Easy Fortune Happy Life: Episode 1 Recap

As I was looking for a new drama to recap, and to post more on this blog someone gave me the idea to do a Taiwanese drama. I know I usually do Korean dramas, but I do enjoy TW Dramas as well. So I will be recapping 2009's Easy Fortune Happy Life with Chen Qiao En and Lan Cheng Long.

Synopsis

Love spans generations in this tale of the one of who got away. Huang Chun Xiang saves the life of a young hunter by treating him with herbal medicine. Despite years of waiting for him and eventually raising her own family, Chun Xiang never loses faith that he will return. Chance brings the man — now elderly and the founder of a successful pharmaceuticals company — and her granddaughter Xie Fu An (Chen Qiao En) together. Struck by her uncanny appearance to Chun Xiang, he swears to give away his fortune to the man who marries her. However, his grandson Yan Da Feng (Lan Cheng Long) is none too happy about the possibility of losing his fortune, but soon learns you just can’t fight fate. via dramafever

Episode 1

We open with Xie Fu An riding her bike ferociously down the road and then we shots of a car that overturned. Fu An is on her way to the local hospital to help her friend with athlete's foot and gets to the hospital at the same time as the car accident victim. On the news, they report Bao Bao Tang(a large pharmaceutical company)'s CEO Yan Yun Gao been hospitalized and is serious condition. We learn that the car accident victim in Yan Yun Gao. We then cut to his grandson, Yan Da Feng with his girlfriend, Jiang Zhen Zhen and is openly discussing his grandfather's health and the company. He gets the call about the accident and doesn't look sad at all. We see Yun Gao's daughter Feng Feng and her husband Yan Dong Shi Zhang(We'll just call him Uncle) also get the call, but like Da Feng they almost look...happy. The only family member who looks remotely sad is Yan Yang, who's in a bridal shop.

Yun Gao is in the operating room and the doctors are discussing his medical history, he's had several heart attacks. He's strong. The doctors try to revive him and then we get a flashback of presumably him in his younger days with a woman.  At the same time, Fu An arrives to treat her friend's Athlete's Foot. It seems like she comes by the hospital often. Then the people in the waiting room marvel at the imported cars pulling inn. It's Yun Gao's family who automatically turn their noses up at the "hick" hospital. Da Feng hits Fu An's bike while parking, she sees it and is unhappy. Auntie Feng Feng uses a cloth to cover her nose at the facility while Da Feng says it must be his fate and Grandpa must accept it quietly. Yan Yang says he bets his inheritance that Grandpa will be okay and is met with dirty looks. The family storms into the hospital playing the grieving family card. The doctor comes out and says that his condition is bad and is need of an operation, he hands them a paper to sign for permission. Instead of signing it, they stall and say he's already old as it is and they can't believe this day came so soon. Great family you got here. Da Feng turns to Lawyer Hong and starts asking about the company stocks and income, then asking if he could let the PR department release a statement the next day and he will lead the news release. Uncle interrupts saying that since he's much older then he should do it. Are they serious right now?? Lawyer Hong cuts in and says that they should try the operation, it could save his life. Da Feng says he's doing what he was taught. Survival of the fittest and those who are fit are cast out. This is a lovely family. Meanwhile Gramps can hear it all while slipping in and out of consciousness. They kill their grieving family act and Uncle says who wouldn't be happy with the man dead. Fu An is standing among the crowd and calls them all losers remarking about them being the higher ups in society. She then sneaks into the room with Grandpa. She gives some herbal medicine to him and he calls out Chun Xiang. She doesn't hear this while she's smiling at him Da Feng notices her inside and pulls her out. He demands to know what she's doing and claims she's just helping his grandfather get better. One of the doctors notices her and outs her as that person who is always there selling medicine, she threatens that if something happens then it's all on her. Yan Yang tells them to just let her go since it seems like she was only helping. Before she leaves, Fu An tells Da Fang(while poking his face) that he'll get what's coming to him very soon then stops and to say that she just cured her friend's athlete's foot and runs off laughing. Haha 

The doctors go tend to Grandpa and come out saying he's regained consciousness. Yan Yang comments that maybe it was his fate to meet his savior here. He's kinda deep isn't he? His parents, however are very unhappy that they were running around for nothing.

