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sid_guardian2024-12-27 08:30 am
Guardian Readalong: Chapters 15 and 16
Welcome to this week’s installment of the Guardian novel readalong!
(If you’re just joining us or need to catch up, here are last week’s chapters and you can find all previous chapter discussions on the schedule post or via the !readalong tag.)
This week we’re looking at:
- Chapter 15: Zhao Yunlan’s gastritis flares. Shen Wei takes him home without needing to be told where Zhao Yunlan lives. The Yanluo Court sends Zhao Yunlan The Book of Life and Death. Shen Wei gets a look at the interior of Zhao Yunlan’s apartment and arrives the next day with groceries.
- Chapter 16: Shen Wei cooks and cleans for Zhao Yunlan. Zhao Yunlan seems sure he’ll win over Shen Wei even after he’s rejected yet again.
These events correspond with Chapters 24 and 25 of the Chinese version on JJWXC and the fan translation.
Excerpts:
Shen Wei scanned the room without comment. There was a shirt, a pair of pants, and knit vest on the sofa. The bed was covered with a variety of books, with a laptop in sleep mode underneath them. All in all it was a masterpiece of a mess with barely any clear space to set foot.
Zhao Yunlan apologized quickly, casually unearthing a spot on the sofa to sit. Before he could straighten up, a fresh wave of pain started in his belly.
“Don’t worry about all that.” Shen Wei set the takeout on the coffee table, sighed, then began moving the books on the bed. “Where do you normally put all this?”
“On the bed during the day, then on the floor at night.”
After a brief pause of stunned silence, Shen Wei quickly sorted the books into two piles, after which he freed up some space on the equally disastrous desk and put the books there. Finally, he moved the computer to the nightstand. “Now lie down, and I’ll go pour you some water… Where is your water?”
That was always the way of things with the current Ten Yanluo Kings. The bureaucracy was even more impenetrable than that of the Mortal Realm. If there was nothing in it for them, they wouldn’t rouse themselves to action; if anything happened, they’d drag things out. It was incredibly annoying. The Soul-Guarding Order and the Netherworld had bumped heads many times over the years, putting Zhao Yunlan in a constant tug-of-war with them while having to simultaneously work with them.
Then Shen Wei grabbed his wrist. Zhao Yunlan was caught off guard and instinctively tried to pull free, but couldn’t break Shen Wei’s grip.
It was the second time that had happened. The first time had been on that roof at Dragon City University when Shen Wei had dragged him back up with only the strength of his arms. Shen Wei didn’t have the weak hands of an academic. Instead, they were icy cold and frighteningly strong, callused between the thumb and pointer finger – not the kind of calluses that resulted from too much time using a mouse.
Zhao Yunlan studied him, unable to believe that someone so beautiful, such a joy for the eyes and mind alike, was such a pedantic old scholar at heart. “Just because someone’s straight doesn’t mean they’ll find a suitable partner. Getting married doesn’t guarantee being able to have a child. Having a kid doesn’t mean they’ll make it to adulthood, and if they do, you have no way of knowing what they’ll be like when they grow up. Where the sense in taking such a huge gamble, investing in such a high-risk product just so it can bring honor upon your family and take care of you in your old age? You’re better off buying a lottery ticket. If you really like kids, you can sponsor a few needy children. Then during the holidays there’ll be someone willing to come see you.”
Questions:
What was going through Shen Wei’s mind when he saw Zhao Yunlan’s home and how Zhao Yunlan took care of himself? How do you think Zhao Yunlan navigated maintaining that professional balance with the Netherworld over the years? What does Zhao Yunlan’s thoughts on children suggest about his own experiences with family? What are your favorite parts of these two chapters?
These questions are just starting off points. Feel free to talk about whatever stood out to you in the chapters and/or your thoughts on how the events compare to the gastritis rescue and subsequent cooking and cleaning in the drama.
no subject
For starters in Chapter 15, Shen Wei slips up when it’s time to take Zhao Yunlan home because he forgets to hide that he knows where Zhao Yunlan lives. (In both the novel and the drama, Shen Wei struggles with deception where Zhao Yunlan is concerned.) It leaves me wondering just how many times Shen Wei might have passed Zhao Yunlan’s building, stood outside his door, etc. (He definitely didn’t go inside but I’ll talk more about that in a minute.)
Zhao Yunlan, sick though he may be, picks up on this and recognizes Shen Wei’s been
stalkinglooking into him. And while he does consider that maybe Shen Wei would be calling backup to deal with him he also has an Or… moment where he lets himself wonder if maybe Shen Wei had other intentions.(Also, he’s totally not freaked out by Shen Wei’s stalker tendencies. These two are perfect for each other.)
Chapter 15 also gives us more insight into how Zhao Yunlan lives and we get to see Shen Wei’s first impressions as well. The “earthquake” when Shen Wei first gets a look inside makes me think he wasn’t all that impressed.
