Beloved Enemy 决对争锋 (Ep.4 to 6) [Review]

The story progresses at a steady speed now. The chess pieces are on the board, and war has been declared. Yuan Yang is not the kind of person who would let anyone control him. Gu Qing Pei, on the other hand, sincerely believes that he might be able to reform Yuan Yang. Not recognizing Yuan Yang’s nefarious plans, Gu Qing Pei falls prey to his trap. Their Nanlin trip spells havoc and brings a lot of changes in our main character’s lives. This drama has got me so hooked up that I started reading the BL novel as well. Although there are considerable differences between the book and the adaptation, each is enjoyable in their own way. Without further ado, let’s review Episodes 4 to 6.

– Edited by TheFNGee

Episodic Reviews

Episode 4

Gu Qing Pei is in a drugged state while the prostitute places a camera on the side table. She undresses and almost manages to seduce Gu Qing Pei into having sex with her. But somehow Gu Qing Pei regains consciousness and chokes her. She gets scared and after pushing him off, runs away. She reaches Yuan Yang and after telling him the truth, rushes out of there. Yuan Yang who is already feeling guilty runs to check on Gu Qing Pei.

He finds Gu Qing Pei in the shower and they have a heated argument. Yuan Yang yet again loses his calm and drags Gu Qing Pei out of the bathroom. He proceeds to undress Gu Qing Pei and then leaves him stranded in the middle of the road. Gu Qing Pei is freezing to death but Yuan Yang shows no remorse.

As he drives back to the hotel, he notices Gu Qing Pei phone is buzzing with an incoming call. It’s his close friend trying to convince Gu Qing Pei to leave the Yuan’s and come back to his old company. He lists how much Gu Qing Pei is in demand and how he denied offers from various companies to work at the debt ridden Yuan Industries. Yuan Yang realizes his mistake and rushes back to get Gu Qing Pei back to the hotel. He sends off his friend and proceeds to take care of an unconscious Gu Qing Pei.

When Gu Qing Pei wakes up, he is surprised to find Yuan Yang there. However, he admits defeat and assures Yuan Yang that from now, he will never interfere in his affairs. Yuan Yang, despite being guilty, tries to antagonize Gu Qing Pei. However, the poor guy falls asleep. When Gu Qing Pei wakes up later, Yang calls a doctor to check on him. Gu Qing Pei asks him to go and buy porridge and sends him off. Gu Qing Pei’s ex-wife Zhao Yuan sees his home thrashed and calls him. Yuan Yang receives the call instead and cuts her off midway. She rushes to the office immediately, where she learns that Gu Qing Pei is on a trip. Some goons are closely watching the office, and when they see Zhao Yuan, they kidnap her.

When Yuan Yang returns to their hotel room, Gu Qing Pei has already left. Yuan Yang goes berserk searching for him. That’s when he chances upon another goon inquiring about Gu Qing Pei. He follows the goon and hears him talking about Zhao Yuan. He beats up the goon until the good admits that they wanted to blackmail Gu Qing Pei, so they kidnapped his wife.
Yuan Yang asks him to call his gang members and let know that Gu Qing Pei will bring the ransom money.

Gu Qing Pei, on the other hand, is unaware of the kidnapping and is staying with his close friend Wang Jing. They might seem friendly, but I’m guessing Wang Jing has feelings for Gu Qing Pei. He tries unsuccessfully to convince Gu Qing Pei to join his new enterprise instead. Just then, his sister, Wang Ran waltzes in, and he introduces the two of them to each other. The goons are still trying to contact Gu Qing Pei and threaten Zhao Yuan with dire consequences if her husband doesn’t turn up with the ransom money.

Episode 5

Yuan Yang rushes to rescue Zhao Yuan along with his friends. They fight with the gang who refuses to give up Zhao Yuan until they get the ransom money. After they safely take Zhao Yuan back to her apartment, she explains the controversy where one of the workers got injured at a construction site. Since Gu Qing Pei was handling the project at his previous company, they unnecessarily kept targeting him.

Realizing that Gu Qing Pei might still be at risk, Yuan Yang goes to his home. Gu Qing Pei is shocked to find him sleeping in the living room. Yuan Yang wakes to find a dejected Gu Qing Pei. He apologizes to Gu Qing Pei and decides that since he doesn’t have any money, from now on, he will stay with Gu Qing Pei. Qing Pei agrees but only for one night.

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The next morning Gu Qing Pei returns from his morning jog to find his breakfast ready. He searches for Yuan Yang and finds him searching the wardrobe. Gu Qing Pei is highly amused when Yang admits that he doesn’t have suitable work clothes. Gu Qing Pei offers a set of his old work clothes.

Qing Pei walks into his office, where President Yuan is waiting for him. They discuss the details of the Feng Mei’s 5 Star Village Project. President Yuan wants to win the project at all costs, and Gu Qing Pei promises he will try his best.

