Introduction
This is the continuation of the Love Formula: Couple Moments (Part 1) article series, and this second part covers more moments of the main couple, Han Yang Sheng and Jian Dan, until the end of the drama. This part also covers the second couple, Yuan Sen and Mi Fen, as well as the third couple, Xia Hou Ling (aka Monkey) and Jiang Zhi Shan.
I chose the featured image as I thought the protagonists look mature and good together. This was the scene where Yan Sheng and Jian Dan attended a concert.
Han Yan Sheng ❤︎ Jian Dan
Zhi Shan’s challenge
Zhi Shan, who was just transferred to the university and was a pro rock climber, challenged Jian Dan to climb the rock wall, and would join the Rock Climbing Club if Jian Dan could beat her. Jian Dan and Zhi Shan tied, but Jian Dan had a sprained ankle. Yan Sheng was in the club president meeting when Monkey messaged him that Jian Dan got hurt while climbing. Yan Sheng ran to the Rock Climbing Club, and princess-carried Jian Dan to the infirmary. Jian Dan was uncomfortable with Yan Zheng’s care, and she started seeing him as attractive, so she acted grumpy with him. He reminded her that Grandma wanted her to treat him nicely. That was what he heard Jian Dan say while he was at her dorm room helping Zhi Shan move in. Jian Dan was taking a shower at that time, and thought that the person in the room was Mi Fen. ➤ Episode 16
Zhi Shan’s birthday
Yan Sheng, Jian Dan, Monkey, and Zhi Shan went to celebrate Zhi Shan’s birthday at a restaurant, and Zhi Shan made them drink a lot of wine. Yan Sheng had a low tolerance even to wine; he got drunk and ran outside. Jian Dan chased him to avoid getting hurt, and he ended up sitting on the street holding a kitten. He took Jian Dan’s hand to pat his head. Later, Jian Dan had to take the drunk Yan Sheng back to the dorm by taxi. Yan Sheng almost kissed Jian Dan when the taxi made a turn. That was the only one he remembered, when he woke up late at 1 pm the next day! ➤ Episode 16
“Like I even had a choice.”
When Yan Sheng woke up the next day, he was frantic looking for the missing necklace he wanted to give Jian Dan along with his love confession. He saw Jian Dan already wearing the necklace, so he mistakenly thought he had already confessed. All he remembered was ‘kissing’ her in the taxi. The truth was, the necklace box was accidentally left with Zhi Shan’s birthday gifts. Zhi Shan didn’t like a necklace with a Greek word she didn’t even understand, and Jian Dan translated it as “Hypatia”. Zhi Shan put the necklace on her. Yan Sheng asked Jian Dan if she agreed (to be his girlfriend). Jian Dan said, “Like I even had a choice,” while thinking when he put her hand on his head to pet him.
So, all the way from the dorm to the cafeteria and classroom, Yan Sheng tried to be like a boyfriend to no avail, hugging and holding Jian Dan, while the other party didn’t have any. Yan Sheng didn’t understand why Jian Dan wasn’t reactive, until his auntie called him about his necklace ‘gift’ she didn’t like. ➤ Episode 17
What kind of confession is that???
After Yan Sheng and Monkey filled her in about the necklace, Hypatia, etc, Zhi Shan thought that her nephew and Jian Dan’s vague relationship had been dragging on too long. Yes, we thought so, too. She wanted to step in to make them confess to each other, and asked Monkey to help her. Zhi Shan dragged Jian Dan to a school mixer event, where single people can meet and interact in a relaxed, informal setting. She said that she wanted a real boyfriend. Meanwhile, Monkey picked up the mugs Jian Dan made for her and Yan Sheng during a pottery class. He asked Yan Sheng to give the bag of gifts to Jian Dan. Monkey said that Jian Dan was at the mixer party and wanted to give the gift to the one she liked at the event. Yan Sheng went to the event with jealousy. He threw the bag onto Jian Dan’s lap while she was waiting for Zhi Shan, who went into hiding after getting a text from Monkey. Jian Dan was angry with his rude behavior and chose to walk away, leaving the bag of gifts behind. Yan Sheng peeked into the gifts, it was a pair of couple mugs, with two people sitting by the window watching snow falling, while drinking wine. That was the scene when they spent the first snow together.
