EPISODE TWO TRANSCRIPT- THE BUTTERFLIES ON THE CONCRETE PODCAST: WHAT GOT ME THROUGH THE WEEK?

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Hello and welcome to The Butterflies On The Concrete Podcast: What Got Me Through The Week? This week I’ll be discussing my favorite drama, You Are My Glory.

You Are My Glory is a Chinese drama that aired last summer on Tencent Video and WeTV. You can find it on the Tencent App and also on Tencent Video’s YouTube Channel.

The drama stars Yang Yang, who plays male protagonist, Yu Tu, who is an aerospace engineer, and Dilraba Dilmurat, who plays the female protagonist, Qiao Jingjing, who is a famous actress. I first watched Yang Yang in Love O2O and I loved him in it. He’s also great in the drama, The King’s Avatar. I first watched Dilraba in Pretty Li Hui Zhen, which is a remake of the hit Korean drama, She Was Pretty. I would also recommend watching her in The Flame’s Daughter.

You Are My Glory is based on a novel written by Gu Man. Gu Man also wrote the novel that Love O2O is based on, and the novel that the drama Boss & Me is based on, which is entitled Shan Shan Comes to Eat. I mention Boss & Me because it’s another drama that I absolutely adore, it’s in my top three favorite shows overall, and so I will certainly discuss it in a future episode as well.

You Are My Glory is mainly a romance drama, but it also has some very funny moments throughout, and for anyone who feels like they’re behind in life, or who feels lost, it offers some truly relatable and comforting moments as well.  

At its core, it’s a story about a famous actress who reunites with her former crush after ten years when he’s in the midst of a quarter-life crisis of sorts. He was a top student back when they were in school, and when she asked him out, he rejected her, but over the years she’s since blossomed into a superstar. He, on the other hand, is on leave from his job as an aerospace engineer debating whether or not he should give up on his space exploration dreams for a more lucrative career as an investment banker.

One of the many brands Jingjing endorses is a game called, Honor of Kings - which I believe is a real game, so that’s an example of excellent product placement, I suppose. The company behind that brand, in the show, believes that she’s a competent gamer, and right when her endorsement contract is up for renewal, someone she knows screen records her poor gameplay on an alt account of hers and leaks it online. Because of this, she ends up trending on social media with people criticizing her for being fake, but then she’s given an opportunity to show off her true skills through a competition at an upcoming gaming event and prove the keyboard warriors wrong. The problem is she’s actually terrible at gaming, and she happens to be up for a role in a movie that’s thematically all about being genuine and authentic, so if people find out she lied, her manager worries she might not get the part. Because of all of this, she needs someone to coach her in the game. Her manager’s husband initially trains her, but it doesn’t go very well. Through the game, when she’s practicing, she sees her former crush, Yu Tu’s user ID as a friend connection and he ends up inviting her to play by accident. He’s a genius at all things, and so naturally he’s very skilled at the game and so after playing with him and his friends for a while, she eventually asks him to teach her how to play. He agrees to help her to some extent through the game by guiding her while she, while she’s playing so that she can improve. But it isn’t until Jingjing’s manager mentions in passing that it’d be great if her ‘online friend’ could somehow teach her in person, that she decides to reveal her identity to him by making up an excuse for him and her to meet. He agrees to coach her in person while he’s on leave from his job at the Aerospace Research Institute. As he coaches her, the two of them start to grow closer, because they’re spending more and more time together, but one question still lingers throughout the first half of the drama - will Yu Tu’s self-doubt, and insecurities cause him to miss out on love?

Five things that I love most about this drama overall are:

#1 – Yu Tu’s concerns about his income and his feelings of questioning where he is in his life are totally valid and very much relatable for anyone watching, but especially for those of us in their late twenties/early thirties, or even older. Looking at my life and wondering ‘what have I accomplished?’ is like a daily event for me, so I understood those emotions immediately. Some viewers might be less appreciative of his character if they haven’t dealt with those emotions or thoughts before, thinking that the plot is too slow or boring, but I truly enjoyed watching him overcome those doubts and concerns with Jingjing’s support.

