My Sunshine (何以笙箫默): Episode 6 Review and Recap

January 15, 2015 by hoju 35 Comments

Thanks Chewywon! 🙂

This blog has many Wallace Chung fans, including our very own Peanuts.  While I don’t profess to be one of your ranks, I will say that he has impressed and is continuing to impress me in this drama.  There is some good acting here in this episode!

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My Sunshine Episode 6 Review & Recap (written by hoju & illustrated by chewywon)

Yi Chen dashes out to chase after the woman who left the package, leaving a dazed Lao Yuan still sitting at his office.  As Mo Sheng leaves the firm, she brushes by Xiang Heng, who, when he sees her, thinks he must be mistaken… that is, until he sees Yi Chen running out as well.

A forlorn Mo Sheng reflects on how much she has changed.  Back when she was in university, no matter how aloof Yi Chen was, she would still always be able to smile at him, but now, she does not even have the courage to say a couple words to him.  A white BMW pulls up in front of her, and when the window rolls down, Yi Chen tells her to get in the car.Lao Yuan asks Xiang Heng if he knows why the normally composed Yi Chen is acting so out of character.  “What type of person do you think Yi Chen is?” Xiang Heng asks him.  Lao Yuan is confused why he would ask this but still answers, “Calm, rational, and objective.”  Xiang Heng gives his summary on the influence Mo Sheng has on Yi Chen: “Then this person is his ‘not calm’, ‘not rational’, and ‘not objective’.”  He reveals to Lao Yuan, who is lapping it all up like a nosy auntie, that this person is Yi Chen’s ex-girlfriend, and not only that, she was the one who dumped him.  Without saying a word, she left him and went to the United States, and he only found out after the fact.  It was a huge blow to him, and it was during this time that he learned to drink and smoke.  Lao Yuan marvels, no wonder Yi Chen stays away from the opposite gender.

Yi Chen asks Mo Sheng whether she would like Chinese or western food. Almost unconsciously, Mo Sheng answers, “Chinese,” to which he replies sarcastically, “Do you still know how to use your chopsticks?”  Using the reason that he needs to thank her for returning his wallet, Yi Chen treats her to a meal.

The atmosphere in the restaurant is… awkward, to put it mildly, with only the clinking of chopsticks against bowl.  Yi Mei’s happens to call Yi Chen at that moment, and when he tells her who he is with, she asks to speak to Mo Sheng.  After a few words of small talk, Yi Mei asks her how she has been all these years.  She seems genuinely relieved when Mo Sheng answers that she has been well, and then asks for Mo Sheng’s phone number so they can find a time to meet.  Before taking his phone back from Mo Sheng, Yi Chen tells her to input her phone number into it.  At her hesitation, he says mockingly, “You don’t even know how to write your name in Chinese anymore?”  *sigh* Yi Chen’s bitterness over her life without him in the United States is apparent in his jabs at her for forgetting her Chinese culture, but did you catch that sense of loss that flashed across his face after he said those words, too?

Peanuts: This is pretty similar to the novel except Mo Sheng is too quiet and reserved in the drama. She should tell Yi Chen, she has not forgotten her Chinese, just doesn’t know how to key in Chinese characters 😦

Lu Yuan Feng is sitting in on Yi Mei’s TV recording, telling a buddy that he wants to pursue Yi Mei.  He feels the two of them are drawn together by fate, but he will not be rushed in his pursuit because she is such a gentle girl and he does not want to scare her.  Yi Mei is unable to focus and the director must call cut several times.  Yuan Feng follows a still distracted Yi Mei after she finally gets off work.

Yi Chen drives Mo Sheng home, then pulls away without even saying a word. However, before she even makes it into the door, she receives a call.  Yi Chen tells her that there are some details regarding Xiao Xiao’s case that he needs to ask her personally and for her to go to his office tomorrow. When Mo Sheng quietly agrees, he tells her to save his phone number, then hangs up.

