Add and Subtract Game

[mouse007]

@themarchioness thank you for the recap!! I can’t wait for the second half!! 

 

It’s also a holiday here.. wait, are we from the same area?

 

11 hours ago, themarchioness said:

 

Truer words were never spoken.... same thing with drama endings, we want to know how things end, but we don't want the experience to be over.  What other drama truths can we think of?   

 

+2

 

As for drama truths, another one for me is this:

 

“I’m just going to watch 1 more episode and then I’m going to bed”... 3 episodes later I’m still watching. 

 

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[themarchioness]

1 hour ago, mouse007 said:

@themarchioness thank you for the recap!! I can’t wait for the second half!! 

 

It’s also a holiday here.. wait, are we from the same area?

 

 

As for drama truths, another one for me is this:

 

“I’m just going to watch 1 more episode and then I’m going to bed”... 3 episodes later I’m still watching. 

 

There are probably going to have be more than 2 parts to the recap... I haven't even reached halfway point yet with the first post.    

 

I think you mentioned recently being from Canada?  I'm in the US.  

 

And yes!  That is sooooooo true.  Definitely a drama truth!    

 

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[mouse007]

@themarchioness When I first saw the trailer for this, I didn't know how Darren Wang was. But then @kokodus told me about "Our Times" which I just saw the other day so now that I watched the trailer again, I'm even more excited about the movie!!

 

Yes, I'm in Canada. 

 

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[Guest]

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[mouse007]

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[Guest]

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[mouse007]

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[luvabe]

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[mouse007]

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[mouse007]

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@themarchioness some more drama truths:

 

1. "There's too many sweet scenes between the OTP" said NO ONE EVER
2. There is no such thing as watching your favourite dramas/scenes way too much.

[staygold]

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For tuesday mornings 

 

 

[themarchioness]

For @kokodus, @lynne22, @mouse007, and @phikyl and anyone who's interested in "Fall in Love at First Kiss," the movie version of "It Started with a Kiss," here's the second chunk of the recap. I forgot to mention with the first post that the difference between recapping a drama and a movie is that I can't go back and rewatch scenes as I recap.  This means I'm working entirely off my memory, so I readily admit to having forgotten little details here and there.  Accuracy also matters to me, so it does bug me that I can't recount the important dialogues with certainty, but I've tried my best to instead give you a sense for is going on at various points in time.  Bear with me!   

 

"Fall in Love at First Kiss" Recap, Part 2

 

Spoiler

 

As promised, ZS begins tutoring XQ for the upcoming math test.  Not gonna lie, it was pretty painful watching her not be able to figure out something as simple as, “17 + X = 22.”  I felt ZS’s pain.  He flipped through her textbooks to see what she’d been taught and it was painfully obvious she hadn’t learned anything at all.  Instead of notes related to the material, her notes in her notebooks all related to ZS.  She’d circle whenever she found a character from his name.  She’d have “QX + ZS” written in the margins.  And on one page, she had tick marks that get getting progressively smaller until it reached the ultimate number, “8.”  ZS asked her what that was about and XQ explained that there was a saying that if you took the number of strokes from the name of the person you liked and subtracted it against the number strokes in your own name, and arrived at 0, that meant you were a perfect match.  ZS just rolled his eyes as he commented that she couldn’t even get that right. 

 

Realizing that they’re going to have to start from the basics, “since she can’t even do 7th grade math,” that’s where ZS begins and then in a montage of scenes of them studying together, you see how they start to cover more difficult concepts until he finally teaches a particular equation and he tells her to memorize it because he’s certain it will be on the test.  XQ takes studying to heart.  We see her walking around campus with little notecards in her hand, and she doesn’t even know where she’s walking since she just keeps reading them over and over again.  It’s to the point where A Jin follows her from behind to help her turn corners, and she doesn’t even realize it, since she’s so absorbed in her studies.  Finally, there’s a scene where she’s walking and someone’s sweeping on the balcony above and accidentally knocks over a flower pot.  A Jin rushes over just in time to kick it out of the way, saving her from having it smash into her head.  Instead, it goes flying and breaks all over the Nerdy Kid who also happened to be walking by.  With dirt and mud on his face and shirt, he’s indignant and demands to know who did it.  That’s when he spies ZS standing on the balcony.  He storms up there and accuses ZS of being jealous and trying to wipe out the competition.  (As if!  We all know ZS has no competition.)  In truth, ZS was also following XQ by watching her from above.  It’s obvious that her hardworking behavior is starting to change his opinion of her.

