#same for Xia Fei

[aashidoodles]

Domestic Shiguang Yingdu Edition: Part 5

Except every time Lu Guang makes an error in the timeline something chill(?) happens

[xetroverthinkin]

[psychopomp-namine]

fixation so real I am about to enter my "the curtains are fucking blue" era of link click analysis, but I need yingdu to finish airing first before I can even feel confident about why I think every season of link click features someone wearing a yellow and blue jacket (i.e. the way cheng xiaoshi, the twins, and xia fei are foils of each other and how their character arcs when they wear the yellow and blue jacket are a small scale representation of the overarching story of shiguang, which are represented by, you guessed it, yellow and blue)

(and of course, the way shiguang, xiaochen, and veifei are foils of each other, etc etc)

but anyway. I'll be patient and wait for yingdu to finish or else I'm probably just clowning around here. but I am thinking many thoughts and have written many words in the drafts.

[nixdialo]

Tomato-Egg Soup

Xia Fei wishes he could say it was the warmth of the sun peeking through the curtains that woke him up. No, Xia Fei woke up with drool on his chin, his hair a bird nest’s mess, to the smell of something being fried. He considers skipping breakfast for a few more minutes of sleep until a familiar hum reaches his ears. He groans, sliding off the bed ungracefully, dragging the blankets with him. He shuffles around until he finds a pair of black slippers and shuffles his way to the kitchen.

The culprit’s back appears into view, his hair haphazardly tied into a bun as he stirs the content of pan. Xia Fei comes close enough to peek over the man’s shoulder to see, then makes a face. “Eugh, bittermelon—aiya!”

"It’s good for you, you know.” Vein lets go of his nose to further mix the deceitful green slices with the eggs.

“But they’re so bitter…only old people enjoy them.”

“Tch! This brat, you want me to punish you?”

“Wait, Lǎobǎn, I was wrong, I was wrong!”

Vein returns back to the stove with a roll of his eyes. “Enough, this isn’t for you anyway. This is.” He taps a small pot beside the pan, a simple tomato and egg soup. “If you can stand around like that, then you can grab us some bowls of rice.”

“Yes, yes, Lǎobǎn~”

Xia Fei did as told and set the table just as Vein walked over to set the food down. Pleasant silence fills the room as they pile each other’s bowls with their preferred dish before trading bowls.

There was a time when he drunkenly moaned and groaned to Vein about missing home and his mother’s soups. He wasn’t sure what happened between that and waking up in his boss’ bed, but Vein with a small serving of this very dish. It wasn’t the same as his mother's, it being spicier and less fresh herbs, but it makes him smile at the thought that Vein cares enough to attempt to cure his homesickness.

Xia Fei raises the bowl, ready to eat, when he peers at the man across from him. Vein doesn’t seem to notice as he eats his breakfast. It’s not for the first time that Xia Fei thinks Vein is the most elegant person he knows. Even the way he eats, not a drop spilled. The way his tongue curls around the chopsticks—oh.

Vein smirks at him. “Are you so distracted that you’re letting the rice soak up all the broth? Should I excuse myself?”

“No, no!” Xia Fei shoves the food into his mouth. “I’m eating, see?” Vein laughs in the way he knows the man is teasing him again. He leans on his chin on his hand, gazing at Xia Fei with such fondness that he isn’t sure he deserves. “And? Is it good?”

What a ridiculous question. “Of course it’s…” Huh? Xia Fei chews a bit more thoroughly, puzzled.

“Felix?”

He takes another bite, then another. Vein’s smiling at him, waiting for an answer, but Xia Fei can’t give him one. With each swallow, only air meets his stomach. There must be something wrong with him; something isn’t right. “Lǎobǎn, I—” He suddenly finds Vein in his lap. The bowl of soup tips off the table, shattering across the ground like tiny bells.

“Felix,” Vein murmurs as hypnotic as a siren. His hand cups his face, a thumb trailing across his lip. Vein leans in, nearly kissing him. “How does it taste?”

