Bridon Arc Thoughts: Ep 6
• First Things First •
It is official… I sobbed so gosh darn much that I went to work with puffy eyes lol Like oh my gosh that was an experience to say the very least and I will admit that I did have a gander here once I’d finished my first watch so some of my thoughts might be a little swayed haha
Now why did I cry so much when CXS didn’t die and it was a heckin fake out death? It was Xia Fei’s reaction to it which seemed to slap me across the face because he genuinely looked so distressed and I HATE THOSE PEOPLE WHO GRABBED HIM LIKE WHAT THE HECK?????? WHOMST WERE THEY?????
But!! Enough of my cries!! I have re-watched this episode so many times and, even though I still don’t think I’ve wrapped my head around everything, I’ll get right onto rambling about my thoughts ^ ^
We’ll be splitting this post into 5 parts with part 1 being about our cuties doing some modelling, part 2 will be about the Psychology appointment and reunion of mother & son, part 3 will go into Lu Guang and what the heck happened with Vein as well as Xia Fei’s talk with Liu Xiao, part 4 will be about the aftermath and part 5 talking about post-credits!! I’ll even add a conclusion due to this being the last episode (although it’s probably going to be a bunch of rambles lol)
Hope you enjoy this whirlwind of emotions I’m actively making myself go through time and time again!! ♪(๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑)♪
• The modelling AU I need - Part 1 •
Before we get into these cuties just being plain adorable, we must first discuss the fact that Cheng Xiaoshi misunderstood Vein and the fact that Xia Fei had to explain what was going to happen really was just the best
These episodes really like going with the whole “calm before the storm” thing bc this isn’t the first time where the first half has been filled with fun silly times before being flipped and completely crushing my soul with emotions and IT GETS ME EVERY TIME
I mean there was some tension brewing with that model turning up (if anyone’s recently re-watched ep 3, does he look like that model who tried to drown Xia Fei or am I remembering wrong) and with just the blatant disrespect towards Xia Fei like that’s just nasty (also it’s interesting that the only thing that happened to him was the fact that he got fired bc we saw in Vein’s PV what happens to people who betray him so 🤔 maybe the model isn’t missing but is actually dead)
EITHER WAY WE GOT LU GUANG DEFENDING XIA FEI AND EVEN CALLING HIM (well it might have been aimed at Cheng Xiaoshi but STILL) A FRIEND AND JUST BEING THERE FOR HIM MEANT THE WORLD TO ME AND YOU COULD TELL IT MEANT SOMETHING TO XIA FEI AND JUST SEEING HIM HELP THEM OUT LIKE THAT WAS BEYOND ADORABLE LIKE THE WHOLE MODELLING SEGMENT MADE ME SO GOSH DARN HAPPY LIKE NOW I CAN IMAGINE THEM DOING THIS BUT IN A DIFFERENT SEASON AND LIKE SIDBAOXBOABDOSBC—
…A-Anyway…
I think it’s safe to say that I absolutely adore them with all my heart UwU
• No waiting lists for the mafia - Part 2 •
But, like all good things, the modelling session is complete and we find ourselves with Lu Guang, Cheng Xiaoshi and Vein with Xia Fei having gone to do something…… I really do love him sm 🥺
The fact that Vein held his end of the deal, and so quickly to, really does show that he’s not the type of person to make deals in a manipulative way like he needed something and so did LG and CXS so it was a win win (do I feel like the reason why only CXS is going to the appointment is so that he can talk to LG alone…. Yes, yes I do)
The shot of jealous Lu Guang as CXS shakes Vein’s hand followed by CXS asking them where Xia Fei went is just hilarious to me like LG really cannot stand Vein and… I don’t blame him bc of what happened in his timeline but…. I’ve just started reading Ha2 and that also involves time shenanigans.
I bring this up bc there’s a point at the start where Mo Ran is given the choice to kill and he doesn’t go with it bc that person hasn’t actually committed those crimes yet so… it made me think about Lu Guang and the fact that he’s really not taking any chances
Before we meet Liu Xiao, we see a poster which I thought, for a split second, was Jinx and Ekko from Arcane/LOL ngl (and it’s not like it wouldn’t fit bc of their whole doomed by the narrative time shenanigans kinda thing) but I don’t think they were. I do think it could be a reference to something (like how Liu Xiao is playing Tetris when we do see him)
The conversation seems to start like usual with Xia Fei filling Liu Xiao in on the details but, when he finally tells him that he doesn’t want to do the job anymore…. I KNEW IT WAS COMING UP IM SO HAPPY FOR HIM LIKE THAT MUST HAVE TAKEN ALOT OF COURAGE TO DO ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU NEED THAT MONEY
But, the fact that Liu Xiao didn’t seem bothered by this in the slightest (despite losing his game in Tetris) was ominous as heck and he even smiles at Xia Fei like was he expecting this to happen??? And, not only is that smile creepy but also what he says to Xia Fei like what would have happened if Xia Fei didn’t ask to meet with Liu Xiao???
