Episode 14 Recap
He Hao Yi and Ai Li Si go on a date. After what seems like she had thought things through, Ai Li Si tells He Hao Yi she wants to go on a date with him because she wanted to trust him. That’s what she says, as following the date, it all ends with a letter from Ai Li Si expressing her decision to end things.
The date starts at the bus stop. Ai Li Si taken on her bright, cheerful, 17-year-old-like personality than her cold 30-year-old one on this date. As she and He Hao Yi wait at the bus stop, she lets He Hao Yi in on a secret, showing him how she used to make it look like it was a coincidence she ran into him at the bus stop. But, in fact, she often searched around for him whenever she wasn’t with Bai Shu Lei and Liu Xiao Fen, and pop up after running fast to make sure she caught his bus.
Once on the bus, it’s déjà vu as a sudden stop of the bus has Ai Li Si fall into He Hao Yi’s arms yet again. Shock then a chuckle follow as the two recall themselves in the exact same position 13 years ago. They return to their standing position. On the bus’ next stop, Ai Li Si decides to hop off the bus without He Hao Yi’s knowledge, forcing him to catch up with her at a convenience store. He’s not too happy as he hears the reason behind her running off was for instant noodles, and scolds her for choosing such an unhealthy thing to eat got breakfast. Ai Li Si ignores him as she insists on eating instant noodles.
Heading into the convenience store, they eat their instant noodles and share a boiled egg. He Hao Yi eats the yolk, while Ai Li Si takes the egg white. It’s a recreation of the scene in the bookstore 13 years ago, only it takes place at a different location and different time of day. At this time, Ai Li Si also feels the desire to take a photo of He Hao Yi when he sat next to her peeling the egg.
Breakfast finished, they head to work. Only half the day is worked as Ai Li Si decides to skip the rest of the workday. Ai Li Si takes He Hao Yi by the hand and has him run off with her. They slow down to a stroll, hands still clasped onto each other’s. Ai Li Si tells him the good news of passing the first phase of her research and how because she was afraid to fail in the past, she’d spend all her time on it. Her step closer to competing her research has Ai Li Si wondering about He Hao Yi’s plans after her research is complete: would he return back to America?
He Hao Yi tries her reaction. He plans to go back, but he’d be willing to drop everything if someone were to say that they miss him. She bites a little: she asks him how one can let him know they miss him. He tells her that saying the exact words is enough or just look at him the way she was will do it, too. Ai Li Si prefers the latter, but she can’t see how she could look at him to express her feelings with him not physically in front of her.
In that case, He Hao Yi tells her that he might just show up before he asks whether she’d always be where she is now and whether she’d stay by his side even when she’s angry. Ai Li Si avoids the question, instead, choosing to notice a bubble tea stand ahead and begins timing the time he’s got to get the bubble tea. He Hao Yi lets go of his questions and runs off to grab her a cup. Ai Li Si’s expression then falls from the excited one she had before. “I’m sorry,” she is heard saying quietly. Ai Li Si does not plan on staying where she and He Hao Yi can remain in contact.
Ai Li Si never planned on giving him a chance to prove she can trust him. The date was a memento date for her, one she can remember fondly when she’s down. The date also contains the clue needed for solving Ai Li Si’s puzzle for her last gift to him before she leaves him, the experiment logs.
Before then, Ai Li Si continues to make more opportunities to capture photos so she can look at then whenever she feels sad. After He Hao Yi returns with the bubble tea, Ai Li Si finds another opportunity to take photos by pretending to choke on a tapioca bubble. The act has He Hao Yi in a panic, quickly getting up to help her try dislodge it, completely unaware of the trick Ai Li Si is playing on him. Ai Li Si laughs to let him know she was just joking around. She moves to take out her phone and request he do that anxious expression he had a moment ago and take a few photos with her.
Photos taken, Ai Li Si flips through them, smiling as she does so. Her comment about the photos being souvenirs she can look at and laugh over whenever she felt down has He Hao Yi pick up on her uneasiness with trusting him. He asks her for one more chance to trust him with her experiment logs. He tells her that he will make sure that he will make sure Capital continues supporting her research to completion. Ai Li Si’s answer, “Would you believe me if I said I trusted you?” His answer is a no as he tells her he will wait for her.
