Tang Xue and Yu Bing continue to try and keep their relationship a secret, but they find that it’s not easy to hide from friends, teammates, and coaches.
Recap
Tang Xue asks Yu Bing how he became such good friends with Da Jiang and Yue Wei. Yu Bing explains how they met as first years on a team building trip like this one. The three of them were in the same group gathering firewood, but ended up getting lost in the woods. Only Da Jiang had brought some food, a piece of bread, but in the end none of them ate it because they each kept on trying to give it up to someone else. Since then, they’ve been like brothers, and he knows he can trust them to support him in anything.
Tang Xue understands the feeling, saying that she feels similarly about Zhen Yu and Huan Huan. If they were to split up one day, she thinks she would feel sadder than she would about a romantic breakup.
Yu Bing teases her, asking if she’s ever been broken up with before. She jokes back, daring him to try.
Yu Bing asks Tang Xue why she likes him. She flippantly responds that it’s because she’s blind. He asks what she means by that, but she adds that she doesn’t want to be cured.
He leans in, about to kiss her, when Da Jiang shouts his name and comes running up. He reports that Yue Wei is missing.
Yu Bing tries to put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, but Da Jiang brushes it off roughly, telling Yu Bing that they both know that Yue Wei turns into a fool when she gets into the woods and that she gets lost easily. She may act tough, but she’s still a girl. He warns Yu Bing that he’ll regret it if he loses Yue Wei. Yu Bing says the important thing is to find her and suggests they split up.
Yue Wei cries alone on a rock while listening to music. She knew long ago that Yu Bing liked Tang Xue and is mostly upset with herself for tricking herself into believing otherwise. She’s just stood up, hesitant on her recently-injured foot, when Yu Bing spots her. He insists on giving her a piggyback ride, but she turns him down.
They’re going back and forth about it when Da Jiang finds them. Yu Bing is surprised to see him alone. He thought Tang Xue was with him. Da Jiang reassures him that Tang Xue is at the campgrounds.
Yu Bing tells Da Jiang to go ahead and notify the others that Yue Wei has been found, then pulls Yue Wei onto his back. This time she doesn’t refuse.
Yue Wei apologizes for causing everyone to worry when they get back to camp. They’re just relieved she’s okay. Yu Bing teases her about getting Da Jiang so worked up. Da Jiang continues to frown, looking unhappy.
They return to campus the next day. Yu Bing spots Manager Ma in the halls of the sports center, but tries to act like he doesn’t see him. Manager Ma asks him whether he’s dating anyone, but Yu Bing just keeps walking like he doesn’t hear Manager Ma.
After hockey practice, the team hears a cell phone buzzing. Jian Guo digs around on the messy locker room table and finds Yu Bing’s cell phone, with an incoming call from “Little Sugar Cube.” They tease him about it when he comes into the locker room. He quickly reclaims his phone then changes the contact name to “10086” instead.
Yue Wei is startled when she leaves her dorm building to find Da Jiang waiting outside. He wants to take her to get her foot checked out, but she insists it’s fine. They walk together and Da Jiang guesses that she likes Yu Bing. He encourages her to let him know how she feels, saying that he supports her, but Yue Wei doesn’t want to. She knows he likes someone else, and doesn’t want to risk losing his friendship.
Yue Wei makes Da Jiang promise to never tell Yu Bing about her feelings for him. He wonders if that means he would lose Yue Wei as a friend if he ever told her how he felt.
Members of the student newspaper try to brainstorm interesting students to interview. Someone suggests Yu Yan, but others are worried that Yu Yan won’t want to participate, because he likes to keep a low profile. Zhou Ran volunteers, saying she has an idea for how to convince Yu Yan.
Manager Ma meets with Coach Xu and Coach Chu and tells them that some training equipment is missing from the equipment room. He suspects that someone on the inside is stealing things and wants to form a team to investigate.
Yu Bing makes sure no one is around before calling Tang Xue, saying he misses her. She misses him too, and they arrange to meet in the equipment room later because it tends to be pretty empty.
Yue Wei is sharpening her skates in the speed skating locker room when she overhears two of her teammates talking about how quickly Tang Xue has been improving lately. Pretty soon, they think she will be a real challenger to Yue Wei.
Tang Xue and Yu Bing enjoy some couple time in the equipment room together, not realizing that Manager Ma, their coaches, and some campus security guards are searching the sports center for thieves. They’re just about to kiss when they hear Manager Ma directing the search group, and quickly try to hide. There’s nowhere to hide in the room, so they try to escape out a window, but only Tang Xue is able to make it through before they enter the room.
Yu Bing pretends he was just there training, which makes Manager Ma suspicious because it’s late and he was training in the dark. Yu Bing fumbles for a better excuse when Yue Wei suddenly shows up and says that he was there waiting for her. She claims she asked him to meet her there so they could settle something; she tells him she doesn’t like him.
Yue Wei says she only sees him as a friend and doesn’t want their relationship to change, ever. The coaches are understandably confused. So… does that mean Yu Bing likes Yue Wei? Yu Bing quickly says that yes, he liked Yue Wei, but she doesn’t like him back, clearly.
Another security guard rushes in and reports that the missing equipment has been located. They had been in the other equipment room all along. Whoever took inventory had miscounted. The adults leave Yu Bing and Yue Wei alone, but not before admonishing Yu Bing for being distracted and trying to distract Yue Wei.
Yu Bing thanks Yue Wei for her help. She tells him that she lied earlier, but he thinks she means in general, and not specifically about not liking him. Afterward, Yue Wei finds a secluded spot in the halls of the sports center and cries.
