[Taiwanese Drama 2016] Refresh Man 後菜鳥的燦爛時代

[summitpurple]

The rating for ep 3 is 2.22 ! It keeps increasing which is great!

Oh hi guys. Been silent reader for past 2-3 weeks haha.

This kind of drama is totally my cup of tea. Both are my fav actors in Taiwan. And eventho there are a lot of cliche scenes i just dont care because i love them hahaha 

Anyway, it's nice to read all of ur insights. 

[Latte_Anyday]

Watched ep. 03, raw mind you but story's pretty easy to follow and could pick up from just a few basic Chinese to form an idea what the ep. was mostly about definitely more interactions between our OTP plus a shirtless Wen Kai As I mentioned previously, I enjoy seein' Wen Kai "torture" Yu Tang (I'm a masochist so sue me LoL) although Wen Kai's tough exterior seem to be melting as his growing feelings for Yu Tang start to surface.

I have to hand it to Yu Tang for always rising to the occasion and her determination is very admirable. The look on Wen Kai's face when Yu Tang told him she made a sale was priceless 

@jazz638 So that was how Yu Tang did it LoL. I was curious when she said "I Have My Ways..." to Wen Kai. And yea that's what it look like to me in the preview. That maybe Yu Tang wagered on her Dad's restaurant, using it as collateral but was caught in a scam(?) So now Wen Kai's the new proprietor. Typical Taiwanese drama trope where the girl "owes" the lead guy tsk tsk.

[hana_kiwi_08]

The rating off ep 3 raised up to 2.2 

It getting a lot of more interseting...Hope the storyline is going well till the end..

Love Joanne'sc acting in here, I couldn't finish Fall In Love With Me bcs of the main girl's acting T.T

[tammy_P]

Have't yet watched the ep. with subs.

 

Spoiler

- So, she spent 1 million to get contract ? Not a good choice for someone who once was regarded as typical A class student. However, I would say it's understandable for what she's done based on her zero knowledge on whatsoever in sale line of work and the pressure and her self esteem too. But I do think writer should've worked more on the script. I would love to see YT get out of puzzle in smarter way.

- Wen Kai .... Now I can see he actually has a soft spot towards YT ,also. He was irritated while he saw YT crushed her own dignity in order to finish the task.

 

[Nymeria289]

8 minutes ago, tammy_P said:

Have't yet watched the ep. with subs.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

- So, she spent 1 million to get contract ? Not a good choice for someone who once was regarded as typical A class student. However, I would say it's understandable for what she's done based on her zero knowledge on whatsoever in sale line of work and the pressure and her self esteem too. But I do think writer should've worked more on the script. I would love to see YT get out of puzzle in smarter way.

- Wen Kai .... Now I can see he actually has a soft spot towards YT ,also. He was irritated while he saw YT crushed her own dignity in order to finish the task.

 

You know, Wen Kai may be pushing her to excellence but Yu Tang is flying solo with no guidance and nobody to teach her, that's gotta be hard. Sales is actually the toughest position to be in and she went from secretarial position to sales. Of course she will make a few mistakes. And I believe that I owe you cash scenario was done just to give us more you belong to me scenarios, as wrong as that sounds, I don't think I mind that. He likes her, wants her around and he just has one more reason to get even closer..........as cliched as that is, it means we viewers get lucky at-least I hope so. I guess the sales team 3 will slowly bond over time and help her and each other to greatness again.

[tammy_P]

8 minutes ago, Nymeria289 said:

You know, Wen Kai may be pushing her to excellence but Yu Tang is flying solo with no guidance and nobody to teach her, that's gotta be hard. Sales is actually the toughest position to be in and she went from secretarial position to sales. Of course she will make a few mistakes. And I believe that I owe you cash scenario was done just to give us more you belong to me scenarios, as wrong as that sounds, I don't think I mind that. He likes her, wants her around and he just has one more reason to get even closer..........as cliched as that is, it means we viewers get lucky at-least I hope so. I guess the sales team 3 will slowly bond over time and help her and each other to greatness again.

 

That's why I think it's understandable for what she's done. Gotta feel for her actually. Like the comment I wrote before, she had several issues in her mind. She was once outstanding student and even at the time in secretarial pool, she was also capable on her job too. She did a few mistakes that I didn't even think about demotion (kick her out to sale dept.) as a punishment. Maybe I'm too feminist on this one. I just want to see her strike back on her own. Like a boss ... something like that. 

[ladysaotome]

21 hours ago, jazz638 said:

 

@LoveBunny Agreed, it' definitely over the top sometimes. The balance between his 'revenge' and his supposed crush on her through flashbacks and some instances could be better. I can tell that the director is trying to show us both sides to alleviate all the things Wen Kai is doing to Yu Tang. But so far, the combo is working and making for a easy+entertaining drama. I hope it continues!

