Episode 2

> "The portrait is your mirror. It's you."
>
> - August Lander, Quote in the episode title card

***Secret Recipe*** (Chinese: 秘方 *Mìfāng*) is the second episode of the first season of Link Click.

## Synopsis

Yu Xia, owner of a chain restaurant company finds the timing duo hoping to obtain the secret noodle soup recipe secretly kept by her partner, Lin Zhen.

## Plot

Qiao Ling hands Cheng Xiaoshi a large brown envelope filled with images of their next mission. She quickly runs through their objective, people related, and reason behind the mission. Cheng Xiaoshi accepts it at face, and asks if Lu Guang has any question. He questions the name of the client and the person she had a feud with, and Qiao Ling supplies; Yu Xia and Lin Zhen. Later, Cheng Xiaoshi is lying on the couch as Lu Guang examines the pictures with his ability, one by one. He asks if he and Lu Guang would ever break up due to a disagreement, and Lu Guang immediately thinks to the news report about Emma that he saw. Cheng Xiaoshi makes an offhanded comment about scratching Lu Guang's "handsome face" if he ever dared to go into politics and playfully punches the white-haired man. Lu Guang stops his fist with a flat hand, and says that he wins, causing Cheng Xiaoshi to burst out laughing. The time jumper gets ready, and the two clap.

Cheng Xiaoshi enters the body of Yu Xia just as their timed camera goes off. She walks to the camera and checks the image as Lin Zhen yawns. Lu Guang tells him to quickly scroll through the saved photos and look for clues. Lin Zhen reminds her that they have work the next day, so Yu Xia enters the shop with her. Yu Xia yawns and relaxes onto the counter, and hears Lin Zhen suggesting that even marriage wouldn't be as tiring as this. She exhaustedly states that if so, she would't get married after all. Lin Zhen smiles and puts her hand over Yu Xia's, startling the latter, who jumps back in surprise. Lin Zhen brings up how Yu Xia would sleep with her in their dormitory after watching horror movies, which earns an embarassed laugh from her. The black haired woman finally gets up and says that she's about the treat the two of them after their long day. Lu Guang prompts Cheng Xiaoshi to follow her into the kitchen.

As Yu Xia watches, Lin Zhen takes out a plastic container from the fridge containing a black powder. Cheng Xiaoshi immediately realizes that that's the secret ingredient. Even though Yu Xia asks what it is, Lin Zhen just answers mysteriously. Just as she's about to ask again, the deliveryman starts knocking on their door. Yu Xia hesitates for a long time, but finally goes to the door to receive the goods. The deliveryman, although initially annoyed, brightens up when he sees a "woman boss". Yu Xia hears this and angrily advances on him, asking if men were any better than women, and that they were perfectly capable without a man. She ends up scaring him into helping her load the items into the shop.

Lin Zhen finishes preparing her bowl of ramen and places it in front of Yu Xia. Yu Xia looks at it, surprised, and asks if her friend would be having any. The chef shakes her head, saying that her happiness came from seeing other people's expressions while tasting it, not from the food itself. Yu Xia continues to insist, so they both take a pair of chopsticks and begin eating. Cheng Xiaoshi remarks that the food is delicious, and that it is a pity that Lu Guang is unable to taste it as well. Yu Xia bites into a strand just as Yu Xia gets the other end, and they end up with a noodle string hanging from their mouths. When Lin Zhen starts pulling it in, Yu Xia suddenly starts coughing, astonishing the other, who lets go of the strand. After a moment of bewilderment, Yu Xia slurps up the noodle and the two begin laughing. Lu Guang tells Cheng Xiaoshi that it's time to leave the photo, for no other information could be gained from there anymore.

In the next photo, Cheng Xiaoshi as Yu Xia takes many photos of her friend while she's being interviewed, and is reprimanded by the reporter. She apologizes and promises to be more aware. Cheng Xiaoshi receives instructions from Lu Guang to look around for clues while she is being filmed cooking, yet she doesn't disclose any further steps. back in the Studio, Cheng Xiaoshi grumbles that they had failed again. Lu Guang hands him another picture and tells him to keep trying.

