Episode 8 of In A Good Way was chock full of the delicious goodness we’ve come to expect from this drama, but unlike episode 7 which ended on a calming note this episode stopped on a moment when I was literally screaming “nooooooo…..” I’m sure it’s a trolling feint because this is not anything remotely like a tense thriller drama. I get nervous when there is a misunderstanding between friends in this story so not sure where a potential Jia En in danger plot fits into the narrative but I’ll keep trusting IAGW knows what it’s doing. Until the end of the episode, I was in bliss just soaking up all the great story from all corners of CDU campus. The 3631 non-revelation was deftly handled as Jia En and Liu Chuan speak of 3631 with each other in the third person. It’s telling that the reticent Liu Chuan needs an online alter ego to share his inner thoughts, but he’s bridging that gap with Jia En slowly by taking then alter ego to real life but without completely owning up to it. His weakness in refusing to meet Jia En made me appreciate his character more because we see the real Liu Chuan and not the perfect image people want to see. He’s a college kid trying to find his way just like all the other students, and being smart, good looking, and athletic doesn’t make him any braver or wiser than his peers. His flaws are his, just like Ren Wei, Jia En, Bai Xue, all the other students each have their own shortcomings and I embrace all of them for learning from their mistakes and trying their best. Liu Chuan got bailed out by both Ri Qi and Jia En, but that is what friends do, and sometimes we need friends to teach us a lesson. Ri Qi showed Liu Chuan that he had his back, and Jia En showed him that she could accept him without probing. It’s lovely stuff and I hope Ri Qi and Xiao Wei get back on track soon after this little blip. I continue to love Ren Wei more and more, and it’s a testament to how wonderfully written he is that I see past his goofiness and find this really awesome guy inside with a big heart and guts to be both cool and silly as long as he’s being true to himself. I sense a tiny bit of something happening in the way Ren Wei sees Jia En, and I’m looking forward to what happens there because I trust the drama will make it meaningful.
Episode 8 recap:
Winter break is over and everyone is talking about what they did during the time off. Jia En walks into the Treasure Hunting club where Liu Chuan is working and greets him with a casual long time no see. Liu Chuan asks why she seems so awkward since its been only a few weeks since they saw each other. Jia En brings up the last time they saw each other and Liu Chuan cuts her off and asks what she did over the holidays. Jia En mentions some fun family activities and asks him how 3631 is doing? She hasn’t heard from him in awhile. Liu Chuan says 3631 is doing fine and when she mentions he hasn’t been online in awhile, Liu Chuan speaks in the 3rd person and says 3631 didn’t have access to a computer and was busy so didn’t have time to chat but he’ll be online more now that school is back. Jia En is happy and excited to share some Winter break stories with him.
They are back to normal now when Bai Xue comes in with the rest of the club. A girl name Ting Ting walks in and takes the book to write a note to Ah Qing. She joined because of him and is clearly pissed off now and has no intention of coming back despite Bai Xue greeting her warmly. Later Liu Chuan walks to play basketball with Ah QIng and Ri Qi and they both tease him about Jia En. Liu Chuan reveals they didn’t acknowledge he’s 3631 but now they have the same mutual friend is all. The guys rib Liu Chuan for being so awesome at love that he’s managing to woo a girl with an alter ego. Liu Chuan tells them to stop joking around and they go play ball. Ah Qing wants to learn tricks from Liu Chuan but Ri Qi says Liu Chuan’s pure romance style is not anything Ah Qing can use.
While the Three Musketeers are playing basketball, the Men of Steel arrive and Ren Wei stares at Liu Chuan until the guys ask why he’s so interested. Ren Wei asks if Liu Chuan is good looking and gets an “of course” and Ah Di hilariously asks if Ren Wei is interested in Liu Chuan? Ren Wei wants to learn more about Liu Chuan because his friend admires him. The guys ask when Ren Wei became friends with Bai Xue and Ren Wei says he spent time shopping with her during the break. Turns out they went to a bookstore and discussed the book Bai Xue loves. Ren Wei has read the book and discussed it with her. Jacky warns Ren Wei not to finish discussing that book because if that happens he will have nothing to talk to Bai Xue about. Ah Di brings up all the things Liu Chuan is the best at – best looking, best at sports, best at school, even his dog is more popular than the Men of Steel! Even his ride is a NSR and Ren Wei suddenly gets an idea to upgrade to a car.