Yan Sheng chased Jian Dan, who slipped into the mud, so she couldn’t run too far. Jian Dan said it was not his business that she went to the singles mixer with Zhi Shan. It was his business because she was his girlfriend. What??? No, she wasn’t. Then why was she wearing his love token? Ooo… that was not for Zhi Shan??? What did the Greek word mean? Hypatia, right? My math goddess. Weren’t the mugs also for me? Then they walked out of the park holding hands. But… but… what kind of confession is that??? Even the shy Yuan Sen made a better and bolder confession to Mi Fen that the whole world knows!!!… Or… I might be old-fashioned… a confession is stating the feelings and requesting permission if the other person wants to be your bf/gf or not… ➤ Episode 18
Half-brow
After becoming Yan Sheng’s girlfriend, Jian Dan wanted to dress up plus makeup. Mi Fen was willing to help put her makeup on, until… Yuan Sen called her since she was late for their date. There was only one eyebrow left to put makeup on, Jian Dan tried herself, but she was self-conscious. I personally think there was nothing wrong with the other eyebrow; besides, her bang covers her eyebrows. She didn’t want to be stared at, so she chose to sit in front of Yan Sheng instead of next to him. Yan Sheng didn’t understand why she did it, so he kept throwing stickies asking how she was doing, until Prof Wang (in Math Class) picked up one sticky and read it: “You look cute when you’re angry”. Later, Yan Sheng took Jian Dan to the Swimming Club, announced that they were dating now. Poor Jian Dan kept covering her eyebrow, but attracted more attention that way. Monkey teased her, looking like the manga character Shin Chan! ➤ Episode 18
The drama poster from the cringiest situation
I can’t believe that the drama poster I used for the featured image in the first part was from the cringiest situation (not scene)! So, we know from the character’s description and some couple moments description that En Tong had tried to manipulate Yan Sheng by using his trauma over his dead friend Nan Yuan. Now that he and Jian Dan were an item, En Tong became more manipulative to the point that she claimed she had a depressive illness because of her trauma that Nan Yuan died (the three of them were diving together when that tragedy happened), and took depression medications. Yan Sheng, who felt guilty about the death, automatically felt guilty about En Tong’s depression. Jian Dan offered to be with Yan Sheng to deal with En Tong’s depression. That led to this beach getaway when we saw clearly Yan Sheng was sandwiched between two girls ‘fighting’ for him. En Tong asked Jian Dan to take a picture of her and Yan Sheng, and when it was her turn to take a picture of Yan Sheng and Jian Dan, Jian Dan jumped over Yan Sheng and clutched him intimately. Luckily, the ‘sandwich’ situation didn’t last long, because he called Li Shi to rescue him and Jian Dan! ➤ Episode 19
From ‘green tea bitch/GTB’ (绿茶婊) to Factitious disorders
First of all, I want to clarify that I don’t condone this ‘green tea bitch’ naming, but I want to explain where this term comes from. The term “green tea bitch” (绿茶婊, lǜ chá biǎo) is a derogatory Chinese internet slang term that emerged around 2013. This misogynistic term is used to describe young women who present themselves as innocent and pure but are perceived to be manipulative and calculating.
En Tong doesn’t have depressive disorder. However, in the context of mental health, when someone pretends to be naive or sweet, it can be a sign of manipulative behavior, often associated with certain personality disorders.
Moreover, to convince people that she really had depression, En Tong faked depression medication that was actually vitamin C. Thanks to Jian Dan’s former love rival, Yue Tang Tang, who Jian Dan took care of when Tang Tang had appendicitis. Tang Tang accidentally saw En Tong replace the medication with vitamin C. Tang Tang then hinted to Jian Dan that vitamin C without symbols could be mistaken for other meds. Together with Zhi Shan, Jian Dan discovered that the medication was indeed vitamin C. In factitious disorder (formerly Munchausen syndrome), individuals deliberately feign or induce illness, both physical and psychological, to gain attention, sympathy, or medical treatment.
