First Love Again Episode 24 (Ending) Recap
> First Love Again Recap
Xia Wenxi showed the records from her phone to Chen Tingting and Gao Xiaoai. Chen Tingting found the content touching but believed it to be a fabricated story, and Gao Xiaoai remained skeptical about the existence of a time machine. However, Xia Wenxi insisted that the memo detailed things about her, including specific preferences like her love for Mayday, her past as someone prone to bad luck and tardiness, and nearly every detail of her school life.
She explained that the memo also contained information she had never shared with them, or even remembered herself, such as her insistence on seeing a meteor shower or her inexplicable anxiety around balloons. Chen Tingting dismissed this, suggesting it was natural to forget why one develops certain habits. She also pointed out that the messages chronicled events involving Xia Wenxi and Grandpa Zhou's deceased grandson, Ye Youning, and extended into the future, which she deemed impossible.
Gao Xiaoai echoed her disbelief, questioning if Xia Wenxi truly thought the old phone was a time machine. Xia Wenxi then argued that the records weren't solely about her and Ye Youning, but also included details about their friends.
She revealed that Yang Chuang, during his student days, had created a secret QQ account named "Mr. Lonely" with only one friend, Yang Shiyi, to obtain Mayday videos for Xia Wenxi – a detail that even Chen Tingting, Yang Chuang's wife, was initially unaware of. This revelation momentarily stunned Chen Tingting, who then tried to pull Yang Chuang away for a private discussion, while Yang Chuang defensively claimed his intentions were pure.
Xia Wenxi continued, emphasizing that if the phone knew things even they didn't, it couldn't be a fabrication. Overwhelmed, Xia Wenxi admitted she didn't understand, but the phone's writings triggered vivid, clear images in her mind, making them feel incredibly real. She wondered if she had truly forgotten something important, though her friends tried to reassure her that collective amnesia was impossible.
Driven by the phone's messages and an inexplicable feeling, Xia Wenxi sought a "Big phoenix tree" in a park, recalling a large swing. She also found the painting of a priest and a girl, and a book left by the priest. An old man informed her the tree and swing had been removed during a park renovation.
She reflected on a deep-seated, irrational conviction that miracles existed, imagining another version of herself who had lived a different life, and a man who had repeatedly altered time and rewritten destiny for her. Later, Xia Wenxi was startled awake by a nightmare, screaming aloud, prompting her parents to take her to the hospital.
The doctor found no physical ailments, attributing her frequent crying and chest discomfort to stress and advising her to focus on the present or seek psychological counseling. Xia Wenxi's mother urged her to confide in them, but Xia Wenxi could only express a profound sense of emptiness, feeling like a crucial person was missing from her heart, someone she was on the verge of remembering.
She insisted that the phone's messages were true, and the memories were becoming clearer, convinced she was close to finding this person. Ignoring her parents' pleas to rest, Xia Wenxi abruptly left the hospital. She confronted Yang Chuang, asking for recent photos of Ye Youning. Yang Chuang recalled Ye Youning's research institute abroad and found a news article with his photo.
Upon seeing the image, Xia Wenxi gasped, finally recognizing the man as the "handsome gentleman" she and Gao Xiaoai had encountered at a restaurant during the winter break before their third year of high school. She realized it had been 31-year-old Ye Youning, and he had been there all along. The full weight of her memories returned, and she broke down crying. Xia Wenxi began to pack, resolute in her decision to find Ye Youning.
Gao Xiaoai and Chen Tingting tried to stop her, dismissing her beliefs as an obsession with a mere story and offering to confront the "story maker." Xia Wenxi firmly stated it was not a story, reiterating that she had seen a 31-year-old Ye Youning when she was 18. Chen Tingting reminded her that Ye Youning had passed away, but Xia Wenxi corrected her, asserting that he had only disappeared and she would find him.
