First Love Again Episode 23 Recap
> First Love Again Recap
Ye Youning stood before the Priest, asserting that he had no choice in his connection to the time machine; it had chosen him. He argued that anyone who discovered their past mistakes had drastically altered their future would naturally try to rectify them.
The Priest, however, admonished him, stating that he should not be so greedy as to reclaim what was not meant for him, insisting that the world operated by its own rules, rules that people often forgot to respect, believing they could change anything by themselves. Undeterred, Ye Youning declared that even if his efforts were futile, he would still try to rectify his past mistakes.
The Priest responded that humanity would always succumb to greed, acknowledging his own failed attempts to persuade others. He then instructed Ye Youning to remove his mask and return to the past, emphasizing the need for haste as time travel demanded immense sacrifices, and this journey would be both his new beginning and his end. When Ye Youning asked how to destroy the time machine, the Priest revealed that the mobile phone was merely a conduit.
He showed Ye Youning a collection of various phones, explaining that they were all different forms of time machines used by many to connect with the past or future, but none had ever succeeded in destroying them, and all devices eventually returned to that very place. The Priest confessed that he never created the time machine himself but was chosen by it, believing it to be a trial from either God or the devil, its origins and purpose unknown.
He asked if Ye Youning was ready to face it, and Ye Youning affirmed his readiness. Upon removing his mask, Ye Youning found himself back in February 2006, before school started, inside Yang Chuang's family restaurant. There, he saw a younger Xia Wenxi and Gao Xiaoai, who were diligently working on their winter homework. Ye Youning covertly approached Xia Wenxi, intending to take her old phone, but instead found only keys attached to what he thought was her phone chain.
He realized then that Xia Wenxi's phone was currently at Grandpa Zhou's shop for repairs, a fact Xia Wenxi herself mentioned to Gao Xiaoai when her phone broke again that morning. As he made his way toward Grandpa Zhou's, the immense cost of time travel began to manifest. Time sped up drastically for Ye Youning, causing him to age rapidly. Despite his deteriorating condition, he briefly helped at a fruit shop fire before collapsing.
He hailed a taxi to the seaside, stumbling and feeling his body weaken as the clock spun faster and faster in his vision, a direct consequence of the sacrifice the Priest had foretold. Reaching the shore, he threw the old phone into the ocean, his strength completely spent. In the aftermath of his mission, Ye Youning found himself in a void where he encountered Xia Wenxi.
She explained that they were within his collective memory, a compilation of all his and her memories, not just the fragments he usually experienced during memory overlays. She led him through various scenes, including one from their college days in 2006 and another from the seventeenth day of their relationship, when she called him during a business trip to share a charming anecdote about a red bottle cap and a morning glory.
Suddenly, a chaotic memory of Grandpa Zhou calling out for "Youning" appeared. Xia Wenxi then urgently noted that the time tunnel was closing. She told him that by mixing new memories, they could prolong their stay in this memory space.
Ye Youning managed to mix the memories, but the result was a bizarre fusion of a science show about gravitational waves and a dating program, featuring both his 2006 and 2019 selves, along with both versions of Xia Wenxi, as "lovers across time and space." During this surreal program, the 2019 Ye Youning expressed frustration with his 2006 self for not listening and for his past mistakes, while the 2006 Ye Youning accused his future self of selfishly manipulating events.
Both Xia Wenxis supported the 2006 Ye Youning, hoping for a better future and proclaiming their belief that they would meet him again and wait for him. Meanwhile, back in 2019, Xia Wenxi suddenly awoke with a scream in Lin Jiaqi's car.
When he pulled over and asked what was wrong, she recounted a vivid nightmare: her alarm clock's hands spinning wildly, her falling into a black hole, and being led by a strange, familiar person who vanished once she emerged. She couldn't recall his face but felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity. Lin Jiaqi tried to reassure her it was just a nightmare, but Xia Wenxi felt a sudden, profound sadness.
Upon returning home, Gao Xiaoai inquired if Xia Wenxi's angina and tear incontinence had improved after her half-year journey. Xia Wenxi responded that she felt fine as long as she wasn't in a relationship, lamenting that she might be "allergic to love," similar to pollen or mango allergies. She explained that she felt incomplete and empty when dating, growing increasingly fearful and sad in intimate relationships. As they conversed, thunder and lightning erupted.
They saw Yang Chuang helping Grandpa Zhou downstairs. Gao Xiaoai revealed that Grandpa Zhou had become increasingly confused over the past six months, constantly calling for Ye Youning, who, tragically, had died in an accident abroad. They were forced to keep this secret from Grandpa Zhou. Hearing Ye Youning's name, Xia Wenxi was struck by another bout of angina. Gao Xiaoai went out to buy medicine and iodine for Grandpa Zhou's minor injuries.
Alone at home, Xia Wenxi looked at a photo of Grandpa Zhou and Ye Youning, recalling Ye Youning as a solitary, studious classmate with whom she had little interaction. Yet, she felt a profound sense of familiarity when looking at his picture. Yang Chuang then informed her that Grandpa Zhou had found a broken old phone on the beach and was extremely protective of it, refusing to let anyone touch it.
Xia Wenxi was astonished to realize it was her own phone, lost over a decade ago. The phone suddenly powered on, revealing text messages exchanged between "06 Xia Wenxi" and "19 Ye Youning." Scrolling through the conversations, she discovered Ye Youning's meticulous records of his repeated time travels to save her. These entries detailed events she remembered, such as a basketball game, a Mayday concert, and a forest farm, but with differing details that still resonated with her.
She read about how, on December 21, she had fallen off a cliff during a meteor shower, leaving Ye Youning in agony, wishing he had been the one to fall. After she awoke blind, he was determined to understand and fix it. He realized that if they hadn't seen the meteor shower, nothing would have happened. Discovering her wish list, he learned she regretted not seeing a meteor shower with the 18-year-old Ye Youning.
He modified the past, telling her younger self to go with him. Seeing her healthy filled him with both joy and lingering fear. He proposed to her, vowing to protect her forever. However, their happiness was brief; she died. Xia Wenxi learned that Ye Youning believed this was time's punishment, a consequence for his alterations, and that he vowed to save her, even if it meant his own death.
He returned to the past, pushed her away, marking his 39th attempt. His final message read, "If I never come back, Wenxi, I love you." Simultaneously, Grandpa Zhou was shown at the beach, clutching the old phone, calling out for Youning, refusing to part with it.
