The Flaming Heart Episode 19 Recap
> The Flaming Heart Recap
Luo Jie returned home with his findings, attempting to dissuade his father from partnering with Han Pei. He presented evidence, including reports indicating Han Pei's past unscrupulous dealings, such as building apartments with severely excessive formaldehyde levels. However, his father, confident in his years of business experience, dismissed Luo Jie’s concerns. He produced his own report, which portrayed Han Pei as a reputable figure, and believed Luo Jie was naive, accusing him of misjudging the situation.
Luo Jie insisted his father's report was fake and that Han Pei was orchestrating a "two-man comic show" to entrap them. He also mentioned witnessing Han Pei in a furtive conversation with Director Li, suspecting that Yan Lan was somehow involved. His father, however, declared that his cooperation with Han Pei, based on a beneficial patent licensing and sales sharing model, was purely a business matter, not a personal one, and told Luo Jie to mind his own business.
For Yan Lan's safety, Huo Yan installed a sophisticated security camera in her apartment. He explained that the camera offered smoke and fire detection and alarm capabilities, reassuring her that her well-being was his priority. Yan Lan expressed her appreciation for his thoughtfulness. Meanwhile, Han Pei's men apprehended Mr. Zhu, who had been trying to escape. Han Pei confronted Mr. Zhu about the whereabouts of a crucial USB flash drive, suspecting it was hidden in a pen.
He was already aware that Mr. Zhu had recently infiltrated Yan Lan's apartment disguised as a worker. Han Pei intensified his interrogation by showing Mr. Zhu a photo of Yan Lan and hinting at threats to Mr. Zhu's wife and children if he did not cooperate. Mr. Zhu, under duress, confessed that he had hidden the pen containing the USB drive at Yan Lan’s house, without her knowledge, and had been unable to retrieve it when he returned.
Han Pei emphasized that while he had numerous ways to locate the drive, he preferred honesty and loyalty from those close to him. Following this revelation, Han Pei visited Yan Lan at the hospital, feigning a toothache to see her. Yan Lan, who knew Han Pei only as Huo Yan's old classmate and was unaware of the deeper animosity between them, treated him with professional warmth.
As he departed, Han Pei "accidentally" left behind a small, cute fire truck keychain, which he then offered to Yan Lan as a gift. Unbeknownst to her, the keychain concealed a listening device. Yan Lan happily accepted it and later sent a video of the keychain to Huo Yan. Driven by his suspicion and desire to protect his family's business, Luo Jie independently sought a meeting with Han Pei, proposing a direct partnership to discuss Han's Pharmaceuticals' monoclonal antibody drug.
He was direct, highlighting their complementary strengths in R&D, production, and sales. Han Pei, however, saw through Luo Jie's eagerness and refused to disclose any research findings, questioning Luo Jie's authority to negotiate such a deal given his role as a firefighter. Han Pei stressed that business followed strict protocols, implying that Luo Jie was out of line. Immediately after Luo Jie's departure, Han Pei contacted Luo Jie's father, lodging a complaint about Luo Jie's unsolicited visit.
Enraged, Luo's father vehemently scolded Luo Jie, with his mother attempting to calm the situation. Luo's father criticized his son's approach, stating that business required calculated strategy, not the impetuousness of firefighting. Luo Jie, however, defended his actions, maintaining that firefighting also demanded strategy and asserting his strong intuition that Han Pei's new drug was flawed and potentially harmful. He declared that his strategy might have been imperfect, but his instincts were not.
Witnessing his father's unwavering stubbornness, Luo Jie made a pivotal decision: he offered to resign from the Fire and Rescue Brigade and return to manage the family business, but only if he was granted a legitimate role in the Han Pei project. His parents, particularly his mother, were overcome with emotion, years of anxiety over his dangerous profession finally giving way to relief.
Luo's father agreed to the proposal but laid down two conditions: Luo Jie must formally quit the fire brigade before engaging in the Han Pei project, and he must accept all of his father's arrangements. Luo Jie readily accepted. As Yan Lan worked at the hospital, Han Pei, monitoring her through the bugged keychain, noted she was still occupied. He promptly dispatched his men to her apartment, instructing them to search for the pen within a 30-minute window.
Meanwhile, Yan Lan discussed with a colleague an alarming increase in angioma cases, deciding to report it to her director. That evening, as Huo Yan drove Yan Lan home, she realized she had left her pen in his car. After Huo Yan dropped her off, she entered her apartment to find it ransacked. To avoid alarming Huo Yan, she called him on the phone, feigning that her "neighbor's cat" had made the mess.
Huo Yan, discerning the seriousness of the situation, instructed her to wait downstairs. As Yan Lan left her apartment, a man disguised as a worker, likely the intruder, quickly exited and departed upon seeing Huo Yan arrive. Inside, Huo Yan confirmed his suspicions, noting the tampered lock and an uncapped pen on the floor, similar to a previous incident. He urged Yan Lan to stay at Bai Xiaolin's house, deeming her apartment unsafe. Suddenly, cries for help echoed from outside.
A worker was dangling precariously from a high-rise balcony. Huo Yan immediately called 119. Luo Jie and his team arrived quickly, but their access was obstructed by two illegally parked cars blocking the emergency exit. With no time to spare, Luo Jie, without waiting for backup, took the initiative to rappel down from the roof to rescue the worker, with Huo Yan assisting from the ground.
After successfully bringing the worker to safety, Luo Jie reprimanded the building management for the blocked emergency exit, emphasizing the severe fire safety risks. The rescued worker explained that his usual partner was absent, and a temporary colleague had tied the safety rope to the roof but then disappeared. He stated that the rope had come loose after he had cleaned just one floor. Yan Lan, Huo Yan, and Luo Jie listened to his account.
Huo Yan also advised the worker to seek a medical examination. Their conversation with the worker was secretly filmed. Following the rescue, Huo Yan sternly confronted Luo Jie, criticizing his reckless high-altitude descent without proper team protection. He emphasized that such actions, though successful, violated regulations. Luo Jie acknowledged the warning, assuring Huo Yan that it wouldn't happen again and lightly quipping about whether Huo Yan intended to penalize him.
Huo Yan dismissed the idea, simply telling him to return to the station. Later, while driving Yan Lan to Bai Xiaolin's home, Huo Yan noticed interference with his car's signal, which he resolved to investigate. Han Pei, listening in through the bug, also registered this signal disruption. After dropping off Yan Lan with a playful promise to "take care of her," Huo Yan's thoughts returned to the unusual events.
He recalled Yan Lan mentioning her lost pen and the recent break-in at her apartment. Searching his car, he found the pen, opened it, and discovered a hidden USB drive, finally connecting the pieces of the mystery. Concurrently, Luo Jie was seen drafting his resignation from the Fire and Rescue Brigade. Ma Qianli, discovering the document, also found a report written by Huo Yan detailing Luo Jie's dangerous, unauthorized rescue.
Ma Qianli mistakenly believed Huo Yan's report was the catalyst for Luo Jie's departure and earnestly tried to persuade him to stay, reminding him of his promise to teach him rope rescue techniques. Despite Ma Qianli's emotional appeal, Luo Jie remained firm in his decision to leave the team, asking him to understand and implying that they would still see each other in the future.