Arms wrap around the man, pressing him flush against Xia Fei. Something tells him not to let go, to not let Vein out of his sight.

“Felix, Xia Fei—”

Xia Fei kisses him before he can continue, trying to imprint Vein into his being. The touch of his hand, the scent of his hair, the weight of his gaze.

Vein pulls away, holding his head to keep him from following. “Xia Fei.” He smiles sweetly, yet his eyes curve into cold crescents. “How does it taste?”

Xia Fei jerks awake with a sob, desperately reaching for the faded memory of Vein’s kiss. Of course, Vein doesn’t reach back. He’s… Xia Fei sits up, nursing a pounding headache. The clock reads 4am. Outside, Bridon's roads honk and occasionally spew shouts. The windows pitter-patter as rain drums to a beat Xia Fei can't grasp. Well, if he’s not going back to sleep, he should get some work done.

He adjusts the black coat around his shoulders as he heads for the kitchen. He passes the bathroom mirror, ignoring the depths of his eyebags. Upon opening the fridge, there’s hardly any food but the sad piece of leftover sandwich and…. The tub of tomato and egg soup tucked away in the corner. Xia Fei doesn’t spare it another glance and shuts the door.

[kuschelkissen-art]

Something self-indulgent 🫶

Some XiaoFei from the model AU I have with @lucrecia84 🥰 these two have grown dear to me 🙈💕

PG13 making out under the cut

Pose is from mold_19 on twitter, sadly, that account is gone 😭

[julietcpulet]

Why is every man in link clink unreasonably attractive but equally doomed and slightly unhinged, like I love you all but you’re so unhealthy and tragic 🙃

[dragonselkie]

// yingdu spoilers

was that a tiny xia fei at the school in the past ?!!!?!

[hyxsn]

this is a crime

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

I CAN'T FUCKING BREATHE

[shantechni]

Some of my observations about Link Click: Yingdu Chapter

⚠️Spoilers for S1, S2, & Yingdu Chapter, but mostly the Yingdu Chapter⚠️

Now that the final episode has aired and finished with a bang, I can properly start another observation and theory post without the threat of immediately being proven wrong💀As per usual, feel free to correct me on anything and add your own info should I not include it.

A post-Bridon interview between director Li Haoling and Hui Xiao Hui revealed that Xia Fei held onto the cat ears hat the whole time and returned it to Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang.

That same interview also had the director hinting at the possibility of Liu Xiao having more than one power, along with the fact that Liu Xiao has planned everything early on and that S3 will reveal his motives.

Considering Li Haoling's comment about the three ways someone could inherit powers (1: genetics, 2: passed through death, and 3: killing to steal), this could mean Liu Xiao has either received a power by having it passed to him from someone on their death bed, killed someone for their power, or is genuinely adopted, chat did y'all manifest this—

One major reveal from the interview was the confirmation of Lu Guang having looped through one timeline, not branching off and jumping to new timelines as many (including myself) grew to believe. A.k.a., there are no parallel universes or multiple timelines. I went over this in the notes, but imagine overwriting a cassette tape or hitting the reset button on a device.

Though there are still a number of discrepancies this fact fails to explain or clear up, Shao Yuanyuan telling Cheng Xiaoshi to not concern himself with investigating her and his father lends credence to him not knowing where they are or when they're coming back in S1.

The person Vein speaks to over the phone certainly isn't Liu Xiao, namely because Liu Xiao spends half of the episode playing faux Tetris on his phone, but also because Vein strictly uses English while on the phone with this mystery person. Perhaps he was in contact with someone associated with Yingdu's Chinese Chamber of Commerce (Vein is the leader after all), or simply an unknown figure that he has ties with and was informed by that person that Wang Qing has possession of the notebook.

Late addition: the show speaks for itself, but Vein needed Wang Qing's student ID, along with any other bits of information Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi discovered about her, to track her down with the help of whoever he remained in contact with.

Another late addition: It's been confirmed in the interview that Vein wants Cheng Weimin's book for himself, just like Liu Xiao.

Wang Qing's power involves faking death, something that's been hinted at by her student ID number translating to "fake death ability user."