Both interactions we’ve seen between Xia Fei and Liu Xiao have left me in pure suspense and it’s super clear that Xia Fei DOES NOT like him in the slightest but, the movie begins and we swiftly return to the others
Vein being casual about Xia Fei going where he wants shows that this isn’t a rare occurrence but the fact that, after I checked the messages on google translate, the last text on CXS and Xia Fei’s chat was Cheng Xiaoshi asking where he’s gone like 🥺 and if I could get that background they had I would die happy like THEY LOOK TOO HECKIN CUTE LIKE GIMME PLS—
Ummm… It started off as a joke but now part of my brain wants to ship them like….
sweats
When Cheng Xiaoshi goes to the appointment, the shot of the bus going by made me jump bc I genuinely thought that he just got hit by a bus like it suddenly happened and I was totally unprepared!! But, thankfully, that was not the case
What I was prepared for was Vein confronting Lu Guang bc of the preview and it did not let me down!! You could really feel the tension between the two and how they both had their own “reasons”
Now!! This is probably another theory of mine that doesn’t happen BUT I’d like to imagine that the story vein told Wang Qing is his own backstory due to the fact that he’s the head of the mafia and, if it’s true, that would be wild to say the least!!
Cheng Xiaoshi throughout the first part of this appointment was just so nervous and I don’t blame him bc how do you tell someone that you know about their past and that you want information about your Dad like that’s definitely not an easy thing to bring up AS WELL AS the fact that you remember your father making her favourite tea when you dived back in time like…. My nerves would be to the max that’s for sure
What I absolutely adore is her going all Sherlock Holmes on him and noting his reactions when she was talking to him but I do want to note that I find it extremely interesting that, at first, she says they have plenty of time but when CXS brings up the fire, she says they’re out of time like I feel like him saying that was the thing that made her realise that this was that woman’s son and that she had a job to do… I’ll get into that later but I have so many thoughts about that whole thing
• If looks could kill - Part 3 •
Firstly, before we go into the psychology test, I want to note that it seems like there’s a contradiction between episodes on what happened to Wang Qing but I’d say that there isn’t one and that’s bc she’s just pretending to be a different person by using the name Chris instead.
So!! The theory that she faked her own death still works and just means that this is what Lu Guang meant when he said that they had to use a special way to speak to her (also explains why her photo was specifically burned bc then she can’t be identified and can successfully go “missing”)
But, we finally have the story from the coded message be told in an episode!! In a forest we have a group of animals. A strong elephant, a clever fox, a dove who served as a messenger and a seemingly harmless family of rabbits. They lived in peace until a fire happened, in winter, which burned down the forest. During the fire, the dove spread the news, the fox told the elephant to put out the fire (who ends up getting injured in the process) and the rabbits run for safety. Unable to figure out who the culprit was, they hire a detective who happened to be around
The fact there’s a shot of Vein pointing at Lu Guang whilst telling him that he’s the detective in this story might not mean anything but combine that we the official art we got after the episode dropped and it has me thinking that maybe the detective really is Lu Guang (especially if the story is a metaphor for something)
But, following on from that, CXS and LG are asked who they think the culprit is and I have a feeling that we are led to believe that they both said that there was no culprit, but, I don’t think they did (especially based on how Vein and Wang Qing react in response). I think that LG, based on the decoded message from the opening, said that the detective is the true culprit of the fire
Then, before we learn more about the story, Vein gets a phone call and we know it can’t be Liu Xiao or Xia Fei due to them currently being in the cinema so who called him?
