Shine On Me Discussion - Episode 18
Links to episode discussions: Masterpost | Ep 5-8 | Ep 9-10 | Ep 11-12 | Ep 13-14 | Ep 15-16 | Ep 17
Let's recap Episode 18
Resort Villa: The episode opens with Jiang Rui and Xiguang back from skiing. They chat about their next day plans.
Resort Villa: Xiguang’s Room
Xiguang sits in her room, looks at the pic Xu took of them and thinks back to the conversation she had with Jiang Rui when they were out. She had asked him ‘why did you ask Xu to take a picture of us?’ and he had replied by ‘it wasn’t fair that we were the only ones freezing our hands… and Zhuang laoshi happened to be there.” she countered with ‘why did you change the way you call him?’
My wonderful sweet Jiang Rui is proving how much he cares through his actions and words.
Rui’s words further confirm that even the moments where Xiguang thought Xu might like her were just born out of a misunderstanding. You are wrong my dear but I will not correct you as I don’t want you ending up with Xu anyways,
The scene ends with Xiguang wondering why Yusen hasn’t replied to her yet. Just as she hits the shower, a message notification is heard.
Xigua jumps off the bed, rushes to the balcony to see Yusen crouched on the snow right in front of their villa. She runs down the stairs, running to meet him. I smile watching both of them happily reuniting. He greets her by handing her a little girl figurine.
Xiguang: What are you doing here?
Xiguang is happy with his answer and I am happy to see them both on my screen again. She says “thanks for the hardwork” and he replies ‘thankfully, you let your coordinations slip, I didn’t have a hard time finding it’. She looks at the spot where she took the picture and realises what his thank you yesterday meant.
Jiang Rui joins the scene, acting all protective of his cousin by asking Xiguang ‘who is this?why is he coming to see you at this hour?’ Yusen watches her smiling. I love how he always waits to follow her lead, letting her explain first before introducing himself. Xiguang’s excuse is that he is the instructor she found for tomorrow. As Jiang Rui kept complaining about going skiing with 4 newbies.Yusen looks at her but introduces himself as a ski instructor. “You can call me Lin-ge” Xiguang feels like she lost, as she now has to call him Lin-ge, Rui looks suspicious, asks what’s the deal with the little figurine, Yusen replies that it is his trick of winning clients.
Yusen knows that he should press the advantage of having Jiang Rui there, he asks about what time to pick them up tomorrow. Xiguang has no choice but to reply 9 AM otherwise her lie would be exposed. That settled, Yusen leaves the scene happy with himself. Jiang Rui stares at Xiguang all suspicious, citing that the instructor is hot, he doesn’t have an accent, the sculpture in her hand look the picture he took of her. Xiguang keeps finding excuses for every argument.
Yusen’s Lodging:
His mom asks him where he’s been, and he says he secured a part time gig. Mother is quick to deduce the real reason he is going ‘did you meet her parents?’ Yusen replies ‘not yet, but tomorrow I am meeting them as a ski instructor.’ His mom calls him lame for his scheming and continues to tease him. The mom seems like a nice person, and I hope she remains a sweet auntie.
Our leads are looking gorgeous
We cut to Next Morning, Yusen arrives per schedule, and Xiguang peers from the balcony at him looking handsome. The visuals!!!
Xiguang Inner thoughts: I must have been out of my mind yesterday to let Yusen meet my mom like this.
Yusen greets the family, Jiang Rui shows us he is still suspicious of the hired instructor. She says she found him online through Weibo.
Minivan Ride:
Auntie likes how handsome Yusen is, badgers Xiguang with questions and ends it with a ‘show me his weibo’. Xiguang is saved by her uncle death staring his wife. They ask about Yusen’s hourly rate, he replies that he will only be paid if they’re satisfied with his instruction. Everyone scolds Xiguang for being too much of a hustler.
The beautiful Snowy Slopes:
They split up in groups, Hu with the old fam members and Yusen with Xiguang. Aunt asks why Lin is going with her, and Yusen continue his mission of scoring points with the fam by proposing ‘We can swap’ Xiguang refuses and the uncle helps out. Yusen and Xiguang go off on their own.
Yusen starts seriously teaching how to ski, showing that he was a doctor and he actually knows his stuff. Jiang Rui snowboards past, complaining about how he is not needed, Xiguang says bye bye and he fake-glares at her “you picked a hot guy over your cousin”. He goes off on his own leaving Xiguang and Yusen to continue skiing.
Yusen proposes they move to the green runs,as Xiguang started skiing better. She expresses her reservations and he tells her to rest here and wait as he goes ahead to check the pitch first. Man, I hope Zhuang Xu doesn’t show up when Yusen isn’t around. ..
… my hope was in vain. Enter the Huaya Squad: As they’re lined up on the moving belt. Chris notices Xiguang ahead of them.
Off the belt: Xiguang is skiing down carefully when a snowboarding guy passes in front of her, startling her and causing her to lose her balance.
I love how he just planted the sticks in the snow and opened his arms unphased.
Xiguang worries over hurting him but Yusen just tells her not to attack him like that. “With your mass and velocity, you’re not strong enough to make a dent on me”. Xiguang is touched as she says ‘what a weird flex’. She asks him about the green runs and he tells her that she can totally handle it. Zhuang Xu and Chris watch the two of as they leave for the rides. One of the Huaya squad says that ‘they don’t really look like a couple’. I don’t need your observant eyes here, let Xu continue to believe they are a couple so he stays out of our hair. Chris replies that not all couples have to be lovey dovey.