#2 – Watching it is just so rewarding as a viewer. The story is essentially divided into two sections, before Yu Tu comes to his senses and afterwards, so while the first half of the show shows Yu Tu’s introspective and brooding side, once he makes up his mind about what he wants, the second half is filled with so much fan service. So many romantic scenes and happy moments. In life, in general, the waiting period is difficult, you know, that time in between who you are and who you want to become, it can feel like forever, but just like with this drama where if you make it to episode 21, you will be rewarded, you just have to be patient in that waiting season and it’ll be worth it in the end. At least that’s what I tell myself so I can keep moving forward.

#3 – There’s no love triangle or square in this drama. Not that I don’t enjoy those storylines but it’s refreshing that this show has exes show up every now and then, but they’re mostly on the periphery. They help move the plot forward just enough without being actual, viable options for the leads to reconnect with. They don’t really create any major obstacles either.

#4- The majority of the conflict in the drama is internal, and most of the tension comes from the main characters hesitating about whether they should pursue what they want in life. And even then it’s mostly just Yu Tu. For instance, Yu Tu tries to resign, and he has mixed emotions about it because his colleagues and professor and even Jingjing suggest at some point that he should stay and do what he loves in spite of his financial concerns.

#5- The characters are so authentic and fully developed. While Yu Tu is the character who hesitates and overthinks things most often, when he’s not buried in his own thoughts he can be confident and flirtatious and clever, and he’s always brilliant regardless of what his mood is. We get to see all sides of who he is, the fun and the troubled parts, which makes his character someone you as a viewer want to see happy. I rooted for him so much as he overcame his concerns and took steps towards the life that he wanted. Jingjing is bright and cheerful, but also thoughtful and supportive and empathetic. She’s the opposite of Yu Tu in that she doesn’t overthink things, she simply lives her truth unapologetically. When she’s upset, as a viewer you feel her pain, when she’s joyous, you’re glad to see it. Both of the lead actors are very expressive in their portrayals of their characters.

Some additional commentary I have is that I really hope that they’ll be in another drama together at some point. I feel the best way, uh, to describe the chemistry between them since this drama deals with space exploration is to say that their chemistry is out of this world. You Are My Glory is a perfect romance drama. It’s extremely well written and superbly acted. It’s a slow burn romance, where the main characters don’t fall in love immediately, but even so it’s well paced, and it’s extremely satisfying to watch because the viewers expectations are constantly being exceeded, while also being subverted in some key ways, which I’ll talk about in a bit.

I also wanted to say that I hope that there will be a South Korean remake of this drama. I feel like Lee Ji-eun, Moon Ga-young, Shin Hye-sun, or Lee Sung-kyung would be great in the female lead role, and maybe Kim Soo-hyun, Park Bo-gum, Park Seo-joon or Ahn Hyo-seop, uh, as the male lead would be really, really cool. But I haven’t heard any news about a remake yet so we’ll see what happens.

Before I end this episode, I want to talk more about my favorite parts of the drama in detail so if you haven’t watched the drama yet, or you haven’t finished it yet and you don’t want to hear any spoilers, you should stop listening now. To be fair, um, every episode has a purpose, and it’s difficult to even choose what to mention here because there are literally aspects of each episode that I adore.

I’ll start off by saying that I’ve rewatched the first half of the drama the most. Although I love the happy and sweet moments they share in the second half of the drama, I always find myself going back and rewatching Episode Twenty One and the episodes leading up to it the most. There’s something about seeing them reunite and get to know each other again, becoming more and more comfortable with one another as time goes on, and then seeing him create distance between them because he’s insecure about what he has to offer her as a partner. Um, he feels like he doesn’t have enough money, and that he won’t have enough time to be with her, when in reality she doesn’t care about how much money he has because she’s always been more interested in who he is as a person, and because of her profession she’s just as busy as he is, if not more.