Xiao Wei and Jia En are in their Foreign Languages classics class and their professor is Chang Fei who assigns Jia En to collect money from their classmates to buy the new Anthology of Western Classic book. Poor Xiao Wei’s face falls at how expensive it is and asks Jia En if she can make a copy of hers to share. Jia En agrees and saves her friend. Liu Chuan comes to class looking for Professor Chang and reveals he wants to apply to be his TA for a historical Dutch literature research project. Jia En walks to see the professor with Liu Chuan in tow. She hands the professor the book list and he hands it back to her saying not enough students have paid for their new textbook. Liu Chuan asks to apply for the TA position and the professor rejects him since he only accepts Foreign Languages department majors. Liu Chuan brings up a copy of an old Dutch script and asks the professor if he knows what it means. The professor reviews it and says he needs to study it more. Liu Chuan offers up some ideas and Jia En pipes up that he’s so smart and multi-talented and the professor agrees to review his application and consider it if there are no better candidates.
Jia En is at the teahouse with Bai Xue, Xiao Wei, and Tracy. The girls are making wish bracelets while Jia En is looking at books and lamenting how hard old Dutch language is. They discuss the upcoming Treasure Hunting club KTV outing and Xiao Wei declines once she hears Ri Qi is also going. Tracy offers to pay for Xiao Wei since the more the merrier. Xiao Wei feels bad but Tracy says they are friends so Xiao Wei agrees to go. Bai Xue’s bracelet is messed up but Ren Wei comes in and takes it because anything Bai Xue makes is good luck to him. He makes a wish with the bracelet and then mimes a driver backing up a car when they ask what he is wishing for. None of the girls can guess and he tells them to be prepared for a surprise to come. Bai Xue asks what Jia En has been reading and hears she’s finding books on old Dutch for Liu Chuan. Tracy tells her to join in making wish bracelets and she gets started to make one. Tracy asks who she is making one for, is it 3631? Jia En says yes and Tracy thinks Ri Qi needs one since he’s always heading into the mountains. Jia En doesn’t say anything and Xiao Wei looks up at her.
Ren Wei goes to driving school and his two best buddies are in the backseat with him. He fails the S road driving and complains that no roads are S shaped in real life. He wants to back up the car and fails because he stares at Ah Di and Jacky’s smiling face as he’s backing up. They tell him to do it again and they will be prepared this time. Ren Wei gets ready to back the car again and when he turns around they are both holding up Bai Xue’s face as masks. LOL and sooooo cute. I love these boys! Ren Wei appreciates it and tells “Bai Xue” that he’s backing up now and is he really cool? “Bai Xue” replies that he’s so cool and he can back right into her heart, which is when he backs into the cone. Ha!
Liu Chuan’s dad is at work and looks at a proposal from CDU Foreign Languages department on the study of old Dutch classics. On the proposal is Liu Chuan’s name as the TA. Liu Chuan is called in to see the professor who picks him as the TA and reveals that Congressman Liu recommended him for the position. Liu Chuan’s face falls and he rejects the position because he doesn’t want any help getting anything. Professor Chang asks him for a favor to stay on otherwise he’s afraid the money for this project will be rescinded. Liu Chuan still leaves when Jia En walks in to give the list for the textbook. Professor Chang knows she’s close to Liu Chuan and asks if she knows why he turned down the position. Jia En sees the name of Congressman Liu on the proposal but claims she knows nothing. She runs out after Liu Chuan and she calls him but he keeps walking so she trails after him.
Ri Qi finds Xiao Wei making wish bracelets and hears its a bracelet where the wish will come true when it falls off. Ri Qi says she needs to make it crappy so the wish can come soon earlier. Ri Qi asks her to make him more bracelets since he has a lot of wishes. Xiao Wei says he’s so close to Jia En she’ll make one for him so he should go find her. Ri Qi takes in her rejection and just stares at her. She gets a page and that gives her an excuse to run off to return a call. Xiao Wei calls her mom and hears that her dad just lost his job. The family has no money for her schooling but she tells mom not to worry. She’ll get a part time job and will send money home when she can. She assures mom that school is fine and she’ll take care of herself. Xiao Wei hands up the phone and walks off dejected. Poor baby.
Liu Chuan sits in the club room and looks really pissed as he stares at his rescinded application. Jia En sits at the other desk and gives him some time to brood. Finally she takes a wish bracelet out of her bag and gives it to him. Liu Chuan takes it and asks why she’s not asking why he took back the application? Jia En reminds him that she will not ask him anything he doesn’t tell her himself. He tries to tie the bracelet on but she does it for him. Liu Chuan closes his eyes to make a wish as Jia En is tying the bracelet on his wrist. He asks why she is taking so long and Jia En reveals the bracelet needs to fall off for the wish to come true so she’s trying to tie a knot that can fall off easily.