The day ends with He Hao Yi and Ai Li Si standing on either side of Ai Li Si’s bedroom door with Ai Li Si speaking aloud her realisation of how much He Hao Yi have done for her. There were a lot of good memories between him and her from not only the past but also the present, like when he fought Chen Qi Tai on her behalf, when he convinced Liu Xiao Fen to let her stay at their place and when he went bungy jumping with her. She asks whether he’d go again with her. He Hao Yi agrees without hesitation. She also realises that He Hao Yi has many good points—so many, they probably can’t all fit on an A4 page.
Despite her realisation, Ai Li Si still can’t bring herself to give him another chance. He Hao Yi’s request to forget the bad things of the past—by all means learn from them, but not let them cause them to miss out on each other again—is not received. Ai Li Si tells He Hao Yi that if he solves the puzzle she is about to have him solve, they would then be meeting there.
He Hao Yi receives the puzzle and solves it. It’s a photo she took of him at the convenience store when he was peeling an egg for her. Immediately, he knows the meeting place. It’s the bookstore they ate instant noodles, shared a boiled egg and read manga together. He goes there the next day, expecting Ai Li Si to be there, but not seeing her there, he wonders if he’s gotten the puzzle wrong.
He hasn’t got it wrong, just that Ai Li Si have always planned to use the puzzle to lead him to the place where he would find the experiment log. This log is found stuck to the underside of the table. He Hao Yi happens to come across it after bending down to pick up the dropped four-leaf clover bracelet, which was slipped in between the pages of a Naruto volume that sat on the table. Inside the envelope that contain the experiment log is Ai Li Si’s letter telling him that for the good things he did for her, the experiment log will make things even, and that after this, he wanted them never meet again. The letter has He Hao Yi run off back to Ai Li Si’s place, wanting to talk to her.
Song Han Ming is at Ai Li Si’s place during this time, questioning her impulsive decision to give up her research like that. She had spent all her energy, day and night on it since university. He never thought she was this impulsive person. Looking back, she thought she wasn’t this kind of person anymore. In high school, she used to be called the ‘garbage truck girl’ who took in all their unwanted things and gave away anything they wanted. Back then she was. She thought she had changed, but the way she ended up giving He Hao Yi what he wanted so much, she realises maybe she hadn’t after all.
He Hao Yi wanting the experiment log, she is right about him wanting it a lot, but why he wants it so much is not only because Capital sent him to bring Ai Li Si and her experiment log over to their side. He Hao Yi believes if it is in his hands, he can also make sure Capital continues to support her research till completion. She wouldn’t need to be under CEO Wang who is threatening and controlling.
Song Han Ming tries to get her to change her mind about He Hao Yi next. After realising He Hao Yi is the only person who could affect her and make her smile—something Song Han Ming has only ever wanted for Ai Li Si—he asks why she can’t just give him a chance. Since she was able to give him her experiment log, why can’t she give him a chance? Ai Li Si tells him that apart from having problems trusting him, she has problems trusting herself. No matter what he does for her, she’ll be suspicious of him. Just looking at him will have her wonder if they will all leave her because of a small mistake she made. And so, that is why she must be a person that leaves them first.
He Hao Yi arrives at this point. She catches him through the window from her place above. Ai Li Si asks Song Han Ming to help her. Believing He Hao Yi is good for her, Song Han Ming is reluctant, but he’s never been one to refuse her. They put on an act which has Song Han Ming ask just the right questions to allow Ai Li Si give answers that would He Hao Yi away. She has He Hao Yi hear how the date was only an experiment to see if she liked him. The result from that experiment came out to be that she found out she didn’t like him and only dated him to fulfill her 17-year-old dream of confessing to him. Song Han Ming’s statement that He Hao Yi treats her well allows her to express her inability to let go of the past, expressing how when she was 27 and turned up at the place they buried the time capsule, they didn’t and it made her cry and hurt her. She also expresses that a relationship is burdensome and giving He Hao Yi the experiment log was no big deal since she can reproduce it again. To add a final touch, she expresses He Hao Yi has been annoying her to death; giving He Hao Yi the experiment logs meant he’d stop trying to get close to her.
He Hao Yi leaves hearing all of this. He takes his pain to the bar at night, drinking to the point of becoming drunk as he replays Ai Li Si’s words in his and believing them as truths. Song Han Ming is called out by He Hao Yi. He is made to stay and hear He Hao Yi express how his brain was telling him his heart had died (in other words, he’d given up on Ai Li Si), but yet he can clearly feel his heart still beating. Song Han Ming’s collar is grabbed when he isn’t able to answer He Hao Yi’s question about whose beating heart which lay inside him belonged to. How is Song Han Ming not able to know whose heart it was when he knew everything, He Hao Yi rambles on.
