The Lion's Secret Episode 1 Recap
> The Lion's Secret Recap
Liu Qing, a former member of the Heijing Security Company, was abruptly woken by a nightmare while lying in his hotel room in Aokawen City. The haunting memory stemmed from a special operation in Bazhen, where he and his team, including teammates codenamed Lion, Fox, and Otter, encountered several imprisoned children.
Overwhelmed by compassion, Liu Qing attempted to save them against the mission's priority, an action that led to a grenade explosion and the tragic death of a teammate, Viper, and the forced evacuation of Liu Qing. This unresolved trauma weighed heavily on him. Putting his past aside, Liu Qing had an important task today: to marry Mu Wanqing, a woman he had known since childhood.
This marriage was orchestrated by Wanqing's father, Mu Jianjun, who intended for Liu Qing to secretly protect his daughter and help her stabilize Maoyuan Heavy Industry. Once the company was secure, Liu Qing and Wanqing could divorce by agreement. Liu Qing had initially questioned the arrangement, but Mu Jianjun insisted, explaining that Wanqing needed a wedding to solidify her position and that Liu Qing, having known her since childhood, was the right person to help and protect her.
Mu Wanqing, the CEO of Maoyuan Heavy Industry, was reluctant about the marriage, viewing it merely as a transaction. The wedding ceremony was minimalist, with only one table of guests. Wanqing briefly introduced Liu Qing to her father's friends, Mr. Quan and Aunt Quan, and her father's old army comrades. After a quick toast, she excused herself, stating she had a company meeting to attend.
Mu Jianjun tried to persuade her to stay for dinner, but Wanqing, a dedicated workaholic, was adamant, citing Maoyuan's ongoing crisis and the fact that the marriage was just a formality. Liu Qing felt awkward by her abrupt departure. Immediately after the ceremony, Wanqing changed out of her wedding dress and into a business suit. Her best friend, Fu Jundie, owner of a martial arts club, was waiting outside to drive her to the office.
Fu Jundie expressed her suspicions about Liu Qing and wanted to investigate him. Wanqing, preoccupied with work, reassured her. At the office, Wanqing convened a meeting to address Maoyuan's severe crisis: a recent lab explosion had caused the company's stock to plummet, resulting in a loss of 200 million yuan. She demanded that the cause of the explosion be identified within fifteen days, threatening collective resignation otherwise.
Her assistant, Li Na, brought wedding photos that Mu Jianjun had specifically requested be displayed. Wanqing dismissed them, instructed Li Na to contact Yu Manshan, a researcher from the East R&D Department, for a private meeting, noting that Li Na identified Yu Manshan as the researcher who "blew up" the lab. Wanqing then took a photo of the wedding picture to send to Fu Jundie before discarding the physical photo into a drawer.
Meanwhile, Liu Qing was taken to Wanqing’s home, where he was greeted by Mi, the housekeeper, and Gua, the nutritionist. They gave him a detailed tour and outlined a strict set of house rules, including maintaining absolute silence (under 20 decibels) at night, cleaning up his own messes, and informing them in advance if he wouldn't be home for meals.
Liu Qing found the rules overly restrictive and noticed Mi's skepticism about his marriage to Wanqing, with Mi explicitly stating it seemed impossible that they were truly married and noting that only Ms. Fu was typically allowed to stay in the house. Later that day, Wanqing returned home to find Liu Qing casually playing video games in the living room.
She was irritated and reminded him of the agreement to keep personal items in his room, but Liu Qing playfully retorted that playing games didn't violate marriage law. At dinner, Liu Qing complained about the small portion sizes, suggesting they prepare three to five times more food, which further angered Wanqing. She felt so frustrated she wanted to kick him out.
Mu Jianjun had previously confided in Liu Qing that despite her cold exterior, Wanqing was fragile, often locking herself in her room after work due to the many challenges she had faced in the past two years. He trusted Liu Qing to protect her. Driven by a desire to understand Wanqing, Liu Qing used a wire to open her locked bedroom door while she slept. As he watched her, he reminisced about her as a cute and affectionate child.
When he tried to gently take a self-defense spray from her hand, he accidentally startled her awake and quickly hid before she could see him. The next morning, Wanqing, suspecting an intrusion, called Fu Jundie, convinced Liu Qing had entered her room. She decided to have the lock on her door replaced with one only she could open. That same morning, Liu Qing encountered Gua while she was going grocery shopping.
He attempted to be friendly, offering to drive, but Gua, wary of him, took the car keys and insisted he take a taxi and bill Wanqing for the fare. At the office, Li Na informed Wanqing about an issue with a partner. Wanqing then met with Ms. Lan, a representative from the BlueBerry company. Ms. Lan demanded 60 million yuan in compensation for product delivery delays caused by Maoyuan's lab explosion.
Wanqing skillfully countered by revealing her knowledge of Ms. Lan's connection to the new, small logistics company that was actually responsible for the delays. Wanqing offered 15 million yuan as Maoyuan's share of responsibility for the explosion-related losses. Ms. Lan, upon noticing Wanqing's wedding ring, softened her stance and agreed to a compensation of 13 million yuan, offering the remaining 2 million as a wedding gift.
Wanqing then instructed Li Na to expedite the process with BlueBerry (Lanmei) and explained how she deduced the logistics company's connection, noting that the deal was crucial to prevent a funding chain break during a critical R&D stage. She handed Li Na the information about Ms. Lan's logistics company connection, calling it a "negotiation tool," before leaving to meet Fu Jundie. Meanwhile, Fu Jundie had hired Emicton Consulting Company to investigate Liu Qing.
However, Liu Qing's exceptional counter-reconnaissance skills allowed him to detect and evade the tracker, leading to the consultant's failure. Fu Jundie angrily confronted Lei Shuo, the head of Emicton Consulting, accusing his company of incompetence. Lei Shuo, after reviewing the case and recalling shared memories, recognized Liu Qing as his former teammate from the Heijing Security Company's special operation in Bazhen, where Lei Shuo served as the leader of the field operations team.
He agreed to personally oversee the investigation, impressing Fu Jundie with his keen observational skills and ability to deduce personal details about her, such as her recent visit to a coffee shop, the scent of Espresso Con Panna on her (though he deduced she avoided cream herself), and her close friendship with a female acquaintance (possibly her only friend). Later that evening, Liu Qing found a bottle of red wine in the house and poured himself a glass.
As he drank, Fu Jundie dropped off Wanqing, who accidentally sprained her ankle while getting out of the car. Liu Qing, seeing this, quickly handed his wine glass to Mi and rushed to help Wanqing upstairs. However, Wanqing caught sight of the wine bottle Liu Qing had been drinking from, her expression instantly changing. She then threw the contents of the glass in her hand directly into Liu Qing's face.
