Focus on: bb!Zhao Yunlan's mission statement (flashback), ep 39

[china_shop]

Location: ep 39, 9:40 to 10:53 (here on Youtube)

Transcript from Viki subs, with a few tiny edits.

Context

Haixing sees Zhao Yunlan being tortured on Ye Zun’s Sky channel. Zhao Xinci looks repressedly distressed, but he turns to the Yashou tribe leaders and gives them assignments for the invasion. They run off to prepare, leaving Zhao Xinci and Zhang Shi to talk.

Zhang Shi: You've been getting more and more stubborn these past years, and I've become bossier. It's been so long since we worked together like this.
这几年你越来越固执了, 我也越来越啰嗦, 好像很久咱们没有这么齐心协力过了

Zhao Xinci: I'm just suddenly enlightened. Maybe you're right. The future is in the hands of the younger generation. For the old and conservative ones like us, it's time to step back.
我只是突然想明白了 或许你说得对 未来是孩子们的 而对于我们这些守旧的老人 应该退位了

Zhang Shi: I told you. Yunlan has been very different ever since he was a child.
我就说嘛 云澜那孩子从小就跟别人不一样

Flashback scene:

Zhao Xinci is in a hospital bed. Zhao Yunlan is in a visitor’s chair, looking through his father’s notebook.


(Can anyone here read what these pages say?)



bb!ZYL: Dad, are all the Dixingren you caught bad guys?
爸爸, 你抓的那些地星人 都是坏人吗
ZXC: There's no absolute right or wrong in this world. But when a minority is harming the majority for their own benefit, they must be punished for what they've done.
这个世界上没有绝对的对与错 可是当少部分人为了自已的利益 而去损害大部分人的利益的时候 那么这些行为就必须受到惩罚

bb!ZYL: But how come the minority and the majority can't get along with each other peacefully?
那为什么少部分人不能和大部分人和平相处呢
If they ever get into a fight, won't many people die?
那万一他们打起来 岂不是会死很多人



ZXC: Nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards. Those who break the rules, you can't let them go easily.
没有规矩就不成方圆 对于这些破坏规矩的人 就绝对不能姑息



bb!ZYL: No, I don't want this. With my tolerance, my brain, and my life, I can definitely find a win-win resolution.
我不要 用宽容 用头脑 用生命 我一定有办法让他们皆大欢喜的
ZXC: You're too young to understand many things.
你还太小 很多事情不懂


bb!ZYL’s reaction to being told he's too young to understand.

ZXC: (voice over) However, if that day does arrive, I'll be watching you, my boy.
不过 如果真的有一天 你就做给我看 儿子

As the scene transitions back to present day, we see Zhao Xinci saying those last words.

Key things about this scene

• Even when Zhao Xinci and Zhao Yunlan were on good terms, they were in opposition. This is important because it shows Zhao Yunlan’s values aren’t just a fuck-you to his father.


• They also aren’t a response to knowing and loving Shen Wei. Zhao Yunlan has always believed in them, deep down, even if he strayed into “arrest them all!” territory after his mother died.


• bb!Yunlan is obviously not as much “I am a weapon” as young Shen Wei, but he did grow up determined to dedicate himself to peace. His saying “with my tolerance, my brain, and my life” suggests he was always prepared to put himself on the line for the greater good. (Which is why, in ep 15, Shen Wei has to say, “Zhao Yunlan, don’t you know how precious your life is?”)


• I wonder if this is a (much politer and lower key) mirror to bb!Shen Wei meeting the Rebel Chief and calling him a murderer. Both of them rejecting the harsher/more violent philosophy of their elders?

Other observations and speculation

• Timeline: this must be before Shen Xi’s death, because Zhao Yunlan and his father are on speaking terms, but it’s unclear whether it comes before or after the portal flashback where Shen Xi and Zhao Xinci fight at the SID about Xinci missing Yunlan’s graduation. (Anyone have any thoughts on that?)


• Zhao Xinci isn’t so sick he has a heart-monitor or bustling nurses, but he is flat on his back and low-affect. I wonder if he’s sedated. There’s no hint as to why he’s in hospital, but given they’re both talking about Dixingren in generalities without any particular rancour, I’d guess it’s not work-related. (YMMV!)


• Zhao Xinci has told bb!Yunlan about Dixingren, is showing him his notebook and trying to teach him about life. This is maybe the most functional we ever see their relationship!


• I love the childhood hubris of Yunlan telling his sick father, “You’re doing it wrong! I could do better!” (Of course, this is an ongoing theme in their relationship, from both sides.)


• The lead-in to this scene has Zhang Shi talking about Zhao Yunlan being different, while knowing Zhao Yunlan’s fate (from Ma Gui)—and he doesn’t breath a word of warning about that to Zhao Xinci. Ouch!

Questions

1. When and why did Zhao Xinci first tell bb!Yunlan about Dixingren—or did Shen Xi do it? Do you think Yunlan is supposed to keep it secret from his peers, or was the existence of Dixingren more widely know back then?


2. Why is Zhao Xinci in hospital? Heart trouble? A side-effect of having acquired Zhang Shi as a lodger? Or do you think it is work-related?


