A girl disguises as a male to join the military academy juggles newfound comradery, romance and an impending war, all whilst trying to keep her gender a secret.
Notable Actors/Actresses
Notable Actors/Actresses
Xu Kai: Gu Yan Zhen
Bai Lu: Xie Xiang / Xie Liang Chen
Li Cheng Bin: Shen Jun Shan
Wu Jia Yi: Qu Man Ting
Chinese Title
烈火军校
[Ep1] It’s 1911. Following the Xinhai Revolution and the end of the Qing Dynasty, there is political and civilian unrest. In response to this, new schools all over the country were opened in order to conscript and create young patriotic soldiers. One of these schools was the newly reopened Arsenal Military Academy.
Chinese Title
烈火军校
Network: iQIYI
Recapper: kaylasilver
Recap Grade: A/B
First Impression: 3.75/5
First Impression: 3.75/5
Mini Recaps
cynlynn: Omo (: I have a new recapper on board! And a daring one, challenging a 48 episode drama ~
kaylasilver: Hi friends! Excited to be able to share my love for dramas with you all :) I feel as though a disclaimer is necessary - I tend to ramble and/or rant so bear with me XD Hope I can do this drama justice! Feel free to share your own thoughts as we go on this journey :)
We are introduced to our female lead Xie Xiang/Xie Liang Chen in her male disguise as she is called in by a nurse to get her medical. As she walks in, she bumps into one of our male leads Shen Jun Shan. Here, she runs into her first obstacle. The doctor tells her to remove her clothing. She tries to get out of it by saying she’s shy but the doctor is not having any of it. However, she passes. To this day, having already finished the drama, I don’t remember them ever disclosing how she passed the medical hmm.
Note: I will be referencing her as Xie Xiang when she is in female attire and as Xie Liang Chen when she is in disguise. However, the pronoun will remain as ‘she’.
Flashback. Xie Xiang meets up with her best friend Tan Xiao Jun. She’s seated in front of a mirror with scissors in her hand, prepared to cut her hair.
Tan Xiao Jun: Are you sure about this? You have to make up your mind. Once you cut it, there is no going back. Arsenal Military Academy is not a place to go for fun.Xie Xiang: I never planned on giving myself a chance to back out.
Back to the present, Xie Liang Chen and Tan Xiao Jun celebrate her passing her medical by heading to Parimo (a popular dance/song/cabaret club) where Tan Xiao Jun’s childhood friend Qu Man Ting is performing. Xie Liang Chen’s first meeting with Qu Man Ting is in the ladies bathroom. Qu Man Ting haughtily asks her how old she is, to which she receives a baffled expression. The superstar clearly has an ego as she goes on about how she is used to receiving men’s affections. Xie Liang Chen tries to clear the misunderstanding as she realises she’s currently a male in a women’s bathroom but Qu Man Ting uses her clutch to beat her out of the bathroom.
We are introduced to our other male lead Gu Yan Zhen as he criticises Qu Man Ting’s singing before proceeding to flirtatiously invite her to accompany him for a drink. He is about to be kicked out by the manager before we find out he is the only son of a high-ranking official, as well as the grandson of another official, the nephew of a commander, and so on. Yikes lol. No wonder why he’s a troublesome playboy that can’t be touched - he’s related to half the military. Gu Yan Zhen forcibly carries Qu Man Ting outside before the police and Shen Ting Bai - older brother to Shen Jun Shan as well as the leader of the Shun Yuan Chamber of Commerce - arrive to save her. Qu Man Ting accuses Gu Yan Zhen and Xie Liang Chen of being in cahoots. They are beaten up and arrested. With Gu Yan Zhen’s identity, the two are easily released. Practically escorted out like royalty with a polite bow of the head.
It’s the first day of attending the academy. Xie Liang Chen quickly befriends humble country boy Huang Song, introducing herself as Xie Liang Chen. Xie Liang Chen is the name of her deceased brother. They just as quickly butt heads with Li Wen Zhong. In front of everyone, he mocks Huang Song for being a country bumpkin and accuses him of scratching his car. Also present are Shen Jun Shan and his best friend Ji Jin who evidently look down on Li Wen Zhong for being an unreasonable bully. Li Wen Zhong demands Huang Song kneel and kowtow to apologise. Xie Liang Chen, unable to withstand the constant calling of names bites back that being a bumpkin is better than being a traitor. Li Wen Zhong is wearing the badge of the Japanese Commerce Party. Angered, Li Wen Zhong grabs a basin and hurls it at them.
He misses by a long shot. It ends up hitting Shen Jun Shan. Recognising who it is, Li Wen Zhong is quick to apologise. However Shen Jun Shan calls him out for being a hypocrite and refusing to let it go like that - tells him to kneel and kowtow. Clearly wanting to avoid him, Li Wen Zhong tells Huang Song he’ll give him face and forgive him for the scratched car. Shen Jun Shan kicks him to the ground to teach him a lesson. The fight is quickly broken up by Instructor Lu Zhong Xin and those who are involved are punished to carry their luggage and run 50 laps. Those not involved - 30 laps. Our boy Huang Song’s luggage yall xD!
[Ep2] Deputy Director and Instructor Guo Shu Ting approaches Gu Yan Zhen who is hanging from the obstacle course in the training field. He’s not there to save him though. He eyes the bottle of liquor before tossing money to the ground to buy it from him. Gu Yan Zhen is bewildered when Instructor Guo shouts to ask whose money is this, before receiving no response because he literally asked thin air so he picks his money back up. LOL.
Shen Jun Shan is first to finish the laps. Ji Jin follows shortly. Except the instructor isn’t fooled and tells him he still has two laps. He increases it to five and then ten before Ji Jin gets off the ground to complete his punishment. Ji Jin is definitely a character for comedic relief. Classic cold and mysterious SJS and then the funny best friend JJ.
Xie Liang Chen thinks she’s got a room all to herself. She wishes. Gu Yan Zhen is her roommate. Before an argument escalates, all students are called out of their rooms by Instructor Lu. With them all lined up, he goes through the rules of the academy before bringing their luggages out for inspection of contraband goods.
Instructor Lu pulls out a silk pyjama top and Xie Liang Chen grimaces. Did she think there was ever going to be a chance to wear that? xD. Instructor Lu questions if it is hers and she hesitates when answering. Gu Yan Zhen says their luggages got mixed up and it’s his. But he sure didn’t do it out of the goodness of his heart - once back in the room he tells her to wash his clothes, pour him some tea, polish his shoes.
Instructor Guo is at Nan Shan Bar, owned by Huo Xiao Yu. They are old friends. He asks for more liquor but she doesn’t allow it. I can sense some melancholic backstory with this man. He’s now unconscious and Huo Xiao Yu tells one of her employees to take him upstairs after he’s conscious and sober.
The next morning, a loud bell wakes students up at 6am sharp. Xie Liang Chen doesn’t attempt to wake Gu Yan Zhen. During breakfast with Huang Song, Ji Jin takes initiative to introduce himself and Shen Jun Shan to the two. Training starts. Xie Liang Chen struggles to complete the obstacles as smoothly as others, but she holds her own nonetheless. The last exercise is carrying large logs in the pouring rain.
Elsewhere, Gu Yan Zhen is taking a “big bath”. This punishment is for those that wake up late. He’s essentially thrown into an underground dungeon area that’s filled with this murky and brown looking water. I find it hilarious how he even tries to drag XLC into the punishment. At one point, he tries to escape before being thrown back in. Instructor Guo simply watches on.
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| “Big Bath” punishment. |
Qu Man Ting wearing this large hat and obnoxious sunglasses (it’s night) goes to find Tan Xiao Jun at Nan Shan Bar. She’s here to ask Tan Xiao Jun whether she knows anything about students of Arsenal Military Academy. As a bartender, Tan Xiao Jun has the perfect access to information to know when the students will be off on vacation. Qu Man Ting wants revenge on Gu Yan Zhen.
It’s time to wake up for training. Knowing that this time if Gu Yan Zhen is late again, she is to be punished with him, Xie Liang Chen wakes him up by pouring a basin of water on him. Gu Yan Zhen grabs him by the collar and they roll out their room in a scuffle. At that moment, Shen Jun Shan walks out of his room and casually steps over them with a simple “excuse me.” The way SJS simply just disregards their fight with his unbothered expression made me laugh. Another student (I think it’s Huang Song) walks out, sees them, shakes their head and walks back in their room xD!
During training, Gu Yan Zhen makes it his mission to annoy Xie Liang Chen as much as possible. Not waking him up, she would’ve had to take the water dungeon punishment. Waking him up, she’s shot herself in the foot by making training harder. Either way, his antics get them both doing handstands against the wooden wall. The two train until late at night, even in the rain. Gu Yan Zhen isn’t all that bad as he helps our girl over the wooden wall.
That doesn’t mean he’ll stop his little pranks. Ha. The next morning, Gu Yan Zhen pours a basin of water on Xie Liang Chen. Even all of their peers are sick of hearing them fight all the time.
