When a Snail Falls in Love 如果蜗牛有爱情 - Episode 16 (Recap)

kakashi: It's the start of the Myanmar mission! It's also one of my favorite episodes in terms of couple development. We cut back and forth between the two as both pairs grow closer and closer.
JoAnne: Have you noticed that when they're together they're generally lit as if they were watching the sun come up? Very pinkish.
Eleanor: Some very beautiful golden hour lighting for our beautiful couple 😍
Trotwood: I'm in a very mellow mood. I have been away from Husband for so long. I don't even know where my glitter is. I've lost the research file I have for international advertising costs and aerial banners). I'm going to be a regular commentator now. Just watch and see. 

Episode 16

It's official: Ji Bai gets permission to head to Burma and go against the Golden Shield Group. Only evidence collection is allowed, though, no physical arrests. That's the Burmese army's job, despite the politically unstable situation. And Ji Bai: No casualties on your team, you hear?
So where was it again, where Brother Lee got saved by someone in a uniform shooting all the other people in uniform? P.S. I know the answer.
I really like that shot. The sky looks gorgeous! 
The filming of this show was exquisite. the cinematographer deserves and award.
Xu Xu et al. are on the train to Myanmar. She is drawing in her compartment. Right next to her, Monkey is teasing the sleeping Rhino. Ji Bai, who seems to share the compartment with these two, goes out for a smoke. Oups …. he has no lighter. Not since he gave it to Xu Xu?
Guess she'll have to go keep him company...
I'm definitely cool with any excuse for those two to hang out. 
He walks to where she is lodging and watches her draw a bit from the door. It makes him smile. He then speaks up, saying he didn’t think that the Little Monster would like to draw. She quickly hides the pages with her arms. Awwww. She must have been drawing Lion-Snail stuff. Well, it’s never clever to hide something that obviously, because it only makes people more curious! Indeed, he comes in and demands to see what it is. She hides her sketchbook underneath her pillow. He finds it all very amusing. And I think she is just happy he is there.
Because she's not crazy.
LOL *hugs Jo for this excellent comment* 
Going in for a group hug because I can't do a group hug with Ji Bai and Xu Xu.
The beauty of the sunset outside makes him pause … and her too. He looks at her and sees her slightly shiver. When asked whether she’s cold, she admits to being "a little cold" - so he takes off his jacket and puts it over her shoulders. Fussing over it. Damn, the proximity. Damn.
I'm laughing about the lighting.
I;m sure your body heat is much warmer than the jacket Ji Bai...maybe just hug her or something...
The two of them together just makes me so happy. Ironically, because the show is really so dark, but the warmth of this sunset is just like the warmth we get from them.
Back home, Yao Meng and Husband are on desk duty. He is watching her from the side … and then makes his move. He has chocolates! He asks her whether she wants some (so clumsy!!!!) and she says no, because they will make her fat. (Jeez. You are stick thin. Take the damn chocolates.) Ah, but it’s for cheering people up, he says. She claims she’s fine, she has come to realize that desk work is just as good as detective work. It’s awkward... so he admits he had someone buy these chocolates and I guess she finally gets what this is … they go and have a coffee together.
I'm dying from his cute, really. It's too much. I love you, Husband.
Ahaha they are so awkwardly sweet together. 
I love them, too. Please get married now so I can watch you go grocery shopping together. (I would offer a group hug, but I think my hand would slip and Yao Meng would get mad)

(gasping. wheezing. breathing into a paper bag. How am I too stay calm with adorable pics like this?)

