With You Episode 9 Recap
> With You Recap
The day after the parent-teacher conference, Geng Geng's classmate, Xu Yanliang, excitedly approached her. He gossiped about how Yu Huai had bravely confronted his mother the previous night, likening Yu Huai and Geng Geng to the dramatic characters Yu Shuhuan and Geng Yiping, rebelling against authority. Xu Yanliang also teased Geng Geng about hiring a "fake dad," remarking that even he could tell the acting was over-the-top, let alone Zhang Ping.
Meanwhile, Yu Huai arrived at school with a bandaged hand, claiming it was just a minor scrape that his mother insisted on wrapping. When Zhang Ping tried to inquire further, Yu Huai quickly left. Later, Geng Geng met with Yu Huai, who questioned why she sought information about Chen Xuejun from Xu Yanliang instead of him. Geng Geng retorted that he would never have told her the truth.
Yu Huai became visibly agitated, accusing her of having a "brain full of spicy hot pot" for thinking his actions were related to Chen Xuejun. He vehemently denied owing Chen Xuejun anything or using Geng Geng to compensate for it. When Geng Geng pressed him for the real story, Yu Huai clarified that his current hand injury had nothing to do with past events. He admitted to feeling deeply embarrassed and guilty about the previous situation involving Chen Xuejun.
Geng Geng, still puzzled by his behavior, asked why he had been so cynical the day before. Yu Huai dismissed her concerns, saying that any issues were between him and Xu Yanliang, and it was "none of her business." Geng Geng, frustrated, left for the restroom, wondering why she was so keen to understand his past, and whether he knew why she wanted to be his desk mate.
Geng Geng accompanied Xu Yanliang to meet his online female friend, "Tokyo Hot," in person. As they walked, Xu Yanliang recounted the story of Chen Xuejun, a fair-skinned girl who had transferred to Yu Huai's middle school Class 5. He described Chen Xuejun as a blunt person who spoke and acted without thinking, struggling to get along with others.
She frequently caused her desk mates to request seat changes due to her annoying habits, like applying smelly nail polish during class, discussing questions about boys and girls falling in love, or even cutting her desk mate's hair. Due to her constant conflicts with female classmates, Yu Huai volunteered to be Chen Xuejun's desk mate, believing her to be innocent and hoping to influence her positively. Xu Yanliang told Geng Geng that many students believed Chen Xuejun liked Yu Huai.
Their bond seemed to stem from playing a game together, but Yu Huai’s grades rapidly declined while preparing for a science league. His mother, already burdened with caring for Yu Huai and his grandparents while his father was working in Africa, confronted Yu Huai about his slipping grades. Concerned about a female deskmate's influence on his studies, she demanded Teacher Wang assign him a same-sex desk mate.
In a flashback, Chen Xuejun was shown asking Yu Huai if he would miss her if she left, to which he responded, "Could you stop being annoying?" Yu Huai’s mother eventually succeeded in having Chen Xuejun moved to a different desk, away from Yu Huai and the rest of the class. After the unified exam, Chen Xuejun rarely attended school and was not seen again.
When "Tokyo Hot" arrived at the meeting spot, a milk tea shop, a gang leader with dyed hair soon followed. The leader accused "Tokyo Hot" of breaking up with him for Xu Yanliang, whom he called a "curl-hair boy." "Tokyo Hot" defensively claimed she was "married" to Xu Yanliang in their game and asserted that Xu Yanliang had initiated their meeting. The gang leader, enraged, promised to settle the score.
Recognizing the danger, Geng Geng urged Xu Yanliang to escape and find Yu Huai and their friends for help. The gang leader and his subordinates pursued them. Yu Huai, Lu Xinghe, and other classmates eventually arrived. As tensions escalated and a fight seemed inevitable, Yu Huai, demonstrating his resolve, wrapped cloth strips around his hand, ready to confront the gang leader one-on-one. Just as violence was about to erupt, Director Pan appeared.
Fearlessly, he berated the pretentious gang, asserting that harming Zhenhua students was an affront to the school and himself. Intimidated, the gang leader and his group retreated. Director Pan then turned his attention to Xu Yanliang, punishing him with a 10,000-word self-reflection for his involvement with the hooligans. When Xu Yanliang complained, Director Pan promptly doubled the penalty to 20,000 words. As night fell, Lu Xinghe invited Geng Geng to an open-air poem-reading club.
A diner at the venue mistakenly assumed Geng Geng was Lu Xinghe's girlfriend, a remark Lu Xinghe quietly encouraged Geng Geng to let pass without explanation. He then recited a beautiful poem dedicated to a friend, wishing her well. Geng Geng confessed she didn't fully understand the poem, prompting Lu Xinghe to explain that art's value lies in feeling and life, not just comprehension, citing Vincent van Gogh.
Geng Geng countered that scientific pursuits, like chemistry equations, also held beauty and meaning, calling Lu Xinghe's dismissal of other fields "childish" and concluding they were "different people," with him being an artist and her an "ordinary person." Lu Xinghe gently disagreed, assuring her, "You're not ordinary." Geng Geng, citing homework, soon left. After she departed, Lu Xinghe's friend asked him if he had genuinely fallen for Geng Geng, to which he affirmed, "Yes."