Fu An kicks Da Feng's car and takes her bike to the Village Leader for repairs. He says that it's going to cost a lot to fix it and shows her a different bike instead. She likes it and he offers her a discount of 3600 TWD(about 121 USD), but she says that'll take up all of her monthly expenses.Village Leader asks about Chun Xiang and if she still has the flu, Fu An says yes she does and he runs off to get some medicine. He comes back with melon leaves and a new bell for bike. Fu An is late picking up her little brother Pi Dan and their dog Anthony, who goes to school with him...? He isn't sad when she pulls out a new color pencil set he's been asking for. He's so easy to please. As they're walking in the woods back home, they're almost hit with a truck which drops something as it hits a bump. Fu An says it's wild Antrodia cinnamomea - which is a rare mushroom that grows inside the trunk of an endangered tree, thus it's illegal to harvest in Taiwan. The truck must have been poachers and Fu An decides to take it home and turn it into the police the next day. At their house, we see Grandma Chun Xiang coughing and writing a will. She coughs up blood and clutches her chest. Something says she doesn't exactly have the flu. When Fu An and Pi Dan return, she puts on a brave face and welcomes them back. Fu An gives Grandma gloves and a scarf to keep her warm then Pi Dan's stomach growls and he pulls his sister away to make dinner. Chun Xiang(Or as I'll be calling her, Granny) hold a silver watch and then we see a similar flashback of a woman taking care of a young man. It's her and a man called Wang Cai. I think it's very safe to assume Wang Cai is Grandpa Yun Gao. We see her nursing him back to health and then her returning home looking for him when he back hugs her saying he misses her when she leaves. She guesses that's why he put that bell on her bike. At a later time, they know their time together is limited and they hold hands. When they're in the woods, he tells her to close her eyes and kisses her as flowers fall from the trees. He tells her that couples who kiss under as the flowers are falling are meant for each and can never be separated. Before he leaves, he gives her his pocket watch and promises to return for her. Well obviously he never came back. Present day: She hods the watch and says sorry to Wang Cai.
Later on, Granny gives Fu An the watch telling her to pawn it for money. She knows they ran out of rice and their roof needs to be fixed. Then the conversation goes into Wang Cai since Fu An is hesitant to sell her sentimental possession. Granny sighs and says that he probably forgot about her anyways since he never came back. Fu An tells Granny not lose hope and hands her back the watch. As the Xie family settles down to eat dinner, the news begins to talk about Bao Bao Tang's CEO and his health. Fu An immediately recognizes him as the poor grandpa she saved in the hospital. She begins to tel them about his horrible family ans how mean they were. Granny laments how even money can't buy someone happiness. Fu An says that they're better off and will be together forever. Granny's smile fades a little as we hear her thoughts on how she won't be there for long. Oh noes! Foreshadowing! She has cancer doesn't she?

In his mansion, Grandpa talks with Lawyer Hong how he's spent his entire life building his fortune that he didn't see anything else. He says he never gave his family love because of his ambitions. That near death experience changed your views on life didn't it? He then says he regrets what he did many years ago. We get another flashback, but this time with an interesting twist. What she thought was sincererity was actually him taking advantage her naivety and innocence. The bell she cherishes was his way of knowing she was coming back so he could stop snooping through her family's medicine recipes. He even says he lied to her about the flowers and gave her a broken watch. He then tells Hong that he saw Chun Xiang in the hospital or at least he thought he did, but the dream seemed so real. Hong then remembers Fu An in the hospital saying she was only trying to save him. He says to Grandpa that it wasn't a dream , some girl really did save him. He doesn't think it could be her since it's been years, but suggests it's possibly her daughter or granddaughter. Grandpa enlists Lawyer Hong to find her. He feels terrible for abandoning Chun Xiang years ago and will take are of her and her family from now on. Before he leaves, Hong mentions that Feng Feng and Da Feng will wonder about who the next in line for the company will be but Grandpa just says he'll announce it at his 80th birthday part. He will only give the company to the person who true to him.

