Shine On Me Discussion - Episode 17
Links to episode discussions: Masterpost | Ep 5-8 | Ep 9-10 | Ep 11-12 | Ep 13-14 | Ep 15-16
Airing Schedule: 1 new episode on Dec 29th to 31st for VIPs. 2 new episodes on Jan 1st to 4th. Episode discussions follow the VIP airing schedule.
Let's recap the one episode we have today!
Episode 17
Episodes opens with grandpa asking her when she is leaving for Changbei Mountain. She answers ‘tomorrow at noon’. Grandparents encourage her to leave after lunch but the father is mad. “You won’t stay for New Year’s dinner??”. My guy, shut up. If you cared, you would’ve shown up more. Grandma takes Xiguang’s side, and the father is quick to shut it. Our girl switches topic and meal finishes on a light-hearted note.
Jiang Rui picks up Xiguang, we are treated to a cute interaction between the family members. I love Jiang Rui and how close they are.
Car Ride to Wuxi
Xigua is silent so Jiang Rui is quick to guess that her dad upset her. Jiang Rui calls him ex-uncle.
Xiguang talks about how her father wasn’t always like this. Jiang Rui comforts her by saying that people change and she counters that her grandparents and her mom didn’t. Jiang Rui solution: ‘the people who stay good can just stay good with each other and have a good life”
Uncle’s house
The family have a meal. Xiguang and Jiang Rui sit and watch the fireworks. Yusen sends her a ‘Happy new year’ message. She wishes him the same, and she wishes her work besties the same too.
Xiguang Inner Thoughts: life couldn’t be better. A new start to the new year and a fresh set of goals. Yes, make yusen your goal babe.
Yusen’s house (or his mom’s)
Yusen’s mom hints that he should bring the girl for him to meet, he tells her to wait a bit more. We see that Yusen has a good relationship with his mom and uncle Luo. They discuss new year plans and he easily talks them into going to Changbei Mountain because it is better than whatever they thought of.
Outside the Airport: Changbei Mountain
He makes fun of her so much throughout the episode.
Jiang Rui and Xiguang continue to argue and tease each other. It’s adorable, i love them i miss my own cousins now.
Still on the road. Yusen sends her a message suggesting they name the PV garden ‘Linguang’. He continues to seize any chance to tie their names together. They’re chatting all cutely, Jiang Rui comes to tease her about why she is so happy chatting on the phone. Jiang Rui says he learned a secret back home, but he is keeping it to himself for now. Why you gotta rouse my curiosity like that?
Changbei Mountain: Resort Villa
Xigua asks Jiang Rui to take a picture of her. She sends it to Yusen. He receives it as he is packing his own suitcase. Yusen sends her a thank you (as she basically gave away her location). Xigua doesn’t understand what he means by his thank you.
Next Morning:
Montage of the family having fun on the slopes! I want to take a trip to snowy slopes too. They take pictures, build snowmen. Jiang Rui is being the relatable young family member. (See my pinned comments for the pictures they took!)
The oldies decide to head back to the villa to recharge. Jiang Rui and Xiguang go skiing! Arguing all the way to the rental shop of course. They are so close together, their interactions never fail to make me smile.
Clothes Shop: Xiguang looks for clothes, Jiang Rui says she looks good in anything. <3 I am sitting her smiling till I see who walks through the shop door next. Zhuang Xu and the Huaya bank make their entrance.
I like that Jiang Rui noticed him first and immediately turned to check on his cousin.
Jiang Rui and Zhuang Xu have a stilted conversation before they each go back to their own clothes mission. Both Xiguang and Xu are shaken by their meeting but they don’t say a thing to each other.
Jiang Rui Inner Thoughts: why is Xu here? Did Fei see my messages in the group chat and tell him? But Xu said this was a team-building trip ….
We cut to a flashback where we see the Jiang family’s maid auntie telling him that his tutor came looking for him when he was abroad. The auntie told him that Rui is abroad studying. Guess this is where Ye Rong heard about it.
Chris is helping Xu try on ski glasses, Jiang Rui is worried about Xiguang so he steps into her vision when she comes out of the try-out room. Rui continues to tease her. Then Zhuang Xu is finally out of my face as they are out of the shop!
On a Snowy Walk: Jiang Rui worries about her not wanting to ski, and Xiguang tells him it’s okay. She wonders where that roommate of her is (Ye Rong), then decides to just forget it. She asks Jiang Rui about the secret and he says he is holding on to it for now. I wonder if it has something to do with Zhuang Xu.
We cut to the snowy slopes!
This scene was so adorable. Jiang Rui never fails to tease Xigua at any moment.
Jiang Rui teases Xiguang about her horrible skills. He leaves her to go do some proper skiing after making sure she’s fine on her own. The Huaya squad are having their own fun on the same slopes. They try to take a picture but fail. Chris decides to go ask Xiguang to take one of them. (as she is Xu’s student’s cousin).
Xiguang can’t take the picture properly as she is overwhelmed by emotions. I don’t blame her, you meet someone like Zhuang Xu after how they seperated last time, I’d want to steer clear. Thankfully, her knight in shining armor Jiang Rui is snowboarding by and stops to take the picture instead.
He hands the phone back, then asks Xu to take pictures of him and Xiguang. Jiang Rui is so protective of her. He will not let her be emotional on her own, nor let her head hang down. Jiang Rui forgot his phone, so he hands Xu Xigua’s phone to use.
I love their bond. I love Rui, their relationship is one of my favourite in the show.
The scene is emotional for me. You can tell Xiguang can feel how much Jiang Rui cares for her. Zhuang Xu is also emotional as he sees Xiguang smile through the camera lens. Just as he is about to take the picture, Xiguang gets a message from Yusen “How’s the night skiing going?”. That snaps Xu out of his emotional moment. Takes the picture and hands the phone back.
Before he leaves, Jiang Rui stops him. “Auntie Zhang told me that you came looking for me during the summer vacation, was there something you needed?” Xu replies that it doesn’t matter anymore. Jiang Rui tells him that he’ll just keep it to himself then. Jiang Rui bids him good bye. It’s sweet because you can tell Jiang Rui has been calling him Xu-ge the whole time, in a way he wants them to work out but when he sees how much of a coward Xu is, he bids him goodbye calling him Zhuang laoshi. A sign of him keeping his distance from now on. Zhuang Xu stands there looking at Xigua and Rui walking away.
Huaya Squad’s Room : They are talking and bonding. Chris notices Zhuang being miserable and out of it and she drags him into the conversation. Time for drinking games. I like Chris, she seems like a straightforward fun corporate girlie. Chris and Zhuang chat on the balcony. Chris is smart enough to pick apart his expressions, guesses they have some history and tries to give him some good advice.’Shout out your confession right now’ He tells her that Xigua already has a boyfriend.
The episode is about to end but still no Yusen!
Zhuang Xu’s room: Xu calls his brother, ignores his good advice, and tells him not to do something like this again. Fei tells him
your advice came too late Fei.
“She already has a boyfriend, should I steal her away ?”
The episode ends with Xu looking miserable.
Overall Thoughts:
- The episode severely lacked in Yusen appearances but the sweetness that came with him was made up for by Jiang Rui coming and having fun with our girl. Their interactions made me grin throughout.
- I like Chris and I hope to continue liking Chris. I hope her straightforward personality will snap Zhuang Xu out of his misery, and that if they do end up becoming a 2nd couple then she'll be able to call him out on his self-depracating thoughts since those are what hold him back the most.
Posted Dec 29, 2025, 7:28 PM UTC