This show is really effective at showing the way our minds – and our friends and society at large - can convince us that we’re not enough even when that couldn’t be further from the truth. There were several conversations Yu Tu had with his college friend and temporary roommate, where his friend reassured him that it was better to leave his current position so that he could find a higher paying job, but then also invited him to a reunion of college classmates who then judged him for wanting to start over in a new career because he’d be making entry-level salary. All of which just left Yu Tu visibly shaken, and conflicted and feeling bad about his life choices. I’m not saying he was a bad friend. He was good spirited and seemed warm hearted, I’m just saying his role in the drama was a good reminder – in my opinion - to make sure the people you surround yourself with are honest with you, but also supportive. And to make sure they aren’t people who will bring you into uncomfortable or bad situations.

Perhaps a good place to start is that scene with Yu Tu and his former college classmates in Episode Five. While he’s with them, they mock him for wanting to start over as an entry level investment banker, but then Jingjing saves him by sending a pricey bottle of wine and an appetizer to their table on his behalf because her assistant happened to see what was going on and that he was dispirited by what they said. It ends up being a turning point in their relationship because he leaves with the wine and spends time with her later that night. While he’s at her apartment, she tries to distract him from whatever’s on his mind with her bright personality. There’s more to that scene, but I’ll simply say that it ends up being a sweet interaction between the characters. Earlier in this episode, while she’s seated, um, talking to his friend through the game, in, they’re in her apartment, um, and she’s practicing, uh, he unexpectedly reaches in front of her, and brushes past her, um, so that he can turn her mic off and she can focus.  And that’s just an example of the little moments, um, that are kind of sprinkled throughout the first half that really build the tension between them in a really good way.

In Episode Seven, Yu Tu asks her out and they go to the movies together. She leaves a ticket under a magazine on a table so that it doesn’t look like they arrived together.  And then on the walk home from the movie she asks him why he’s quitting and she wonders if his family disapproves but then she doesn’t understand why they would disapprove because she knows he has an uncle who works in the same field. And then after she says this, it’s really funny because she realizes that she said too much, um, because she knows all these little details because she used to like him when she was, you know, in school, um, so she has to lie and say that a friend told her all of the information that she knew by heart, um, because he looks at her like, ‘How do you know all of this about me?’ you know? Um, in this episode another cool thing is that he confides in her for the first time, explaining why he wants to quit. Um, his mom had a health scare, and he wondered if it hadn’t been a false alarm would he have been able to provide the best medical care for her, or be able to take time off from work to care for her? And he knew the answer was no, because of his job. He says to Jingjing that he’s been arrogant most of his life until he turned thirty and realized that he’s accomplished nothing. In other words, this event sparked a quarter-life crisis, which as I mentioned before is very relatable, at least to me. He’s depressed about it as he reminisces once he’s back at home, but then Jingjing texts him and encourages him. She tells him that even though she doesn’t know much about his job, she’s certain that his pursuit of it is still meaningful, nonetheless. And that even if he quits, he should still take pride in what he’s done because it matters. Some people don’t even have the courage to try to accomplish their dreams, but he did. One of the ways that the writer subverts expectations in this episode is with Jingjing’s manager, who actually tells her that she wants her to fall in love after a fan posts a picture of her at the movies ‘alone,’ um, assuming that she’s alone, and it goes viral. In other dramas I’ve watched, a lot of the time, managers typically want their stars to avoid dating so that they can focus on building their careers and not risk losing their fans. Episode Seven is also when she goes to a meeting with a director and leaves Yu Tu in her apartment alone. This shows how much she trusts him even though technically they’re just acquaintances on the verge of becoming good friends.

In Episode Eleven, Yu Tu gives her his passcode for his phone because she asks him to play the game on her phone, on his phone, sorry, um, since like there’s something about the model of his phone that she wants to play the game on his phone, and so, she asks for his passcode and he gives it to her, and that just indicates, um, that he reciprocates that level of trust.