 

I was thinking this, too. If we didn't get the balance of the flashbacks, most of the things he does would be extreme and make me very uncomfortable. Especially since he is her boss now. But the flashbacks show us 1) the history of their relationship 2) that he isn't doing anything that hasn't been done by her to him previously. So it changes the context of his actions and half the time I think he's more trying to remind her of their past than he is anything else. Stir up those old feelings again. And tease her a bit while he's at it, like a 1st grader would do tugging pigtails or something.

[Latte_Anyday]

@Nymeria289 I know it's clichéd but I still am a sucker for it though LoL! It's also the same with Korean Dramas with their Cinderella, Candy Girl-type female characters... I admit it was slightly cringe-worthy when Wen Kai told Yu Tang that she sold herself to the company for 3 years. That she belonged to him now, as you've put it. So she has to do what he says (bordering on 50 Shades of Aaron maybe LoL!?)   

@tammy_P I do agree that given Yu Tang's Type-A smarts, she should've come up with a better solution, however then we won't get a storyline right? She probably felt pressured by Wen Kai's endless taunts, that's got to chip away at her self-esteem especially since she was seen as the overachiever and now the tables are turned, it has got to be a very humbling experience. 

I do like that Yu Tang's gotten closer to at least 1 co-worker so that's progress LoL. Hard to miss Ai Sha's look whenever Yu Tang's around, is it jealousy? Too soon to tell, she did look to Wen Kai adoringly like he was her idol though.

[ladysaotome]

At the same time, hasn't YT forgotten how to use her type-A smarts? It makes sense for her to go for the easiest solution instead if thinking hard and coming up with a smarter one. The whole point of her being a refresh man is that she's gotten lazy mentally. And shaking herself out of that is going to take time and some serious missteps. 

[Misstwilightfan1416]

Here's ninjas recap

http://www.ninjareflection.com/2016/03/refresh-man-episode-3-recap.html

 

[visiopeia]

6 hours ago, Misstwilightfan1416 said:

Here's ninjas recap

http://www.ninjareflection.com/2016/03/refresh-man-episode-3-recap.html

 

 

Thanks for the recap... finally i understand ep 3 ... watching raw with moderate Chinese understanding is very hard for me .... 

[Nymeria289]

I still don't understand Ai-Sa or Elsa's motives, I guess she is there to create problems when the initial conflict resolves. So far, she seems very much in awe of Wen Kai, capable and considerate but I don't yet know her purpose in the central concept. And poor, poor Yu Tang, with the amount of mixed signals directed at her way from Wen-Kai, no wonder her brain signals are all scrambled. And that lowering her standards incident at the restaurant, I sort of don't blame her. She is a sales newbie with zero knowledge who took the advice of the first sales guy who actually offered her some. It was poor choice that could potentially land her in a whole lot more trouble but I still can't fully blame her for this. Now that, Wen-Kai has one more leverage, I am more excited to see how that results in more scenes both hot and funny between them.

[halfmoon]

I guess I'm in the minority, but I felt frustrated with YT in episode 3. I wish the writer would have come up with a more intellectual way for YT to resolve the Mei-Mei product problem. YT is a smart person.

If I were the boss at a company, I would not have appreciated an employee selling a product the way she was (flirting). Not only it gives a bad/reputation to the product and the company ( the buyer might think MeiMei product = pretty girl selling it = is that how MUSE company work with partners/buyers?), but I wouldn't tolerate such method. As a person/friend, I would be upset too, just like WK was. I was surprised YT' s girl friend didn't stop her , even before the buyer was asking for a kiss.

I dont get why YT was so pissed at WK for that incident. Or is she pissed at him for many reasons (demoting her, not helping her with the MeiMei product, etc)?

And lastly, why is she using her own money/family money (I assume, based on the preview)? I dont have any sales experience either, but i wouldn have done such things! I guess it was needed to the story so that YT would remain indebted to WK ?

Edited - ok, so I read the above recap. YT didn't use her family money but her own savings? Still, I wish the writer would have come up with an ingenious idea from YT (even if it didn't succeed) , since she has been depicted as being smart, rather than presenting her as so desperate.

 

[halfmoon]

36 minutes ago, Nymeria289 said:

I still don't understand Ai-Sa or Elsa's motives, I guess she is there to create problems when the initial conflict resolves. So far, she seems very much in awe of Wen Kai, capable and considerate but I don't yet know her purpose in the central concept. And poor, poor Yu Tang, with the amount of mixed signals directed at her way from Wen-Kai, no wonder her brain signals are all scrambled. And that lowering her standards incident at the restaurant, I sort of don't blame her. She is a sales newbie with zero knowledge who took the advice of the first sales guy who actually offered her some. It was poor choice that could potentially land her in a whole lot more trouble but I still can't fully blame her for this. Now that, Wen-Kai has one more leverage, I am more excited to see how that results in more scenes both hot and funny between them.

