Slo-Mo Rewatch: Guardian episode 8, part 1

[china_shop]

Hi, and welcome back to the Guardian drama Slo-Mo Rewatch. Watch half an episode a week, at your leisure, and then come and chat about it here in comments. Or you can just jump into the comments without rewatching, of course!

Here are the previous weeks' rewatch posts.

Episode 8, up to 22:19

Summary
The SID enthusiastically welcomes Guo Changcheng as an official employee, and Lin Jing gives him the fear baton. ♥ Zhao Yunlan arranges to buy some old books and then calls Shen Wei to offer them as a gift, while Zhu Hong and Da Qing gossip about his black-heartedness and obsession with Shen Wei. Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing meet a student in the street to buy the books, then sit around and talk about recruiting Shen Wei to the SID. Zhao Yunlan is openly smitten. ♥ But presenting the gift to Shen Wei does not go as planned: Zhao Yunlan gives a fake provenance for the books, Shen Wei leaves, and Zhao Yunlan slinks off to recover his dignity in private drink tea and talk about new SID premises. A mysterious letter gives Wang Zheng flashbacks. Changcheng and Chu Shuzhi run into Ding Dun in the street juuuust before receiving an APB about him. The Envoy comes to the SID to request help tracking him down, but Da Qing is hesitant to proceed without their fearless leader. Chu Shuzhi sets to work anyway and takes Changcheng with him. Meanwhile, Zhu Jiu murders Ding Dun, whose body the others find and take back to the SID? (Or pass on to the Envoy?) On the university campus that night, Shen Wei confides in Ying Chun while wearing an ascot. Zhu Jiu shows up, and fisticuffs ensue (Ying Chun helps Shen Wei), but Zhu Jiu escapes. Ying Chun points out the dangers in Shen Wei's plan to go after a missing item, but Shen Wei is resolved.



Quote
Lin Jing: This is my newest invention. It can transform fear into electricity. The more fear, the more electricity. In other words, I made it especially as the perfect, most powerful weapon you could have.
Guo Changcheng: E...electricity? I'm also afraid of electricity.

Detail
When Zhao Yunlan calls Shen Wei about the old books, the original subs say, "What a coincidence! I have a lot of old books," and the VIKI subs say, "You are so lucky as I have some in my home!" while Solo's subs have "As it happens, regarding this, the two of us were brought together by fate." The last is closest to the Chinese subs: 巧了 咱俩在这个事上 太有缘了 ("What a coincidence! We're so destined to meet on this matter." according to Google Translate).

Poll #33955 Subtitles

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 9

View Respondents

Which subtitles are you using? (Tick all that apply.)

View Answers

original fansubs
3 (33.3%)

Solo's subs
8 (88.9%)

VIKI subs
2 (22.2%)

Chinese hard subs
3 (33.3%)

other
2 (22.2%)

Questions
Do you have a stand-out favourite scene or quote from the first half of episode 8? Is everyone genuinely glad to have Guo Changcheng onboard? Does Shen Wei as the Envoy already have a red stamp, and if so, when/how did he get it? On a scale of 1 to 10, how smitten is Zhao Yunlan with Shen Wei? On a scale of 1 to 10, how sympathetic is Da Qing to this smittenness? Who sends the APB on Ding Dun? (Presumably not the Envoy!) How do you feel about ascots? How great is the fight with Zhu Jiu?

Did you see any parallels in these scenes with other parts of the drama? If you're familiar with the novel, any thoughts about how the drama adaptation compares, if at all?

(As usual, these are all just conversation starters - feel free to answer all, some, or none, and to say as much or as little as you like! You don't have to be keeping up with the rewatch to join in. We'd love to hear your thoughts!)

And here is our schedule -- if you can, please sign up to host a post!

Comments

[amedia]

Do you have a stand-out favourite scene or quote from the first half of episode 8?

I love the scene where everyone claps for Guo Changcheng coming onboard, including Chu Shuzhi. ♥

Is everyone genuinely glad to have Guo Changcheng onboard?

