I know some viewers felt the first episode of SWAK was too fast and a little incoherent, but I personally love Episode 1. It sets up the intricate relationship between the different characters and shows the inner turmoil Tong Xue faces as the secret mistress of a rich married man.
The drama begins with a dream of Tong Xue walking into a blue-roofed beach house and a man inside the house orders her to strip naked in front of him. Before anything else is shown, she wakes up from her nightmare in cold sweat. When she steps out of her room, we see that Tong Xue lives quite luxuriously in a nice house with cleaning maids, a housekeeper, and a dog caretaker. She asks Housekeeper Ding when Mo Shaoqian plans to come back. Ding replies that she doesn't know since he hasn't called to inform her.
Once out of house, she seems hopeful and looks happily at the sky. It is another new day for Tong Xue. Unbeknown to Tong Xue, Mo Shaoqian is secretly watching her in his car, like a cat playing with his toy. He asks his chauffeur, Lao Ma, "Can you guess where she's going?"
Today is actually the death anniversary of Tong Xue's parents who tragically died in a car accident. At her parents' grave site, she reveals her discontent about her current lifestyle and reassures her parents that she's going to try to leave Mo Shaoqian as soon as possible. Mo Shaoqian silently watches her from a distance, but I'm not quite certain if he overhears what Tong Xue said.
Tong Xue's time with her parents is suddenly cut short when Mo Shaoqian calls her. She lies to him saying that she's currently shopping at the mall and bought a dress in his favorite color white. He knows she's lying and tells her he'll come to pick her up exactly 30 minutes later at the mall. Tong Xue madly rushes to the mall and calls her bestfriend/co-worker, Yueying to help her buy a white dress.
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At the mall, Yueying knocks into Mo Shaoqian and hurts her ankle. She gets quite annoyed at first but restrains herself when she realizes how good looking he is. Why is a pretty face always more easily forgiven? Mo Shaoqian apologizes and offers to assist her. While all this is happening, a private investigator is snapping photos of them. Mo Shaoqian detects him and immediately leaves the mall after he helps Yueying back to her car. Seeing Mo Shaoqian leaves in a rush without giving her a name or contact, Yueying sighs in disappointment and brags to Tong Xue about how a handsome guy just helped her. LOL.
When Tong Xue gets home, the housekeeper warns her that Mo Shaoqian came back and went straight to his bedroom without changing into his slippers. Tong Xue gets the hint that Mo Shaoqian is unhappy and changes into his dress shirt hoping to please him. She recalls a "morning after" incident where she randomly picked up his dress shirt to wear and inadvertently seduced him for another bed rocking session.
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In his bedroom, Mo Shaoqian quietly sits on his bed with his dog, Lovable. Tong Xue brings him his slipper and apologizes for coming home late. Shaoqian then ridicules Tong Xue for her lack of "professionalism" in being his mistress. Tong Xue quietly takes in the insults but breaks her docile front when he proceeds to implicate her parents' greediness and blame them for not teaching her how to "properly" sell herself. Yet in this tense atmosphere, Mo Shaoqian suddenly gives Tong Xue a soft kiss. He says "I've kissed you countless times this past two years, but you never once fully responded to my kisses and always locked your lips as if it's your last wall against me." He goes on to imply that her parents probably died because of retribution. Tong Xue then runs back to her bedroom in tears and Shaoqian follows her.
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As Tong Xue changes back into her work clothes, Shaoqian watches with interest. He gives her a giant ruby ring specially designed based on another ring, which Tong Xue once praised "beautiful," shown in a movie they watched together in Hong Kong. Indifferent to the expensive gift, Tong Xue leaves Shaoqian angrily to eat dinner with her uncle's family despite his warning that he doesn't like a "woman's tantrum."
At her uncle's apartment, Tong Xue hopes to share a peaceful dinner with her family, but the unexpected arrival of Mo Shaoqian ruins Tong Xue's pleasant mood. She introduces Shaoqian to her uncle's family as her "boyfriend." Terrified that her family may suspect her current illicit lifestyle, Tong Xue makes up an excuse that Shaoqian has some urgent business matters to attend and forces him to leave with her. Before their departure, Shaoqian gives the giant ruby ring to Tong Xue's aunt as a "first meeting" gift.
Once in the car, Shaoqian and Tong Xue continue their bickering left unfinished from the afternoon. To punish Tong Xue for disregarding his warning, he takes her to a restaurant (the place started everything) she dreads and Tong Xue shakes uncontrollably in fear. Back at home, Shaoqian refuses to let Tong Xue rest easily for the night. He warns again that if she continues to rebel against him, he'll never let her go. Her resistance only increases his determination to quench her willfulness. But if she submits to him and makes him happy, he may gets tired of her soon and she'll gain her freedom. So Tong Xue runs to hug Shaoqian from behind and apologizes for her "misbehavior."
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Before Shaoqian gets intimate with Tong Xue in her bedroom, he asks her if there's another man in her heart. Of course, our little white rabbit Tong Xue answers no. Good girl! But Tong Xue's mind wonders off to some happy memories of her first love when he's making out with her. Shaoqian notices Tong Xue's absentmindedness and loses interest. He angrily questions Tong Xue for whom the origami paper cranes she's been secretly folding and throws them out in fury. While Tong Xue tearily picks up the scattered origami cranes on the floor and vows to save enough money to leave him, Shaoqian kicks his dog out of his bedroom. LOL.
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The following day, Shaoqian's assistant, He Jie ("Older Sister He") urgently calls him back to Distal Group's (Yuanzhong) headquarter because his trusted company's manager, Chen Hou, is threatening to jump off the building. Both Chen Hou and He Jie once worked for Shaoqian's father. They now both worked diligently for Shaoqian, plotting with him to regain control over Distal Group. Because an important hospital construction project was unreasonably suspended by Shaoqian's father-in-law, the impatient Chen Hou couldn't take it anymore and spills the beans about Mu Changhe's ruthless business tactics to the news media. He screams on the top of the building that 10 years ago, the Mu family forced Shaoqian into a political marriage if he wanted to save his father's company from disintegration.
Shaoqian manages to convince Chen Hou to stop his stupidity and the guy decides not to commit suicide. However, Mu Changhe is not going to let him go easily for bashing him in the news. Despite Shaoqian's plea not to fire Chen Hou, Board of Directors voted to fire him anyway because he did some serious damage to Distal Group's public image.
