I can’t believe we’re in the last third of the Love O2O. Only nine more episodes to fangirl about bitch about.

1. Naihe pops up in the game.

Although Weiwei declined going to the office with Nai, saying that she wanted to rest on weekends because interns don’t get paid, she begins researching ways to improve the home&leisure mode of Nai’s new game. She remembers that that she hasn’t fed her tiger so she logs on the old game. Both her tiger and Nai’s haven’t been fed so she goes off to search for food. She tells her tiger, “Stay here and look after the house. Don’t run off” unconsciously mimicking Nai’s goodbye to her a few moments ago. He told her, “Then look after the house. Don’t go to Xiaoling’s.” She thinks it funny.

Online she encounters her friends from her old clan, Nini and Diemeng. Diemeng invites her to a face-to-face meeting at a coffee shop later that day.

Then, out of the blue, Xiao Nai pops up in the game and startling her.

We know why Nai popped up right? He gets alert on his cellphone whenever Weiwei logs on because of that bug that Mozarta placed on the program (Ep 9). Back then, he told Hao Mei, “Put a little code in the game for me. As soon as Weiwei logs on, send a text to my cell phone automatically.”

WW: Dashen?
Nai: Yes?
WW: Can’t you use a regular message app to chat?
Nai: This is convenient.
WW: It’s scary, okay?

It would be scarier if she knew about the tracking bug.

For Nai, the online game messenger is “convenient” because it’s linked just to Weiwei. Since he’s on his computer anyway at work, it’s easy to switch to the old game and chat with her whenever she’s online.

2. The Swimming Dictator

Nai “invites” her to swim.

Nai: I just recalled my relatives aren’t staying in their villa now.
WW: What?
Nai: They have a pool. Do you want to go swimming? My dear wife needs to build up health and strength. (lol. Just like an online game he’s in charge of her “health” points.)

WW: Swimming? (She recalls a conversation with her girlfriends that Nai’s a better swimmer than basketball player and she agrees.) Yes.
Nai: Can you swim?
WW: No, but I can watch.

Hahaha. Nai leans back, smiling.

He understands perfectly what Weiwei meant when she said she could watch. She was going to ogle at him.

And marvel at his beauty ala Little Mermaid.

She tells him she’s going to meet Diemeng. He suddenly looks concerned, pulls his keyboard closer to him and starts typing.

Nai: Diemeng Weixing?

He’s probably remembering how Diemeng and her partner stood them up at their couple’s battle because they’d broken up. He’s most likely concerned because she’s meeting a stranger whom she knows only online.

WW: Yes, she wants to meet and chat at the Red Café. We’re just meeting for coffee. It won’t take long.
Nai: I’ll pick you up and take you swimming. By the way, bring my swimming trunks. They’re at the bottom of my closet.
WW: Swimming trunks?

And she suddenly has this vision of Nai in swim trunks.

I think we already divested him, disrobed him errr… discussed his swim trunks somewhere in this blog.

Nai calls her to bring her down to earth, “Weiwei?”

She responds, “I got it.”

lol. Remember my comment whenever Nai said, “I got it”? I said he sounded cool, competent and reliable when he said he got something.

Well… that’s not the case when Weiwei said “I got it” this time. I felt like she was going to bungle this and pick the wrong swimsuit or forget to bring his swim trunks.  Hahaha. The latter would have ideal, right, ladies?

After that, she spaces out again and wonders what will happen that afternoon. But, over at his end, Nai smiles. I’m sure he knows exactly what she’s thinking and has a contingency plan for that. 

His conversation with Weiwei puts him in a good mood and he shares his good mood with his employees. He tells them to go take a break. “We’ve all worked overtime for two days. Go home and get some rest. Relax a bit. You’ll be more efficient.”

Awww. Mozarta invites KO to try out that grilled scallop place because he wants KO to steal their recipes. And KO stands up right away to do his bidding. Really, now. I’d go for a guy like KO if he wasn’t batting for the same team. lol.

Friend #2 Monkey asks Nai where he’s going and when he says swimming, Yugong shamelessly invites himself. But Nai rejects that idea saying it isn’t a good day for him.

Everybody leaves but Nai. He checks the time and settles down to work until it’s time to pick Weiwei up.

3. Diemeng’s cautionary tale

Seeing how beautiful Weiwei is, Diemeng thinks how ashamed the Mean Girls would be for spreading rumors about Weiwei and how regretful Zhenshui Wuxiang would be for letting her go.

Weiwei tells Diemeng not to talk about others. To Weiwei, her online Ex-husband is like any other stranger. Diemeng admires that she can let it go like that because she can’t.

She then unburdens herself about her rocky relationship with her online/offline boyfriend, Zhan Tianxia. They had broken up once because of his involvement with one of the Mean Girls. But he had taken good care of her when she was sick so they made up again.