In one of the first Guardian fics I wrote, I imagined that there might be some SID members who believed that Guo Changcheng was moved from intern to regular employee for reasons that Zhao Yunlan had mentioned earlier, like wanting nicer office space:

(Zhao Yunlan is talking about why he's passing on information (non-Dixing-related) that has accidentally crossed the SID's radar, to Minister Guo.) "Besides, it's always a good thing to have a government official owing us a favor."

"Other than promoting his nephew to full-time, you mean," said Lin Jing. Chu Shuzhi wondered if he needed to go over there and slap Lin Jing silly. Guo Changcheng earned his promotion fair and square. I know more than anyone how hard he worked to get it.

Zhao Yunlan saved him the trouble. "I don't make personnel decisions based on politics," he snapped, glaring at Lin Jing. "I need the best people working for me, or the whole team would be in danger."

"Sorry, sir," said Lin Jing. Chu Shuzhi relaxed.

[amedia]

But presenting the gift to Shen Wei does not go as planned: Zhao Yunlan gives a fake provenance for the books, Shen Wei leaves

I found this scene painful to watch the first time through! But during one of the rewatches here I read some really interesting observations that made it a lot more bearable. (Do I remember what they were? Um ... not at the moment.)

[china_shop]

Maybe the scene discussion post? :-)

[china_shop]

I love the scene where everyone claps for Guo Changcheng coming onboard, including Chu Shuzhi. ♥

He's so smiley!! :D :D :D

And aww, what a lovely excerpt! Protective CSZ ftw!! <3 <3 <3

[china_shop]

Notes!

• I've never noticed before that in the opening it looks like Xiao-Guo is sitting on ZYL's legs, hee! This is how and where ZYL gives performance reviews -- in front of everyone! Hee! And yay, Changcheng is official, and everyone is smiling and clapping and welcoming. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 And Zhao Yunlan's smiles in this scene are so crinkly and sweet!!!!! a;ldskjfa;sdklfjas;dklfjas;dlkfjasdlfkadsf

• The red stamp! I always feel they should do more with this. (I wrote an ep 14 missing scene in which Wang Zheng stamped newly official consultant Professor Shen. <3)

• It looks like this is Changcheng's first time in the lab, aww! And I love that Lin Jing literally weaponises Changcheng's fear -- perfect! It made me laugh so much the first time I watched. :D

• Aww, Zhu Hong trying so hard to be close to ZYL and have a private convo with him. *pets her*

• The books! Mooning over Shen Wei! Da Qing's hopeless attempt to be a responsible deputy, lol. I love all this so much that I wrote a scene discussion on it. <3333333 (Oh hey, this is ZYL's third time getting flustered to the point of speechlessness in two episodes. HE IS SO SMITTEN!!)

• Lao-Li is hapless with the letter. I'm always struck by how Zhu Jiu's letter ploy relies on a string of coincidences.

• About this point I switched from the original subs to the VIKI subs. (I can't remember why.) I don't know if I've watched with VIKI subs before? Anyway, in the VIKI subs, Changcheng tells CSZ, "Thanks for helping me move my stuff." Is he moving? Do official SID employees get government housing?? IS THERE A SID DORM?!? *wants all the fic* :D :D :D :D :D

• Ding Dun is dorky and almost charming -- shame he's such a villain. His coat is almost as dramatic as Zhu Jiu's, lol.

• The Envoy at the SID -- the camera angle makes it look like he's hovering/looming.

I like how this visit is both an opportunity to check in on ZYL (even if it doesn't work out that way) and SW using all the resources available to him to catch Ding Dun. He can't call CSZ away from work, so he has to using him through work. :D

• The original subs have:

• Lin Jin, bring back the dark force detector
  

• It will not help. My detector only works when someone used their power a short time ago, and it's not very reliable. Look, the man in the black cape comes and goes non-stop and yet you've never seen my detector light up

I don't think I ever knew that Lin Jing talks about the detector having a "maximum power limit." Cool! Shen Wei is too powerful for the detector!! :D :D :D (That can't be why he can get through the security shield, though, or presumably it wouldn't keep Ye Zun out.)

