Zhe Jing continues to create more conflicts for Ye Bai and You Yan to deal with, which puts their relationship to the test. Meanwhile, Ye Bai finds out that it’s not so easy to dissuade his father from “helping” him.
Recap
Ye Bai brings Zhe Jing back to his apartment, where she immediately makes herself at home. He asks her if her grandfather knows where she is, then calls him. But Grandfather Gong seems to already know that Zhe Jing is with Ye Bai and asks him if she’s giving him trouble. He tells Ye Bai to give Zhe Jing the phone — he’ll speak with her.
Zhe Jing convinces her grandfather to give her six months to get Ye Bai to fall in love with her. He agrees, but warns her that if she doesn’t return home by that time, he’ll personally go get her. Zhe Jing smiles happily after hanging up, thinking that it’ll be easy for her to get Ye Bai to fall in love with her given their years of history. She then starts looking at Ye Bai’s phone and sees a message to You Yan that failed to send. She deletes it.
At the same time, You Yan is waiting for word from Ye Bai but gets nothing. She finally decides to give him a call. But Zhe Jing is still holding Ye Bai’s phone, and hangs up on the incoming call.
You Yan reports to Shan Shan that she was just hung up on by Ye Bai. Why would he do that? Shan Shan suggests that maybe it’s inconvenient for him to pick up because he’s busy — but why would he be busy? There are a lot of possible scenarios, but they immediately think of the worst ones. You Yan isn’t willing to think the worst and comes up with a possibility: maybe the other girl hung up on her? After all, that’s what happens in all the television dramas. Shan Shan agrees that this is a possibility, saying that Zhe Jing seems like the kind of person who would do such a thing.
Xiao Cong walks in and asks what’s going on upon seeing their expressions. Shan Shan says that they’re discussing a serious situation and asks Xiao Cong what she would do if she just started dating someone, but then a younger sister figure comes out of nowhere and starts fighting for her boyfriend. She guesses that they’re talking about You Yan, then says that the appearance of a romantic rival might not be a bad thing. It might be a test of their relationship. If they can prove that their relationship can make it through tough times, then it’s true love. (Okay drama, I see what you’re trying to do.)
Ye Bai looks at his phone once he’s left his apartment and realizes that Zhe Jing deleted his last text to You Yan. He quickly sends her another message, saying that they should get breakfast together tomorrow.
The next morning he gets a call from Huai An saying that his exhibition’s reception has broken gallery records. She also has more good news: all the paintings in Exhibit A have been purchased by someone. He didn’t even try to negotiate the price and bought everything at asking price, which she finds unusual. Moreover, his last name is also Gu… could he be related to Ye Bai?
Ye Bai immediately thinks of his father and tells Huai An to not do anything yet. He immediately rushes to the gallery.
Zhe Jing has been busy making her presence felt in Ye Bai’s apartment. She puts up pictures of herself and puts stuffed animals everywhere. While putting away a box, she notices a painting of You Yan that Ye Bai had stored under his floorboards. Noticing that it looks unfinished, she smirks and decides to give it some finishing touches.
You Yan has bought breakfast and heads over to Ye Bai’s apartment to meet with him (uh oh, looks like he hasn’t told her where he is…) She’s shocked to see Zhe Jing open the door. Zhe Jing looks equally unhappy to see her, since she thought it was Ye Bai at the door.
You Yan pushes past Zhe Jing into the apartment and takes in the changes in decor. Then she sees the painting of her that Zhe Jing “finished” for Ye Bai. She’s immediately furious to see the ruined painting, asking Zhe Jing if she knows how difficult it is for Ye Bai to make a painting. Zhe Jing seems nonchalant, saying that it’s just a painting, then says that she’ll keep You Yan’s keys to the apartment and the breakfast. You Yan storms off.
Ye Bai meets with Huai An, who shows him the business card for the man who offered to buy all his paintings. It is his father. He tells her to cancel the sale and to feel free to place all the blame on him. No matter what, he refuses to sell to this man. He doesn’t care that much about selling his paintings, as long as the sales are enough to buy Chi Zheng’s painting. Huai An says that the proceeds from this sale would be enough, but if he insists on cancelling it, selling his paintings individually might not be enough to buy Chi Zheng’s painting. She asks him to reconsider.