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| Oh, the sweetness of revenge |
Xie Liang Chen is now off on school break. She goes to pick up Tan Xiao Jun at her all girls school. They embrace, Xie Liang Chen’s hands are comfortably resting on Tan Xiao Jun’s waist, and because she’s technically a male, they receive whispers and pointed looks for the PDA. Not wanting to stay at the academy during her break, Xie Liang Chen is hoping to stay at Tan Xiao Jun’s house. However, no one else knows her secret of disguising to attend the academy.
Thus, Xie Xiang is back. Tan Xiao Jun brings her to lunch to introduce her to a friend. It’s Qu Man Ting. Xie Xiang actively avoids eye contact and Qu Man Ting deduces that it’s because she’s nervous meeting such a famous star. LOL. QMT has an extremely huge ego and is pretty narcissistic. This can seem off-putting for some people but with her I just find it kinda funny. However, Qu Man Ting finds her familiar and asks her if they’ve met before. Xie Xiang barely manages to rid her suspicion but then Shen Ting Bai and Shen Jun Shan arrive. She just can’t catch a break hahah. She makes an excuse and heads to the bathroom. Tan Xiao Jun follows.
In the bathroom, they agree for her to head home first. On her way out, Gu Yan Zhen’s car drives past her. Disaster seems to follow her everywhere. She’s quick to hide behind a street vendor’s cart. Gu Yan Zhen sticks his head out the car with a confused expression before waving it off.
That night, Gu Yan Zhen gets ambushed by three thugs. They’re under the order of Qu Man Ting. She comments that with how much he embarrassed her that day, he should have expected this outcome. He scoffs back that had he known she would be this troublesome, he wouldn’t have bothered. That irks Qu Man Ting and her ego. She orders the thugs to beat him up. He easily overpowers the three and they run off. Can I just say - Xu Kai in this costume and the hair. Swoon. Especially his expressions when he’s beating the thugs up. His act of an innocent boy then switching to playboy scoundrel is done so well.
Back to the academy. Instructor Guo catches Gu Yan Zhen with alcohol and simply because they are roommates she’s punished as well. She doesn’t even know what for either! Instructor Guo also confiscates the alcohol and grabs Xie Liang Chen’s breakfast for himself lol. The punishment is cleaning the bathrooms. Xie Liang Chen is doing it alone. Ji Jin and Zhu Yan Lin use the bathrooms even when they can see her trying to clean. Ew. This is the line for her. She threatens Gu Yan Zhen to help her otherwise she’ll just accept receiving the water dungeon punishment. This scares him into action. The first time clearly traumatised him xD!
Gu Yan Zhen figures out an easy way to clean the bathroom. He grabs a giant hose to wash it down. The two stand outside and excitedly wave the hose around the bathroom thinking they’re geniuses. Their grins quickly drop when Instructor Lu stands from one of the cubicles completely drenched. The background music in this scene I tell you! How the happy tune slowly scratches out like a record!
By the time they finish the new punishment, dinner is over. Gu Yan Zhen manages to grab some bread. With one left, he licks it and leaves it on the table with a smirk for an irritated Xie Liang Chen. On the way to her room, she runs into Shen Jun Shan who gives her some food.
The next day at training, Xie Liang Chen is struck by Li Wen Zhong with a wooden sword during a sparring match when he plays dirty after losing to her. Shen Jun Shan quickly grabs her and Gu Yan Zhen immediately strikes back at Li Wen Zhong - beating him to the ground.
Xie Liang Chen refuses to take her clothes off for the doctor to inspect her wounds. This has Gu Yan Zhen questioning her if she is a girl.
[Ep4] Apparently if you are short, skinny, lacking in stamina, and are a slow runner - GYZ will deduce that you are a female. Xie Liang Chen is slightly flustered but immediately denies. Gu Yan Zhen replies, “It’s best if you’re not a girl. A girl with your looks would be miserable.” You are not doing yourself any favours…
Flashback. Throughout these episodes, we are able to see through flashbacks that she used to have a very good relationship with her brother. It was his dream to come to Feng’an and join the army. He wanted to show the people that their country still has hope. He is the reason why she chose to join Arsenal Military Academy.
Xie Liang Chen to Xie Xiang: One day, you will understand. There are some things that must be done. Though it may not be successful, and it might not be of any use for the bigger picture, it has to be done. Drops of water outwear the stone. Every great success is achieved one step at a time. As long as we don’t give up, there will be one day we succeed.
Present. After a dream of her brother one night, Xie Liang Chen goes outside for some air. She hears the sound of a harmonica and goes searching - she finds Shen Jun Shan. They talk and eventually land on the topic of Gu Yan Zhen. Shen Jun Shan reveals he too, does not like Gu Yan Zhen. He reveals it is probably due to the fact that he is envious of how Gu Yan Zhen is able to live so carefree - which is not easily achievable during their time. I like that SJS is able to admit the reason why he doesn’t like GYZ. He isn’t afraid to say that he’s jealous of him and doesn’t deny anything. Do I personally think it’s enough of a reason to dislike a person? No, but at the same time he’s never taken any action against GYZ. Xie Liang Chen asks Shen Jun Shan why he returned from abroad during such a tumultuous period. His answer is almost the exact same as what her brother once told her - this rattles our female lead.
It’s day time and Tan Xiao Jun is waiting outside the Arsenal Military Academy gates.There’s also Ji Jin. He’s trying to get acquainted with Tan Xiao Jun and she’s not opposed to it as she giggles. It’s like watching two bashful high-school students lowkey flirt with one another xD. However, their moment is interrupted when Xie Liang Chen runs out sweating from training and throws her arm around her best friend. This shocks Ji Jin as he watches their intimate actions - Tan Xiao Jun trying to wipe her sweat but Xie Liang Chen wiping her sweat on Tan Xiao Jun.
Tan Xiao Jun is here to tell Xie Liang Chen that her father is coming to Shun Yuan. He is under the impression that she’s been attending an all girls school with Tan Xiao Jun. Xie Liang Chen takes the day off to pick her father up. Next thing you know, her father tells her she will be accompanying him to an inauguration banquet for the Shun Yuan Chamber of Commerce’s cotton factory. Chamber of Commerce -> Shen Ting Bai -> Shen Jun Shan. Uh oh, I see where this is going.
Qu Man Ting is also at the banquet. She is in the side hall resting when three girls walk in and start discussing a painting and poems - in actuality they are insulting Qu Man Ting in roundabout ways for being a singer. Qu Man Ting continues resting with her eyes shut before one of the girls (the cousin of Shen Ting Bai) directly calls her out. Qu Man Ting opens her eyes and questions if they know each other. Lol. This girl is about to wish she never entered that room. She proceeds to tell them that she has a bad memory and definitely no room to remember people with such annoying faces. This girl then proceeds to reprimand Qu Man Ting for her audacious words.
Qu Man Ting: I respect those that deserve it. Stab, spit, reprimand, or argue - can you just do it straightforwardly? Beating around the bush - who taught you to be so condescending?Girl: Who are you calling condescending?Qu Man Ting: You! What, don’t understand human language? Can’t even speak properly. Aren’t you well taught and elegant ladies? Shouldn’t you have self-esteem? How could you argue with someone like me in public?
The way QMT is able to retaliate with her witty words, omg! Ripped into those girls with no remorse (they totally deserved it) xD. I think this is one of my favourite moments of hers. The cherry on the cake is when Qu Man Ting tells Manager Huang (the one that works for Shen Ting Bai at Parimo) to burn the painting because it’s not appealing to her eyes. Then she finds out the painting is from hundreds of years ago and how much it’s worth - she keeps it. Yeah, I’d keep it too sis.
Also present are Xie Xiang, Gu Yan Zhen, and Shen Jun Shan. It’s when Xie Xiang’s father is chatting with Shen Ting Bai that she sees Shen Jun Shan.
Yep. Genius.
Shen Ting Bai tells Shen Jun Shan to show her to the bathroom to clean up - but she runs off before they can get a look at her. Shen Jun Shan follows.
Qu Man Ting is bored to death at this banquet. Hearing other people’s comments at her, Shen Ting Bai coaxes her by loudly complimenting her. According to Qu Man Ting, this is very out of the ordinary for him - he reveals that having chased her heart for so many years but to no avail, he thought it was time to change up the tactics. I would like to point out, QMT hasn’t led STB on, he knows that she does not have feelings for him - hence him trying to woo her. I like the relationship between the two of them. She’s straightforward and open about her lack of feelings for him, but he is trying to woo her whilst still being respectful towards her. I suppose it may be because they did grow up together.
Their conversation is interrupted by Mr Sato - the leader of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce. The dubbing on this character tries to make them speak Mandarin in an accent (because he’s Japanese) but it’s just so funny to me lol. It’s a battle of words between the two - Shen Ting Bai entertains it. But his line is drawn when Mr Sato references the time Qu Man Ting was almost kidnapped (by GYZ lol) and warns her to be extra careful when outside.
[Ep5] Qu Man Ting steps in before Shen Ting Bai responds to Mr Sato. When the two are alone again, Shen Ting Bai tells her to be careful when going outside - even better if she doesn’t go out unless necessary. Likewise, Qu Man Ting tells him to be careful as he is the only person with the courage to go against the Japanese.