Lu Yuan Feng has followed Yi Mei quite some time as she wandered the streets and finally comes up to stand beside her at a street performance.  She acknowledges him and responds to his statement of “What a coincidence,” that it really wasn’t a coincidence since he had been tailing her for so long already.  Yuan Feng’s playful chatting manages to pull a small smile out of her, but it almost immediately disappears again.  She asks him, “If there is a man… A woman has stood by his side for more than a dozen years, yet he still has not fallen in love with her, does that mean, that woman will never have a chance?”  Yuan Feng answers her, if it was from his perspective, he would advise her to leave the man because, after all, he has a personal interest in her, but he promised her a serious, honest answer.  “If more than a dozen years have passed and that man still has not fallen in love with this woman, then that can only mean, the two of them are really not suitable together.  But life is so complicated, you can’t say for sure there is no chance…”  More than a dozen years of love.  To lose it would be such a shame.  Yi Mei thinks to herself, perhaps, she should put in one last effort.

As agreed, Mo Sheng arrives at the law firm, but there is no one inside.  She calls Yi Chen, who comes to open the door for her.  They have a very formal meeting. This scene is not in the novel, but I think it’s amazing.  Can I say, oh my goodness, was I mesmerized by this scene?!  After the formalities of, “Sorry to keep you waiting. Please have a seat,” and “Thank you” were over with, there was a long, torturous moment of just silence.  Papers being shifted slightly, a pen being picked up and placed in a comfortable position, then put down again, hands being folded — you could feel the tension.  I might have gone overboard with translating the entire scene, but those emotions that are playing out… see if you can follow along.

[beginning at 19:20]
Yi Chen: Miss Zhao.  In regards to the dispute between your magazine publishing company and Miss Xiao, as Miss Xiao’s attorney, I must ask you a few questions.  Please, as best as you can, answer truthfully and detailedly.
Mo Sheng: Alright.
Yi Chen: According to the information you provided, you graduated in the United States.
Mo Sheng: Yes.
Yi Chen: Which year did you go to the United States?
Mo Sheng: 2004.
Yi Chen: The specific date?
Mo Sheng: September 2004.
Yi Chen: The date

(An exchange of glances. Yi Chen’s eyes look so angry. Mo Sheng quickly looks back down.)

Mo Sheng: The 29th.
Yi Chen: Which city in the United States did you go to?
Mo Sheng: New York.  I studied in New York.
Yi Chen: Which college?
Mo Sheng: It’s stated on the information I provided.
Yi Chen: My apologies.  Could you please provide it again?
Mo Sheng: (in English) School of Visual Arts.
Yi Chen: I’m afraid my English is not very good.  It’s Chinese name is…?
Mo Sheng: (in Mandarin) New York School of Visual Arts.
Yi Chen: Forgive my ignorance.  Please allow me to look it up. (searches on his phone)  Not a bad school. It’s photography program is ranked in the top 10 in the world.  Indeed, it was worth it for you to forsake everything and travel a great distance to study there.  (Oozing bitterness as he tosses down his phone onto the table.)  And so, after you graduated, you stayed in New York and undertook a career in photography.

Mo Sheng: No.  After I graduated, I went to Los Angeles.
Yi Chen: Why?
Mo Sheng: This… does this have any relation to the contract?
Yi Chen: I believe there is a relation.
Mo Sheng: Because… bec–… because of some personal reasons.  And Los Angeles had a good job opportunity.
Yi Chen: In Los Angeles, your career was always in portrait photography?
Mo Sheng: Yes.
Yi Chen: I looked through Miss Zhao’s portfolio.  You have photographed many Hollywood stars and international models.
Mo Sheng: Mm.
Yi Chen: With such good job opportunities, why did you choose to come back to China?
(Mo Sheng looks up into Yi Chen’s eyes that seem to burn with anger.)
Yi Chen: Why did you give up your already established career and come back to start all over?
Mo Sheng: No real reason.
Yi Chen: *deep breath* Next question. When did you arrive back in the country?  The date.
Mo Sheng: June 3rd of this year.
Yi Chen: (covers his pen, packs up his files) What Miss Zhao, you have said here, I will have verified by my assistant.  However, based on what Miss Zhao has  told me, I would advise that your company be prepared to be a respondent to the complaint…

The dialogue is simple.  The atmosphere is cool and formal.  It seems very still, with very little movements.  But yet, you can sense, underneath, the anger, bitterness, disappointment, regret, sadness…

Feeling guilty that this whole situation arose because of her, Mo Sheng inquires about personally compensating Xiao Xiao, but Yi Chen answers her with a bit of an edge to his words that, even though he knows she does not care about that little bit of money, it would do no good. He advises her to talk to Xiao Xiao because her intention in suing really was not to win the case in court.

