Love in Time Episode 2 Recap
> Love in Time Recap
Chen Jialan awoke with a scream, finding herself inexplicably holding a strange man in her arms. She bolted from the room and, seeing a bottle of wine on the table, assumed the intruder had brought it. Calming herself, fury ignited within her as she wielded the wine bottle, demanding the man emerge. Yet, as she flung the door open, her surroundings inexplicably shifted, and the man vanished into thin air.
Convinced he had encountered a ghost, He Zhengyu sought answers from his landlord. Meanwhile, in 2021, Chen Jialan, also believing she had a ghostly encounter, approached the same landlord. When He Zhengyu recounted his experience, describing a woman "neither human nor ghost" with long hair who had appeared on him, pressing his hand and touching his face, the landlord initially dismissed it.
However, as He Zhengyu detailed the woman's appearance – in her early twenties, skinny, not short, and fair-skinned – the landlord grew visibly nervous. He hastily claimed the house was being rented for the first time, only to He Zhengyu, and that he had installed a top-tier Class C lock. Recognizing He Zhengyu as a well-known lawyer from television, the landlord accused him of fabricating the story to get cheaper rent.
Despite He Zhengyu's insistence, the landlord abruptly excused himself to meet a new tenant, leaving He Zhengyu certain he was lying. Another evening, after cautiously searching her apartment with a frying pan and finding nothing, Chen Jialan began her routine. Suddenly, the man reappeared. He Zhengyu, seeing Chen Jialan again, was equally startled. In their first direct confrontation, Chen Jialan furiously accused him of not only being in her home but also sleeping in her bed and using her shower.
He Zhengyu calmly replied, "I did move in directly." As Chen Jialan threatened him, he attempted to call the police, only to find no signal. Identifying herself as a reporter, Chen Jialan threatened to expose him for unlawful intrusion. He Zhengyu, revealing he was a lawyer, countered by quoting the Criminal Law regarding illegal entry and warned that he could press charges for intentional bodily harm if she continued her aggression.
Both fervently declared the apartment was theirs, each brandishing their rental contracts. They compared their contracts, which had identical landlord signatures and content, differing only in the lessee, signing date, and rent. Chen Jialan's was dated July 26, 2021, while He Zhengyu's was January 13, 2022. He Zhengyu deduced that the greedy landlord had re-rented the apartment to her for the following year during his current lease, and she was complicit due to the low rent.
Chen Jialan insisted the house was hers at that moment and showed him her phone, which displayed the date September 16, 2021. After He Zhengyu pointed out that phone times are synchronized with the network and cannot be altered, she tried to prove her ownership by pointing to her personal belongings: a photo with her father, a doll, and a youth championship trophy. Her confusion mounted, however, as she then noticed unfamiliar boxes and appliances she hadn't seen before.
Seeing this, He Zhengyu began to suspect she had psychogenic amnesia, a cognitive disorder stemming from trauma causing selective memory loss. He theorized she was living in a state where she believed it was still four months prior, citing a past case where his client with the same condition killed her ex-husband, mistakenly believing he was having an affair when they were already divorced.
He offered to introduce her to a psychiatrist, but the insulted Chen Jialan retorted, "Then why hasn't he cured you?" To resolve their dispute, He Zhengyu led Chen Jialan to a downstairs neighbor, an elderly man, for a third-party judgment. The man recognized Chen Jialan as "the young lady upstairs" but noted he hadn't seen her in a long time and asked if she had moved back.
Chen Jialan, insisting she had always lived there, then inquired about the elderly woman who had recently scolded her about hallway hygiene. The man stated that the woman had gone to her hometown last month and had not yet returned. This contradiction left Chen Jialan bewildered. As she, still unwilling to give up, tried to pull He Zhengyu to find the property management for further proof, she suddenly dissipated into thin air right before his eyes.
He Zhengyu rushed back to the apartment and confirmed that all of her personal belongings had vanished. Meanwhile, Chen Jialan, now back in her own timeline, encountered the very elderly woman the neighbor claimed was away, who again chided her about keeping the hallway clean. Back in his own time, He Zhengyu researched "psychogenic amnesia," which led him to the concept of "time-space overlap."
He learned it could be occasional (caused by magnetic field changes) or continuous (occurring at specific locations due to a wormhole-like effect), with the latter having clear inducing mechanisms and rules. Noting the time 10:06 PM, he realized this phenomenon also explained her surprising strength. He concluded that continuous time-space overlap was the only logical explanation and that he would merge with her every night at the same time.
During one such overlap, he found his apartment transformed into a massive trash heap. He desperately called out for Chen Jialan but found the apartment empty. He discovered her diary, with entries that abruptly stopped on September 6, four months prior, and a photograph of a little girl whose face seemed oddly familiar.
At exactly 10:52 PM, the apartment and all the mess miraculously reverted to his clean version, leading him to realize items from the other time period could not be brought over. The next day, He Zhengyu explained his discoveries to his friend, Zhou Dajun, who initially scoffed at the idea. He Zhengyu presented it as a scientific theory, explaining how their two timelines merged nightly from 10:06 PM to 10:52 PM, mixing their belongings and bemoaning Chen Jialan's extreme messiness.
Still skeptical, Zhou Dajun searched Chen Jialan's name and was stunned to find a photo of her with He Zhengyu at their law firm, dated September 18, four months ago. He Zhengyu then recalled the incident, noting she had stepped on his shoe that day. Suddenly, Zhou Dajun experienced two conflicting versions of that same memory appearing in his mind, a phenomenon he found terrifying. That evening, at 10:06 PM, He Zhengyu prepared for the overlap.
Chen Jialan materialized, still enraged, accusing him of breaking her lock and blocking her keyhole, then feigning amnesia. In frustration, she threw his phone. He Zhengyu calmly explained that time isn't linear but can overlap, showing her a video he had recorded at 10:05 PM which captured the entire apartment transforming as the overlap began. She watched in shock as the impossible unfolded.
He Zhengyu explained that she hadn't appeared the previous night, and he had used the opportunity to carefully observe the phenomenon, confirming neither of them was mentally ill. He reiterated that the overlap occurred daily from 10:06 PM to 10:52 PM. He asserted that although their apartments merged, the resulting space was unequivocally his, as it existed in his 2022 timeline, not her 2021. This, he explained, was why she was unable to open the door during the overlap. Chen Jialan finally began to grasp the concept, acknowledging that people from 2021 couldn't enter the merged apartment, a fact He Zhengyu used to solidify his claim of ownership.