The fact that she was talking about Cheng Xiaoshi’s Dad when she said that her teacher had given the same answer as Cheng Xiaoshi makes me feel some kind of way bc I really can’t bring myself to like him… and how she said that she wishes they’d get to meet LIKE THEY COULD HAVE SPENT TIME TOGETHER IF HE DIDNT GO TO BRIDON AND ABANDON HIS SON >:( LIKE THEY HAVE MET BUT NOT FOR LONG ENOUGH FOR ME TO WANT TO LIKE HIM
And then we get the reveal as to why Cheng Xiaoshi is at the appointment and Wang Qing’s expression before she takes the picture has me raising a few questions as it seems to be a look of anxiety like I don’t think she wanted to do what she did for some reason…
But!!! Either way, his mother appears and I can’t help but note that a little bit of their interaction made me think of Qiao Ling but we know it can’t be her. So I think it’s his mother? It’s debatable but did I find those stories she told about Cheng Xiaoshi when he was little adorable? THAT I MOST DEFINITELY DID
Honestly? I’m glad he didn’t return the hug but that look he gives before he pushes her away is just heartbreaking like his eyes lose all light and it looks like he’s going to break right then and there BUT THE FACT THAT SHE SMILED IN RESPONSE TO HIS DISTRESS MAKES ME SO SAD FOR HIM LIKE OH MY GOSH THAT WAS SO BAD AND HER LAID BACK RESPONSE JUST—
deep breath
….I’m calm…. I’m calm….
I will admit that I’m glad that we got an explanation as to how she managed to possess Wang Qing and it looks like the flashback takes place just after the fire SO, it’s confirmed that she survived as well and the reason why she asks her to do this favour is bc of what happened during CXS’s first dive (meaning I don’t think this happened in the previous loop so we have yet another difference)
We also get confirmation that she has a similar ability to CXS (instead of it being the father like I had originally thought) which adds to my theory that one of the ways an ability is passed is through generics but I feel like this isn’t the case when it comes to CXS bc, if this was the case, then I feel like he’d be in a similar boat to LG but he’s not… unless he was originally born with the ability but something happened… maybe we’ll find out in S3 🤔
What I do want to note is the fact that both Xia Fei and Wang Qing have golden eyes which make it basically impossible to tell when they’re being possessed and that adds a lot of variables to the times we spend with them (as well as the times we don’t)
Now, this could mean a few things when it comes to our current situation. One of them being that this is all an act and Cheng Xiaoshi’s mother didn’t actually possess Wang Qing whilst another theory of mine is that, instead of Cheng Xiaoshi’s mother, it’s Cheng Xiaoshi himself
Either way, I do find it interesting that she asks him to stop investigating and I can see the parallels between her and Lu Guang attempting to save a loved one but, while I love Lu Guang and can tell he’s going through so much, I don’t think I can excuse the fact that she abandoned her son like that
I mean she clearly loves him a lot if she went after him but… to the detriment of her son. Like, yes, he has the photo studio and Qiao Ling and the customers and he’s literally not alone but, she’s his mother… Like she could have at least attempted to say goodbye, or done anything other than what she ended up doing, but no ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
Now, enough about Cheng Xiaoshi’s mother for the time being for we have a little confrontation on our hands with Lu Guang and Vein. While we sadly don’t find out who he was on the phone to, we do get some wonderful animation of Vein moving (he moves so fluidly like dang 😳) as well as Lu Guang bringing up the butterfly effect.
I will admit that I also want to know what the original outcome was and bc of Vein saying “once this is over”, it makes it pretty clear that he’s not planning on killing Cheng Xiaoshi (at least not yet) so I’m definitely going to keep the next scene in the back of my mind when S3 does come out as there are a few key points which I feel are very important
Firstly, we have CXS’s mother promising that they’ll be back for him… do I think they will come back for him? Maybe. Do I want them to? Not really. Secondly, I feel like S1 CXS is just him following his mother’s orders and not telling anyone what he knows (WAIT DOES THAT MEAN I SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN THAT SPOT WHERE I SAID CXS KNOWS MORE THAN HE’S LETTING ON???? BC I FEEL LIKE IT DOES) thirdly, the line “as long as we stay in the same ‘time’, we bound to meet again” has me on edge ngl BUT THE FACT THAT SHE WAS GOING TO SAY SOMETHING ELSE BUT VEIN INTERRUPTS HAS ME FEELING SOME KIND OF WAY LIKE WHY THEN????
