It will add to our enjoyment of this cdrama if we look at the ideas put forward in each episode.
Note to the newbies: Hi! You’re free to have your own opinion and post them. Just don’t be tiresome by wasting my time whining about my meanness, lecturing me on my “biases” or not paying attention to what I said. This is MY blog. Often, it’s going to be opinion-driven, as opposed to rumor-driven or emotion-driven. My opinions aren’t formed in a vacuum. It should surprise no one that my background, experience, education, profession, wealth (haha), and temperament inform my perspective. As the name “Bitchesoverdramas” implies, this blog isn’t for the clueless or thin-skinned.
Note to all: I’m only at Episode 8 right now. I’m going at snail’s pace because delayed gratification is good for my impatient soul.
1. On temporal nodes
Sang Zhi’s opening words are, “There are several unforgettable moments throughout our lives.” She then corrects herself, “No. To be more precise, several paused temporal nodes.”
From her deliberate choice of words, I assume that the adult Sang Zhi has become familiar with technical jargon unlike her younger self who swore off physics. To me, she’s saying that life is filled with encounters which, at first glance, may appear “paused” — or random, temporary, sporadic, and interrupted. But in hindsight, these close encounters converge to become a grand overarching theme in her life.
Just like how small nodes become attached to a big network, her encounters with Duan JiaXu are to evolve into a relationship with him.
2. On Isaac Asimov’s “The End of Eternity”
In the trunk of her brother’s car, Sang Zhi spots the Isaac Asimov book “The End of Eternity” and a piece of paper marked “Duan.” She guesses that the book belongs to JiaXu so when she goes home that night, she obtains a copy of the book and reads it.
She says, “Asimov. The End of Eternity…’But it resolves itself into an identity. There is a loop of small dimensions with no tributaries on either side.’” She speaks to her stuffed toy, “Can you understand this? Maybe this is the distance between us. I can’t understand the book he is reading. I only know the characters.”
This is my take on the significance of the book.
a. The book is about a male time-traveler who lives in Eternity, a place outside of time. As an Eternal (aka resident of Eternity), his task is to travel though time and alter historical events to make them more favorable to humans. One day, however, he falls in love with a female non-Eternal. Because she’s a non-Eternal, any temporal modification to history risks erasing her existence. So he hides her beyond the reach of time in Eternity.
But the best-laid plans go awry, and he must choose between protecting his love or Eternity.
Lol. The ending may or may NOT be a spoiler. His ultimate decision – as the title clearly states – results in the “The End of Eternity.”
b. On one hand, it’s easy to see the parallel between the male time-traveler and Jia Xu. More than once, Jia Xu has stepped in to correct what could have easily been a disaster in Sang Zhi’s young life. For example, he pretended to be her brother in 8th grade and attended her teacher’s conference as the family representative. He also delivered her composition notebook in 11th grade and ensured that she finished her homework. Like the time traveler who shields humanity from dire consequences, he appears in her life to shield her from the consequences of her mistakes.
c. But on the other hand, it’s easy to see that Sang Zhi is trapped in a “loop of small dimensions with tributaries on either side.” No matter how fervently she wishes to be all grown up, she’s perpetually a younger girl in his eyes. From their very first meeting, the dynamics of their relationship were established, and their identities constructed. She was the younger sister of his friend, and he was the friend of her older brother.
It’s a “loop of small dimension.” Meaning, their connection to each other has been reduced to mere older brother/younger sister vibes.
There are “tributaries.” Meaning, there’s no escaping this social construct…unless you give it time. Fortunately for Sang Zhi, she doesn’t live in a timeless world like Asimov’s Eternity.
3. On the stuffed toy that looks like a fox
Though I’ve only watched up to Episode 8, I’m guessing that the stuffed toy isn’t accidental.
a. Remember that Sang Zhi drew a caricature of her teacher as a fox in her notebook.