The information of Wang Qing's classmates has been blurred out, but it's all unique text and some of it can even be made out. The pages for Amy and Blair (the girls that bullied Wang Qing) appear briefly, and though Amy's information is harder to make out, Blair's is somewhat discernable.

The kid that used his power during the test also appears, but the most that can be made out from his page is a middle initial. It should also be noted that Wang Qing had the most absences among the students we saw pages for, and that Cheng Weimin wrote, "Intervention needed," on her page.

We finally know the fates of Cheng Xiaoshi's parents. While Cheng Weimin is certainly dead from the fire at Bahati (confirmed by the ISBN number of the Sonnet Shakespeare book), Shao Yuanyuan is still alive somewhere.

Shao Yuanyuan's use of possession through a photo confirms that Cheng Xiaoshi received his ability through genetics. While we don't know if she is the original holder of the power or if she gained the power from Cheng Weimin after he died, it's clear Cheng Xiaoshi gained his power from either of his parents.

Li Haoling confirmed that death results in the passing of one's power, meaning there's a chance Lu Guang can still possess someone through a photo they took. But while it certainly appears that Lu Guang possessed Wang Qing and used her fake death power on Vein, it doesn't explain how he could've possessed her without having a photo she'd taken in that very moment (Shao Yuanyuan received the photo she took of Cheng Xiaoshi and possesed her that way). Edit two days later: a new video of an interview had Liu Haoling confirming that Lu Guang did not possess Wang Qing

One user on Twitter pointed out a detail on Liu Xiao's phone: the date on his phone is not the current date in Yingdu (June 2019). They also stated, "This is the evening, probably around 5 pm, which would be the same time as 00:05 September 13 in China."

While the above point could be an error, it should be noted that a box of text appeared during Bilibili's and seemingly only Bilibili's version of the episode: "Three years later, after the Li twins case." This whole thread is interesting actually, give it a go.

Speaking of errors, Li Haoling stated that Cheng Xiaoshi's eyes being yellow as he and Lu Guang run from Vivian's situation in EP1 was an animation error. The entire season, particularly the earlier episodes, are riddled with errors like these, most likely due to the schedule changes (this season was originally set to premiere in April of 2025 at the latest but was rushed to Dec of 2024).

On the topic of dates, Lu Guang came to the reset timeline on April 11th and passes the 12 hour mark once the clock hits 5:32AM (meaning he possibly and originally met Cheng Xiaoshi four days prior to the guy's birthday).

Vein interestingly uses darts on Cheng Xiaoshi and Wang Qing rather than real bullets as he's done in the EP1 opener. It's also unknown if he's aware of powers, let alone that Shao Yuanyuan was in control of Wang Qing as they fought.

This is another late additon, but a fan on Twitter compiled a full timeline of S1, S2 and Yingdu, also heavily detailing a lot of the inconsistencies that's been plaguing the fandom in a concise manner.

It's implied that Wang Qing needs a person's real name in order to use her fake death power on them, though it's unclear how she knows Vein's real name.

For once we ended the season without a death, though we have no idea what happened to Xia Fei and his former colleague Jack, who were both reported to have recently gone missing after we cut back to Lu Guang in present day China.

CHENG XIAOSHI GOT THAT DUMPHY

Vein's real name is Xiao Weiying

Back to the book with the eye (the same book Cheng Weimin had in his desk), it's being heavily speculated that the book contains either classified information on the students of Bahati (particularly the ones with powers), or something deeper. Either way, Shao Yuanyuan's statement about the fire being started on purpose supports the idea of someone starting the fire in the hopes of grabbing the book while Cheng Weimin leaves it behind or dies.

The idea of it holding information on the students' powers, or simply being a catalogue of all of the powers Cheng Weimin has crossed paths with, seems likely with Liu Xiao potentially being another seeker of the notebook.

Liu Xiao was the one seen unzipping Vein's body bag in the post credits scene.