Yan Sheng called En Tong’s father to inform him that his daughter had taken depressive medication. When her father called and wanted to take her out of school for medical leave, En Tong said that she didn’t have depression, and she did it because she loved Yan Sheng. Fortunately, Yan Sheng, Jian Dan, and Zhi Shan were behind En Tong and heard her confession that she was not sick. When En Tong brought up the Nan Yuan trauma, Jian Dan told En Tong that what she did was not love, because she inflicted emotional pain on Yan Sheng. ➤ Episode 20
Operation Rescue Han Yan Sheng
Once En Tong was gone, supposedly Music Major student exchange, things went back to normal and funny. Jian Dan decided to help Yan Sheng overcome his trauma of water and recruited their friends. Many attempts were made, from the comedic to romantic, and the one below was what I think was the most romantic one! ➤ Episode 20
Another mouth-to-mouth resuscitation attempt
After visiting Nan Yuan’s parents and seeing some memories of Nan Yuan, Yan Sheng decided to join the water rescue volunteer team to fulfill his best friend’s dream. Jian Dan enthusiastically helped him. One of them was the CPR and rescue breathing (mouth-to-mouth resuscitation). Remember, the scene in Episode 1? When they took turns practicing and Jian Dan was trying to do the rescue breathing, Monkey, Li Shi, and Yuan Sen showed up wanting to invite them for lunch. Seeing the couple was in such a position, those three left hurriedly. ➤ Episode 21
Near drowned
During the 199th anniversary of Yuan Sen and Mi Fen, they did barbecue for friends and buried a gift for them to find. While Jian Dan was away to the restroom, Yan Sheng accidentally dropped his baseball hat while digging in the sand. The hat was floating away. Suddenly, there were yells that someone was drowning. Jian Dan came back and saw Yan Sheng’s hat floating. She jumped into the water, yelling Yan Sheng’s name since he was nowhere to be seen. When Jian Dan was far out in the water, Yan Sheng appeared after taking a phone call. He panicked at the sight of Jian Dan in the ocean and rushed to rescue her. But Yan Sheng’s fear kicked in, and he started drowning. Jian Dan swam towards him and pulled him away. Yuan Sen and Monkey joined the rescue. ➤ Episode 21
The concert
I don’t like writing this part, not because of the couple, but because En Tong was back! Darn it… she was only gone for 2 episodes! However, this was the featured image used for this part, so I felt I had to describe this image. So, En Tong was back, and she pretended like she was better and no longer liked Yan Sheng. Because she was a Music Major, she thought Yan Sheng could get music therapy. Yan Sheng listened to her playing piano, luckily with Li Shi, but Jian Dan couldn’t help herself feel jealous. Especially, Zhi Shan and Mi Fen warned her not to take her guard down. En Tong invited Yan Sheng and Jian Dan to a classical music concert. Remember, as superwoman Jian Dan was, classical music was not her thing; she fell asleep last time when she attended a concert. Yan Sheng bought her a pretty dress, and they looked so good together. Luckily, En Tong also invited Li Shi, so they were like two couples… ➤ Episode 22
Get back together
Finally… they get back together after a breakup. If you want to know which episode it was, it was in the whole of Episode 23. ‘Nuf said… I don’t want to talk about the break-up part because I’m actually sick of this trope! ➤ Episode 24
Go through the ordeal together
The couple moments that were quite hard to watch, but it was necessary for character growth, were when Jian Dan was with Yan Sheng through his PTSD ordeal because of his best friend’s death. This included dealing with En Tong. Viewers might forget that Jian Dan was a Psychology Major, so normally, she was there to help her boyfriend go through a difficult time patiently and lovingly. She was not a weakling. ➤ Episode 24
The graduation
Finally, it was a graduation day for Yan Sheng, Monkey, and Yuan Sen. As the top student, Yan Sheng gave a valedictorian speech and mentioned Jian Dan for helping and supporting him. The speech ended with them hugging each other. ➤ Episode 24
Overcoming adversity
This was actually a good ending scene. During summer break, Jian Dan was at Grandma’s house in the village. Yan Sheng was supposed to start working. After eleven days of not seeing him, Grandma told her to go to the lake to catch fish, as they would have a guest. She caught a koi and made a wish to see him. Suddenly, Yan Sheng called her from a boat, jumped into the water, and swam. Earlier in the same episode, we saw he and Jian Dan both graduated from the rescue team volunteer program, but we never saw him swimming. I wish there were an additional scene where he reached the other side and they hugged each other. Then it would be a perfect ending… ➤ Episode 24
THE END!