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| You can’t tell me that this isn’t adorable. |
Mr Sato has left the banquet. In the car, he and his subordinate discuss taking action against Shen Ting Bai. However, Shen Ting Bai is a well connected man and cannot be easily touched. His subordinate suggests by starting with the people around him, people he cares about - the woman he was just with. Mr Sato tells him to act with caution. Uh oh, this doesn’t sound good for QMT.
Meanwhile, Shen Jun Shan is still guarding waiting outside the bathroom for Xie Xiang to clean up. They’re on the second floor, and so while he waits, he watches couples dance below. One of them is Shen Ting Bai and the mayor’s daughter. Grr, STB I thought you said you wanted to dance with QMT. The three girls from earlier mock Qu Man Ting as Shen Ting Bai dances with “someone who is compatible in status with him”. As she walks away, Gu Yan Zhen asks her to dance. She smirks when she realises he is helping her.
Xie Xiang attempts to slowly creep away as Shen Jun Shan watches couples dance. However, he turns and sees her - she runs. As she races downstairs, she crashes into a waitress and knocks down a glass of wine. The noise attracts attention and she makes eye contact with Gu Yan Zhen. She runs even faster.
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| Here, having a thinking GYZ |
Gu Yan Zhen asks his driver to check if there was any “Miss Xie” around the age 18-19 that attended the banquet. Hehe, has our male lead caught on to something? With a dorm room to himself that night, Gu Yan Zhen lays awake at night thinking back on every possible moment that could indicate Xie Liang Chen’s gender is not male.
Instructor Guo is once again drinking his woes away at Nan Shan Bar. As Huo Xiao Yu mends his jacket, she mentions it is nearly the birthday of Nian Qing. At the mention of this name, Instructor Guo leaves.
As if to test his theory, Gu Yan Zhen purposely walks into Xie Liang Chen who is walking out of the shooting range training field. Then they proceed to have one of the funniest conversations.
Gu Yan Zhen: For someone so skinny, your chest muscles are quite… large.Xie Liang Chen: Lunatic!Huang Song: Really? I didn’t notice. Liang Chen, let me have a feel if they are big or not.
Gu Yan Zhen shoves Huang Song away when he reaches towards Xie Liang Chen’s chest. He then touches Huang Song’s chest trying to make a point that you can’t just go around touching people’s chests. Xie Liang Chen quickly makes her escape. Oh my god! The way this whole scene had me laughing xD. I was like - what is happening right now 😂 .
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| Where do you think you are staring GYZ? |
Qu Man Ting is essentially on house arrest by Shen Ting Bai. He has his subordinate Ben Zi and six other men outside guarding her door. If she wants to go somewhere, she needs to inform Ben Zi who will inform Shen Ting Bai. He will then make arrangements as he sees fit. However, Qu Man Ting has not been out due to his reasons of protest marches, weather, etc. Literally anything. The poor girl just exasperatedly says, “Why don’t you just say it’s to do with the moon?”
The students are going on their first military training mission in the forest. They will be going up against real soldiers who’ve experienced war. Coincidentally, also driving through the forest is Qu Man Ting. She is filming at her old family house that can only be reached by driving through a dense forest, hm. Tailing her are the Japanese.
So I’m not 100% sure what the mission is lol but it’s got something to do with infiltrating the enemy headquarters. Every person has a coloured bandana and it is to be removed when they are ‘dead’. Xie Liang Chen and Huang Song are separated from their team although Huang Song argues their team are the ones that are lost when they hear gunshots. Elsewhere, Gu Yan Zhen, Shen Jun Shan, and Ji Jin also hear these gunshots - they think it’s to do with their training mission. It’s actually Qu Man Ting and her team being chased in the forest by the Japanese.
By now, both groups realise what they heard were real gunshots and go searching for the source. Yep. A group of students on their first mission. Decide to go headfirst into gunfire. Smart. Qu Man Ting decides to go on her own when one of her assistants sprains their ankle. Also smart. Xie Liang Chen, now on her own, is ambushed and falls into a pit by Li Wen Zhong, knocking her unconscious. Huang Song and Zhu Yan Lin find Shen Jun Shan’s group. Gu Yan Zhen immediately runs off in search of Xie Liang Chen as soon as he hears she’s alone and that Li Wen Zhong is also alone out there. I love that at this point he doesn’t even know that she’s a girl and despite all the teasing from him - he cares and always has her back.
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| Aw, he’s so worried about her. |
It’s pouring. Xie Liang Chen awakens and slowly climbs up out of the pit. Just as she nearly slips, Shen Jun Shan grabs her. I find it satisfying that she doesn’t feel the need to yell out for help. She straight away tries to solve her problem. I would also like to think that even if she slipped back down and without SJS, she would still make it out of the pit herself. I love me a strong female lead. Shen Jun Shan wraps up her ankle and tells her to be careful as the person who pushed her might have been from their academy.
Ji Jin finds Li Wen Zhong. In contrast to XLC, Ji Jin hears a noise and points a gun at Li Wen Zhong who nearly cries at seeing a familiar face.
Gu Yan Zhen finds Qu Man Ting. But she thinks he’s one of the enemies and blindly knocks him out with a stick.
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| The moment she realizes it’s GYZ. QMT honestly never fails to make me laugh xD. |
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| My poor QMT! Her facial expression says it all. |
Back in civilisation, Shen Ting Bai storms into the Japanese Chamber of Commerce. Ben Zi kicks down the door as his men apprehend the Japanese. Shen Ting Bai makes his way to Mr Sato’s office, who is not so welcoming of this visit. The phone rings. It’s Mr Sato’s family asking him to save them. Mr Sato immediately tells Shen Ting Bai to release them before he’ll regret it. Shen Ting Bai smirks.
Shen Ting Bai standing behind Mr Sato, hands on his shoulders: I believe you now have experienced the taste of punishment. But it’s far from enough. You better pray that Qu Man Ting can come back safe and sound, healthy and happy. If she even sneezes once, I will make you pay a hundred-fold for it. I am a man of my word. I do as I say.
On his way out, the men in charge of the attack on Qu Man Ting come back. Ben Zi shoots down his sidekicks before Shen Ting Bai mercilessly shoots the leader.
All the students are back at the academy. The results of the training mission are out. Huang Song came first, Shen Jun Shan second. Xie Liang Chen pouts and asks if she came last. Huang Song tells her she came second to last. Gu Yan Zhen received zero points. He left the training field without permission, disobeyed orders, and was even captured by a civilian. HAHAH!! Hit by a stick, captured by QMT, and received zero points xD! This makes Xie Liang Chen grin.
Qu Man Ting is at home. However, her father has a lot to say regarding her marriage. He doesn’t understand why she refuses to marry such a good man like Shen Ting Bai. Oh, shut your gob old man. Qu Man Ting tells her younger sister that her father is ridiculous for thinking that Shen Ting Bai is a good man. There is no small amount of blood on his hands. If it weren’t for him, the Japanese wouldn’t even know who she is - how can she be grateful to him for offending the Japanese for her. I have to commend QMT. It was not easy for women back in those days. To face the harsh backlash of her chosen career, to having non-supportive parents. She really did hold her own very well. I love the blunt, hard-headed and opinionated woman that she is, flaws and all.
She goes to find Tan Xiao Jun at the bar. She reveals that she did use to have a crush on Shen Ting Bai. But he began fawning over her father that she started to believe that he didn’t genuinely like her, but more so for the chase and something new - and once that feeling was over, he’d quickly move on. Something that has bothered me a lot is that everyone around her tells her to marry STB and all the reason they give her is because he’s rich, has status, is good to her. They can’t seem to comprehend that you can’t just force feelings. Gu Yan Zhen also helps fight off a pervert that tries to take advantage of a drunk Qu Man Ting. I can literally see the swoon in her eyes, uh oh.
Xie Liang Chen’s cover is almost blown as Tan Xiao Jun sees her walk in and calls out, “Xie Xiang!” Oh boy xD. Huang Song believes her lie when she tells him it’s her little name. They all group together and Qu Man Ting recognises Xie Liang Chen. Tan Xiao Jun cuts in to say that at the restaurant last time, it was Xie Liang Chen’s little sister. Twin sister. Tan Xiao Jun then mentions that her sister’s name is Xie Xiang. Huang Song is confused. She tries to amend her words by saying the two ‘xiang’ characters are different. Luckily QMT (normally quick-witted) is very drunk and doesn’t question anything. Gu Yan Zhen however smirks.
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| GYZ clearly does not buy any BS that XLC and TXJ are spouting LOL!! |
[Ep7] The group go their separate ways home. Gu Yan Zhen hands Qu Man Ting (who he was in charge of safely sending home) off to his family driver and runs off to find Xie Liang Chen. He actually starts off walking but then turns into a sprint. It could be without reason but I find that adorable. And we get this cute little flashback montage moment with uplifting BGM.
