Way Back Into Love Episode 22 Recap
> Way Back Into Love Recap
After Lu Jia confessed the truth about her past, she began to tell Xu Jiaxiu everything that happened between her and Song Juanxi, acknowledging that there could be more than one type of surprise. She explained that she was a college junior, interning at Yamamoto Accounting Firm, which partnered with Sixinte Group. She frequently studied for her CPA exam at a coffee shop below the firm.
She and Xu Jiaxiu confirmed he already knew Song Juanxi's name from her CPA materials. Lu Jia recounted meeting Song Juanxi for the first time when he needed an umbrella during a heavy rain. He introduced himself as a client from Sixinte Group and asked to borrow her umbrella, promising to return it quickly. He then wrote his phone number on her CPA study materials.
Later, Song Juanxi returned the umbrella and offered to drive her home, but Lu Jia declined, stating she wouldn't get into a stranger's car. She told Xu Jiaxiu that if she hadn't encountered Song Juanxi again at the Yamamoto Accounting Firm, she would have forgotten him completely. At the firm, Lu Jia saw Song Juanxi again.
Her colleagues gossiped about him, revealing he was Song Juanxi, the director of Sixinte Group's Investment and Acquisition Department, and the biological nephew of the Sixinte founder. Zhu Yali mentioned he had great potential, but his family had already arranged his marriage. Mr. Yamamoto then presented the due diligence results for seven companies Sixinte planned to acquire, praising their profit structure and growth potential.
When asked for opinions, Lu Jia, despite being an intern, spoke up from the perspective of an ordinary user. She affirmed the positive financial assessments but highlighted that one company’s cosmetics app sold counterfeit products under the guise of group buying, and the platform failed to regulate these products. She warned that such practices disregard consumer rights, damage the industry, and would eventually lead to users abandoning the app.
She emphasized Sixinte's commitment to corporate social responsibility, arguing that such investments could harm its reputation. Song Juanxi praised her deep thinking and called her an "excellent" intern, promising to report the issue to the group's executives and assure her that Sixinte would implement unified platform management after acquisition to resolve such problems. Her colleague, Zhu Yali, congratulated her on her luck, but Lu Jia insisted she was only stating facts for the client's benefit.
Later that day, as Lu Jia was leaving work, it started to rain. Song Juanxi also forgot his umbrella, and Lu Jia offered him hers. He accepted and, once again, left his contact information on her CPA materials. Soon after, Mr. Yamamoto announced a new three-year contract with Sixinte Group and invited the firm's employees to Sixinte's year-end party at a holiday resort, highlighting the importance of their partnership.
At the party, Lu Jia was pressured to drink by her colleagues. She was observed singing off-key, which amused her coworkers. Song Juanxi, now introduced as Sixinte Group's new CEO, watched her from a distance through a partially open door, clearly amused by her performance. Later that evening, after being plied with drinks by her colleagues, Lu Jia became heavily intoxicated. A hotel staff member helped Lu Jia to his room, handing her the room card.
Lu Jia, disoriented, lay down on the bed. When Song Juanxi emerged from the bathroom, Lu Jia awoke, startled and confused. She exclaimed, "Why are you here? This. . . This is my room," and panicked, fleeing the room. Lu Jia later explained to Xu Jiaxiu that she realized Yamamoto had orchestrated the situation, sending her to Song Juanxi's room to secure a long-term partnership with Sixinte now that Song Juanxi had taken over.
Angered by Yamamoto's actions, Lu Jia publicly resigned and even pulled off Yamamoto's wig, then promptly left Beijing. She told Xu Jiaxiu that this incident was the main reason she had returned to Dongzhou, but stressed that it was all in the past. Lu Jia asked Xu Jiaxiu if he was still giving up the investment. Xu Jiaxiu reassured her that he never doubted her relationship with Song Juanxi.
He explained he didn't want the investment because he felt it didn't belong to Voya and they hadn't won fairly in the roadshow. Lu Jia acknowledged that she initially felt the same way, disliking what she saw as Song Juanxi's "alms," and believed Voya could manage without the investment. However, she explained the situation was different now as they had already signed numerous contracts for new servers, publicity, and outsourcing.
Canceling them would mean breaching contracts and facing a severe shortage of funds. Lu Jia assured him that Voya could overcome the crisis and that he shouldn't let everyone's efforts go to waste. Xu Jiaxiu then addressed his employees, reiterating that he abandoned the investment from Sixinte due to the unfair roadshow, emphasizing that Voya hadn't won fairly.
He warned of impending financial hardships due to a shortage of funds but urged everyone to understand and to work together to overcome the crisis. His employees, including Wang Di, expressed their unwavering support for his decision. Soon after, Wang Di discovered that Pickup was inaccessible. He diagnosed the problem as a server crash due to heavy traffic, explaining that the number of servers had been cut by half.