Yuan Sen ❤︎ Mi Fen
The famous Prince Luo Shi
Yuan Sen and Mi Fen’s romance started when Mi Fen was assigned by her cosplay club to find the idol cosplay master, Prince Luo Shi, who would be invited to play in their environmental-themed cosplay show. Mi Fen went to the coffee shop that held the fan meeting last time, and Li Shi suggested that Mi Fen contact the prince on his Weibo. Yuan Sen was at the coffee shop, too, and he probed Mi Fen on what she thought about Luo Shi besides his looks. Of course, it turned out that Yuan Sen was Luo Shi! ➤ Episode 5
Yuan Sen finally agreed to perform for the cosplay club. Mi Fen, as the representative for the club, also finally figured out that Yuan Sen was her idol! Their awkward convo during the Luo Shi/Yuan Sen’s revelation was so cute! ➤ Episode 6
The shy Yuan Sen became the enigmatic Luo Shi once on the stage
Luosifen
When Mi Fen met Yuan Sen again at the noodle restaurant, she was super awkward but star-struck seeing her idol sitting in front of her, especially when he saw her order appetizer, two bowls of luosifen plus one takeout, hahaha! ➤ Episode 7
What is luosifen? It’s a spicy and pungent Chinese rice noodle soup that originates from Liuzhou, Guangxi, China. It’s known for its unique and strong flavor profile, often described as a mix of spicy, sour, and umami, with a distinctive “stinky” aroma. The dish features rice noodles in a broth flavored with river snails and various spices, topped with pickled bamboo shoots, peanuts, and other ingredients. Luosifen became the hippest food in China during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The annual cosplay competition
Yuan Sen entered the annual cosplay competition, but his costume was damaged. Mi Fen, with her basic sewing skills, offered to mend his costume. She sewed the costume day and night. Mi Fen almost passed out from hypoglycemia on the day the costume was finished. Yuan Sen won the competition and told Mi Fen that he would grant her wish. ➤ Episode 7
The death glare
Because Mi Fen spent some money to buy the costume fabric, she sold her figurines online for extra money. Yuan Sen saw her walking in the evening and decided to tag along after knowing she would meet some guy online downtown. Earlier, Monkey told him that meeting people online was called a blind date. Yuan Sen was so nervous to find out who Mi Fen’s blind date would be. When the buyer finally arrived, Yuan Sen couldn’t hide his jealousy by glaring at the guy, but was relieved after knowing that Mi Fen only met him to sell her figurines. ➤ Episode 7
The couple shoot
On Singles’ Day celebration, Monkey conducted a draw in which they fulfilled someone else’s wish. Yuan Sen exchanged the cards with Li Shi to get Mi Fen’s wish, which is a couple shoot with Luo Shi. They dressed up as a cosplay couple Ling Xi and Yue Lo. So cute, especially the usually talkative Mi Fen is so shy, almost to the point of bursting into tears. ➤ Episode 8
“I’ve always been here”
During the mid-term study group, Monkey teased Yuan Sen for being talkative when teaching Mi Fen, so Yuan Sen took her to study somewhere else. There was an outage, and both Yuan Sen and Mi Fen were afraid of the dark. Mi Fen thought that Yuan Sen had left, so she ducked her head down under the table in fear. She heard Yuan Sen had stood up, and she texted to see if he had left. When the power came back on, Yuan Sen was squatting next to her and said: ➤ Episode 11
The study guide
Mi Fen had difficulties in studying for the midterm, so Yuan Sen, a student of the Art Major, drew some cartoons to break down complex subject ideas into easily understood visuals for her. Their study date at the beach was so cute, and the scenery was so beautiful! ➤ Episode 12
The confessions