There are the descriptions of clutter (except for the pristine, never-used kitchen) but we also get other details, including Zhao Yunlan’s lack of socks, which snapped Shen Wei out of his flustered reaction to Zhao Yunlan’s scandalous pajama top. It’s clear Shen Wei isn’t impressed by Zhao Yunlan’s explanation that skipping socks helps cut down on laundry. He’s even less impressed by the fact that Zhao Yunlan had only consumed bread and alcohol prior to going out for takeaway.
It’s very clear that Zhao Yunlan really isn’t taking care of himself and Shen Wei even goes so far as to proposing Zhao Yunlan find himself a caretaker. (Poor Shen Wei, you wandered right into Zhao Yunlan’s, “I considered you, but you declined.”
Shen Wei bolts, but then comes back later with bags of groceries (which is kind of the opposite of what you need to do to establish a boundary and make it clear you’re not going to be the much-needed caretaker).
Chapter 16 is shorter, but we still get some great scenes, including Shen Wei’s explanation that he was making food because “It’s what friends should do,”only to then caress Zhao Yunlan’s face while he slept in a manner that perhaps suggests something in addition to friendship keeping Shen Wei in the disaster of an apartment.
Zhao Yunlan falls asleep and wakes to find Shen Wei has not only cooked but cleaned. We learn that Zhao Yunlan couldn’t remember the last time he’d woken up to the smell of home coking and the sound of someone urging him to go wash up.
I realize he’s a grown man, but I feel bad for Zhao Yunlan here. These two chapters reveal just how bad he is at taking care of himself and while there’s some definite humor in the descriptions, it’s also indicative of a lack of concern for himself.
We get some of this in the drama (Zhao Yunlan waking up surprised to find food and a tidied home) but while in the drama, Zhao Yunlan uses the situation to
flirtpush Shen Wei to join the SID, in the novel Zhao Yunlan goes straight for what he wants, which is Shen Wei (and not in a professional context).Shen Wei turns him down again, telling Zhao Yunlan he should find a wife and have children, thus leading to Zhao Yunlan’s speech in the excerpt about family. He makes some really good points about how getting married and having children are no guarantees for happiness. At the same time, this speech goes beyond his earlier explanation that he could live in a retirement home. Does Zhao Yunlan feel like he maybe didn’t turn out how his parents had hoped?
Of course Shen Wei has to bail after this but Zhao Yunlan isn’t worried and instead eats his steaming hot food, comforted in heart and stomach.
no subject
Yeah, true, he must have! Poor Shen Wei.
(Also, he’s totally not freaked out by Shen Wei’s stalker tendencies. These two are perfect for each other.)
I'm very much a fan of this! These two really are best when they're equally weird about each other. ♥
The “earthquake” when Shen Wei first gets a look inside makes me think he wasn’t all that impressed.
I'm not sure I see the connection? Wasn't the earthquake because of the Mountain-River Awl? (See: Something had surfaced into the world, which is what everyone in the Underworld was worrying about with the Awl, at the end of chapter 13.)
no subject
Something…
Something had surfaced into the world.
It might well be the Awl, but given ZYL's reaction, I kind of read it as being the first inklings of Kunlun? Idk!
no subject
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no subject
Haha, yes, that's brilliantly done. I love it. :D
(which is kind of the opposite of what you need to do to establish a boundary and make it clear you’re not going to be the much-needed caretaker).
LOL!! So true! But he can't delegate to Daqing here, and someone has to take care of ZYL!! :D :D :D
I realize he’s a grown man, but I feel bad for Zhao Yunlan here. These two chapters reveal just how bad he is at taking care of himself and while there’s some definite humor in the descriptions, it’s also indicative of a lack of concern for himself.
Agreed! He must be fairly resilient, because he mostly seems to function in a work capacity, but wow, what a disaster. *pets*
no subject
Awwww! That is such a
wistfulcreepy image!!! (Or maybe both. Both is good!)the opposite of what you need to do to establish a boundary
I love this phrase! In addition to each of them being totally here for a stalkery romance, it also seems that neither of them has any trouble with blowing right past sensible boundaries.
Zhao Yunlan uses the situation to
flirtpush Shen Wei to join the SID, in the novel Zhao Yunlan goes straight for what he wants, which is Shen Wei (and not in a professional context).LOL, yes, an interesting point of contrast. Is it purely a matter of the drama's censorship, I wonder - "hmmm, we can't have ZYL trying to get SW into bed here, so let's have him try to get him into the office instead" - or does it reflect a deeper reconsideration of the character? Trying to make him a little less direct/obvious, at least in spoken language as opposed to body language?
no subject
Also true in the drama, what with the moving-in-across-the-hall and planting-a-camera-in-the-office and so on. :D
LOL, yes, an interesting point of contrast. Is it purely a matter of the drama's censorship, I wonder - "hmmm, we can't have ZYL trying to get SW into bed here, so let's have him try to get him into the office instead" - or does it reflect a deeper reconsideration of the character? Trying to make him a little less direct/obvious, at least in spoken language as opposed to body language?
IMO, they kept the flirting but made it subtextual -- at least partly because drama!ZYL has many more reasons to suspect something strange is up with Shen Wei, so his flirting is partly a test: "what is it you want from me??" At least, that's how I see it. :D