 

Back home, XQ and ZS fall asleep while studying.  When his mother comes to deliver snacks, she finds them slumped over the table.  Each of them have lifted an arm over their head and it just so happens to form the shape of a heart.  She wastes no time in snapping a picture with her cell phone.

 

All too soon it’s the day of the exam, and we see that ZS correctly guessed that the one equation would be on the exam.  When the bell goes off, all of XQ’s classmates rush to turn in their test papers, but she takes her time to double check her work.  And then it’s the day of the results.  XQ rushes to the head of the board and sighs in relief to find that ZS’s is still number one.  She was afraid his tutoring might have affected his own grade, but it didn’t.  She then turns and looks at her friends, but they shake their head glumly.  She’s not there.  Just as the head of ZS’s fan club and the other classmates start to sneer at her for making the 100 scoreboard, the principal arrives with his assistant and ZS.  It turns out there were two people who tied for the 100th place and they’re there to correct the omission.  The assistant starts to write out a name and it’s XQ’s name!  She looks to ZS and he just nods ever so slightly.  The principal tells everyone that they’ve double checked her score and she really did come in 100th place.  They’ve also gone over her test papers to make sure it is legit and finds that there’s no evidence of cheating.  He almost sounds disappointed, haha.  This is clearly a school that does not want to see any of their Class F students succeeding!

 

Now that the show is over, the crowd disperses until only XQ and her friends remain.  While she’s still giddy over her test score, A Jin tells her that’s not what is important.  Instead, he points to a poster advertising some major track and field event, and tells her that this is what’s important. 

 

It’s the day of the track and field event, and the next event is the mixed relay.  As the relay racers stretch and prepare for the race, it’s evident that the real competitors are A Jin versus ZS.  XQ’s friends ask her if she’ll root for ZS or A Jin, and though she gives the question some consideration, in the end, class loyalty wins out.  She then hands A Jin a bottle of water, and all of this does not go unnoticed by ZS.  He starts stretching his legs farther, raising them higher, etc., and with each move, A Jin tries to copy him, although he’s never able to match ZS completely (of course).  In the bleachers, ZS’s mother has arrived to watch the race.  She ends up next to the fan club head president and when the latter hears the former rooting for ZS, she invites this his mother to join the fan club – happy to finally have someone older than her in the club.

 

Back on the field, the runners get ready to take their place.  A Jin and ZS go to pick up the batons.  Just as they are about to reach the table where they’re located, A Jin sprints forward and grabs a specific color.  He says that his team will use that one and ZS just rolls his eyes as he reaches around him and grabs another.  He says, “That one was yours anyway,” and sure enough, the camera pans out to reveal that all the batons were labeled with their class alphabet letter. 

 

The race starts.  It’s Class F who has the lead.  XQ is the third runner for her team and she is able to maintain her team’s lead.  But as she approaches the line where the next runners are waiting for the baton toss, all she can see is ZS reaching his hand backwards with a ring of light around him.  Next to him, A Jin is screaming her name furiously as he watches XQ pass her baton to ZS.  ZS asks her what she’s doing and pushes her and the baton aside.  XQ falls to the ground and soon the other runners have joined them at the line to do their own pass off. A Jin has to fetch the baton from the ground next to her before he can start running and though he is able to quickly make up for the delay, it’s still ZS who beats him by the smallest of margins. 

 

In the middle of all this, ZS’s mother could tell that another boy (A Jin) was interested in XQ.  To stake her claim, she texts en masse the picture of them slumped over the table from studying together.  In the bleachers, all the girls are angered to see the picture.  They accuse XQ of photoshopping the picture and complain about her sending out this obviously doctored photo.  ZS’s mother protests and insists that her picture is real, and that just causes all the girls to whip out their phones where they’ve all got pictures of themselves doing various things with ZS.  Not photoshopped?  Yeah, right!  ZS’s mother ends up getting into a fight with the fan club president.

