Focus on: Da Qing and Zhu Hong gossiping about Zhao Yunlan, Ep 8

[sasamelons]

Hello everyone! This is my first time posting one of these and I'm super excited!

Context: Zhao Yunlan, Zhu Hong and Da Qing are hanging in the main room of the SID when Zhao Yunlan gets a phone call from the DCU student (unbeknownst to Zhao Yunlan at this point) who is selling Zhao Yunlan the old books for that disaster of a scene that gives us all secondhand embarrassment. Da Qing and Zhu Hong proceed to gossip about him.

The scene is from Episode 8, and starts at around 6:40.

The Scene

(For the translation of the dialogue, I started off with the Youtube subtitles but ended up changing a bunch to my own. Happy to hear any alternative translations as well)

Just before this conversation/series of events begin, Zhao Yunlan is talking about getting Lin Jing to make Xiao Guo his electric baton weapon, and Zhu Hong is looking at him with stars in her eyes.


 

The phone rings, and it's the DCU student asking if Zhao Yunlan still wants to buy her books.

Zhu Hong looks unhappy at hearing the girl's voice. (Which seems kind of excessive since any woman could presumably be calling Zhao Yunlan for any reason? The only reasonable explanation I can think of for this reaction — other than, you know, the insultingly stereotypical one — is that maybe that's his personal phone and nobody ever calls him on it.) But anyway, for how this scene is being set up, that's pretty predictable.

But I hadn't noticed Da Qing's expression until I rewatched the scene for this. Look at him! That's the look of someone smelling delicious, delicious gossip.

Zhao Yunlan hangs up, looking very pleased with himself.

Zhu Hong turns away, we visibly see him noticing this before walking away to the staircase. Da Qing watches him walk away, then immediately hops onto the couch and starts talking to Zhu Hong, the very picture of a nosy, gossipy coworker.

Da Qing:
我的天哪，是个女孩儿，都主动找上门儿了。
My god, it's a girl, looking for him.
(The literal translation of the last part of this sentence is "she's actually coming to the door to look for him". I haven't found a good way to translate this, but basically he's saying that she seems to be very enthusiastic in connecting with Zhao Yunlan)

Zhu Hong:
这有什么好奇怪的，你第一天认识他？
What's strange about that? Is this your first day knowing him?

Da Qing looks thoughtful as he gives himself a neck scritch.

The scene cuts to Zhao Yunlan calling Dragon City University asking for Shen Wei. Meanwhile, Da Qing looks absolutely tickled by this turn of events.

Zhu Hong:
沈巍？老赵怎么最近跟他杠上了？
Shen Wei? Why is Lao Zhao hanging around him?

Da Qing:
想给咋们特调处添新丁呗。
He's trying to get us some new blood in the SID.

The scene cuts to Zhao Yunlan talking to Shen Wei about having some old books for him. (Look at how happy he is at getting a chance to impress his crush!)

Zhu Hong:
这么积极主动惦记一个人，以前可从来没有过。
So actively thinking about someone...this has never happened before.
(I found this another hard one to translate. 积极主动 indicates a high degree of initiative and enthusiasm. The Youtube subtitles translate 惦记 as "concerned about" — which is one of the meanings — but Zhao Yunlan isn't exactly concerned about Shen Wei here per se, which is why I went with the more general "thinking". But 惦记 isn't just plain old having a couple of stray thoughts about somebody, it's like, thinking about them a lot.)

Da Qing:
老赵你还不知道，皮厚心黑，满肚子坏水，被他惦记上能有什么好事啊？
Don't you know Lao Zhao? He's got a thick skin and a black heart, and he's full of bad intentions. Being thought of by him is not a good thing.

It's interesting that this seems like a sort of callback to what Zhu Hong had said earlier, "Is this your first day knowing him?" The two of them are speaking from an apparently mutual understanding of "what Zhao Yunlan is like".