Yuan Yang’s friend calls him about the video recording, and Yang orders him to hand over the Pendrive. Just then, Zhao Yuan walks into the office, and Yuan Yang is alarmed. He drags her inside a room, and she confirms that she will work in their company from now. Yuan Yang bursts out in anger at her decision to stalk Gu Qing Pei at his office.
As they drive to meet Yang Lin, Feng Mei’s largest shareholder, Yuan Yang, keeps poking Gu Qing Pei about Zhao Yuan. Qing Pei refuses to discuss her and instead orders him to behave in front of the very strict Tracher Yang. When they reach Teacher Yang’s mansion, he makes excuses and refuses to meet both of them. Yuan Yang grows outraged, climbs up the wall, and shouts to get Teacher Yang’s attention.

Episode 6

Yuan Yang’s audacious behavior, however, convinces Teacher Yang to give them a chance. Even in the meeting, Yang shows attitude and instead leaves to take a look around the posh mansion. As Gu Qing Pei discusses the terms of the project, Yuan Yang unexpectedly breaks one of Teacher Yang’s expensive vases. As they leave, Gu Qing Pei is enraged at Yuan Yang’s childish behavior. But Yang asks him to calm down and explains that Teacher Yang is a connoisseur. He has valuable collections of vases in his mansion. Yuan Yang has a similar vase at his own home and asserts that the back & forth would allow them to meet with Teacher Yang again. Gu Qing Pei is actually impressed.
When they return to the office, a tired Gu Qing Pei takes a nap. Zhao Yuan walks in and moons over him. Yuan Yang promptly enters and wakes Gu Qing Pei up so everyone can return home. They drive Zhao Yuan to her apartment, and Yuan Yang can’t stand their closeness.
Li Hai Long, the successor of Xiang Long Industries, is having a party when Yuan Yang interrupts them with his friends. These two seem to share a bad history. Yuan Yang asks him to back out of the 5 Star Village Project. When Hai Long learns that Yuan Yang is bidding for the same project, he refuses to back down.

We get a flashback where we see Hai Long bullying Yuan Yang’s ex-girlfriend. He had arrived at the scene and then proceeded to beat the living shit out of Hai Long. Because of his hot temper, his girlfriend broke up with him. Yuan Yang decides that he has to win this project at any cost. He returns home and starts to study the project details. Obviously, they make no sense to him. Just then, Gu Qing Pei wakes up and decides to explain the project details to Yang.

Yuan Yang goes to his mansion to steal one of the expensive vases. But his brother and sister see and intercept him. He has to sit with his stepmother, who demands an explanation. She bargains with Yuan Yang that if he attends the blind date arranged by his father, she would take the blame for the missing vase instead. Yuan Yang agrees but as he leaves he hurts his emotions by calling her pitiful for being a trophy wife.

Gu Qing Pei is walking to meet his Senior Associate when Li Hai Long chances upon him. Long’s secretary gives him the idea of trying to lure Gu Qing Pei away from Yuan Yang. As Gu Qing Pei discusses the chances of Yuan Industries getting the project, his Senior vehemently denies and advises him to give up. It seems that Feng Mei has already signed an agreement with Xiang Long Group.

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The Chemistry Between The Main Leads

Did I say that the main leads Shang Bai and Gao Ming, have hot chemistry? It was surprising to see Yuan Yang drag a drenched Gu Qing Pei out of the bathroom and then unceremoniously strip him. For those who haven’t read the book, this scene actually involves rape and sexual assault. Chinese BL authors seem to have an unseemly affinity to brutal sex scenes, may it be Beloved Enemy or the recently famous “Haoyixing/Immortality.” You have to understand that Yuan Yang has always identified as straight, but after the sexual assault, he becomes obsessed with Qing Pei. Obviously, those scenes were deleted and replaced accordingly.

He feels guilty, and that’s what makes him rescue Zhao Yuan. He doesn’t want Gu Qing Pei to get involved in any dangerous situations. He even makes Zhao Yuan promise the same. The flimsy excuses that Yang comes up with for staying at Gu Qing Pei’s apartment are quite interesting. He has decided that he will safeguard Gu Qing Pei, and no one can change his mind. I’m actually confused by his behavior. It’s fairly obvious he is attracted to Gu Qing Pei, yet he never misses a single chance to offend Pei. Gu Qing Pei at best treats him like an unruly child. The interesting twist in this show is Wang Ling, Gu Qing Pei’s close friend. I’m sure that in the future, he will play a major role in any discord of Gu Qing Pei’s and Yuan Yang’s relationship.

The drama is heavily leaning onto the tired jealousy trope right now. Yuan Yang doesn’t like to see Zhao Yuan anywhere close to Gu Qing Pei. Gu Qing Pei might not have realized it yet, but Yuan Yang has decided that Qing Pei belongs to him. If this affection is due to his guilt or because he actually sees Gu Qing Pei in a new light, it has yet to be seen. Yet Yang’s bristly behavior, whenever Qing Pei and Zhao Yuan are together, makes for an entertaining watch. Keep watching this space for further updates on the Grumpy Bear Yuan Yang fiercely protecting his Gu Qing Pei and realizing his true feelings.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars [See our Review Guide]