 

Back on the field, now that the race is over, A Jin gets news of this photo and grabs his friend’s phone to check.  He asks XQ if she and ZS are living together and she doesn’t know how to respond, since she remembers she’s not supposed to say anything.  But right at that moment, ZS walks over with a bag of his clothes and throwing it to her, he tells her to take it home to wash.  Everyone is shocked to realize it’s true.  To be honest, I don’t remember exactly how their next fight is instigated.  Maybe she protested at being treated like his maid.  Maybe his friends/classmates started teasing them about being together.  Whatever it was, he started insulting her intelligence again.  (This was the second time where I thought to myself, “Dang, ZS, you be mean!”)  In a show of support, one of his classmates pulled up the humiliating video of her failed confession and broadcasted it on the big track and field screen for everybody to see.  That has XQ retaliating by playing the video of him dancing.  (This XQ’s a fighter!)  As ZS gapes at her in utter betrayal, she just shrugs and says, “I fetched it out from the delete folder.”  She outsmarted him!  He should’ve watched her delete it from the delete folder. 

 

At that, ZS grabs her by the wrist and drags her away to a place where it’s just the two of them.  He asks her what’s wrong with her, or something like that.  Maybe he asked her if this was any way to treat someone that’s supposedly got a crush on?  I can’t remember the specifics, unfortunately, but what I do remember is her response, which is that she doesn’t care because it’s their third year and there’s not much time left anyway.  She says they’ll be graduating and that when she goes to college, she’s going to find a new guy to fall in love with.  I remember that distinctly because, at the time, I was thinking how un-XQ-like this was.  I don’t think any of the other XQ’s I’ve watched have ever entertained even the idea of someone else.  Apparently ZS agreed with me because the next thing he did was grab her and kiss her hard.  He then told her to try getting over that if she wanted to move on to another guy.  Ooooh, gauntlet thrown!

 

After that incident, it’s time for the ISAT (International Student Admissions Test) which ZS must take in order to attend an overseas school.  On the morning of his exam, he comes down to breakfast and finds the table full of food.  His mother cheerfully explains that XQ woke up early to prepare breakfast.  She passes him a plate of zongzi (a glutinous rice dish stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves) and tells him to choose one.  Both she and his little brother watch carefully and so he hems and haws before picking one.  When he finally makes his choice, his mother claps excitedly and says that of all the zongzi on the plate, he managed to pick the one made by XQ.  He opens it up and it looks blue inside.  (Zongzi should definitely not be blue!)  He wrinkles his nose and takes a small and quick bite before saying that he’s had enough to eat and should go. 

 

Just as ZS’s about to leave the kitchen, he’s met at the doorway by a scary-looking XQ.  Her eyes are bloodshot and it looks like she didn’t get any sleep.  Turns out, she stayed up all night sewing him a good-luck charm.  ZS comments that it looks ugly and when XQ apologize for how she looks, he’s like, “No, I was referring to your good-luck charm.”  But she says he has to carry it with him anyway and it takes her several tries before it’s successfully tied to his backpack as it keeps slipping off. 

 

After he leaves, ZS’s mother sits XQ down and explains that she feels bad for ZS.  When the children were young, their father’s business just getting off the ground and things weren’t good.  He had a hard time and that meant things were hard at home too.  As a result, she ended up pressuring her children, and especially ZS.  She explains he had to grow up quickly and has even been working at the family company for several years already.  XQ tells his mother not to worry and reassures her that from here on out, she’ll be responsible for ZS’s future.

 

ZS runs up the stairs outside the ISAT testing location.  Someone’s walking out of the building as he’s entering, and the other person notices that the good-luck charm has fallen off his backpack.  He points it out to ZS but when he turns around to retrieve it, someone else bumps into him (I think.  I don’t think he tripped on his own feet) and he goes tumbling down the stairs.  Owwww.  That was a long fall.  By the time ZS enters his test room, he’s limping and late.  Frankly, I was impressed they even let him into the room!  He sits down and takes out his pencil.  As he presses down to write his name, the tip breaks off.  The same thing happens with the next two pencils and when he finally takes out all the other pencils in his bag, he sees they’re all broken.  To add insult to injury, his stomach starts to turn.  ZS ends up running out of the room, doubled over in stomach pain.