WW: That’s good. I’m happy for you.
DM: (shaking her head) It’s not what you think. I only realize now, a relationship that’s gone sour is the same as food that’s turned bad. You can’t keep it. You have to toss it. We may be back together, but our feelings are never the same. He thinks that I forgave him once, I can forgive him a second time, a third time. So he’s gotten worse. Weiwei, I’m so tired.
WW: Don’t be sad, Diemeng.

Back in his office, Nai stops working and looks at Weiwei’s cactus with a smile. He leaves to pick her up.

At first glance, these scenes seem to be wholly unrelated. But remember, I already explained that Nai “reinterpreted” the meaning of the cactus when he read the “Flower” poem over the phone to Weiwei.

Originally, the cactus was meant to be a mere reminder of her. From Episode 15:

WW: This is my cactus. I can’t take care of it during the summer. So please look after it for me.
Nai: Oh. So when I see it, I’ll think of you. (or according to Kissasian: To make me miss you when I look at it.)

link: Love O2O: Episode 15 Highlights

Then, in Episode 17, Nai read her the “Flower” poem. There were two subs:

Netflix’s version: “Flowers along the field paths have bloomed, take your time to return.” Kissasian’s version: “Flowers are blooming by the road, enjoy them on your way back.”

Whatever the version you choose, I said there five essential things to focus. Nai is telling Weiwei:

a) to take her time and enjoy the flowers at her leisure (flowers = symbolic of life’s pleasures)
b) that he misses her dearly
c) but he’ll wait patiently for her to return
d) even at great sacrifice, restraint, or pain to himself, he wants her to come on her own pace, time and tempo.
e) it speaks of great love that he indulges her needs (and whims).

link: Love O2O: Episode 17 Poetry

The cactus isn’t only a reminder to “miss her” while she’s gone but a symbol of someone waiting patiently for his beloved to come home.

Nai wanted to take Weiwei swimming right away but he put his plan on hold and waited for her while she visited her friend Diemeng.

For Diemeng, her relationship is already hopeless. If she could, she would have given up on it and tossed Zhan Tianxa out of her life. In contrast, for Nai and for Weiwei, their relationship is full of hope and expectation.

Moreover, Diemeng’s tired of her partner’s infidelity. In the following Episode 22, Nai tells Weiwei how he’ll deal with infidelity. We also already talked about this in the post about Apricot Tree, remember?

link: Love O2O: Ep 22’s Apricot Tree

There were two versions.

Netflix sub:
WW: …Ah! Would you really be okay with it if I were unfaithful?
Nai: Yes.
WW: I thought you’d kill the guy.
Nai: Well, if you’re unfaithful, I’ll restore your faith. If you lose all faith, I’ll convert you again.

Kissasian sub:
WW: … But then you acted as if even if I had an affair, you would have no regrets. A master’s a master! If my apricot tree leans over the wall you really wouldn’t mind?
Nai: I wouldn’t mind.
WW: I thought you’d cut my branches.
Nai: At most, if you leaned an inch over the wall, I’d move the wall over an itch. If you leaned a foot over, I’d move ten feet over.

Do you see the difference between Nai’s and Diemeng’s perspectives on infidelity? For Diemeng, her love for her man is irrevocably over. She couldn’t put her feelings back together again the way it was before his flirtation with Qingqing. For Nai, if ever that happens that Weiwei becomes unfaithful, he plans to restore her faithfulness.

4. Perfect timing

Weiwei calls him up as soon she’s done with her coffee meeting with Diemeng. Like a trained driver, Nai tells her that he’ll be right there.

WW: I’ll wait for you outside the café.
Nai: Okay. Have you bought a swimsuit?
WW: Uhhh… (remember she wasn’t planning on going swimming. She was only going to WATCH him swim)
Nai: Want me to go with you?
WW: (speechless. still trying to figure out how to answer him)
Nai: Let’s go shopping together. I see you now.

hahaha. It’s so like Nai to put her in a panic while she’s still PROCESSING her thoughts.

WW: Don’t do that! There’s a shop nearby. I’ll go myself.

And Nai smiles because she’s cute when she’s embarrassed and flustered.

But I think he’s also grinning because he knows that he got her doing what he wanted. He’s so sneaky.

To me, Nai is a linear person. When he wants something, he has one-track mind. If I were Weiwei, I would have disrupted his thought process by throwing a curve ball or something unexpected.

I would have told him, “Hey Nai, unless you want to swim in the Red Sea, now’s a good time of the month for me to go swimming.” Or “Nai, I’ll go swimming with you but we’ll go out dancing one night, ok?” Or “How about I’ll take swimming lessons from you and you’ll take cooking lessons from me? That’s fair.” Or “Nai, how about we invite Cao Guong and Erxi?”

