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sid_guardian2024-09-28 10:14 am
china_shop) wrote in sid_guardian2024-09-28 10:14 am
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Question: Shen Wei's car
I'm reading the Guardian novel for the first time (still only a few chapters in), and of course, I'm fascinated by the differences, and by how many aspects transferred over despite the demands of censorship.
I'm sure this has been much discussed before, but one obvious thing is that novel!Shen Wei has a cellphone and a car.
Why do you think they changed the cellphone thing for the drama? Just as an interesting character note? To make him more odd and old-fashioned (so Zhao Yunlan could deliver that line about Shen Wei being "pretty much a living fossil", ep 12: 我之前就觉得沈教授滴酒不沾又和一切的现代设备绝缘 简直就是个活化石)? So that the Black-Cloaked Envoy would have some limitations and need to work with the SID (ie, complementarity)? Some other reason?
And what about the car?
ETA: How about a bicycle?
I'm sure this has been much discussed before, but one obvious thing is that novel!Shen Wei has a cellphone and a car.
Why do you think they changed the cellphone thing for the drama? Just as an interesting character note? To make him more odd and old-fashioned (so Zhao Yunlan could deliver that line about Shen Wei being "pretty much a living fossil", ep 12: 我之前就觉得沈教授滴酒不沾又和一切的现代设备绝缘 简直就是个活化石)? So that the Black-Cloaked Envoy would have some limitations and need to work with the SID (ie, complementarity)? Some other reason?
And what about the car?
Poll #31944 Drama!Shen Wei's driving skills
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 21
Does drama!Shen Wei own a car?
View Answers
yes
0 (0.0%)
no
10 (47.6%)
he can drive, and he does sometimes
5 (23.8%)
he has a driver's licence but doesn't drive
5 (23.8%)
no car, no licence, no driving
10 (47.6%)
other
0 (0.0%)
I love how the drama adapted the Li Qian storyline, making it resonate thematically with the Ye Zun storyline
7 (33.3%)
wow, novel!Guo Changcheng is even more hapless than his drama counterpart
5 (23.8%)
but Daqing is hilarious :D
5 (23.8%)
ETA: How about a bicycle?
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Why do you think they changed the cellphone thing for the drama? Just as an interesting character note?
Probably multiple reasons. Most straightforwardly, him being old-fashioned in some respects works to make him actually feel older than he looks. And then, part of the early dynamic between Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan is that Zhao Yunlan is suspicious of Shen Wei, not just because he happens to be present for several cases but also because there are things about him that aren't so ordinary, and I think the him being old-fashioned about tech and not having a mobile phone is part of that, too.
I do think he can drive a car (and ride a bike), but he doesn't own one (or a bike either), and he only drives if he really needs to.
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Most straightforwardly, him being old-fashioned in some respects works to make him actually feel older than he looks. And then, part of the early dynamic between Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan is that Zhao Yunlan is suspicious of Shen Wei, not just because he happens to be present for several cases but also because there are things about him that aren't so ordinary, and I think the him being old-fashioned about tech and not having a mobile phone is part of that, too.
Oh, yes, both of those make sense!
I do think he can drive a car (and ride a bike), but he doesn't own one (or a bike either), and he only drives if he really needs to.
I was wondering whether his previous identity had a licence, but he found he used it so infrequently that he didn't bother getting one in his new, Professor Shen guise.
In terms of "if he really needs to", I got the impression in the field trip that Xiao Quan was doing all the driving. Do you think the fact that Shen Wei didn't take the wheel when Zhao Yunlan insisted on taking over means that he didn't really want to part ways with Zhao Yunlan despite his protestations, that he didn't want to admit he can drive, or that he can't actually drive after all?
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Yeah, makes sense that that would require a different approach from other fiction!
I was wondering whether his previous identity had a licence, but he found he used it so infrequently that he didn't bother getting one in his new, Professor Shen guise.
Oh yeah, I can see that! Though he might have got his licence just to be ready in case he ever needed it.
In terms of "if he really needs to", I got the impression in the field trip that Xiao Quan was doing all the driving. Do you think the fact that Shen Wei didn't take the wheel when Zhao Yunlan insisted on taking over means that he didn't really want to part ways with Zhao Yunlan despite his protestations, that he didn't want to admit he can drive, or that he can't actually drive after all?
I thought he realised Zhao Yunlan wasn't going to back away no matter what he said or did - that needing an experienced driver was at least in part a pretext - and decided to let him have his way. So IMO it doesn't reflect one way or the other on whether or not Shen Wei can drive.