I’m guessing that Jia Xu too drew the same conclusion after he met with the teacher that the teacher looked like a fox. Great minds think alike, and all that. He probably kept the stuffed animal as a reminder of his performance at the parent-teacher conference.
b. It’s also possible that the fox reminded Jia Xu of Sang Zhi’s personality. She’s wily and cunning as a fox. So when he won the prize the previous semester, he didn’t throw it away. His roommates were surprised that he hung onto the useless toy, but I think he saved it with the intention of giving it to her when the occasion arises.
JX: Busted, thief!
SZ: (speechless)
JX: Sang Zhi? I hardly recognize you.
SZ: I’m here to help my brother.
JX: I know. He told me. But why did you only steal my things?
When he teases her that she’s *only* interested in taking *his* things, he comes off as conceited and vain. But I think this is just false bravado because he’s feeling shy, too. He’s trying to break the ice with her.
SZ: Is this yours?
JX: Mmm.
SZ: Uhh… (putting the toy back) I didn’t know it was yours. Had I known I wouldn’t have touched it.
JX: What do you mean by that?
He is piqued by her response. He expects her to show a bit more enthusiasm to see him again, considering their last meeting three years ago. But he’s surprised at her aversion to touching his possessions.
JX: (continuing) Where is your conscience, kiddo? I did you a great favor. Don’t you remember?
SZ: (lying) No.
JX: If you like the plushie, take it. I was kidding.
He sounds like he’s trying to make amends for teasing her by giving her the plushie. But I think that he’s planned to give it to her all along and that he saved it all all this time to give to her at the first opportunity he gets.
SZ: I am already in 11th grade. I don’t play with plushies anymore.
Meanwhile, she sees this moment as an opportunity to show him that she’s already a grown up.
JX: I see. I’ll throw it away then.
He calls her bluff with a bluff of his own. He had one whole semester to throw away this “useless” toy – as his roommates attested – but he didn’t.
So why is he suddenly throwing it away now simply because Shang Zhi doesn’t want to take it? He can still hang onto the toy and display it on his bed. That’s why I say that he intended to give this stuffed toy to her all along.
SZ: (rescuing the toy) No…I…I…I can play with it for a while.
JX: (smiling because his mission is accomplished) Come on. I’ll take you upstairs. You can take your brothers shoes. Let’s go.
I notice that as they walk away, he exhales as if he’s relieved that she accepted the stuffed toy.
SZ: Gege.
I don’t speak Chinese. But I don’t think she calls him by name as the subs indicate. Rather, she calls him “gege.” I assume this word functions like “oppa.” It literally means “older brother,” but it can be used as a term of endearment for a lover.
SZ: (continuing) Did you get this fox plushy from someone else?
What she really wants to know is whether a girl gave the toy to him. She doesn’t want the toy if it had been a gift from a girl/girlfriend.
JX: I think so. I can’t remember.
I think he’s feigning ignorance. If it had been a prize as the roommates say, then technically, he did receive it from “someone else.” While she studies the toy again, he smiles at her inquisitive suspicious mind.
JX: (changing topic) We have to walk up five floors. Can you do it?
SZ: (nodding) Mmm.
JX: This way.
Then, just before he leaves her to go to his part-time job, he repeats his offer.
He’s practically begging her to take it home with her.
4. On Jia Xu’s gift-giving
For me, it makes sense that he purposely got the fox stuffed toy to give to her. He has the habit of giving her things. At their first meeting, he offered her a slice of watermelon to distract her from fighting with her big brother. Then, when he brought her composition notebook, he brought her milk and cupcake.
He buys her small things for no reason at all because:
a. he’s a thoughtful kind of guy.
b. he takes note of everything about her.
c. he likes to see her happy.
d. he wants to show that he cares.
e. he thinks she needs spoiling.
f. all of the above.
5. On the Pythagorean Theorem
Though this self-explanatory, I might as well cover it briefly.
This algebraic notation is familiar to all: a2 + b2 = c2
In this cdrama, the Pythagorean Theorem is a figure of speech called a “conceit.” It draws a parallel between love and a mathematical equation.
