Episode 10

If you’re solely focus on the romance aspect like I am, you can skip Episode 10. They were separated by a continent so they could only communicate by phone.

For instance, Valentine’s Day was also Shangyan’s birthday. This could have been a major romantic celebration for them but it was dud. She tried to calling him on his phone, but it was busy because he was speaking with his stepmother.

She left him a voicemail. “Are you in a meeting? Or are you training? I don’t dare to call you so I’ll just leave you a voice mail. Happy Valentine’s Day! Happy Birthday! Aren’t I really smart? I remembered your birthday! I hope that your work in Norway goes smoothly. It’s your birthday so be happy!”

Then, she followed it up with, “Oh, right! This is the last one! I wanted to say goodnight! Remember when eating cake you need to make a wish!”

Later, he tried to think of a wish. He began saying, “My wish…” and then stopped. Since he walked over to his friend’s hotel room and asked him to celebrate his birthday with him,  I’m guessing his birthday wish was to renew friendships with his former teammates.

However, one scene with Appledog annoyed me.

She was accosted by a group of Norwegian men. She yelled out for Han Shangyan to come and help her. When he came our running and punched the guys who were grabbing her, she became angry. Instead of being relieved that Shangyan came to her rescue,, she shouted at him, “Do you only know how to solve problems by using violence?”

Ha! That’s gratitude for you!

Clearly, she was remembering the incident 10 years ago when Shanyan fought with her lover, Solo. She began conflating Shangyan’s aggression back then with Shangyan’s fistfight with the Norwegian men.

When Shangyan realized this, he got mad and walked away. He must have felt bitter to know that her lasting impression of him was that of a street brawler.

But perhaps that’s why Nian’s birthday greetings to him sounded so innocent and pure. All of his buddies had unsaid grievances against him which they all aired out on, goodness gracious! his birthday. They blamed him for the drama 10 years ago, for quitting the team, and for letting his anger drag on all these year. According to them, he should already forget and forgive Solo and Appledog for breaking up the team.

Nian was the only who hero-worshipped him. She didn’t know anything about cyberhacking world until she met Shangyan Ten years ago, she had been 11 years old.

Episode 11

There’s more couple interaction when Shangyan returns to China. But he’s totally forgotten that he told Nian about his return flight home. Fortunately, Bai’s there to bring her to the team bus.

1. Bus ride

Bai: Your girlfriend is here.
SY: (no reply as he’s napping)
Grunt: Boss! Sister-in-law is here. (SY wakes up) Sister-in-law (pointing at her waiting outside the bus).

Nian looks cute, standing outside the bus and carrying a poster that says, “Welcome to Han Shangyan bringing his team home!” The poster is homemade. She sees nothing wrong in waving the poster at him. To a 30-year old man, however, like Shangyan, this would have been embarrassing.

He has no choice but to approach her, of course. He sighs.

SY: Tsk! A green hat, what kind of taste do you have?

He’s really something else, isn’t he? His girlfriend is there but rather than be pleased that she’s there, he complains about the green hat!  We, bitches, know from watching Love O2O that wearing a green hat means the wearer is a cuckold. Shhhh…don’t tell the leprechauns. 

I consider THREE possibles.

One, Shangyan’s embarrassed because Nian was practically announcing to the world that HE had been “unfaithful” to her while he was in Norway.

Two, he’s being too hypersensitive.

Three, he’s flustered that she’s around and to calm his beating heart, he has to be extra mean and ogre-ish. So he nitpicks the hat.

Nian: (clueless) It matches my scarf and my dress. (Her poster board, too! Really, she’s too innocent to know what a green hat signified.)
SY: Do you need me for something? (Meaning “what are you here for? Do you need me for anything? Now, he’s clueless, too.)
Nian: I’m here to pick you up from the airport.
Bai: (interrupting) Get on. If you want for him to call you on board, you’ll freeze to death. (SY glances at Bai)
SY: (realizing his mistake too) Get on.

She gets on the bus. Shangyan doesn’t make space for her so she sits on the other side of the aisle behind Bai.)

SY: Are you cold?
Nian: I’ve got a coat to cover me and this scarf. They all block the wind. (Bai was in a thick winter jacket though)
SY: Don’t dress like that in the future. You’ll catch a cold.

One of the guys at the back of the bus snickers. I understand them. Shangyan sounds like an overbearing boyfriend. He lets her stand out in the cold and then he nags about her thin coat.

Nian: You don’t like me dressing this way?
SY: (realizing that people are listening in) Well, no. Dress however you like.
Nian: (persisting) Then whatever way you’d like for me to dress next time, just tell me. I’ll dressed that way for you.

Grunt guffaws and mimics Nian’s babyish response.

This is awkward for me to hear, too, because she sounds like a submissive in a BDSM relationship or something. 🙂

Seriously, however, there are people who are turned on when seeing certain clothes, like a French maid uniform, a Catholic school uniform, or a Chippendale tuxedo. When Nian says in a childish voice, that she’ll dressed in any way he wants, it will sound as if Shangyan has a clothing fetish. But since this is a Chinese drama, the audience will have missed this kind of naughtiness. To continue…

With a sigh, Shangyan sits closer to her to explain.