Ye Bai returns to his apartment to be greeted by Zhe Jing with a hug. He quickly pushes her off then looks around at the changes she made to his apartment. He then notices You Yan’s keys on the table and asks Zhe Jing if You Yan came by. Zhe Jing admits that she did, but tries to make You Yan look like the bad guy, saying that she was very rude to her and then left.
But Ye Bai notices his painting wrapped up on leaning against the wall. Zhe Jing says that she noticed it was unfinished and helped him finish it, then says that You Yan suddenly got angry after seeing it and left. He stares at Zhe Jing’s changes in shock, then grabs Zhe Jing by the wrist and drags her off to go find You Yan.
You Yan sits in her room, looking dejected, while Shan Shan tries to comfort her. But You Yan isn’t even sad about herself — she’s more worried about Ye Bai and how things will be more difficult for him if Zhe Jing starts making trouble. She trusts that Ye Bai will deal with everything the right way. Shan Shan convinces her to go out for a walk.
Ye Bai drags Zhe Jing across campus, attracting stares and whispers and gossip that reaches Shan Shan and You Yan as they head out for their walk. They soon run into the two. Ye Bai forces Zhe Jing to apologize to You Yan, but Zhe Jing makes a non-apology, still throwing some blame at You Yan for her reaction.
Seeing that You Yan doesn’t really want to accept Zhe Jing’s apology, Ye Bai grabs You Yan’s wrist and takes her away to talk. Zhe Jing tries to follow them, but Shan Shan blocks her way and they stare each other down.
You Yan refuses to look at Ye Bai, so he finally pulls her into a hug and apologizes. She admits that she got angry more because of the ruined painting than anything. Ye Bai says that he knows and promises to paint her another one if she likes this one so much. When she doesn’t respond, he says that he’ll paint as much as possible until she’s satisfied. He won’t even sleep. She playfully slaps his back, reprimanding him for not knowing how to comfort a person properly, but seems to forgive him.
Ye Bai says that he’s afraid of her crying because it makes him want to cry. “Who’s crying?” You Yan asks. Then… is she jealous? Ye Bai asks. She tries to deny it, but they both know she’s lying. Ye Bai says that she’s cute when she’s jealous, and she moves over to make some room for him on her bench.
Ye Bai explains his history with Zhe Jing to You Yan, saying that her grandfather was really good to him and that he often went to their judo club when he was lonely. He and Zhe Jing were like siblings, until his senior year of high school when she told him that she liked him. After that, her family sent her abroad to study so they lost contact. He says that Zhe Jing likes the younger version of him, but he can never go back to being that person.
He asks if You Yan can forgive him, now that he’s come clean with everything, then asks if she can show him some sign of her forgiveness. She pretends to flick him on the cheek, then instead gives him a kiss.
They go to Yi Xin together, since they were individually planning on it anyway, and walk through his exhibition. You Yan says that she’s noticed a change between his earlier paintings and more recent works. His older works used darker, more muted colors, but his more recent works are a lot more brilliant, especially his final submission for the art competition. He tells her that there’s also another secret behind his paintings: the model for all his recent works is her.
They move on to look at Chi Zheng’s painting, and You Yan tears up again looking at it. She tells Ye Bai the story behind the painting: that her mother painted her vision of a grown-up You Yan because she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to see You Yan grow up. You Yan says that her dream is to one day be able to finish her mother’s painting. Knowing now why the painting means so much to You Yan, he again silently promises to help return the painting to her.
He goes to meet Huai An again, saying that he’s willing to let the gallery sell all five of his International Young Artists award paintings. That should be enough to buy Chi Zheng’s one painting, right? He also asks her to lend him the Chi Zheng painting for three days. There’s something that he needs it for.
He starts painting a replica of the Chi Zheng painting, thinking that if he starts now, he should be able to finish it by You Yan’s birthday.
He stays up all night working on the painting. The next morning, Zhe Jing knocks at the door with breakfast and a request to borrow his laptop. He tries to turn away, but she wiggles her way in. All of a sudden, there’s another knock at the door. Afraid that it’s You Yan and not wanting her to see Chi Zheng’s painting, he asks Zhe Jing to help him hide everything.
Zhe Jing doesn’t help, but when she hears the door opening, makes a calculated decision to fling herself onto Ye Bai in a hug. When You Yan opens the door, the first thing she says is Zhe Jing wrapped around Ye Bai. She immediately turns and leaves, while Ye Bai struggles to push Zhe Jing off of him and runs after her.