Jia En wants to ask what he wished for but then catches herself and says he doesn’t need to tell her. She finishes tying and Liu Chuan asks her if she’s sure she wants to take back the question? Jia En looks around and says she’s sure. Liu Chuan tells her that he wants to tell her this time. His wish is this and he shows her a drawing that she recognizes as the design for the club. Jia En makes the connection with the necklace Liu Chuan wears. He reveals that this necklace design is from his grandfather and during this break he found the original design sketch in the house. He wants to find out what the words at the bottom of the sketch mean. Jia En reveals she’s been reading up to help him as well and they head to the library together to do more research. Liu Chuan suggests starting with German since old Dutch shares some linguistic roots with Germanic language.
Bai Xue is walking when Ren Wei pulls up in his new car and wants to drive her. Bai Xue turns him down because she wants to walk and tells him that she’ll ask him for a ride if she needed one. She reveals she’s headed to the convenience store and then back to class. Ren Wei wants to drive her to the KTV outing later tonight and Bai Xue agrees to let him drive her. Night falls and Ren Wei picks up Bai Xue who asks if it was true that he backed into a cone during the driving lessons. Ren Wei admits it and starts driving and poor Bai Xue looks absolutely horrified. She yells at him not to talk to her during the drive and just look straight ahead. They arrive at the KTV and she wants to get out but he asks her to go park the car with him because he’s really good at parking. Bai Xue nods her head but then changes her mind and gets out claiming they are already late. Ren Wei sees her run inside and meet up with Liu Chuan as they walk in. Only Jia En realizes Ren Wei is missing and runs out to find him.
Jia En walks out and runs around looking for Ren Wei and sees him still trying to find a parking spot. Turns out he’s driving the car Jacky borrowed from his dad but he didn’t get to show Bai Xue the car backing. Jia En gets into the car which is when a guy gets into the car next to them to leave. Ren Wei says Jia En really is his lucky star, and is the first girl on his scooter and now the first girl who sees him back his car into the parking spot. Ren Wei asks if he’s cool and Jia En tells him that he’s really cool. Ren Wei stares at her face for an extra minute and ooh this is probably going to happen that he starts to see her in a new light. Ren Wei parks the car smoothly. Liu Chuan runs out of the room to find them and runs into them walking out. Ren Wei enters the KTV room but Liu Chuan just stands there and Jia En asks if he’s not heading back with them. Jealous Liu Chuan says he has something do and rather forcefully tells Jia En to go with him.
Liu Chuan walks to a phone and tells Jia En that he needs to return a call for a friend 3631. Liu Chuan calls his dad and tells him that he hears dad recommended him for the TA position. Liu Chuan reveals he turned down the position and dad looks sad that his son keeps refusing to take anything his dad can do to help him. Liu Chuan reminds him that he was promised 4 years of freedom at college. Will dad please let him be just Liu Shan Feng and not the son of Congressman Liu. He hangs up the phone and looks at Jia En. She smiles and tells him that 3631 is just 3631 and no different regardless of who his dad is. They head back to the KTV room and I’m so happy Liu Chuan shared his biggest secret with her. They enter the room and Liu Chuan to told to sing the next song because it’s his special song. Liu Chuan starts singing and its the same song he played on the CD the first night Jia En spent in his room to relax the mood. Everyone sings along with him.
Xiao Wei is in line at the buffet and wants to get a piece of meat but puts it down and checks her wallet to find NT15 in it. She looks at the other kids getting their lunches and then sees the free soup sign. She gets in line to get some soup and rice but puts it down when Jia En and Bai Xue walk in. God my heart breaks for her. They tell her how much they missed her last night and then asks if anything happened at home since that was the reason she missed the outing. Xiao Wei says everything is fine. They invite her to the next club activity and Xiao Wei looks rather hesitant. Bai Xue tells her that club activities are sponsored so its free but that rubs Xiao Wei the wrong way and she claims to want more time to study. She storms off and Bai Xue worries she said something wrong.