• Zhu Jiu is fondling a random plant in the street; I really hope it's either not a Yashou or consenting!! /o\

• Aww, Changcheng is so very Team Zhao Yunlan, and CSZ is so Team Envoy. :D :D :D Incidentally, when they're in the street, there's some writing on one of the windows. It's reversed, so I flipped it:

beaucoup de villes dans le monde, il existe tant de bistrots dans une ville, alors qu'elle entra dans celui-la (Google Translate gives: "In many cities around the world, there are so many bistros in a city, as she entered this one." This isn't "Out of all the bars in the all the cities in all the world, she had to walk into mine," is it? LOL. ;D)

• I love that GCC clocked CSZ's "special relationship" with the Envoy, aww! (I wonder if anyone's ever told him that CSZ is a renowned fanboy.)

• I got so hung up for so long on GCC piggybacking Ding Dun's dead body, but eventually I realised why.

• Zhu Jiu says to departing departed!Ding Dun, "Sorry, but I will give you a grand offering when I get the Mountain-River Awl." Which makes me go, a) you did not have to kill the guy! b) this makes it sound like you're the one who resurrects him later, but when do you actually have the Awl?

• Shen Wei confiding in a bush will never not be hilarious, especially when she sighs and he apologises. :D The fight is excellent, though. I love Shen Wei being constrained by his secret identity, and Zhu Jiu taunting him about it. And the whole fight is super dynamic. <3

• Also love that Ying Chun challenges Shen Wei's plans, forcing him to consider the potential costs. <3 <3 <3

Original: How can I give up ? I already lost once. I don't want to relive a painful experience like that
Solo's: But... how can I give up without trying? I've already lost once. I don't want to feel pain like that ever again.
VIKI: I had lost my loved one once, and I will not suffer from it twice. (!!!!! <3 <3 <3 Though honestly, I'm not sure if he's talking about losing Ye Zun or losing ZYL here. Thoughts?)

I'm up way too late. I'll answer the questions tomorrow.

[salamandras]

I love the scene where everyone claps for Guo Changcheng coming onboard, including Chu Shuzhi. ♥
Me too!

"I don't make personnel decisions based on politics," he snapped, glaring at Lin Jing. "I need the best people working for me, or the whole team would be in danger."
♥

[salamandras]

I got so hung up for so long on GCC piggybacking Ding Dun's dead body, but eventually I realised why.
Ah, interesting post! This was from before my watching Guardian, so it's great to have you link back to it.


Shen Wei confiding in a bush will never not be hilarious, especially when she sighs and he apologises. :D The fight is excellent, though. I love Shen Wei being constrained by his secret identity, and Zhu Jiu taunting him about it. And the whole fight is super dynamic. <3

I do love this particular fight scene, too!

[china_shop]

Ah, interesting post! This was from before my watching Guardian, so it's great to have you link back to it.

Yay! <3 <3 <3 (There was, before that, a poll. :D)

I do love this particular fight scene, too!

*high fives you* It's so good! :D

[salamandras]

Yay! <3 <3 <3 (There was, before that, a poll. :D)
Ah, yay, thanks! There's at least one story where Shen Wei uses grounding techniques to calm down when things remind him of past traumas (still felt in character overall), and I associate his sleeve garters with the process.

[china_shop]

Ooh, yes, I definitely remember that being a thing. :-)

[amedia]

Yesssss! That was it exactly. :-)

I was reminded of it not long ago when I was reading the first Guardian novel! During the arc in the mountains, Lang-ge (I forget his full name) - Zhao Yunlan's hail-fellow-well-met contact is astonished when Shen Wei drinks to him.

Lang-ge paused. "Aiya," he exclaimed, a little surprised. It was one thing to call a thug like Zhao Yunlan "bro"; arrogant scholarly types were quite another matter ... He'd certainly never imagined that Shen Wei would pay him such respect.

It reminded me of where you were talking about gift-giving among different social strata, and how Shen Wei, as a college professor, would be at a much higher level than Zhao Yunlan.

