I recommended this Chinese drama because the first episode hooked me in. I’m on Episode 25 now and, so far, I don’t regret jumping on the bandwagon…well, maybe just a smidgen because of all that romantic sweetness.

1. Fate and the ladybug

The beginning delivers the premise of the story without delay.

The hero narrates:

“For most people, living in a colorful world is something they take for granted. Until all of a sudden… (image of a car getting hit by a truck of doom and exploding, then an injured young boy waiting in the hospital corridor as a man was wheeled in). After the extreme pain, the whole world of yours becomes black and white. Your life then becomes a never-ending black-and-white movie. When that day comes, what can you do?”

Then a little girl puts candy in his hand, and smiles at him.

I’m a sucker for cuteness. I can imagine this little girl as a granddaughter.

Then the scene transitions to the present time. We see a somber and monochromatic room with a lone figure sitting on the couch. His back is turned to us.

The curtains opens and he walks over to the floor-to-ceiling windows. He looks outside, and sips tea. The picture we get here is a dull existence.

One by one, light turns on in his room to show us what his world would have looked like if he wasn’t color-blind.

His go board is ochre. The yunzi stones are black and white. The couch is blue. The view outside his window is green.

Ha! Even with full color, the room looks dull.

At that moment, a ladybug settles on his window.

It stays for a few seconds, then flits across town to a modern building. It then appears as a graphic art on the heroine’s bright yellow hoodie.

So what’s up with the ladybug? Is this digital effect just for transitioning from one scene to another?

In China, just like here in the US, ladybugs are a talisman of good luck. It’s NOT at all like that floating feather in “Forrest Gump.” In that movie, the feather symbolized the randomness of life; the feather just went willy-nilly from one place to another.

In this Cdrama, however, the ladybug explicitly connects the two main characters, Sheng Jing Chu (JC) and Cheng Liao (Liao). The ladybug is meant to show that it’s a lucky day for these two because they’re fated to meet again on that very day.

2. The Meet-Cute

In romcoms, how the main couples meet for the first time is a good indicator of how the narrative will unfold. The couple may start off on the wrong foot, or keep missing each other like the proverbial ships in the nights, or fall in love at first sight.

In this Cdrama, the writer opted to have the “push-pull” scenario where JC is instantly attracted to the girl (i.e., the “pull”) while Liao treats him like a thief (i.e., “pushing” him away).

JC was supposed to be picked up by his teammate, but his teammate forgot the time. Fortunately, JC anticipated his teammate’s tardiness, and already took the bus to go to the tournament arena on his own.

Meanwhile, Liao, an probationary intern at a TV station, was assigned to cover the Go Tournament. She’s reluctant to do the job since she knows zilch about the game. However, she’s forced to do the job because of her “connection.” Her older sister happens to be a famous TV personality and she’s expected to snag an interview with the reclusive Sheng Jing Chu after the tournament. Liao’s boss, Ms Liu, wants Liao to tag-along.

Bestie: No one wants to produce a show focusing on Go. Not even one team. Moreover, Sheng Jing Chu has never attended any personal interviews.
Wait. Then this interview is mission impossible.
Bestie: Well, it might be impossible for some of them, but it isn’t impossible for you.
Liao: Do I have superpowers?

Bestie: You have your sister.
Liao: Why do you mention my sister again?
Bestie: Your sister is unlike the other people. She’s the top dog of Binhai TV Station, the queen of hosting. If there’s only one person who can interview Sheng Jing Chu, then that person must be your sister, Cheng Yi. Mrs. Liu has her finger on the pulse. She immediately put you in charge when she knows your sister is the one in charge. What she meant is to take the equipment with you, follow your sister’s back, and freeload on an interview.

From the conversation with her Bestie, we can glean that Liao doesn’t like to bask in the reflected glory of her sister. She likes to make it on her own efforts. However, she’s insecure about her personal abilities because she’s lived in the shadow of her older sister. Her “superpowers” will slowly come to light by the end of this episode.

