We’re not quite finished with Zhe Jing yet, as she has plenty of cards up her sleeve, and goes to even more extreme lengths in her pursuit of Ye Bai. You Yan finally decides that if Ye Bai won’t act, she will, and Zi Jian decides to throw his hat into the ring as well.
Recap
Ye Bai sits down with Grandpa Gong and Zhe Jing while You Yan shuffles around in the kitchen, seemingly forgotten. Ye Bai asks Grandpa Gong what he meant earlier by “happy news.” Grandpa Gong asks if Ye Bai is just embarrassed — Zhe Jing told him all about it earlier.
We flash back to the night before. After Zhe Jing left Ye Bai’s apartment, she made a call to her grandfather, reporting that she and Ye Bai had finally gotten together.
Grandpa Gong tells Ye Bai that Zhe Jing is his precious granddaughter, and that he viewed Ye Bai as his own grandson while watching him grow up. Now that they’ve decided to get together, he gives them his blessing. Zhe Jing eyes You Yan with a sly smile. Ye Bai starts to speak up, but Grandpa Gong isn’t finished. He says that all they have to do is pick a date — he’ll cover everything else.
Ye Bai is stunned silent. Unable to listen to anymore, You Yan grabs her bag and abruptly leaves. Ye Bai runs after her.
He catches up to her outside, where he asks her to let him explain. She whirls around and says that he doesn’t need to say anymore. This time, she’s going to do the talking. He doesn’t let her speak (of course) and says he knows what she’ll say — why can’t she just trust him when he says there really is nothing between him and Zhe Jing?
You Yan responds by saying that in this time, they’ve both been exhausted trying to explain things to each other in circles until they don’t even know what they’re talking about anymore. Why are they like this now?
Ye Bai pulls her into a hug and asks for some more time. She replies saying that she’s fine suffering if she can be sure of their future, but right now, she’s not so sure anymore. She says they should break up. It doesn’t matter if him getting married is real or Zhe Jing’s interference, she doesn’t want to be a part of it anymore.
You Yan goes back to her room that night and starts crying on her bed. Shan Shan and Xiao Cong ask her what’s wrong and she tells them that she broke up with Ye Bai. They try to comfort her, but also try to tell her that breaking up with Ye Bai isn’t the solution — it’s exactly what Zhe Jing wants. But You Yan is tired. Shan Shan points out that there must also be some problem with Ye Bai — if he had just gotten rid of Zhe Jing earlier they would be fine. (My thoughts exactly!)
Ye Bai sits in bed drafting multiple versions of a text message to You Yan, but isn’t happy with any of them. He finally settles for, “I like you, only you,” which You Yan sees the next morning.
You Yan isn’t doing so great physically the next morning. She’s dizzy and burning up with fever, but she insists on heading out to her exhibition manager job with Zi Jian. Shan Shan won’t let her go, saying that they have to get someone to take her to the hospital. She wants to call Ye Bai, but You Yan won’t let her.
Shan Shan walks You Yan down to the bottom of their dorm building, where Zi Jian is waiting to take You Yan to work. He immediately rushes over when it looks like You Yan isn’t okay and Shan Shan tells him to take her to the hospital, then sends Zi Yan a voice message.
Ye Bai leaves his building the next morning and is greeted by Zhe Jing bearing breakfast. He rejects her breakfast and ignores her. She follows him to the street, and he turns around and tells her that he will clear everything up with Grandpa Gong and bringing him out here accomplished nothing. He gets a call from Zi Yan telling him that You Yan is at the hospital. He rushes to flag down a cab, but Zhe Jing hops in the back as well.
They rush to the hospital where they see that You Yan is already accompanied by Zi Jian, Shan Shan, and Zi Yan. Ye Bai says You Yan’s name, but she ignores him. Shan Shan immediately smacks Zi Yan on the arm, guessing that he was the one to leak the news to Ye Bai, and tells him that the two already broke up. Zi Jian takes in this news with interest.
You Yan’s name gets called and Zi Jian walks her to see the doctor. Ye Bai tries to follow, but Shan Shan blocks his way, asking to talk to him. She blames him for You Yan’s falling ill. Ye Bai asks if he can see You Yan, but Shan Shan responds that the best thing he can do for You Yan right now is stay away and deal with Zhe Jing. Shan Shan leaves him and Zhe Jing tries to grab his arm to get him to go, but he shakes her off.
Shan Shan asks You Yan how she’s doing, but Zi Jian immediately jumps in and speaks for her, while You Yan glances around looking for Ye Bai. She asks where Ye Bai is, and Shan Shan says she told him to leave.