 

Maybe, just maybe, we will find out that Elsa has a crush on WK. She might say she has the perfect professional skills for an assistant, she has taken care of WK, she knows him well (his food tastes...), but will wonder why WK doesnt love her back?

I hope the drama won't go that way, though...

[Nymeria289]

28 minutes ago, ka77 said:

 

Maybe, just maybe, we will find out that Elsa has a crush on WK. She might say she has the perfect professional skills for an assistant, she has taken care of WK, she knows him well (his food tastes...), but will wonder why WK doesnt love her back?

I hope the drama won't go that way, though...

I sincerely hope she doesn't turn vicious just for the sake of it. And, as for the using my money incident, I believe it was done to use the oldest TW drama troupe that is the girl owes the guy something. That way the guy has more reasons to irritate/bond with the girl. I didn't quite like the way the execution went by but I'll take it for now.

[tammy_P]

48 minutes ago, ka77 said:

I guess I'm in the minority, but I felt frustrated with YT in episode 3. I wish the writer would have come up with a more intellectual way for YT to resolve the Mei-Mei product problem. YT is a smart person.

If I were the boss at a company, I would not have appreciated an employee selling a product the way she was (flirting). Not only it gives a bad/reputation to the product and the company ( the buyer might think MeiMei product = pretty girl selling it = is that how MUSE company work with partners/buyers?), but I wouldn't tolerate such method. As a person/friend, I would be upset too, just like WK was. I was surprised YT' s girl friend didn't stop her , even before the buyer was asking for a kiss.

I dont get why YT was so pissed at WK for that incident. Or is she pissed at him for many reasons (demoting her, not helping her with the MeiMei product, etc)?

And lastly, why is she using her own money/family money (I assume, based on the preview)? I dont have any sales experience either, but i wouldn have done such things! I guess it was needed to the story so that YT would remain indebted to WK ?

Edited - ok, so I read the above recap. YT didn't use her family money but her own savings? Still, I wish the writer would have come up with an ingenious idea from YT (even if it didn't succeed) , since she has been depicted as being smart, rather than presenting her as so desperate.

 

 

Bingo !! That's what I thought. I agreed with the idea that she should've come up with more reasonable decision on the contract things. Whatsoever way other than  spending her own saving. Even ppl. with average intelligence might not select such choice in this situation. But in case of her action at the restaurant, that was the combination of newbies experience in sales and indescribable feelings. She didn't have any knowledge about sales and tactics. She didn't know how to close the deal. When her college (VIP prince) suggested that she should work on her feminine side. What would the idea popping up on her mind ? That's the way things has begun. She's just reacted basing on little infos she had. When you thought you did it by all your might and by all means to save the day but things got even worse. She 's flying solo without any co-operation neither by WK nor by her co-workers. And at the end of the day, one said to her face that the attempt was worthless. I feel for her in this case. Don't get me wrong. I didn't think what she did is right. I just want to explain that I do understand her straggle here.  And I want to see being a smart girl again. 

[visiopeia]

1 hour ago, ka77 said:

 

Maybe, just maybe, we will find out that Elsa has a crush on WK. She might say she has the perfect professional skills for an assistant, she has taken care of WK, she knows him well (his food tastes...), but will wonder why WK doesnt love her back?

I hope the drama won't go that way, though...

 

Wen Kai has been a huge crush on Yu Tang since high school.... he can't love anyone except Yu Tang  kkkkkkk 

[nubianlegalmind]

FIVE TIMES WEN KAI TEASED US TO NO END IN EPISODE 3.....

I have said this before, and I will say it again, no one does the push and pull tease better than Aaron Yan. And in episode 3, there were times when I wanted to chuck my iPad because he was almost infuriating with his teasing.

5) When Wen Kai jumped out of the car in fear and ran and cradled Yu Tang when she pretended to be hit by his car. Now granted, I do not believe in running in front of a vehicle, however, I think it startled her that he showed her such concern; 

4) When Wen Kai covered her with his jacket when he saw her flirting with the potential buyers in the restaurant. This was a moment where Yu Tang seriously needed to be saved. The whole thing started off innocently enough, but when that guy started ordering her to kiss him, and started groping her, I cringed. Gross! He was harsh, but in contrast, taking off his jacket and covering her was chivalrous.

3) Poor Yu Tang was outside "training" and really what she was doing was illegally selling soap on the streets of Taipei. It was funny how he grabbed her and ran when the cops came, but it was swoon-worthy how he held her close and cradled her face against his chest. See, this is what I am talking about. Either be a total jerk, or be a gentleman.