I’m honestly so glad he didn’t shoot them with actual bullets but the “give me your know what” had me laughing so much I cried and, on re-watch, I noticed that when Vein goes down, he pretends to pass out (ALSO THE ANIMATION ON THAT FIGHT SCENE WAS ACTUALLY INSANE LIKE IT WAS SO CLEAN AND SMOOTH AND JUST SO WELL CHOREOGRAPHED LIKE MWAH)
when CXS’s mother takes down the photo frame and finds a certain book with an eye on the cover is revealed, her gasp makes me feel like she wasn’t after that or, if she was, there’s definitely something special about it but… we don’t get to dwell on it for too long bc Vein is up and at em with that wild laugh of his like…
Vein saying “sweetie” honestly sent chills down my spine like I thought he was down for the count for a bit BUT NO he came right back with that creepy as heck line!! I mean was it just him being sarcastic or did his words have a deeper meaning 🤔 like was Wang Qing actually working for the villains or not… I really can’t tell bc if she was then why would Vein want the notebook and right at that moment in time too… did he know this was going to happen? Maybe bc of the phone call?
This whole scene is insane and I have way too many questions but, one thing I want to note is that CXS’s mother knows that someone is complicating matters (that being LG or Liu Xiao is anyone’s guess really) and, after she bounces, Wang Qing (clearly hurting due to the fight her body just participated in) seems to zone in on that book and calls Vein “Xiao Weiying” which, based on his reaction, had me thinking that’s his real name
Another thing I do want to note is that there was a glitch effect before Vein’s “death”. It was basically the same as what happened to Cheng Xiaoshi when he got shot in S2 (besides the fact that one survived and the other “died”). I can’t help but feel like these events are connected in some way and maybe, and this is a long shot so I highly doubt it but maybe, it’s caused by an ability to replace one event with something that’s happened in a previous timeline
We know that Liu Xiao has more than one ability and that can be seen in this wonderful post about the interview (https://www.reddit.com/r/LinkClick/s/bqhI9dYilC) so this could mean a few different things!! Either I am completely off my mark or there really is someone messing with the timeline in such a way and it might not even be Liu Xiao doing this
I will admit that the whole scene in the office is something I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fully wrap my head around but what I do know is that I don’t want to get on Lu Guang’s bad side bc dang that was something else
• What just happened? - Part 4 •
I DONT KNOW WHO CALLED XIA FEI (when we get the flash to Vein’s hand I will note that the book has mysteriously vanished) BUT THE FACT THAT HE IMMEDIATELY RAN OUT OF THE CINEMA LIKE THAT HURTS ME DEEPLY LIKE HE REALLY DOES CARE ABOUT VEIN SO MUCH AND HE WASNT EVEN ABLE TO SEE HIM BEFORE HE GOT SENT OFF (´༎ຶོρ༎ຶོ`) LIKE THATS JUST NOT FAIR LIKE VEIN IS SHADY AS HECK BUT THIS HURTS ME DEEPLY AND WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE LIU XIAO SAW THIS COMING AND THEN THERES THE AUDIO FROM THE FILM ABOUT THE MASTERMIND LIKE IM SHAKING—
wipes tears away
A-anyway…… This hurt me so deeply like I wasn’t massively attached to Vein but Liu Xiao’s reaction just….. it really got me ngl but now the promotional art from my previous post makes a bit more sense bc we have Vein going up the stairs and towards the light as well as the fact that Xia Fei was probably just crying……. Link Click you really gotta twist my heart like that……. I need to read some fluff with Xia Fei in it bc I’m at my heckin limit rn
But, I haven’t reached the end of the episode so I must continue!! And the fact that we got baited by that preview was evil bc I totally believed it was Lu Guang who held him back and not two strangers like who even were they??? Like part of me feels like they work for Liu Xiao and they’re stopping him from seeing Vein but I’m not sure (EDIT: I had a closer look and it just looks like their paramedics stopping Xia Fei from going after Vein but… 🤔)
The fact that Qiao Ling paid for their bail was hilarious to me and seeing her yell at Cheng Xiaoshi did help lighten my mood a tiny bit…. Before Link Click decided that I had enough joy in my life and decides to crush it again and Lu Guang’s comment after tapping Cheng Xiaoshi’s shoulder is definitely something to keep note of… especially that last line of this being “the last time”
What I do have a strong feeling on is that Lu Guang thinks he killed Vein and I love him sm but the fact that he clearly hurt Xia Fei after sticking up for him earlier just…. Calling it mixed feelings is an understatement lol
It was nice to see Xia Fei saying goodbye to them at the airport but I am extremely worried for his future because it’s pretty clear that he’s determined to find the culprit and that he believes it was someone’s ability that did it (makes me wonder what Liu Xiao told him and if he goes back to see him after all this… gosh I’m really worried) and honestly, when the music started playing as he spoke, it got me all teary eyed again like Lu Guang’s looks so guilty and I just……… (´༎ຶོρ༎ຶོ`)
And seeing Xia Fei worry about them is just too much but I will note that the line about him not wanting the people he cares about getting into danger AGAIN intrigues the heck out of me bc while I do think it could be connected to Vein and his “death”, I don’t think it is. I think it’s actually connected to the fire at Bahati and the fact that he lost Cheng Weimin to it
….. Just everything about that scene made me feel emotions like oh my gosh the fist bump into a high five and the promise of them welcoming him if he visits……. Link Click really is going to be the death of me…….