Zi Jian asks You Yan if it’s true that she and Ye Bai broke up. Zi Yan asks the same thing, then turns to Zi Jian and asks why he’s so concerned, clearly feeling protective over his best friend’s (ex-)girlfriend. They almost escalate into a full-blown argument but Shan Shan yells at them to shut up–there’s a sick person here.
A few days later, Ye Bai asks Zi Yan to help him figure out how to get You Yan back.
Wei Jia sits at home and watches some online news coverage of Ye Bai’s exhibition. She scoffs at how the site would call Ye Bai’s exhibition news, clearly unhappy about the press coverage that it got (but it’s ironic because she was the one who brought the press…)
Zi Jian gets home and she asks him how the plans for his exhibition are coming along. He says that You Yan has been sick so things have been on hold, which makes Wei Jia unhappy. She says that she’ll find him a different exhibition manager, but Zi Jian refuses. She starts lecturing him on separating his personal and work life, then brings up all the news articles about Ye Bai. She wants his exhibition to go smoothly to prove something to all these reporters. This immediately makes him angry, and he says that she doesn’t really care about his exhibition — she just cares about making herself look good.
At school, Zi Jian waits around for You Yan and checks in on how she’s doing, especially with her illness and her break-up. She says she’s fine, then gets an urgent phone call from Shan Shan.
Shan Shan drags You Yan to a big staircase on campus where she and Zi Yan have helped Ye Bai set up a piano and heart-shaped balloons. Ye Bai starts playing a piano piece, then publicly asks You Yan for her forgiveness. The crowd around them starts chanting for her to forgive him. You Yan smiles and accepts the bouquet that he gives her and everyone cheers.
But the moment is cut short by Zhe Jing, who stands on a ledge at the top of the stairs and yells that if the two are willing to get back together, then she’ll jump off of the ledge. You Yan gives Ye Bai a hard stare at Zhe Jing’s appearance, then looks around as people start muttering about Zhe Jing and wondering if they all think they’re acting in a drama.
Zhe Jing keeps going on about how she’s Ye Bai’s fiancée and how she’ll just die right here, but You Yan finally speaks up. She says that Zhe Jing’s already gotten what she wanted: she and Ye Bai have broken up. She shoves the bouquet back into Ye Bai’s hands and leaves. Ye Bai tries to go after her, but stops when Zhe Jing says that she’ll jump if Ye Bai dares go after You Yan. He stares after You Yan but doesn’t move, while Zhe Jing smiles at her victory.
Rumors of the whole ordeal have reached even the professors, and Professor Xia lectures Ye Bai on his behavior since winning the international art award. He tells him that people are now saying that he’s changed since he won the award, and now just does whatever he wants. Ye Bai keeps apologizing, but that’s not enough for the professor. He wants him to focus on his art and ignore everything else.
Ye Bai goes to the hotel where Zhe Jing and her grandfather are staying. She happily greets him at the door and invites him in, but he doesn’t sit. He tells Grandpa Gong that he’s there to clarify the situation, and tells him that his feelings for Zhe Jing will always be that of a sibling’s and nothing more. Grandpa Gong is quick to understand and backs out of the way, saying that they should talk to each other about their feelings — he never wanted to force anything.
Zhe Jing approaches Ye Bai and asks if he really hates her that much. Everything she’s done, she did because she liked him. If he had just agreed to be with her earlier, then she wouldn’t have had to do all those things. Ye Bai has some harsh words for her, saying that it’s clear she doesn’t understand what she did wrong. In fact, she probably doesn’t think she did anything wrong. He tells her that the world doesn’t revolve around her, and that You Yan is someone he would follow to the ends of the earth. He leaves, and tries to call You Yan in the hallway, but she doesn’t pick up, so he sends her a text.
You Yan gets his text saying that he’s cut ties with Zhe Jing and wants to meet with her. You Yan doesn’t know what to do. She’s tired and she doesn’t think Zhe Jing will give up so easily. She sends him a response saying that maybe they should spend some time apart.
They go to a coffee shop where You Yan admits to Shan Shan that she finally understands what she read in a book once about love not being enough to sustain a relationship. This incident with Zhe Jing made You Yan realize that if she and Ye Bai stayed together, it could jeopardize his future, especially when his art career is just beginning. So she’s breaking up with him for the sake of his art career? Shan Shan sighs and says that if she were in a drama, she would definitely be a Mary Sue character. (HA, okay I see what you did there.)
You Yan says that she just believes in karma and fate: if something is meant to be hers, then eventually it will belong to her. She then gets ready to go into the gallery, saying that Zi Jian’s exhibition is coming up soon and she needs to keep herself busy or else she’ll keep on thinking about Ye Bai.
You Yan and Zi Jian walk through what’s been set up so far of his exhibition while bantering about both the exhibition and her break-up with Ye Bai. Zhe Jing tails them and takes some paparazzi photos. She turns to leave, not noticing Huai An behind her, who stops her and asks to talk.
