Hana Kimi – episode 4

Hua Yang Shao Nian Shao Nu – episode 4 summary…

Episode 3 ended with Quan’s ‘drunk kiss’ with Rui Xi; episode 4 opens with a close-up of Quan’s bruised left eye where Rui Xi punched him in the midst of the forced kiss. The other guys notice his bruise and assume Quan must have gotten drunk and kissed someone, who eventually they suspect to be Xiu Yi, who also sports a bruise, on his mouth. Rui Xi excuses herself, feeling guilty for having punched Quan, while realising he gave her her first kiss. Quan follows her out, and asks her an innocuous question about who covered them up when they fell asleep. Rui Xi is uncomfortable with talking to Quan and runs off to the toilet. Quan then realises it was her he kissed.

Rui Xi finds her locker filled with pages of insults, telling her to ‘crawl back to America’. She and her friends try to figure out who he is, to no avail. The culprit appears to be Yang Yang, the school ‘idol’, who is jealous of Rui Xi’s new popularity and sees her as a threat to him. Rui Xi in the meantime wonders who could hate her so. Back in their room, Quan removes leaves from Rui Xi’s hair, and on seeing Rui Xi’s expression as she thinks he is about to kiss her again, he confirms his earlier suspicion, and thinks why he can’t recall doing it. Rui Xi thinks to herself that she must get another kiss from Quan in a more romantic situation.

The next day, Rui Xi finds her things soaking wet when she arrives at school. Xiu Yi, upset, accuses Quan of being heartless and unfeeling, because of the latter’s lack of emotional response (relative to Xiu Yi’s bluster!). Rui Xi tries to stop the tension between them and puts on a brave face, but Quan sees that she is genuinely upset. Rui Xi reflects that she will persevere just as how she sees Quan persevere. Later in the day, they discover Shen Le (Quan’s rival from episode 3) has broken a new high jump record, and has been invited to do demonstration lessons in their school. When Xiu Yi scoffs, Shen Le pops into the class.

Rui Xi begins shouting at Shen Le along with Xiu Yi and the other guys. Shen Le catches hold of Rui Xi, knowing full well her importance to Quan. He challenges Quan to face him in the Spring Preliminary Rounds. Quan agrees.

Rui Xi then receives a letter from her brother informing her of his arrival from America the next day. Rui Xi panics, seeking out Mei Tian for help in getting a dress to wear, since she has none with her, and her brother must not find out she is studying in an all-boys school. Rui Xi manages to persuade Mei Tian to provide her with a dress: which he manages, by calling up his younger sister for one. When she returns to her and Quan’s room with her packaged dress, Quan wonders why Rui Xi is more secretive than usual. He sneaks out to follow her the next day, worried about her, when she goes to meet her brother. Quan sees her wearing her dress, affirming to himself Rui Xi really being a girl. He sees her brother for the first time.
Rui Xi’s brother, Jing Xi (Shizuki in the manga) expresses his reservations about her having transferred all the way to Quan’s school – though he does not realise it is an all-boys school. He asks her if she has met her high jump idol, to which Rui Xi says yes, and that he was and is worth the transfer. Jing Xi muses that she managed to lose so much weight only because of her admiration for Quan. Rui Xi thinks to herself on how her brother has been very much like a father, wanting to know all about how she is and what she’s doing, and so it is all the more important that he never find out she has transferred to an all-boys school.

Later that evening, Rui Xi shows Xiu Yi and the other guys her brother’s photo, and explains the difference in their appearances is due to Jing Xi actually being her step-brother, his mother being their father’s first wife. She reveals he is a top student in his Cardiology program at Harvard Medical School. Yang Yang then appears and taunts Rui Xi about her admiration for her brother, calling it ‘childish’. The dorm head Si Nan then enters this scene, complaining about the noise they are making. Yang Yang manages to get Xiu Yi angry, and Si Nan lets him run away, while Xiu Yi and the other guys begin to suspect Yang Yang behind Rui Xi’s bullying. When Rui Xi protests against being too quick to jump to conclusions, the other guys point out his clear motive, apparently having lost the idol contest with Rui Xi by one vote.