Qiao Ling asks why Cheng Xiaoshi changed the studio's name from "Hero Photo Studio" to "Time Photo Studio," and while he gives his indirect answer of being connected through time, we can infer that changing the name is his way of keeping his promise with his mother after leaving Bridon. To make things clearer, a flashback in S1E10 confirms that the name of the studio hadn't changed while Cheng Xiaoshi and Qiao Ling were renovating (which is also when Qiao Ling first meets Lu Guang).

Lu Guang hasn't blushed once in the Yingdu Chapter, but Cheng Xiaoshi has (which makes for a grand total of two blushes from Cheng Xiaoshi and a stagnant five for Lu Guang).

Li Haoling stated in the interview that Cheng Xiaoshi will die in 2022.

When asked if Xia Fei was a survivor of the Bahati fire, Li Haoling dodged the question.

Soon after the fire at Bahati took place, Shao Yuanyuan tasked Wang Qing with allowing her to speak with her son through her someday. Since Wang Qing was still a student and in the hospital at the time, this means she's remained in contact with Shao Yuanyuan for 10 years.

Li Haoling commented during the interview that Lu Guang doesn't know about Vein having come back to life.

He also stated that Shao Yuanyuan would have interactions with Lu Guang in S3.

Actually, here's a full thread of translations for the interview, and a slight summarization of what was said.

The artwork Bilibili released to commemorate the series reaching 700 million followers on their site has this message in the tweet: "The game between "Hunter" and "Mastermind" continues, turning over the cards in the mystery and throwing the final chip." We can infer from past context clues that Liu Xiao is the hunter and Lu Guang is the mastermind.

Cheng Xiaoshi volunteered to play the flower fairy in the third grade despite the role calling for a girl (among other embarrassing stories Shao Yuanyuan told to make Cheng Xiaoshi believe it's her in Wang Qing, she's quite the charcter).

Shao Yuanyuan's speech about saving Cheng Weimin implies she's on a similar journey as Lu Guang (they're both desperately trying to save someone they're close to by resetting the timeline).

Wang Qing goes by the alias "Chris" for her psychiatry business, though it's unknown if her business is still continuing after she disappeared with Cheng Weimin's book.

Considering Shao Yuanyuan's lines when she finds Cheng Weimin in the fire, she was likely not meant to be there at the time, and possibly confused Cheng Weimin. That would explain how blasé he appeared to be about leaving Cheng Xiaoshi in China, if we're to believe that Shao Yuanyuan would usually be in China with their kid while he's in Bridon at the language school.

Cheng Xiaoshi changed the background of his conversation with Xia Fei to a picture he took with him during their modeling gig.

Aight, my well has run dry, and once again I'm certain I'm forgetting something (definitely forgot to go more in depth with the two pieces of artwork that dropped around EP6's premiere), but I hope this is satisfactory in some regards. Again, correct me or add anything I may have missed, time for me to hunker down for the long 2+ year wait until S3 arrives😭

[mysterialistic]

Random thoughts from Yingdu episode 3:

-Lu Guang definitely has PTSD. Nightmares, hallucinations, triggers. It’s all there. That scene with Cheng Xiaoshi’s corpse was genuinely disturbing.

-Cheng Xiaoshi sleeping on Lu Guang’s shoulder and LG almost touching his head?? I’m DECEASED.

-Okay, so the timeline from the first Yingdu PV isn’t the same as the current timeline. Does that mean that the one from the PV was the original one? Such a cool little detail.

-I can’t tell if Lu Guang knows Liu Xiao or not. He seemed to recognize him)? I mean, they probably did met at the airport on the original timeline given how the first PV included LX. Guess we’ll have to wait.

-Xia Fei is… interesting. He’s a liar that never shows his true face to anyone (except Vein and LX, maybe). I don’t trust him, definitely not. He’s obviously not only a model, he also does some shady jobs for Vein and Liu Xiao, including befriending a couple of strangers to keep an eye on them.

-Related to the previous point, I can bet that the Xia Fei/Vein shippers are happy with the outcome of this relationship lol. Even I’m surprised at how close they are! Let’s just hope that Vein doesn’t kill him when he deems him useless.