Uncle is giving Auntie Feng Feng a hand massage when they get the notice about the requirement to inherit the company. Sadly there is no one near him that is actually true to him, so they resort to faking their sincerity. Zhen Zhen comes out of work to be picked up by Da Feng down the street, Grandpa is still pissed off at the family for not trying to save him that he's locked himself up. Da Feng thinks something is wrong with him because of the requirement to get the company. Zhen Zhen reminds him that his grandfather isn't in good health so he should give him something to benefit that. She suggests androtia cinnamonea, but he mentions that it's protected by law. Zhen Zhen says that the harder something is to get the more precious it is. Like an idiot, he agrees and she says she'll get him the necessary information for the black market. Yes because nothing will be better than the CEO's grandson to purchase a law protected plant just to inherit the company. This won't go wrong at all. He drops her off about a block or so from her place since they can't be seen together. He invites her to the birthday party since she's a reporter in order to give her the full story. When she gets out, she walks near a convenience store and the owner asks her if she wants to buy a lottery ticket, it could be worth 500 million TWD(~16.9 million USD). For some reason she stops and tells him that she could possibly have a lottery ticket that's worth 80 Billion TWD. Why she says this, I have no idea. However, it does give us a glimpse into who she is and what money means to her.
The next day(or a few days later., idk), Da Feng shows up to Fu Man Mountain looking for "medicine", a woman directs him to Fu An's stand saying that since the woman is sick her granddaughter has taken over. They recognize each other immediately. Fu An thinks he's here for revenge, but he just asks about the fungus and she automatically yells at him. She tells him it's illegal and starts to walk away, he offers her money for her time looking for it. Of course she needs the money so she hatches up the plan, she reminds him that the plant is protected. He doesn't really care. So off they go and she's leading him on a journey to nowhere for an hour, just killing time. She leads him to a sinkhole and pushes him in. Ha! Fu An then begins listing off the things he's done wrong and how she's going to turn him into the police. Da Feng says he'll pay her if she helps him out of there, but she refuses. While this is going on a snake makes its way on her feet and he points it out to her. She freaks out and falls into the sinkhole with him in a comprising position.

One of Zhen Zhen's coworkers gives her the number to someone in the black market and she calls right away. He says he dropped a good one, but knows where it went and will have it ready for her.
Back at the sinkhole, neither of them wants to be near the other but they have no choice at the moment because in order to stop sinking fast they can't move. To make things less awkward, she wants to talk about the innocence of doves until he makes it into something explicit. Then she wants to talk about music, she played the trumpet in school Again, blowing an air instrument can have a double meaning. Da Feng tells Fu An to stop talking, but she gets distracted by the Tung flowers. She tells him that they're really romantic, but he calls it bullshit.
Back at home, Granny and Pi Dan are waiting for Fu An to come back when the black market guys come. They sneak around the back hoping to take it and run, but Anthony sees them and barks. Granny goes to see what's going on and she spots him taking the androtia. She tries to stop him and he knocks her onto the kettle which falls over and starts a fire. The guys run and Granny is left looking for Pi Dan, she finds him unconscious outside. She suddenly remembers the watch and runs back inside to get it. The house begins to collapse around her and a a beam falls on her, pinning her to the ground. She cries out 'Wang Cai!' before going unconscious herself.

In the sinkhole, Da Feng is complaining that someone as smart as him may die a stupid death. What? Fu An is only worried for her family because she's still out, Da Feng cannot compute this. She thinks that if something were to happen to him then his family would be sad, but he says it's the opposite. They'd be celebrating with champagne. She pities him, he has all of that money but she has more than he'll ever have. While he's bragging about his money again, a caterpillar makes its way onto his head. Fu An tells him and he nearly freaks out yelling 'Shit! Shit!'. She laughs, but he says that he's allergic to insects. To all insects?She blows it off of his head to calm him down then she starts laughing and mocking him. Swear, this scene is something that I can't put into words because of how hilarious she sounds when she does this. He's obviously embarrassed and says that nothing happened. She's still mocking him so he shuts her up the only way he knows how - by a kiss, but she ends up yelling at him saying he stole her first kiss. Her scream alerts a police officer walking nearby, probably looking for her. The officer is her friend who lets them both out. She doesn't have time to be happy about being out of the sinkhole because he tells her that her house is on fire. She gets up and runs.
You can watch this drama at:
Drama Fever
Viki
Good Drama - For those who can't access the first 2 sites