Love O2O: Episode 29 Highlights

Happy birthday to Yang Yang! This Episode 29 post is my gift to fellow Xiao Nai fans.

1. Picking up Weiwei

At the company dinner, Xiao Nai promised the guys a company excursion as reward for all their hard work and for winning the Fengteng contract. On the day of the company trip, Nai told the guys to go ahead as he was picking up Weiwei first. But the guys insisted on tagging along. All four vehicles ended up at Weiwei’s campus. Naturally, she got embarrassed at the sight of a convoy of cars picking her up.

To me, however, it was her online wedding when Xiao Naihe organized a grand wedding for her and invited people from different clans to follow her carriage on foot and on horses. They created a spectacular scene that time, too.

Online vs offline

WW: What an entourage!
Nai: They insisted.

Yes, they insisted but he didn’t stop them either. Judging by his smile, he approved of their idea, too.

WW: I should’ve met you at the office. This is too conspicuous.
Nai: Don’t worry. It’s no more conspicuous than your parents-in-law taking you to school.
WW: (blinking) You’re quite right. But whose fault that?
Nai: (smiling) Seatbelt.

Touche!

Many viewers have this impression that Nai browbeats Weiwei and wins all their arguments. That’s not true. When he changed topic and reminded her to put on her seatbelt, he was tacitly conceding that Weiwei made a good point and he had no good comeback. Although he dominates the conversation, he doesn’t mind when she speaks up and gets the better of him.

2. It’s not a race.

On an empty road on their way to their mountain retreat, the guys suddenly started overtaking Nai’s vehicle, as if they were all connected by mental telepathy to race him. Of course, Nai couldn’t resist competing and he sped up to overtake the lead car. But one command from Weiwei to “slow down” made him give up the race. He slowed down to cruising speed and all the cars sped past them.

But the joke was on the guys. Nai remembered that the guys only knew to head for the mountain retreat, but they didn’t know the guestrooms allotted to them as he was the one who made the reservations.

Nai: Let them wait. We won’t have much time alone in the next two days.
WW: It’s okay. I like hanging out with everyone.
Nai: I meant… (and he kisses her)

She’s innocent, remember? She thought he was apologizing in advance for any misbehavior that the guys would do, when he was actually regretting that they wouldn’t have privacy to do couple things like kissing.

That’s why he kissed her there.

lol. He really is such an opportunistic guy. Even when he “lost” the race, he took full advantage of their time alone together.

When they finally joined the waiting party, Old Man pounced on Nai asking him why he drove so slowly and didn’t answer his phone. To Weiwei’s embarrassment, he also asked, “Ms. Weiwei, what’s the matter? Why are you so flushed?” Nai replied that there was no phone reception and ignored the rest of his questions.

Obviously, the reason he drove so slowly and the reason Weiwei’s flushed were interconnected – and none of Old Man’s business.

They entered the mountain retreat together. Nai declared that Weiwei would get first dibs on the room and the others could choose any room after her. I find it interesting that Weiwei was walking on the “outside” of the group, that is, she was physically separated from the rest of the guys. Nobody was going to make a move on her while Nai was around.

3. The swimming competition

What’s up with these guys and these competitions? lol.

Again, it’s a no-brainer that Nai was going to win against KO because he swam competitively. (Remember the swimming trunks episode in Episode 21?? Weiwei brought him the swimming trunks which his aunt bought for him after he won the “inter-school swimming champsionship.)

Nai won the race and Weiwei gloated. But Mozart demanded a rematch. Thinking that Mozart wanted to see him win, KO quietly threatened Nai saying, “If I don’t win, I can’t barbecue.”

After the swimmers had pushed off to begin the race, Mozart insisted on picking first and he bet on Nai to win. Weiwei had no choice then but to cheer for KO. This time, KO won and Weiwei bragged that she won again. Nai was surprised to hear that.

Nai: You didn’t bet that I’d win?
WW: (approaches him to explain) I was going to, but Hao Mei bet on you first. I had to bet on KO.

HM: Nai, did you lose on purpose?
Nai: (glancing at KO) KO said he’d only want to barbecue if he won.

KO swam away.

pwahahaha. The reason I love this scene is – just like the car race – even when Nai loses, he’s actually winning.

He deliberately lost the rematch because KO wouldn’t cook for them. But despite KO’s win, he still lost on all counts because a) they all knew the race was fixed, b) Hao Mei didn’t believe in him winning, and c) after all that trouble, he was still stuck with barbecuing for them.

Hahaha.

So the smarty-pants Nai won again.

4. The food-hunter Weiwei

I thought it was funny that Weiwei was the one in charge of “bringing home the bacon” for the two of them. While all the guys were fighting over the barbecued chicken, Weiwei was able to snag not one, but two sticks of the scarce drumsticks for both Nai and herself. Meanwhile, Nai was just sitting there complacently.