“a” stands for age. When Sang Zhi was in 8th grade, Jia Xu mistook her for an elementary school kid because of her short stature. His mistake left an impression on her and she would point out when they next meet that she wasn’t a “little” girl anymore.
“b” stands for distance. Sang Zhi and Jia Xu were in different physical locations.
“c” stands for time. Meaning, in due time, their age difference and their separate locations won’t matter anymore.
“c” is the metaphorical hypothenuse because it bridges the two issues of conflict, i.e., age and distance.
On a side note: I thought Sang Zhi’s classmate deliberately pointed the wrong answer to her to get her in trouble.
6. Lastly, on waiting
From what little I can see, this drama takes on the format of a diary entry. For instance, Chapter One is entitled, “Waiting. A Secret Kept.”
A few thoughts on this:
a. I think there are two people who are waiting and keeping a secret. The obvious one is Sang Zhi. In 8th grade, she waited for him to show up at her parent-teacher conference. In 11th grade, she waited for him to show up at the bus stop.
The not-so-obvious one (or perhaps the overlooked one?) is Jia Xu. If my theory is correct about the fox doll, then he waited for her to show up around her brother. He also waited for her at the bus stop because he actually arrived early and went off to buy her milk.
b. I like what she did to the alarm clock. He told her to set up the alarm for 6am. But she did it better. She set up her phone to buzz off at 5:10am, 5:30am, 5:50am and 6:00am.
I like this scene because her action showed that she was serious about making it to their appointment on time; she wasn’t leaving anything to chance. I also like this scene because I can imagine her feeling increasingly happier as the hour advanced. She was still groggy with sleep, but she was aware that she had 50, then 30, then 10 minutes to go before she needed to prettify herself for their early morning encounter.
I can relate to this.
c. The waiting connects with the Asimov book, “The End of Eternity.” When somebody is crushing on someone — like the main characters in this drama — waiting in secrecy can seem endless. Waiting for Sang Zhi to grow up and waiting for Jia Xu to realize that she’s grown up can feel like an eternity to Jia Xu and Sang Zhi, respectively. For them, the end of eternity of waiting comes when their secrets are finally revealed to each other.
Gotta run.
Hi! Thank you!!! 🥰
Thank you for the details and the connections. I thought about the Fox plushie too, like why would he keep something like that? He’s always busy with work and school so he really doesn’t need it.
I really like that thought, that he really kept it to give to Sang Zhi one day. ☺️
That Pythagorean Theorem explains them so much – age, distance and time.
I read that every title of the episode relates to how SZ feels. ☺️ I can wait for you till you finish this drama. I’m only watching episode 25 now because the subs are much better.
Laters! 😊
Thank you @Packmule – great to have your perspectives and insights.
What you write about the Asimov book makes me think about the care that went into the novel and the story telling.
Loved the reminders about DJ as gift giver and all the behind the scenes giving he did for SZ. That, for me, is the tender heart of the story.
I have a feeling I will do a complete re-watch when Netflix has released all the episodes.
Re the Asimov – I love the idea of a conceptual framework for a love story!
Even if we are not taking note of it (some of us!) – I wonder if that is a contemporary novelist’s way of dignifying a youthful crush because human love is part of a much bigger story.
Just musing here…
@Kate, DJ the giver reminded me of the light bulb that he gave to SZ for her home too. I mean she didn’t end up giving it to her Mom but still. Not to mention all of his gifts while she’s getting good grades at school. ☺️
I like the musing. Keep it coming. ☺️
Is there even a perfect/specific way to describe human love? ☺️
@agdr03 – I had forgotten about that gift!
Yes, re the congratulatory gifts – they became and more grown up – including the Guerlain gift pack with the very fresh (I think from the bottle – may be wrong) grapefruit scented ‘Aqua Allegoria’! Clever product placement I know but also – perhaps reading too much in – care taken to get her something both classic and befitting her age.
And of course – he was short of cash for this entire period. Struggling with the debt his Dad had dumped on him.
Great question @agdr03! Will ponder further…
I was thinking of the way the drama situates the love story with the emphasis on fated love in so much C and K drama.
