Be With You Episode 3 Recap
> Be With You Recap
Confronted by Ji Yanxin about her motives, Qi Nian confessed, offering both a complex and a simple reason for her persistence. The complex reason was that she had fallen for him at first sight and wished to observe him up close. The simple reason was that, due to her current circumstances, she genuinely needed him. Ji Yanxin dismissed her confession as insincere, accusing her of having ulterior motives.
He recounted their encounters, from the park—where he insisted his Golden Retriever made the first move—to her sudden appearance as his TA and the incident where he was splashed with water. He concluded that her actions, including "brainwashing" staff and admitting she wanted to "observe" him, proved her manipulative intentions. Just as Ji Yanxin declared he would not deal with her, an anxious Qi Nian stumbled and fell into his arms.
At that exact moment, Ji Yanxin’s grandfather entered and witnessed the scene. The grandfather immediately accused his grandson of engaging in a "teacher-student relationship." Qi Nian quickly presented her ID card to prove she was 24 years old and a proper working adult. Noting that Qi Nian was a Taurus and his grandson a Capricorn, the grandfather remarked on their astrological compatibility.
He then offered Ji Yanxin a deal: he would cancel the blind dates he had arranged if Ji Yanxin already had a girlfriend. To escape the predicament, Ji Yanxin reluctantly pointed to Qi Nian and declared her his girlfriend. The shrewd grandfather, not easily fooled, demanded her name. Ji Yanxin replied, "Qi Nian," explaining the characters as "Qi, from the phrase for sharing weal and woe, and Nian, for year after year."
Ecstatic, Qi Nian promised the grandfather she would never let Ji Yanxin go and would be responsible for him to the very end. Pleased by her boldness, the grandfather agreed to put the blind dates on hold, warning that he would start "making trouble" again if they ever broke up. Eager to make their fake relationship real, Qi Nian sought dating advice from her friends Liu Xia and Li Yue, and her editor, Xin Xin.
Liu Xia offered impractical tips about taking a specific bus route for a guaranteed confession, while Xin Xin, who only had experience with dating simulators, described various "types" of boyfriends and their corresponding strategy guides. Li Yue, who worked at Ji Yanxin’s firm, began offering practical advice—feed him, don't check his phone, don't interrupt his games—but was cut short when Ji Yanxin threw a design draft at him, demanding he redo a garage design.
Meanwhile, Qi Nian's comic, which starred a male lead based on Ji Yanxin, frustrated readers because it never showed his full face. Xin Xin urged Qi Nian to interact more with Ji Yanxin, but Qi Nian despaired that he was an "iceberg" she was lucky to even get near without being "frozen to death." To help, Xin Xin arranged for Qi Nian to attend a fan meeting for romance comics to learn from several "hotshots."
There, she met "Key," a highly respected male fan artist known as a "guru" of the genre, who was working part-time as a butler at the cafe. When Qi Nian asked what made romance comics so appealing, Key bluntly questioned why she would draw them without genuine passion. He asserted that an author without a "maiden's heart" was a disaster for readers and should not be in the field.
His words pushed Qi Nian to reflect on her motivations, and she resolved that even without talent, one must strive harder, noting that "innovation starts from imitation." Later, a hungry Qi Nian went to a supermarket for stinky tofu-flavored instant noodles, only to find herself fighting with Key over the last packet. Recognizing her, Key apologized for his earlier harshness. Their bickering continued as they walked home, where they were shocked to discover they were roommates in the same apartment.
Key had expected an "IT guy" based on the men's socks drying outside, while Qi Nian had envisioned a "cute girl." Over a shared bowl of noodles, Key playfully resumed his "butler" persona with a "this or that" game, which Qi Nian cleverly ended by answering his "do you like mom or dad more?" question with a startling "I like you." Seeing his financial struggles, Qi Nian proposed that Key could stay rent-free if he agreed to critique her comic.
Key reviewed her work, noting it felt more like an "observation log" than a romance, with details that were "too realistic and no fun." Deducing the male lead had a real-life prototype, which Qi Nian nervously denied, he suggested she try an "immersive experience" approach. This meant truly getting involved in the story and pursuing the male lead with genuine feeling: dressing up, appearing before him, faking a fall, and, if ignored, making a direct, passionate confession.
Qi Nian followed his advice, donning a beautiful dress and feigning a fall in front of Ji Yanxin, who simply gave her a pile of work. Undeterred, she used her "killer move," declaring, "I like you, and I want to be your girlfriend." Unimpressed, Ji Yanxin told her to close her eyes and think of her favorite thing. Her answer: "Fried chicken."
He challenged her to choose between accompanying him to the library or buying fried chicken, remarking that her affection for him clearly couldn't compete. In the library, her attempts at romantic tropes backfired comically. As she left, Ji Yanxin gave her his meal card to buy fried chicken, making her feel he was treating her like his dog.
While walking with her fried chicken, Qi Nian was cornered by Ji Yanxin’s indignant former TAs, who were upset that she had lasted so long in the position they were all fired from. Mistaking their intent, Qi Nian grabbed a stick, ready for a fight, which startled the girls into clarifying they only wanted to warn her away from Ji Yanxin. They vented about his tyrannical habits but admitted they still adored him.
They also gossiped that his grandfather was arranging blind dates because Ji Yanxin was still hung up on a beautiful ex-girlfriend. Hearing this, the fried chicken in Qi Nian’s hand suddenly lost its appeal. Ji Yanxin, having overheard that Qi Nian was being cornered, arrived to find she had befriended the group, who were actually members of his fan club. They were excitedly looking at her drawings of him and planning merchandise.
Ji Yanxin interrupted, asking if she had eaten her fried chicken. Qi Nian replied that she had shared it and was now "off" fried chicken, implying her appetite soured after hearing about his ex. Ji Yanxin dismissed her wavering feelings as unreliable "little girl’s love," prompting Qi Nian to retort, "I’m not a little girl!" At that moment, Ji Yanxin’s cousin, Ji Qiu, appeared, dramatically pointing at Qi Nian and announcing to her brother, "This TA is a fake! She's not a student at Ming Da University! She's a liar!"
