Open Thread: Autumn’s Concerto Episodes 22, 23 & 24

Welcome to the Open Thread, everyone! Isn’t Xiao Le such a cutie pie?? 😍

SOME IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS, before we begin:

ZERO SPOILER POLICY

1. We will be adopting a ZERO SPOILER POLICY for this Open Thread, except for events that have happened in the show, up to this point.

The spoiler tags don’t work in email notifications, therefore, please take note that WE WILL NOT BE USING SPOILER TAGS FOR THIS OPEN THREAD. 

ANY AND ALL SPOILERS WILL BE REDACTED to protect first-time viewers in our midst (although, I’d appreciate it if you would save me the trouble of having to redact spoilers, heh 😅).

This includes, but is not limited to, how characters &/or relationships develop, later in the show.

We need to protect the innocent! 😉

SPOILER ZONE

2. HOWEVER!! If you’d like to discuss spoilers from a rewatcher’s point of view, I’ve created a SPOILER ZONE for you, where you can discuss all the spoilers you’d like, without the need for spoiler warnings. You can find it here!

Without further ado, here are my reactions to this set of episodes; have fun in the Open Thread, everyone! ❤️

My thoughts

Episode 22

Welp, things are finally heating up in here, with Xiao Le arriving in Taipei to look for Guang Xi, because, inevitably, that triggers off a sequence of events that just brings Guang Xi closer and closer to the truth.

And Guang Xi realizing / remembering the truth is the Next Big Event that’s due in our story, isn’t it? I know Show’s been teasing us with blurry memories and multiple echoes of past events, so it feels like we’re really almost there now.

Of course, it’s just like Xiao Le to be so helpful and proactive, that he ends up assisting his own grandmother, though neither of them knows it.

I suppose this is a good start, in the sense that Xiao Le’s so sweet, that he’s sure to charm anyone, right, even Grumpy Gran? And once she’s charmed by him, hopefully that early seed will help to endear him to her properly, once she (inevitably) learns that he’s her grandson?

I don’t know how I feel about Guang Xi stepping outside to take Mu Cheng’s call, as if he’d rather speak to Mu Cheng while out of Yi Qian’s earshot.

On the one hand, I get that he’s supposed to be drawn to Mu Cheng, because she is his fated love, but on the other hand, I can’t shake the niggling thought that this isn’t how a man who’s engaged to be married to someone else should behave.

It makes me feel like his heart is wandering away from Yi Qian – which it probably is – and again, that gives me mixed feelings. Like, yes, you’re drawn to your fated love, but.. dang, your poor fiancée..? 😅

More importantly, POOR XIAO LE. It was hard to watch him not only faint from not having had his insulin shot, but also hurt himself and lose so much blood, ack. 😭

I get that this is designed to create the situation where Xiao Le needs a blood donor, and Mu Cheng, in a panic reflex, lets slip that Guang Xi mustn’t be allowed to donate (because it seems that blood relatives are risky donors, for reasons I don’t quite understand).

Ooh. That sure makes President Mom and Yi Qian do respective double takes. I think in this moment, both of them can’t help but realize that Xiao Le is Guang Xi’s son. I mean, how could they not; it’s quite obvious?

But maybe President Mom is too busy being snooty and mean to actually make the connection, because when she’s left alone with Mu Cheng, she doesn’t ask about this, but spends the time insulting Mu Cheng.

Gah. Show sure knows how to make President Mom more hateful than she already is, eh?

Yi Qian makes the connection, though, and I’m not at all surprised that Mu Cheng continues with her charade of noble idiocy.

Of course, Mu Cheng’s justification to Yi Qian, during their rooftop conversation, doesn’t really hold water or make much sense.

I don’t know if Mu Cheng herself even believes the stuff that she’s telling Yi Qian; it sounds to me that she’s just saying anything that might make a fraction of sense, in order to get through this confrontation.

At least Yi Qian seems to have a stab of conscience, since she finds it ludicrous that Mu Cheng would expect her to marry Guang Xi, while keeping this fact from him.

For a hot second, I think that Yi Qian’s going to tell Guang Xi the truth, but.. Mu Cheng sure understands Yi Qian’s insecurities very well.

She taps on the exact thing that would get Yi Qian to reconsider her stance; that this would only encroach on the wedded bliss that she’s about to have, with Guang Xi.

I’ve been thinking about why Mu Cheng is so adamant on keeping up the lie, instead of telling Guang Xi the truth, and I conclude that it’s partly because she’s afraid to lose Xiao Le, but also, it’s to preserve Guang Xi’s relationship with President Mom.

