Well Dominated Love Episode 8 Recap
> Well Dominated Love Recap
Following Nie Xingchen's decision to resign and leave him, Yan Jingzhi grapples with the revelation of their shared past. Meanwhile, Zhao Yuanfang visits Nie Xingchen with a bouquet of flowers, celebrating her newfound freedom. When she informs him that Yan Jingzhi now remembers everything, Zhao Yuanfang questions if she has truly moved on, but she offers no answer. He then asks her to cook for him, deliberately filming a video of the meal to post online.
Upon seeing the post, Yan Jingzhi jealously summons Secretary Tong to inquire about Zhao Yuanfang's leave from work, learning with a darkened expression that Zhao had requested time off for a "wedding." While Zhao Yuanfang enjoys the noodles Nie Xingchen prepared, teasing her with jokes about becoming his private chef or entering a contract marriage, a tormented Yan Jingzhi transforms into a workaholic.
He pushes his staff to their limits with three consecutive days of overtime, making everyone miss Nie Xingchen. Desperate, Secretary Tong presents Yan Jingzhi with a guide Nie Xingchen had left behind. The detailed note outlines his personal preferences and habits, including his tendency to play Minesweeper when upset. The gesture softens Yan Jingzhi, and he allows his weary staff to go home.
On a date, Tong Xin offers to cut Han Ziyu's steak, praising his hands as being meant for saving lives, calling him an "angel in white." She learns that his fear of women stems from a high school trauma where he was pushed down a flight of stairs by a girl whose confession he rejected.
In turn, Han Ziyu learns why Tong Xin is a fan of the pop star J; watching J's dedication to his musical dreams during a period of uncertainty in college gave her the strength and courage she needed. Later, realizing his fear of women is a treatable disorder, Tong Xin spontaneously hugs Han Ziyu, promising to help him with desensitization therapy.
After Han Ziyu learns from Tong Xin that Yan Jingzhi is unhappy, he sends him a photo he took the night Yan Jingzhi collapsed, revealing that Nie Xingchen had rushed to the hospital and stayed with him all night. Upset at not being told sooner, Yan Jingzhi calls and berates Han Ziyu for withholding the information before hanging up.
The next day, armed with the photo, Yan Jingzhi revisits the restaurant from his proposal and learns the truth from a witness: he had fainted before Nie Xingchen could even respond, meaning she never rejected him. With this new knowledge, he immediately goes to her apartment. Yan Jingzhi bypasses Nie Xingchen's text claiming she isn't home—a lie exposed by her WeChat Movement data showing only 48 steps—by following a food delivery person into the building.
She confronts him, insisting their relationship is over and they should be strangers. He retorts that the decision isn't hers alone and demands to know why she lied about the proposal. When she claims not to remember the details, he asks her to help him recover his memories, promising to leave her alone afterward. She refuses out of respect for his supposed girlfriend, Zhen Nian, a claim he quickly dismisses, but Nie Xingchen remains firm.
Soon after, Nie Xingchen is repeatedly rejected from job interviews and correctly suspects Yan Jingzhi is sabotaging her. She confronts him at his office, where he openly admits to blocking her employment prospects, stating she won't find work in the city unless she helps him. With no other choice, Nie Xingchen reluctantly agrees to help him regain his memory on the condition that he stop interfering in her life if she fails and that he follows her arrangements.
The next day, she leads him on a journey into their past, starting with a public bus ride, which they used to take when she thought he was an ordinary employee. At a wood workshop, he crafts a puzzle-piece keychain for her, explaining, "Each piece of the puzzle has its own place. Once a piece is misplaced, the puzzle can't be completed, just like you and me."
Later, they visit a riverside spot, a former dating location, known for its free weekend fireworks. When Yan Jingzhi offers to set off fireworks just for her, Nie Xingchen playfully asks him to dance. He asks if dancing was part of their old routine, and she confirms it was, leading them to share a dance under the fireworks. Yan Jingzhi returns to the office in a surprisingly good mood, which unnerves his staff, who are accustomed to his recent intensity.
He checks Nie Xingchen’s WeChat Movement and sees a high step count, but Secretary Tong warns him the data can be faked. When a text from Nie Xingchen cancels their plans for that evening, he decides to go to her apartment. There, he finds not only Nie Xingchen but also Zhao Yuanfang and her parents. Caught off guard, Nie Xingchen introduces Yan Jingzhi as a "former colleague," and her parents warmly invite him to stay for dinner.
During the meal, Nie Xingchen's parents, unaware they are speaking to her former boss, complain about his "exploitative" demands, describing the job as being a 24/7 nanny. Zhao Yuanfang smirks, while Yan Jingzhi endures the criticism. When Nie Xingchen quickly introduces Yan Jingzhi as her "assistant" to deflect further questions, her parents advise him to quit, claiming the company and its boss have "no future."
The tension escalates as Yan Jingzhi and Zhao Yuanfang engage in a competitive shrimp-peeling contest for Nie Xingchen. After dinner, as Nie Xingchen walks Yan Jingzhi out, he confronts her for not telling him about her parents' visit. She retorts that he has "crossed the line." In response, Yan Jingzhi forcefully kisses her, reminding her of the kiss she gave him at the hospital.
He asserts that she has feelings for him and that she doesn't need to be secretive about it. When she denies it, he points out she didn't resist his kiss. She calls him a scoundrel for twisting her words, but he continues, citing the "Romeo and Juliet effect"—that obstacles only strengthen feelings. He advises her to treat him as a friend like Zhao Yuanfang, not an enemy. When she retorts that she doesn't kiss her friends, he smiles and says, "Neither do I, you rogue."