(Side note: I took note of the announcement in case it means anything - “ladies and gentlemen may I have your attention please. Now we are ready for check-in for flight YU9101 to GUIDU at no. 23 counter. Thank you!” then it gets repeated in English)
Before the ending starts to play, we return to the end of S2 (think this must have happened a little after the “welcome home” party based off the clothes Cheng Xiaoshi was wearing) and I cannot tell you how happy I was to see Qiao Ling bc seeing these siblings interact just makes me so happy and I needed it after what just happened
But… we get a shot of LG watching the news and learn that both the model from earlier in the episode and Xia Fei have gone missing……. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN????? WHAT?????? YOU CANT JUST DROP THAT ON US AND NOT ELABORATE?????? I NEED ANSWERS??????
• THEY ALMOST HAD US - Part 5 •
So we were told a lie and honestly, I’m a lil annoyed about that ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Like I was not ready for Vein to pull a Jesus on us and come back from his fake death like that BUT it does make me think that, if Lu Guang did possess Wang Qing, he doesn’t know the true extent of her ability (OR what I put earlier about timeline manipulation 🤔) and he could have learnt about it in a previous timeline where he thought CXS had died but…. It was a fake death…..
Either way!! the fact that they just had to pull a fast one on us was something else and I am 110% certain that the person who unzipped the bag was Liu Xiao because of the ring they were wearing and it would fit with the fact that he didn’t seem caught off guard by Vein’s “death”
The fact that this didn’t completely shut down my theory that the scene with Vein in ep 1 is both the beginning and ending of the Bridon arc unsettles me to no end bc he’s definitely coming back in S3 in some way bc there’s just too many unanswered questions surrounding him…. HE BETTER REUNITE WITH XIA FEI BC I JUST NEED HIM TO KNOW THAT VEIN ISNT DEAD PLS I NEED THIS (´༎ຶོρ༎ຶོ`)
• In Conclusion •
I think I could watch this arc multiple times and STILL uncover something I hadn’t noticed before like this was definitely the building blocks for S3 and, while I do have questions for how things fit together, I’m really happy with where this arc ended up going due to the whole premise being around Bridon and the mystery around Cheng Xiaoshi’s parents
I was thinking and believe that Liu Xiao and Wang Qing are connected bc there’s no way it’s a coincidence that Liu Xiao turns up after what just happened and then we have the fact that Xia Fei goes missing around the same time Liu Xiao comes back to China like that just feels extremely suspicious to me
And this wouldn’t be a post from me if I didn’t include YET ANOTHER theory and that’s the idea that instead of Cheng Xiaoshi’s mother being the one diving back in time, it’s actually just future!Cheng Xiaoshi posing as his mother. Now I’m probably overthinking this (and there’s the interview as well but I’m technically not counting that bc no one died in episode 6 so…. I’m taking some stuff with a grain of salt lol) but I had to share it either way
Also, yes I did include both my bingo sheet for this episode and my bingo sheet for S2 (cour 1 bc S3 is said to be 24 episodes) UwU
• Future Plans •
So!! What do I plan to do now that the Bridon arc has finished? Well, I’m still going to be around and harassing people in the comments of their posts of course BUT I’m also going to be writing many fics to fuel my addiction (I might do a requests post if anyone wants me to write anything specific but they all depends on if you want that or not ^ ^ )
I’m also going to do a post with all the merch I recently bought and maybe some theories too but…. You definitely haven’t gotten rid of me yet ☆〜（ゝ。∂）
Now I’m going to live a comment on every post I haven’t done that for and then get back to reading Ha2!! X3