My Huckleberry Friends Episode 23 Recap
> My Huckleberry Friends Recap
Lin Yang subtly demonstrating his support for Yu Zhouzhou by staying near her, having been cautioned by Director Pan about their relationship. The Zhen Hua Student Union's promotional video for the school airs on television, much to Mi Qiao's delight, as she makes a brief appearance. Excited by seeing herself on screen, Mi Qiao suddenly realizes the significance of capturing her classmates' everyday lives.
Lin Yang, who is preparing for an upcoming competition, receives a difficult-to-acquire reference book from Yu Zhouzhou. Mi Qiao accompanies Yu Zhouzhou to deliver it. Lin Yang expresses his gratitude, but Mi Qiao soon discovers he already possesses the same book. Both Lin Yang and Yu Zhouzhou smile, understanding the gesture's true meaning.
Before leaving for a few days to attend a training in Beijing with Han Xu, Lin Yang asks Yu Zhouzhou to care for his potted plant, a symbolic gesture of his continued presence. After school, Mi Qiao and Yu Zhouzhou encounter Benben filming them with a DV camera. He explains that he purchased the 90% new, affordable used equipment for Mi Qiao, recalling her earlier interest in documenting student life.
Mi Qiao is thrilled and immediately starts filming around the school. During a class break, she films Chu Tiankuo, who, intrigued by her project, suggests she explore a documentary format and engage more with her subjects through interviews. Inspired by Chu Tiankuo's advice, Mi Qiao brings her DV to the First Cafeteria of Zhen Hua during lunchtime.
She interviews students about their preferred dishes and boldly questions a cafeteria worker about the excessive use of gourmet powder in the food, which often leaves students thirsty. The worker, annoyed, dismisses her. After discontinuing her filming, Mi Qiao joins Yu Zhouzhou, who has already prepared her meal. Later, in class, Chen Yao discovers Zheng Yanyi's exceptional comic drawings, drawing the attention of other students. Mi Qiao quickly films the artwork.
When Zheng Yanyi returns, the students scatter, fearing he might be upset. He confides in Yu Zhouzhou, his deskmate, that his mother forbids him from drawing due to his declining grades, believing it distracts him. Overhearing this, Mi Qiao secretly takes Zheng Yanyi's drawing book, makes copies, and submits them to QIYI Magazine, convinced that "taking actions is better than not." Mi Qiao expands her project, interviewing students about their aspirations for ten years in the future.
Zheng Yanyi, her first subject for this new theme, initially describes a conventional future: a good university, a respectable job, a beautiful wife, and a child. However, when pressed to share his true dream without constraints, he reveals his deepest desire to be a cartoonist, traveling for inspiration.
Despite Mi Qiao and Yu Zhouzhou's encouragement, Zheng Yanyi dismisses his dream as a "daydream," believing his parents would never approve of such an "unhonorable occupation" and reiterates his need to focus on studies. Mi Qiao then interviews Chu Tiankuo, who envisions himself working for a foreign company with a good salary.
Mi Qiao, recalling his passion for movies and his generous offer of an interview room, questions why his dream seems so conventional, especially given his seemingly good family background. Chu Tiankuo explains that while he loves movies, he believes hobbies shouldn't interfere with "proper business," which for him means studying. Mi Qiao later discusses this phenomenon with Yu Zhouzhou, observing that many people's stated aspirations differ from their true passions.
Yu Zhouzhou wisely remarks that "that's just life" and privately hopes that in ten years, she will have someone she is willing to protect, living a happy life. That evening, Yu Zhouzhou speaks with Lin Yang via phone. He explains the strict rules at his Beijing training camp, including phone confiscation, but reassures her the competition will end in a week. Yu Zhouzhou then poses Mi Qiao's question about his ten-year future.
Lin Yang gives an evasive but heartfelt answer, stating that as long as he is with "the one I want to protect," any future would be good. The following weekend, Mi Qiao visits Benben at the hotel where he is interning. She accompanies him as he cleans a guest room, teasing him with a story about Japanese bath cleanliness checks. During her visit, Mi Qiao discovers Benben smoking.
She sternly forbids him from doing so, emphasizing the importance of a healthy life, and he promises to quit. Mi Qiao then interviews Benben about his ten-year aspirations. He describes his dream of becoming an accomplished hotel manager, traveling the world to experience diverse and unique hotels—from seaside resorts and grassland lodges to clifftop and even underwater accommodations. He shares his desire to enrich his management skills and explore different cultures.
Mi Qiao is captivated by his vision and playfully agrees to join him in experiencing all these hotels, though she quickly backtracks. Benben explains that his childhood envy of guests in luxurious hotels led him to pursue hotel management in vocational school, seeing it as a refuge from his father's strictness. Mi Qiao praises his clear vision for the future. Before she can answer his reciprocal question about her own ten-year dream, Benben is called away for work.
On Monday, Zheng Yanyi receives a letter from QIYI Magazine. He initially hopes for an invitation, but opening it reveals his returned drawings. Mortified and feeling his face flush, he realizes Mi Qiao submitted them without his permission and furiously confronts her, accusing her of meddling. Mi Qiao, equally upset, scolds him, calling him "cowardly" for not daring to pursue his dream and stating that he "has no courage" and is "afraid of failure."
Mi Qiao flees the classroom, with Yu Zhouzhou following to console her. Unable to contain her sorrow any longer, Mi Qiao breaks down, revealing the profound reason for her fixation on ten-year futures: she may not have another decade to live. Diagnosed with congenital heart disease in childhood, she had to confront mortality long before her peers.
She describes living a life of fear, unable to run freely or travel alone, and terrified to envision a future that might never materialize. Mi Qiao explains she kept her condition a secret, her "maze," to preserve Yu Zhouzhou's innocence and optimism. She laments the unfairness of others, with boundless futures, doing nothing to pursue their dreams, while she, with so many unfulfilled desires, has "so little time."
Yu Zhouzhou, deeply moved, embraces Mi Qiao, crying and promising that no matter how much time remains—ten, twenty years, or mere days—they, together with their friends, will help her realize every dream.
