My Huckleberry Friends Episode 30 (Ending) Recap
> My Huckleberry Friends Recap
Benben had returned to the city after many years, opening a barbecue stall near Zhen Hua High School. One evening, a regular customer named Xie visited the stall and inquired why Benben had opened late. Benben explained he had gone to Beijing to pick up a friend who had just returned to China. When Xie playfully asked if it was a girlfriend, Benben chuckled, saying he was "like in Ghost," implying a love beyond the living.
He then abruptly announced he was not in the mood to continue and went to sleep, leaving Xie to clean up after himself. The next morning, Benben was woken by a group of Zhen Hua students who wanted chicken wings. Despite his initial reluctance, he resumed cooking when he overheard them discussing their Anime Club and the upcoming Art Festival. The students were worried about their club being disbanded if they failed to present a decent program.
They proudly introduced themselves, with Chen Xiaoxiao as their president, claiming to be the club's founders. Benben, finding their boastfulness annoying, informed them that Zhen Hua had an Anime Club ten years prior. Chen Xiaoxiao vehemently disagreed, calling him irresponsible for casually dismissing their efforts. Annoyed, she and her friends left without paying for their food. Benben promptly reminded them they hadn't paid.
Later that day, Benben received a phone call from his two brothers who wanted him to join their new hotel venture. However, Benben, lacking interest, abruptly ended the call, expressing his disinterest in the venture and his desire to return to sleep. Soon after, Chen Xiaoxiao returned, not only to pay her debt from the previous morning but also to seek Benben's guidance for her Anime Club.
She explained that their Art Festival program, "The Close Contact between GG Bond and Bramble," had been rejected by Director Pan for lacking "nutritional value," placing the club's very existence in jeopardy. Benben, though initially dismissive, eventually shared a creative solution: the old Anime Club had faced a similar challenge. He suggested they perform a historical stage play and cosplay as historical figures, cleverly using a "nominal skill to entrain private goods" to appear educational.
Chen Xiaoxiao was greatly inspired by this "super-powered person's" wisdom. In the following days, Chen Xiaoxiao and her club members frequently came to Benben's stall to rehearse their new play. Despite his occasional grumbling about their presence and loud rehearsals—even correcting a student's "Cao Cao" who sounded like Bramble—Benben tacitly allowed them to use his space, even preparing instant noodles for them and having them help with chores. One day, Benben visited his brothers at their newly opened hotel.
They urged him to join their business, promising him a management role and reassuring him that his lack of savings was not an obstacle, even calling him by a past nickname, "Murong Chenzhang." However, Benben felt that his past glories were irrelevant and declined their offer, stating he had no savings or motivation. Later, while Benben was attempting to send Chen Xiaoxiao home, she pressed him for more details about Mǐ Qiáo, the original Anime Club founder.
She then pointed out that Mǐ Qiáo wouldn't approve of his current passive demeanor. This struck a chord with Benben. A frequent customer also noted Benben's lack of laughter and his evasiveness when the topic of girlfriends came up, suggesting he had experienced a trauma. Benben then revealed that Mǐ Qiáo had died of congenital heart disease before her 18th birthday.
He shared that he had traveled to all the places she dreamed of seeing and tasted the foods she wanted to try, but found no meaning in these experiences without her. The customer advised him that he must live for himself. One quiet night, Benben discovered a DV at his stall's entrance – the very one he had given to Mǐ Qiáo years ago.
In his dimly lit room, he watched the footage she had captured, seeing their younger, vibrant selves and Mǐ Qiáo asking friends to smile. He called Yu Zhouzhou, who was in Beijing, and, after a brief exchange, promised to visit her when his shop became less busy. The video then became clear again, showing Mǐ Qiáo in a hospital gown, recording a message before her surgery.
She expressed her joy at having met Benben and Yu Zhouzhou, wishing to go to a beautiful salt lake in Qinghai with him if she recovered. If the surgery failed, she urged him not to grieve, to live well, to experience the world, and to enjoy all the things she couldn't. She confessed that meeting him made her greedy for life, wishing for more time, but insisted she had no regrets.
After the video ended, Benben stood by the window as dawn broke, pondering Mǐ Qiáo’s wishes. Motivated by Mǐ Qiáo's desire for him to live fully, Benben decisively went to his brothers at their hotel, declaring his intention to join their venture and setting a new direction for his life. Chen An returned to Beijing with his fiancée, Saisai, as they planned to immigrate to Australia and marry in Melbourne.