 

It’s break time and as ZS accepts his lunch from the food truck set up outside the ISAT testing location, he thinks to himself that he’s going to kill XQ for all the harm she’s inflicted upon him.  As he turns away and heads back towards the building, we see XQ still in her zombified state appear from behind the food truck.  She’d come to the testing site to make sure he made it there on time and was doing okay.  As she watches him walk away, she becomes rooted to her spot.  That’s when another person approaches on a motorcycle and hits her.  Due to the commotion, ZS turns back around.  He hurries over when he realizes it’s XQ and takes her to the hospital.

 

When XQ wakes up, she’s back in her own bedroom with her father by her side.  She tells him that she had the worst dream: that ZS missed his exam because of her.  That’s when she hears yelling sounds coming from somewhere else in the house.  When she walks down stairs, she finds ZS arguing with his parents.  ZS’s father doesn’t understand why he didn’t just send XQ to the hospital and had to take her himself, such that he missed sitting for the exam.  ZS tells his parents that, in fact, he didn’t want to take the test because he doesn’t want to study abroad.  Going to a foreign university, coming home and taking over his father’s toy company, those are his parents’ dream.  ZS says he wants to choose his own life.  When his father asks him what that is, ZS admits he still needs time to figure out what he wants to do with his life.  His father is upset that ZS can’t even do that much.  That’s when ZS explodes that although he knows his parents love him, he can’t just live his life according to their arrangements, and that includes marrying the woman they choose for him.  It’s right at this moment that everyone notices XQ standing in the doorway of the living room.  Awkward.  ZS storms out of the room and as he leaves, we see his father stumble a little as he clutches his heart.

 

In a voiceover, XQ explains that it wasn’t long after ZS’s fight with his parents that they graduated from high school and he decided to move out of the house.  We see ZS loading his things in the back of a taxi cab with only his mother, brother, XQ, and her father to see him off.  His own father gets in his own car and as the two cars drive out of the driveway, ZS’s taxi cab turns left while his father’s car turns right.  But in the taxi cab, ZS turns around to look out back the window at his father’s car, and in his own car, his father does the same (remember, he has a chauffeur so it’s not that he’s juggling driving and looking back at his son).  The voiceover continues on and explains that because ZS was a top student, he was able to easily enter the science and technology department of the university affiliated with their high school.  She, on the other hand, barely scraped by and just managed to enter the same university but in some random department. 

 

And I think that’s where I’ll end Recap 2 . . . next up, university life! 

 

 

Recap links: Part 1

 

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[Guest]

  

 

It's still Monday night here and I have been out of pocket the past few days. Family member was in a pretty bad car accident.   But thankful the truck was all we lost.  After some rest was excited to check back in just now.  Only to find a PM from  @dotonly .  Saying she was leaving and I am in a daze as to what happened and why?

After a quick reply in hopes to at least understand and hoping to somehow help.  Without yet reading all I have missed in the past posts.  Still there is a sadness that comes over me in letting someone go.  Even though I understand and respect others and their own choice it doesn't mean it's easy when it happens.  A part of you always wants to hold on...

 

Although known as being a romantic song I think the words also express the hopes and best wishes one feels when having to say good-bye.  That the people who freely walk in and out of our lives will always be a part of our memories for they leave their footprints on our hearts and how blessed we are in meeting them in the first place -2

 

 

[mouse007]

@themarchioness thanks for the recap! I’m glad they still included all the important parts from the drama. Did it seem to you like the story was being rushed or did the pace seem ok? 

 

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[Lynne]

10 hours ago, themarchioness said:

@kokodus, @lynne22, @mouse007, and anyone who's interested in "Fall in Love at First Kiss," the movie version of "It Started with a Kiss," here's the first chunk of the recap.  I've decided to post as I go because even if I don't, it's going to end up being one ridiculously long post.  (It's a two hour movie, after all!)  Have to take a break for now but hope to work on the recap again later today.  Also, I looked for a movie specific thread but didn't find one.  If I overlooked it, let me know and I'll move this over there.  Otherwise, I'll just keep sharing them here. 

