Quite like this episode! There’s loads of fluffy sweetness, and active pursuing woohoo. The only thing I would like to complain about is that it seems like we are going to spend yet another few episodes in Pu Lang Village??

 

An Xi complains that she has a lot of things to do at the hostel, but You Qian points out that while Yong Qing has the other three girls to help her out, “I only have you.” Unfair distribution of manpower, he says. He turns on the radio and An Xi is amazed at the surround-sound effect. She realises that Mei Wen has been telling You Qian stories about how she protected Jiang Hai Kuo and calls her Golden Big Mouth.

 

At the mall, You Qian asks her about her injury again and she quickly runs off because she notices a pair of clown fish earrings (miraculous eyesight??). She mentions in passing that she loves clown fish and that she previously lost a clown fish keychain.

  

An Xi asks why he has brought her here and You Qian hints by asking her to look at the couple. By the time she turns around however, she sees a pair of besties, “Huhhh? You want to be my close girl friend?”

 

You Qian hastily tries to hint something else – why doesn’t she consider what kind of person will think of her feelings and buy her clothes? An Xi still doesn’t get it and thinks that it’s because he’s feeling guilty for treating her so badly last time.

 

She chides him for thinking too much because she has already forgotten all the bad deeds he has done. He mutters, “Is it me who is thinking too much, or are you not thinking at all?” Hahaha. She asks what’s the limit of his guilt and he replies, “No limit”, so she plans to buy four presents.

Turns out that she’s just buying four presents for each of the people at the hostel, but nothing for herself.

 

He’s sad that things aren’t turning out like how he planned (You Qian, you can’t do a proposal/itinerary for shopping??) and quickly stops An Xi from telling him all about the leopard printed bra she bought for Mei Wen.

The last present is for An Xi and she happily rambles about how it will be good for Ya Lu to dress nicer and get a wife faster. You Qian mumbles, “It seems like I’m not the most pitiful.” HAHA. Poor Ya Lu.

 

She uses his back to get a gauge of how the shirt will look on Ya Lu, and You Qian gets miffed when she points out that Ya Lu’s shoulders are broader than his and that he’s taller than You Qian. “My grandpa says that I have the golden ratio. Taller than me? Is he a pole?” An Xi jokes about having touched all the men in the village before, thus shocking You Qian, but it turns out that she simply knows about their height and weight because she helped out at a health check up before.

 

She holds up the shirt again, this time facing You Qian, and they lapse into silence. She stumbles backwards and You Qian catches her.

 

He leans in, but takes the shirt to pay, hoping out loud that Ya Lu will not like the shirt so that he won’t wear it.

While on the streets, they touch on the topic of You Qian leaving the village, and An Xi quickly runs off again to a dessert shop.

He probes her for the reason behind her reluctance to date and she tells him that there’s one thing he should never ask her – the haunted house, her 18th birthday, why she got hurt, and why she doesn’t want to date. You Qian realises that the four different things which he’s curious about all links up to one reason. YOU, it’s you, You Qian.

 

When the couple returns, An Xi awkwardly returns to her room. Mei Wen laughs so happily when she sees the bra but she returns to interrogating An Xi right away – why is she on a date with You Qian?

An Xi chides her for telling You Qian everything about her, “You should just change your name to Big Mouth.” Mei Wen protests that even the geese in the backyard can tell the dynamics between the couple, “He’s wooing you, can’t you tell?”

Before this conversation continues, Zhi Lin dashes in to look at her heels. Mei Wen is exasperated at An Xi’s lack of awareness and takes Zhi Lin’s shoes away to give her a multiple-choice questionaire. If someone brings you out for shopping and isn’t tired, and buys presents for your relatives, does he 1. want to repay for his sins 2. he wants to apologise 3. he’s chasing you? Zhi Lin unhesitatingly answers option 3.

Ya En comes up excitedly but Mei Wen snatches her gift away away and poses the question, but before she could say the options, Ya En replies, “Oh does he want to chase me?”