It amused because Weiwei was showing in real life what she had shown online. Remember in Ep 6 at 23:00, she was killing all the monsters while he played his guizhen? The guys appeared called him shameless.

Bro2: You’re shameless. You hide behind the missus and get the reward for free?
Naihe: You get used to being a deadbeat after a while. Guys like you, who don’t have the protection of a wife, will never understand.

And remember how she fed their tiger pets? She was in charge of their growth, too. She told them, “Your dad couldn’t be bothered so I have to take you with me on matches to level up. I have to be mom and dad at the same time. But then, he’s also making money for your sake. You mustn’t dislike him.”

So here’s Weiwei “protecting” her husband and making sure he was well-fed. She even named their food “Xiao Bei drumsticks.”

The guys decided to play for the remaining food by dueling on the Chinese Ghost Story game. Weiwei agreed to it and quickly suggested teaming up with Xaio Nai.

WW: I vote for gaming duels. I’ll team up with Lord.
Bro2: That reminds me. Nai can’t play. Otherwise, he’ll win all the drumsticks.
Other guys: That’s true. I second that.
Nai: (protesting) How will I get any food?

Bro2: Mrs Nai can win it for you.
Bro1: It’s decided then. Get the laptops.

Nai and Weiwei exchanged knowing looks. Weiwei looked confident that she could feed Nai.

She used Nai’s account to play and lost the first game to Bro1/Old Man. Nai ordered a rematch but this time he’d advise Weiwei.

Old Man: You’ll advise her? I quit.
Weiwei: Oooh. Lord opens his mouth and you’re scared?

She was trash-talking him, of course. She would still have to react quickly and keep up with Nai’s orders while Old Man actually had an advantage because he was hearing Nai’s tactics, too.

Anyway, at the end of the games, the Weiwei-and-Nai duo wins the most food. They don’t stay to eat the food though. Nai excused themselves to go for a walk. Old Man chided them for going on a date while he hadn’t even eaten dinner yet. Nai teased him back saying that if they stayed, he’d be hungry all night because he’d lose all the games.

I liked it when Weiwei walked up to him and they held hands.

To me, she was signaling that it was their time to leave the guys together and he also understood that it was an opportune moment to have a bit of couple time.

But I liked that he wasn’t shy about that “public display of affection.” Raising their joined hands up is like flaunting that he got a girl and the others didn’t. lol.

5. Zhenshui’s apology

While playing with the guys, Weiwei opened her old account and saw a farewell message from Zhenshui. He said, “Don’t feel troubled. This is a farewell message. I don’t have other intentions. There are things on my mind, that I don’t know who I can tell. Just thing of this as a tree hole post.”

Note: a tree hole is a hole found on the trunk of the tree. I think Zhenshui’s alluding to a folklore where somebody could vent all his secrets, heartaches and troubles, into a hole on the tree, and feel relief afterwards. Zhenshui trusted Weiwei to keep his confidences a private matter. He apologized for his father’s underhanded tactics to compete gainst Xiao Nai. He ended his letter with, “So I decided to earnestly learn some things. I might have you and Xiao Nai to thank for that. Finally, please tell Xiao Nai, one of these days, I’ll beat him and make a better game.”

Weiwei let Nai read Zhenshui’s letter. She simply replied, “Good luck.” And Nai added his own words, “I’ll be waiting. Xiao Nai.”

I thought it was appropriate closure to that tenuous online connection between Weiwei and Zhensui. Nai was letting Zhenshui know that a) he and Weiwei didn’t keep secrets from each other, b) he looked forward to the challenge, c) he bore him no ill will despite his father’s sabotage, and d) he won the girl that Zhenshui thoughtlessly dumped. hahaha.

6. Weiwei’s worries about losing her memories

They go off to an overlook that reminded Weiwei of the cliff that they used to frequent in the game. (To be honest, the scene looked computer-generated to me, too.) Weiwei voiced her worries about the effects of the new edition of the Beautiful Ghost Story on the old game. First, she worried that the players in the original game will decrease and consequently, the game would be canceled. Nai assured her that no matter how great the new game would be, some old functions couldn’t be replaced. Not everybody would leave.

Besides, he said, Fengteng promised to keep the old game operational forever.

But Weiwei still worried that other promises to keep some games continuing had been broken before. So Nai gave her his personal word. Although he couldn’t promise that the game would run forever, he promised that, “it should last until our child is able to play the game.”

WW: A child?
Nai: That’s right. (back-hugging her) I want to at least bring the child to the Red Sparrow Bridge, let the child know the first things we said to each other there.

Then, they remembered all their favorite computer game moments until their first real live encounter on the campus bridge. Back then, she was surprised to meet him, “Mr. Xiao? What a coincidence!” He walked past her and then said, “It’s not a coincidence. I’m waiting for you.”

WW: I suddenly feel like what was troubling me just now doesn’t matter anymore. Even if the game gets canceled, the scenery we enjoyed together, and the things we did together, won’t erase the memories even if the data is erased.