3. What do you think of Zhao Xinci’s philosophy? Presumably this is the stance of Haixing officials, too. Is Zhao Xinci just trying to indoctrinate his son in the attitudes of his time, or are these his deeply held (pre-Shen Xi tragedy) beliefs?


4. How do you think bb!Yunlan’s attitude changed after Shen Xi’s death? What drove him to become chief of the SID—this philosophy, or anger at Dixingren because of his mother?

Comments

Re: Quick drive by comment

[china_shop]

which is a weird thing to tell a - ten year old? eleven year old? unless maybe you're trying to explain why your job is so important and why you need to spend so much time away from home/your family?

Yes, that's what I was thinking. Though there could be a history of absence and busyness (and injury!) that leads up to this scene and that comes to a head later with the fight at the SID? Idk.

(Re his age: According to this site, if he's just graduated, as per the fight at the SID, he's either 12, 15 or 18 -- so I'd say 12.)

But I love that even if that's the case bb!Zhao Yunlan goes straight from Zhao Xinci's point (these Dixingren are very bad and I have a very important job catching/punishing them) to his own philosophy (surely there's a better way and I'm going to find it). I LOVE HE.

YES! I really love that too! (And ha, imagine how frustrating for ZXC. *g*)

Re: Quick drive by comment

[velithya]

> Though there could be a history of absence and busyness (and injury!) that leads up to this scene and that comes to a head later with the fight at the SID?

oh yeah, that's also very plausible! I guess without a confirmed chronology we just have to... decide for ourselves which order we like best hehehe

(And yes! You're 100% right and I do remember reading about his graduation having to be when he was 12 at the youngest - I just momentarily forgot ^^;; whoops!)

> imagine how frustrating for ZXC

oh absolutely. I would suspect that ZYL has stuck to his principles his whole life and ZXC has been trying to fruitlessly force him out of them for same!!

Going back to your post,

When and why did Zhao Xinci first tell bb!Yunlan about Dixingren—or did Shen Xi do it? Do you think Yunlan is supposed to keep it secret from his peers, or was the existence of Dixingren more widely know back then?

I think Zhao Yunlan is supposed to keep it a secret - I feel like the general population wouldn't forget in 15 years about a whole other race of beings living under the surface/occasionally among them. And maybe ZXC is sharing with his son in an attempt to be a form of trust / understanding / to try and bring ZYL around to his POV? (sorry ZXC, no dice!)

How do you think bb!Yunlan’s attitude changed after Shen Xi’s death? What drove him to become chief of the SID—this philosophy, or anger at Dixingren because of his mother?

I wonder if it's what ZXC wanted for him - to take over as SID chief - and whether instead of rejecting it entirely ZYL decided to lean into it and do a better job than his father ever did. And both this philosophy and his trauma re his mother would have played into it too - like he can do a better job than his dad because he's going to do things differently.

Re: Quick drive by comment

[china_shop]

I would suspect that ZYL has stuck to his principles his whole life and ZXC has been trying to fruitlessly force him out of them for same!!

Eventually exasperatedly going, "Surely he'll outgrow them when he clears puberty?!" Ha!

I feel like the general population wouldn't forget in 15 years about a whole other race of beings living under the surface/occasionally among them.

True! Though the broadcast to everyone on earth did assume some prior knowledge. But that's probably just because of the leaks to the media, right? Because you're right, no one seems to know much about them beforehand.

And maybe ZXC is sharing with his son in an attempt to be a form of trust / understanding / to try and bring ZYL around to his POV? (sorry ZXC, no dice!)

*nodnodnod* That makes sense. (I almost feel sorry for him. Heh.)

I wonder if it's what ZXC wanted for him - to take over as SID chief

That's definitely a possibility! (I tend to think Zhao Xinci would have wanted Zhao Yunlan to work somewhere safer, especially after the Shen Xi tragedy, and only lent his support to ZYL's taking the chief role because he didn't want to air their dirty laundry in public. But I don't think there's anything in canon to indicate one way or the other.

and whether instead of rejecting it entirely ZYL decided to lean into it and do a better job than his father ever did.

Yes, this, definitely! *pets him*

Re: Quick drive by comment

[velithya]

> Though the broadcast to everyone on earth did assume some prior knowledge. But that's probably just because of the leaks to the media, right? Because you're right, no one seems to know much about them beforehand.

More evidence on this point I think is that way back in episode 1 or 2 when ZYL is talking to SW at the university, SW already knowing about Dixingren makes him inherently suspicious to ZYL!

Re: Quick drive by comment

[china_shop]

True! There are a few other people who don't react -- like Teacher Zhang in episode 3 doesn't seem surprised or freaked out by Wang Yike's power and knows enough to buy her gloves. But yeah, in general, I think you're right. General awareness of the possibility of Dixingren wouldn't have faded away in just a couple of decades, and there has to be a reason the SID is hush hush. :-)

ETA: Oh my god, your icon!! *gazes appreciatively*

Re: Quick drive by comment

[velithya]

Yeah I think it's - like if you're in the know, you're in the know, but otherwise you just Don't Speak About It! :3

heee I just cropped a few of my fav screenshots <.< He's so pretty :3