3. What are her superpowers?

a. Her colors

She’s the only one who appears in color for JC. He spots her running after the bus because she was in bright yellow. He saves her from falling but her press tag gets caught in the door.

b. Her righteousness

He can’t help staring at her because it’s the first time he’s seen something or somebody in full color. She finds his gaze disturbing that when a female passenger loses her phone and it turns up in JC’s pocket, she grabs JC’s wrist without hesitation.

JC isn’t at all upset that she turns him in to the police, making him late for his tournament. He thinks she’s righteous. lol.

c. Her boldness

At the police station, she describes him as a person with angelic face but a demon heart.

At the tournament site, instead of apologizing for her mistake, she pretended not to know him when he approached her.

JC: Hello again.
Liao: (covering her face with facemask) We’ve never met. You must have gotten the wrong person.
JC: I might mistake one for the other, but I’ll not mistake one for you.

Viki subbed this a little differently. Per Viki, he said, “Other people might not recognize you. But I can.”

I prefer the Kissasian sub. To me, he’s saying that other people might be indistinguishable for him, but she stands out for him. When she’s in a crowd, she still catches his eye because she’s the only one in full color.

Note: He speaks in monotone. And since he uses this robotic voice, it’s easy to for Liao to misinterpret his words as sarcasm, when in reality, he’s only being sincere and earnest.

Liao: (arguing) I got my mask on all the time.
JC: (He notices her press pass.)
Liao: Besides, we’re not even on the same bus. I took route 233; you took route 332
JC: How did you know which bus I was on?
Liao: You got the wrong person. (leaving him)

I like how she left in a huff because it shows that she isn’t intimidated by his fame. Despite being clearly in the wrong, she has pluck. This is critical because I don’t want to see the heroine toadying to the guy this early in the story, or giving up so easily without putting up a fight.

d. Her sister is her weapon

Unlike Cinderella’s mean stepsister, Liao’s older sister, Cheng Yi, is actually good to her. After rightfully scolding Liao for losing her press pass, she lends her own pass to allow Liao to get in to the tournament. She also gives her good advice to stay away from JC. She explains the game of Go to her.

My notes on Go:

The Chinese Go stones are different from the Korean baduk stones. In Korea, the stone is curved outwards on both sides (or bi-convex). In China, the stone is flat on one side, and curved on the other side. The Chinese Go stones are called yunzi.

Black player has an advantage because he/she starts the game. As compensation, the white player is given additional white stones at the end of the game.

JC was penalized for being late. Had he been 30 minutes late, then he would have forfeited the game. But since he was late 28 minutes, his game time was reduced by 56 minutes (or 28 x 2). Thus, he had 64 minutes to win the game while Yao Ke (Ke) had a whole two hours. As it turned out, JC only needed 54 minutes to beat Ke. Meanwhile, Ke used up 86 minutes strategizing against JC.

4. Why did JC rush through his match?

Everybody was surprised that JC finished the game in quick time and in 100 moves.

Liao: He wins the game in such a short time.
Sister: He’s acting weird today. His attack is fast. He didn’t show his opponent mercy at all. Didn’t the commentators say that his playing style is quite murderous today?
Liao: Do you think he is mad at me?
Sister: What do you think?

Liao naturally thinks that JC is taking out his frustration from his morning misadventures on his Go opponent. And her fears are confirmed by JC’s teammate Cao Xi He (XH) who sits down with Liao for a post-game interviewer.

Liao: I heard that Sheng Jing Chu plays with an extra murderous style today. Is that real?
XH: Of course. Ever since my senior started to play Go when he was a teenager, he was never late to a single competition. Who knows what kind of crazy people today? Tell me, who wouldn’t be mad?

Liao feels guilty because she knows that her behavior that morning certainly qualifies as crazy.

XH: Well, I’m different.
Liao: Does Sheng Jing Chu hold grudges against people who offend him?
XH: An eye for an eye. He’s nothing like me….

XH’s remarks unnerve Liao. She imagines all sort of drastic things happening to her because of JC’s vengeful wrath. She doesn’t know that nothing could be further from the truth.

To me, it’s apparent that JC rushed through his match because he wanted to meet her as soon as it was over. He thought she was Cheng Yi, so he sent word immediately after he won that he was agreeing to a sit down with Cheng Yi for an interview.