Tracy is screaming in her dorm room because of a spider. None of the girls will help her. Ah Qing goes to borrow a portable radio from Mary and finds out she lent it to niece Tracy. Turns out Momo is Ah Qing’s dog that he brought and wheedled Mary to let him raise the dog. Mary chides him for letting Liu Chuan do all the hard raising now and tells him to go get it from Tracy. Ah Qing is so excited to use this opportunity to spend more time with Tracy. He’s sure he’ll win Tracy in the end but Ah Qi doesn’t think he’ll win her heart. They make a bet that Ah Qing can’t get Tracy to enter the Treasure Hunting club and if he loses then he needs to treat the other two boys to a month’s worth of breakfast. Suddenly Ah Qing’s mouth drops open and it’s Tracy wearing a sleeping negligee and running through campus. The three boys fairly drool as she slow motion runs towards them. Jacky wipes off drool but Ah Qing shoves him aside and walks towards Tracy. She asks for help killing a spider and both Ah Di and Jacky want to help but Ah Qing tells them they can’t do it since it’s club activity time now so they can only help her if she joins the club. Tracy joins and Ah Qing goes to help her and the other two guys realize they just lost the bet.
The club heads to the mountains for their next search activity. Today’s activity is to follow the clues to find Liu Chuan. Everyone snaps a group picture and then they’re off! Ah Di and Jacky walk with Tracy and tell her jokes which make her laugh. Ah Qing catches up to them and joins this group to spend more time with Tracy. He asks why she never laughs at his jokes and Tracy tells him to bite her. Ren Wei is with Bai Xue, Jia En, and Ri Qi, and Ren Wei tries to tell ghost stories to scare the girls. Bai Xue gets scared and clings onto Jia En who chides Ren Wei for being such a dork. Everyone gets busy with the Liu Chuan hunting as they find clues he’s left behind and start heading deeper into the mountain. They find a cave and head inside to investigate. Ah Qing claims this is an old hideout during the war era and is haunted so they need to be quiet. They leave the cave and we see another man in the same cave. Mary is listening to the radio broadcast about how police think kidnapping suspect Chen Jin Xing is hiding in Guan Yin Mountain and she realizes the club members went there and grabs a phone book to call their family members.
Bai Xue ends up with Ren Wei and she’s using her compass and wonders why he’s standing there. Ren Wei says he will always be standing before her and when she needs him then he will be there. She laughs and tells him to stop standing in front of her. Ri Qi and Jia En are both working alone now tracking the clues. Jia En finds a fire that has recently been put out and foot prints and thinks she’ll be finding Liu Chuan soon. She follows a telephone line and heads deeper into the mountain. Liu Chuan is leaving clues of white rope tied around tree branches as he’s far ahead of the crew. Tracy is with Ah Qing who keeps trying to flirt with her but she’s having none of it. Jia En follows the telephone line which leads into a hidden cave is the side of the mountain. She takes out her flashlight and follows the line into the cave and then we hear her scream. The scene freezes on Liu Chuan’s face as he hears a scream in the distance. DA HELL IS THIS WAY TO END THE EPISODE? This is IAGW, not a thriller drama!
I need to calm myself down by reliving all the great Liu Chuan-Jia En scenes and Ren Wei-Jia En scenes in this episode. *takes deep breath*
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View Comments
first!
now on to d recap xp
OMGSH... Such a major cliffhanger! Can't wait another week :(
thanks for the really fast recap! I was able to watch bits of it from the live stream but i couldn't understand it.
I'm still swooning over LC-JE scenes in this episode, and at the same time, trying to calm my heart for another week of waiting!!!:(((( <3<3
I was good to go until the end....aargh
Yes, I was really frustrated at the abrupt ending, especially since I watched live just now and was screaming to myself, "I thought the advertisements break was just over!!".
Anyways, Miss Koala...... you scare me with your super power (speed writing)! WOW, just WOW! How did you manage to write so fast and with so much precision, you're just on another level/planet!
I caught a tiny glimpse of difference in Ren-Wei's gaze towards Jia-En during the car scene. It got me a bit worried actually, I'm still hoping that he won't fall Jia-En and stick to Bai-Xue instead. Because if he falls for Jia-En romantically, I don't know how does that make all his pursuit of Bai-Xue. I know he was immature before so he may like her on a shallow note at first but a year long liking Bai-Xue definitely means that he's serious. Still, I'm just hopeful of what to come.
And!! Can someone please explain the 3631 misunderstanding to Xiao-Wei, the poor little girl just crawl back into her shell for hiding. It's the hardest time for her and she need good friends to back her up and tell her she's not alone.
The mountain part was seriously eerie and creepy, especially accompanied with the scary BGM. For some reason, the thought of Chen Jin-Xing alone is even more scary than a ghost. Humans can be scarier than a ghost at times because they're just so evil. I know that nothing will happen to Jia-En but it still got me worried and nervous.
SETTV deserves to be spanked. They cut 10 minutes from this episode just to end it on that "cliffhanger". I'm not amused.
