I have two quite small favourite moments - the first is Shen Wei extending his hand, waiting for Zheng Yi to take it, and then very gently holding it; the second is the way he shakes Zhao Yunlan's hand off his arm in the tea scene, which is such a fascinating and telling character detail to me.
Oooh, those are both excellent moments! I always love the way he holds out his hand for her, and waits for her to come to him. ♥ And 100% agreed about shaking off Zhao Yunlan's hand - that such a strong and immediate reaction, and it's so unusual for someone as self-contained as Shen Wei to show it! He's really on his last straw.
I think this may be part of his professional life entangling so much with his private life - maybe he wants to be able to have both more official access to Shen Wei (always coming by the university must be a time sink) and be able to really introduce him to the rest of the SID as one of them, which couldn't really happen with either the Envoy or Professor Shen
Yes! All of this makes a lot of sense to me. That's definitely all part of it. (In a comment above I also wondered if the reason for Zhao Yunlan bringing it up or hinting at it again and again might also be because once he asked and Shen Wei turned him down, it also became a thing about winning Shen Wei over, so the more he got turned down, the less he could let it go ...)
Shen Wei, meanwhile, is trying to juggle a lot of responsibilities and I think he ends up saying yes because of a mixture of a) being able to tell that Zhao Yunlan isn't going to let this go, and I think he does feel guilty about the lying/secrets and this is something he can do for Zhao Yunlan without too much risk, b) the closer they get in modern times, the harder he likely finds it to say no to Zhao Yunlan, and c) having less of an objection now that Zhao Yunlan knows he's the Envoy. It also allows him to keep a closer eye on the Hallows without anyone potentially making a fuss about it.
Yeah, those are all good reasons! I think a big part also has to be the disaster at the wedding, which was definitely due to them working at cross purposes and Shen Wei unnecessarily keeping things from Zhao Yunlan. Shen Wei realises at this point, I think, that they're better off working more closely together. So that's half-way there, even if it takes the rest of it to make him actually officially join the SID. *g*
(I'm not sure how hard he finds it to say no to Zhao Yunlan, but it definitely becomes harder the less of a good external reason he has to keep his distance. *g*)
I tend to think that it makes things easier on the personal level, not just between Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei, but also between Shen Wei and the SID team, who're now getting to know him more before they end up having to try and save the world together (the more trust there's already there, the better), but perhaps not on the professional, at least for Shen Wei.
Yeah, 100% agreed - it's good in a lot of ways, but it also complicates things for Shen Wei in ways that Zhao Yunlan doesn't seem to consider.
Then again, maybe this is one of those areas where his personal wants and what he thinks is necessary clash - I think he'd be quite happy to have the Envoy become less of a set-apart entity, but he also seems convinced that for general peace and stability he shouldn't let that happen.
Yes, all of this! And conversely, of course he wants to protect his job at the university, but at the same time that's not a priority he can or will allow himself ...
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Oooh, those are both excellent moments! I always love the way he holds out his hand for her, and waits for her to come to him. ♥ And 100% agreed about shaking off Zhao Yunlan's hand - that such a strong and immediate reaction, and it's so unusual for someone as self-contained as Shen Wei to show it! He's really on his last straw.
I think this may be part of his professional life entangling so much with his private life - maybe he wants to be able to have both more official access to Shen Wei (always coming by the university must be a time sink) and be able to really introduce him to the rest of the SID as one of them, which couldn't really happen with either the Envoy or Professor Shen
Yes! All of this makes a lot of sense to me. That's definitely all part of it. (In a comment above I also wondered if the reason for Zhao Yunlan bringing it up or hinting at it again and again might also be because once he asked and Shen Wei turned him down, it also became a thing about winning Shen Wei over, so the more he got turned down, the less he could let it go ...)
Shen Wei, meanwhile, is trying to juggle a lot of responsibilities and I think he ends up saying yes because of a mixture of a) being able to tell that Zhao Yunlan isn't going to let this go, and I think he does feel guilty about the lying/secrets and this is something he can do for Zhao Yunlan without too much risk, b) the closer they get in modern times, the harder he likely finds it to say no to Zhao Yunlan, and c) having less of an objection now that Zhao Yunlan knows he's the Envoy. It also allows him to keep a closer eye on the Hallows without anyone potentially making a fuss about it.
Yeah, those are all good reasons! I think a big part also has to be the disaster at the wedding, which was definitely due to them working at cross purposes and Shen Wei unnecessarily keeping things from Zhao Yunlan. Shen Wei realises at this point, I think, that they're better off working more closely together. So that's half-way there, even if it takes the rest of it to make him actually officially join the SID. *g*
(I'm not sure how hard he finds it to say no to Zhao Yunlan, but it definitely becomes harder the less of a good external reason he has to keep his distance. *g*)
I tend to think that it makes things easier on the personal level, not just between Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei, but also between Shen Wei and the SID team, who're now getting to know him more before they end up having to try and save the world together (the more trust there's already there, the better), but perhaps not on the professional, at least for Shen Wei.
Yeah, 100% agreed - it's good in a lot of ways, but it also complicates things for Shen Wei in ways that Zhao Yunlan doesn't seem to consider.
Then again, maybe this is one of those areas where his personal wants and what he thinks is necessary clash - I think he'd be quite happy to have the Envoy become less of a set-apart entity, but he also seems convinced that for general peace and stability he shouldn't let that happen.
Yes, all of this! And conversely, of course he wants to protect his job at the university, but at the same time that's not a priority he can or will allow himself ...
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