang Yu was about to leave, Ming Tian called out to her. He directly asked Fang Yu if she truly liked Wang Shiwei.
Remembering Cheng Yanan's earlier advice to "provoke" him, Fang Yu replied that she didn't dislike him as much as before. Ming Tian, unable to hold back, blurted out that Fang Yu deserved someone much better. Fang Yu's eyes immediately sparkled, and she eagerly pressed him, asking who this "better person" was. Ming Tian desperately wanted to say it was himself, but the perceived differences in their backgrounds made him hold back the words.
Exasperated by Ming Tian and Fang Yu's prolonged awkwardness, Cheng Yanan, unable to watch any longer, spontaneously called out to Ming Tian as he passed by. She then presented a hypothetical scenario about a "senior sister" and a "junior brother" whose relationship was "a little bit special." She described how the senior's pursuer encountered the junior brother at school, and the junior brother reacted negatively.
Cheng Yanan then pointedly asked Ming Tian if he thought the "junior brother" liked the "senior sister" and was simply jealous. Before Ming Tian could answer, Fang Yu, mortified, punched Cheng Yanan, knocking her unconscious. Fang Yu quickly covered for her, telling Ming Tian that Cheng Yanan was simply having an allergic reaction from eating seafood the previous day. Meanwhile, Sun Hao, despite his earlier financial concerns about Macau, found his opportunity.
His mother's food stall was holding its 15th-anniversary party with a grand prize: a round-trip plane ticket to Macau. After the first two winners, Uncle Jiang and Auntie Zhang, declined the prize due to various personal reasons (hemorrhoids and pregnancy, respectively), Auntie Zhang explicitly suggested giving the prize to "the food stall's youngest man," Sun Hao. To his immense joy and with a dramatic speech, Sun Hao accepted, promising to make everyone proud.
Later, Fang Yu's grandfather informed her that her scheduled trip to Dubai had been moved up, directly conflicting with the Macau observation match. Fang Yu protested, explaining her commitment to the Macau event, but her grandfather remained firm, questioning why she insisted on going to Macau. He even suspected Fang Zhou of conspiring to help her.
Fang Yu maintained that she simply didn't want to go back on her word and told him she would seek the principal's permission to be absent from the match. Separately, Ming Tian sought out Luo Guanyan for advice on coaching. Luo Guanyan, recognizing Ming Tian's unique observation skills, advised him that for high-level competitors like Fang Yu and the others, his role as coach was to be an "extra pair of eyes."
He emphasized the importance of meticulously analyzing opponents, devising tactics, and minimizing their team's mistakes, as even tiny errors could decide a match. Luo Guanyan referenced how Ming Tian's own victory in a previous preliminary match was due to a fatal mistake by his opponent, implying Ming Tian should apply this insight, especially against rivals like He Xiaofeng. Following Luo Guanyan's advice, Ming Tian accompanied him to Zhiying Boxing Club.
There, Ming Tian observed He Xiaofeng, a formidable opponent of Fang Yu's. Other Zhiying members, particularly Ma Yichen, were openly hostile towards Ming Tian, questioning his presence as a Zhengze student. Luo Guanyan clarified that Ming Tian, as Fang Yu's coach, was there to understand He Xiaofeng's fighting style. Ming Tian humbly requested a friendly match, and He Xiaofeng agreed, curious to assess the "junior" trained by her rivals.
As the match began, Ma Yichen continued to express his disdain, though Luo Guanyan asserted that Ming Tian's focus was not merely on winning or losing. Later, while sharing a meal of barbecued pork rice with Ming Tian and his younger siblings, Fang Yu learned a poignant detail about Ming Tian's past.
His siblings explained that Ming Tian, who once loved the dish, stopped eating it after their mother took them for barbecued pork rice the day before she passed away. He hadn't touched it since, not out of anger, but from profound grief, as the dish became a painful reminder of her. Ming Tian, in his thoughts, reflected on his current inability to provide a lavish life for his siblings, viewing his primary role as being there to support them emotionally.
Fang Yu realized the immense, quiet burden Ming Tian carried beneath his seemingly slender frame and was deeply moved by his sense of responsibility. Moved by their story, she secretly promised the siblings that she would take them for barbecued pork rice whenever they wished.