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I think the lack of a cell phone makes him more mysterious, and less easy to track. A teleporter with an active cell phone would look very strange in the carrier's records. I don't know the novel, but I assume the drama's version of the SID is much more technologically focused, and therefore might be assumed to look at cell phone records.
Besides, if SW had a cell phone, we wouldn't have the great video call about bears.
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*nodnod* I think he walks a lot, too.
A teleporter with an active cell phone would look very strange in the carrier's records.
That's true, though I think it's something a TV show could easily handwave (and/or he could easily leave his phone in his office when on official Envoy duty, to avoid untimely ringtones ;-).
Besides, if SW had a cell phone, we wouldn't have the great video call about bears.
Haha, so true, and completely justifies the decision!!! :D :D :D
I think you're right that it makes him more mysterious, too. There's so little mystery left in the world today.
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Oh yes! That would be a terrible loss!
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I headcanon that Shen Wei has a driving licence, he just doesn’t use it much and doesn’t own a car.
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I headcanon that Shen Wei has a driving licence, he just doesn’t use it much and doesn’t own a car.
*nodnod* Yeah, I think wrt to car ownership especially, if he had one, we'd probably have seen it.
So on the field trip when Zhao Yunlan told Xiao Quan that they needed an experienced driver and that he (Zhao Yunlan) would take the wheel, do you think Shen Wei didn't take over then because he thought Zhao Yunlan was right (and Shen Wei didn't consider himself an experienced driver), or because he didn't really want to part ways after all, or did he just not want to admit to being able to drive? I guess if his licence is under a previous identity, he might not have insurance cover; he might have had to promise the university (or whoever else owned the car) that only a licensed driver would drive?
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Zhao Yunlan also kinda steamrolls him iirc, simply going “you need a driver and it’s gonna be me!”. And who is Shen Wei do object? Making a scene with the SID chief in front of his students is also not in line with his persona.
Good idea about getting his licence in a different identity! I didn't even consider that.
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True, Zhao Yunlan is very pushy. Possibly partly because he's trying to regain face after the book con and the gastritis by being all competent and "I'll protect you"? Anyway, it gives us some great scenes, so I'm not complaining! :D :D :D
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Oh, I must have skimmed over that. I should read more carefully! /o\ I do remember Zhao Yunlan asking to see Shen Wei's phone purely for the purpose of putting his own number in (under "a-Lan", lol) and dialling himself so he'd have Shen Wei's number too. I don't think Zhao Yunlan commented on his phone being old-fashioned then (but that might have been because he was busy flirting). And Shen Wei must have been carrying it around with him. But like I said, I'm not very far into the novel, and maybe that's not typical. :-)
Here's the scene
Shen Wei was embarrassed, but Zhao Yunlan only smiled, revealing two dimples, as he added, “Oh, right. Can I borrow your phone for a sec?”He got his phone out, but Zhao Yunlan didn’t take it. Instead, he lifted Shen Wei’s hand and gently held the back of it while he casually entered his own name and number into Shen Wei’s contacts. He saved it, dialed the number, and then hung up after one ring.
“Just making sure you have my contact information,” he said, pretending to be serious. “If anything else comes up related to the case, feel free to harass me.”
[...]
When he looked through his phone’s contacts, he found a flirtatious “a-Lan” innocently displayed on the screen.
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And I was starting to think I pulled this whole thing out of my ass, but I found what I'm pretty sure made me think Shen Wei does not like owning a phone and why I think it's an older model (but now that I re-read this bit it might also just be that it's newer and Shen Wei just doesn't use it much):
in chapter 47 (of the not official translation)
His phone has merely three functions: phone calls, messaging, and telling the time. He’s never played the games that came with it.
Shen Wei doesn't like this gadget, he finds writing a letter more convenient. If it's urgent, you can write a quick note; if it's not, you can take your time and write a little longer, unlike phone calls, which are charged by the hour. Whenever he thinks of that, he feels like someone is watching him talk on the phone, and it makes him very uncomfortable.
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Shen Wei wasn’t a fan of technology. He was a slow-tempered, antiquated man who still found writing letters more convenient. If something was urgent, he could write a quick note. If not, he could take his time writing, and so what if it ran a little long? And as for phone calls, well, you paid for those by the minute, which gave him the horribly uncomfortable sense that someone was scrutinizing him as he spoke.