Xie Liang Chen is walking home alone, arms held tightly around herself. She walks across the road to avoid two drunk men but a car comes zooming down. Gu Yan Zhen swiftly appears and twirls her around so that the water splashes onto his coat instead. She rips herself out of his embrace when he asks her if she thinks he’s handsome. She asks if he’s crazy. It’s okay, I think you’re handsome :).
Gu Yan Zhen: A woman who doesn’t mean what she says is the least lovable.Xie Liang Chen: Who are you calling a woman?Gu Yan Zhen smirks: The same goes for men.
He knows. He totally knows. I like that he finds out early on and not in like the last quarter of the drama. Xie Liang Chen shivers from the cold and so Gu Yan Zhen takes off his long coat and drapes it over her shoulders.
Back at the academy, whilst tidying Instructor Guo’s desk, Xie Liang Chen finds a photo that Qu Man Ting also had at her aunt’s house.
It’s another training mission day. The students are given 30 seconds to memorise a map with the location of their number plate. The building will gradually be filled with thick fog. If they are defeated by the person guarding their number plate, fail to find their number plate, or are the last to exit the building - they fail the mission. During the time given to memorise the map - Li Wen Zhong peeks at Xie Liang Chen’s map. Gu Yan Zhen notices this.
Gu Yan Zhen is quick to find his number plate. Of course his is No.01. He stares at the guard he knocked unconscious. Xie Liang Chen is close to reaching her location before she is intercepted by the guards. With her distracted, Li Wen Zhong steals her number plate. He doesn’t keep it for long though lol. Gu Yan Zhen dons the guard uniform (an additional gas mask) and takes advantage of it to beat up Li Wen Zhong. Xie Liang Chen’s number plate falls to the ground. This has Gu Yan Zhen worried as he questions her whereabouts before knocking Li Wen Zhong unconscious.
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| He’s so protective of her - cute! |
Xie Liang Chen refuses to leave without finding her number plate (the punishment is running laps naked - well half naked). Shen Jun Shan forcefully carries her out. Gu Yan Zhen goes back to Li Wen Zhong when he can’t find Xie Liang Chen’s whereabouts. He’s told what happened and he frowns at the view of her being carried out by Shen Jun Shan. Aiya - jealous already? Hehe. Gu Yan Zhen forces Li Wen Zhong to stay still. I think he does this so that LWZ has no time to go look for his own number plate lol. Smart boy. They make it back just as Xie Liang Chen is asked to hand in her number plate. Gu Yan Zhen hands it to her and says he found it at the entrance. This however causes her to misunderstand that he was the one to have stolen it.
Back at the academy, Gu Yan Zhen asks Xie Liang Chen how she’s going to thank him. She brushes him off before happily conversing with Shen Jun Shan. Gu Yan Zhen jealously watches them interact whilst aggressively biting into his apple.
He then proceeds to angrily hurl the apple into the ground as he stomps away.
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| Just look at him in the background HAHAHA! |
This scene never fails to make me laugh XD!! Xu Kai does such an amazing job with the expressions omg! I think I must have rewinded this at least a couple handful of times hahaha!
The Japanese couldn’t get revenge using Qu Man Ting, so they resort to burning down the Shun Yuan Chamber of Commerce’s cotton factory. It kills seven employees and a child. The Japanese warriors who committed the crime are handed over to the academy for detainment. This angers the students. When Gu Yan Zhen figures they will do something foolish, he tells Xie Liang Chen to not get involved with their actions. The students disperse, and someone informs Gu Yan Zhen there is a visitor at the gate for him. Gu Yan Zhen calls him Xiao Pang (Fatty). Xiao Pang tells him there’s a problem.
Somewhere, we see two groups of school girls gathered in a face off. They’re battling poems. Lol. Just as it starts to get physical, Gu Yan Zhen arrives. In one group of the girls is Gu Qi Qi, Gu Yan Zhen’s little sister. He tries to separate his sister from the fight before a girl from the opposing school comes barrelling towards him.
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| This girl did what no other student at the academy could do... |
She knocks him flat to the ground. And rolling around in pain.
That night, some students of the academy are punished by Instructor Lu to lift logs shoulder to shoulder. Gu Yan Zhen quickly runs away when asked if he wishes to join in the punishment. Back in their dorm room, Gu Yan Zhen asks Xie Liang Chen the reason for them being punished. Just as he had predicted, the students tried to take action against the Japanese warriors being detained. He then asks her why she didn’t participate - because she has her own judgement. And because Shen Jun Shan didn’t go.
This has Gu Yan Zhen pausing. I notice that this whole time they’re talking she tries to cover her line of sight to avoid his lack of shirt but she can’t help but keep flickering her eyes at his abs lol! Gu Yan Zhen is baffled why she trusts Shen Jun Shan’s judgement when he also said that it’s not reliable for her to go along with the students. He’s not happy that she believes in Shen Jun Shan and not in him. It doesn’t help when she says that he (SJS) is smarter than everyone here. How does GYZ prove that he’s smart? Well he flexes and asks her which eye of hers thinks SJS is smarter than him.
She tells him to stop walking around their dorm room naked and to put some clothes on. He makes a point that he’s technically not naked because he’s wearing pants. He then asks her if she wants to see what he looks like truly naked. She cusses him off and races to the bathroom.
The next morning, Gu Yan Zhen joins the group at breakfast. He says he has a plan for the Japanese warriors. Shen Jun Shan isn’t interested and walks off. Gu Yan Zhen, Xie Liang Chen, Huang Song, and Ji Jin smoke the Japanese warriors’ prison cell with itching powder and add laxatives to their meal.
[Ep8] Gu Yan Zhen, Xie Liang Chen, Huang Song, and Ji Jin are confronted by Zhu Yan Lin and his group. They try to start a fight by accusing Gu Yan Zhen of taking everything as a joke by playing petty tricks on the Japanese and not killing them. He then makes a comment about how Gu Yan Zhen’s family are all high ranking officials but his father escaped the heat by leaving to Beijing. Zhu Yan Lin reveals that the four students who rallied against the Japanese warriors after the fire of the cotton factory were burnt to death in prison. GYZ also makes a comment about how he didn’t kill them because there are laws. There is the government. It shows that he respects the boundaries.
The students of the academy are furious when they find out Instructor Song (apparently under order of the Commander) is letting the Japanese warriors go. A physical fight is breaking loose between the students and the guards. Gu Yan Zhen joins the fight as he grabs a gun from one of the guards and fires it. He delivers a powerful speech to Instructor Song about not being a traitor by letting the Japanese go. He is visibly upset when the speech proves useless. Beneath that rich playboy facade he has, you can see that he cares about his country and is angered and saddened by the whole situation.
He’s not the only one that is upset by the news. Elsewhere, lying in ambush is Shen Jun Shan. When he sees the vehicle carrying the Japanese warriors and the Japanese guards escorting them, he barrels them off the side of the mountain. He grabs the gasoline from his vehicle and approaches the Japanese. He gives them a taste of their own medicine. I completely forgot about this scene. Also a contrast with GYZ, GYZ previously said to ZYL that they couldn’t go killing the Japanese warriors because of the law and the government. Whereas here, SJS takes matters into his own hands and directly eliminates the Japanese using the same method they did.
As he jumps from the wall back into the academy premises, Shen Jun Shan crosses paths with Xie Liang Chen doing laundry. They converse for a bit before Shen Jun Shan asks that she not tell anyone about the fact that she saw him today. She promises. They are interrupted when another student tells Xie Liang Chen that Gu Yan Zhen is looking for her. The student then asks Shen Jun Shan if he just came back - referring to the bag swung over his shoulder. Xie Liang Chen keeps her promise and replies that it’s hers and that she just finished drying it. He smiles at her in thanks. As they walk back to the dorms, Ji Jin has something to tell Shen Jun Shan and whisks him away. She keeps his bag with her for now.
That night, she removes a pair of boots from Shen Jun Shan’s bag. As she is cleaning them, she reminisces about the time in the forest when he helped her out of the pit, wrapped her ankle, and piggybacked her.
She is interrupted when Gu Yan Zhen bashes on the door needing to use the bathroom. She leaves the boots where they are and leaves. Once he’s done, Xie Liang Chen goes back in to find the boots in the trash can. They bicker back and forth. Lol. He can clearly tell they aren’t her shoes. And seemingly through the process of deduction, deduces they are SJS’s. Well maybe he doesn’t know they’re SJS’s but they are another man’s and he won’t allow that hahaha!
The next day at the dining hall, Huang Song and Ji Jin can sense that things are tense between Xie Liang Chen and Gu Yan Zhen. Shen Jun Shan is in his own world. Gu Yan Zhen grins while he steals Xie Liang Chen’s last piece of meat. Zhu Yan Lin runs in with the newspaper and informs all the students of what happened to the Japanese. They all gather except Shen Jun Shan and Gu Yan Zhen. Xie Liang Chen is deep in thought as she watches Shen Jun Shan walk off. With her distracted, Gu Yan Zhen softly smiles and returns her piece of meat. As well as all the ones on his own plate. Aww, he tease, he protect, and he feed. Gimme a GYZ.