The sun has basically set now, but Ji Bai and Xu Xu are still sitting very close together. All of a sudden, the magic is broken and she actually realizes how close he is. And he realizes it too. Actually, he also realizes it’s a great opportunity to pull her sketchbook out from under the pillow! They wrestle a little and she gets it back. Ji Bai, stop playing with poor Xu Xu. He seems to enjoy everything about this situation. He knows she likes him, right?
Knows it and loves it.
Haha it's really fun watching his ruffle her feathers a bit. Now does she know he likes her too?
That pic of them below is positively gorgeous. 
In the coffee room, Yao Meng compliments Zhao Han’s chocolates. He smiles. He is SOOOOO CUUUUUTE.(I'm nearly weeping because he is sooooo cute) I’m not sure why exactly, but Yao Meng starts talking about Xu Xu … and Ji Bai. That Xu Xu has a “Ji Bai mood”-chart. Xu Xu says it’s all for psychological analysis, of course, but it is pretty obvious she does it because she LIKES Ji Bai. That’s a (I would say welcome) surprise to Zhao Han, who puzzles over it briefly. He then asks how Yao Meng’s feelings are for Third Bro. Oh, he’s her idol! And he likes him too, of course. Zhao Han’s face falls. But her “like” is different than Xu Xu’s, she adds. She just wants to be like him. “But look at me now”, she adds and walks out. Ouch.
Ouch, yes, but I always figured that was her way of responding to the message of the chocolates, her little story about XuXu, and then her explanation of herself.
*Giggles* these two are soooooooo adorabubble! 
I felt bad for her here because she so wants to be like Ji Bai but feels she's failed--she's recovering from trauma and has a desk appointment because of it. This has got to be hard on her. (But how can someone eat chocolate in such an adorable way, Husband?)
It is night now and all of a sudden, the train comes to a screeching halt. There is a gun battle ahead, the artillery sound is loud and clear! Soldiers come pouring out of the train. Xu Xu goes out into the corridor to have a look - almost exactly at the same time as Ji Bai (he compliments her on her reaction time, duh). The military commander - it is a guy called Tisa - comes to give Ji Bai a briefing in English. It’s a dangerous situation, but they should be fine as long as they don’t get involved, he says. 
Ji Bai closes all the windows. And then, he says to Xu Xu: “Don’t be afraid. I’m here”. Awwwwww and swoooooon, I cannot. He himself laughs a bit at himself, for treating her like a little girl when they’re on a mission.
How could that not be your first instinct toward her, though?
*Imagining Kaikai laughing at the cheesy line he has to deliver*
I'd be swooning and offended at the same time, so the feelings would cancel each other out and I'd just stare at his lips (looking guiltily at Eleanor--just being honest)
He orders the other men in the team to go back to bed - and Xu Xu as well. He will stand guard.
Tisa laughs and calls Xu Xu “quite cute” … or actually, “very cute”. And Ji Bai says: “Yes, I think so too”. Xu Xu hears it all, of course, since she’s just behind the door.
Is this an admission of what we've known all along?!?!?
Ji Bai sits down in the corridor and studies a map, while Xu Xu presses her ear against the door, listening, and then slides down to sit there too, with her back against it. She is still wearing his jacket. And despite the tension and the danger, Xu Xu smiles. She is in love. A lot. And from his behavior, it seems pretty clear that he has noticed - and likes it. A lot.
They're so freaking adorable I cannot stand it.
So cute!!!!!!! 
I really value her privacy, but I so want him to see those drawings.
Back in Lin City, we learn that Papa Ye Lanyuan killed himself (oh no :((() but left something for the police. (WHAT?!?!) A tape recording. On it, the now dead head of the Ye Corporation confesses that Zishan convinced him to invest all the funds into smuggling. They lost a horrendous amount of money because the shipment was confiscated by customs. Out of desperation and spite, he agreed to let Golden Shield kidnap his brother (that's Zixi's father). The idea was to use his sister-in-law’s (Zixi’s mom) ransom to compensate for the money he lost. But Sister-in-law got suspicious and reported it to the police - so Papa Ye told Golden Shield about the rescue plan. His brother died during that mission (as did Husband's father). And his wife died of a broken heart not long after.
Oh, damn.
Craaaap! This is terrible! 
What?!?! I'm sorry. I know I already said this, but WHAT?!?! (rushing to hug Husband)
In Myanmar, the train starts moving again - the battle has moved elsewhere. Xu Xu finds Ji Bai asleep outside her door. She looks at him for a long time. 
Naturally.
Yeah, if Ji Bai is involved, much staring is inevitable. 
The other couple in Lin City is on a rooftop, trying to cope with what they just heard. Of course, Husband is massively upset to be reminded of his father's untimely and pointless death. He talks about how his mother prepared a very difficult chicken dish, likely in the hope that his father would come home before she was finished. But when she was finished and the doorbell rang, it wasn't his father. It was news of his death. Husband cries more and more as he continues to talk about his feelings of loss and the pressure to be strong. Yao Meng, who is also crying, hugs him and strokes his hair as she says people do not always have to be strong. And then, acknowledging what he has been doing for her, thanks him sincerely for being there for her during her hardest time, always trying to cheer her up.
I love them so much. They are so well suited for each other, aren't they?
They really are.
Absolutely perfect.
The detectives have arrived at their destination (it's raining): from here, they will go gather evidence so that the Burmese military can then act. The military guys have prepared trucks and they drive off - it's a long convoy. They're going to a place called "Wood Bar Village", because they know it's a place where human trafficking is very active. In the car, Ji Bai seems to feel dizzy (Xu Xu notices), but he brushes it off. He always does!! (I do NOT like this dizzy business. We have enough to worry about, show!) But he also falls asleep and Xu Xu, eagerly positioning her shoulder, soon gets the pleasure of being his pillow. 
At least sniff his hair, girlfriend.
Snuggle closer XuXu! 
Stroke his face!
At the village, getting people to talk proves to be far more difficult than they expected. Xu Xu thinks the human traffickers are actually living in this village and that is why people are afraid. Tisa makes a few arrests - he is plain creepy, this guy - and then has the potential criminals lined up in the village square. One of the witnesses, an old woman whose daughter got kidnapped, identifies one of them.
Bravery.
Serious bravery. 
The next day, she turns up beaten bloody, no longer ready to testify, crying it wasn't him, wasn't him. 
Even with the Army there, they aren't safe.  But you're right, Tisa is creepy - so is it that 'with' the Army there, they aren't safe?
Tisa definitely gives me the creeps too. 