SY: Do you know that such words can easily be understood.
Nian: Misunderstand what?
SY: You really don’t understand? (she looks around her and shakes her head) Don’t discuss these problems with other people, especially men. Understood?

Nian: Mmmm.
Bai: (embarrassed now) I think I better move to the back of the bus. (yeah, dude! You should have done it the minute she stepped on the bus to allow her to sit across her boyfriend.)

Grunt and the other guy burst out laughing.

During the bus ride, Shangyan gets to confirm Nian’s wechat account.

Without her knowledge, he read over her shoulder as she texted, “In a very cool bus, I’ve also become cool.” She scrolls and shows her address, “Predestined Tonight Café.”

And now that nobody can see him smile, he smiles at Nian’s subterfuge.

2. Visiting his company for the first time

This scene could have been directed differently because Nian looks mostly stupid here when we all know that she’s a genius.

For instance, she gets locked out. One second, she’s right behind him,

and the next second, all the other guys file past her, leaving her behind the door. She hesitates to follow because he hasn’t said she could go in. Sigh!

He instantly realizes she isn’t tailing him,

and returns to open the door for her. (Ladies first, remember? Next time, open the door for her)  He lets her in and tells her, “Follow closely.”

She’s too busy looking around her that she bumps into him, not four steps from the door. (So much for “follow closely!” Not THAT closely, Nian!) He tells her sternly, “Don’t look around everywhere. Look where you’re going.”

Then he tosses a bottle of juice at her (This is rude. Does Nian look like a catcher to him? So why toss the bottle at her?)

Then, without even showing her around his building, he leaves her to make a call.

I know, right? Any other girl would have thrown a fit and demanded attention but good girl Nian just potters around the place.  She does however manage to annoy him. I say, good for her! She needs to get under his skin more often and push back against his tocratic ways.

She takes pictures of him surreptitiously.

First shot. He looks like a brooding model for a funeral house, though.

He notices her and she quickly pretends to innocently drink the orange juice.

Second shot.

This time, she’s caught so he texts her “Delete it” and follows it up with “Obey.”

Obey?

Of course, she’s flustered not because she’s told to “obey” but because she realizes that he knows that the “Predestined Tonight Café” account is hers.

He also accidentally overhears her voicemail. Her bestie is gushing over Shangyan. She left a message, “I can’t take this! Did you meet Gun God or not? Did he see you and stand motionless? Your body figure is so nice, you must showcase those advantages of yours!”

lol. Shangyan looks her up and down. He’s probably trying to find that nice body under the ugly clothes.

He asks her whether she talks about him to her friends often. She can’t even get her lies straight “No. No, no. Never. Please don’t misunderstand…maybe sometimes…a little bit. But it’s just a tiny bit…I talk a little bit about your previous career, etc.”

Personally, I wish she’d just admit that she talked about him all that time with her bestie. Who cares? He seems to like the idea that she talks about him, but he’s trying to look uninterested.

When the boys join them for lunch, Demo takes his spot right beside her and begins chatting with her with easy familiarity. “Sister-in-law, how are you feeling?”

He also helps her open her box lunch, saying, “Hurry and eat. This is my favorite. If you aren’t used to it, I have snacks in my dorm. They always steal mine but I don’t give—”

I’m sure Shangyan’s jealous when he interrupts Demo to ask about his progress in the reaction-taking test. He wants Demo to stop monopolizing Nian’s attention so he puts him in his place.

Demo says that he’s practiced all month so he’s able to raise his score to 201. Shangyan points out that their leader Bai’s score is 106. Demo looks crestfallen.

But Nian comes to Demo’s rescue and asks what a reaction-taking test is. She’s told that it’s a software that they use to test their reaction time. Every time the player hears a bell, he clicks on the mouse.

Nian: Is 106 in milliseconds?
97: Yes.
Nian: (reasoning) One second is equivalent to one thousand milliseconds, 201 is…201 is not low at all!
Demo: (suddenly perking up) Right?
Nian: Right!

She offers to make K&K their own software to test their reaction using a visual, not auditory, cue. Shangyan seems skeptical, “It’s easily said, but can you do it?” She replies that she can do it overnight if they want.

3. Candy

He is unwrapping his candy. She glances at him.

He looks at his candy again, then wordlessly, he tosses it in front of her.

The whole table is stunned, then erupts in cheers and jokes. They tease Shangyan for this new romantic stunt. He looks sheepish.

Now, you know me, right?  I like to round out my stories. So let me explain why this scene is important to me. The green candy reminded me that Nian and Shangyan’s day started with Nian’s green hat.

He nagged her about the green hat. But he also realized that green was her special color for that day. She also wore a matching green scarf and the poster she made was green.

So, with one look at her, he knew that she also wanted the GREEN candy that he was unwrapping. And he gave it to her. Fully aware that he’d lose face and be the butt of jokes by the kids, he gave her the green candy she wanted.

And that, my friends, made all the mean looks, his impatience, and the scowling all worth it.