“Location, location, location” is the mantra in real estate. “Pattern, pattern, pattern” is mine for this drama. It’s my top consideration when looking at the characters’ behavior, dialogues and emotions. Because the characters are fleshed-out, they won’t act randomly.

Chapter 8. Re-encounter. Say see you again before meeting again
Featured Object: Microphone

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1. Sang Zhi: Will she or won’t she move on from Jiaxu?

For sure, 99.9% of the viewers hold the opinion that Sang Zhi is moving on after the airport encounter. They’re relying on Brother Sang Yan’s judgment, just like their parents did.

Dad: Gege. How is your sister?
Sang Yan: Okay.
Mom: Let’s talk to her over dinner.
Sang Yan: We don’t need to. She knows her mistake. She cried the whole way. I already scolded her. I think that’s enough.
Mom: Do you think she’s…
Sang Yan: Aiii. Duan Jiaxu said that guy didn’t make any promises. It was her wishful thinking.

Wrong! Duan Jiaxu got it all wrong. “That guy” DID make promises. It was NOT her wishful thinking.

Sang Yan: (continuing) With her proud personality, if she said it’s over, it’s really over. She would see it through. Think about it. Whenever she said she would stop binging anime, she would stop. Has she ever kept a plushie that she dislikes?
Dad: You’re right about that. It’s her teenage rebellion phase. It’s normal to rebel once. How about not criticizing her then?
Mom: Okay. We’ll pretend nothing happened during dinner. As if she came home from school as usual. Wait. We need to hold onto her ID card and pay attention to what she does online. We also need to take her phone.
Dad: Yes, we have to confiscate her phone.

My comments:

a. Unfortunately for the viewers, Sang Yan – bless his heart – isn’t exactly perceptive. If you want to establish a pattern, you must have good intel. And Sang Yan is one of the worst sources of intel out there. I wouldn’t rely on him to assess the security footage of the neighbor’s dog’s poop schedule.

b. His major blunder is to assume that matters of the heart are on the same level as anime mania and arctophilia. No. First loves aren’t disposable like anime games and old teddy bears. And the end of first love leaves a scar.

c. His second mistake is to overlook that his sister is no longer a middle schooler. In his mind, his sister is still into anime and plushies. If he had gone to her room, and investigated the things in her room, he would have seen that she no longer kept a plethora of stuffed toys and kiddie doodads.

Her bedroom in middle school. From Episode 4

Her bedroom in high school. From Episode 8.

In fact, he should have been suspicious of that lone stuffed toy on her bed because it was the fox dolly that Jiaxu kept and gave to her. Why was she hanging on to it?

d. And his third error is to engage in some wishful thinking of his own. Lol. Sang Zhi never said that it was over.

This was their conversation at the airport:

Sang Zhi: (walking with head down)
Sang Yan: Little demon!
Sang Zhi: (walking toward him)
Sang Yan: Forget it. I’ll spare you this time. Let’s go home. Mom already told your private tutor to take the day off. But I can’t help you if Mom and Dad scold you later.
Sang Zhi: (sniffling then breaking down in tears)
Sang Yan: Err…Errr…How about it? I’ll buy you a crispy taro-crusted duck. But…
Sang Zhi: (wailing and hugging him)
Sang Yan: All right now. It’s just heartbreak. It’s not a big deal. I’ll buy you the last several volumes of the comic you read, okay?
Sang Zhi: (crying intensifies)
Sang Yan: How about this then? I’ll find someone to beat him up, okay?
Sang Zhi: (wailing)
Sang Yan: Not that either? Good girl. I’m here for you. I’m here for you. Don’t cry, okay? It’s okay. It’s okay.

And this was their conversation in the car:

Sang Zhi: (hiding in her bear hoodie)
Sang Yan: I know you’re heartbroken. But I need to remind you of the severity of the situation. Do you know how worried Mom and Dad were?
Sang Zhi: (not saying a word)
Sang Yan: (sighing) All right, little demon. At your age, you should study hard. Do not get into puppy love. Besides, you stole an ID card to buy a plane ticket. What if you had encountered a bad guy? Stop playing dead! Give me a nod!
Sang Zhi: (nodding)

Do you see it? Sang Zhi was too emotional to utter a single word, and he didn’t ask her outright about her first love. When she nodded her head, she was only obeying his command, not agreeing to stop her first love.

To borrow his words, she didn’t make any promises. It was his wishful thinking. Ha!

e. There’s the answer to the mystery of Sang Zhi’s missing phone: it was confiscated by her parents. (Whoa! She was without phone for two years?! I can’t see that happening here in the US. The Eighth Amendment prohibits “cruel and unjust punishment.”)

