Irreplaceable Episode 17 Recap
**SPOILER ALERT**
Table of Contents
TL;DR (Quick Overview)
Bu Tianna publicly claims Zhao Heng as her boyfriend, and when her father turns cold, Zhao Heng takes a slap for her and wins him over by offering to give up any claim to the family fortune. Yuanzhou collapses and a desperate Wen Ruosen begs for mercy, but Ye Xinzhi’s revenge leaves him feeling hollow, especially after Wen warns that Xu Chi will one day replace him. With Celestial wrapped up, Xu Chi quits Maxmise to join Hezong as a consultant, surprising Ye Xinzhi and asking him to keep their relationship quiet at work, while Bu Tianna plans to leave too and reclaim her place at Siwei Group.
Bu Tianna Faces Her Feelings
Bu Tianna refuses to believe Xu Chi is fine, pointing out she ended up in hospital and took a whole day of sick leave after being warned not to travel so much. Xu Chi says Bu Tianna never warned her, because she knew Xu Chi had a fire in her belly. She just couldn’t accept that Bu Tianna made project manager so much earlier, even if she took it over halfway through.
Bu Tianna tells her to show her superior some respect. Xu Chi promises not to push herself so hard again, and if she ends up in hospital, she’ll drink ten bottles of Bu Tianna’s nourishing soup. When Bu Tianna asks her to help oversee the actuarial side once her work is done, Xu Chi passes.
She wants to take it easy next week, cut back on overtime and spend more time with Ye Xinzhi, because she feels she needs to rethink the meaning of her life. Bu Tianna notices the ring hanging around Xu Chi’s neck and remarks that getting sick has changed her. Xu Chi says if she means prettier, she should just say so, because twelve hours of sleep beats any cosmetic procedure.
Xu Chi then asks if Bu Tianna and Zhao Heng are fighting again. Bu Tianna can’t understand what Shen Jin is playing at, since he was posting lovey dovey photos with Lin Long only days ago, and says she’ll get Lin Long to tear him apart. Xu Chi asks what good that would do.
Bu Tianna admits Zhao Heng was right. She has been avoiding it and has never really treated him as a real boyfriend. Xu Chi tells her to fix it, but Bu Tianna says it isn’t that simple. Xu Chi watched him scheme step by step to win her over, and he treats her well, but when he suddenly goes cold, she’s afraid he’s manipulating her.
If she gives in, what if one day he gets stronger and won’t put up with her temper anymore? And her father is leaving everything to her brother, so what will she have? Xu Chi says she understands. Bu Tianna is just scared of losing in this relationship, and she’s nowhere near as confident as she pretends.
When Bu Tianna denies it, Xu Chi suggests she keep giving him the cold shoulder and let him go if he stops coming back, since there are plenty of men out there. Bu Tianna immediately protests that she likes him and can’t be without him. Xu Chi tells her to stop pretending to be tough. If she likes him, she should be brave.
Love isn’t strategic consulting, and she doesn’t need to plan every move. Nobody knows the future, but she can at least enjoy the present. Then Xu Chi adds, as an afterthought, that there are plenty of rich, pretty girls out there, and once Zhao Heng finishes Celestial, he could easily take his track record to a new company and find someone new.
Meet My Boyfriend
That does it. Bu Tianna calls Zhao Heng and orders him to the front desk, telling him they’re going to meet clients. Instead, she takes him to International Equestrian Culture Week, where her father is watching his horse compete. In front of her father and his friends, she introduces Zhao Heng as her boyfriend and colleague at Maxmise. Zhao Heng is shocked, the friends praise her taste, and her father keeps up a strained smile.
Outside, Bu Tianna tells Zhao Heng that he forced her to choose, and now she has. She has told her father and all his friends, so there’s no backing out. Her father cares too much about his image to yell at her in public, but a storm is coming, so since Zhao Heng was so determined to be the ultimate schemer, he’d better put together a plan for dealing with him.
Zhao Heng tells her he’s really happy, because she must love him a lot to say all that in front of her father, and he knows she isn’t usually that bold. She tells him to stop talking nonsense, and he happily follows her back to work.
The First Domino
The news reports that Yuanzhou Gallery is suspected of colluding with overseas platforms in a rat trading scheme, with its market value down nearly sixty percent and regulators investigating on site as angry crowds demand answers. Xu Chi calls Ye Xinzhi over, amazed at how fast it has escalated in just a few days. He explains that while she was wrapping up Celestial, he and Du were busy with this.