She confided that she had told her parents she was leaving for work and asked her friends to keep her secret, especially Gao Xiaoai. Through the records Ye Youning had left on the phone, Xia Wenxi learned of his desperate attempts. He had found a way to return to 2006, before they met, and tried to alter their past by avoiding any interaction with her.
He observed her life from a distance, never daring to speak, yet always feeling her presence, only to open his eyes and find himself alone. Despite his efforts, he had failed, and Xia Wenxi's time of disappearance had only accelerated. He feared she would be erased from existence, just like the Priest's beloved. Realizing he had no other option, he resolved to destroy the time machine, prepared to bear any consequences himself.
After numerous failures, he discovered a legend about a location "that doesn't exist on the map." Standing at the entrance of a cave, his heart pounded violently, a premonition of the unknown. He faced the uncertainty, concluding his message with "Wenxi, I love you," a final declaration before his intended sacrifice. Following these records, Xia Wenxi journeyed to the cave where Ye Youning had gone. As she entered, her heart raced with a powerful sensation.
She found herself in a void, similar to what Ye Youning had experienced, though she did not encounter the Priest. The old phone displayed scrambled code, and fragmented memories flashed through her mind. Suddenly, her surroundings shifted, and she was transported back to 2006, the time before the old phone became a time machine. Checking the date, Xia Wenxi confirmed it was 2006. She went to Grandpa Zhou's shop, hoping to find Ye Youning.
She saw a younger version of herself talking to Grandpa Zhou about her broken phone, reinforcing the timeline. Grandpa Zhou mistook the older Xia Wenxi for her younger self and mentioned he had lost "her" phone, leaving only some rhinestones. Realizing Ye Youning had likely taken the phone, Xia Wenxi suddenly remembered Yang Chuang saying Grandpa Zhou had found the phone by the sea.
The side effects of time travel began to manifest, and Xia Wenxi felt herself weakening, her body becoming increasingly fragile. She saw her parents pass by, but they couldn't see her, leading her to fear she might disappear just as Ye Youning had. Despite her deteriorating condition, she pushed on, drawn by an intense feeling that Ye Youning was nearby. She found him on the beach, burying something in the sand. " Ye Youning!" she cried out.
He turned, surprised and overjoyed, rushing to embrace her. As they held each other tightly, Xia Wenxi was struck by a wave of excruciating pain. In that instant, all her lost memories of Ye Youning flooded back, and she finally remembered everything. Ye Youning, overwhelmed, questioned why she had sought him out, emphasizing that his only desire was for her to live a good life without him.
Xia Wenxi, however, told him she remembered everything and couldn't bear to leave him alone to suffer in his memories, or to live in a world without him. She confessed her love for him, believing their entanglement might be destiny and that her own time was running out. Ye Youning frantically searched for the time machine to send her back, but Xia Wenxi stopped him, pleading that she didn't want to lose him again.
They sat on the beach, accepting their fate, and Xia Wenxi proposed they disappear together, unwilling to return to a world where he didn't exist. Ye Youning expressed a wish that the time machine had never existed if it meant she could live. Xia Wenxi, however, declared she had no regrets about knowing him, stating that sharing so many memories across different timelines had already made her immensely happy.
With these words, Xia Wenxi slowly faded away on the sand and vanished. Soon after, Ye Youning also disappeared. The timeline then reset, returning to the first day of school in 2006, devoid of the influence of time travel. Xia Wenxi went to Grandpa Zhou’s shop to collect her bicycle, and he playfully told her he’d lost her phone, leaving only some rhinestones—the same phone he would later find on the beach.
Meanwhile, in class, a new transfer student, Ye Youning, was introduced. During a school event, the sound of a balloon popping caused Ye Youning to flinch, but this time, Xia Wenxi approached him from behind, gently covering his ears. She then introduced herself, asking if he was alright. In this new timeline, their paths intertwined naturally, setting the stage for a fresh and perfect love story.
The narrative concluded with a reflection on parallel universes, highlighting the precious, rare chance of two people meeting and falling in love in the same dimension, and the enduring hope to find each other again, no matter the odds.