-Also, Xia Fei was studying physics)? That’s so cool. My quick theory is that he’s actually VERY smart and has a small obsession with powers since in his music video he mentioned them.

-It seems like everything that is happening in Yingdu is completely set up by someone who knows exactly how it all must go down (Liu Xiao or Vein?) The airport fight, the library guy keeping and eye out for someone coming to look for that specific book, Xia Fei meeting them, Vein appearing right on time. There’s no way this is how it happened on the original timeline, back then it probably was spontaneous, but now? They’re manipulating the outcomes and that’s why Lu Guang is so confused with all the changes.

[miyamiwu]

You can’t convince me that they aren’t a pair.

I have a feeling that Vein’s and Xia Fei’s powers are linked, the same way ShiGuang’s and the Li twins’ powers are.

[psychopomp-namine]

man. I don't want the "liu xiao and cheng xiaoshi are siblings" theory to be true 🧍‍♂️

[veifei]

the little insights we got into veifei are so interesting to me — xia fei actually having a temper that vein has to assuage; xia fei seeing vein as warm hearted, and him being the very first person he thinks to call when in a bind...at the same we know xia fei owes a lot to vein, we know (from the character profile) that xf hates owing people favours. we know that in the grand scheme of it all vein is using xia fei in spite of also taking such good care of him

also there's something about the introduction of their dynamic: xf turning down food, because his boss doesn't like him 'sneaking snacks.' there's that implication of control under the guise of care, and the timing of vein calling at that moment too, reminds me of xf's pv — one as the watcher, the other being watched.

anyway all this rambling is to say veifei toxic yaoi goes crazy in excited to see what's in store for them...

[pastorfutureletthembe]

Checkmate ♚

Apparently a temporary AR (Otome) game is coming soon and the artwork for it is just breathtaking! It is also full of details I want to explore OF COURSE. My brain is doing tetris things again, oops.

Looking for a senseless meta about chess pieces? You're in the right place, come on in~

>> Chess Theme

White vs Black

The first topic is obviously the chess theme. Of course, this part is to be taken with a grain of salt since the pieces aren't correctly disposed on the board. However, the characters themselves are walking on their respective squares except for Vein (because he's all powerful and he's above your stupid rules. Probably). Notably, Liu Xiao himself seems to be leaving a white square. And if there is any meaning to it, I'd like to believe it makes a gray character out of him.

Now, what can we say about the chess pieces themselves?

White: rook, pawn, knight

Black: rook, mystery piece, king

Each character is paired with a chess piece.

The most reassuring clue to me is that a white piece has been given to Xia Fei. Which, there is a fat chance this makes an ally out of him. He might be only a Pawn ♙ for now. For those who are not familiar with chess, a Pawn can only move ahead, never back, one square at a time. It has some cool moves too but it depends on the game you want to play. If the path is open, a Pawn can reach the other side of the board, turning it into a Queen ♕. If a Pawn can only move ahead in small range, a Queen literally rules over the whole board. She's quick, vicious and dangerous once she has enough space to move as she pleases. Of course, he can also be a mere Pawn, a tool to manipulate Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi.

[Edit: since I always turn mine into Queens because I like to inspire fear and admiration from my brother, a Pawn can also turn into a Rook, a Bishop, or a Knight. I like to think of Xia Fei as a Queen but it's very interesting that he could turn into either Vein/CXS, Liu Xiao or Lu Guang by the end of Yingdu Chapter. ]

Cheng Xiaoshi and Vein both getting paired with a ♖ Rook ♜ could mean they use the same kind of power or are equivalent in some ways. Rooks have a large range, can move horizontally and vertically, ahead or back. They are better used when paired with other pieces, though, cause a lonely Rook ♖ is an easy pray. I think the main focus here is the similarity more than the piece itself. Lu Guang seems to be the one being punished and haunted, but Vein probably offered his power to Cheng Xiaoshi (or Lu Guang, according to the last Yingdu Chapter PV). My personal theory is that Vein mirrors or shadows Cheng Xiaoshi's shape because he is the source of his power. Vein's position, if there is any relevance to it, keeps Lu Guang's Knight ♘ from moving at the center, his natural and most efficient position.