The Red Stamp and Unexpected Foreshadowing

[amedia]

The red stamp! I always feel they should do more with this. (I wrote an ep 14 missing scene in which Wang Zheng stamped newly official consultant Professor Shen. <3)

How did I miss reading this before? I just went and devoured it and it was so good. ♥

I actually rewatched the first half of ep 8 today. I had forgotten about the red stamp until I was skating through looking for shots of Lin Jing and then I thought "OH MY WOW" and promptly went back to working on the vid. This time I actually wrote down the words: "For now you are just a normal human, but there's no guarantee that you won't come to carry other energy too." SO MUCH FORESHADOWING!!! Especially since on the words "there's no guarantee," the camera focuses on Lin Jing ... the protege and mole of the evil Professor Ouyang, who eventually forces a Dixing-style serum power on Guo Changcheng!

A few lines later, poor Guo Changcheng, having no idea that he will eventually acquire a superpower, says, "But I don't have any power. I won't be any use to you." And that's when Lin Jing takes him into the lab and gives him the fear-powered shock stick - which Guo Changcheng later uses to save Lin Jing's life when Professor Ouyang is trying to kill him. It all ties together!

[amedia]

I love that GCC clocked CSZ's "special relationship" with the Envoy, aww! (I wonder if anyone's ever told him that CSZ is a renowned fanboy.)

I noticed that this time too! Especially since, when GCC mentions it, CSZ's response is to glare, no doubt expecting GCC to back down, and GCC simply looks calmly at him in return, not the least bit fazed. Look! There's a vertebra! And maybe another! GCC is growing a spine!!!

[amedia]

Aw, thank you! ♥

[amedia]

And aww, what a lovely excerpt! Protective CSZ ftw!! <3 <3 <3
Thank you kindly!

[trobadora]

Changcheng and Chu Shuzhi run into Ding Dun in the street juuuust before receiving an APB about him.

Is that how you read it? I read it the other way round, that the Envoy's visit is a flashback that happens before the run-in with Ding Dun, and that's where the APB came from (I figured the Envoy had brought a photo and Lin Jing made the digital version). It definitely looks to me like it's not coming in right that moment, but that CSZ pulls it up to compare the guy he saw to the APB - he just recognised Ding Dun a moment too late. And with the way the Envoy's explanation already starts as a voiceover while he's looking at the APB, I thought he was remembering it.

But no matter which way you read it, something's wonky with the continuity here.

If the run-in with Ding Dun comes first: who sent out that APB? how did they know about Ding Dun? why doesn't CSZ mention to the Envoy that they've already heard about him and even seen him?

All of this is answered if the Envoy's visit comes first, but then why is CSZ accompanying GCC moving his stuff when there's a mission from the Envoy? (I mean, ZYL apparently ordered him to, but that would have to have happened before the Envoy's visit.)

(Additionally, if the scene of CSZ and GCC searching for Ding Dun follows immediately from the run-in with Ding Dun, where did GCC's stuff disappear to?)

Which subtitles are you using? (Tick all that apply.)

I clicked all the options including "other" - I usually watch with Solo's subs and then if I want to look at something closely, or the subs don't seem to match what I hear, I check the original subs, the Viki engsubs and the Viki csubs. Sometimes (if something seems wonky) I double-check the Viki csubs against the Chinese hardsubs. *g*

Do you have a stand-out favourite scene or quote from the first half of episode 8?

There's a lot of great stuff, but I have a particular fondness for the fight with Zhu Jiu, just for the physicality of it.

Does Shen Wei as the Envoy already have a red stamp, and if so, when/how did he get it?

I assumed he had one, but have no idea how exactly he got it! Possibly via Chu Shuzhi?

Okay, on to my notes:

• Poor Xiao-Guo, having to suffer Zhao Yunlan faking him out like this! But yay everyone welcoming him. Chu Shuzhi has an actual real smile, hee! :D


• "I've never seen a leader talk so much." All the subs translate Da Qing's words similarly, but what Da Qing actually says ZYL does is not just talking - it's 废话, empty talk/nonsense/wasting his breath. :D


• Wang Zheng's speech when she gives Xiao-Guo the red stamp is very full of foreshadowing! But in-universe, I really wonder what happened at the SID (or a predecessor organisation?) in the past, that this sort of declaration is built into their onboarding?!
  
  I mean. The Yashou and Dixingren SID members obviously need the red stamp, and Zhao Xinci would have had to insist the humans get it too, because otherwise Zhang Shi would have kept him outside - but "come to carry other energy" is just not a thing that you'd ordinarily expect unless you had some kind of precedent ...


