Fake it ’til you make it.

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Previously on Mr. Right Wanted… ep 1 recap

Anna’s Recap

Like the saying goes, “You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince.” Hai Ning may think that she doesn’t need to find a prince to be happy, but she’s still gotta kiss some frogs. And there certainly are a lot of frogs lining up to be part of her grand marriage experiment. So, c’mon Prince, where you at?

Hai Ning and her team at the publishing company go through all the comments and responses to her Facebook ad for a husband/marriage. Totally not surprised that most of the comments are from major creepers who clearly aren’t taking this seriously. After sifting through all those useless guys, they finally come across a guy who goes by, “Universe Mao,” that actually sounds like he’s interested in getting married. Despite her employees’ protests that this guy looks like a complete weirdo based on his pathetically empty Facebook page, but Hai Ning says that he’ll have to do since they don’t have any other contenders.

Equipped with surveillance equipment and a terrible wig, Hai Ning is waiting at a cafe for her blind date with Universe. One of her employees is also there with her, but “hiding” and waiting to videotape the date. She keeps waiting for Universe to show up, but it’s become abundantly clear that he ain’t showing up. When she gets a text from him saying that something came up and he can’t come today, Hai Ning gets so annoyed that she got stood up that she just straight-up rips off her wig in the middle of the cafe. She storms over to her employee and complains that she can’t believe that she got stood up. Really…? A Facebook ad seeking a husband actually sounds like the shadiest thing ever.

Even though she got stood up by Universe, Hai Ning is still trekking on and going on a bunch of a blind dates with all these weirdos. But then again, what did you expect? One of her dates, this really manly-looking dude with a surprisingly high voice, actually calls her out on faking this whole marriage seeking plan.

Hai Ning goes over to her Tian Xin’s place to complain about the low quality of guys who have replied to her ad. But her cousin really isn’t in the mood to listen to her babble on about her failed dates because she’s got her own drama. Her period is late this month, so you know what that means: baby on the way! Hai Ning reacts totally nonchalantly to this news, and says that it’s not the first time that Tian Xin has had a false alarm pregnancy. She advises her to just go buy a pregnancy test to find out for real. Jeez, thanks for the support, Hai Ning.

It’s been a week since Hai Ning busted Cheng Hao for cheating on her, but she still hasn’t decided if she wants to break up with him. She actually complains that it’s one thing to cheat, but he really crossed a line when he was fooling around with people who they worked with. Priorities, ya know. Tian Xin tells her that just because she doesn’t want a sex life, she can’t assume Cheng Hao would be okay with that. She says that Hai Ning is way too principled, and should learn how to be more manipulative. Hai Ning asks her if also applies this philosophy to her own relationship. Tian Xin says that half-half because she really does love her boyfriend, but she’s lying when she says that she doesn’t want to marry him. Turns out that her boyfriend has proposed to her multiple times, but always without a ring. Plus, she doesn’t like that her boyfriend works at the zoo.

Cheng Hao sneaks into Hai Ning’s house bright and early to make a whole lot of noise and mess while cleaning and cooking her breakfast. She awakens to the noise and thinks that there’s a burglar in her house. Cheng Hao tries to win her back by saying that she knows she’s the one who he really loves. But then he puts his foot in his mouth by saying that he only cheated on her because he was lonely, which only pisses off Hai Ning. She yells at him for not being remorseful, and he retorts that they’re the only couple in the world who could go without having sex for half a year. You can imagine how well that comment went over.

Hai Ning pushes him out the door, and his immediate response is to ask when they can discuss the plans for his new book. She yells through the door that she’s going to write it and she’s changing it to a girl’s perspective on finding a husband and marriage. Hearing that she’s taking over the project, Cheng Hao gets annoyed that she wouldn’t say yes to his proposals, but is willing to get matched up with all these random dudes for marriage. Hai Ning argues that it’s all fake anyways, but Cheng Hao ain’t buying it. He yells that there’s no way in hell that she can accurately write the book because she’s afraid of marriage. He claims that he knows how to love her, even more than she knows herself.

Hai Ning storms past Cheng Hao to go to work, and then runs into a strange guy outside of her house. He’s actually a mystery guy who was always chilling at the cafe whenever she was there for blind dates. Three guesses on who it is. He introduces himself as Universe Mao, and Hai Ning immediately asks him why he stood her up. Conceited much? Universe rambles on about how he knows she’s faking this whole thing, and wanted to observe her first before approaching her. He rambles on about how she’s no beauty, but she has good skin so that’s a win. He then says that even though she’s totally not his type, she’s acceptable for a fake marriage.