Ye Bai tries to apologize to You Yan again. She says that she wants to try to keep an open mind, but the more things like this happen, the more afraid she is that she’ll no longer believe Ye Bai’s explanations anymore. He pulls her into a hug again and tries to say that Zhe Jing doesn’t really like him. She’s just like a child trying to steal someone else’s toy.
But Zhe Jing hears this and says that it’s not true. She does really like Ye Bai. You Yan is the one who doesn’t really like Ye Bai, otherwise how could she treat him like this? Ye Bai tells her to stop messing around, then gets a call from Huai An, asking him to head over to the gallery ASAP.
Zhe Jing whines, not wanting to be left alone with her sprained ankle. You Yan says that she’s free today, so she’ll keep Zhe Jing company. Zhe Jing whines again, but You Yan bluntly tells her that if she really likes Ye Bai, she wouldn’t let her selfishness get in the way of his future. This shuts her up.
Ye Bai asks if You Yan’s really okay with babysitting Zhe Jing all day. She says that she’s thought it through and decided that Zhe Jing really is like a child — and she knows how to handle her. He tells her to call him — or even better, call the police — if Zhe Jing starts making trouble.
Once Ye Bai is gone, Zhe Jing dances around You Yan, her ankle no longer sprained. She calls You Yan jie (older sister) and says she’s going to hold You Yan to her word about keeping her company all day. Her first request is that they visit every place that You Yan and Ye Bai ever went on a date.
Ye Bai rushes to the gallery, where Huai An has good news. All his paintings have been sold as a set again, this time to an overseas buyer. She also says that she wants to hold a celebratory gala event for him and his exhibition, especially since he missed out on the opening day event. Ye Bai isn’t comfortable with these types of public events, but relents.
Ye Bai calls You Yan to check in on how she’s doing with Zhe Jing. You Yan reports that Zhe Jing has been relatively friendly, which Ye Bai finds suspicious. He’s certain she’s plotting something. He says that he’ll go over and try to manage her, but You Yan asks if he’s sure he can control her, to which he doesn’t have an answer.
After she hangs up, Zhe Jing dances over, asking if she and Ye Bai frequently come to this place. You Yan silently thinks that if she really took Zhe Jing to the places she and Ye Bai frequent, they’d never be free of her, but doesn’t say anything. Zhe Jing then asks if Ye Bai has said what he likes about her. You Yan says he hasn’t. Zhe Jing finds that strange, because she can list off so many things that she likes about Ye Bai: he’s good-looking, is a good person, and is nice to her. What does You Yan like about Ye Bai then?
You Yan thinks a bit, then says that she likes Ye Bai despite all his flaws. So she likes him for his flaws? Zhe Jing doesn’t understand this. Then she admits to You Yan that she doesn’t have a lot friends, especially when she was abroad, and that thoughts of Ye Bai would help her get through the loneliness. She still remembers when he saved her life when they were young.
You Yan nods and says that Ye Bai is indeed a very kind person, but they were children when that happened. The feelings between them were likely platonic and not romantic love. But Zhe Jing says that she’s never liked anyone else. You Yan raises her eyebrows but nods and says, “Okay.” Zhe Jing then shyly tells You Yan that she’s actually a pretty good person and asks if they can be friends.
“You want to be friends with me?!” You Yan asks, stunned, and Zhe Jing nods.
Thoughts
Okay drama, you win this time. Again. Every time I think this drama is about to go down the classic drama route and throw us a faceful of cliché, it proves me wrong. You Yan figured out pretty quickly that it was probably Zhe Jing who hung up on her, because “that’s what happens in all the TV shows.” There’s a meta moment for you. And when Xiao Cong straight up says that Zhe Jing’s only purpose is to be a force that makes You Yan and Ye Bai prove their love for each other? Too real. Ye Bai also figured out pretty quickly that Zhe Jing deleted his unsent text.
Zhe Jing is annoying in that sense that she acts like a child, but not your usual drama annoying in which the character is just written in a way that is meant to make you hate them. I think she’s still pretty funny, if only because she’s so ineffective. Also, I think it’s good that Ye Bai has to work a little harder to make You Yan feel secure in their relationship, because he definitely seems to take a lot for granted.
The Drama Llama 