That’s why Weiwei fits him well.

Weiwei is offered a two-piece pink swimwear but she opts for a one-piece black swimwear.

Nai’s surprised that she bought her swimsuit quickly. “You got it? That was fast.”

She retorts, “I knew I had to be fast.” (She probably meant that if she took her time, Nai would have followed her inside that boutique and chosen her swimsuit with her. hahaha.)

Nai glances at her.

I think he’s wondering what she’s got planned. Mentally, Weiwei is telling herself that she bought the swimsuit but she doesn’t have to wear it. “I won’t get in the water. What can he do about that? Pull me in?” Then, she fantasizes again of taking videos of Nai swimming.

Product placement alert! Oppo phone!!

She has this goofy look on her face as she schemes, “I can take pictures on my phone, too. My plan is perfect.”

Unaware of her giddiness, she giggles like a maniac. Nai just takes this all in and smiles.

Then she composes herself and her face looks expressionless again.

He can only smile at her antics.

hahaha. It’s so cute when Weiwei fangirls her own boyfriend. As my nieces would say it, she’s “sooooo relatable”.

5. Swimsuit

My reaction: I was expecting more.

link: Love O2O: Boss and Me, and Swim Trunks

6. Talking to Xiao Nai’s Parents

I think the actress Zheng Shuang nailed this scene with her facial expressions.

Nai’s phone rings while he’s driving Weiwei home. The phone is in the back seat so Weiwei picks it up to show the number. (Hey…wait a second! Why isn’t the phone connected to the car’s Bluetooth like earlier when he received Weiwei’s call?)

He tells Weiwei to answer the phone as he’s driving. Thinking it’s a telemarketer, she answers, “Hello?” before Nai can tell her that it’s his mother.

Gasp!

WW: Hi, Professor! Um, Xiao Nai is driving. I answered the phone for him. Here he is.

Nai puts her on speakerphone (uhm? Bluetooth?).

Nai: Ma? You’ve found a good signal there?
Mom: Yes, we just got off the mountain. Ahh.. the girl that you charmed is with you?

Netflix and the other site worded this wrong. I think the mother meant to tease him, asking if he’s with the poor girl that he had ensnared or duped by his wiles.

Nai: Yes, she’s interning at my company. We just got off work. I’m taking her home.
Mom: I was caught off guard. I didn’t talk to her much but she sounds like a good girl. Don’t take advantage of her.

lol. I was like this, too, with my sons when they started dating. But I worded it differently. I didn’t tell them NOT to bully. I told them to treat their girlfriends well, so that when they break up, the girls would have regrets and would look back at their time together as one of the best they had, despite everything else. And so far, it seems that way. They remain friends with their exes even though they’ve moved on with new GFs.

Nai: It depends.
Mom: What depends? If you do, you have to be responsible.

Weiwei winces in embarrassment.

Nai: Ma, I’m on speakerphone.
Dad: (ahem) Xiao Nai, Ms. Bei Weiwei, come visit us anytime. Bye now.

Weiwei glares at him.

WW: You took one call and made all three people hate you.
Nai: (looking at her with a smug smile) You’re too kind. I’ve always been gifted in this regard.
WW: It’s not a compliment! Also, why don’t your calls ever show the contact name?
Nai: I recognize the numbers.

Except for hers! He has her phone listed, not because he’ll forget it. But just because…

And he saved his future mother-in-law’s contact, too.

7. The Kiss

Is this the 5th kiss? We had the reunion kiss (Ep 17), the rain kiss (Ep 18), the towel kiss (Ep 19), the after-bite kiss (Ep 20), and now this, the mommy-recommended kiss (Ep 21).

Arriving at Xiaoling’s place, Weiwei’s about to open her door when Nai detains her for a goodnight kiss.

He says, “As my mother said, “Take advantage of you.”

She gets off the car and he grins at her. She begins to walk home with an extra bounce in her steps. (Wouldn’t you? If you’re boyfriend looks like Yang Yang?) She looks back at him once more and sees that he still has that crazy grin on his face.

I like how he coolly capitalized on that embarrassing phone call with the parents and made it funny. He’s telling her that he’s being a filial son and listening to his mother’s advice to TAKE RESPONSIBILITY of her when he bullies her.

Do you get it? The mom said, “Don’t bully/take advantage of her.” He said, “It depends on the circumstances.” And the mom said, “What do you mean??!! If you bully her, take responsibility for it.”

In his mind: “Okay, then, I’ll bully her because I’d love to be responsible for her.” The wordplay is funny to me too because in kdramas, when a guy says he’ll take responsibility for the girl, he’s saying that he’ll MARRY the girl.

And he’s laughing at himself, too, as he drives away.