When We Were Young Episode 4 Recap
> When We Were Young Recap
When Mr. Kong assigned Hua Biao to tutor Yang Xi, Li Yu felt uneasy and privately asked the teacher if he could be Yang Xi's tutor instead. Li Yu highlighted their long history, having been classmates since kindergarten and neighbors for over ten years, with their parents working together.
However, Mr. Kong explained his "targeted pairing" strategy, noting Hua Biao's exceptional science scores and his consistent top-three ranking at his former municipal key high school, making him the most suitable tutor for Yang Xi's science subjects. Yang Xi struggled immensely to grasp the concepts of action-reaction forces and balanced forces. To help her understand, Hua Biao took her outside and had several classmates demonstrate by slapping each other.
He explained that when one person's hand hit another's face, both experienced pain, illustrating action-reaction forces acting on different objects. For balanced forces, he had two classmates hit a third person together, showing forces acting on the same object. After repeated demonstrations, Yang Xi finally began to grasp the concepts. Feeling guilty, she offered to treat everyone to orange soda.
Later that night, Li Yu asked Yang Xi to write a letter to his mother for him, praising her beautiful handwriting. During a playful struggle over the letter, Li Yu accidentally fell onto Yang Xi on the bed, but she immediately pushed him away, teasing him about the "force and counterforce" she had just learned. The next day, Yang Xi joyfully learned from her long-distance running teammates that the race had been postponed.
This meant she could still participate, making the extra points from Hua Biao's tutoring less critical. She excitedly resumed training with the team. However, due to her long break, her body was out of condition, and she struggled with the run. Hua Biao, playing basketball nearby, noticed her difficulty and began dribbling his ball alongside her, encouraging her to follow its path to keep pace. Li Yu, witnessing this interaction, felt a pang of resentment.
Determined to prove himself, Li Yu insisted on signing up for the municipal physics competition, just like Hua Biao. Mr. Kong was hesitant, knowing physics wasn't Li Yu's strongest subject and that only top-three placements in three consecutive competitions would yield points for university applications. He worried it would be a waste of Li Yu's time, but Li Yu was resolute, stating he wanted to prove himself and was confident in his ability to get into a top university regardless.
Hua Biao also vouched for Li Yu, convincing Mr. Kong to allow him to register. Li Yu studied diligently for the competition, but found the exam challenging. Hua Biao, on the other hand, submitted his paper early and effortlessly clinched first place. Everyone cheered for Hua Biao, while Li Yu stood by, feeling disheartened.
Yang Xi approached Li Yu, comforting him by reminding him that he was unparalleled in English competitions and promising to buy him a grand frame for his future English awards. Humbled by the experience, Li Yu later admitted his admiration for Hua Biao. As a reward for winning the competition, Hua Biao received an opportunity to participate in a one-week exchange program in Hong Kong and was exempted from the upcoming physics weekly test.
Mr. Kong then appointed Hua Biao as the invigilator for that test. During the exam, Hua Biao deliberately kept a close eye on Yang Xi, making it impossible for her to cheat. Consequently, Yang Xi scored only 25 points. Believing Hua Biao had intentionally targeted her, Yang Xi resolved to get revenge.
Later, Hua Biao was packing for his trip when his grandmother, who was cooking green bean soup in a pressure cooker, asked him to watch it and turn off the heat. Just then, Yang Xi and Yangxiao Hemei called Hua Biao, fabricating a story that Yang Xi had been apprehended by a local hoodlum named Wang Laowu. They claimed Wang Laowu was retaliating for a past grievance.
Alarmed, Hua Biao rushed out to "rescue" Yang Xi, leaving the pressure cooker unattended. Soon after he left, an explosion rocked his house. Yang Xi was later called to Mr. Kong's office and informed that the school had decided to give her long-distance running spot to another student, citing concerns about her leg injury and long absence from training. Yang Xi was devastated.
That evening, Yangxiao Hemei showed Yang Xi a newspaper report about the explosion at Hua Biao's house, revealing it happened around the same time they had lured him out with their prank. Overwhelmed with guilt, Yang Xi rushed to Hua Biao's house, crying and apologizing profusely. Hua Biao, despite the chaos and his grandmother's distress over the damaged pressure cooker—a sentimental item from her dowry—downplayed the incident, claiming it was unrelated to Yang Xi's prank.
He simply asked her not to tell their classmates, wishing to live quietly with his grandmother. Unknown to others, Hua Biao later kept his damaged Hong Kong travel pass, torn to pieces by the explosion, under his pillow, dreaming of the trip he could no longer take.