Cheng Hao has been standing there listening to all of this, and after letting Universe talk all this nonsense, he goes ahead and punches the dude in the face. Instead of actually making an effort to break up the fight, Hai Ning lets the two guys go at it and leaves on her own. Cheng Hao chases after her and tells her to let him do the book because of all the creeps that she’s gunna encounter on these dates. She tells him that she’s still pissed off with him, so he better leave her alone. Before she continues to storm off, she remembers to yell back to him that she’s going to a hire a male editor.

Hai Ning tells Tian Xin about the encounter with Universe and how he looks like an eggplant. She says that she’s seriously considering whether or not to forgive Cheng Hao, but she still doesn’t know for sure if she wants to break up. Enough of that boring talk though because Tian Xin shows Hai Ning a pregnancy test that confirms that she’s pregnant. She doesn’t know if she wants to marry her boyfriend, but Hai Ning tells her to just quickly say yes the next time he proposes. Isn’t Hai Ning the one who’s all anti-marriage? Tian Xin says that she isn’t even sure if she wants to tell her boyfriend about the baby, and that maybe she’ll just get an abortion. Hai Ning advises her to really think about it before doing anything drastic.

While Hai Ning is working late at the office, Cheng Hao texts her to ask if she wants him to bring her food. She remembers one of her and Cheng Hao’s lovey dovey moments, and in a moment of weakness, she writes back, “No thanks, I’ve already eaten.” instead of the usual, “No.” But that’s a clearly a lie because her stomach immediately grumbles and she goes to eat by herself at a food stand.

At the food stand where she’s eating, Universe suddenly sits down next to her. Seeing him, Hai Ning gets up to leave but realizes that she forgot her wallet. The owner tells her that it’s no problem though because Cheng Hao had already given her $3000 to cover Hai Ning’s eating expenses. Universe chases after Hai Ning when she leaves, and she gets super annoyed that he keeps popping up out of nowhere. He suddenly kneels in front of her and asks her to help him.

Universe tells Hai Ning that he’s always felt like a stranger in his own family. His dad recently got sick and his wish is for him to get married soon. He wants Hai Ning to help pretend to his girlfriend, so his parents wouldn’t be so worried about him. Hai Ning refuses to do it, and he tells her that she isn’t his type at all but he just wants his parents to be happy. Universe asks her if she’s reluctant to help him because she still loves Cheng Hao. She denies it, but he shows her the CCTV footage of Cheng Hao punching him this morning. He points out how she was only concerned about Cheng Hao, even though he was the one doing all the damage. Finally, Universe just tells her that if she doesn’t help him then he’s gunna sue Cheng Hao. Well, that certainly did the trick.

At Universe’s parent’s house, Hai Ning lies to his parents that they’ve been dating for half a year already and that they met at the gym. Universe’s mom asks Hai Ning to add her as a Facebook friend, but Hai Ning gives her phone number to her instead. The mom later gives Hai Ning a very Amish-looking dress to wear. When she couldn’t reach the zipper in the back, Universe’s mom sends him in to help her out. Was that the plan the whole time?

Universe and Hai Ning meet up at the zoo a couple of days later, and he thanks her for pretending to be his girlfriend. While he’s waxes poetic about love and finding “The One,” Hai Ning gets a text from Universe’s mom thanking her for pretending to be his girlfriend. Busted. Universe tells her Hai Ning that he’s going to keep looking for the perfect person for him, and that he’s not going to settle. That’s the spirit! All the while, his mom is texting her and saying that she knows her son only did this because he cares for his father, but she’s still very grateful that he was willing to help her. She also tells her to not let Universe know that she knows.

When Hai Ning gets home, she finds Cheng Hao there again. He’s here to pick up his stuff and to change her lightbulbs. He finally apologizes for cheating on her and for giving her so many unhappy memories. You could totally tell that Hai Ning is melting at his words because she’s getting all misty-eyed. She thanks him for everything that he’s done for her, and then they just take turns thanking each other. Cheng Hao tells her that he’s not perfect, but she was still willing to love him. He asks her if they can start anew, and she hugs him and agrees. Hai Ning thinks to herself that of all the things you can fake and manipulate, love is something that can’t be faked.

Save Room for Dessert:

Universe found out where Hai Ning lived by tracing the IP address on the Facebook ad to the publishing company. Okay…super creepy.

Universe only has two contacts in his phone: his mom and family. Sadness.

For all you Boss & Me/Shan Shan Lai Le fans out there, Cheng Hao was also the name of Liu Liu’s money-stealin’ boyfriend.