So if you ask me whether Sang Zhi moved on or not from Jiaxu, my answer is a firm no. She had no intention to move on.

All she did was to put Jiaxu-related things away in the box FOR STORAGE. If she was moving on, she would have burned them.

Also, take note of the following details:

a. As she cried on the box, the voiceover said, “Jiaxu, see you again.”

b. Her diary entry for that day noted her wish to see him again.

c. The title of the episode explicitly indicated the wish to “see you again.”

Chapter 8. Re-encounter. Say see you again before meeting again
Featured Object: microphone

Thus, in my opinion, if you want to understand Sang Zhi’s first meeting with Jiaxu in YiHe, then you must ditch that misconception that she had given up on him…because she didn’t.

In truth, after she packed away his gifts, she decided to go into hiding. That treasure box didn’t symbolize moving on and letting go. Quite the opposite. It was a symbol of hidden love, just like the title of the drama said. She was going to hide her love and hold on to it. She was biding her time till they met again.

Her stealth and stubbornness are behavioral patterns you can back on.

Furthermore, she hid her real reason for studying in Yihe. Sure, the university was top in digital design. But her implicit reason was to see him again.

However, this time around, she was determined to meet him as a grown-up, impress him with her savoir faire, and make him fall for her. But her plan was scuttled when they encountered each other at the club. He caught her looking like a wild college kid instead of an elegant, sophisticated young lady. She was dismayed when he called her “kiddo.”

SZ: …Also, I’m a grown-up now. If you keep calling me a kiddo, don’t you think it’s a little awkward?
DJ: How old can you be? You’re still a kid.
SZ: (pausing) Yes. I’m still a kid. Two years… After two years, you’ve indeed grown older and weathered.

Awww. Though she looked like she was about to cry again when he called her “kiddo,” I like that she came out swinging, and described him as “weathered.” It was tit-for-tat because Jiaxu was annoyingly officious. He suspected her of smoking, overdrinking, and putting on too much make-up. Who appointed him the Morality Police?

DJ: It’s past nine and you’re still out.
SZ: I’m leaving soon.
DJ: Get your things. I’ll see you back.
SZ: (quickly, too quickly) It’s okay. I can go back with my friends.
DJ: (nodding his head) That works too.
SZ: (turning to go)

DJ: Sang Zhi. It has been so long. You’ve learned how to put on makeup. You’re indeed different from before.
SZ: Mmm. (leaving him)

She knew that his parting shot wasn’t a compliment. But that’s okay because she called him weather-beaten.

2. Duan Jiaxu: same question: Will he or won’t he move on since Sang Zhi’s ignoring him?

No.

As I explained in my previous commentary, he too was biding his time. That’s the reason he sent those text messages even though he knew that she had no phone at her disposal and couldn’t read his texts. In those messages, he was fulfilling what was written in the Chapter title: “Say ‘see you again’ before meeting again.”

Like Sang Zhi, his stealth and persistence are also behavioral patterns you can observe in this episode.

He knew he blew it. He knew that Sang Zhi had no intention of meeting him again in the club after that disastrous re-encounter. He acted like an old fogey and criticized her for smoking, overdrinking, putting on make-up, and doing what typical college kids do on the weekends.

So as soon as she left him, he ran to the nearest convenience store to buy a jar of honey for her hangover.

To me, the epilogue was a clear indication that he didn’t plan on letting her home without him. By hook or by crook, he was going to drive her home. So he rushed back to the club because he didn’t want to miss her departure. It was no accident that he was in the lobby when she came out. He was waiting for her.

The way I see it, had Sang Zhi been with friends, he would have introduced himself as her Gege, and insisted on taking them all back to the dorm as her family relative. But as luck turned out, she came out alone.

SZ: (muttering to herself) That old thing!
DJ: Huh? Did you mean me?
SZ: (surprised to see him)
DJ: Sure. I’m the only “old thing” that you saw here tonight.
SZ: (lying) I wasn’t talking about you.
DJ: Then who were you referring to?
SZ: I was just mumbling.
DJ: So tell me who else annoyed you and made you say that? I would like to know.
SZ: (realizing that this circular conversation isn’t going nowhere) Jiaxu Ge, the thing is you don’t have to be nosy. (side-stepping him)
DJ: Wait! Didn’t you say that you’re leaving with your friends?
SZ: Ummm…
DJ: Then let’s go. This old thing will see you back to campus. (walking ahead, expecting her to follow)

See how smoothly he got his ball rolling?

But in the car, the conversation kept circling back to their ages.

DJ: Young lady, I just wanted to settle a score with you while driving you back.
SZ: (assuming that he’s referring to being called “an old man”) Actually…that term is considered civilized in y oung people’s vocabulary. I think it’s not considered offensive, right?
DJ: (but that isn’t his beef with her really) How much beer did you have tonight?
SZ: One bottle.