 

"Fall in Love at First Kiss" Recap, Part 1

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@themarchioness Thank youuuuuu 

 

10 hours ago, themarchioness said:

She finds ZS walking through the open lobby and calling after him, holds out the note.  She asks if he’ll accept it.  After looking at her for a little bit, he walks over and agrees.  But after a pause, he adds, “Is that what you thought I would say?”  And then he goes off about how he’d never be with someone as stupid as her, and that they belong to two different classes of people.  (This is why I say he is the meanest Zhi Shu I’ve ever met.  According to memory, don’t the others just walk past her?)

Ouchiee.... awwwwww poor XQ....

In your opinion, do you think this ZS is played as a bit too prideful? I get a sense of that from a spoiler scene I watched in Instagram.. 

It is as if the story is guiding us to see how he's slowly changing... lol..

 

35 minutes ago, themarchioness said:

S’s mother protests and insists that her picture is real, and that just causes all the girls to whip out their phones where they’ve all got pictures of themselves doing various things with ZS.  Not photoshopped?  Yeah, right!  ZS’s mother ends up getting into a fight with the fan club president.

And awwwwwww ZS's mother is still the best!!! 

 

35 minutes ago, themarchioness said:

At that, ZS grabs her by the wrist and drags her away to a place where it’s just the two of them.  He asks her what’s wrong with her, or something like that.  Maybe he asked her if this was any way to treat someone that’s supposedly got a crush on?  I can’t remember the specifics, unfortunately, but what I do remember is her response, which is that she doesn’t care because it’s their third year and there’s not much time left anyway.  She says they’ll be graduating and that when she goes to college, she’s going to find a new guy to fall in love with.  I remember that distinctly because, at the time, I was thinking how un-XQ-like this was.  I don’t think any of the other XQ’s I’ve watched have ever entertained even the idea of someone else.  Apparently ZS agreed with me because the next thing he did was grab her and kiss her hard.  

He then told her to try getting over that if she wanted to move on to another guy.  Ooooh, gauntlet thrown!

OHOHOHOHOHOHO.... *EVIL LAUGH*

 

Again... thank you for the summary 

 

Btw.. where's @kokodus? I don't think I've seen her since Sunday... 

 

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[themarchioness]

3 minutes ago, mouse007 said:

@themarchioness thanks for the recap! I’m glad they still included all the important parts from the drama. Did it seem to you like the story was being rushed or did the pace seem ok?

 

As you've no doubt gotten a sense of already, the movie chose to highlight certain key events from the story to condense it into its allotted two hours.  I found the pacing okay and most importantly, the key events were woven together in such a way that the story made sense.  I never felt like I needed to rely on my background knowledge to fill in the contextual gaps to be able to understand what was going on, and that's important.

 

Obviously, they're still cutting a lot of things out.  For example, all the stuff that happened with the tennis club is distilled to just that one scene of them on the tennis courts.  There's also no development of the side characters, or of their relationships with those side characters.  For example, as you've already read about, when she first moves in with the Jiang family, Yu Shu is incredibly rude to her and calls her stupid.  But as you'll later read about, when she moves out, he'll cry and shake her hand.  We never get to see that transition in their relationship where Yu Shu goes from despising her to liking her.  Of course, this is all to be expected with the time constraint, so this isn't a complaint but rather of a matter-of-fact observation. 

 

In the next recap that I will share (which I'm working on currently), you'll see how the movie provides a fresh twist on events from the manga/drama.  For example, instead of working part time at a cafe, ZS will be a veterinarian's assistant.  It's actually kind of fun because even though the events are told in a different way, they're still recognizable, so when it happens you'll think to yourself, "Ah!  This is supposed to be that moment."

 

+2

[Lynne]

 

46 minutes ago, themarchioness said:

I found the pacing okay and most importantly, the key events were woven together in such a way that the story made sense.  I never felt like I needed to rely on my background knowledge to fill in the contextual gaps to be able to understand what was going on, and that's important.