Mo Sheng needs to dash off to the studio, where Yuan Feng is already waiting for her.  Xiao Xiao happens to be at the same studio that day, and like enemies happening upon each other on a narrow road, she and Yuan Feng have a fierce exchange of words.  Yuan Feng indignantly declares that she was the one who ripped the contract, so how dare she act so haughty.  Laughing in his face, Xiao Xiao scoffs, it is his company that is begging her not to sue.  She had not originally intended on pushing the issue, but now, because of what he said, she wants to continue with the game.  The argument ends with each declaring that the other will come back begging.  Xiao Xiao is still fuming after she leaves and calls Yi Chen to tell him to hurry up with filing the lawsuit against the magazine company.

It turns out, Yi Mei is actually in Yi Chen’s office when he takes the call.  She is there for work purposes, rehearsing for his interview on her show.  She has finished with the questions regarding his career, so they are now moving into personal questions.  The next question, she clarifies, has been asked of many of the male, unmarried guests on her show: what is the ideal image of your future wife?  Yi Chen tells her to skip this question on the day of the actual interview.  Yi Mei, keeping her tone light, continues to press, but Yi Chen says to her, “You know the answer.”  The atmosphere in the room immediately changes, and Yi Mei asks quietly, “Yi Chen, you’ve decided? You’ve decided, it is still her?”  Not getting an answer, she laughs it off and tells Yi Chen to treat her to dinner.At dinner, Yi Mei addresses Yi Chen as “big brother”, something she has not called him for a long time.  They reminisce about their childhood, how Yi Mei had always thought she would forever be with big brother.  Yi Mei receives news that a former dorm mate, who had married immediately after graduation, just had a baby.  Yi Chen suddenly falls lost in thought, and says, almost to himself, “Originally, I had planned on getting married right after graduation as well.”  Realizing what he just said, a sad look comes over his entire face and he laughs self-mockingly.  In a soft voice, Yi Mei starts to ask something… but loses her courage and instead says a female colleague was interested in him.  Would he consider anyone else?  Yi Chen does not give her an answer, but the sense of sorrow is intense.  Oh gosh, his body language, his expression… it made my heart twinge.

Yi Chen pays for dinner and steps away for a washroom break.  The server brings his change back and Yi Mei reaches for his wallet to put it away for him.  However, when she opens the wallet, she discovers the photograph of Mo Sheng inside, and she freezes.  Yi Chen returns (I had to LOL because it looks almost like he is still fixing his pants) and sees what she is looking at but says nothing.

Mo Sheng and Yuan Feng finish up their work, but as Mo Sheng is about to leave, Yuan Feng inquires with her about Yi Mei, stating that he wants to try to court her.  Mo Sheng tells him she should have a boyfriend.  Yuan Feng quickly rejects this, revealing to her that Yi Mei had told him just yesterday she has been secretly in love with someone for a long time.  Mo Sheng is hit hard by this information.

Yi Mei tells Yi Chen not to accompany her home.  As she leaves, he suddenly addresses her.  “Yi Mei, you will understand one day.  If that person once showed up in your world, everyone else would just be a compromise. I do not want to compromise.” Is this the answer that Yi Mei needs?  The answer to her “one last effort”?

Peanuts: If you have read my translation, you would have noticed that the epilogue has been moved forward to the beginning. This is one of many novel fans, including me, favorite line !!!

Breaking news!  The magazine staff all gather around Xiao Hong’s computer.  Scandalous pictures of Xiao Xiao and her supposed sugar daddy are all over the internet.  Refusing to believe they are true, Mo Sheng analyzes them in detail and discovers evidence of different photos photoshopped together.  Yuan Feng suggests the best way to prove this to the public would be to find the original photos, but with the hundreds of thousands of photos out on the world wide web, how could they possibly find them?  Mo Sheng seems to think she has seen the photos somewhere before… and at lunch, suddenly remembers that she saw them on a forum!