Once the first domino falls, the rest follow. Xu Chi says Wen had it coming. Ye Xinzhi admits Wen has been reaching out to everyone, and he only took that business trip to avoid him. Xu Chi calls him a sly fox, and he asks her to say it again because he likes hearing it. When she playfully bites him, he says he likes that too.
Dinner With the Bu Family
Bu Tianna brings Zhao Heng home for dinner. He brings her mother’s favourite Zhang’s crispy pastries, but her parents barely acknowledge him. Only her little brother greets him warmly, insisting he’s not just Zhao Heng but Brother in Law Zhao, and tells Bu Tianna their father just fought with their mother and smashed a cup.
At the table, her father declares there will be no talking at meals, because that’s the Bu family upbringing, especially with an outsider present. Xiaojie cleverly gets his mother to take him to the bathroom, leaving the couple alone with her father.
Bu Tianna tells her father he can’t pretend not to see a living, breathing person she brought home. He says he sees him, so what else does she want? When she insists Zhao Heng is her boyfriend, he says how she defines her relationship is her own business. She’s an adult and they respect her, so she can do as she likes.
Determined to get a reaction, Bu Tianna announces she’s three months pregnant. Her father raises his hand to slap her, but Zhao Heng pulls her aside and takes the slap himself. He tells Mr. Bu she only said it out of spite, and they haven’t reached that point.
Zhao Heng says he knows Mr. Bu doesn’t like him, but given the slap he just took, he asks for three minutes. He knows why he was allowed at the table and why he got the silent treatment. Forcing them apart would only make Bu Tianna rebel and bring them closer. The cold shoulder is a different game.
Once the honeymoon fades, Mr. Bu expects a proud young man like him to stew in frustration until he and Bu Tianna blow up at each other. Her father asks if that slick tongue is how he won her over. Zhao Heng says that, plus his face and his brain.
He then addresses what Mr. Bu really wants: a lasting legacy. Working alongside Bu Tianna proves his ability, so if Mr. Bu doubts she can run the company alone, wouldn’t adding him improve the odds? And he knows Mr. Bu’s worry. He’ll sign a notarised agreement never to hold any equity in Siwei Group, directly or indirectly, and if he and Bu Tianna ever break up, he’ll lose all management authority immediately.
Passion is fleeting, but interests last forever, and as long as he’s working towards his own future, he’ll always love her. Her father calls him aside for a private word, and when they return, his stern expression has softened into smiles, much to Bu Tianna’s relief.
Seventy Percent
Later, Zhao Heng asks how she’d rate his performance, then notices she isn’t happy. He guesses it’s what he said to her father, explaining that a businessman would only listen if he spoke in terms of pros and cons. Bu Tianna asks how much he loves her for herself and how much for what she can give him. He answers honestly: seventy percent her, thirty percent the benefits.
She says at least it isn’t fifty fifty or sixty forty. He tells her he won’t repeat all the sweet talk, but he wants them to work together to turn whatever benefits she brings into their shared benefits. They kiss, and she warns him not to let her down.
Wen Ruosen Begs
As Xu Chi tells Bu Tianna on the phone that she’ll give her and Zhao Heng some alone time, Wen Ruosen approaches her, begging for help. The bank has pulled his loan approval, and Mr. Deng says the earn out clause has been triggered, so Wen must sell all his shares. Richard has gone off the grid, and since Xu Chi brokered the Morse funding, she’s the only one who can ask Mr. Deng for more time.
Xu Chi says she only brokers deals and knows nothing about what comes after, and tries to leave. Wen blocks her, threatening to ruin her face if she walks out. He knows she and Ye Xinzhi set a trap, and if he’s pushed to the edge, nobody gets off easily.
Xu Chi, recording him, asks if he wants to add intentional assault to his financial crimes, warning that he won’t be the only one going down. His child will suffer too. A message arrives from Ye Xinzhi: Du says Wen came to Hezong looking for him, so if Wen goes to her, she should bring him over.
On His Knees
At Hezong, Wen begs Ye Xinzhi to save him. His child is only eight, and he doesn’t want to jump off a building, but he will if Ye Xinzhi doesn’t help. Will Ye Xinzhi really watch him do it? He drops to his knees. Ye Xinzhi, remembering being at Wen’s mercy all those years ago, helps him up and asks Xu Chi to fetch some food, since Wen clearly hasn’t been eating.
While picking up snacks, Xu Chi meets Wang Yuan, or Woody, an associate partner at Hezong. He already knows who she is, since Celestial’s Mr. Zheng, his old classmate, constantly sings her praises.
