Lovely Us Episode 13 Recap
> Lovely Us Recap
Huang Chengzi's old family television short-circuited again, prompting her to suggest to Mrs. Cheng, her mother, that they should buy a new one. However, Mrs. Cheng, ever frugal, believed the TV could last another ten years with a repair. Seeing that it was almost time to meet her friends, Huang Chengzi decided not to argue further. As Huang Chengzi and her friends, the Shude team, walked through the mall, they noticed an abundance of Olympic Games advertisements.
Feeling overwhelmed, Huang Chengzi put on sunglasses, declaring she couldn't stand to see anything related to the Olympics, and went ahead to a restaurant to wait. To her dismay, the restaurant was also Olympic-themed, with the waiter even introducing himself as Fuwa Jingjing. Her friends soon called her back to the ground floor of Fumao Mall, where an event organizer enthusiastically explained the "All-People's Superstar" competition. Sponsored by the Fumao Group, the event spanned a week with three rounds.
The winning team would receive a free trip to Beijing to watch the Olympic Games, with all transportation and ticket costs covered. Excited, Huang Chengzi inquired if their group of five could all go if they won, and the organizer confirmed that any group size was acceptable. They eagerly signed up. The first round, an Olympic Knowledge Quiz, began shortly after. Contestants had 15 seconds to answer each of the five questions.
For a question about the color of Fuwa Beibei, Tan Song correctly identified it as blue, remembering the Fuwa doll Huang Chengzi had given him. Huang Chengzi, recalling the restaurant waiter, correctly guessed that Fuwa Jingjing was male. He Jinzhao surprised everyone by correctly stating the full name of the International Olympic Committee Chairman, Juan Antonio Samaranch. He revealed he had learned it from a scam phone call he received earlier, where the caller claimed to be Samaranch's assistant.
Thanks to their combined knowledge and a stroke of luck, the Shude team successfully advanced to the second round. The second round proved more challenging, requiring a talent performance. After much discussion in the waiting room, the team felt that most typical talents would be unoriginal. Huang Chengzi suggested a unique "big belly challenge," popular in the US and Japan but not yet common in China.
They decided that He Jinzhao would be their talent representative, tasked with eating ten hamburgers within the span of a single song. Initially hesitant, He Jinzhao expressed concern, stating he could only manage eight and feared he would throw up. However, his friends rallied behind him, reminding him that their trip to Beijing depended on his success and promising to supervise his strict diet. During his preparation, He Jinzhao struggled with intense hunger.
His friends, including Huang Chengzi and Chen Zui, offered him a box of "Bean Boozled" candies for a "sugar supplement," much to his disgust and frustration with their "stoneheartedness." Despite the difficulties, He Jinzhao bravely performed his feat, successfully consuming ten hamburgers during the song and securing their place in the finals.
For the final round, the organizers introduced a new rule: contestants had to write a song title on a ping-pong ball, which would then be randomly drawn and performed. Tan Song suggested writing a very difficult song like "Fretting" to make other teams quit, but then realized they might draw it themselves. Huang Chengzi suggested a nostalgic song from her grandmother's era. Ultimately, their team randomly drew Wang Xinling's "I Love You."
While He Jinzhao surprised everyone by already knowing the dance after a single viewing, Huang Chengzi and Zhu Jinxiao took on the task of teaching Tan Song and Chen Zui. Huang Chengzi and Zhu Jinxiao playfully argued over who would teach Chen Zui, settling it with an arm-wrestling match. Zhu Jinxiao won, leaving Huang Chengzi to teach Tan Song.
During practice, Tan Song playfully teased Huang Chengzi about her competitive nature, asking if she would challenge a dog to meow if she met one. Chen Zui then asked Tan Song if he would know how to meow like a cat. Despite some initial struggles, especially for Tan Song, Huang Chengzi and Zhu Jinxiao patiently taught them the choreography. Before their turn, they watched a young contestant, "the little prince," perform a Cantonese song.
When it was their turn, the five friends, now adept at the dance, delivered a dazzling performance that captivated the audience and earned them resounding applause. As the judges deliberated, the team was confident in their victory. However, the host announced that the seven-year-old "little prince" was the champion. The Shude team, "No. 1992," was named the runner-up and awarded a new high-definition large-screen television.
Overhearing a discussion among the organizers, the team learned the real reason for their loss: sponsoring five tickets for them would exceed the budget, whereas the single "little prince" was a more cost-effective champion. This unfair decision left them deeply disappointed. In the summer of 2008, Huang Chengzi's reflections were not of the grand Olympic Games itself, but rather of the foolish and fearless acts they had undertaken, all closely intertwined with their friendship.
They had become the bravest boys and girls, laughing and crying together, bound by their connection, as they raced toward the beautiful end of their youth. Despite their initial disappointment, Mrs. Cheng was thrilled with the new TV and allowed them to buy all their favorite snacks and watch the Olympic opening ceremony all night. Though they initially claimed to have no appetite, they soon found themselves joyfully watching the event on their new television, praising its immersive quality.
Later that night, everyone had fallen asleep in the living room except Tan Song. He found Huang Chengzi asleep with her head resting on his shoulder. Admiring her sweet, sleeping face, Tan Song gently reached for his phone, capturing the beautiful moment. Huang Chengzi, in her thoughts, described the familiar comforts of that night but noted that when she looked at the familiar Tan Song, a new, unforeseen flurry and uneasiness stirred within her, realizing he was irreplaceable.