Mr Sato is also made aware of the news. He wants to see Prince Cheng Rui - a beile (according to Google, this is a Prince of the Third Rank during the Qing Dynasty). Prince Cheng Rui’s servant informs him that Jin Xian Rong is back in the country. She is Oda Yukihide’s daughter. With Mr Sato making a mess of things in Shun Yuan, she might be back in order to replace him.
Outside the gates of the academy, Shen Jun Shan meets with an old friend from abroad - it’s Jin Xian Rong. Fellow students gather at the gate to spy on Shen Jun Shan as they are curious about his female friend. Xie Liang Chen chances upon them (mostly Ji Jin and Huang Song) gossiping about the two. She walks away. Somewhat looks disappointed? Maybe just thinking. Or maybe not.
Shen Ting Bai and Qu Man Ting just finish a meal together when they run into Shen Jun Shan and Jin Xian Rong at the same restaurant as they leave. Shen Jun Shan introduces them.
Shen Jun Shan: This is my classmate in Britain, Jin Xian Rong. This is my elder brother, Shen Ting Bai. And this is my brother’s fiancee, Qu Man Ting.Qu Man Ting: Shen Jun Shan! Be careful with your words - who is your brother’s fiancee!Shen Ting Bai: *shocked pikachu*Shen Jun Shan: Are you not?Qu Man Ting: Of course I’m not!Shen Jun Shan to Jin Xian Rong: Okay, then. This is Miss Qu Man Ting. She’s not my brother’s fiancee.Qu Man Ting: Screw you!
I don’t know if it’s obvious or not, but here’s an official statement from me. I have always and will always ship QMT and STB.
After their meal, Jin Xian Rong leaves on a rickshaw before going down an alley. She meets with her subordinate and their vehicle takes them straight to the Japanese Chamber of Commerce. SJS clearly doesn’t know her real identity. There, she effectively takes over Mr Sato’s position - she slits his throat with his own sword.
Gu Qi Qi is at the Nan Shan Bar, she’s on the lookout for Shen Jun Shan. That day he drove the Japanese vehicle off the side of the mountain and lit it on fire, she had witnessed it. She admires him, you could say. As she goes to leave, the door opens and hits her in the head. It’s Shen Jun Shan and Ji Jin. She’s star-struck.
[Ep9] Huang Song informs Xie Liang Chen that Instructor Song was dismissed for privately releasing the Japanese. While they’re talking he notices that Xie Liang Chen doesn’t look too well. Hearing this, Gu Yan Zhen also takes notice and goes to peek at the clearly unwell girl.
It’s assessment time! The students will be examined on the training they underwent. This includes firearms, the obstacle course, running through rough terrain in the forest. GYZ constantly glances in worry at XLC the whole time and my heart just goes aww every time! Everyone in her group does exceptional except her. Well, also GYZ but that’s because he constantly stayed behind her to keep an eye on her uwu. He tells her he purposely got last place so she wouldn’t feel upset. He then tells her to thank him by washing his clothes. Despite how ill she is, she does it. Gu Yan Zhen feels bad and so he tells her to stop and kicks her out their bathroom to wash it himself. Except he doesn’t know how to went from real cute to real funny real quick, so he packs the wet clothes up to take home so he can probably have someone else wash it for him lol!
That night, Instructor Guo watches Xie Liang Chen repeat the obstacle course over and over again. I swear at one point I see him show a soft fatherly smile before he walks off! Now resting, Xie Liang Chen is out of view when Gu Qi Qi sneaks into the academy to see Shen Jun Shan. Ah yes, a teenage girl is able to sneak past soldiers/guards of the academy and to coincidentally run into SJS. He’s about to walk off when she blurts out that she saw him that day outside the city (when he rammed the Japanese’s vehicle off the hill). He says she’s mistaken. Listening into this conversation are Xie Liang Chen and Li Wen Zhong.
When Gu Qi Qi goes to leave, Li Wen Zhong corners her to ask her about Shen Jun Shan’s matter outside the city. He threatens to drown her in a pool of water. Gu Qi Qi says she’ll spill. She tells the story including only irrelevant information and not getting to the point. Haha, sneaky just like her brother. Li Wen Zhong goes to submerge her head in the pool of water before Xie Liang Chen appears and knocks him over the head with a rock, saving Gu Qi Qi. She tells the young girl to leave after reminding her to not come find Shen Jun Shan and to never speak about what she saw to anyone. Gu Qi Qi nods. They both look so shaken up about what happened - props to both actresses!
Xie Liang Chen anxiously rushes back to her dorm room only to find the door locked. She shouts for Gu Yan Zhen to no avail. However, Shen Jun Shan walks out from his room to her and asks what’s wrong. She tells him she might have killed someone. Now inside his room, she tells him the details. He calms her down and tells her to go and clean the blood off of her. When she comes out the shower, she sees a hot cup of water and a note.
Shen Jun Shan: Don’t be scared. I’ll be back soon.
Meanwhile, Shen Jun Shan goes to the incident location and finds a bloody rock but no body. He is informed that Li Wen Zhong was attacked most likely by an outsider as they found a ladder outside the wall. He’s currently in a coma in the hospital. Shen Jun Shan is there when Li Wen Zhong wakes up. He cuts straight to the chase. He doesn’t deny what Li Wen Zhong suspects. But he does tell him that their families have known each other for years and he should know how he is.
Shen Jun Shan warns: You should know that I did it in secret because I didn’t want any trouble. But just because I don’t want trouble, doesn’t mean that I’m afraid of it. And it doesn’t mean that I won’t have ways to solve it if there is trouble.
Shen Jun Shan says he’s not trying to scare him - but just so that he understands what he’s going up against. So he is aware of how his rash actions could result in unpleasant consequences. Before he leaves, he tells Li Wen Zhong that his family owns the hospital - they’ll be happy to help in whatever way. Well if the first warning didn’t scare me, that sure would. Maybe LWZ will finally behave.
Back at the dorms, Ji Jin walks in to find Shen Jun Shan fixing the blanket on Xie Liang Chen’s sleeping body. His confused blank stare throughout the drama will always get me! There’s a compilation on Youtube of just Ji Jin’s reactions and I love it! Shen Jun Shan grabs his blanket and pillow and tells Ji Jin to sleep in Xie Liang Chen’s room tonight.
Gu Yan Zhen is also back with the suitcase of presumably washed laundry xD. He stares at Xie Liang Chen’s bed wondering where she is.
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| Here we have a confused GYZ. |
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| Here we have a possessive GYZ. |
Before she’s dragged out, Shen Jun Shan privately tells her that Li Wen Zhong isn’t dead and he won’t be speaking a word. She’s relieved and thanks him. Gu Yan Zhen grumbles at her to stop smiling and drags her back to their room. Ji Jin also comments that something is off with Shen Jun Shan. Now in bed, Xie Liang Chen thinks about the night’s matters. Gu Yan Zhen looks on at her from his own bed.
Xie Liang Chen is re-doing her assessment. Instructor Lu gives her poor feedback but he does recognise her drastic improvement so he barely passes her. All her friends grin and clap to congratulate her. The students get 3 days of school holiday.
Qu Man Ting is with Tan Xiao Jun at the bar when Gu Yan Zhen walks in. They bicker back and forth before the topic falls on the Shen brothers. The two clink glasses to cheers when they reveal their mutual annoyance and pet peeves with the brothers. Xie Liang Chen and Huang Song also arrive. GYZ and QMT were there when it was still light outside but it’s now dark, lol how long have they been there?
Xie Liang Chen tells Tan Xiao Jun to guess what she’s brought for her. They cutely interact with each other before Xie Liang Chen reveals a tin of cookies. Tan Xiao Jun feeds Xie Liang Chen a bite and then takes a bite herself. The two both comment that the cookie is sweet. They then notice the silence from their friends.
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| THE WAY THIS SCENE MADE ME LAUGH! |
[Ep10] Gu Yan Zhen quickly tries to justify his outburst by questioning if his sister’s place even has enough room. Tan Xiao Jun agrees. Huang Song defends that his sister’s place can fit tens of people. And so just like that, Tan Xiao Jun, Gu Yan Zhen, and Qu Man Ting invite themselves.
[Ep11] Huo Xiao Yu found the man responsible for the assault back then. She gets rid of him. She informs Instructor Guo - who has found it difficult to let go of what happened after all these decades. Huo Xiao Yu goes to visit Pei Nian Qing’s grave. She tells her that he’s the last one. She’s gotten rid of all of them for her. She wishes her to have peace now.
[Ep12] The students are in the training room with Instructor Lu. They all avoid his eyes when he questions who is willing to practise wooden sword sparring with him. He calls Huang Song out. Huang Song innocently asks what happens if he hits him.
The next morning, the gang gathers to leave for Huang Song’s sister’s house. Gu Yan Zhen is driving. Lol, he wants to impress her with his car. He demands that she sits in the front - shooing away Huang Song who wants to sit in the passenger seat. Qu Man Ting is the last to arrive. On a separate rickshaw is an absurd amount of her luggage.
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| XLC’s reaction to QMT’s amount of luggage nearly made me spit out my water XD |
At the same time, Shen Jun Shan and Jin Xian Rong also decide to go on a trip. I can’t tell if SJS likes JXR in that way but he sure as hell is very nice, attentive and smiles around her a lot.