For me, she meant this: the data in game would have been important to preserve IF the fantasy world was vastly DIFFERENT from their real world. If everything online had been faked, i.e., his real self was unlike his online persona, then she’d cling to the data.

However, she’d come to realize that their characters and actions online were very much similar to their real selves therefore losing the game date wasn’t worrisome.

Take for instance, the cliff they were standing on at the moment. Even if the Sunset Peak in the game disappeared, she would still have that real cliff which would remind her of the game. Likewise, the Red Sparrow Bridge in the game could disappear but she would still have the campus bridge where she and Nai met in real life.

Or she could lose the data of her wedding entourage but she would still have the memory of the car entourage that picked her up from school. She could lose the data of fighting the monsters while Nai attended to other business, but she would still keep forever the memory of feeding Nai with “Xiao Bei” chicken barbecue.

Do you get what I mean?

The game world was lovely but it was just fantasy. Their real world was infinitely so much more than satisfying. Thus, the game data could be erased but her memories of actually living through those game encounters and meeting him in person and getting to know for real, would live on.

WW: (continuing) I’ll always keep them in my heart. What about you?
Nai: My memory will be better than yours.

Pwahahaha. It seemed like he was bragging again…but it’s true. He was speaking the truth. His memory of the events would be better than hers, not because he’s smarter, but because he saw the WHOLE picture while Weiwei was only seeing one side of it, her side.

Remember now: Weiwei didn’t know that he knew who she was from the beginning when he approached her on the Red Sparrow Bridge. She thought their meeting was all accidental when, in fact, he’d planned it all along. All his moves after that were arranged…like sitting beside her in his father’s archaeology class, meeting her in the cafeteria, uploading the contest video while she was in the library so he could watch her surprised reaction to the video.

So his memory was indeed better than hers because his memory of how the events unfolded was complete.

credit: kdramafeed’s tumblr

7. Fiancée

Two years later, Weiwei and her roommates are dressed for graduation and watching Nai’s interview for a show touting their company’s successful game.
Nai was fielding the questions very well. Weiwei was naturally very proud of her boyfriend up the interviewer asked him about the lack of women in his team.

Interviewer: I hear your game is very popular with women, but you have an all-male staff. How did you create a game that’s so popular with women?
Nai: That’s a false rumor. (looking straight at the camera) My fiancée is also on the staff.

Weiwei was flabbergasted. The expression on her face screamed: “That’s news to me!” and “Huh? But I didn’t get the memo?!” and “Not on national TV!” lol. I liked that even after two years together, he was still eliciting “OMG” moments from her.

Weiwei’s roommates wanted to know the details of course. But Weiwei insisted she had no idea.

WW: I have no idea!
Xiaoling: Don’t lie! Lord proposed to you?
WW: No! Wait… could it be?

And she remembered a time when they were lounging around his couch and she asked him about her working for him after graduation.

WW: Do I go work for you after I graduate?
Nai: What else?
WW: (complaining) I’ve interned at your company for two summers, but I’ve never gotten paid!
Nai: Oh.
WW: (pouting) What does that mean?
Nai: It means, if you want money, there’s none. But if you want the man, there’s one.

Weiwei continues to stare him; he wiggles his eyebrows at her. And she flinches at his cheesiness.

Weiwei recounted that moment to her friends who were rightfully astonished.

Xiaoling: Huh? That counts as a proposal?
Sisi: He’s unbelievable! You’re his girlfriend before you two met. You’re his fiancée before he proposed. He’s still cunning as ever.

The girls felt that they were robbed or cheated out of the whole romantic experience and the vicarious drama of a friend being proposed to.

Xiaoling: Weiwei, I’m really worried about you. There’s no way you can beat him in a battle of wits. Even in wrestling, you have no chance against him. Your status in the family (meaning, her marriage life with Xiao Nai) is cause for concern.

Xiaoling thinks that Weiwei is a pushover and gives in too easily to whatever Nai demands.

Weiwei: Lord doesn’t wrestle.
Xiaoling: Silly! I meant another kind of wrestling. (hahaha. She meant sex of course)

When Weiwei caught on to Xiaoling’s innuendo, she leapt to her feet and harassed Erxi instead. It’s only in the next episode that we find the reason for her embarrassment.

Unwittingly, she told her friends the truth that Xiao Nai did not “wrestle.” Because of her, Nai had been celibate for the past two years.

When she met Nai later that day at their graduation photo session, she casually brought up this engagement she didn’t know about.

WW: Radiant Mr. Xiao. My roommates want to take photos with you. Is that okay?
Nai: Photos with me? You’d have to ask my girlfriend.
WW: I thought it was a fiancée? (teasing him)
Nai: Sorry, my bad. You’d have to ask my fiancée.
WW: (laughs) Yes, take photos with them. Let’s go.