They keep stealing glances at each other,
They get off the ride, Xiguang almost falls and Yusen catches her by the waist, telling her ‘to relax, I’ll be there to catch.”
Xiguang Inner thoughts: I can’t let him catch every time. Just let him, he’d like nothing more.
Cue skiing montage 2.0, skiing and smiles. Yusen films her, they make jokes and have fun. The sun sets and we see Yusen’s mom complaining about being played Yusen as they haven’t seen him anywhere. He is too busy with his date. T
Restaurant: No episode passes without a scene of someone eating. This drama is teaching about the important things in life, work, love, food and walks.
The family chat over the meal as they make meals for the next day. The elders are too tired to ski again tomorrow so the family decides to split up. : Jiang Rui and Xiguang go skiing with instructor Lin, the elders will go somewhere relaxing with guide Hu. Time for some friendly question, auntie takes the mic and asks “Where are you from Lin?” He replies that he is from Shanghai, currently working in Suzhou. The aunt exclaims at the coincidence as Xigua also works in Suzhou.Before she asks him any further questions, Xiguang resorts to her saving trick, giving someone food to shut them up, this time she is helped by the uncle. The subject is forgotten.
Naturally, after a meal, comes a walk. Except the walkers are Yusen’s mom and her husband.
Walk Time: Mom is taking a walk with her husband, he pushes her to take a picture and while posing she spots Yusen having a meal with Xiguang and the fam, On a mission, Yusen’s mom walks through the restaurant, Now we know where Yusen gets his opportunistic streak, the mom seizes the chance to see who her son is pursuing.
Love how he continues choking while the mom goes on undettered.
Under her relentless talk, Yusen gives up and calls her ‘mom’ in a tone asking her to go easy on him. Uncle Luo says that his mom spent a long time looking for him on the blue runs. Yusen introduces his ‘colleague’ Xiguang and her family. The family just exchange glances and the lie is busted!! Yusen apologizes about the little prank he played as Xiguang’s mom greets Yusen’s mom with a ‘Ms.Sheng’. Weiai (yusen’s mom) greets her with a ‘You’re Jiang Yun” they smile, indicating a favorable connection between the two.
Resort Villa
The family sit around the boiling kettle eyeing Xiguang, waiting for her to spill the tea. Xigua says there is nothing to spill. Yusen is her boss and he is here on the trip with his family. They don’t believe that there’s nothing going on.
I am so glad she isn't hiding anything from the family. I love Aunt Nie.
Aunt Jiang agrees to the match, Rui repeats his mom’s words that one should be careful in relationships and Uncle thinks that Lin is quite the catch but his family is a lot to deal with. He asks Xiguang how much she knows about Yusen’s family? She replies that she only knows his father died and that his mom lives overseas. Uncle Jiang and Mom talk about how they knew Lin’s father, and the uncle decides to tell her what he thinks she ought to know. He starts telling Weiai’s story as we cut to her telling Yusen about she met Jiang Yun and her husband.
Weiai describes Chengyuan as ‘overly eager’ and ‘blowhard’, and Jiang Yun as ‘Calm and composed’. She says that unfortunately, Chengyuan grew closer to Yusen’s uncle (Bokai) and naturally they drifted apart. The mom has joined the shipper league as she praises Xiguang for having made a great impression and tells Yusen not to let her slip away. She is however worried about the relationship between Chengyuan and Bokai and wonders if that will impact anything. Yusen tells her not to worry as Jiang Yun and Chengyuan are divorced.
We get a glimpse at Yusen’s family dynamic as she gives him a heads up : “I run into your aunts today, so your grandfather might here I am in China and ask you about it” Yusen says that his grandpa never asks him much, just checks if he is doing well after the holiday and that’s it. Weiai asks Yusen if he thinks her heartless for not visiting her own dad, but Yusen just replies that he will always stand with her. They change the topic by talking about Yusen’s relationship, and how happy the mom is for him.
When you have someone you love by your side, the whole world feels full of hope, as if everything is brand new.
Mom then proceeds to tell him the story of how she met his dad when they were young. They have a cute son-mother bonding moment, she talks about how Yusen’s father rejected her and how they ended up getting together after he helped her on a rainy day.
Yusen’s Dad Backstory Time: I will just transcribe what she said.
We fell in love, got married and had you. Your dad, to prove himself, worked tirelessly day and night. But because he was too brilliant he stirred up jealousy in others, in the end they conspired against him and set him up to make a mistake. Your grandpa knew he was innocent but he still exiled him somewhere so far away, I remember your dad telling me not to be angry with your grandpa (Weiai’s father) and that he had his reasons, your grandpa said told me it was only only temporary to silence the critics, and that he will bring him back in a year. But a year became three. And in the end…..I blame them and I blame myself even more for insisting at being with him and bringing him to Shengyuan. I changed his faith and failed to protect him. He met his end so far from home , all alone.
Overall Thoughts:
- I love how we can see the traits of each of our leads reflected in their environment, Yusen got his calm and composure from his mom. He has a quiet dignity that reflects hers, his belief in love also seems to come from her own. Xiguang also has her mother's poise and her playfulness stems from having a cousin as playful as Jiang Rui. Our dearest cousin seems to get his outgoing personality from Aunt and Uncle Jiang, as they are a warmhearted constantly bickering couple.
- Yusen continues to be a green flag, as he helps Xiguang with skiing, lets her get away with lies and never pressures her with anything. His cards are all laid bare as he waits for her to take the next step in their relationship.
Zho is your favourite family member?
Posted Dec 30, 2025, 7:57 PM UTC