Focus On: Shen Wei tucking Zhao Yunlan into bed and dealing with his disaster apartment, ep 8

[marycrawford]

The scene that leads up to this is the Taxi Scene, beautifully covered by melinoel616.

Location of the scene: episode 8, starting at 25:36. I'm choosing to treat this as a single scene, even though it's broken up by Zhu Jiu doing villain things in a forest.

Everything about episode 8's crucial relationship scenes is catnip to me. In fact, a description of what happens here -- starting with Shen Wei picking Zhao Yunlan off the curb and taking him home -- was held out to me as a carrot to get me to watch the show properly, instead of catching bits of it on Youtube and thinking that the professor was awful pretty. Needless to say, it worked a treat.

This post features Shen Wei's Microexpression Theatre and a special Zhao Yunlan 'I have an ow, but I don't need any help, but please notice I am suffering, but also I am FINE' Cocktail of Emotional Damage.


Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan enter the apartment with Zhao Yunlan's arm draped over Shen Wei's shoulders, and Shen Wei's arm around Zhao Yunlan's waist. Zhao Yunlan casually tosses his keys away without locking the door, and they head to the bed which is so conveniently placed in the middle of the living room.



There are some wine bottles by the bed, as well as slippers and I think a boxing glove.



Shen Wei lowers Zhao Yunlan to the mattress carefully and he curls up on the bed, boots and all, looking like he's hurting:



Meanwhile, Shen Wei starts to look around. I always wonder what goes through his mind on seeing Zhao Yunlan's disaster of an apartment. Shen Wei decorates with antiques and books; Zhao Yunlan decorates with robots, booze, and sports equipment. It's intimate, of course, seeing the place where Zhao Yunlan lives for the first time, but it's also a cluttered mess. And that, combined with the stomach pains, basically screams I don't take good care of myself.

Zhao Yunlan tells Shen Wei he doesn't know where his stomach medicine might be, "Try the fridge." Shen Wei opens it and rears back in disgust. I love this moment, and I love his reaction:



Instead of pinching his nostrils shut, he delicately places a forefinger across his nose. It's so elegantly disdainful, and reminiscent of older times: you can imagine him draping a sleeve of his ancient robe across the lower half of his face to shield himself from the horrors of Zhao Yunlan's fridge.

Shen Wei sternly asks "What do you usually eat?" Zhao Yunlan tells him "I ate hot pot two days ago. Yesterday I went boozing with friends," while Shen Wei stares at the date on a carton of something (milk?) with grave suspicion.



Shen Wei reacts to this helpful information with a tiny eyeroll and a longsuffering stare into the middle distance, which intensifies as Zhao Yunlan tells him he hasn't eaten at all today: he looks like he's questioning all his life choices and asking himself if this man could really be (have been, will become) Kunlun.



Then he turns around and pointedly says "No wonder you're suffering. You were asking for it." Zhao Yunlan doesn't react, just winces in pain.

Shen Wei gives a put-upon sigh that is a LOT, for him, drapes his finger over his nostrils again and delves into the fridge to find the medicine.

He returns to Zhao Yunlan, hands him the medicine and says "I'll get you some warm water". Zhao Yunlan responds: "Don't bother, I'll swallow them dry." There is a pause, then Shen Wei reacts by stepping forward and abruptly yanking the pill bottle away from Zhao Yunlan's grasp. We get a very close focus on their hands touching:



Zhao Yunlan looks up at him with a hint of his babyfaced, innocent 'What did I do?' expression.



And Shen Wei, who is still very much in Stern Annoyed Professor mode, glares down at him and turns away with another tiny eyeroll, his entire posture expressing Why Are You Like This and Why Do I Love You.





Of course, to get water, he has to enter the kitchen. Evidence suggests that Zhao Yunlan ate an orange and drank some booze (with Da Qing?) recently, otherwise it's just a mess, with one half of the sink full of dishes. Shen Wei grimly starts filling a kettle with water, looks around and sighs again.



We cut away to Zhu Jiu, and when we come back Shen Wei has taken off his suit coat and rolled up his sleeves to wash a glass. This shot is here purely for the sexy lighting on his hands and the focus on the Chain:



And this one is here to show that the sleeve garters are doing a great support acting job, showing off Shen Wei's biceps:



Shen Wei comes back with the pills and a glass of water. Zhao Yunlan is curled up tight on the bed, and Shen Wei says Zhao Yunlan's name twice to wake him up, then shakes his shoulder.

In response, Zhao Yunlan turns over, away from him, and Shen Wei's frown tightens as he looks down at him. I imagine at this point he's saying to himself ‘take your medicine you infuriating beautiful man, or must I force feed you your pills?' but he doesn't follow through.



So far the scene was without music, but here a delicate piano begins to play as Shen Wei kneels on the bed and begins to take off Zhao Yunlan's boots (fashion note: possibly these are Yeezy desert boots).





When he's done, he puts his hand on Zhao Yunlan's ankle and pulls the blanket over him, puts another cushion down by Zhao Yunlan's head, then tucks in the duvet a little more.



Then he starts folding Zhao Yunlan's clothes. We see it in closeup first, and then the camera pulls out to show us that Shen Wei is sitting at the foot of the bed. Every time he puts an item of clothing down, he gently smoothes it with his hands:





Then he's interrupted, and we see the Envoy side of him take over as the Regent's message arrives, exposing his identity as a 'senior official using the name of Shen Wei'.



Shen Wei checks to see that ZYL is still asleep, then erases the message and replaces it, and returns to his favorite hobby, staring at Zhao Yunlan asleep. Zhao Yunlan's face has smoothed out, he no longer looks like he's in pain, and the lighting here is chef's kiss:



Looking at him, Shen Wei's expression seems to settle into quiet satisfaction, as if he's saying to himself, Worth It.



And end scene!



What I love about this scene: I love Shen Wei coming in to take care of Zhao Yunlan's everything and also scold him a little bit. I love Zhao Yunlan's contradictory behavior as he seems to both invite caretaking and repel it.

I love the lighting, which makes them both look luminously beautiful. I love the caretaking and the touching.

I love the way this scene is infused with character from beginning to end, on both sides. It says so much about Zhao Yunlan that his apartment is a disaster, and that he is pretty much not interested when it comes to looking after himself. (And yes, Da Qing lives there too, but who could expect a cat to do any housework at all?)

Shen Wei's response is so telling, so different from later scenes where Zhao Yunlan blatantly asks his Service Dom to take care of him, and Shen Wei reacts with fond indulgence. Here, there's none of that: he is pissed and exasperated and his body language expresses that beautifully. But then, once Zhao Yunlan falls asleep, we see the sternness and disapproval give way to an aching tenderness.

We see it in the way he handles Zhao Yunlan as he tucks the duvet over him and removes his boots, as well as the careful way he deals with his clothes, and we see it in the intense look he gives Zhao Yunlan when he's done tidying. And we know that he will stay by Zhao Yunlan's side all night.



Questions:

Why do you think that Zhao Yunlan refuses to take his medicine?
Do you think this is the first time Shen Wei stayed all night by Zhao Yunlan (Kunlun)'s side?


If you know of any fanworks that feature this particular moment, please share. And of course I'd love to know what you think about this scene!

ETA china_shop: "this scene prompted my first ever Guardian ficlet, A Watchful Eye".

Next week, trobadora will cover the Morning After.

Comments

[marycrawford]

Haha, I have no in-canon explanation for that, but ex-canon I am glad his boots aren't dirty at all. It would shift focus from the tenderness and care Shen Wei is showing him if we were staring at dirt-covered boots...