Toppled King

Liu Xiao has two pieces by his side, a King ♔ and a mystery piece. The merch revealed the later to be a Bishop ♝.

Note that only amateurs tend to topple the King. It is regarded as some kind of pop culture-only approach to chess. Because of this, let's take a look a what an actual checkmate is (where we don't get to step on the vainquished).

Checkmate is any game position in chess in which a player's king is threatened with capture and there is no possible escape. In chess, the king is never actually captured. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. The player loses as soon as their king is checkmated. In formal games, it is usually considered good etiquette to resign an inevitably lost game before being checkmated. (cf. wikipedia)

If Vein, the current character we might recognize as the ultimate villain of the season, is only a Rook ♜, equivalent to Cheng Xiaoshi, who does the King ♔ represent? My personal opinion is Time, Fate itself. The song "Mastermind" supports this theory, and Lu Guang himself really is defying the natural order to save Cheng Xiaoshi, after all. It would make perfect sense. Stopping the clocks at a tournament is the sign of surrender. So basically, the game is over when one gives up and stops when the King has nowhere to go.

The character of Liu Xiao is given a lot of care in this specific artwork. He actually always stood out, since his very first appearance in the season 2 artworks, walking past Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi's portrait, looking away from us. Here, again, he's not interested in the audience, focuses on the photograph of what fans reckon as Lu Guang from "Dive Back in Time".

The truth is, he's playing the long game, he has no time to spare, and he regards people as puppets. There has been theories about him having a hidden agenda, independently of Vein, using/working with Li Tianchen and Li Tianxi for his plan. His intervention in "Trial Train" speaks volume of his strategic mind, "they wanted to escape but didn't realize I blocked the exit a long time ago". Also, one hundred years wouldn't be enough to escape.

This merciless sharpness makes the Bishop perfect for Liu Xiao. Funny story, the Bishop ♝ is not actually a priest, but it represents a war elephant. Historically, the war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks, and instill terror and fear. That's fitting.

Another possibility regarding the toppled King could be that it refers to Liu Xiao's background. The fallen piece could be a resolved situation but the motivation behind Liu Xiao's intent to manipulate the timelines. Perhaps he played this game before and lost. Does Lu Guang know him or is Liu Xiao a mere stalker? Did they play this same game together or against each other?

There's a lot that can be speculated but it is hard to say what these pieces represent for now. As I said before, this read is based on popular imagery of what chess is, not on the actual strategy on the board itself. Secondly, these three new characters we have yet to meet, they don't have a defined role in the canon, not until Yingdu Chapter finally aires.

>> Tokens

Each character is giving a object. I guess it might be relevant to the type of gameplay the AR game will offer but for the sake of this meta, we're still gonna try to understand why those in particular.

Cheng Xiaoshi has a camera. I don't think it deserve further analysis, his powers exist through the lens after all.

Xia Fei has a clock. Guess the time? 10:10. For those unaware, it is a very recurrent time. Put the promotional poster aside, I recommend you pay attention to the time on the clock in the Studio, above Lu Guang's head, right before the gang gets a ominous call from Xu Shanshan's phone at the end of 1x09. If it should mean anything about Xia Fei himself: I won't say it enough but, really: DO NOT TRUST HIM. Or, you know, perhaps he's doomed: it is worth mentioning that except for Xia Fei's Pawn ♙, each character is affiliated to a piece which can move forward and backward on the board.

Liu Xiao has a gear. I find this one intriguing because, so far, this object has belonged to Cheng Xiaoshi's imagery (cf. "BREAK!"). For someone on an ambitious project such as controlling timelines, he is giving a small tool that cannot be used on its own, is part of a machine. Could be relevant to the way he does things, never getting his own hands dirty, working through others. Or it could be that he's himself just another player, played by Fate. Or perhaps, he has the missing piece that Lu Guang needs to save Cheng Xiaoshi, who knows?