Am I correcting in thinking that the modern day author is hinting at a logic of love … evoking scientific understandings of order in the universe.
Fated love is another type of logic that brings unlikely lovers together and enables them to suffer ‘the slings and arrows of fortune’ as they persevere in the journey.
@Packmule3 has given much more thought to the Asimov and the mathematical equation as a clue to our understanding of this couple’s journey towards one another.
* I was thinking of the way the drama situates the love story and comparing it with the emphasis on fated love…’
@agdr03 – re the gifts … it was so touching that DJ was struggling financially during this whole gift giving period.
He sent SZ gifts like the collection of Guerlain products! He really splashed out on her when going through that time of struggle.
She had distanced herself – and that was a good thing. But hard for him.
Finalleee… there is also mystery in this ‘logic’…just as there is mystery if we believe in an ordered universe.
We get back to huge questions about the way the Universe works and where we find ourselves as human beings. Is love dignified, do human beings have inherent dignity? Or are our lives and relationships merely chance collisions of physical entities?
Whatever the author believes – the storyline suggests that our ML and FL have to grow into their full maturity as people who love in order to come together. So far more than a simple crush and mutual attraction.
Forgive me for all the posts!
But… I am watching ‘Our Secret’ which is a 2021 coming of age love story set in high school and uni with the same actor playing the male lead and a lesser known Chinese singer actress (Rainbow Gu) as the FL.
One person described this in shorthand as ‘Cinderella meets Isaac Newton.’
In Episode 12, the ML is just making a speech at a school event. Amongst other things, he recollects his visit with the FL to the local observatory/planetarium (not sure which).
He says to the school assembly:’ In the vast space and limitless time, even if we are destined to part ways, watching the starry sky with you is the greatest thing that ever happened to me.’
Young love again set against a big backdrop. Use of ‘destiny’ language too.
No need for forgiveness @Kate! Post away! 😉
I actually like that speech and the connection again to endless time, space and the universe. ☺️
I’m not sure whether I can apply that to my past relationships. It made me pause. 🤔
I’ll think about it some more but I just finished episode 25 and I really love that simple proposal. It was honest and that 6 words promise of ‘a lifetime of loving one person’. 😭
I liked how DJ said to SZ’s parents how she healed his past and he will safeguard her future. 😭 This guy! 🥰
@agdr03 – could not agree more! Loved the way DJ summarised what had happened and the proposal too!
I believe from their first meeting, Jia Xu was drawn in by Sang Zhi’s spiritedness. Her brother was known by his peers on campus as being gruff, and here was a meimei who wasn’t afraid to go toe-to-toe with her gege and manipulate the odds to her favor. Sang Zhi also wasn’t afraid to game the system–school and parents–to her benefit. Jia Xu had been dealt a bad hand by life and the court system, imposing heavy responsibility on him for a mistake he didn’t make himself. I imagine he wished there were some way he could escape the situation into which he’d been thrust. Perhaps that was why Isaac Asimov’s novel The End of Eternity resonated with him: he yearned for an Eternal to enact a Reality Change and restore the carefree life he’d once lived. Sang Zhi had a different take on her misfortunes: she would do what she could to make them disappear. We learn Jia Xu’s thoughts later in Hidden Love, that Sang Zhi’s influence helped him buckle down and do what he needed to do, rather than waste energy moping.
Because this is a coming-of-age story as well as a romance arc, the scriptwriter had to tread lightly due to the age and life-stage difference between the two leads when they first met. If we are to be rooting for the male lead, there can be no hint he’s grooming her in the manner of a sexual predator. I think that balance was met, with their connection at first being as siblings. Yes, the fourteen-year-old Sang Zhi’s first impression of Jia Xu was to be stunned by his good looks (an improvement on her brother’s, is implied), but her thoughts quickly turned to how she could use him to solve her school problem. After Jia Xu helped Sang Zhi, there was a three-year gap before they met again. I agree, @Packmule3, that neither forgot each other during that time, but I don’t think they pined for each other in a romantic sense. It was curiosity.