I mean, if she were to tell Guang Xi about what his mother had done, that would destroy their currently amiable relationship.

I think that Mu Cheng’s efforts to maintain the facade that President Mom had ordered, is partly to preserve Guang Xi’s positive relationship with his mother.

President Mom’s decision to bring forward the wedding is probably a knee-jerk reaction to seeing Mu Cheng in Guang Xi’s orbit. Like, quick, let’s get Guang Xi married before anything happens between him and Mu Cheng! 😅

The wedding suddenly being so near, must be bringing out Yi Qian’s guilty feelings (and not her nerves like Guang Xi thinks).

After observing Yi Qian for some time, that’s my conclusion about the hesitation we’ve seen her display in relation to marrying Guang Xi. She feels guilty about lying to him, and not marrying him on false pretenses is probably her final frontier of decency, in a manner of speaking?

With the wedding coming up so soon, I do wonder if Yi Qian’s conscience might be the thing to stop this wedding in its tracks, and put Guang Xi back on the road towards Mu Cheng and Xiao Le?

Episode 23

Guang Xi finally starts asking some important questions of Lawyer Lin, and I feel like, dang, it’s about time! How does anyone wait 6 years to ask what had happened before they’d lost their memory, right? That feels like quite a stretch.

Lawyer Lin’s point that it’s a Pandora’s Box is so true; if Guang Xi were to dig deeper, there is definitely a price to pay, for that truth. It would absolutely affect many of the relationships that he currently treasures.

Guang Xi’s decision not to pursue it does tell us about his loyalty towards the people around him; he believes in them enough, to trust that it’s all good, even if he doesn’t know about the past.

BUT! Like I’d predicted, that memory card that’s embedded in his lucky bracelet comes into strategic play, finally.

Even if Guang Xi doesn’t want to dig into the past, the past comes surging to the surface, the minute he sees those photos that he and Mu Cheng had taken at the photo studio that day before his brain surgery.

And gosh, it’s as painful as anyone might imagine, for Guang Xi to attempt to process the memories, and the realizations that come with those memories.

There’s so much shock, anger, betrayal and disbelief written all over his face; kudos to Vanness Wu for delivering that complex mix of emotions so nicely.

Even though Guang Xi’s feelings of anger and betrayal are completely justified, it’s still a little startling to see him suit up the next morning, with vengeance written in his eyes.

I guess we’ve been spoiled with smiley pleasant Guang Xi for so long, that I’d conveniently forgotten that Guang Xi’s got this angry, rebellious side, that got buried when he lost his memory.

The way he baits Mu Cheng at the church, is a little hard to watch, even though I can absolutely imagine where this is coming from. He’s so hurt and angry that this is his way of lashing back out.

It’s rather dramatic that he takes Mu Cheng to the exact spot where he’d collapsed on the road, to test and confront her, but y’know, with 6 whole years of betrayal weighing on him, I can understand his need to get dramatic.

Poor Guang Xi, though. When he talks about living in the imaginary world in which everyone else has created for him, it makes me think of 1998 film The Truman Show.

In the movie, the protagonist lives in a fake TV world, where everyone around him is a hired actor, including his family members, and he’s the only one who thinks it’s real.

Thinking about it, that’s not exactly that far from what Guang Xi’s been through, in the last 6 years, yes?

It’s no wonder he’s falling apart and blazing with anger, all at the same time.

On a tangent, I can’t help but notice that all the accusations that Guang Xi’s throwing at Mu Cheng, sound a lot like what you guys have been bringing up in the comments, in your dissatisfaction with Mu Cheng, heh.

Perhaps, as Show works to bring Guang Xi around, the rest of us will be brought around too?

Guang Xi, man of action, doesn’t stop to wallow too long in his newfound memories. I kinda love that he doesn’t waste any time informing President Mom that, 1, he is not going to marry Yi Qian, and 2, he’s going to fight for custody of Xiao Le.

Oh, and 3, the obedient Guang Xi that she’s come to know, is no more. FWAH! Take that, President Mom. And who was juust saying, that all her decisions are good ones, eh?

On the other hand, when Guang Xi confronts Yi Qian, he does appear to be rather taken aback by her sincerity, when she tearfully explains why she’d lied to him.

Plus, she adds on a heartfelt confession, that in wanting to help him get better, she really did fall in love with him.

But.. will Guang Xi be moved..?