 

@themarchioness I'm glad to hear this...  

Lol.. just like I love to say Arjoe's version if my ISWAK.. I guess this movie is the ISWAK for the new generation...

So some changes are a necessary... to keep the story fresh....

Thank you again  

I'm looking forward to the next part...  

 

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[themarchioness]

26 minutes ago, lynne22 said:

Ouchiee.... awwwwww poor XQ....

In your opinion, do you think this ZS is played as a bit too prideful? I get a sense of that from a spoiler scene I watched in Instagram.. 

It is as if the story is guiding us to see how he's slowly changing... lol..

 

I know.  The manner in which he responded to her love confession was particularly harsh, I thought.  Because in that few seconds pause in between when he first says he'll accept her love confession and then adds, "Is that what you thought I'd say?", she honestly thought all her dreams were coming true.  Can you imagine what it would've been like to be her?  Your heart already pounding from nervousness and then ready to burst from excitement... and then to killed in the next second.  It's just so cruel.  But that style of delivery seems to be his method of operation, as he'll do something similar again later. 

 

Definitely the movie shows us how he changes over time, though.  I just realized I forgot one important detail from the 100 scoreboard incident.  But before I get to that, I want to clarify in case it wasn't clear from my recap - although the movie doesn't say so, it seemed clear to me that the only reason XQ's results were ultimately recognized was because he intervened on her behalf, which is why he appeared alongside the school administrators and why he nodded ever so subtly at her when she looked at him questioningly.  What I left out, however, is that the entire time he's standing there, he's got his usual stone cold sober game face on.  After he turns and walks away though, when nobody is looking, he smiles.  I can't believe I forgot that!

 

Also, I just went back and read my account of the track and field event, and I also wanted to clarify (in case I didn't do a good enough of a job to express it), ZS was definitely jealous of A Jin during that event.  That's why he threw his clothes at her.  It was like he was confirming the picture's authenticity and marking her as his own. 

 

Going back to the point about how he changes, though, a lot of that will be explained at the end of the movie - it's like they took a page from "A Love So Beautiful" in that regard.    So, that video that you included, that scene is actually from the end of the movie.  We don't see it at the time. 

 

+2

 

[cenching]

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[Lynne]

lol @sushilicious 's dp is making me crave for some noodles for lunch 

 

1 hour ago, themarchioness said:

I know.  The manner in which he responded to her love confession was particularly harsh, I thought.  Because in that few seconds pause in between when he first says he'll accept her love confession and then adds, "Is that what you thought I'd say?", she honestly thought all her dreams were coming true.  Can you imagine what it would've been like to be her?  Your heart already pounding from nervousness and then ready to burst from excitement... and then to killed in the next second.  It's just so cruel.  But that style of delivery seems to be his method of operation, as he'll do something similar again later. 

 Sighh... He's more prideful than any ZS I've encountered.

 

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.. I think there has been a trend going on lately on C-dramas where the Male Lead is very prideful to the point of looking as if he's a snob.... Maybe this is where ZS's character is played. But of course once they met "the one" they will slowly change and show us another side of him.. a better side for sure.. lols..

Again, I know.. I know..  this trope has existed for a long time.. but it seems like its getting to be a little bit extreme... lols... maybe I'm overthinking things..

 

1 hour ago, themarchioness said:

Definitely the movie shows us how he changes over time, though.  I just realized I forgot one important detail from the 100 scoreboard incident.  But before I get to that, I want to clarify in case it wasn't clear from my recap - although the movie doesn't say so, it seemed clear to me that the only reason XQ's results were ultimately recognized was because he intervened on her behalf, which is why he appeared alongside the school administrators and why he nodded ever so subtly at her when she looked at him questioningly.  What I left out, however, is that the entire time he's standing there, he's got his usual stone cold sober game face on.  After he turns and walks away though, when nobody is looking, he smiles.  I can't believe I forgot that!

 Actually before you mention this.... In my mind I already had a hunch.. that... this Tsundere guy... must have secretly smile in the end....  ahahahahhaa..... this is so him... lols...

 

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