The next picture is of Yu Xia explaining the concept of intelligent management and how it could help their business with shipping orders. Out of the blue, Lin Zhen asks how long it has been since Yu Xia has went home to see her family, and she replies that it has been a while, due to the business taking up most of her time. Cheng Xiaoshi looks at the pictures he still has, and sighs frustratedly. As Yu Xia, she looks into the fridge that once held the secret ingredient, taking everything out but still getting nothing. Lin Zhen's voice shocks her, but she's simply asking Yu Xia to come over and check out the new LOGOs. Seeing as this was another fail, Cheng Xiaoshi lies down as Lu Guang comes to give him more photos. Following that, he joins Yu Xia as she is taking a photo of the new tastes of their shop. Reporters crowd around her as she taste-tests them, not pausing for anything. The consequent photo is the same thing, and Cheng Xiaoshi finishes all 6 bowls again. When Lu Guang comes over bringing lunch, Cheng Xiaoshi first jumps up, excited, before realizing it's instant noodles as well.

Qiao Ling meets up with the present Yu Xia to tell her about their findings, which is to say, none so far. At the Studio, Lu Guang hands Cheng Xiaoshi their last picture. After looking at it for a while, he gives it to the time-jumper, telling him that there are no more chances in it and they should just give up. Either way, Cheng Xiaoshi brings out his hand, reminding the white-haired man about having hope. Lu Guang smiles slightly, and they clap.

Their camera goes off, and Yu Xia walks over to check the quality like she did so many years ago. Lu Guang repeats again there would be no clues in the preceding 12 hours, and that Cheng Xiaoshi should just leave already. Yu Xia asks if Lin Zhen would stay with her, but the black-haired woman sighs and brings up all the new management skills that Yu Xia had developed, ending with the fact that she wouldn't need her any more. Yu Xia starts getting angry, wondering why her old friend didn't want to change, to adapt and achieve a greater dream for the restaurant. Lin Zhen reminisces that the noodle shop from 10 years ago *was* her greatest dream. Yu Xia attempts to sway her one last time by saying that if they worked together, they would gain a larger influence and more money, but Lin Zhen regards this with distaste, calling their new brand name, XGM, "disgusting". When she starts walking off, Yu Xia forcefully stops her and demands that she leave the secret recipe to her. Cheng Xiaoshi sarcastically replies that he didn't know either, getting a irritated shout from Lu Guang, before telling Yu Xia that she had nothing else to say to her. Cheng Xiaoshi realizes that it wasn't Lin Zhen who changed, it was her.

Lin Zhen gets on a taxi, and Cheng Xiaoshi asks if they had any more chances. Lu Guang tells him that she would be crying at home the whole night, with no possibility of clues. As Lin Zhen rides home, she thinks about her and Yu Xia in their younger years, dancing together, singing karaoke together, watching horror movies together. She brings out her phone which has a picture of the two in their college dorm as her lock screen. Lu Guang makes an effort to cheer up Cheng Xiaoshi about the mission in his own way, but it just ends up annoying the time-jumper who calls him "disgusting". The taxi driver overhears and reassures her that he wouldn't mind if she ranted to herself. Lin Zhen finds multiple punched-out train tickets to Xiang Zhuang, and when she mentions it, the taxi driver describes all the things that could be found there. He mentions a "fragrant flower" that has beautiful flowers and a great smell. Lu Guang looks it up on his phone, and confirms that it was the most likely seasoning that Lin Zhen used.