But when he sees the real Cheng Yi (CY), he realizes that there’s a mix-up. He searches the room for Liao, then asks CY if all her staff members are present. When told yes, he promptly excuses himself. He says, “If you are the interviewer, I’m sorry I can’t give you this interview.”

And there we have another one of Liao’s superpowers. She can summon the Go Deity from his seclusion.

He’s willing to break his rule of avoiding the press just to meet her again. Although he never chases after a person — least of all, a member of the press — he breaks into a run when he spots her fleeing from him.

This is a foreshadowing.

I don’t know about the rest of the drama because I’ve only skimmed through Ep 25. But so far, he’s the one chasing after her and running towards her.

And that’s the chief appeal of this show for me. I don’t have to stress out about the JC’s object of affection. His constancy is therapeutic.

As much as he seeks color in his life, I think his black-and-white mentality has its own benefits. It makes him unambiguous about his feelings for her, and uncomplicated for us to figure out. He doesn’t need to dissemble or obfuscate.

5. The pomelo candy

He finds out her name and place of employment from XH, and he goes there to search for her.

I like that he didn’t waste time. To me, he’s applying an opening principle of Go, “corner-side-center.” Meaning, he first must establish territory in the corner; next, move to the sides; then extend his influence over to the center.

I found the idea of using a sword fight/martial arts to represent a Go contest ingenious.

Liao’s workplace is her “corner” and it’s easy to mark that place as “his” territory because he’s the reclusive Go “Legend” (or Dashen) that media has been hounding.

He finds her moping outside her building. She just got an earful from her boss for her failed mission. She compares herself to her successful sister and finds herself lacking.

Liao: (muttering to herself) I don’t want to fall behind her too. She’s outstanding ever since she was a kid. What else could I do?

Note: Her question here repeats the question that JC asked in the opening of the episode. He asked, “Your life then becomes a never-ending black-and-white movie. When that day comes, what can you do?”

When she notices him standing in front of her, she jumps up in surprise. She mutters “sorry,” then turns around to run away again. But he catches her by her hoodie.

Liao: Mr. Sheng — No! Legend, I’m sorry. I know I was wrong. I’m so sorry. If you’re mad, you can hit me. Or you can be magnanimous and let me go.
JC: No.

She thinks he was insisting on his revenge, his eye-for-an-eye. She mentally prepares herself to receive her penalty, so she closes her eyes.

Liao: I’m down on my luck today anyway. Do it.

This is interesting. Throughout the day, she was under the impression that she had bad luck —

When she lost her card —

When she discovered who JC was —

But as I wrote earlier, the ladybug signals the arrival of good things. All these things she considered “bad luck” are actually good fortune in disguise.

JC: Cheng Liao. Nice to meet you.

He hands her the pomelo flavored candy.

As cheesy as this whole scene may appear, I think the pomelo candy is significant for two reasons.

Obviously, this is a flashback to the past when she gave him the candy. That time, it cheered him up. So this time, he was giving her the candy to cheer her up, too. They’ve come full circle.

The second significance of pomelo is its contrast to the yunzi stones. He’s represented by the black and white yunzi stones while she’s represented by the pomelo candy. When they were young, the candy was their point of contact. She initiated their connection with the candy.

Now, that they’ve grown up, it was his game of Go that started their reconnection. They met each other again because of the Go competition. And this time, he was taking the first step to find her.

Thus, to me, they have the answer to their rhetorical questions they asked.

He wondered what can a person do when his life has become a “never-ending black-and-white movie.” She, on the other hand, was wondering what can a person do when her life is a on-going drama where she plays a second fiddle to her sister.

The answer is the title. “Go into your heart.”

Hahaha. Did you get it?

They have to go and enter each other’s lives.

JC needs her to end his black-and-white movie and bring color to his life, in both the literal and metaphorical sense. Liao needs him to end her supporting role in a career that was paved by her sister, and become star in her own right.

🙂

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

I have adopted two Chinese dramas: “You Are My Glory” and “GO Into Your Heart.” I’ll try not to play favorites and review  both as the spirit moves me.