So Young 2: You’re Still Here Movie Recap

Demn, the OTP’s love story took 8 years and ends with a freakin’ cliffhanger! Good thing, someone posted a clip of this movie’s deleted scenes and everything’s good. 🙂

Movie Recap

It’s 2015. Sun Yunjin (Liu Yifei) is in New York. She’s frantically looking for someone. In voice over, she shares that life carried on after ‘he’ left and signs of his existence eventually faded a way. “In the lapse of time, we ran around in circles, will that person wait for you in that original place?”, she asks.

We go back to 2007. Yunjin’s Dad has been very sick then and needless to say, they were financially broke. But despite that, her parents still sent her to the best high school in town.

It’s Yunjin’s first day in the new school. Out of nowhere, a rider in black leather jacket run over a random garden hose. And thanks to water pressure, the hose goes about in frenzied directions, accidentally soaking Yunjin in the process. I still don’t get the science behind it. She tromps to confront the bad ass rider but gets saved from a stray baseball by him instead. He taps her shoulders, telling her to be careful next time.

Bad ass rider is none other than Cheng Zheng (Kris Wu), the second generation heir of an affluent family and the school’s “prince charming”. Cheng Zheng clearly fell head over heels in love with Yunjin at first sight. Again, in voice over Yunjin relays that meeting him made her life an earthshaking experience.

At school, she meets Mo Yuhua (Li Meng), her only friend; Meng Xue (Li Qin), who treated her like the ultimate foe; Song Ming (Hao Shaowen), Meng Xue’s errand boy and Zhou Ziyi (Jin Shijia), an all-around goofy guy. Apparently, they are all classmates.

Yunjin isn’t the brightest bulb when it comes to Math so it doesn’t come as a surprise that she flunks the subject. Adding salt to the wound, Ziyi teases her about it. One day, Cheng Zheng offers to tutor her but she refuses. Just to get her attention, he grabs her Math book away. As she desperately tries to retrieve it from him, the napkin she inserted on the pages falls to the floor. Embarrassed, Yunjin shoves the napkin to his chest and leaves.

Cheng Zheng apologizes but she’s not ready to forgive. He returns her book and insistently nudges her to look inside. His persistence is getting on her nerves so she moves her chair, accidentally trampling his foot. Guiltily, she subtly removes her chair and reads the scribbles he wrote on her book. Aww! He gave her some pointers for the Math exam.  

Ziyi confronts Yunjin and tells her to own up to responsibility of injuring Cheng Zheng, either by taking care of him or just compensate with money. Yunjin chooses the second option though and gives him her ATM card. Ziyi, being the insensitive douche, wastes the money to buy everyone ice cream. Yuhua then angrily tells Cheng Zheng that the money they took is supposedly Yunjin’s allowance for a month. Learning this, Cheng Zheng returns her ATM with a huge sum deposited in it. This gesture, however, doesn’t sit well with Yunjin. She hands back the excess, saying she doesn’t need anyone’s charity.

It’s undeniable that Yunjin badly needs help to raise her poor marks in Math so when Cheng Zheng renews the offer to teach her, she accepts. Eventually, they become closer to each other and developed a certain tacit relationship. It’s an open secret as far as everyone is concerned. Everything’s going fine until Yunjin’s Dad dies. She’s been gone for days and Cheng Zheng patiently waits for her return.

After a few days, she comes back. Cheng Zheng dashes to talk to her but she sadly pleads him to stay away from her until they graduate. Cheng Zheng understands and promises to oblige. He keeps his word and the next thing she knew, it’s already the end of high school.

Yunjin silently watches her batch mates enjoying their Graduation Ball when Meng Xue comes to talk to her. Meng Xue notes that love is indeed a formidable force. She knew Cheng Zheng for 18 years and loved him just as long but it can’t even be compared to the months he spent with Yunjin. Cheng Zheng is a prince charming but definitely she’s not the Cinderella. To put it more bluntly, they’re not suited for each other and he’s nice because of sympathy.

On cue, Cheng Zheng walks toward them and invites Yunjin for a dance. She tries to turn him down but he just grabs her hand and leads her to the dance floor. Looking at the lovestruck couple, Meng Xue can only shed brokenhearted tears.

Suddenly, the electricity is cut off and Cheng Zheng uses the opportunity to hug her tight. After a minute or two, the power comes back. Yunjin then realizes her “mistake” and scurries off.

Cheng Zheng follows her outside. Without much preamble, he invites her to come with him to Beijing but she’s understandably reluctant to take the bold step. She keeps her silence and stares at the moon. Cheng Zheng then shouts and asks for her to be his girlfriend and be with him in Beijing. Now that his feelings are out in the open, he’s pretty confident she won’t say no. Yunjin leans in for a kiss. She bids him goodnight and goodbye and smiles. Eyes gleaming, Cheng Zheng gives her a full, contented smile in return. She turns to leave and when she’s a few steps away from him, she breakdown. Turns out, it’s her last gift to him.