Qiao Ling reports their findings to Yu Xia, but warns her that this is just the duo's inference from the clues gathered in the photos. The businesswoman just shakes her head, verifying their statements. Finally, their mission done, Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang relax on their studio couch. Cheng Xiaoshi teases Lu Guang about not being able to try the delicious foods. Ignoring him, the white-haired man finds a photo still in the envelope and takes it out. Cheng Xiaoshi inches closer to examine it as well and observes that it is the same photo as Lin Zhen's lock screen. Suddenly, he makes a sound of exclamation, scaring his partner. He points at the pot of noodles on the table behind them, and starts begging Lu Guang to go in again just to taste the noodles. Lu Guang refuses, so Cheng Xiaoshi rubs his head against him in an effort to convince him. Just as Lu Guang lifts his hand to push the man away, Cheng Xiaoshi claps his hand.

After entering the picture, Cheng Xiaoshi is posed with a question by Yu Xia. Unsure of what to say, he reaches out to Lu Guang, but the photo-watcher just shrugs in annoyance. Hesitantly, Cheng Xiaoshi tells Yu Xia that perhaps they shouldn't create a shop in the future, due to all the different kinds of APPs and intelligent management options. Confused, Yu Xia asks what it is, so Lu Guang finally feeds Cheng Xiaoshi the correct lines. As Lin Zhen starts gathering a bowl of noodles, Yu Xia hands her a container that she describes as "fragrant flower". At the same time, with Qiao Ling and present Yu Xia, the blonde lady begins to shake and cry, remembering the memories of the fragrant flower. Cheng Xiaoshi watches as Lin Zhen while the other Yu Xia describes the taste and feelings that the seasoning offered.

Yu Xia buys a train ticket and watches the scenery go by as she travels back to Lin Zhen. When Lin Zhen notices her, she simply says, "Welcome back," right before Yu Xia runs and embraces her.

Cheng Xiaoshi places two bowls of noodles on their studio counter, calling for Lu Guang to try his copy, called "Bowl of the Male Dormitory". Lu Guang deadpans that if Cheng Xiaoshi were to change their photo shop into a noodle shop, he would leave right then and there. Qiao Ling, still in her pajamas and facial routine walks in, and notices the bowl of noodles. Without asking, she takes one of the bowls, leaving Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi with only one bowl in between them.

## Trivia

* A photo has been added to the last shot of the OP.
* Cheng Xiaoshi threatens to punch Lu Guang's face if he ever tries to hide anything from him, Lu Guang responding with, "You played rock, I played paper. You lose."
	+ Xiaoshi's "Rozan Sho Ryu Ha" here is a reference to the Shiry%C5%AB#Techniques and abilities signature move of Saint Seiya character Dragon Shiryū.
	+ There is a callback to this quote in Episode 5, where Xiaoshi actually punches Lu Guang and Lu Guang instead embraces him back.
* The original name of the restaurant, Xialin Noodle House (夏林面馆 / xià lín miànguǎn), is a combination of Yu Xia (予夏) and Lin Zhen (林贞) 's names.
	+ Yu Xia was the one who originally suggested the name when they were in university.
	+ When Yu Xia rebrands it into a food chain, she renames it XGM.
	+ The new full name of the shop is 小干媽 (xiǎo gàn mā), which is a play on the famous chilli oil brand 老干媽 (lǎo gàn mā).
	+ At the end of the episode, Lin Zhen's shop in their hometown has the original Xialin Noodle House name.
* Yu Xia's workers have a slight Jiangshan accent.
* The secret ingredient in this episode is 香花草 (xiānghuācǎo), which when directly translated means "fragrant flower".
	+ It is also another name for moonflowers, which can be dried and eaten as stated in the episode.
	+ However, the herbs shown in the episode do not match the physical description of the moonflower, so it might be more accurate to assume it's an unnamed herb instead.
* When Yu Xia (Whom Cheng Xiaoshi is controlling) asking Lin Zhen about the ingredient she used, Lin Zhen replies that Yu Xia should know about this.
	+ This foreshadows the actual secret ingredient Lin Zhen uses for the noodles as Yu Xia is the one who introduced the idea of using fragrant flowers to the noodles at the first place.