Song Han Ming pushes him off of him, sending him into a couple of women called Alice (which is sounds exactly like Ai Li Si) who, because of their name, he ends up shouting drinks. He goes on to shout a group of other women who put up their hands when he drunkenly asks who else in the room was called Alice. He then tells them his story of having known an “Alice” and how he missed out his chance with her because he realised everything was his fault.
Song Han Ming calls in Liu Xiao Fen and Bai Shu Lei who show up together to bring He Hao Yi home. (Bai Shu Lei and Liu Xiao Fen reconciled since Liu Xiao Fen took on He Hao Yi’s advice to see Bai Shu Lei when she most need a friend.) Morning hits. It’s a noisy morning for He Hao Yi as he wakes up to Bai Shu Lei and Liu Xiao Fen arguing outside his room about not trying hard enough to bring Ai Li Si back. It’s not a real argument. It’s one Bai Shu Lei thought of to find out whether He Hao Yi was in his room after Liu Xiao Fen was too afraid to call out to him to find out. This shouting initially annoys He Hao Yi, but the act of speaking loudly so he could hear has him realise Ai Li Si’s intentions yesterday: she intentionally spoke loudly because she knew he was outside listening. She wanted him to hear what she had to say and then give up as a result.
He Hao Yi gets up and is seen running to some some location, thinking how foolish he was to have believed that trick of hers. Whether he came up with a reason to why she did it, it’s unclear; but, he believes there’s a reason for what she’s doing.
Over at Jsut International, the CEO’s heard news that Ai Li Si has resigned. CEO Wang informs his assistant to keep watch of the situation. He tells him to find out whether Ai Li Si’s regained her memory and monitor Capital for any indication they might have the experiment log. Also in his plans is an intention to sue Ai Li Si if she doesn’t return the experiment log to the company.
He Hao Yi learns of CEO Wang’s intentions the next day when he has Ai Li Si come over to his place. Ai Li Si doesn’t want any help from him and instructs him to just hand the experiment log over to Capital. He Hao Yi can’t allow this to happen, not just for Ai Li Si, but for the name of professional ethics (CEO Wang is a traitor after all and has been looking to take the research to another investor to benefit from it).
After Ai Li Si leaves, he begins pondering a trap to flush out CEO Wang. The trap is not revealed, but it involves finding an investor for the experiment, which Bai Shu Lei solves by suggesting her dad, and Ai Li Si agreeing to be a part of this. This has Bai Shu Lei and Liu Xiao Fen fall on their backsides, seeing the task of getting Ai Li Si to accept their help not so easy. He Hao Yi outs them down as a way of provoking them. How can a queen and the other a master of being persistent be so useless? He tells the. That this is their opportunity to prove themselves as Ai Li Si’s trustworthy friends.
Bai Shu Lei and Liu Xiao Fen accepts the challenge to try and make amends with Ai Li Si. They drag her out from her apartment for a walk and try to get her to remember the good times they had as friends, which Ai Li Si pretends to forget. Bai Shu Lei and Liu Xiao Fen’s attempt to get Ai Li Si to carry their bags like they used to has Ai Li Si claiming she forgot and calling them immature after dropping their bags on ground out of result to play their game. Bai Shu Lei holds Ai Li Si back and admit to Ai Li Si’s assessment: they were immature back then for ending their friendship so easily. Hearing this, it has Ai Li Si listen, asking for her to explain. Bai Shu Lei stutters, finding it hard coming up with the right way to bring up the past.
He Hao Yi steps in to help and uses Bai Shu Lei and Liu Xiao Fen’s low emotional intelligence for their past behaviour. This allows Bai Shu Lei to continue and ask for a chance to become friends again. Ai Li Si is not interested and begins to walk off. Liu Xiao Fen’s persistence is put to use next. She clings onto Ai Li Si claiming she felt dizzy and needed to be taken to a cool place, which gets them all the way to the shop they all used to eat snow ice.
They try to bring back some good memories in Ai Li Si with her favourite snow ice flavour, one with pudding on the side. He Hao Yi had taken her here months ago to do the same, but it ended in disappointment as that the shop didn’t make it anymore. This time round, though, Bai Shu Lei’s efforts has managed to get the shop to specially make it for them. When Ai Li Si’s favourite flavour arrives, it surprises her, but then it troubles her as it brings up old times which she seemingly doesn’t want to recall.