• When Xiao-Guo says he doesn't have any powers and won't be any help, ZYL looks at Lin Jing, and then CSZ looks at Lin Jing, too, after which Lin Jing nods. So CSZ already knew about the fear stick, too, not just ZYL and Lin Jing. (Zhu Hong doesn't know, as we find out a bit later.) Fascinating!
  
• The phone call with the girl who sells the books is so weird in the opposite way TV phone calls are usually weird. Usually, people don't say good-bye, but there's a "see you later" here - whereas any actual relevant arrangements about meeting up are missing! She says she's heard he wants the books, he says yes, and then it's "see you later" already ...


• The gossip between Da Qing and Zhu Hong about ZYL and the girl and Shen Wei is so fun! And I found something fun:
  
  According to Solo's subs and the original ones, Zhu Hong wonders why ZYL is hanging out with Shen Wei so much recently. The Viki subs have "Why does Zhao directly contact him?". What she actually says is that Zhao Yunlan is 杠上了 with Shen Wei, which the dictionary renders as being in conflict/getting into a dispute, but I found a delightful explanation online that is much more fitting, here: "It refers to one party challenging the other due to a conflict, while the other party resolutely resists. For example, if A and B each drive into a narrow road and meet, A believes he is about to reach the intersection, so he asks B to back up to give him way, but B refuses and insists that A give way, and neither side concedes, we can say the two have "杠上". :D :D :D


• Da Qing says ZYL wants to add a new member to the SID - even though later ZYL floats this as if it's a new idea. Either Da Qing has picked up on ZYL's thoughts before ZYL has said anything, or else ZYL is just re-introducing this idea to him multiple times because he's so smitten with it. *g*


• Zhu Hong pointing out how unusual it is for ZYL to actively pursue someone like this makes me wonder if he usually just let himself be seduced? And she's very spot on when she says that he'll scheme himself right into a trap some day - he's already in the process of doing that right now, hee! :D


• ZYL calls the bioengineering department - he doesn't have SW's extension number yet. That surprises me every time! And he calls himself SW's "close friend, Xiao-Zhao"! ♥ And being all "what a coincidence, it must be fate!!" about having the books he's just arranged to buy, LOL. :D


• Da Qing teasing ZYL about buying SW's favour - I think his 搞不定用钱砸，你还真给别人长脸啊 roughly means, if you can't manage it on your own, throw cash at it. Hee!


• And ZYL describing Shen Wei as 油鹽不進, not absorbing oil or salt - is apparently an idiom for an extremely stubborn person who doesn't listen to others' suggestions. :D


• It's so fascinating to me that it's Da Qing who had Lin Jing check Shen Wei with the black energy detector, and not ZYL!


• And then ZYL gets all dreamy about how fun it is to work with SW, so he should join the SID, and tells it to DQ as if DQ didn't already know. :D :D :D


• Because I just looked it up again, here's a thread about the old books and their titles.


• It's so hilarious to me that the girl with the books gives ZYL a sob story about her grandfather, and then he turns around and gives the same story to SW - but lays it on extra thick, much worse than the girl!


• I love that Shen Wei doesn't hesitate at all to call him out. He's not harsh or angry about it, but he also 100% doesn't let ZYL get away with this kind of thing, because what he wants is for ZYL to be sincere with him, but ZYL is still in his "allergic to sincerity" phase. *pets him* And ZYL is so speechless and can't dig himself out of the hole he's dug!


• I'm always resentful when I get to the bit about ZYL talking to Minister Song about new premises for the SID because I love the SID set so much! So I'm glad the "one year later" at the end of the show still has them there. *g*


• The SID clock wall and its bizarre times given are always so fascinating to me; one day I'll do something with that ...


• The shenanigans with the letter for Wang Zheng are very bizarre. It makes sense that she'd get it if she's the only one currently at the SID (other than Lao-Li), but how did Zhu Jiu mean to get it back? It only lands in the bin by accident.


• Also: both Lao-Li and Zhu Jiu touched the letter with their bare hands after Wang Zheng and before Ding Dun gets it back! How far back can he look? Did he see stuff about Lao-Li and Zhu Jiu too, or can he deliberately choose to only pick up visions from one particular person?