He lamented the lack of funds, noting that while people used to flock to them for cooperation, now no one came after they lost the investment, reflecting on the fickleness of people. Wang Di then rushed to inform Xu Jiaxiu that Sixinte had changed its mind and invested in Crisscross, their competitor. Xu Jiaxiu calmly stated he already knew, explaining that they couldn't control others' decisions and could only focus on their own work.
Wang Di remarked on his "run a business like you don't care" attitude. Lu Jia presented Xu Jiaxiu with a new financial budget, highlighting a severe shortage of funds. She pointed out that paying Juemi for the second time would leave them unable to pay their employees that month. She suggested negotiating with Juemi to modify the contract object to reduce publicity spending based on their current financial conditions.
Xu Jiaxiu agreed to handle the matter but insisted that employees must be paid on time. Meanwhile, Janice fumed over an article by a renowned critic named Sam, which praised Crisscross and criticized Pickup, titled "Pickup falls as Crisscross rises: Ten reasons for Sixinte to change its mind and invest in Shenyu." She denounced it as a paid advertorial and accused Sam of being corrupted by money, ordering everyone to unfollow him. Just then, Shao Yifeng entered.
Instead of unfollowing Sam, he had pinned the article, defending Sam's reputation and suggesting the article was an "objective" analysis and "a guide to defeating Crisscross." He argued that the real issue between Voya and Shenyu wasn't money. He criticized Pickup's interface for its "self-centered" and "repetitive" animations, urging the team to consider the user experience more.
Ye Angyang, who designed the animations, defended his work as a "surprise" for users, leading to a heated argument before Ye Angyang angrily told Shao Yifeng to leave. Xu Jiaxiu, having overheard, asked Wang Di to send him Sam's article. After reading it, he instructed Ye Angyang to optimize the app for a better user experience. Ye Angyang, frustrated, questioned what kind of optimization Xu Jiaxiu meant.
Xu Jiaxiu then met Chen Han, manager of Juemi Publicity Company, to discuss the contract. Chen Han apologized for the delay, citing too many projects, and dismissively suggested Xu Jiaxiu had a "strict budget" if he was pursuing "projects of this scale" only suitable for interns. Xu Jiaxiu proposed a 90% reduction in the contract amount for publicity.
Chen Han, angered, took a call from Mr. Yu, who informed him of a video conference with Sixinte, to be attended by Mr. Song himself, where Chen Han was to present the publicity plan for Crisscross. Chen Han then curtly dismissed Xu Jiaxiu, stating he would have an intern take over the project, and left without offering him coffee. Later, Lu Jia called Xu Jiaxiu to check on his negotiation with Juemi.
He admitted it didn't go well but was "within his expectations" and that he had made arrangements with another publicity company as a backup. Lu Jia encouraged him not to put too much pressure on himself. That night, Ye Angyang struggled with his design choices, drinking heavily and wondering if his "opening animation" truly wasn't liked by anyone. Janice found him and tried to cheer him up, telling him not to take criticism too seriously, as design is subjective.
She acknowledged that he proactively raised user expectations but advised that constant surprises could lead to users growing tired. She explained that some apps simply focus on functional designs to avoid raising user expectations. Inspired, Ye Angyang realized he should stick to his vision of continuously surprising users. Janice then showed him a hidden level in a video game, emphasizing that there could be "more than one type of surprise" and urging him to use his "stupid brain."
Meanwhile, at a video conference for Crisscross, Chen Han presented the "Dandelion Plan" for publicity, involving incubating potential users and community celebrities in vertical communities to spread the app like dandelions. Song Juanxi found the plan good but wanted faster progress and disliked the name "Crisscross," finding it not easy to understand and seeking suggestions for a new name.
Mr. Yu, the CEO of Shenyu, initially expressed frustration off-screen about Song Juanxi discarding their name, but then publicly praised Song Juanxi's suggestion of "Lost Time" as poetic. He elaborated on its rich cultural allusions, such as Tang Xianzu's "You are a beautiful woman, but lost time can't be found again" and Proust's "In Search of Lost Time," explaining how it could evoke emotional resonance in users wanting to preserve beautiful memories.
He argued that it perfectly aligned with the app's "socialize with their acquaintances" positioning and its theme of not forgetting "old friends and old times." The other attendees, including Chen Han, quickly agreed, praising the name as artistic, catchy, and an excellent promotional starting point. Song Juanxi then instructed them to adjust the publicity plan according to the new name immediately.
Chen Han and Mr. Yu had no choice but to comply, with Mr. Yu lamenting that they were under Song Juanxi's control as he was the investor. As Xu Jiaxiu drove Lu Jia home, they passed a large "Lost Time" advertisement. He noticed Pickup posters discarded on the ground, making him feel disheartened. Later, Xu Jiaxiu gave Lu Jia a small gift: a personal defense spray. He told her it could protect her in his stead when he wasn't around. Lu Jia expressed her delight, noting that he was just like her father.
