The Trick of Life and Love Episode 9 Recap
> The Trick of Life and Love Recap
Li Qian struggled to break free from Ning Chengming's grasp, finally resorting to headbutting him to escape the wall-pinning. She demanded to know what he wanted, but Ning Chengming, oblivious to his own bleeding nose, pulled out a device to measure her temperature and heart rate. He noted that her body temperature was 37.
2 degrees Celsius and her heart rates were 65, 85, and 100 beats per minute, concluding that the "external effect is apparent when you are together with me." He had earlier asked her why she hadn't replied to his messages, to which Li Qian feigned ignorance, claiming she hadn't received any and was too busy at work to check her phone. Meanwhile, Qi Wei anxiously awaited news from Ning Chengming.
Miss Cao approached him late in the office, asking him to organize the meeting minutes, a task usually handled by the legal team. Qi Wei reluctantly agreed, lamenting to himself that he hadn't listened to anything during the meeting. He was also troubled by a cryptic message he had been trying to decipher: "Go for my family. The cunning man is in the fortress."
Despite trying to find Ning Chengming's relatives, he discovered they had moved, and he was no closer to identifying the "cunning man." Back at home, Li Qian was growing increasingly frustrated and wished for the whole charade to end so she could be rid of Ning Chengming. In his own room, Ning Chengming diligently analyzed their interactions, writing notes on a board and pondering "intervention."
He defined "intervention" as whether a person's behavior showed increased involvement in another's life or social circle, specifically whether they were willing to introduce them to their friends. He concluded that this made sense. Gu Zhe woke to find Gu Lan gone, initially relieved, but then found a note. In it, Gu Lan reassured him she hadn't left for good, just temporarily out for errands, and would return soon.
She also subtly threatened him, reminding him "You know" what to do if their parents called. Gu Zhe's relief turned to despair when he checked his phone, discovering he had lost 200,000 "top followers with crown" overnight. His agent called, furious, demanding a meeting and scolding him for the "terrible" impact, blaming Gu Lan for using his account for her emotional analysis. The next morning, Ning Chengming prepared breakfast for Li Qian, who was delighted by the smell.
As they ate, Ning Chengming noticed a crumb on her lip and gently wiped it away, causing Li Qian's heart to race. She quickly made an excuse about going to work and retreated to her room. Ning Chengming, keen to test his "intervention" theory, asked Li Qian if her friends knew about their relationship, reasoning that as fiancés, their friends should be aware. Li Qian, flustered, claimed she had told a good female friend named Yu Qingqing.
When Ning Chengming asked to meet her, Li Qian lied, saying Yu Qingqing had gone to study abroad and wouldn't be back for a while. Ning Chengming expressed regret, hoping Yu Qingqing might help him recover his memory. Just as Li Qian thought she had averted disaster, Yu Qingqing called, announcing she was at Li Qian's doorstep to pick her up. Li Qian rushed out, but it was too late.
Ning Chengming opened the door, greeting Yu Qingqing, who quickly recognized him as the elusive Mr. Ning. Caught in her lie, Li Qian insisted Yu Qingqing drive her to work, despite Yu Qingqing's feigned jet lag. Seeing an opportunity for gossip, Yu Qingqing eagerly accepted Ning Chengming's invitation for dinner that evening, overriding Li Qian's protests that she was busy.
On their way to work, Li Qian confessed everything to Yu Qingqing, explaining that her "fiancée" act was not for love but a means to rescue Ning Chengming after discovering irregularities in his car accident abroad and subsequent threats to his life. She also admitted it was a way to get revenge for how he had mistreated her in college.
Yu Qingqing understood the revenge part and speculated that those who wanted to harm Ning Chengming might be former students he had harshly failed in the past. She also noted that Ning Chengming's demanding nature might have led him to block someone's financial interests, suggesting this could be the motive for the threats. Meanwhile, Qi Wei realized that Miss Cao had planted a button-shaped listening device in his bag.
He quickly improvised, pretending a burst water pipe at home had soaked his bag and damaged his computer, thus destroying the device. He then diligently rewrote the meeting minutes and, feigning innocence, returned the "button" to Miss Cao, who, though aware of his ruse, acknowledged she had underestimated him. Gu Lan visited Li Chen on a film set, disrupting his acting. She teased him about still directing romance dramas, suggesting he always believed in "true love."
Li Chen, a producer-director who had helped set up Li Qian's fake romantic environment, reminded Gu Lan not to visit him on set. They discussed their engagement, which was purely for family interests and disliked by both. Neither wanted to be the one to break it off, fearing their parents would cut off their financial support.
They playfully tried to push the responsibility onto each other, with Li Chen joking that Gu Lan would have to be "abandoned and miserable" for him to break it off. Back at Gu Zhe's office, he was elated to find his social media account had gained almost half a million followers, with his "emotional interpretation" posts trending.
His director, impressed, decided to give him an exclusive "Emotional Interpretation" program every Friday, warning him to take it seriously or return to his CEO duties. Gu Zhe vowed to work hard. In his celebratory mood, Gu Zhe messaged Li Qian and Yu Qingqing, calling for a meeting, which Yu Qingqing sarcastically called a sign of the "sun rising from the west."
During the meeting, Gu Zhe clumsily fell to the floor, a sight that his colleagues seemed to find entirely normal. Ning Chengming, discovering a book in Li Qian's room that mentioned "Qi Wei, the teaching assistant," tried to find Qi Wei's contact information but found no such person in his contacts. Determined to uncover more about his past, he decided to visit Haoran University, where he used to teach.
At the university, he bumped into Li Chen, who barely recognized him. When Ning Chengming asked a student for directions to the School of Economics and Management and for a teaching assistant named Qi Wei, the student said Qi Wei was unknown but enthusiastically described a notorious Professor Ning Chengming as a "campus legend" – handsome but "mean, smart like a ghost, cruel," nicknamed "Old Fox."
The student revealed that Ning Chengming had the highest failure rates, would tell students to "retake the course," and was the subject of a student-written "biography" in the library detailing his many affairs, including having five girlfriends and a fiancée. Ning Chengming was utterly mortified to hear himself described as "a beast in human clothing" and "Shame of the School."
