The Early Spring Episode 10 Recap
**SPOILER ALERT**
Table of Contents
TL;DR (Quick Overview)
A jealous driving lesson tips into a night neither of them expects, and by episode’s end, Luan Nian and Zhitao have quietly become something real, secret dating rules and all. But a printing disaster forces him to punish her fairly, and the strain between boss and lover starts showing cracks almost immediately.
A Night of Promises
Back with the girls after her call, Zhitao learns Yao Bei’s already packing for Hong Kong after her promotion, and Sun Yu excitedly shares her own news, determined to stay in Beijing until she can afford a proper three-bedroom apartment. Zhitao makes them all pinky-promise to stick it out together before the night dissolves into drunken sleep on the couch.
A Jealous Interception
The next morning, dressed up to help Sun Yu fill numbers at a matchmaking event, Zhitao gets flagged by Lumi for her uncharacteristically good mood. When Lumi casually mentions the blind date to Luan Nian, he’s visibly irritated, demanding the team’s proposal be finished that same day, insisting people only work late because they waste daylight hours.
At the end of the work day, he intercepts her for “overtime” that turns out to be a driving lesson for the upcoming Yueteng test drive event.
A Kiss in the Rain
In the car, Zhitao texts Sun Yuanzhu to cancel her attendance at the matchmaking event, and Luan Nian catches the message on her phone, smiling to himself. He takes her to an empty rooftop carpark and gets her to drive. He presses her about who she was meeting tonight for a blind date, rattled, she veers and clips a guardrail.
Flustered, she asks if he’s jealous, then explains the whole thing was just helping her roommate’s job. Before she finishes, he leans in and kisses her deeply, and she responds fully, wrapping her arms around him as rain pours outside.
A Morning After, Carefully Managed
Waking in his bed the next morning, Zhitao decides to lean into whatever this is, remembering Sun Yu’s warning that he calculates everything and Lumi’s advice to just enjoy being young. Wearing his bathrobe, she insists on going home rather than accepting a ride from his driver, unwilling to risk anyone connecting the dots or assuming she’s using him to get ahead.
She sleeps in the guest room instead. The next morning, he cooks her breakfast, clearly pleased watching her eat, and drives her to work through pouring rain, straight into the underground garage rather than the subway station she’d asked for, since it’s early enough that no one’s around.
A Close Call in the Elevator
Rushing out first, she drops her work badge, which he retrieves. In the elevator, Lumi is surprised to see her coming up from the car park with a quick response that Sun Yu dropped her off at work that day. Lumi spots a mark on her neck and teases her mercilessly.
Realizing she’s left her laptop in his car, she texts him to meet her in a dark stairwell, and when he arrives, he jokes that even an arms smuggler isn’t this cautious, before slipping her badge back around her neck and kissing her again.
Rules for a Secret Relationship
They continue to date each other over time and she requires absolute secrecy from friends, family, and colleagues, full exclusivity, Fridays reserved for each other, and strict professional boundaries at the office.
Now in her second year at Lime, their romance plays out in stolen glances, quiet texts, and elevator moments, him even angling his office blinds just to keep her in view during the day. Zhitao thinks to herself that the relationship makes her more mature and she finds it addictive.
A Birthday Interrupted
One evening, finding her asleep at her desk, he insists on driving her home himself, holding her hand the whole ride and clearly jealous when he learns Sun Yuanzhu sometimes walks her home through a dark alley.
He insists on walking her to her door just to know where she lives, and lingers close enough to tease her about smeared mascara before finally leaving. Inside, Sun Yu and Sun Yuanzhu are waiting to surprise her for her belated birthday, cake in hand.
Then the phone rings. It’s Luan Nian, reporting that the Yueteng Auto Show promotional booklets have been printed with the wrong logo, and he’s already on his way to pick her up. Checking her laptop, Zhitao realizes she’d asked a designer to fix the logo and they worked until late into the night, and the designer sent out the wrong file. Rather than expose her, she takes full responsibility herself.
Zhitao’s Fair but Painful Punishment
In the car, Luan Nian, visibly unhappy, asks who actually made the change, and she owns it fully as project manager. He warns her plainly, a mistake this size means no promotion or raise for a year, and asks if she’s still willing to accept that. She spends two sleepless nights coordinating with printing suppliers to fix everything before the launch opens, and manages it without the client ever finding out.
In the follow-up meeting, she publicly takes the blame and apologizes. Lumi and Alex speak up gently on her behalf, pointing out the client was none the wiser, and Luan Nian settles on six months without a raise or promotion and a halved bonus, a lighter sentence than his first threat, though it stings all the same.
A Quiet Heartbreak
Back home, Zhitao breaks down over dinner, admitting to Sun Yu that while she doesn’t want special treatment, being punished this coldly by the man she’s involved with still genuinely hurts. Sun Yu reminds her gently that emotional people aren’t always capable of purely rational feelings. Zhitao wishes she were stronger, someone who could face him as an equal rather than always as his subordinate first.
That night, she stares at her phone, drafting and deleting a message to him over and over, unable to find the right words. Across town, Luan Nian is doing exactly the same, replaying her crushed expression from the meeting, unable to focus on anything else. He never wanted to punish her, but he didn’t see another way.
The Early Spring Episode 10 Recap: My Thoughts
Their relationship reaches the next level here, and they’re officially dating and seeing each other every weekend. It’s become a proper relationship, and you can tell they’re really into each other. He continues to be so intense, always leaning in and being his sexy self, while she keeps her shy, meek energy, and it works so well together.
The natural chemistry between these two leads is probably my favourite thing about this drama. It doesn’t feel forced or manufactured, and it’s such a breath of fresh air to see a relationship that plays out messy, complicated, and human instead of polished for effect.
The misprint storyline sets up the first real collision between their personal and work life. Under normal circumstances, you’d lean on a partner for comfort when something goes wrong at the office, but when your partner is also your boss, conflict becomes inevitable.
She doesn’t blame him for it, but she’s still hurt, and he doesn’t want to punish her, yet he has no real choice. Working quietly behind the scenes with the client to approve the reprint budget was clearly his way of protecting her without undermining the consequences.
I’ve noticed how much Luan Nian has grown since episode one, and it’s satisfying watching that shift play out in real time. Zhitao, though, still seems disturbed by her own feelings in a way she doesn’t fully understand yet, and I can see why some find that frustrating to watch, especially given how openly Sun Yu already knows she’s dating her boss despite Zhitao’s insistence on total secrecy.
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