The gang arrive at Huang Song’s sister’s place - a very cute village that has beautiful scenery as it is by the sea. Huang Song goes to introduce Xie Liang Chen to his sister.
Huang Song’s sister: Your academy also allows girls to attend?
Xie Liang Chen freezes. The grin on Tan Xiao Jun’s face drops. Gu Yan Zhen glances at Xie Liang Chen. Huang Song is confused before clarifying that Xie Liang Chen is a male. LOL. They head into the house to explore and to choose their rooms. Qu Man Ting and Gu Yan Zhen bicker over the room with the best view. They ask Huang Song who gets the room. Huang Song doesn’t care who gets the room - as long as he gets to room with Xie Liang Chen. Tan Xiao Jun exclaims in surprise. She stammers in trying to defend why Huang Song and Xie Liang Chen shouldn’t sleep together. She demands that she and Qu Man Ting share a room, and then Xie Liang Chen and Gu Yan Zhen share a room. Gu Yan Zhen exclaims in agreement.
Xie Liang Chen and Tan Xiao Jun walk slowly to separate from the group.. Tan Xiao Jun reprimands her friend for being silly. According to Tan Xiao Jun…
Tan Xiao Jun: You’ve already been slept with by someone. Don’t let a second person sleep with you!
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| An offended XLC who has been “slept with” lol! |
The gang enjoy their day at the beachside. According to Tan Xiao Jun, Xie Liang Chen has been in a particularly good mood. Maybe she’s just happy to be on vacation. She asks if she’s dating. Xie Liang Chen retorts that everyone thinks she’s a male. Tan Xiao Jun points out that they don’t know but she does - and so she can still like someone. Very true. She questions if it’s Gu Yan Zhen. This earns her a glare and “are you crazy?” from Xie Liang Chen.
Meanwhile, Qu Man Ting swoons over Gu Yan Zhen after he helps prevent her from falling. She’s wearing heels while climbing the rocks next to the waters. She proceeds to prank him by letting him think she fell in the water. He’s not amused. He carries her all the way back to the shoreline where Xie Liang Chen and Tan Xiao Jun are. He complains that she’s heavy and then practically throws/rolls her out of his arms.
Xie Liang Chen and Gu Yan Zhen then head off to wash the seafood that Huang Song caught. When alone, he asks her why she didn’t invite her ‘sister’. He’s also smirking as he asks that, the sly dog hehe. She responds that her non-existent sister is busy. But Gu Yan Zhen isn’t letting it go as he tells her to invite her ‘sister’ next time so he can meet her. She grimaces but agrees. She sticks her hand in the basket only to be bitten by a crab. Gu Yan Zhen is quick to put her finger in his mouth - shocking Xie Liang Chen. She runs off to collect firewood instead.
When she returns to the group, Huang Song and Tan Xiao Jun are getting into it with people of the village. Apparently they own the beach, and require the group to pay if they wish to play and eat here. Um, excuse me? One guy creepily approaches Qu Man Ting and she’s not having it - but Xie Liang Chen kicks him in the ass I wanna add lol before Qu Man Ting retaliates. This starts a huge fight between the two groups. They defeat everyone despite being outnumbered During the ruckus, one guy snuck off - and now he’s back with what seems like the whole village.
Qu Man Ting: Do you know who I am? I’m Qu Man Ting! Superstar I am! Huh, you know me. Fighting is illegal. You with the pole, and you with the rake! Bullying people just because you have more people. Apologise to me now and I’ll let you go!The villagers slowly back awayHuang Song: It’s actually working.Tan Xiao Jun: *nodding whilst relieved*Gu Yan Zhen: *cockily crosses his arms*Villagers: *run*Qu Man Ting: I’m just too famous.
The group are shocked when they turn around to see Ben Zi and his men - weapons in hand. I hate that the screenshots I tried to take of XLC and GYZ don’t do their reactions justice :( Qu Man Ting isn’t impressed that Shen Ting Bai had his men follow her.
That night, Gu Yan Zhen awakens to find Xie Liang Chen’s bed empty so he goes out to look for her. He grabs his coat. He finds her sitting on the steps of the house watching the night view of the beach. He drapes his coat over her. Aww the tiny details, like he knew he’d find her and grabbed it with the purpose of putting it on her. He claims it’s a coincidence he can’t sleep either - he’ll accompany her. It’s a cute moment where they don’t bicker and there’s just these soft smiles on their face.
I’m just now aware of how many screenshots I’ve actually included in this episode lol. Sorry but not really hehe. There’s no such thing as too much BL/XLC and XK/GYZ. You’ll probably notice more of the collages so they don’t take up too much space hehe. Also because most of the time it’s a sequence of expressions. But in actuality, it’s just too hard to choose which screenshot to put xD.
There is a montage with Bai Lu and Xu Kai’s OST in the background, showing the two and then elsewhere on the beach is Shen Jun Shan and Jin Xian Rong.
The next morning, the gang get ready to depart only to find that the wheels of Gu Yan Zhen’s car have been stolen. They contemplate how to get back when Shen Jun Shan and Jin Xian Rong show up. The girls quickly alight the newly found ride but Gu Yan Zhen refuses to, dragging Xie Liang Chen and Huang Song with him to ride a horse carriage.
The backstory of Instructor Guo and Huo Xiao Yu is revealed through a flashback. Huo Xiao Yu was once a performer and liked Instructor Guo. Instructor Guo was in love with Pei Nian Qing. However, she became pregnant with someone else’s child and got married. However, the child was not her husband’s as it’s revealed she was assaulted.
It’s late at night at the academy. Xie Liang Chen is training with the punching bags before Instructor Guo walks in with his alcohol and insults her punches. They sit and talk. Xie Liang Chen tries the alcohol before grimacing and asks him why he likes to drink so much. Because he has nothing to do. Xie Liang Chen rejects that reasoning and says it’s because he’s unhappy. She questions if it’s a good day because he just gained a concubine when he says he’s particularly happy today. This earns her a slap to the back of the head. Hahaha, this was kinda cute. Father and daughter duo. And a must for a bickering father/child duo is the insult to their age. She spites him multiple times with mention to his age. He stands and they start to spar. He easily defeats her. She protests when he demands to go again. He’s helping her to improve.
After sparring a few rounds, they’re now completely intoxicated - having polished off the bottle of alcohol. He tells her to come to him if anyone at the academy tries to start trouble with her. She tells him to take care of himself. At his age, haven’t even found a wife yet - what a sad life. LOL! Gu Yan Zhen ventures into the training room to find the two intoxicated. He comments how he - an instructor of the academy - led astray a student by drinking with them. Instructor Guo retorts that he knows Gu Yan Zhen climbs over the wall every night to go drinking. That shuts him up real quick. It also has XLC snickering. Instructor Guo tells him to safely bring her back to the dorms.
Gu Yan Zhen piggybacks her to their room. He gets a wet cloth for her to wipe her face. She cutely sticks out her face for him to wipe it for her.
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| So cute - my hearteu! |
He then gently wipes her hands down as well. He tells her to go to sleep, but she wants to get changed first. She peels off her vest and Gu Yan Zhen quickly and awkwardly averts his eyes. She struggles to undo the buttons of her shirt and so Gu Yan Zhen reluctantly helps. As he unbuttons the first one, he sees the bandage used to cover her chest. He quickly re-buttons her shirt and tells her to just sleep as is.
She flounders around the bed before telling him she has a secret. She whispers that she’s actually a female. If he needed any more confirmation of her gender, he just got it lol. He looks outside to see if anyone else is around to hear but doesn’t look surprised. He says he knows. She tells him about her brother’s death and speaks her grievances - having a roommate like him that snores so loud, being beaten up by Instructor Guo. He tries to coax her into going to bed but they fall and she lands on top of him on his bed. He freezes with his hands mid-air before they fall to rest on her.
Xie Liang Chen awakens in the morning in Gu Yan Zhen’s bed. When she realises where she is, she quickly checks her clothes and jumps out of his bed, frightened. Gu Yan Zhen is at the train station with his sister waiting to pick his father up. From a distance, he sees Qu Man Ting in a rush. She’s here to send her younger sister off. Before her family sees her, her father tells her sister not to wait on her and says some harsh things that visibly hurt Qu Man Ting. Reporters then bombard her before Gu Yan Zhen steps in and drags her away.
Recently, newspapers have reported that Shen Ting Bai and the mayor’s daughter are together. Qu Man Ting claims to not be affected when Gu Yan Zhen points it out, but she still however demands he hold her hand as they walk past Shen Ting Bai’s car. Shen Ting Bai doesn’t react to them calling each other endearing names and just brushes it off as her having a childish temper. I like that he doesn’t really get jealous - well mostly because they’re not together so he doesn’t really have a right to be. It’s a mature kind of affection from him and I’ve not really watched dramas with that kind of relationship. Tis a nice touch.