That’s one of the things he wanted to talk to her about: her drinking. He doesn’t drink and as we’ll find out later, there’s a reason for his abstinence. Now, given his backstory, he was naturally concerned about Sang Zhi drinking.

The other thing he wanted to talk about was her behavior with him. He didn’t like it.

DJ: Why don’t we talk a bit?
SZ: Huh?
DJ: (straight-to-the-point) Why do I get the feeling that you have something against me, kiddo?

When I first watched this bit, I laughed at his cluelessness. He was doing alright – tiptoeing around her feelings — until he mentioned the word, “kiddo.” He simply had no idea that using that word to refer to Sang Zhi is like waving a red flag to a bull. It enraged her.

DJ: Hmm?
SZ: I don’t like it when you call me that.
DJ: (confused) “Kiddo”? I am indeed five years older than you. And after you’re married, your parents will still see you as a kid.
SZ: (retorted) So do you want to be my dad?

His look.

Her remark was flippant. But she had a point. Why did he have to bring up her parents into this?

SZ: That’s not it. I mean, I’m already a grown-up so if you keep calling me that I’ll feel very uncomfortable.
DJ: Fine. I get it.

To make sure that he wouldn’t forget, she insisted.

SZ: Besides I’m an adult now. I know what I’m doing.
DJ: Yes. Sang Zhi is now all grown-up now.
SZ: (thinking to herself) But you still see me as a kid.

3. His apology

Jiaxu is consistent. When he wrote her the “Helping my brother move” essay, and when he texted while she was under “house arrest,” he has his style of connecting with Sang Zhi.

Then and now, he wants her to:

a. forgive him for whatever he did to annoy her
b. stop calling him old
c. look upon him kindly
d. take notice of the things he does in secret for her, and
e. know that he’s always very happy to see her again.

Telling her to check his text messages is like him slipping his letter for her in her schoolbag and calling it “compensation.”

Now, as he walked her home to the dorm, it’s easy to see his M.O. Let’s pay attention to their conversation.

DJ: You came all the way here by yourself to attend university. Come to me if you run into problems. Got it?
SZ: (nodding her head, still unhappy with him)
DJ: (placating her) I was just joking with you earlier. I know it’s normal for people your age to have your own activities. I truly don’t think you have no conscience.

He’s backpedaling because he realizes that he upset her. He likes to tease her but when his joke doesn’t go down well with her, he walks it back.

SZ: (still not appeased)
DJ: But you did call me an old thing. How is that not considered offensive?

Nope. Foul. He can’t do that; he can’t blame her for something he started.

SZ: (looking at him)
DJ: A young lady should speak more politely.
SZ: Sorry. I won’t say that again.

Notice that she’s the first one to apologize?

DJ: It’s good that you know you’re wrong. (magnanimously) When you have free time, you can come to have a meal with me.
SZ: (looking at him)
DJ: Hmm?
SZ: (non-committal) Mmm.

Sigh. She doesn’t really want to meet him again for a meal. What’s the point? She’s still a kid to him.

They arrive at her dorm.

DJ: Is it here? (handing the grocery bag to her) Make some honey water to drink to avoid having a hangover tomorrow morning.
SZ: (surprise) Thank you, Jiaxu Ge.
DJ: By the way, I’m alone over here. So when I heard your brother say that you were coming here for university, I was really happy.
SZ: (confused)
DJ: Okay, go inside.
SZ: I’ll head in now. See you, Jiaxu Ge.
DJ: Good night.
SZ: Good night.

My comments:

a. I get why Sang Zhi wavered when she heard him say this.

It was his sincerity.

Even though she believed him to have a girlfriend, he looked so

i) pathetic when he said that he was all by himself that Sang Zhi, who was already protective about him, felt her heartstrings tugged,

ii) earnestly happy to have her with him, and

iii) vulnerable. I mean, this guy must have been counting the days till she reached out to  him.

b. Also, his puppy eyes and his smile were disarming.

As I said, I don’t find this actor particularly handsome. But he nailed that “angelic” look when he told her that he was happy to hear her coming to YiHe.

c. That being said, I want him to grovel. After Sang Zhi’s crying jag in the airport, I **feel** the only way he can be as emotionally invested in their relationship, moving forward, is if

a) totally panics…nay, FREAKS out when he realizes he goofed up,
b) makes up for his mistakes and oversights over a period of time (like two years, too), and
c) demonstrates that he’s learned his lesson with both words and actions.

I’m not going to be satisfied with this cdrama if Sang Zhi just gives in to him because he smiled at her. He needs to work it, and work it goooood.