An Xi denies that polling the two girls is accurate so when Ya Lu comes up, Mei Wen’s like “Are you a guy?” Hahaha at his reply, “Of course I’m a guy.” She asks Ya Lu how he will treat the girl he likes. While Zhi Lin immediately stares at An Xi, An Xi remains oblivious. LOL. Ya Lu mentions the shopping, the eating but also points out that he will buy something back as a surprise if the girl shows interest in something. An Xi joyfully points out that You Qian didn’t do that, but You Qian knocks on her door.

He reveals that he bought the earrings when she went to buy the bra and puts the earrings on for her. Zhi Lin whines in the background haha.

The moment gets broken up because Mei Wen is pissed that You Qian is doing this while being attached. At the right moment, Yong Qing leaves her room (because she’s returning to Taipei first) and when questioned, she tells everyone that she’s not attached to You Qian. He simply pretends to be her boyfriend whenever she needs help. She reminds An Xi not to be too hard on You Qian and then gives him a peck on the cheek in front of her.

At night, An Xi broods on the deck chairs and You Qian comes out to find her. She finally confirms that Yong Qing is not his girlfriend, and asks if he’s really going to pursue her. He brings her into a standing position and answers gently, “Yes…can I?”

 

Thus ensues a period of An Xi running away from You Qian every time he tries to meet her.

That’s her thinking triumphantly that she has managed to hide from him, and that’s him looking at her in amusement. In the end, she throws her towel at him as a distraction so that she can run away.

Later, she lies that she’s working at the chief’s office, but she’s actually helping Ya Lu tidy the library. Ya Lu tells her that if she really wants to, she can just tell You Qian not to bother her anymore. She pretends that it’s a great idea, but when Ya Lu pushes her to find You Qian there and then, she keeps backing out.

 

The truth is, she’s probably scared that once she tells You Qian not to bother her, he will really stop finding her.

Ya Lu asks why she’s not giving him a chance and she complains that You Qian is too smart, too handsome, too rich and too kind. If she dates him, she will have to learn so much knowledge, chase away other girls, buy expensive gifts and be the baddie. Ya Lu points out that whatever she has said are all his good points, not flaws. “If you can only think of his good points, this only means that you have good feelings towards him.”

She confides in Ya Lu the reason behind her reluctance to date – what’s so great about dating? Her parents gave birth to her, but didn’t even marry. Mei Wen waited for a guy for 10 years but he has never appeared. Zhi Lin dated a few guys who came to the hostel, but these guys always leave after their vacations ended. As for her, she has also disappointed someone before, on her 18th birthday.

Even now, she still feels uncomfortable when she remembers that incident. If that’s love, then she has really let that person down. Ya Lu wonders why he has never heard of this person before since he knew her from high school. He assures her that she has sufficient qualifications to date someone, and that she should take a step forward to find her happiness. Hasn’t she realised what she’s been wearing? That’s right, the earrings. She hastily takes them off.

An Xi wonders off to a slide and looks at the fishes on the walls. She is frustrated that she just cannot take the step forward and she thinks of You Qian in the past, hoping that he’s doing well. She recalls the incident and slaps herself for her bad temper, “Do you think you are a bull, knocking down anyone who is in your way…”

But she has lived that way for 28 years, and there’s nothing wrong in living that way for the next 28. She pushes herself off the slide and lands right into You Qian’s arms. You Qian learns of her location from Ya Lu (ultimate one-sided love) and pushes her gently for her answer since it has been two days already and his leave has ended. I’m a little confused – he’s just asking her if he can woo her right? Not asking her if they can be together? Then what’s there to fret about?

An Xi smiles (awkwardly), places the earrings in his palms and wishes him bon voyage (lol). He takes that as a rejection and tells her that if that’s her answer, then he wouldn’t have any reason to return to the village. He turns to leave and later, he drives off from Lunar Maria. Although An Xi is clearly sad, she only watches him from a distance.