Meanwhile, Wen accepts the way out Ye Xinzhi offers, then turns bitter. He calls Ye Xinzhi ruthless for spending ten years plotting revenge just because Wen made him take the fall. He predicts Ye Xinzhi will end up like him, publicly vilified and surrounded by scandal.
Wen trained Ye Xinzhi, and now Ye Xinzhi is training her. Ye Xinzhi was Wen’s payback, and she’ll be his. She’s colder and far more ruthless than him, and one day she’ll kick him to the curb and take his place completely.
A Hollow Victory
Ye Xinzhi explains the deal to Xu Chi. Wen must hand over all his shares under the earn out agreement. Eighty percent of the proceeds will compensate the victims of the Jingshang Department Store disaster, and the remaining twenty percent will cover fines and offset employees’ and investors’ losses.
He has also introduced Wen to his lawyer friend Bai Xiao, and if Wen has no criminal liability, he’ll ask Mr. Deng about lifting his industry ban. Xu Chi notices this isn’t his original plan. He says he can’t drive Wen into the ground or push him to jump, and in his mind, he flashes back to his own father’s death. With his drive, Wen might still make a comeback, just as Ye Xinzhi once did.
Xu Chi points out Wen is getting old and doesn’t have the edge Ye Xinzhi had. She thought he’d be thrilled that his plan succeeded. He admits he thought so too, but when he saw Yuanzhou’s terrified employees being hauled in for questioning, he started to regret it a little.
Xu Chi understands. She can’t simply say the guilty deserve it and the innocent will be cleared, because she has been suspended and investigated herself. Even knowing she was innocent, she was filled with dread. And even if they’re cleared, Morse will probably lay most of them off when it disposes of the assets.
People in this high paying, high risk industry should expect instability, but they’re still human. They hurt and they get scared. Ye Xinzhi says revenge isn’t a happy thing. He never imagined that achieving a ten-year goal would leave him feeling so lost. Xu Chi says she feels a bit lost too, with the Celestial project almost over, and takes him out for a drink.
The End of Celestial
At the Celestial wrap party, the team toasts the project’s success. Someone feels a pang of sadness that their first finished project at Maxmise is over, and the others remind them it’s only the first year, with decades and hundreds of better projects ahead. They toast to a future that’s out of this world.
A New Direction
With Xu Chi between projects, Lin Long shows her several new options, all with insurance companies. Lin Long explains that Sha Sha is giving her a shot. Since she knows the industry inside out after Celestial, she’ll be the go to person, and after one more project she’ll be ready for consultant.
Xu Chi says she doesn’t want to get stuck in one industry so early. She’s more interested in the broader field of digital finance. Lin Long says interests and career paths often don’t line up, so you have to know what to give up. Xu Chi wishes a company would give her more say in her own development.
Lin Long says everyone wants that, and if Xu Chi ever finds such a company, she should call her so they can leave together. Xu Chi later asks Lin Long for advice on another career question, then hands her resignation to Sha Sha.
Welcome to Hezong
Ye Xinzhi returns from a week in Hong Kong and heads straight to the office, telling a colleague he’ll wrap things up and might take a long break. The colleague jokes about marriage leave. Then a new hire is welcomed: a sharp young consultant Wang Yuan has poached. It’s Xu Chi. When he asks what’s going on, she says she wanted to surprise him.
We see how it happened. When Xu Chi met Wang Yuan at Hezong, he explained the firm’s relaxed approach, encouraging remote work and using a consultant pool system modelled on law firms. Instead of junior consultants being tied to a single partner’s team and narrow work, they can work on individual projects with different teams, quickly finding their own lane with less friction between teams. He asked if she was interested.
Xu Chi asked if he was poaching her, and he said people move between firms all the time. She said she was doing well at Maxmise, and besides, she’s Richard’s girlfriend. Wang Yuan pointed out Richard’s team was full anyway, and wise people don’t jump ship because they’re struggling, but because they know which ship to board. He offered her a consultant title and a recommendation for project manager after her next project. She thanked him but declined, and he gave her his card.
Now Xu Chi explains to Ye Xinzhi that when he said hitting his goal left him feeling lost, she felt the same. After more than a year and two projects at Maxmise, she should feel satisfied, but she kept remembering him saying work shouldn’t be their whole life and they should spend more time together.