Vein is already using his own item: the pipe. He's the only one owning his object and aware of it.

>> The Case Study of Lu Guang

Because of course, our favorite character is actually the shadiest of all, I will dedicate a whole section about him specifically. Why do I insist on calling Lu Guang shady? We know and we see his chess piece is white. But you have to take a closer look to make out the White Knight ♘. The value of a Knight ♘ is equivalent to the Bishop's ♝. But ultimately, its worth less than Cheng Xiaoshi's Rook ♖.

L shaped path

Moving only in an 'L' shaped path, Knights ♘ are the most effective from the center of the board. This is because they get a broader reach in all directions from the central part.

Now, this is very important. Why should it be a mystery that Lu Guang's piece is a knight? What is a Knight ♘? The answer resides in the mechanism of his maneuver.

Part of the idea of the knight maneuver is to flank. And since the Knight is not a horse but a man on a horse, the odd maneuver reflects the knight's ability to guide the horse he's riding (to an extent). In other words, since the Knight comprises two entities (the man riding the horse), the move should sensibly consist of two parts as well, to reflect the added agility of the athletic horse. Conversely, the Knight has access to a maximum of 8 squares (as opposed to the "equal" Bishop's maximum of 13) because the horse is still an animal with a mind of its own.

Note that if you place a Knight ♘ somewhere on the margins, its efficacy will diminish exponentially. Additionally, if he only moved two squares, straight or diagonally, the Knight ♘ would always be restricted to the color squares that he started the game on.

Lu Guang being the Knight ♘ doesn't only means that he moves unconventionally. It is reflective of his duality. Perhaps, the fact he's using his power and Cheng Xiaoshi's. There is another aspect of him we could address here:

Burning Palace

For one thing, "BURNING PALACE" brings back the theme of strategy board game with the checkers this time (you see black pieces falling). It also introduce the Four Heads from playing cards. The fact they bothered to mention it implies a Fourth character.

Xia Fei: ♠

Liu Xiao: ♣

Vein: ♦

The fourth color ♥ is missing and I'm secretly convinced that it's Lu Guang's color.

Enygmatic Tokens

The portrait behind Lu Guang is Lu Guang himself, from "Overthink". This image appears in the first bridge, when the lyrics goes "how did my sight got stolen once more?", superposing Lu Guang's face with mysterious shapes, erasing his eyes/power. This particular line comes to confirm what we already know: Yingdu Chapter isn't a resolution, let alone a happy ending, but a repeat of a tragic event in an unchangeable node. The end is the same, once again. Lu Guang's hope and happy ending has been stolen once more. And STOLEN also implies that there is an intent behind this failure.

A portray is still a photograph though, and it can be used to dive back in time.

What is the most curious to me is the familiar eagle on Lu Guang's chest. Eagles belongs to Cheng Xiaoshi's imagery so why does Lu Guang is wearing them here?

An interesting take would be that Yingdu Chapter isn't actually from Lu Guang's perspective, but from Cheng Xiaoshi's, diving in a picture taken by Lu Guang. This would be some kind of plot twist and would definetely makes the big reveal easier but not less painful.

I'll probably make a whole meta about this symbol at some point but in the meantime, I'll let you know the eagle is associated with strength, power, wisdom, and freedom. The eagle's ability to soar high in the sky was believed to be a symbol of divine protection and spiritual guidance. Additionally, eagles are tied to the sun. Some people see them as signs of a bright future on the horizon. As a symbol of light, they embody both the intensity and heat of the sun as a fearsome force of nature, as well as the warmth and benevolence of the heavens.

This positive symbolisms are deeply rooted in Cheng Xiaoshi's nature, but if Yingdu Chapter actually brings us back to one earlier repeat, we can assume that Lu Guang had initially a brighter outlook on his mission.

The glasses are back and I'll say it again: once is weird, twice is a coincidence and thrice it's a pattern. The portrait shows Lu Guang without eyes but his item is a pair of glasses. Might be a subtile hint of denial there. As far as glasses go, pink is a peculiar color. It helps to 'voir la vie en rose', as the french says: "look at the world through rose-coloured glasses." Meaning, being delusional.