Another interesting choice is that we get Da Qing's disdainful expression above as he says the first part of the sentence. Then as he says "full of bad intentions", we cut to Zhao Yunlan looking absolutely thrilled after his call with Shen Wei, his silhouette outlined by bright sunlight, and in general not looking like he's got any bad intentions at all (well, he's certainly got some intentions all right, and he may be a little bit cocky, but mostly he's just genuinely happy.)

Zhu Hong:
可我总觉得这次不一样，套路用多了，保不齐哪天把自己给套进去
But I feel like this time is not the same. If he makes too many plays, one day he'll end up playing himself.
(I translated 套路 as "play" here in the Barney Stinson sense, which has a similar vibe.)

Zhu Hong's not buying Da Qing's glib comments. By now she doesn't just look jealous, she looks worried and sad. She's definitely got an inkling about what Shen Wei is/will become to Zhao Yunlan.

In the background, Da Qing makes a disbelieving sound and stretches nonchalantly, and the scene ends.

Some thoughts on Zhao Yunlan and his relationships

I find this scene interesting for a few reasons. Firstly, it's one of the references we get that gives a hint of what Zhao Yunlan's past history with romantic/sexual relationships might be — the others being Lin Jing and Chu Shuzhi's references to him being a "beast", and what Zhao Yunlan himself says later about being 五行缺爱 (I'm going to translate this as "not made for love" but I think I've seen a discussion on here about the meaning of this before — if anyone remembers feel free to link it!). I think that often, we see drama Zhao Yunlan's relationship history / approach to relationships being based on what it is in the novel, and I think that definitely works based on what we hear about Zhao Yunlan including in this scene. For reference, I'm going to pull out a couple lines from the novel from Chapter 21 that discusses this (translation is my own):

赵云澜一直觉得自己不算“同”，只能说审美范围比一般人宽广了一些，也比一般人更不要脸一些——漂亮男人和漂亮女人都能引起他的兴趣。

好在他虽然生冷不忌，但是人品还算马马虎虎地过得去，虽然不挑嘴，但也不至于饥不择食，有一个算一个，一段时间里绝对只有一个人，绝对不拈三惹四，是个好聚好散的模范情人。

不过此时距离他结束上一段关系，已经过了小半年的时间，沈老师又是这么一个对他胃口的类型，赵云澜心思不可避免地浮动了片刻。

是直接下手，还是放过？

沈巍是个一看就让人觉得“他很认真”的人。

赵云澜非常清楚自己是个什么货色，工作非主流不说，每天还有没完没了的应酬等着他，在外面花天酒地，自己的日子过得一塌糊涂，可谓是开名车，住狗窝。他不是什么能沉下心来，好好经营一段感情的良配，找个小幺蛾子无牵无挂地玩玩也就算了，估计许不起人家天长地久。最好少去招惹这种良家的好人，不过……

Zhao Yunlan has never considered himself gay, only that his taste is a bit broader than most people's, and that he is a bit more shameless than most — he is attracted to both beautiful men and women.

Although he likes all people, his character is more or less decent. He isn't picky, but he isn't desperate either. If he is with someone then he is with them; he is never with more than one person at a time and never cheats. He's a model lover who gets together and breaks up amicably.

However, it's been a while since his last relationship ended — almost half a year — and Professor Shen is exactly his type, so he can't help but think in that direction.

Should he go for it, or let him go?

Shen Wei looks like a very serious type of person.

Zhao Yunlan knows exactly what he himself is like. His job is unusual, and he is always out on social engagements full of drinking and debauchery. His life is a mess, what some would call "driving a fancy car and living in a pigsty." He isn't someone who can settle down and build a serious relationship. It's fine if he just has some fun with someone who is also not serious, but he can't really promise anyone "forever and always". So it's best that he doesn't mess with good, respectful people, but...

I think it's interesting that Zhu Hong says that she's never seen him so actively thinking about someone before. If we stay with the general outlines of the novel description, this could mean that he's just never been all that emotionally invested in any of his past relationships or hook ups. Or maybe it means he's not usually the one who's doing the pursuing, or at least consistently pursuing someone over this length of time.