• Xiao-Guo thanking Lao-Chu for helping him, when he's very much not helping and Xiao-Guo is carrying everything, LOL!


• I assume Ding Dun runs into them to touch their stuff and get info from them - I wonder what he picked up from Xiao-Guo ... And then he's suddenly gone when CSZ runs after him, probably snatched up by Zhu Jiu or Ya Qing.


• In Solo's subs, the Envoy says he discovered Ding Dun had infiltrated the palace - but what the Envoy actually says is that he discovered the palace had been infiltrated (so, not necessarily by Ding Dun). The Viki subs render it like this: "A few days ago, I noticed that there could be some hidden spies within the palace. I haven't started my investigation yet and this Ding Dun already escaped into the mortal world." Which is much closer to the Chinese. It seems to me that Ding Dun hadn't been exposed yet (and what Shen Wei discovered might have been about someone else altogether), but was afraid he would be exposed by the investigation, and so pre-emptively fled.


• The SID team, in ZYL's absence, seems very hapless. Even Da Qing would rather stall for time and wait until ZYL returns, despite this clearly being an important case.


• One more cheer for the Viki subs: I was looking at Lin Jing's explanation of the black energy detector, and it turs out that the line that the original subs as well as Solo's render as "it's not very reliable" actually says 而且是有上限的, which the Viki subs correctly translate as: "And it has a maximum power limit." Who knew! So that's why it can't detect Shen Wei, he's too overpowered, LOL.


• I'm not sure why Zhu Jiu kills Ding Dun. Couldn't he have been useful? (I mean, he comes back to life later, as we'll see in Dixing, but I also have no idea how that happens, so, who knows. *tears hair*)


• GCC is very right that ZYL would have a plan for searching for Ding Dun, not just running around aimlessly! They really all have a long way to go. *g* (And yet, they find him anyway. *g*)


• And now one of my favourite scenes! The fight with Zhu Jiu is so good - the physicality of it, how you can clearly tell from the way Shen Wei moves that this is a person who knows how to fight! The integration of black energy and teleportation and (at the end) black energy vision. Ying Chun's interference! It's just all a lot of fun. And Shen Wei's little smirk when Zhu Jiu says it's tile to settle this! His anger! But also holding himself back when humans are passing by. Seriously, I love it.


• Aw, Ying Chun deciding she's leaving, and talking about the Flower Tribe keeping out of the conflict between humans and Dixingren. She has such a great character arc going on in the background of the show!


• And she reminds Shen Wei that people need his protection, and asks him if he really wants to do this by himself! And Shen Wei's melancholy and determination not to suffer loss again ... ♥ ♥ ♥

[trobadora]

Aw, that's great, thank you for sharing! ♥

[trobadora]

I've never noticed before that in the opening it looks like Xiao-Guo is sitting on ZYL's legs, hee!

LOLOLOL!

The red stamp! I always feel they should do more with this.

Yes, same here!

Oh hey, this is ZYL's third time getting flustered to the point of speechlessness in two episodes. HE IS SO SMITTEN!!

And it's so delightful! :D

Lao-Li is hapless with the letter. I'm always struck by how Zhu Jiu's letter ploy relies on a string of coincidences.

Yeah, I have no idea how Zhu Jiu intended to get it back! It only gets thrown out by accident after all.

Anyway, in the VIKI subs, Changcheng tells CSZ, "Thanks for helping me move my stuff." Is he moving? Do official SID employees get government housing?? IS THERE A SID DORM?!? *wants all the fic* :D :D :D :D :D

Haha, I have no idea! The Chinese just says 搬东西, "move stuff", but one has to assume it's GCC's stuff ...

And official housing/something dorm-adjacent would be very interesting, you could do a lot with it!

I don't think I ever knew that Lin Jing talks about the detector having a "maximum power limit."

Haha, high five! I just found that too, and I definitely never saw it before. So fascinating! (And good point that that can only apply to the detector, not the shield, since the shield is keeping Ye Zun out.)

