Ep 3, Shen Wei introduces Zhao Yunlan to Teacher Zhang

[china_shop]

I'm just doing a tiny scene fragment today. This follows on from the cake-stealing scene where Zhao Yunlan implicitly accuses Shen Wei of obfuscating about how well he knows Engineering 4, by holding up the cake card, and pre-empts Shen Wei's defence by calling it a coincidence, in an edged voice.

Episode 3, 9:28 - 9:49, Viki subs

Teacher Zhang knocks on Shen Wei's open office door and comes in.

Zhang Ruonan: Teacher Shen--! 沈老师

She stops dead when she sees he has company.



Zhang Ruonan: (cont.) My mistake, I disturbed you. 不好意思 打扰你们了 (She bows and turns to leave)



Shen Wei: (jumps to his feet and smiles reassuringly) Teacher Zhang! It's fine. Let me introduce you. 张老师 没关系的 我跟你介绍一下

Zhao Yunlan stands.

Shen Wei: (cont.) This is my colleague, Teacher Zhang Ruonan. 这个是我同事 张若楠 老师



Shen Wei: (cont.) This is... 这位是... (2 sec pause while he looks at Zhao Yunlan and realises he can't explain this for multiple reasons)

Zhao Yunlan: Zhao Yunlan. I'm Professor Shen's... 赵云澜 我是沈教授的... (3 sec pause while he eyes Shen Wei and comes up with a cover story)



Zhao Yunlan: (cont.) (turning back to Teacher Zhang) good friend. 好朋友



Shen Wei: (in the background, having feelings)

Thoughts about this moment

• Zhang Ruonan feeling comfortable barging into Shen Wei's office says a lot about their working relationship, I think. ♥


• I love how Shen Wei jumps to his feet to stop her leaving and seems so eager to introduce them. There's no embarrassment about Zhao Yunlan's disreputable clothes, just care not to discomfit Zhang Ruonan or make her feel unwelcome, and pleasure at introducing Zhao Yunlan, who Shen Wei really likes despite the sneezing on the fish tank, cake-stealing, and accusations trifecta.


• When Shen Wei hesitates, what is he thinking? Part of it must be the impossibility of encapsulating all that Zhao Yunlan is to him in a single polite introduction. And then, the fact that the SID is a covert organisation -- not only does Zhao Yunlan operate in secret, but it does Professor Shen no good to be seen associating with the SID chief. And when it comes to an alternative framing of their relationship, is it too soon to claim friendship? Too presumptuous? Especially given Chief Zhao has just been obliquely interrogating him.


• When Zhao Yunlan hesitates, it seems more of a tease. He too knows he can't tell the truth for fear of damaging Shen Wei's reputation and drawing attention to the SID, but I think he's drawing it out a little, too. And the way he says "good friend" feels like more of a cover than a sincere claim. (It also feels a little suggestive to me. Is he claiming dibs? *g*)


• Shen Wei must be having so many mixed feelings about this claim of "friendship"! It's like a parody of Kunlun, exactly what he wants on the face of it, but terribly undercut by the lack of sincerity and how little they really know each other. And yet, the fact that Zhao Yunlan went there rather than coming up with another (more plausible, given their extremely different appearances?) explanation suggests that Zhao Yunlan might be thinking along those lines?


• Compare this scene with the moment in episode 9 (10:37), during the car breakdown, when Shen Wei easily and without hesitation introduces Zhao Yunlan to Jiajia: He is Chief Zhao, my friend. 给你介绍一下 这是赵处长 是我一朋友 -- adskjfasdlfkjhad!


• Guo Changcheng is polite furniture. *pets him*

What headcanons or theories do you have about this moment? Thoughts, reactions, squee, fanwork recs all welcome!

Comments

[autodach]

I think Zhao Yunlan saying "good friends" is all teasing/flirting/staking a claim.

Zhao Yunlan has no way of knowing how well Zhang Ruonan and Shen Wei know each other.
If they are actually close, and Zhao Yunlan was never mentioned by Shen Wei, she would immediately catch on that the good friends bit cant be true.

Its a bad cover and Zhao Yunlan is smarter than that.
So if its not meant to be a cover story, it has to be a tease.

[china_shop]

If they are actually close, and Zhao Yunlan was never mentioned by Shen Wei, she would immediately catch on that the good friends bit cant be true.