Tang Xue hides at the base of the stairs outside the sports center, waiting for Yu Bing. She asks him how escaped. He explains how Yue Wei saved him. Tang Xue is surprised that Manager Ma and the coaches believed them. She thinks that Manager Ma is suspicious of them; she’s noticed him looking at her strangely lately.
Yu Bing says that the only person who knows they’re dating is Zhen Yu, so how would Manager Ma know? They don’t realize that Huan Huan is standing nearby and has overheard, until she exclaims, “Zhen Yu knew and I didn’t?!”
Back in their dorm room, Tang Xue begs Huan Huan for forgiveness. Liu Ying is also offended that she didn’t know about Tang Xue’s relationship. But Huan Huan was more worried about Tang Xue and her inability to reach her than angry about her secret relationship. There is one person she won’t forgive though…
Zhen Yu sneezes while studying in the library and thinks that Huan Huan is thinking of him. He smiles to himself and tries calling her, but she doesn’t respond. Instead, he gets a text from Tang Xue, warning him that Huan Huan found out about her and Li Yu Bing and knows that Zhen Yu kept it a secret from her.
Zhen Yu starts spamming Huan Huan with text messages, begging for forgiveness. She wants to ignore him, but the texts keep coming, driving her crazy. Liu Ying tells her that a weasel was spotted in her animal rescue building and that it’s wreaking havoc. Huan Huan grabs a broom and storms out to protect her animals. Once she’s left, Liu Ying sends Zhen Yu a text, informing him that Huan Huan is on her way to the animal rescue and that she’s armed with a broom.
When Huan Huan realizes that there is no weasel and only a Liao Zhen Yu trying to apologize, she’s about to leave, but Zhen Yu blocks her way and begs for forgiveness. She makes him work for it, but eventually he wins her over by grabbing a couple of kittens and looking cute.
Manager Ma meets with Yu Bing and asks if he’s resolved things with Yue Wei. Yu Bing says he has. But the real reason he’s meeting with Yu Bing is to ask him to update his Weibo. He knows that Yu Bing doesn’t like being treated like a celebrity, but it’s also his obligation to accommodate the club.
Huan Huan goes shopping with Tang Xue. Tang Xue buys some pink tape for Yu Bing’s hockey stick. Huan Huan says that will make it too obvious that they’re dating, but Tang Xue just smiles.
The hockey team watches a video interview of Yu Yan arranged by Zhou Ran’s club. Jian Guo comments that it seems like Yu Yan likes Tang Xue, but he finds that Yu Bing is more suited for Tang Xue. Yu Bing enters the locker room and asks what they’re watching. They show him the interview, specifically a clip in which Yu Yan names Tang Xue as a girl who is special to him.
The speed skating team is also watching the video in the locker room. Tang Xue’s teammates titter that his words are practically a confession, and mention how the campus message boards are full of gossip that Tang Xue and Yu Yan have been dating for a while and were even spotted kissing. Tang Xue looks annoyed and slams her locker shut, then tells them to stop gossiping.
Yu Bing is also bothered by the gossip about Yu Yan and Tang Xue and angrily drafts a Weibo post saying, “Tang Xue is my girlfriend!”
He goes to take a shower. When he comes back out, the hockey team makes a big deal about his and Tang Xue’s relationship. He checks his phone and realizes he posted the message to his official Weibo. Manager Ma is upset, and there are a ton of other comments on the post. He tries to delete the post, but everyone has seen it by now.
Yu Bing gets a call from Coach Xu, ordering him to come to Manager Ma’s office. On his way out of the locker room, he runs into Tang Xue, who looks angry and refuses to look at him. He apologizes, but she ignores him.
Yu Bing and Tang Xue stand in front of their coaches and Manager Ma. Manager Ma seems more upset than the coaches, who exchange a knowing look.
Manager Ma comments on how quickly Yu Bing’s tastes change. Just the other day, he was saying he liked Yue Wei, and now he’s dating Tang Xue. Manager Ma is quick to act like the situation is Tang Xue’s fault, but also blames himself. He shouldn’t have let Tang Xue onto the team — her performance was not nearly enough to earn a place originally. She and Yu Bing wouldn’t be dating if she weren’t on the team.
Yu Bing admits that he and Tang Xue are in a relationship, but says that even though he was the one who helped her get onto the team in the first place, she earned her spot all on her own afterward. Coach Chu also comes to Tang Xue’s defense, saying that she made the decision to keep Tang Xue on the team, and that Tang Xue deserves the spot.
Manager Ma looks flustered and asks Coach Xu, who has thus far remained silent, to say something. Coach Xu clears his throat and then says that Yu Bing did do wrong. Yu Bing should have told him about dating Tang Xue, so that he could be happy for him. Coach Xu also compliments on his eye for people. Yu Bing and Tang Xue smile.
Manager Ma gapes. That’s not what he wanted to hear. He looks to Coach Chu for backup.
Coach Chu says that dating can affect an athlete’s performance. But in this case, it seems like it doesn’t affect the two of them.
Yu Bing and Tang Xue each promise their coach that they won’t let their relationship get in the way of their training. Their coaches nod in acknowledgement and they smile at each other. Manager Ma sits down and huffs. This is a battle he’s lost.
Commentary
Yue Wei has earned so many points in my book for being so level-headed and reasonable about her crush on Yu Bing. She acts like a real person and not some drama stereotype. She gets jealous and sad, but she also recognizes the battles worth fighting and the friendships worth saving.
The rest of this episode was incredibly feel-good. Yu Bing gets a little jealous, which is always fun to see, makes a few mistakes, but in the end both he and Tang Xue have the support of their coaches and each other, which is all that really matters.
The Drama Llama 