Rui Xi stalks back to her room where Quan is working and jumps straight into bed, silent. Quan contemplates that Rui Xi, being a girl, is also subject to moodswings, and tries to get her to talk about what has angered her. When she doesn’t respond, Quan turns out the lights for her.
Rui Xi has a nightmare about having her identity as a girl revealed in school, and Quan turning her away in disgust. She wakes up to Quan alerting her of a phone call, which turns out to be Jing Xi wanting to visit the school, which Rui Xi naturally does not want. She lies to him about how busy they are with school activities and that there will be no one in school. Rui Xi accidentally tells Quan that she does not want her brother to visit this all-boys school, which Quan knowingly picks up on and teases her about – ‘Why can’t your brother visit an all-boys school?’, Rui Xi avoiding the topic. Quan then tells her he heard her saying in her sleep ‘I dont want to go back’.

At school, Rui Xi discovers more offensive graffiti on her desk-top in class. She releases all her collective, pent-up frustration explosively, demanding to know who is responsible, and swearing not to forgive the culprit. She catches Yang Yang in the act later in the day, and finds out via a photo in his wallet that Yang Yang is also jealous of her because of Si Nan’s attention to her. It turns out he has a crush on Si Nan. Rui Xi makes up with him by revealing that she has no interest in Si Nan, but rather that she transferred to Ying Kai because of another guy. She agrees to tell Yang Yang who this is, if he agrees to make up and be friends.

Yang Yang tells Rui Xi she is lucky for being able to be Quan’s roommate, unlike him and Si Nan. Rui Xi and he seem to be getting along well, and when he leaves, Rui Xi expresses her relief at the affair being cleared up. Quan meets her on her way out, and when she does not tell him who the culprit is, just that she caught him, Quan doesn’t press the matter. Rui Xi thinks about how close they’ve become and how they understand each other. Just then, she hears her brother call out her name, and sees him standing in front of her. He grabs her arm and tells her he is taking her out of this all-boys school. Rui Xi protests, horrified that Quan might ‘find out’ she is a girl. Quan butts in to help Rui Xi break free, and Jing Xi asks him his name. On finding out Rui Xi’s friend is Quan, the high jumper she idolises, Jing Xi tells Quan to jump for her to see now, so she can go back to America. Rui Xi accidentally reveals that Quan is still injured. Her brother makes another ultimatum – in the 2 weeks he remains here, Quan must be able to jump, or Rui Xi will go home. Rui Xi agonises over how this must put extra pressure on Quan.

She rushes to see Mei Tian for help immediately. Mei Tian reluctantly and irritably listens to her, suggesting she spend more time cheering Quan in his training rather than here in his room crying, and that he can do nothing about it. Rui Xi meets Quan on his way to sign up for the Spring competitions; he later explains that his decision to join isn’t just because of Shen Le or Rui Xi’s brother, but mainly his own desire to compete again. Rui Xi is given the task of caring after Yu Ci Lang, Quan’s dog, while he takes up a more intense level of training. She meets Xiu Yi while watching Quan train, and the two of them go off to grab a meal and conversation.

Jing Xi comes to Ying Kai to see Quan’s performance so far, dressed as young as he can imagine, and looking ridiculous enough to have the students ignore his requests for directions. Mei Tian observes him from his clinic window, thinking to himself that this must be Rui Xi’s brother. He invites him into his clinic, and begins to bait Jing Xi, bringing up a new student from America who transferred here for her high jump idol. Mei Tian tells him that Quan had his leg injured when he saved his high school friend from a car accident, and that Quan’s problem is internal, rather than external. Mei Tian also appears to flirt with Jing Xi, putting his arm around him and caressing his hand – but it appears to be a ruse to reveal his homophobia, coupled with Mei Tian’s devilish and manipulatory nature. Mei Tian tells Jing Xi that he is completely not Mei Tian’s type, but Rui Xi’s brother runs out of the room anyway, much to Mei Tian’s amusement. He ends the episode with a comment on how similar both brother and sister are to each other.

hmm…

I loved Mei Tian’s scenes in this episode, particularly the non-manga scene where Rui Xi comes running to tell him her brother has threatened to take her out of Ying Kai if Quan fails to make the jump. Mei Tian appears his usual uncaring self, but his final resignation to Rui Xi’s wailing suggests he has a more sympathetic nature than he cares to reveal. Rui Xi’s expressions are every bit as dynamic as in the earlier episodes, if not more so – but now I’m starting to appreciate that she generates most of the laughs in the drama. I don’t like JJ’s casting as Jing Xi; he looks plain odd with glasses. Character-wise, he’s not very likeable at all, but then again, that was the same for the manga.

An all-in-all very amusing episode. The drunk kiss scene marks a ‘milestone’ in the Quan-Rui Xi romance; there should and will be other unexpected events between the two of them still, but this one is especially memorable. It’s Rui Xi’s first kiss, after all, and Quan’s first real evidence of having some feelings for Rui Xi.