"3631 is simply 3631, regardless of who his dad is"
That moment was priceless!
Made more priceless by the smile of relief and appreciation from Li Chuan after he hears that from Jia En. Seems like Liu Chuan is falling faster than the oblivious Jia En. I am not complaining.
Also, I really gotta admit that man's back that appeared out of no where in the mountain hole freaked me out. It caught me by surprise!
Last, I think despite being the it-girl at school, Tracy is so sweet, especially to Xiao Wei. Love her character more than I expected to!
I just finished watching and listed that as one of my fav moments, too. I actually rewinded, so I could go back and catch the look on his face. Everyone needs a friend like Jia En, and it's clear that Liu Chan really needs her type of friendship right now with only one more year left of his "freedom."
My favorite scene this episode was when Jia En went out from the KTV to look for Ren Wei and Liu Chuan saw her leaving.
After some time, Liu Chuan came out of the KTV room, presumably to look for Jia En and Ren Wei and ran into them walking in, happily teasing each other, the closest of friends. I wouldn't have thought of Liu Chuan as having a jealous side, as he was always so cool. However when Ren Wei went into the KTV room and Jia En followed suit, Liu Chuan hesitated.
"Aren't you coming in?" Jia En asks him.
"I have something to do. Stay with me." Liu Chuan said directly.
I was surprised at his direct and forceful tone as he has always projected a cool (distant) image. Then he brought her to the phone booth when he basically acknowledged himself as 3631 and dialed his father. I think this showed that Jia En's patience and understanding of him worked. He was slowly but surely falling for her seriously that he took the initiative to let her understand him and his real identity.
Thanks for recapping this, seriously you are so fast! Another whole week of waiting, i always want more aah. But since liuchuan is looking for jiaen and is very worry i hope we will get something next week.
Thanks Miss ockoala for your recaps, you're awesome. I love your recaps, and I love in a good way.
I know nothing serious happened to Jia-En, but still I hope she didn't fall, or hurt herself, or something, I hope she doesn't need to be 'saved' by Liu Chan, because this has been a great drama that kept everything simple, interesting, and didn't use clishes, and 'damsel in distress' is a trope I'd hate to be used here.
Can't wait for the next Friday, thanks again for this fast recap.
i think next episode when Liu Chuan finds Jia En, they are gonna hug each other, it's about time that there's some real skinship after 8 episodes, i am hoping to see more.
I was so hoping that they could end the hunt bit by end of the episode but I was wrong. Anyway I'm also hoping for some skin ship btw LC and JE after the ordeal but another part of me thinks the writer prob has some tricks up his/her sleeves.
What if RW is the one who found her? I mean he's her best friend and I think I would have took off also in search of her if I'm in his shoes. And the writer has so far sprung lots of surprises on us so I guess this is also possible. Though I really hope LC is the one. Since they r the OTP and what else screams OTP if not a hug after a near miss?? Right? Right?!
Just finished to watch and as I suspected, Xiao Wei misunderstood, I felt SO sorry for her. I wish Jia En could clear things for her, cause I believe Ri Qi for now committed to keep Liu Chuan's secret and can't do anything about it. Besides, she's facing one of the biggest issues of money vs education. Oh, it was hard to watch. Poor girl.
I probably deluded, otherwise I should not expect Jia En to hold Liu Chuan's hand or make a comforting gesture as he finished speaking with his father on the phone. Stupid me. But still, very nice scene that handled very well with 3631 acceptance by both of them.
Ren Wei as always was AWESOME. Love this guy and I loved the most that Jia En without a second thought ran to join him to park the car. Yet, as much as I love him, I really don't want him to fall for Jia En. Let's avoid the cliches if we can. Just let them be best friends, that's more than satisfying.
Now I'm curious if anyone else thinks Bai Xue is going to confess hes feelings for Liu Chuan after watching episode 9 preview.
About JE NOT touching LC during or after the phone call...It is totally her style to do that with her friends, she is always pushing RW around.
That's why I love how she is specifically with him. It shows her amazing understanding of LC and her restraint that she was able to just stand there, supporting him with her presence and smile. Not expecting anything in return, not trying to grab what she can from him. I am completely hoping all this will pay off in one big swoony pull in and kiss from LC some day SOON!!
DA FAAK? Way to live us hanging drama! The overly dramatic part was in the last like 5 minutes...UGH. I hate when dramas do that, since I thought this was the whole plot of episode 8...oy vey. Need to wait another week to see the conclusion of this plot point even though we know Jia En is fine (right?)