Saisai, wanting Chen An to leave without regrets, secretly arranged a dinner meeting with his estranged father, contacting him through Yu Zhouzhou. Chen An, who had heard his father had fallen on hard times and that his stepmother had left, admitted he wished to see him but was unsure what to say.
He recalled his past attempt at reconciliation on his graduation day, when he had invited his father but left after only half an hour, fearing his father wouldn't show or forgive him. Now, as the restaurant neared its 9 PM closing time, Chen An lamented that he couldn't even recall his father's voice, only memories of playing Contra with him and his father calling out his name, comparing their bond to fighting "side by side."
He reflected sadly that even a father-son relationship could end in estrangement. When the restaurant closed and his father still hadn't appeared, Chen An and Saisai began to leave, disappointed. However, a server informed them the elevator had been under maintenance for over 40 minutes and only stairs were accessible. Saisai then revealed that Yu Zhouzhou had mentioned his father suffered a serious leg injury and needed a cane, which she planned to buy from Australia.
Chen An, realizing his father's difficulty with stairs, quickly rushed back to the rooftop restaurant with Saisai. There, he found his father patiently waiting at their table. Later, Chen An met Yu Zhouzhou in Beijing. He confirmed his impending marriage, and Yu Zhouzhou congratulated him, expressing gratitude for his consistent presence in her life. Chen An, in turn, called her "lucky." Lin Yang arrived to pick up Yu Zhouzhou, and after exchanging goodbyes, they departed.
While driving with Yu Zhouzhou, Lin Yang playfully interviewed her, asking about her high school self and her feelings for him. Yu Zhouzhou confessed that in high school, she was timid, afraid to confront her mother's death, her father, or even Lin Yang himself, only finding strength with his persistent encouragement. She also recounted a harrowing experience during a malaria outbreak in Africa, where her greatest fear was not being able to say goodbye to him.
Lin Yang assured her that he respected her life choices and wished to be the supportive man behind her, as long as she always remembered his presence. Later, at a bridal shop, Lin Yang and Jiang Chuan were waiting while Ling Xiangqian and Yu Zhouzhou tried on wedding dresses.
Jiang Chuan, whose persistent pursuit of Ling Xiangqian had finally resulted in their engagement, teased Lin Yang to propose to Yu Zhouzhou, noting the many years they had spent together and Yu Zhouzhou's unexpressed feelings. When Ling Xiangqian and Yu Zhouzhou emerged in stunning white gowns, Lin Yang was visibly captivated by Yu Zhouzhou, but the words he wanted to say remained unspoken. Yu Zhouzhou gently prompted him, but he could only manage, "You look especially beautiful today."
That evening, Yu Zhouzhou met Chen Xiaoxiao, who informed her that Principal Pan had tasked her with interviewing Zhen Hua alumni for a special feature at the Art Festival. Chen Xiaoxiao showed Yu Zhouzhou a video compilation of interviews with various alumni, including Geng Geng, Yu Huai, Sheng Huainan, Luo Zhi, Chu Tiankuo, and Jiang Chuan, noting that even if Mǐ Qiáo wasn't present, her legend continued to inspire.
As Yu Zhouzhou and Lin Yang had dinner later, Lin Yang playfully tried to guess what she had said about him in her interview, likening himself to a "sun" in her life. Yu Zhouzhou then told him that at the bridal shop, whatever he had intended to say, her answer was, "I do."
She reflected that she had once felt lost, but realized that all relationships are woven with various emotions, and ultimately, she wouldn't be the person she was without him. With a heartfelt smile, she finally declared, "Lin Yang, I love you." Overcome with emotion, Lin Yang used a can tab as a makeshift ring and proposed to her. Yu Zhouzhou happily accepted. Yu Zhouzhou mused that growing up sometimes felt like a spinning top, always returning to the starting point.
Yet, she cherished her "old times" self the most because Lin Yang, her constant "sun," had always shone brightly beside her. She narrated their enduring love story, from Lin Yang, the "emperor," crowning her his "fourth queen," to her bravely taking his hand. She acknowledged that life would bring many changes, joys, and sorrows, but she was confident that their commitment to "hold your hand, until we gone" would eventually be fulfilled.