Episode 24

Yeah.. no. Guang Xi isn’t moved at all, by Yi Qian’s tearful (albeit heartfelt) explanation, and y’know what, I think that’s true to character.

It’s true that Yi Qian’s been devoted to Guang Xi in the last 6 years, particularly during his recovery, but if there’s one thing that Guang Xi takes more to heart than loyalty, it’s betrayal – loyalty’s flip side.

And because Yi Qian’s betrayed him by lying to him, he’s standing firm and breaking things off with her.

Of course, at this point, most of us are probably thinking the obvious; that Mu Cheng falls squarely into that category too. She’d been loyal, but then she’d betrayed him.

But Guang Xi’s consistent about this, in that he’s not forgiving Mu Cheng either.

(Ok, sure, I expect that he will eventually forgive her at some point, but he will have to be persuaded the hard way, and I’m curious to see how Show pulls that off in a way that convinces both Guang Xi and the rest of us who have been struggling with Mu Cheng’s decisions.)

I’m not surprised that Mu Cheng’s first instinct is to run away with Xiao Le, because, like she tells Tuo Ye, Guang Xi’s a hotshot lawyer and he’d be quite capable of using the law to take Xiao Le away from her.

With no money to hire a hotshot lawyer of her own, I can see why Mu Cheng would feel that the safest way to ensure that she doesn’t get separated from Xiao Le, is to run away with him.

Honestly, I think Tuo Ye’s a very loyal and decent dude, but I do think that his confidence in protecting Mu Cheng and Xiao Le might be misguided.

After all, he thinks that he’ll be able to solve everything simply by marrying Mu Cheng. Clearly, he isn’t well acquainted with the law and how lawyers can tap on it in strategic ways.

He’s well-meaning and earnest, though, and I can understand why Mu Cheng might agree to his proposal, because she’s that desperate not to lose Xiao Le, and because there’s a ring of comfort and assurance in Tuo Ye’s words.

Plus, it’s clear that he really does love her and Xiao Le.

With limited options before her, and Tuo Ye being so sincere and earnest in his proposal, I can understand why someone in her position might say yes, even though their heart isn’t truly in it.

But like I said, Tuo Ye deciding to go up against Guang Xi is pretty shortsighted and foolhardy, and it doesn’t take Guang Xi long, to have Tuo Ye cuffed and taken away, for his restaurant illegally making and serving liquor on the premises.

Ahhh. Ok, so Show had planned ahead too, with those drunken moonshine arcs.

On that note, I just wanted to respond to Ele, who expressed surprise that I allegedly think that the writing’s good.

Allow me to clarify that I don’t think the writing is actually good; I’m just somewhat impressed that the writers planned ahead and mapped out a bunch of details, so that these details would have relevance to our story at later points.

That’s more than what some other shows do, so credit where it’s due. That still doesn’t make the writing good, though. Just so we’re clear. 😉

I did feel bad for Guang Xi, though, when he tries to tell Xiao Le that he’ll be his father from now on, and all he gets in response from Xiao Le, is a shushing, because Mu Cheng would be mad.

That must be really perplexing for Guang Xi.

But also, that does show the strength of the relationship between Xiao Le and Mu Cheng, and how Xiao Le isn’t likely to take easily to any separation from her.

Perhaps that’s why Guang Xi comes up with that wild idea, that he and Mu Cheng should get married, so that, 1, Mu Cheng won’t have to be separated from Xiao Le, and 2, he’ll be able to gain satisfaction from watching her torment at being trapped in a loveless marriage.

At this point, I actually believe Guang Xi, that he’s putting this on the table, so that he’ll be able to punish Mu Cheng in slow and excruciating detail, for everything that she’s done to hurt and betray him.

This is an interesting twist I hadn’t seen coming.

Are we.. going the route of a contract marriage now, then? I’m very curious to see where this goes!

In the meantime, I do feel bad for Yi Qian for having to deal with canceling the wedding. That can’t be easy, regardless of the circumstances.

Although, Yi Qian makes zero sense when she says that she keeps making up different reasons for the cancelation. Girl, do you know nothing about a cover story? Consistency is KEY. All you need is ONE cover story. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Director Dad being all soft and kind in this scene is also a bit weird for me, because I’m so used to seeing him glower with dark schemes on his mind. I had to remind myself that Yi Qian is the apple of his eye, in order to roll with this scene.

Still, I’m glad that Yi Qian has her father on her side and by her side, at a difficult time like this.

Now, bring on the contract marriage hijinks, Show – I’m ready!!

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