Mi Fen wanted to confess to Yuan Sen, as it was clear that both liked each other. Jian Dan helped her with a romantic confession, but Yan Sheng ruined the atmosphere by accidentally letting the balloons off, and the school paparazzo took pictures of Yuan Sen and Mi Fen. The paparazzo not only found out about Mi Fen confessing to Yuan Sen, but also that Yuan Sen was Prince Luo Shi. Of course, the pictures went viral. People were bashing Mi Fen as ugly and didn’t fit with Luo Shi/Yuan Sen’s good looks. Yuan Sen cleared everything up through live video by revealing that he was indeed Luo Shi. He also clarified that the girl in the photo was not his girlfriend because he was waiting to confess to her and get him answer. Yuan Sen called out to Mi Fen to come down, gave her a bouquet of roses, and asked her to be his girlfriend. Her answer was “I do” (like in wedding vows, lol). ➤ Episode 13
199-day anniversary
They celebrated their 199-day anniversary by barbecuing by the beach and invited Jian Dan, Yan Sheng, Monkey, and Zhi Shan. However, this celebration was also used as an attempt to cure Yan Sheng from his fear of water. ➤ Episode 21
Graduation Day and 520-day anniversary
Yuan Sen graduated along with Yan Sheng and Monkey. Mi Fen baked him a cake with her own icing decoration picturing them. He also gave her a gift for their 520-day anniversary. It was a couple’s phone case with his cartoon drawing picturing them wearing ancient costumes. The image below was taken at that time to celebrate their 521st anniversary. It was also their image for the ending credits, which I had been waiting for… because they looked so cuuute! ➤ Episode 24
THE END!
Xia Hou Ling ❤︎ Jiang Zhi Shan
The terror of childhood, the living nightmare
Xia Hou Ling, aka Monkey, has known Yan Sheng’s aunt, Jiang Zhi Shan, since childhood because they were about the same age. He described her as “having a foul temper”, “the terror of my childhood”, “the living nightmare”, and an unmarried crone. She was just one year older than Yan Sheng. Monkey and his nightmare met again when he stopped by to see Jian Dan, who stayed at Zhi Shan’s house without her permission. Zhi Shan surprisingly came back. She choked hold Monkey after hearing what he told Jian Dan about her. ➤ Episode 15
Zhi Shan’s birthday
On Zhi Shan’s birthday, she, Yan Sheng, Jian Dan, and Monkey had dinner together. I think she regarded Monkey as the closest amongst Yan Sheng’s childhood friends whom she had known for a long time and was comfortable hanging out with. Her nephew’s other childhood friends, Yuan Sen was as quiet as a mouse, Li Shi was polite but reserved, and En Tong was fake. We can tell that Zhi Shan and Monkey were comfortable with each other when Zhi Shan got drunk and he had to take her back to the dorm. ➤ Episodes 16-17
How they became boyfriend-girlfriend
When drunk, Zhi Shan told Monkey that she hid the deck of cards in her Rock Climbing Club locker. The cards contain pictures of him wearing dresses with little. She had blackmailed Monkey all these years with the cards. Monkey wanted to steal the cards so he sneaked into the Rock Climbing Club locker, found the cards, and ripped them off. Meanwhile, the school paparazzo was suspicious of Yan Sheng and Jian Dan. He sneaked into the Rock Climbing Club and bumped into Monkey. In a hurry, Monkey closed the locker, and Zhi Shan’s bra got hooked onto his jacket. Seeing this, the paparazzo accused him of being a pervert. Luckily, Zhi Shan showed up. Monkey quietly asked her for help, and that was how they became a couple. Zhi Shan sweetly thanked Monkey for the gift, and they were being lovey-dovey to the point that the paparazzo gagged from cringiness. ➤ Episode 17
One lie leads to another
When Monkey and Zhi Shan went to eat in the cafeteria with Yan Sheng and Jian Dan, the paparazzo was there hoping to catch a scoop of Yan Sheng and Jian Dan. Monkey and Zhi Shan didn’t have any choice but kept acting as a lovey-dovey couple in front of everyone. ➤ Episode 17
In a daze