2) After Yu Tang showed up at his house drunk, vomited on his steps and then he pulled the both of them in the shower. I literally screamed when he pinned her in the shower. That whole scene was giving me 50 shades of grey feels. Then of course, he has to get dangerously close to tell her he was trying to clean them off. Ha! He totally got off on that.

1) The coup-de-gras was after the shower when he pinned her down on the couch, and then threatened to cover her mouth if she screamed. And, in only a way that Yu Tang could, she questioned how he could do that when his hands were already holding her arms. The smirk that crossed his face at that question and how he leaned down like he was about to physically show her how he would cover her mouth with his mouth was too much! 

The chemistry between Aaron Yan and Joanne Tsang is better than I thought it would be. So far I am liking the drama. The story line with the mother on their team is also pretty good. Let's hope the writers stay the course.

*Pics courtesy of recap from : http://www.ninjareflection.com/2016/03/refresh-man-episode-3-recap.html

 

 

[ladysaotome]

Ok, so after watching with subs, here are my thoughts. And maybe I'm misremembering but when WK was yelling at YT after her flirting with the CEO guy - he said 2 important things. 1) How you sell is just as important as the sales themselves and 2) Refresh Men take the easy way out and she needs to think really hard and figure things out the smart way, not the easy way. 

At first I was really feeling sorry for YT and thinking how she is doing the best she can and if he would teach her for real, maybe she wouldn't have to resort to this. But I think that's the point - he really wants her to learn to THINK and figure it out herself. That if he tells her what to do, it won't be the kick in the pants she needs. 

And YT using her savings just goes to show how much she has NOT learned yet. She momentarily stopped the cancellation of the contract but she has not fixed the problem. What is she going to do? Keep buying MeiMei every few months so the sales stay up? She took the easy way out which is exactly what he did NOT want her to do. Because she is still clinging to her pride and wanting to flaunt that contract in his face instead of conquer the actual problem of no one buying the soaps anymore.

Which makes me highly, highly suspect that the entire debt situation next week might be his own engineering. After all, if she hadn't spent her savings buying the soap, she would have had the funds to help her dad. So either it's just insanely good timing that he can swoop in and save the day, while rubbing her face in the fact that she could have helped her dad if she hadn't spent the money - or he somehow set the entire thing up on purpose.  

[tammy_P]

22 minutes ago, ladysaotome said:

Ok, so after watching with subs, here are my thoughts. And maybe I'm misremembering but when WK was yelling at YT after her flirting with the CEO guy - he said 2 important things. 1) How you sell is just as important as the sales themselves and 2) Refresh Men take the easy way out and she needs to think really hard and figure things out the smart way, not the easy way. 

At first I was really feeling sorry for YT and thinking how she is doing the best she can and if he would teach her for real, maybe she wouldn't have to resort to this. But I think that's the point - he really wants her to learn to THINK and figure it out herself. That if he tells her what to do, it won't be the kick in the pants she needs. 

And YT using her savings just goes to show how much she has NOT learned yet. She momentarily stopped the cancellation of the contract but she has not fixed the problem. What is she going to do? Keep buying MeiMei every few months so the sales stay up? She took the easy way out which is exactly what he did NOT want her to do. Because she is still clinging to her pride and wanting to flaunt that contract in his face instead of conquer the actual problem of no one buying the soaps anymore.

Which makes me highly, highly suspect that the entire debt situation next week might be his own engineering. After all, if she hadn't spent her savings buying the soap, she would have had the funds to help her dad. So either it's just insanely good timing that he can swoop in and save the day, while rubbing her face in the fact that she could have helped her dad if she hadn't spent the money - or he somehow set the entire thing up on purpose.  

 

Wow that's deep. I like your explanation about the situation. Still, I feel pity on YT. What WK said is definitely true but the thing is at that time she did the best as she could do basing on her knowledge and her experience. The voice over of VIP prince in her head about do whatever it takes in order to sell  and the way Jia Yin communicated with her clients  were embarrassing. YT even thought she couldn't do it. But  at the end of the day, she had no choice. and no time to think. Don't ever forget that she is a noobe in sale. The issue had to be finished that night right at the restaurant. She tried all tactics she knew but it didn't work at all. Finally, they said you learn from the best. Her fake ex-boyfriend is regarded as VIP prince. Jia Yin was once a super sale person of the year. He said that price doesn't matter but the matter is the way you sell it. She said usually you treats your clients as a partner. If that is what I need to do, I will do it. That was what YT learned. She swallowed her pride and went that far to save the day to get criticized as if it's worthless. He rubbed salt on her wound. Actually, to think that she still eagerly goes to work everyday is impressive. Second by second in the company is nerve breaking especially when you don't know the real reason behind all that happened in life lately. it's the mixed feeling of frustration and desperation in combine. She's just can't think logically like she used to be. Sometimes, I think WK is too tough on her.