Gu Yan Zhen arrives back at the dorm just as Xie Liang Chen walks out the bathroom. She’s awkward around him as she attempts to pry whether she did anything or said anything inappropriate while she was drunk. He tells her she talked about her family but nothing else. He then warns her to stop drinking from now on.
The police are investigating the disappearance of an envoy under the orders of Gu Yan Zhen’s father. Instructor Lu recognises the name as the man who assaulted Pei Nian Qing. He questions Instructor Guo and tells him to tell Huo Xiao Yu to be careful.
Instructor Lu: Try your best. Even if you hit me to death, just consider me out of luck.Huang Song: And what happens if you hit me?Instructor Lu: Well then consider you out of luck.Lol, there’s no winning Huang Song.
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| Her eyes scream “spare me” haha. |
She doesn’t do too bad. The issue not being her skills, but her desire to win. That night, she continues practising with Instructor Guo. He instantly sees she’s unhappy and accurately guesses what happened. He suggests she meet up with him every night to train. She gets better and better until she is even able to land some blows on Instructor Guo. Haha. They’re both shocked. Some time later, after a sparring match between Gu Yan Zhen and Shen Jun Shan (it was a draw), Zhu Yan Lin chooses to spar with Xie Liang Chen, thinking she’s a weaker opponent. He loses. Instructor Lu praises that she has improved.
One night, a whistle goes off and the students quickly prepare to depart for a mission. They arrive at a warehouse that has a hand in the detaining, torturing, and trafficking of labourers. The mission is to assist the police in arresting the criminals. For a school, the students sure are involved in a lot of heavy action. Our group are stealthy and intelligent while infiltrating the warehouse until a group of police come and randomly start a shoot-out. They are able to find the group of labourers, but attached to their back is a timed explosive. As Gu Yan Zhen and Xie Liang Chen are unsure whether to cut the red or yellow wire, Shen Jun Shan trusts in Xie Liang Chen and unhesitantly snips the yellow wire. The timer stops. This is all happening in the middle of a gun fight btw.
Ji Jin, Zhu Yan Lin and the labourers were captured while trying to evacuate. Shen Jun Shan and Xie Liang Chen are forced to surrender their weapons to avoid harm being done to the captured. They give Shen Jun Shan a beating when he tries to intervene when one of the criminals slap Xie Liang Chen. They are saved when Gu Yan Zhen and Huang Song arrive with a cannon. They blow up a whole wall/building type looking thing. They sure are capable for students lol. Were more useful than the police.
It’s presumably the next morning and Gu Yan Zhen is on alert as he sneaks into the dining hall. He’s met face to face with Instructor Lu. He quickly tries to evade him by trying to leave but is stopped by soldiers marching in. Gu Yan Zhen exclaims that the weather is too cold for the “big bath” and attaches himself to the wall. LOL. Instructor Lu has no ill intentions as he and the soldiers salute the students and commend them for a job well done on their mission. He is proud of them.
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| He sees problem. He tries to evade problem. If you can’t see problem, maybe it will go away. |
The moment Instructor Lu leaves, Gu Yan Zhen obnoxiously embraces the cheers and claps earning an eye roll from Xie Liang Chen. His mood quickly dampens however when Xie Liang Chen races off to see Shen Jun Shan who is in hospital after coughing up blood. Aww, I can’t bear seeing him sad :(. Xie Liang Chen races through the hospital trying to find Shen Jun Shan’s room, before seeing Jin Xian Rong accompanying him. They converse for a bit - Xie Liang Chen questions if he understands explosives. He doesn’t. He just trusts her. On her way out, Li Wen Zhong sees Xie Liang Chen exiting the women’s bathroom in the hospital. Facepalm.
Qu Man Ting tries to enter the Academy premises but is denied. She claims herself to be the girlfriend, future wife, of a soldier. Give you a guess who it is. They let her in after telling her to register. She needs Gu Yan Zhen to accompany her to an event. As lovers. She amends it to fake lovers when he gives her a look. At this time, Gu Yan Zhen sees Xie Liang Chen coming back and bitterly says she’s finally back. She doesn’t even spare him a glance as she walks past him. Hahaha - classic. Gu Yan Zhen refuses to go with Qu Man Ting.
[Ep13] So she lies flat down on the stairs of the academy. Gu Yan Zhen begrudgingly agrees. As he races up to the dorm rooms, he sees Xie Liang Chen asking Ji Jin to take some fruit and porridge to the hospital for Shen Jun Shan. When they are both in their room, Gu Yan Zhen sits and lies on her bed, shuffling around, trying to grab her attention. Like a little kid trying to get the attention of their crush haha. She pays him no mind.
Gu Yan Zhen is sulking that Xie Liang Chen only cares about Shen Jun Shan. Huang Song comments that it’s understandable since he’s currently an ill patient. Noticing him skip lunch, Huang Song hands Gu Yan Zhen two eggs. Trying to make conversation, Huang Song mentions one of the students being punished to take the ‘big bath’ and that he’s guaranteed to get a cold. Light-bulb. Instructor Lu coincidentally walks past the two. Gu Yan Zhen hurls one of the eggs at his back. As he readies himself to throw the next egg, Huang Song goes to stop him as Instructor Lu turns around. Gu Yan Zhen is escorted to the water dungeon.
[Ep14] There’s a protest for the victims. The reporters there witness a strange woman who kowtows from a distance before frantically leaving. They catch up to her where she hastily tells them it wasn’t the Shun Yuan Chamber of Commerce - it was the Japanese that killed the leader of the traffickers. The reporters then wait outside the house of the deceased leader and question an old man who claims to just be the housekeeper and knows nothing. However, they manage to extract that before the man died, he frequently entertained male guests who spoke Japanese.
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| Huang Song is like I had nothing to do with it! XD |
That night, Gu Yan Zhen whines to Xie Liang Chen that he’s sick and wants porridge. She brushes him off. But the next day/night, she’s bought medicine and porridge for him. Aww - she may be tough with her words but she’s still softhearted. He grins to himself and happily eats his now cold porridge and apple.
Shen Jun Shan is now back at the academy. Gu Yan Zhen is back at it with his petty tricks to annoy him. Also back is Li Wen Zhong. On her way out of class, Xie Liang Chen overhears Li Wen Zhong telling Zhu Yan Lin that there’s another medical examination for the students. Li Wen Zhong eyes her as she leaves. He’s suspicious and definitely up to something. She attempts to leave the academy premises but is stopped by a guard.
Xie Liang Chen anxiously waits at the end of the line for her examination. Gu Yan Zhen is called in but he’s in the dorms sleeping. Huang Song is tasked to go get him and he quickly flies out of bed when he realises Xie Liang Chen’s predicament. Still in his pyjamas as well lol. As she’s about to be called in, Gu Yan Zhen arrives. How does he save the day you ask? He sends a flying kick to Li Wen Zhong’s ass. What really killed me was he made this Bruce Lee noise as he did it HAHA! He then shoves Shen Jun Shan. There was literally no reason for him to involve SJS but he did because he’s petty XD. Instructor Lu and Instructor Guo arrive and Gu Yan Zhen is quick to go from throwing punches to pulling Li Wen Zhong on top of him and grabbing his hand to put it at his neck - playing the victim card.
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| XLC is definitely thinking “what in the world am I witnessing?” |
Li Wen Zhong cries that Gu Yan Zhen randomly beat him. Gu Yan Zhen re-enacts what happened (he grabs LWZ’s hand and throws air punches at his own face) for Instructor Lu and Li Wen Zhong, Xie Liang Chen, and Huang Song are all equally astounded having known what really happened. Instructor Guo has a small smirk - he knows what’s up hehe.
Due to Gu Yan Zhen claiming that Shen Jun Shan and Li Wen Zhong scolded him and Xie Liang Chen being the one who informed him of the scolding - Instructor Lu grounds them all. Even innocent Huang Song. Well technically, everyone here is innocent except GYZ LOL! As he walks past Li Wen Zhong, Gu Yan Zhen smirks at him.
Meanwhile, Jin Xian Rong has people take the leader of the traffickers out of prison and kills him - leaving his body out the front of a newspaper shop. There’s a note in his hand that claims Shen Ting Bai is involved. Qu Man Ting is determined to prove his innocence, but with reporters barricading the entrance, she has no choice but to scale the side of the hotel. She acts as a middle-woman between Shen Ting Bai and a journalist who is known to be fair and just. Although swayed by Shen Ting Bai’s convincing argument that he is being framed, the journalist is murdered before he can release the gathered evidence and article. Qu Man Ting is furious on behalf of Shen Ting Bai.
[Ep14] There’s a protest for the victims. The reporters there witness a strange woman who kowtows from a distance before frantically leaving. They catch up to her where she hastily tells them it wasn’t the Shun Yuan Chamber of Commerce - it was the Japanese that killed the leader of the traffickers. The reporters then wait outside the house of the deceased leader and question an old man who claims to just be the housekeeper and knows nothing. However, they manage to extract that before the man died, he frequently entertained male guests who spoke Japanese.
