From the moment the guys laid their collection of shells at SiTu Mo’s feet, I thought that this episode would show the differences in their way of caring for SiTu Mo.

1. The shells explanation

MengLu: I had a cat before; it liked to catch cockroaches. One day, after I woke up from a nap, it put more than 10 roaches in front of me and walked away proudly.
Situ Mo: Mine too. It gave me dead rats.

Now, I don’t care why Fu Pei’s bring shells to Situ Mo. I’m sure he’s doing it out of habit or guilt, and the shells can be HIS peace offering. Whatever… it’s too little, too late.

On the other hand, Gu WeiYi gives Situ Mo shells because he knows she likes them. From the previous episode, STM excitedly picks up shells from the beach as if they’re magical treasures while GWY appreciates the scientific phenomenon that occurs with sound waves.

Mo: I heard we can hear the ocean through a conch. (she brings it to her ear) It’s true! Listen, it’s really the sound of ocean. (she brings it to his ear and he bends to listen). Have you watched SpongeBob? There’s a magical conch. It knew all the secrets of the ocean. This one might know many secrets too (he smiles at her) It really is the sound of ocean.
WY: You’re just hearing the blood flow in your brain and the sound of air.
Mo: Huh?
WY: In the theory of resonance, when the vibration frequency of sound equals that of the inside of the conch, both the amplitude and intensity of the sound wave will be magnified and form resonance. So what you heard was the sound of air flowing inside the conch and your blood forming.
Mo: What?
WY: It’s the same if you put a thermos near your ear.
Mo: Why should I do that?
WY: A glass will do too.
Mo: No way. (he’s surprised by STM’s reaction) Pick it yourself. Anyway, I don’t know anything. See what you can get.

She leaves in a huff.

GWY doesn’t get why she’s angry. We’ve seen him look up random facts on the internet while waiting for STM, so we’re not surprised with his information overload.

He thinks STM will like to hear what makes the sound in the shell so he enlightens her. He doesn’t mean to insult her when he explains that the sound can be duplicated with a thermos. He’s merely being factual.

When she says, “why should I do that?” he misses the tone of annoyance. He thinks she doesn’t want the inconvenience of putting a bulky thermos to her ear, so he gives a simpler alternative. A glass.

And he’s surprised by her outburst that she’s an idiot not to know things like that. It isn’t his intention to make her feel ignorant.

And he collects the shells for her because she’s told him to pick up the shells himself. lol. That, and because she likes to hear the sound of waves.

2. Worthy or not?

Later, he goes to have a man-to-man talk with Fu Pei.

WY: What’s your relationship with Wang Shan?
FP: Momo wants you to ask me? (lol. He thinks Momo is jealous.)
WY: (he takes a sip before answering) No.
FP: Why did you ask?
WY: I want to know your feeling for WTM.
FP: It has nothing to do with you.
WY: But it’s very important to me.
FP: Why? She’s the type you nerds would like. You’re not going to fall out with me for her, are you?

I’m not exactly sure about the translation here. I think FP is saying that it’s unthinkable that WY will dare jeopardize their friendship over a girl like STM who ISN’T even his type.

Just then, STM causes a commotion when she steals her friend’s sausage.

The two guys watch the scene and only Gu WeiYi smiles at STM’s antics.

FP: Is it worthy you do that for a girl who stole the sausage?

If I understand the translation, FP is asking him whether it’ll be worth breaking up their friendship for such a silly girl who steals sausage. He insinuates that, given SiTu Mo’s foolishness, she’s inferior to someone of GWY’s caliber. She isn’t worth fighting over.

But GWY looks at him and gives his resolute answer.

WY: It’s worthy.

He means he has no qualms ending their friendship if he has to fight for STM. And FP burns his finger at that moment so he walks away to attend to it. lol. I’d take that burn as an omen. FP has burned his bridges with STM.

3. “Babying” Situ Mo

Three times in this episode, we see that GWY treats STM as an equal. He doesn’t baby her.

First, with the tent. He calls her to help him set up the tent.

WY: Situ Mo! (FP turns around to watch them)
STM: Ha?
WY: Hold it. (The cord of the tent has to be taut for when they stake it down to the ground, so he pulls on the cord).
STM: (unprepared for his yank) Slowly! What if I fall down?
WY: Get up again.

She glares at him like, “Really?”

Then he walks over to switch jobs with her. In a short distance, FP moves as if to help them out. But STM goes over to pull the cord herself.

STM: Are you finished?
WY: Stake it down.
STM: How? Do we have a hammer?
WY: Use your inner strength.

She makes a face at him again.

STM: It’s not funny. (but she figures it out herself) I know who has it, wait for a while.

She comes back with MengLu’s heels and pounds the stake into the sand. I’m proud that, on her own, she’s a creative problem solver.

Second, with navigation. He’s tasked to drive and he tells STM to navigate for him. She accepts readily.

Fu Pei complains that, “Girls are weak with their sense of direction.” Shan Wang contests that.

Later, Situ Mo gets flustered when she thinks she’s given WeiYi the wrong direction.

STM: (consulting the map apps on her phone) Turn left at the junction in front.
WY: There’s no junction ahead.
STM: Really? Did I get it wrong? Impossible!

In the back seat, FP’s frowning. See that? She doubts herself easily because of FP’s comments that girls weren’t good with navigation. However, Gu WeiYi asks for her phone and checks it.

WY: You’re right. We aren’t there yet.
STM: (she sighs in relief)
WY: (looks at her then reassure her) Don’t get nervous.
STM: Alright. Alright.

