POLL / PICSPAM: how many times? (Zhao Yunlan & Shen Wei in episodes 1/2)

[trobadora]

All right, let's start this off with a poll - don't look under the cut (or beneath the poll) before voting:

Poll #31407

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 16

View Respondents

During episodes 1 & 2 (the Li Qian case), how many separate times does Zhao Yunlan encounter Shen Wei?

View Answers

fewer than 6 times
3 (18.8%)

6 times
2 (12.5%)

7 times
4 (25.0%)

8 times
3 (18.8%)

9 times
1 (6.2%)

10 times
2 (12.5%)

11 times
0 (0.0%)

12 times
0 (0.0%)

13 times
0 (0.0%)

more than 13 times
1 (6.2%)

Fun fact: it's definitely more than I thought!

I did some canon revision while I was writing my 520 Day fic, which is set after episode 2, and started numbering the encounters for no particular reason. It turns out that over the course of these two episodes, Zhao Yunlan encounters Professor Shen in eight separate instances! And on top of that, there are three separate encounters with the Black-Cloaked Envoy. (And one brief flashback to "Kunlun" and the young Envoy, which I'm not counting. *g*) No wonder Zhao Yunlan will soon be talking about Shen Wei suddenly being everywhere!

(As Da Qing explains to Zhao Yunlan in episode 6, "In this world, two people can have been very close by but have never seen each other before. But maybe from that day on, the two of them will meet every day. Destiny is unpredictable." *g*)

(Only three of these encounters are planned, btw - Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan arrive on the rooftop together to confront Li Qian; the scene at Li Yufen's grave with everyone there has obviously been arranged; and at the end, Zhao Yunlan summons the Envoy.)

Anyway, have some screencaps! (As usual, click for full-size versions.)

First Professor Shen encounter: Shen Wei sees Zhao Yunlan in a window, pets Zhao Yunlan's cat, and shakes his hand. (Shen Wei forgets to let go. Zhao Yunlan forgets to take his hand back after Shen Wei does let go. :p)







Second Professor Shen encounter: Shen Wei comes to fetch Li Qian, who is being questioned by Zhao Yunlan, and makes himself more suspicious by being so calm.







Third Professor Shen encounter: Shen Wei intercepts Zhao Yunlan, who's observing Li Qian. Shen Wei admits to knowing about the SID and pushes Zhao Yunlan about his views on Dixingren; Zhao Yunlan claims a feeling of familiarity with Shen Wei.







First Envoy encounter: the Black-Cloaked Envoy arrives on the roof; Zhao Yunlan is passive-aggressive until Xiao-Guo speaks out of turn, then tries to smooth things over and gives us our first "Hei-laoge". :D







Fourth Professor Shen encounter: Shen Wei, who let himself be thrown off the roof when he noticed the SID arriving, now comes out of the bushes and waves at Zhao Yunlan, who is justifiably suspicious.





Fifth Professor Shen encounter: this one's an extended sequence. It starts with Zhao Yunlan slipping while trying to save Li Qian from falling off the roof; Shen Wei arrives in time so they can pull Li Qian up together. From there, they take Li Qian to the hospital, talk to the doctor, then have a delightful cat-and-mouse conversation in the corridor that ends with Zhao Yunlan inviting Shen Wei to a meal after the case is over and Shen Wei countering that no, it should be his treat. ♥ ♥ ♥











Sixth Professor Shen encounter: after Gao Tianyu attacks Li Qian's hospital room and is stopped by Shen Wei, Zhao Yunlan finds Shen Wei there pretending to have been knocked to the floor.





Seventh Professor Shen encounter: another extended sequence. Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan arrive on the rooftop together to confront Li Qian; Zhao Yunlan accuses her of killing her grandma; Li Qian falsely confesses, and they take her away in the car but are stopped by Gao Tianyu's next attack. Gao Tianyu's telekinesis stops Shen Wei from getting out of the car until he's been defeated by the spirit of Li Qian's grandma coming from the Longevity Dial.











Second Envoy encounter: a brief interruption in the previous scene, during which Shen Wei (supposedly still inside the car) appears as the Envoy and takes Gao Tianyu away.





Eighth Professor Shen encounter: at Li Yufen's grave, Shen Wei again asks Zhao Yunlan leading questions about about why these Dixingren attackers have suddenly appeared.





Third Envoy encounter: Zhao Yunlan summons the Envoy to the SID, and they talk about the Sundial. Zhao Yunlan thinks the Envoy is meddling upstairs when he asks about Li Qian.








Questions:

• How close were you to guessing the actual number of encounters? Were you in the right approximate region, or completely off? Are you surprised to hear the actual numbers?


• Which of these encounters is your favourite? Can you even choose? (It's hard! I know! But if I absolutely had to, right now I'd pick the cat-and-mouse game in the hospital corridor. Possibly because it's been on my mind a lot, writing my 520 Day fic. *g*)


• Do you think Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei actually went out for a meal after this case? Has anyone written fic about it? (In the scene, it's mostly both of them signalling their interest/suspicion won't stop with the end of this case, but that won't prevent us - or them - from taking it literally too, right? *g*)


• When Zhao Yunlan accuses Li Qian on the rooftop, Shen Wei is clearly taken aback - but since they arrive together, Zhao Yunlan must have told him something about his intentions. Any thoughts about what?


• Finally, a random thing I somehow never quite registered before: during the scene at Li Yufen's grave, Shen Wei says there were no further incidents after Li Yufen's funeral, which means this scene isn't her funeral, and some time must have passed. So what exactly is this graveside gathering? Does anyone know what it might be?