During breakfast with Shen Jun Shan, Ben Zi informs Shen Ting Bai that the protesters outside the Chamber of Commerce have dispersed due to the newspaper article released regarding the Japanese’s involvement. Ben Zi comments that the reporters helped them with this big favour, Shen Ting Bai smirks that it wasn’t them. Aww I love that he immediately knows who has his back Like how can I not ship them?! It turns out that Qu Man Ting hired the woman and old man to clear Shen Ting Bai’s name. The flashbacks show her basically conducting auditions and directing their acting LOL.The old man’s audition was hilarious XD!
Back at the academy, Li Wen Zhong continues his shenanigans and turns off the water. He’s adamant on exposing her identity. She’s forced to go to the public bathrooms. Guess who else is going to take a shower? Shen Jun Shan. Gu Yan Zhen races to the showers as soon as he hears they are both taking showers.
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| Uh oh - someone else is here! |
Shen Jun Shan continues talking to Xie Liang Chen but she half-heartedly responds so he thinks she’s treating him differently due to his older brother’s issue. There’s only one empty stall between them so she’s legit just trying to not flash him LOL - it’s not personal SJS. At this moment, Gu Yan Zhen races into the stall between them and just stares Shen Jun Shan down while showering fully clothed LOL! Meanwhile, Xie Liang Chen freaks out even more at the fact another male is in the showers while she’s nude. His crazy antics force Shen Jun Shan to leave. Gu Yan Zhen also goes to leave - only to slip and fall right down next to her stall. He sees everything. She screams and kicks him in the face XD.
[Ep15] Qu Man Ting invites various people as evidence. One includes the son of the journalist who was murdered. Just before arriving at the banquet, his driver had been shot dead and he dangerously drove the car from the backseat nearly running Xie Liang Chen over. Shen Jun Shan saw and sped up in his car to block the crash. It’s scenes like this with QMT’s moving speech to prove STB’s innocence that she is one of my favourite characters. She is fiercely loyal to the bone. They definitely did her dirty with how long she pines over GYZ.
Now clothed, Xie Liang Chen shyly keeps her head down and races out. Gu Yan Zhen discovers someone accidentally locked in a storeroom and goes to let them out until he realises it’s Li Wen Zhong. He scoffs and adds an extra lock to the door instead. Back in their dorm, Gu Yan Zhen keeps commenting how she definitely came to the academy for him. Xie Liang Chen smiles and then fiddles around the room. She’s looking for a suitable weapon. She settles on the mop XD.
Qu Man Ting comes to find Gu Yan Zhen. Her and the fellow classmates walk into this:
Qu Man Ting’s banquet to help clear Shen Ting Bai’s name is completely ruined. The venue is smashed, chefs and servers are injured, and the catering was sabotaged. She adopts the help of the students of the academy and Tan Xiao Jun’s peers.
[Ep15] Qu Man Ting invites various people as evidence. One includes the son of the journalist who was murdered. Just before arriving at the banquet, his driver had been shot dead and he dangerously drove the car from the backseat nearly running Xie Liang Chen over. Shen Jun Shan saw and sped up in his car to block the crash. It’s scenes like this with QMT’s moving speech to prove STB’s innocence that she is one of my favourite characters. She is fiercely loyal to the bone. They definitely did her dirty with how long she pines over GYZ.
Reporters question Qu Man Ting if she defended Shen Ting Bai and believed in his innocence because of the evidence of because they are in a relationship. She replies that he is indeed very outstanding but she already has someone in her heart. She looks towards Gu Yan Zhen. The reporters catch her gaze and dash towards him to take photos.
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| HAHAHAHAHA |
Back at the dorms, Gu Yan Zhen recounts the events of how Qu Man Ting tells him to stop playing hard to get. That there isn’t any man who doesn’t like her. Xie Liang Chen comments he now knows the horror of narcissistic people. He agrees and then stills when he detects the underlying message. LOL, she’s talking about you! He’s adamant that they’re different. I agree with XLC, GYZ and QMT are freakishly similar - the opposite gender counterparts of one another.
Li Wen Zhong is still locked in the storeroom! I completely forgot about him LOL. Zhu Yan Lin finds him eventually. The students have exams coming up. Xie Liang Chen offers to help Huang Song study. Gu Yan Zhen also wants her help. She tells him to go ask Qu Man Ting for help.
Gu Yan Zhen: Mm? Are you jealous? *to Huang Song* Look at her jealous face.Xie Liang Chen: Who is jealous?Huang Song: Liang Chen, do you like the superstar? Huang Song always calls Qu Man Ting the superstar/celebrity xD. Aren’t you and Xiao Jun a couple?Xie Liang Chen wholeheartedly offendedly: Who likes her?! (ie. QMT)Gu Yan Zhen to Huang Song: I’m telling you, she doesn’t like her. She likes me. *wraps his arm around XLC shoulder*Huang Song: *scarred*
Qu Man Ting drags Xie Liang Chen somewhere. QMT seems to be allowed in the academy premises pretty easily - I don’t know if that technically should be allowed haha. Qu Man Ting interrogates Xie Liang Chen regarding her charms and if she likes her. Xie Liang Chen scoffs and tells her absolutely not. Our superstar doesn’t buy it but still asks her what kind of girls she likes then. Who is gonna tell her? Qu Man Ting brings out a plethora of women to introduce to Xie Liang Chen. By the end, she deduces that Xie Liang Chen doesn’t like women. I’m convinced QMT is doing this to introduce someone to XLC so her and GYZ are separated - she’s potentially under the impression that GYZ doesn’t like her because he’s not interested in women. Because that’s the only logical reason he could have for not liking her XD.
It’s exam day. God, I do not miss those days. The supervising instructor is dead asleep. Majority of the students are running amuck trying to copy answers from their peers. Including Gu Yan Zhen. He scoots in next to Ji Jin, who comments that this is cheating. Gu Yan Zhen opens Ji Jin’s test paper.
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| JJ cracks me up XD! |
Gu Yan Zhen: Are you sick? This is the direct translation but it can also have the meaning of “What is wrong with you?”Ji Jin indifferently and almost mockingly: You have medicine?
Li Wen Zhong is throwing paper balls at Huang Song. Then he majorly misses as it flies towards the door and then coincidentally hits Instructor Lu who is walking in. All the students immediately point out the culprit. No such thing as comradery when it comes to the wrath of Instructor Lu.
It’s break time for the students now. Xie Liang Chen is going back to Beijing. Gu Yan Zhen drops her off at the train station. Before leaving, she wishes him safe travels and a happy new year. He smiles happily and then skips out the exit. I’m not exaggerating. He literally skips HAHA.
[Ep17]
[Ep18]
[Ep19]
[Ep20]
[Ep21]
[Ep22]
[Ep23]
[Ep24]
[Ep25]
[Ep26]
[Ep27]
[Ep28]
[Ep29]
[Ep30]
[Ep31]
[Ep32]
[Ep33]
[Ep34]
[Ep35]
[Ep36]
[Ep37]
[Ep38]
[Ep39]
[Ep40]
[Ep41]
[Ep42]
[Ep43]
[Ep44]
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[Ep46]
[Ep47]
[Ep48]
Remarks
by kaylasilver
[First Impression (Ep1-6)] I have to say, I normally don’t watch dramas in this time period. However, ever since I was young, I always had a soft spot for dramas where the female lead disguises as a male. So it was no surprise that I was drawn to this drama regardless. I would like to put it out there that I have finished watching this drama around the time that it was first released and am now re-watching it and recapping. However, I will be pretending as if though I haven’t watched it lol. Try to embody the emotions that I had back when I first watched it xD.
We have:
- Our female lead Xie Xiang who disguises as a male using her deceased brother’s name Xie Liang Chen. She is naturally quite tomboy-ish. She is friendly, resilient.
- Gu Yan Zhen who can be seen as a lazy, good-for-nothing rich playboy. But underneath that, he has always been loyal and protective of our female lead.
- Shen Jun Shan who is constantly composed with a mysterious air about him. He doesn’t go out of his way to be kind to others - except for our female lead I have found.
- Qu Man Ting who is a celebrity. She’s a singer who is proud, slightly narcissistic, sharp-tongued, but strong. She relies on herself to make money and a name for herself.
- Tan Xiao Jun who is best friends with Xie Xiang. She is very supportive of her and always helps her when possible. She is also a good friend to Qu Man Ting.
- Huang Song who quickly becomes a good friend of our female lead. He can be quite slow and naive, but is loyal and hard-working. He is seen to be quite a talented student.
- Ji Jin who is Shen Jun Shan’s childhood best friend. He is a character that brings comedic relief.
The plot is pretty fast-paced and so far not boring. Throughout these episodes, we see the developing comradery between the characters and are given sufficient backstories - enough for us to get a sense of their characters but not enough to eliminate any sort of mystery or development. The only romance so far is between QMT and STB - however in Episode 6, we see her start to look at GYZ in a different light. Also by the end of Episode 6, I would say GYZ is about 95% sure of her real gender.
There are some plot holes. One of them being her passing her medical. I think the reason they leave it a secret in the drama is because there is legitimately no plausible way for her to pass that medical lol.
[Actors/Actresses]
[Behind the Scenes]
[Ending]
[Review & Rating]
Random Recommendation:
Rating: /5
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