Because Zhi Shan saved Monkey from the paparazzo by acting as his gf, he became her slave for buying her food and drink. Today was the hippest fried chicken, and Zhi Shan ate them right away, unconcerned that her hair touched the chicken. Seeing that, Monkey subconsciously fixed her hair like when they were small. When Zhi Shan realized him caressing her hair, she was stunned by what he did. She went to the bathroom in a daze and bumped someone’s coffee. The guy was angry, but Monkey defended her. Later, Mi Fen read her fortune card and said that her true love was right beside her! Although Zhi Shan refused that she was in love with anyone, she couldn’t help thinking of Monkey! ➤ Episode 18
However, as much as Zhi Shan tried to attract Monkey by being nice, he didn’t buy it because she used to be super meanie to him. Zhi Shan bought Monkey breakfast and went to see him, but he thought she had poisoned the food and refused to eat it. Zhi Shan was very angry with Monkey’s rejection and stomped out. ➤ Episode 18
Scarier than a lobster
During Operation Rescue Han Yan Sheng, one of the attempts was to enter a contest dipping the face into a bowl of water, and if someone could hold their breath for 4 minutes, they would be rewarded with a living lobster to cook. Yan Sheng managed to hold his breath for 4 minutes and was not afraid of water, and they got a lobster. Monkey finger was pinched by the lobster, and he screamed to Zhi Shan to do something to calm him down while the seller looked for help. Zhi Shan screamed, “I like you!” and Monkey was stunned. After the seller released him from the lobster, he told Zhi Shan that her ‘confession’ was scarier than the lobster, haha! ➤ Episode 20
Drunken confession
During the 199th anniversary of Yuan Sen and Mi Fen, they did barbecue for friends and buried a gift for them to find. Zhi Shan found the gift, which was a heart-shaped stone. She was moved by the gift and kissed Monkey. She said, “I like you… Do you like me?” Monkey was so stunned and pretended to look at the stone. Zhi Shan then coughed and passed out. Monkey scolded Zhi Shan and was relieved that she was just drunk, because the confession scared him. However… Zhi Shan only pretended to be drunk, since Monkey didn’t respond to her confession. ➤ Episode 21
Belated love epiphany
This is another usual trope, as its name suggests. Monkey was at risk of losing Zhi Shan he overlooked. And only when he found out she was going abroad and wouldn’t come back did he begin to realize what she meant to him. Although Zhi Shan appeared drunk when she confessed to him at the beach, she was not drunk when she confessed to him when he got pinched by a lobster. So, when he bought stuff she needed for her trip, he purposely broke one suitcase’s wheel and crushed the instant noodles. When she wasn’t moved, he took pictures of himself in dresses to replace her cards he ripped off last time. He gave it to her on her departure day, when she was actually gone abroad for a rock climbing competition. ➤ Episode 22
Graduation
Monkey graduated together with Yan Sheng and Yuan Sen. He complained that there was no more carefree life, because he had to start working now. ➤ Episode 24
I wish I could see more of their relationship, because Monkey was my favorite supporting character. They should have had flashbacks of his and Zhi Shan’s relationship in high school, especially since there were not only the hellish days when they tortured each other, but also the sweet days when they were nice to each other. Because if there weren’t, how could Zhi Shan have a revelation, while eating chicken, that she actually liked him? Instead, we got the annoying side story of En Tong. But that was only my preference…
THE END!
Conclusion
Overall, despite all the tropes, it was a light-hearted and fun watch. If I have time to rewatch Love Formula ( 爱的方程式 ), I will use this article as a guide to go through the memories of the couple moments.