WeiYi’s telling her to have confidence in her navigational skills.

In the back seat, FP continues to frown as he looks out the window.

STM: Do you want to drink water?
WY: No, thanks.

In a bit, Situ Mo falls asleep and GWY notices the sun shining on her. He lowers the sun visor and he turns on the A/C for her.

Third, with their height difference. I like that WeiYi doesn’t bend down to talk to her like she’s a child in the way that Fu Pei does.

He doesn’t fuss about their heights.

Unlike this twerp. Does he really think it’s romantic to hunch over like this to talk to her?

I find his stance patronizing. He probably thinks it’s cute to emphasize their height difference but all I see is a daddy-figure bending down to a child. It’s not romantic at all to stick his face like this. I’m half-expecting him to begin cooing at her and rubbing her chin.

My reaction:

lol.

But there are times when WeiYi does NOT treat Situ Mo as an equal.

For instance, when someone knocks at the door at midnight, he doesn’t allow STM to open it.

WY: Let me open it.
Mo: Why are you bringing a knife just to open the door? (hahaha. I too thought it was overkill.)
WY: A girl shouldn’t open the door at night.

Oh, I get it now. He opens the door but if he gets attacked by a space alien and dies, she can go full Rambo with the butcher’s knife.

But why doesn’t his front door have a peephole and chainlock? Dude!

4. Missing him

I guess absence does make the heart grow fonder. Is this the first time that she misses his company? I know it APPEARS like she’s only peeved because he didn’t come home when she’s cooked him food.

Mo: Why aren’t you back yet? (sounding like a wife whose husband has to work unexpectedly overtime.)

WY: I’ll stay at the lab tonight.
Mo: You should tell me sooner. (Uh, no. There’s no obligation to inform each other of their whereabouts if it’s a normal landlord/tenant.)
WY: Okay, I’ll tell you next time. (smiling)

Mo: That’s all, bye.

If she was upset only because she went through the trouble of cooking food for him, then she shouldn’t have been grinning when she heard his phone ringing in the bedroom the following day. You see, his presence meant that she had to go through all the trouble again of prepping food for him. Right?

So yes, of course, she’s happy that he’s home again. Because she missed him last night.

She also has a Freudian slip when she tells their vacuum, “Your dad isn’t coming back, don’t you care?” lol. She’s beginning to think of themselves as a household or a family unit.

So GWY’s plan to make himself indispensable to her is working out fine.

5. Her password and their beach picture

lol. He asked her to change her password. At first, I thought, “Awwwww…that was very honest of him.” He could have remained silent about it.

But now I suspect that he asked her to change her password because he had an ulterior motive.  Can you guess what it is?

This:

This is how I interpreted the sequence of actions.

He called her up on her phone to demand that the pictures be sent to him. But the phone rang in her room — just like it rang in his when STM was checking where he was. Remember?

He went to check,

saw that she wasn’t there and realized that she was in the bathroom.

He entered the room and thought of sending the pictures himself.

He KNEW her password anyway, right?

But he decided not to (because how was he going to explain that??) so he exited her bedroom.

But barely 10 seconds later, he re-entered the room

and got the phone.

He couldn’t wait for her to send him their beach picture.

He used her password as an excuse to knock on the bathroom door and interrupt her  bathroom cleaning.

And he looked “honest.”

He really wasn’t concerned about the security of her password (because he’d known it for ages anyway, so what’s the rush??) but he wanted her to send the beach pictures right away.

He knew Situ Mo would send the pictures as he requested so he went to his room and waited for it. Sure enough: she sent it ASAP.

Tsk tsk tsk. So impatient to see the result of their selfie.

This:

Hahaha.

See how devious he can be?

Did I tell you that I’ve brothers? And sons? And a husband? And male colleagues? And male clients? Handsome faces can cover up the sneakiest minds ever. 

Nice try, Gu WeiYi.

6. Doraemon!

Hahaha. I was commenting a few episodes ago that the way he kept taking out things from his bag to give to STM reminds me of Doraemon. In this episode, his similarity to Doraemon finally dawns on STM too when he feeds her. “Thanks to a scientist like you, you granted whatever I requested. You are my Doraemon.” He must like that compliment, considering she’s crazy about Doraemon.

He does spoil her. He could have ignored her hunger pangs and told her to wait until daylight. But he stood up and told her that they were getting her food.

I’m reminded of that restaurant owner in Episode 4. The man said he was always worried that his wife would get hungry and he made sure that she was well-fed. Now, it’s WeiYi’s turn to worry about providing food to the hungry STM at the oddest hours. Hmmm… he’ll definitely be useful when STM’s pregnant and she get those food cravings in the middle of the night.

He’s resourceful, too. I would have borrowed the car and gone to the nearest 7-11. lol. My first-world problems.

And it was sweet of him to give her the prawn.

See that?

Earlier, she and Menglu were laughing at the peculiar similarity between their cats bringing dead insects and the guys bringing in their collection of shells for her.

But that was only a prelude, or a preview.

There’s a primal instinct among lovers to bring food and other comfort offerings to their loved ones. Be it a pet cat, a wild animal, a futuristic cat, or a human like GWY, tokens of affections can be as

gross as ten cockroaches

or as romantic as yummy prawn — which he described as looking like a giant cockroach so she didn’t have to feel guilty not sharing with him.

The way I see it: laying the shells he collected at her feet = laying the bucket of crustaceans at her feet

I don’t see much difference. 🙂

7. Help with translations again!

That night on the beach, GWY was surfing the internet for …?? Shells? And how to stop someone from snoring?? Thanks!