It is after Sang Zhi goes to college in Yihe that Jia Xu entertains romantic feelings for her. He later says the turning point for him–from honorary brother to potential boyfriend–was the night of first snow her freshman year. It is socially acceptable for a college-age woman to enter a dating relationship, so no red flag is raised. Even knowing there’d been a change in the way he viewed her, Jia Xu was cautious and respectful of Sang Zhi’s qualms.
Lately, I’d been aching to rewatch Goblin. Maybe it is because subconsciously the age difference between Jia Xu and Sang Zhi reminded me of Goblin and his bride. I note that what Goblin appreciated most about Ji Eun Tak, even beyond her effective value as one who could end his eternal punishment, was her brightness of being. He, who led such a sad and lonely existence, loved her radiance.
This poem featured in Goblin also fits in Hidden Love:
The Physics of Love, written by Kim In Yook in 1963
Mass is not proportional to volume.
A girl as small as a violet,
A girl who moves like a flower petal,
Is pulling me towards her
With more force than her mass.
Just then, I am
Like Newton’s apple;
I rolled towards her without stopping
Until I fell on her
With a thump, with a thump thump
My heart keeps bouncing
Between the sky and the ground.
It was my first love.
Oops, the date 1963 may refer to the birth year of poet Kim In Yook. I’m not sure…
Aah Goblin! I still really like that Show and could watch it again. I feel so much for Eun Tak. I never found their age difference cringey… it was executed so well, with the right feels and right behaviour by both parties.
I love that First Love poem and the OST that goes with it. I still listen to it today.
@Welmaris, I was surprised to hear that some netizens thought Jia Xu was either attracted to Sang Zhi in a romantic way early on. As you said, he was drawn to her spiritedness, but not her somewhat reckless style when she was young. As you said in the other thread, having a sibling was a novelty back then. When he was asked by her to stand in as her brother, he took it very seriously and also tried to teach her to understand and respect her teacher. I don’t deny that he was probably flattered that she said she preferred his company to her brother’s, but that’s as far as it went.
JX’s brotherly attitude carried on through Sang Zhi’s adolescence, even while she was at the University, ignoring his texts. I think it only stopped at that moment when he was struck with the realisation that she was the woman who was in his heart.
Test: Re-subscribing to this thread.
Hi! Thank you for writing your analyses of Episode 1. I am looking forward to your impressions on the rest of the episodes when you can. The comments here are also incredibly insightful and I would like to add my 2 cents as well.
In response to @Welmaris and @Fern’s insights about JX affection towards SZ, I think part of the reason why he was drawn to her in the beginning was because of the chaotic and fun sibling relationship she has with SY. And as an older guy, who had to mature really fast, who had to deal with all these adult issues as a young teenager AND is an only child, it makes sense as to why he’s so drawn to her as an older brother. BUT IN GENERAL, he is drawn to the Sang family because subconsciously that’s the family he wished he had. I think he had a subconscious desire to have 1. a family with loving parents 2. chaotic siblings AND 3. wealth because he lacked all of those. He had to work hard just to earn all of those basic needs.
With SZ, I really believed that he wanted to be a brother to her in any way he can because he wanted a family.
The moments when he kept getting asked by Mrs. Sang to stay over and have dinner must have been so triggering for him. We never got a chance to see any scene with all of them together as a family. But I can imagine how emotional it would be for JX.
Anyways that’s all. I really enjoyed this thread. I’m excited to read more upcoming impressions and detailed analyses of episodes 🙂
Hi, @GB. Just testing back this morning to see if you get this as an email.
I re-watched the first 2 episodes on Netflix. I think, as @Welmaris wrote, that Jia Xu was drawn by Sang Zhi’s spiritedness and even by her mischief. I also thought that he may have felt she was somehow unsupported by her family, especially her brother, — not physically, but that she needed the sort of moral direction that made sense to her.
I think morality is very important to Jia Xu. His father had slipped into dissipation and escaping responsibility but Jia Xu is resistant to the easy way out, even before his father’s attempted suicide.