At Maxmise, she couldn’t do that and keep her promotion pace, since her record there came from grinding herself to the bone. It took Lin Long five years to make consultant, and Xu Chi doesn’t want to waste that much time or be pigeonholed. Hezong’s consultant pool gives her the flexibility to pick projects that suit her, and Lin Long and Bu Tianna both told her to seize it. And she really wants more time with him.
At her first day in Hezong, Xu Chi is introduced to the team and as Ye Xinzhi walks past he is surprised to see his girlfriend as the new employee. The head to his office and Ye Xinzhi says he’s happy she has joined, but wishes she had given him a heads up, since he knows Hezong better than she does. She explains he was travelling nonstop, and her second and third interviews didn’t go well, so she was afraid of the embarrassment if she got rejected.
She also lays down conditions. She doesn’t want people gossiping that she only got in because of him, so he shouldn’t put her on his team yet. She wants to work a project or two with other teams first. Ye Xinzhi asks if she’s addicted to going undercover, since their relationship isn’t exactly a secret.
Xu Chi says that career wise, she wants people to see them as not too far apart in rank. After two projects, she’ll make project manager. Even if some in the industry know about them, hardly anyone at Hezong does, so she wants to keep it quiet until her colleagues recognise what she can do. She asks him to wait for her.
He agrees, and officially welcomes Miss Xu to Hezong. She tells him that now they can commute, travel for work and go home together, so he shouldn’t be mad. He insists he isn’t, and she kisses him on the cheek before heading off to work.
Bu Tianna’s Next Move
Bu Tianna mocks Xu Chi’s cheesy line about commuting and going home together, and teases her for keeping her office romance secret, saying the tables have turned now that Xu Chi is the one in charge. Xu Chi calls it adding spice, just like Bu Tianna and Zhao Heng used to do.
Bu Tianna insists Zhao Heng dances to her tune, unlike Ye Xinzhi with Xu Chi, and the two argue over whose man treats them better.Then Bu Tianna admits that since Xu Chi left Maxmise, she has been thinking about quitting too. Although her family has accepted Zhao Heng, she still isn’t sure deep down, so she thinks she should go to her father’s company.
Once she’s settled, Zhao Heng can either join her or stay in consulting, and either way, they’ll have options. Xu Chi reminds her that becoming a partner has been her dream since they met. Bu Tianna says running Siwei Group and being a Maxmise partner aren’t even in the same league.
Xu Chi calls it the magic of love and asks if Zhao Heng knows she’s doing this for him. Bu Tianna insists she’s going back to reclaim her place as heiress, and he’s just a supporting player who doesn’t need to know.
Xu Chi warns her not to accept a fancy sounding role in PR or venture capital if her father offers one, and to go for a department that controls the company’s core business. Bu Tianna says she knows what she’s doing. There’s a manager vacancy in the finance centre, and with her Celestial experience, she should be able to handle it.
Irreplaceable Episode 17 Recap: My Thoughts
The most exciting part of this episode was Bu Tianna finally coming to her senses and deciding to make things official with Zhao Heng before she loses him for good. True to her style, she never does anything by halves and resorts to shocking solutions. No wonder she drives her father mad!
But well done, Zhao Heng, for turning things around so brilliantly. He’s usually the one being bullied or on the timid side, but when push comes to shove, he pulls it together so well. Signing away any claim to the Bu family fortune to be with her earned him serious green flag points.
I also love the honesty that this relationship is seventy percent her and thirty percent the benefits of joining the Bu family. It’s so refreshing to see a drama character talk about real world ambition so realistically, and it starts their relationship on the right footing, without her always wondering if he’s just there for the money.
Revenge is a bitter pill to swallow. Now that he has done it and Wen Ruosen is so pitiful, Ye Xinzhi feels hollow. Was it worth it? And with the north star that drove him gone, he feels lost, just like Xu Chi after losing the apartment. Both of them are feeling the same thing. Wen’s prediction that Xu Chi will one day kick him aside and take his place was chilling, and I’m curious whether the show will lean into a student surpasses the master storyline or let them break the cycle as true equals.
As for her jumping ship to his company without discussing it, that actually annoyed me. I’m amazed he isn’t annoyed! He’s a partner at the firm, for goodness’ sake. I didn’t like it. No doubt it was the right career move, and I’m glad she has stepped back from her grind mindset, but now she wants to hide the relationship for the sake of her career. I would not have been happy.
It feels like a bit of an anticlimax after the proposal episode, although these arcs needed to wrap up eventually, and the romance has taken a backseat to the workplace logistics this time. The move to the new firm was a surprise, and with three episodes to go, it’ll be interesting to see where this takes us.
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