Things take a bit of a serious turn in You Yan and Zi Jian’s conversation when he admits that he actually likes her quite a bit. He says that he’s like her for a while, but when he wanted to confess to her, she had already started dating Ye Bai. You Yan takes it as a joke, saying that he must be trying to make her feel better after her break-up, but laughs awkwardly and then says that he’s not making a joke. He’s being sincere.
You Yan slowly says that in that case, she’ll also be sincere with him. Even though she and Ye Bai broke up, she can’t (and won’t) forget him. He looks away and says that of course she won’t be able to forget him, but that he’s also not looking for an answer right away. He’s willing to wait. He turns back toward her, only to find that she sneaked away when he wasn’t looking.
Huai An takes Zhe Jing to her office, where she asks her what she’s trying to do with the photos that she was taking. She must have a naive idea of love if she thinks that a few photos will be enough to destroy Ye Bai’s love for You Yan. Moreover, Ye Bai and Zi Jian are friends and it wouldn’t be that easy to create a rift between them. Huai An says that they’re all adults here, and the first thing they have to learn is to not complicate other people’s lives.
Zhe Jing predictably says that she’ll do what she wants. When Huai An warns her that she’ll lose much more than Ye Bai if she keeps going down this path, she ignores her and says that she doesn’t need Huai An lecturing her. She gets up and leaves the office.
Wei Jia has been eavesdropping outside Huai An’s office this whole time. She pretends to observe a painting in the hallway as Zhe Jing leaves, then follows after her with a scheming smile.
Wei Jia approaches Zhe Jing outside, saying that the photos she took are useless, and that if she deletes the photos, then Wei Jia will help her get Ye Bai. Zhe Jing asks her why she’s helping her, and Wei Jia responds that by helping Zhe Jing, she’ll also be helping herself. She asks Zhe Jing if she knows what Ye Bai’s weakness is. She doesn’t. Wei Jia tells her that it’s his father. She tells her to get into the car — they can chat while she drives.
Zi Jian shoots some hoops by himself on campus when he sees Ye Bai walking by. He asks Ye Bai if he’s up for a one-on-one game.
Thoughts
This episode was a roller-coaster ride, and at certain points my opinion of the show dipped very low, but ultimately I think the drama has redeemed itself a bit, if only because it poked fun at itself (very slightly, when Shan Shan called You Yan a Mary Sue — because she totally is! but I like You Yan anyway) and our characters made some decisions I was happy about.
I was really happy that You Yan broke up with Ye Bai at the beginning of the episode. It’s really unfair and unrealistic (from a story perspective and a life perspective) to expect You Yan to act the understanding angel while Ye Bai continues to ineffectively deal with Zhe Jing. It’s time Ye Bai learned that hugs and empty words don’t solve anything. He’s been wishy-washy about Zhe Jing for a long time, and still is. I don’t think You Yan broke up with him because she thought he was cheating on her, but more because she was frustrated by his inability to solve this problem. It’s not her responsibility to deal with this conflict — the responsibility is solely on him — and if he can’t deal with a conflict like this, then how will he handle other issues in the future? I think that’s what You Yan really meant when she said that she wasn’t certain about his future.
I was almost about to drop this show when Ye Bai put on that ridiculous public display of affection for You Yan, and was seriously about to stop watching when I thought that You Yan was actually going to let such a ridiculous gesture woo her into forgiving him. Needless to say, I’m pretty glad that the whole thing ended up being sabotaged by Zhe Jing and did not work. Is it bad that I’m actively rooting against the main couple getting back together?
It would’ve just been too easy if You Yan fell for that PDA gesture and so against her character and all the reasons she broke up with him in the first place. It’s fitting that Zhe Jing ruined the moment, because it’s just another case-in-point example of why You Yan broke up with Ye Bai in the first place. He was willing to say a lot of pretty words to You Yan, but he wasn’t willing to act. (Okay, arguably playing the piano in public was action, but I don’t count that because making a public scene puts pressure on the subject — You Yan — that is basically like cheating.)
The ending of this episode intrigues me. First off, I loved that little showdown between Huai An and Zhe Jing. I have been waiting forever for this meeting to happen. But I am especially intrigued by Wei Jia’s angle in all of this. She wanted the photos of Zi Jian and You Yan deleted — probably to protect Zi Jian — but why conspire with Zhe Jing? Probably to take down Ye Bai, because she knows that You Yan is good for Ye Bai, but by helping Zhe Jing with Ye Bai, she will also be helping Zi Jian with You Yan — whether this is inadvertent or not, I can’t tell. Does she want Zi Jian to have a better chance with You Yan? Hmmmm. That’s one ship I could get behind.
The Drama Llama 