A year after, 2008 to be exact, Yunjin is now a freshman in college. She’s working at a local library. There, she meets Shen Juan (Kimi Qiao Renliang). He offers her part-time jobs every now and then. One time, he asks her about her dream and she answers she has none because a dream is something beyond her reach and she’s content living quietly and healthy. They have grown close and it’s becoming apparent he likes her. When Yuhua asks what she really feels about him, Yunjin honestly conveys that he makes her think of the “bright moon and fine breeze” unlike Cheng Zheng whom she describes as “earthshaking”.

One day, Cheng Zheng suddenly comes back to her life, acting like nothing happened between them. Shen Juan sees them talking and introduces himself as her boyfriend. Cheng Zheng laughs at the coincidence and tells him he’s Yunjin’s boyfriend too. Feeling the tension between the two boys, Yunjin tells Cheng Zheng to shut it. He, however, dismisses her worries and offers them a lift to the temple.

Zheng Yue, Cheng Zheng’s sister, drives them there and they each write their prayers. On the way out, Zheng Yue tells Shen Juan to go with her to buy something, giving Cheng Zheng and Yunjin the much-needed alone time.

Cheng Zheng confesses that he tried forgetting her but he just can’t and begs her to at least tell him what part of him is not good enough. Instead of answering him, Yunjin turns to go. He stops her with a back hug and refuses to let go until she gives him answers. She then faces him, reminding that they’re in a temple and  Buddha is watching. Cheng Zheng is unfazed and retorts that Buddha must have known he has been suffering. He forces to kiss her and she struggles to escape from his grasps. Meanwhile, Shen Juan is looking from afar.

The trio is now in a restaurant. Cheng Zheng offers her booze but she declines. Shen Juan volunteers to drink in her stead but Cheng Zheng tells him to back off because it’s between her and him. Annoyed, Yunjin takes the drink and asks if he’s satisfied now that she drank it. He snaps that he’s far from being satisfied and asks why she didn’t contact him after kissing him that night. Yunjin tries to kick his foot under the table to silence him.

Shen Juan intervenes and comments that when she’s with him, he never asks “why”. Yunjin is rather honest when he told him she can’t drink because she just falls asleep after that. Cheng Zheng then turns to Shen Juan and offers him the booze. Shen Juan remains unperturbed and replies that it’s not necessary anymore. While Cheng Zheng is having a drinking spree, Yunjin drunkenly calls his name.

Shen Juan is upset, realizing that she’s still in love with Cheng Zheng. Yunjin can’t take the cold treatment anymore and asks him what’s wrong. He then asks her if she’s willing to spend a quiet, peaceful life with him. When she doesn’t answer, he smiles bitterly. He concludes that it’s really hard to refuse a life of wealth and the “quiet, peaceful life” she claims to dream is only bullsh*t.

Yunjin storms to confront Cheng Zheng. She blames him for what happened and warns him not to bother her anymore. Cheng Zheng, however, doesn’t have the slightest idea what she’s talking about. She finds it hard to believe him though, citing that everything was fine until he came back. He argues that if it’s really the case then why did she call his name when she was drunk. She calls his claims bull and walks away but he blocks her exit.

Cornered, she scornfully tells him it’s just like him to appear without any heads up. Even before, he was overbearing and always forced his feelings to her. Cheng Zheng silently responds that it’s only because he likes her. She riposte that she’s not, in any way, obligated to reciprocate his feelings. This hits the mark. Cheng Zheng brokenheartedly replies that she shouldn’t have kissed him and she should have told him she didn’t like him one bit so he could have stopped and given up hope.

Her words must have made him realize to move on because he never came back. As for Shen Juan, he graduated and they lost contact. Her life has been peaceful again.

Year 2011, Yunjin visits her Mom for the holidays and there she meets Uncle Wu, her Mom’s suitor. Yunjin gives her approval to the relationship and Mom is grateful. And just like the last time, Cheng Zheng suddenly reappears in her life. His family bought the electronic factory in the neighborhood that’s why he’s there.

Yunjin is busy making bunny lanterns so she tells Cheng Zheng to stop bothering her. Cheng Zheng then offers to give her 50 yuan for her time but this just rile her up. She chastises him for taking money for granted. The 30 yuan may be nothing to him but for them, it’s already living expenses good for 2 days. She walks off and leaves Cheng Zheng alone. When she returns, she finds him working on the bunny lanterns.

The next morning, Cheng Zheng proudly shows her his finished lanterns. His works may not be perfect but she knows he tried his best. She takes his pricked hands and thanks him. Again, he invites her to stay with him in Beijing. She smiles and nods. Cheng Zheng vows not to let her runaway this time.