Incidentally, when they're in the street, there's some writing on one of the windows. It's reversed, so I flipped it:

It does seem to be a Casablanca quote! dragoncityinteriordesign had a post on it.

I got so hung up for so long on GCC piggybacking Ding Dun's dead body, but eventually I realised why.

Thanks for linking that! Yeah, that still makes a lot of sense. :D

Zhu Jiu says to departing departed!Ding Dun, "Sorry, but I will give you a grand offering when I get the Mountain-River Awl."

I'm not seeing the "offering" in the Chinese. He says, 委屈你了 等我拿到山河锥 我会记你一份大功 - I've wronged, you, wait until I get the Mountain-River Awl, I will remember your great service. (Which is basically what the original subs and Solo's have.)

VIKI: I had lost my loved one once, and I will not suffer from it twice. (!!!!! <3 <3 <3 Though honestly, I'm not sure if he's talking about losing Ye Zun or losing ZYL here. Thoughts?)

I'm not seeing that in the Chinese either. As best I can render it literally:

可是我不试试 我怎么能甘心呢 - But if I don't try, how can I be content?
我已经失去过了一次 我绝对不想再体验一次那样的痛苦 - I already lost [something/someone] once, I absolutely don't want to experience that pain again.

There is no direct object, so what or whom he lost isn't mentioned at all. I'm not sure if it's about Kunlun, tbh - if only because he's been reunited with him already, so I think in retrospect that pain isn't the worst since it's temporary. Whereas that's emphatically not the case for Ye Zun.

[trobadora]

It's such a fantastic fight scene, I love it to pieces!

Re: The Red Stamp and Unexpected Foreshadowing

[trobadora]

SO MUCH FORESHADOWING!!! Especially since on the words "there's no guarantee," the camera focuses on Lin Jing ... the protege and mole of the evil Professor Ouyang, who eventually forces a Dixing-style serum power on Guo Changcheng!

OHHHH great catch about the focus on Lin Jing, that's amazing! And yeah, ALLL the foreshadowing, it's excellent. :D :D :D

[china_shop]

Ah, yes! That scene made me think of that, too. :D

[china_shop]

Yesss! And I love Ying Chun weighing in. :D

[china_shop]

How did I miss reading this before? I just went and devoured it and it was so good. ♥

*beams* Thanks so much, you! <3

I had forgotten about the red stamp until I was skating through looking for shots of Lin Jing and then I thought "OH MY WOW" and promptly went back to working on the vid.

Hee! That's how vidding goes. :D

This time I actually wrote down the words: "For now you are just a normal human, but there's no guarantee that you won't come to carry other energy too."

Ahh, that's so good!!! How cool!! :D (I'm usually using the original subs at this point, which say, "even if for the moment you are only a human, maybe later you'll become the representative of another force" -- which is less foreshadowy, so I never caught that.)

And that's when Lin Jing takes him into the lab and gives him the fear-powered shock stick - which Guo Changcheng later uses to save Lin Jing's life when Professor Ouyang is trying to kill him. It all ties together!

\o/ \o/ \o/ That's such a great little arc for those two, specifically. :D :D :D

[china_shop]

Hee! <3 <3 <3 (I think GCC just doesn't see anything CSZ does as scary. *hearts them*)

[china_shop]

The red stamp: you'd think Zhu Jiu would want to get his hands on it!

Haha, I have no idea! The Chinese just says 搬东西, "move stuff", but one has to assume it's GCC's stuff ...

:D :D :D :D :D

[tumblr.com profile] dragoncityinteriordesign had a post on it.

LOL, thanks! <3

I'm not seeing the "offering" in the Chinese. He says, 委屈你了 等我拿到山河锥 我会记你一份大功 - I've wronged, you, wait until I get the Mountain-River Awl, I will remember your great service. (Which is basically what the original subs and Solo's have.)

Ahh, okay. So it's not a clue to Ding Dun coming back...

There is no direct object, so what or whom he lost isn't mentioned at all. I'm not sure if it's about Kunlun, tbh - if only because he's been reunited with him already, so I think in retrospect that pain isn't the worst since it's temporary. Whereas that's emphatically not the case for Ye Zun.

Yes, that's what I was thinking. Poor Shen Wei (and poor Ye Zun)!