Sang Zhi at that age was quite self-centred and manipulative. That’s why Jia Xu questioned her blackmail of her brother when Sang Yan could have helped her; insisted that she respect and apologise to her teacher and, a few years later, why he didn’t write her essay on her behalf. She may have been a bit sulky about that, but she was interested in what he had to say.
I think Jia Xu was drawn to her intelligence as well. The look he gave her when he heard that she was both in Class 1 and at the top of her class for grades showed his awareness. In the scene at Sang Yan’s dorm, we see Sang Zhi looking at Jia Xu’s possessions and seeing his graduate school acceptance document on which is written “Direct Admission Recommendation”. I can’t be sure, but I think it means that he was academically gifted — as she was. I think he understood that she might not passively accept dictates that weren’t logical to her. He wasn’t in the position to rebel but she was, being a somewhat spoiled child from a wealthy family. In the same scene, he also saw that she responded to incentives. She was scolding her brother for playing games instead of coming down to meet her, but stopped when Sang Yan gave her a snack bar. JX didn’t ‘quite’ do an eyeroll at that! But it may have started the idea which evolved into JX’s congratulatory gifts to her in the future.
@Bahandi, I think you are absolutely correct about the clash between JX’s experiences with family life and that of the Sang family. It must be painful, because he was their debtor as well. But rather than resenting them, as someone else might, he is drawn to them.
Spoiler:
*
*
*
I have watched all of the episodes and this becomes more obvious right up to the last episode.
@packmule3, upon re-watch, I thought that Sang Zhi had drawn her teacher as some sort of googly eyed black bird perhaps. That allows the fox to always be Jia Xu’s representation. Sang Yan is a dog, one of two canines along with Jia Xu, according to their dorm room mates. Sang Zhi may be a rabbit. (I was thinking of the stressed rabbit mural on the restroom wall but that is episode 2, with other examples further on.)
@packmule, along the same lines, I agree that Sang Zhi is much more fox-like than rabbit like, especially when she was younger. When she is vulnerable in some situations, she becomes more rabbit-like. But I think that in her mind Jia Xu and the fox stuffy are linked.
Perhaps it’s in Jia Xu’s mind that she is a rabbit when she is in difficult situations, but he may be underestimating her strength.
Hi @Bahandi 😊
DJ with the whole Sang Family just eating together would have been very nice. 🥰
I agree, DJ was probably a little envious of the Sang Family’s relationship especially after his Mom died and he was pretty much all alone after that. The siblings bickering was definitely a hoot. 😁
But it’s true too what Sang Zhi said near the end, that her family loves him. ☺️
Thank you so much @Fern for doing the testing of notifications with me. 🤗 😘 Yes, I’m getting the BOD emails now, at last! I’m not sure if I have to re-subscribe to each thread, but so far, I believe from the recent threads, WordPress is sending me notifications again. 😁
Pingback: Hidden Love: Ep 2 My Takes – Bitches Over Dramas
@pm3, Just as your are watching this with snail pace, I’m also watching it slowly and savouring your post as well. Reading it, I would have wanted to re-watch and pay more attention to the things you brought out.
Now that you brought out the idea of the pythagorean theorem, if you see it like a graph, it’s like as they age, they did grow further in distance from each other..well at least till she went to Yihe Uni and that bridged the gap!
I love Jiaxu’s gift-giving and thoughtfulness. Though it’s like making up for the brother SZ would have had, and also him doting on a sister he would have had.
On Asimov, I knew when I was watching it, it would be good to circle back to this book. Thanks for explaining it so well. I love when they connect a book like this in the drama.
Now…talking about waiting and teenage crushes, this reminds me of a reality show that just aired on Netflix called Nineteen to Twenty. In the 8 days before they turn 20 (korean age), they are not allowed to date but gosh…the tension and the crushing on each other because so many situations makes it such that they cross paths. Of course I now have to wait for new episodes of this to come out because it has only aired till episode 3.