But if we put the novel aside for the moment, there are also a couple of other possibilities: maybe he's always got people who's interested hanging around him, but he never takes them up on it. Or maybe he's always flirting but without any real intention behind it.

Either way, the evidence points to Zhao Yunlan not really having had a serious relationship before Shen Wei — at least not to the SID's knowledge, and if he had, it probably hadn't been a very good experience. The thing that makes Zhao Yunlan's relationship history in the drama really interesting to me is the sheer amount of emotional baggage he must have about intimacy. I mean, given what happened with his parents, and his distant/antagonistic relationship with his dad, I would be more surprised if he didn't have issues with intimacy. None of this is explicitly shown in the show, nor the impacts this might have had on his relationship with Shen Wei, and I just want to know!

The other interesting thing about this scene is Da Qing's words and actions. When I first watched it, I wasn't sure if Da Qing was being extremely dense about Zhu Hong's feelings, or if he was trying to discourage her. Either way, I thought what he said about Zhao Yunlan to be strange and unnecessarily harsh. Da Qing is supposed to be the person who has the closest and longest-lasting relationship with Zhao Yunlan, and knows him personally as well as professionally. Is this really what he thinks about him? Does any of the SID actually believe he's black-hearted (though thick-skinned is a given) and that being liked by him is a bad thing?

Later, after re-watching it and remembering what Zhao Yunlan says to Zhu Hong in Episode 31 when they finally talk about her feelings for him, I realized they are pretty similar in tone:

Zhao Yunlan:
你看啊，我这个人吧，嘴贫人贱，脾气还不好，温柔体贴装不了三天就原形毕露。而且我特别的败家，那过日子的事，根本就跟我没有半毛钱关系，闯起伙来是一套一套的，连我爹都嫌弃我。
Look at me, I'm glib, a jerk and bad-tempered. I can't fake being sweet and considerate for more than three days before my true colours show. I'm terrible with money, and I'm not someone who can settle down. I'm an expert at causing trouble, and even my dad can't stand me.

So now my theory is — is Da Qing "helping" Zhao Yunlan reject Zhu Hong here, using a method he might have seen Zhao Yunlan himself use? Has he done this before, even something that he does often? I find this kinda hilarious — Da Qing being Zhao Yunlan's anti-wingman.

Summary and Questions

I find this a really fun scene for several reasons. I think my favourite thing is how nosy Da Qing is and his absolute delight at seeing what Zhao Yunlan is getting up to. When you're a ten-thousand-year-old cat, you gotta get your entertainment from somewhere, ya know?

I love that Da Qing and Zhu Hong are just openly gossiping about their boss's personal life, while in the same room as him. I also generally (with one exception) like how the show deals with Zhu Hong's feelings for Zhao Yunlan. It's neither "she's a single girl in the main group, so obviously she likes the male lead", nor does it seem to come out of nowhere. It also generally (again, with one exception) treats her and her feelings with respect.

And finally, I just love Zhao Yunlan's expressions here. It's such light-hearted, giddy joy! (which is going to be crushed in the next scene, but shhh let me just enjoy it here)

• Do you think gossiping is a common past-time at the SID?
• How much do you think Da Qing and Zhao Yunlan know about Zhu Hong's feelings for Zhao Yunlan at this point?
• How much do you think the SID (in general, and Da Qing in particular) knows about Zhao Yunlan's personal life? What is he open about with them, and what does he hide?
• What do you think Zhao Yunlan's relationship history has been like? How do you think he feels / how aware is he of what he feels about Shen Wei at this point in the series?
• Why is Shen Wei collecting old books? Is it just an interest of his, or do you think he's looking for something (Hallows-related maybe)?

Any other thoughts? I would also love any fics or other fanwork recs about this scene or related themes! Thanks everyone <3

(I'm also using this post for the "Flirt" square on my Guardian Bingo card.)