Comments

Boy, that was just stupid, was it?! They knew this traffickers were still around and they thought it's a good idea to have an old woman publicly identify them?! And then left her without protection?! I hope you never make stupid mistakes like this again, people. >.<
Now that you mention it, why wouldn't they have people come in quietly, one by one, and keep them anonymous?
Yeah, it seems like a rookie mistake. Come on Ji Bai, you can do better. 
The question I have is who is really in charge here? The army guys only seem to working without folk, but I got the feeling it was all for show.

Well, we only just got started in Myanmar, but I'm already very nervous. The situation is fragile, these military guys that help them give me the creeps, and these human traffickers will stop at nothing. I very much hope they're not in over their heads, our team.
I feel like they're surrounded on every side by bad guys, though.
Why do human traffickers have to be so damn smart? 

I loved the train ride and the XuBai moments though. As I mentioned, it seems clear to me that he is very much aware of her feelings and he is not unaffected by it at all. I don't think that Xu Xu has any clue about that though. I think she is just happy to be near him and have him be kind (seeing how she is used to him scolding her). She probably doesn't even think about the possibility of "more".
I'd agree with that.
Me too. 
Yup. I think this is just another thing that intrigues him about her and probably distinguishes her from the boatload of other women who have been interested in him. What woman besides Xu Xu could remain so self contained and not greedy for more around him. I wouldn't be able to keep that much of a distance without crying myself to sleep every night that's for sure.

Zhao Han and Yao Meng grew closer too. She has started to pay attention to his (very clumsy) advances and I particularly liked how she thanked him for being there for her up on the roof. Sadly, I think she needed to go through this horrible experience to be able to appreciate him (and her feelings for him) fully.
In a sense, I agree - but I think it's because those events shook her, not because it gave anyone an opportunity to move closer. She wasn't thinking about anything but 'yay, police work!' until she got rocked, and that emotional upheaval is what reminded her that there's more.
And there's no reason to rush into a relationship either. But they are also making a lot of progress on the relationship front as well already. 
I think this is what i like about her and Xu Xu. Both really want to do good work and be good police officers. They are here for a job not to flirt or get dates. And because of this focus, they are both slow to see the other things for which we as viewers are primed. It makes me have more faith in the longevity of these relationships as well because the men in their lives respect them as colleagues not just because they find them attractive and that they actually find them attractive because of their skill.

Finally, something that I did NOT fully catch during my first watch: that Papa Ye was guilty after all and knew everything about the dirty business. He really fooled me. 
I got that, but it shocked me even while it explained his behavior toward Zixi. But Zishan, I can never remember who Zishan was. Was that her father, his brother? So they did it together, but then it went sideways, and Papa Ye ran like a rat from a sinking ship?
Yeah I'm a little unclear as to the extent of Papa Ye's level of knowledge. Did he know about stuff and just wasn't super involved in the day to day running of the operation, or did he actively participate more? Not that it matters that much, he was the money behind the operation and was involved fairly deeply it looks like.