Hmm, I have a different interpretation of this. Shen Wei is a private person, who wouldn't necessarily talk about one close friend with another, I feel, and if Zhang Ruonan questioned the friendship, I think it would be easy enough for Zhao Yunlan to play into that, turning reproachful eyes on Shen Wei and asking if he's been keeping Zhao Yunlan a secret (ie, if he's ashamed of him?!) -- thus extending the teasing and the cover.

Plus, going by appearances, Zhao Yunlan obviously isn't a professional colleague, so the fact that Shen Wei readily introduced him to a colleague suggests a personal relationship, I think? If he were nothing more than an investigating detective, wouldn't Shen Wei have stayed quiet and been relieved when Zhang Ruonan left? Idk.

I think it's a cover and a tease. (But I do see where you're coming from! You don't have to agree. :-)

[autodach]

Shen Wei is a private person, who wouldn't necessarily talk about one close friend with another,

Does Zhao Yunlan know this yet, though?
Can he be certain?


turning reproachful eyes on Shen Wei and asking if he's been keeping Zhao Yunlan a secret (ie, if he's ashamed of him?!)

Haha yes, that sounds exactly like him XD


the fact that Shen Wei readily introduced him to a colleague suggests a personal relationship, I think? If he were nothing more than an investigating detective, wouldn't Shen Wei have stayed quiet and been relieved when Zhang Ruonan left?

That is true. And after Shen Wei has started to introduce, then hesitated, pretty much anything would sound suspicious.

Maybe Zhao Yanlan is at this point just going with the most fun option that also leaves room for interpretation.

[china_shop]

Does Zhao Yunlan know this yet, though?

You're right, he doesn't have any hard evidence for it, but I think Zhao Yunlan's a pretty good judge of character, you know? He observed Shen Wei during the Li Qian case, and drew his own conclusions.

Haha yes, that sounds exactly like him XD

:D :D :D (Would he be able to resist calling Shen Wei by a pet name, if it came to that? *g*)

Maybe Zhao Yanlan is at this point just going with the most fun option that also leaves room for interpretation.

I think the options are limited, too, if he doesn't want to mention the SID. He's not dressed for academia -- maybe implying Shen Wei's into "bad boys" is the best he can do? ;-D

[nnozomi]

What a neat, precise writeup!
好朋友 "good friend" always feels to me very deliberately "we're on THOSE kinds of terms"--wink wink. Honestly closer to "we're fucking" than "we're friends" in tone. It's a way to fend off further probing on Zhang Ruonan's part by its euphemistic sound [not that I think ZRN cares a whole lot at this point, she's got other worries], it's also a way of flirting and kind of testing out how Shen Wei will react. (Shen Wei's episode 9 introduction by contrast is a straightforward "we're friends," even though of course there's a lot more going on in his head.)

[china_shop]

Thanks! <3

好朋友 "good friend" always feels to me very deliberately "we're on THOSE kinds of terms"--wink wink. Honestly closer to "we're fucking" than "we're friends" in tone.

*nodnod* That's how it sounds to me, too -- but that's pretty outrageous, right? Outing Shen Wei to his colleague based on a lie? To me it suggests Dragon City is at the extreme end of not-at-all-homophobic, or else surely Zhao Yunlan wouldn't be so careless of Shen Wei's reputation?

Shen Wei's episode 9 introduction by contrast is a straightforward "we're friends," even though of course there's a lot more going on in his head.

His smile there is so sweet and confident. *loves*

[nnozomi]

To me it suggests Dragon City is at the extreme end of not-at-all-homophobic, or else surely Zhao Yunlan wouldn't be so careless of Shen Wei's reputation?
Huh, interesting--for some reason I have Dragon City/(Haixing/Dixing) filed mentally as a non-homophobia zone, I never think about it, but I guess that's definitely YMMV. (Either way, Zhao Yunlan is just barely within safe limits, I think--after all, the only thing he actually said was "good friend," which Shen Wei could presumably talk his way out of if he needed to.)

[china_shop]

for some reason I have Dragon City/(Haixing/Dixing) filed mentally as a non-homophobia zone

I'm never sure, but I think this is definitely evidence for that view! *nods*

which Shen Wei could presumably talk his way out of if he needed to.

Yeeah, it could easily start rumours, though? Seems a carelessly rude thing to do if it would potentially cause problems for Shen Wei (and ZYL tends towards calculatedly rude, when he's doing rude, I think).

And as well as homophobia, there's "unknown, scruffy Zhao Yunlan", who isn't exactly presenting himself as appropriate partner material. Depending on how uptight the university is about reputation...

(Would he have said that if it had been a student rather than Teacher Zhang, is what I'm wondering?)