She is encouraged to take a bite, which she does after a long moment. They ask her if it tastes exactly like the ones she had in the past. Ai Li Si claims of having forgotten, so she doesn’t know if it’s still the same. Bai Shu Lei and Liu Xiao Fen’s attempt to have Ai Li Si remember the friendship they had and forgive them failed.
Ai Li Si moves to take her leave, which has Bai Shu Lei and Liu Xiao Fen get up to make a sincere apology about the past. Taking hold of Ai Li Si’s hand, Bai Shu Lei apologises for misunderstanding her, for ignoring her and making her go through the hardship she went through back then. She tells Ai Li Si about her regret of having lost her friendship and admits to her shortcomings of using anger to show her frustrations and being spoilt. For all of it, she’s truly sorry. Liu Xiao Fen apologises for only knowing how to tease her and make fun of her, but never tried to understand her feelings. Liu Xiao Fen admits to her failing to be a true friend, because a true friend would act that way to her. For that, she’s also sorry.
Despite the sincerity in their apology, Ai Li Si can’t bring herself to accept them. She tells them it’s too late before walking out. He Hao Yi is asked to check in on Ai Li Si.
Bai Shu Lei and Liu Xiao Fen failing to move Ai Li Si and cooperate with their plan to help her, He Hao Yi shifts to a different strategy. Instead of using his concern for Ai Li Si as being the only reason for caring so much about the CEO Wang issue, he tells her he’s doing this because this research is the result of not just her painstaking efforts, but all of their colleagues’, too. He can’t let CEO Wang take their hard work away and disappoint not just them but also Mrs Yang who’s been rooting for Ai Li Si’s research to succeed all this time. He tells her that he knows when to stop bothering a girl who’s clearing not interested in him. He knows when to work hard (persist) and when to let go; as Risk Management professional, this is something he understands very well. He will also not go back on promises he’s made. Personal feelings won’t get in the way of him keeping them. So, this is not just for her, it’s for everyone in the R&D Department. If he let CEO Wang have his way, the R&D department could face disestablishment or the results could be sold to a malicious company. This has Ai Li Si listening and accepting his help. “What should I do?” she asks. “Continue to be my girlfriend,” he answers.
Thoughts
There shouldn’t be any more issues for He Hao Yi and Ai Li Si, right? Nope, there still is. It makes sense, though. It sure made more sense than Ai Li Si suddenly becoming all cheerful and going back to her 17-year-old like self at the start of the episode. The way she was so happy and accepting was too much of a change for an Ai Li Si who was so cold, angry and distant a day ago. We thought the drama lost its touch for a moment, but no, it was setting us up for Ai Li Si’s rejection of He Hao Yi.
When Ai Li Si asked He Hao Yi what he was going to do after her research is complete, anyone find He Hao Yi’s answer a bit… not smart? Just yesterday, she was completely closed off to him, not willing to let him get close to her. Today, she’s opening up and taking him out on a date. We would have thought that he would come out and say something like “I’m drop everything for you. I’m quitting my job in the States.” Okay, probably not that, but we didn’t think he’d go and test her by trying to get her to say “I miss you,” or “I don’t want you to go.” It’s as if he hasn’t learnt from the past to just come out and say what he means and not play games. We can see that the purpose of this scene is to lead He Hao Yi to ask the question of “will you still be here even if you’re angry”, just so that the drama is able to hint to us that this date is an act and Ai Li Si is planning to leave him. Still, He Hao Yi shouldn’t test a someone like Ai Li Si who’s lost trust in everyone and have closed herself off to everyone for 13 years. Something like that would just have to go right back into that protective shell of her.
Ai Li Si gets her apology from Bai Shu Lei and Liu Xiao Fen finally. Yay. And it turns out there was indeed a misunderstanding to what happened when Ai Li Si was being doused with water in the girls’ toilets back in high school. Bai Shu Lei isn’t mean. She didn’t ignore Ai Li Si’s call for help. She had noticed the bullying happening and was about to do something about it when Liu Xiao Fen stopped Bai Shu Lei, because she was worried Bai Shu Lei’s father would scold her for it. Neither of them knew who it was inside.
Final episode to go! Wonder how it will all play out. He Hao Yi told Ai Li Si that he knows when to stop bothering a girl who’s not interested, wonder if he means it. It feels like a strategy of his, but then he could actually mean it. He wrote something on the page of Ai Li Si’s diary where she wrote about the sunflower being a liar and forever is a lie. We’re really curious what he wrote and how Ai Li Si will react to it.
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