Might it be the eagle or the glasses, I'd say they're both representative of Lu Guang's state of mind at the time: hopeful.

~

[Edit: I recommend you take a look to these threads regarding this very same artwork: | X | X | X | I don't agree with everything but it's always cool to have other perspectives.]

[sarshles-cheescake-li]

Some fun translation facts about Yingdu...

-Xia Fei doesn't necessarily call Vein "warm-hearted." “热心肠" doesn't mean warm-hearted, as in compassionate. It's based on 热心, or passionate. You use it for someone who's helpful, whom you can expect to speak up for people, but not necessarily someone who's "warm." It's more a comment on someone's willingness to get involved in other people's business than their kindness.

-Laoban (老板) is a pretty common way for employees to refer to their bosses. Distinctive from surname-laoban (e.g. Li-laoban), since surnames are usually used if 1. you need to distinguish between several superiors, 2. you're trying to appeal to someone (aka basically talking them up), or 3. you're on somewhat-equal ground with the person, socially, and using it literally because they're the boss of a company. Other terms like -xiansheng (先生)/-nüshi (女士)depending on the person's gender) and -zong (总) may also be used, but laoban (without a surname) is the most "casual" without being informal. Informally, you might use surname-ge (哥)/jie (姐) (common between people of similar ages with an authority/respect gradient, sometimes used casually between friends for an older person), lao (老)-surname (more common the older you get, typically for seniority or generation gaps, but some older folks will use it universally for their friends who are around the same age), dage (大哥)/dajie (大姐) (implies a more familial relationship, but not as explicitly as gege (哥哥) or jiejie(姐姐)). In short: Xia Fei's "laoban," in terms of word choice, is pretty normal socially -- unlike in English where "boss" is kinda a weird term to call someone as their default name. What makes it silly is the fact that he uses it very informally.

-Cheng Xiaoshi calling people 帅哥 (hottie) isn't exactly correct. The shuaige/meinü (美女) (handsome man/beautiful woman) combo is just a pretty common compliment to give someone. It doesn't have to actually imply attraction, and it is often more of a "wow, this person's conventionally attractive" thing. Of course, I'm not saying that that is exactly how Cheng Xiaoshi meant it -- with that tone and context, it could go either way.

-Same logic applies to 美少年 (handsome young man), except it has far more of a teasing/ironic implication, especially when preceded by 美少女 (beautiful young woman). So far as I can tell, 美少年 kind of refers to the same kind of vibe and appearance as… a twink, just without the queer undertones. The bi-coding of that scene would actually require a second layer of linguistic irony that's kind of difficult to explain, although, rest assured, there is still a pretty bi way of reading it.

-Xia Fei's contact name for Liu Xiao means "client who doesn't mind his own business/is nosy/bothers me with a lot of things/is hard to please" or that general vibe. Basically, annoying, but very specifically the high-maintenance flavour of annoying.

-When Vein tells Xia Fei to "脾气收敛点" (or, well, Xia Fei promises to do so) as in to control his temper, the 脾气 he uses doesn't exactly mean temper, in the sense of anger. It's more of how thick your skin is, or how tolerant you are of bs (although it's also dependent on context). In the context of Xia Fei using it, it comes closer to "stop being so impulsive and reacting to people who don't need reacting to." So, more like "control yourself." Notably, 脾气 can also refer to when someone's whining. Like, if my roommate is acting all annoyed at me because I called potatoes ugly (they are extraordinarily ugly), I might say to her “发什么脾气呢" (what are you throwing a fuss about) as a joke.

Another fun fact: some nicknames for the Yingdu trio on Lofter are 鸟木哥, based on 枭, 非文哥, based on 斐 (both of these are deconstructions of their names), and 静脉哥, based the Mandarin term for Vein, as in the blood vessel.

English internet: I'm going to shorten this six-letter long name into two letters so it's easier to type.

Chinese internet: I'm going to lengthen this two-character name into three characters so it's funnier to type.