First Love Again Episode 21 Recap
> First Love Again Recap
In 2019, Ye Youning received a final message from 2006 Xia Wenxi, who stated she could no longer contact him to protect her current life. Desperate, Ye Youning attempted to send multiple text messages to her, urging her to break up with 2006 Ye Youning, but she had blocked him, rendering them undeliverable. Believing this would save her future self and unable to communicate with her, he resolved to travel back in time himself.
After a series of attempts, 2019 Ye Youning successfully traveled back to 2006, embodying his younger self. This happened during winter break as Xia Wenxi and Ye Youning (his younger self, now inhabited by 2019 Ye Youning) were returning home, planning to meet his parents. A meteor shower coincided with his time travel. Upon arrival, 2019 Ye Youning, in his younger body, abruptly told Xia Wenxi he wanted to break up.
Internally, he knew he had to hurt her now to save her future, even if it meant she would hate him. He cruelly told her he had never truly liked her, accusing her of pestering him, and claimed he mistook her persistence for love. He blamed her "unlucky" nature for making his life chaotic and falsely asserted that she had caused him to miss the opportunity to reunite with his mother abroad.
Xia Wenxi was heartbroken, reminding him of his recent declarations of love and her handmade "Sanfen" gift. When her friend, Gao Xiaoai, tried to intervene, Ye Youning coldly insisted he was simply being honest. He then threatened Xia Wenxi, warning her not to seek him out again, or he would disappear permanently. Xia Wenxi and Gao Xiaoai were left distraught as Ye Youning walked away in the snow. Xia Wenxi struggled immensely with the sudden breakup.
Back home, she remained in bed, unable to be woken by her worried parents. Meanwhile, Lin Jiaqi, having learned of the breakup, angrily rushed to Jiangcheng University to confront Ye Youning, only to be told by a classmate that he had dropped out. Still desperate, Xia Wenxi went to Grandpa Zhou’s house, where she was informed that Ye Youning had left the country to find his mother—a lie orchestrated by 2019 Ye Youning.
Gao Xiaoai continued to comfort the crying Xia Wenxi. Observing Xia Wenxi from a distance, 2019 Ye Youning covertly left an umbrella near her in the rain, but she spotted him. She desperately tried to reconcile, expressing her unwavering love and recalling their first meeting, but he pushed her away with harsh words, telling her their love was a mistake and that he regretted ever meeting her.
To return to his own time, 2019 Ye Youning deliberately stepped in front of a moving car. He woke up back in 2019 and immediately rushed to Xia Wenxi's house. A new owner informed him that the Xia family had moved out. At Grandpa Zhou's, Ye Youning learned that after their breakup in her freshman year, Xia Wenxi had suddenly fainted one day.
She was taken to many hospitals, but doctors could not diagnose her illness, and she eventually passed away. Her heartbroken parents then moved away. Chen Tingting appeared, angrily confronting Ye Youning and calling him a jerk for what he had done to Xia Wenxi, but she handed him a box containing Xia Wenxi's belongings, including a time machine, Mayday concert tickets, an old phone, and her diary.
Ye Youning was devastated to find that Xia Wenxi had again died without warning, and her lifespan had seemingly shortened with his interventions. Grandpa Zhou tried to comfort him, urging him to accept her death. Examining Xia Wenxi's belongings, Ye Youning found her diary, which described her instant attraction to him when he first transferred to her class in 2006, sensing a special, "heartbeat" feeling.
Reading this, Ye Youning realized that to save her, he had to ensure they never met, theorizing that if they had been strangers from the start, she might have lived a peaceful life. He deduced that while lightning and a violent impact were necessary for time travel, a specific object from the desired past moment was crucial for precise temporal relocation. He asked Grandpa Zhou for items from when he first moved in during his senior year of high school.
After some searching, Grandpa Zhou found his high school admission certificate. Ye Youning then used this item, successfully returning to 2006, to the time before he had met Xia Wenxi. Back in 2006, Ye Youning saw Xia Wenxi on the street, but she did not recognize him. He followed her and her friends to Yang Chuang's restaurant, observing them from outside. Gao Xiaoai noticed him and remarked on his attractiveness to Xia Wenxi.
Xia Wenxi inexplicably felt a profound sadness emanating from him and began to cry, instinctively attempting to follow him. However, Ye Youning quickly fled, reaffirming his decision to sever all ties for her safety. He resolved that starting the next day, the timeline would return to normal, and their paths would never cross. The following morning, he deliberately left for school early to avoid encountering her at the gate.
Despite his efforts to avoid her by going to school early, Ye Youning still encountered Gao Xiaoai, who, in turn, introduced him to Xia Wenxi in class. Resigned to the fact that their paths would always cross, Ye Youning decided to simply experience this day with her. During class introductions, various students including Yang Chuang, Lin Jiaqi, Gao Xiaoai, Chen Tingting, and Xia Wenxi introduced themselves. Later that day, Chen Tingting's phone unexpectedly broke.
Ye Youning realized his attempt had failed to significantly alter Xia Wenxi's fate, confirming his fear that their lives would always intertwine. He returned to 2019. Back in 2019, Ye Youning recorded his first modification failure, noting that going to school early still led to meeting Xia Wenxi through Gao Xiaoai. His old phone then displayed a message: all free time-travel attempts had been used, and further attempts required a "cost."
He agreed, and his watch instantly disappeared, the price for one more chance. In his next attempt to avoid Xia Wenxi in 2006, he successfully avoided Gao Xiaoai at the school gate but was noticed by Yang Shiyi, a student monitor. In class, as Ye Youning tried to move his desk to the back to distance himself from Xia Wenxi, Yang Shiyi, recognizing him from outside, called Xia Wenxi a "jinx" and suggested he sit with her instead.
Xia Wenxi misinterpreted Ye Youning's actions as agreeing with Yang Shiyi and began to cry. Ye Youning, heartbroken, reached for a tissue for her, but Lin Jiaqi, also in the class, quickly got to her first.