An Xi looks at the height chart in her room and mutters about how when she came to the village when she was 6. When she was 12, her parents didn’t come for her performance. When she was 15, she decided she wouldn’t be a good girl any more. That’s why when she was 18, she hurt someone like a bull, “You are really not okay.”

She looks at her unopened presents and wonders when people will come back to visit her, since everyone has all left her. She later dreams that her mum finally came back to find her and she cries in her sleep.

When she wakes up, she feeds her fish and realises that the clown fish keychain is right next to the tank. She initially thinks that it might have been there all along but reads the card from You Qian Heard that you are finding this keychain so I’m returning it to you. But you need to think why I’ve kept it with me for so long. She peers at the keychain and the card and gives up, “Don’t you know that I don’t like to use my brain? I don’t want to think.”

Back at home, You Qian frets over You Qian’s lack of response.

 

Yan Ze finds him in his study and although he’s initially very cold towards his friend (who realises that he has never been in a relationship before, “One-sided love does not count!”), he succumbs to the temptation of asking his friend for advice. Yan Ze is appalled to find out that You Qian has already declared his intentions of pursuing An Xi, “No no no no no.” Ambiguity is the best; being honest is to be avoided at all cost.

You Qian takes out his phone and records him. RECORDS HIM haha. Yan Ze tells him to create all opportunities for eye contact or physical contact. He must know which areas of himself attract the girl the most, and he should never say words like “I like you.” He must create the ambiance, but only for the girl.

Now it’s not the time for him to be thinking about love. It seems like he has performed well, and the director is going to give him back the pen deal (which he clinched in the first episode). However, he turns down the contract and requests to take more leave days. The director is pissed, “If you don’t want to do it, there are other capable people in the company who can do it.” You Qian simply smiles and leaves the office. Yong Qing, who is there because the director is her godmother, calls out his name, but he doesn’t turn back.

Yan Ze chases after him and asks him what’s wrong. He finds out that You Qian is planning to return to the village for the girl and wonders if the girl is worth pissing the director off. You Qian simply smiles.

Yong Qing soothes her godmother.

See, You Qian has gathered information about the village and even volunteered to continue with the case. The director thinks that You Qian just wants to rebel against her, but Yong Qing promises her that You Qian has no such intentions. Yan Ze finds out that You Qian has ran into his first love at the village and is surprised that You Qian has a first love.

Yong Qing is envious of Yan Ze for having a dad who is selfless and doing charity work as a doctor. But Yan Ze points out that their mum must have not appreciated that, since she remarried Yong Qing’s father. Yan Ze points out that her father was rich and dotes on her, and she smiles sadly, “Too bad he’s not here anymore.”

She calls You Qian and demands to be kept up to date with his progress. She doesn’t want to be left out of his life’s biggest event. Lol. You Qian, in the meantime, has been gathering information on what to do while dating etc etc. It amuses me.

An Xi keeps thinking of You Qian and ends up drinking. In the morning, You Qian wakes her up gently. Thinking that he’s Mei Wen, she scolds him for waking him up so early, but realises that this is not a dream.

(creepy smile??)

-the end-

I was quite pleased when You Qian returns to Taipei because I thought it was time for a change in scenery and pace in drama. I guess this means that the village is actually the main setting for the entire drama! Which can be refreshing and dry at the same time. When the drama moves to Taipei, I get a feeling of conflict, drama, manipulation etc. In the village, it seems like everything is very simple and is sure to be resolved. Although I’m not complaining about the romance between the couple, I do wonder if that’s the only thing that we are going to watch, given that Yong Qing doesn’t seem to be a very evil second female lead. At this point in time, I’m betting that the director will be our ‘baddie’? I’m just curious as to what conflict the scriptwriters is going to depend on to finish up the entire drama.

I’m also looking forward to the day when An Xi finds out You Qian has been Unibrow all along!

For me, my favourite parts of the show are the little pieces of dialogue that are so casually executed but funny (for e.g the questionaire at the front of the episode or the shopping scene). What about you?

<3thoughtsramble