Episodes Thirteen and Fourteen show Jingjing playing in the competition that he’s been coaching her for all this time.  There are some surprises during the gameplay aspect that I think are really fun, what position she plays, and how well she plays. He even gets to go on stage with her and play a round of the game during the event and he looks so happy, which feels like a rare sight during the first half of the show. Sure, before this there are lighthearted moments, but this is one of the first times we see him totally relaxed and carefree for an extended period of time.

Episode Fifteen is a favorite of mine because after building up a strong friendship and bond through gaming, Jingjing confesses her feelings to Yu Tu for a second time. The first time was ten years ago when they were in school, and she got rejected, but as a viewer you figure, you know, she’s changed now, right? She’s become someone outstanding and they’ve spent so much time together so surely he’ll accept her feelings, right? But, instead, another expectation is subverted, because he doesn’t. We’ve seen him fall for her, there are many, you know, signs that he has fallen for her, but he refuses to acknowledge those feelings. He rejects her again, only this time it’s because he doesn’t think he deserves her. He’s so cold to her, and she’s devastated but because she knows her worth, um, she doesn’t ask him why this time around, unlike when she was younger and determined to figure it out.

In the following episodes it becomes clear to him, and the viewer, that he regrets letting her go. While he’s working in the desert, he scrolls through their old text messages and listens to old voice messages and even starts writing her letters answering the questions she once asked him back when they were in school, which is, you know, something that he ignored back then.

By far, the episodes I watch the most, are Episodes Nineteen, Twenty and Twenty One, so that’s where I’ll end this discussion. She receives his letters. He’s written several of them to her and she reads them all, but because he let her go already, and she has, she has self-respect, she texts him and lets him know that those letters of his mean absolutely nothing to her. And when he sees this, he, rightly, is worried. Suddenly he realizes that there’s a strong possibility that she won’t give him a second chance. He contacts her assistant and randomly shows up at her Chinese New Year performance so that he can offer to drive her back to their hometown. When she sees him there, she’s not pleased and she’s visibly shaken. And as he stands there waiting for her, he looks so nervous. She lets him drive her home, but treats him coldly for most of the ride, sitting in the back seat during the first half of it. She asks him why he showed up and he admits that her reply scared him. He stops at a gas station, saying the gas tank is low, but really it’s an excuse to test her feelings. She goes to the restroom, and he waits for her outside, telling her that he waited because he was worried about her safety, which she shrugs off.  He then walks closely beside her on their way to the car, but she pulls away from him, creating distance between them, causing him to confront her and have an open and honest conversation about how he feels. The tension in this scene – let me tell you – it is unreal. Like, it is everything you could have ever wanted, and then some. It’s built up so well. The small moments and interactions between them mean a lot. During the conversation, he asks her if his letters really mean nothing, and it’s a whole back and forth where you might think they’ll get together, but they still don’t. She’s still pretty distant towards him even after this, until she finally forgives him and agrees to be with him in Episode Twenty One. He finds out that she’s at a class reunion at a karaoke place and rushes to get where she is so that they can be together. It’s sweet. Without hesitation, after she tells him that he’s forgiven, he makes it clear that they’re, that they’re dating in front of all their former classmates. Once he knows what he wants, he goes after it with tunnel vision. Trust me, this is a drama that is definitely worth watching.

If anyone would like me to post a list of what major events happen in which episodes as reference on Instagram, or on the website, for when you want to rewatch but you have trouble remembering which episode a certain scene was in, let me know! There are so many other great scenes, but I didn’t want this episode to be three hours long so I stopped myself from mentioning every little thing that I loved, because I seriously love every detail of this show. It’s expertly crafted and performed. So, this is your sign to rewatch it if you’ve already seen it, or to finish watching it, or to start watching it if you stayed and listened to some spoilers.

Thank you so much for listening to this episode!

If anyone is listening to this and would like to share what got them through the week, please comment on this episode’s post on our Instagram page WhatGotMeThroughTheWeek, or by email at whatgotmethroughpodcast@gmail.com.  The transcript and audio for this episode will be posted on HyssopandEbony.com.

Until next time!