To be with Cheng Zheng, Yunjin starts to send resume to Beijing-based companies like crazy but to no avail. In desperation, she grabs the job offer to Shanghai. She informs Cheng Zheng about it and of course, he gets angry. Without thinking twice, she buys a train ticket to Beijing. On the way there, Cheng Zheng calls and tells her he’s on his way to Shanghai. Haha! Guess their lover’s spat didn’t last long and they agree to meet halfway.

The lovers are staying in a two-bed hotel room. Both are still wide awake. Maybe, suffering from the oozing sexual tension. Haha! Cheng Zheng feigns that he’s cold and moves to Yunjin’s bed. She tells him to go back but he plays deaf. Suddenly, he takes off his pants, saying he’s hot. Haha! She pushes him, putting a distance between them. He glumly moves to return to his bed but she grabs him and they kiss. Kyaah!

A year after, they start to live together. Cheng Zheng is supposedly bound for the States but he stalls just to spend more time with Yunjin.

Unknown to them, Ziyi and Yuhua are having an affair but sadly it’s only one-sided. When Ziyi informs Yuhua that he’s getting married, she smiles and congratulates him. Just to forget the heartache, Yuhua decides to accept the scholarship to Germany. Yunjin can only hug her and reminds her to take care of herself always.

At her birthday party, Zheng Yue announces she’ll be marrying Shen Juan. Cheng Zheng is not happy about it though, saying that Shen Juan is only after her money but Zheng Yue couldn’t care less.

 

Yunjin congratulates Shen Juan for the engagement but he just shrugs it off, admitting he’s only marrying for money. She asks him why he’s telling her that and he answers it’s because they’re the same. She refutes and tells him they’re not.

It’s raining hard and since Yujin is afraid to ruin her new shoes, she takes it off. Cheng Zheng can’t let her walk barefooted so he gives her a piggyback ride. Yunjin then asks why he didn’t give up on her. Cheng Zheng jokingly answers that it’s because he’s afraid nobody can stand her bad temper. Yunjin laughs and asks if that means he’ll marry her. Cheng Zheng is undeniably happy with the prospect and promises not to leave her in this lifetime.

Fast forward to 2014, Yunjin learns that her Mom is diagnosed with cervical cancer and to finance her operation, Uncle Wu embezzled money from Cheng Zheng’s company. Uncle Wu discloses that Cheng Zheng got him a job at his company and told him to keep it a secret from her. Yunjin feels ashamed and borrows money from friends to pay for the embezzled funds.

Cheng Zheng is already home when Yunjin returns. He hands her the money for Uncle Wu but she declines because she already borrowed money from Shen Juan. This sets him off guard. He feels insulted that she turns to Shen Juan for a big issue like that instead of him. Yunjin explains that she can no longer ask for his help because he already helped her enough. And the reason why she went to Shen Juan is because they’re the same and they know what poverty means. Cheng Zheng leaves without a word.

Cheng Zheng goes to Shen Juan. He throws him the money Yunjin owed him and tells him to stay away from Yunjin. Shen Juan sneers and returns the extra payment simply because it was Yunjin he helped after all. Cheng Zheng retorts that his woman doesn’t need his help but Shen Juan angrily counters that she willingly came on her own and ask for it.

Yunjin finds Cheng Zheng drinking his ass off at a random bar with Meng Xue and Song Ming. She convinces him to go home but he refuses and puts a hand over Meng Xue. She gives up and dejectedly tells Song Ming to take care of Cheng Zheng and get him home safe.

The moment Cheng Zheng returns home, Yunjin gives him an IOU of the 3000,000 yuan she owed. He immediately rips it to shreds, asking how on Earth can she repay the pain she caused him. She remains silent and so he pushes her to the couch, kissing her forcefully. When she just lay down there without a word, he stops. She removes her cardigan and pulls him close. Maybe, she thinks she can pay him with her body or something. 

Cheng Zheng is not in the mood for that. He clearly reached his breaking point. It has been six years since the first time he saw her. Six freakin’ years and she still doesn’t love him. Hearing his pained realization, Yunjin breaks down in front of him. He calls it quits. After a few days, he flies to the States.

Months passed and Yunjin has been very busy with work. She’s still in contact with Yuhua, who also appears to have moved on from Ziyi.

Yunjin: Time is really something fearful. It can heal everything. No matter how good or bad the memories are, it will shave them away, leaving us blurry scars.

And then we return to 2015, to the very first scene. She’s looking for “him” and stops in front of a hotel.  And there, she sees him.

The End.

Don’t fret dearies. Here’s the link of the deleted scenes. You may or may not watch it. But for your peace of mind, I suggest that you do. 🙂