—A scrapped origin story for Shen Yi’s watch from the screenwriter’s drafts ⋆𐙚 ̊༉‧₊˚
“The origin story of Shen Yi’s watch was originally just a self-indulgent plot bunny—something I thought up, enjoyed for a bit, and never meant to be taken too seriously.”
“At first, I wanted to write it as a crossover side plot with the Economic Investigation Unit, but since it didn’t quite connect cleanly before and after, I eventually dropped it.”
That said, this is how the story goes:
“The Economic Investigation Unit had been tracking a female gallery executive for a long time. She was suspected of laundering money through auction houses by selling fake paintings, and they needed to identify exactly which fake piece was being used.”
“For that, they turned to Shen Yi”
“Shen Yi knows art but doesn’t know how to tail people.”
“Du Cheng knows how to tail people but doesn’t know art.”
“So the two of them were bundled together—buy one, get one free—by Director Zhang and shipped off to assist the Economic Investigation Unit.”
“They exchanged a look of mutual resignation and sacrificed their weekend plans to begin the operation.”
“What no one expected was that the gallery boss and her secretary didn’t head straight to the auction house. Instead, they went shopping at luxury boutiques.”
“Shen Yi and Du Cheng had no choice but to trail them, while the Economic Investigation Unit waited outside in the contact vehicle.”
“Once inside the store, the two women went on a shopping spree. Shen Yi and Du Cheng could only stand there watching, awkwardly empty-handed and painfully out of place.”
“Du Cheng asks the team in the car what to do now”
“They replied: "Tail them, don't go shopping! We don't have the budget!"
“Possibly because they were too conspicuous, the two men without shopping bags still drew attention.”
“So Shen Yi calmly launched into professional-grade nonsense.”
“He chatted about art with effortless confidence, drifting from Madame de Pompadour to Fabergé, smoothly confusing everyone in earshot.”
“His message was simple: nothing in this store meets my standards. It’s not that I don’t want to buy—I just don’t like any of it.”
“Every sentence sounded reasonable. Every word landed perfectly.”
“The sales staff were dying to usher this living embodiment of Yama straight out the door.”
“That was when Shen Yi noticed something odd: the gallery boss bought a luxury watch, but the price didn’t match its actual market value—it was nearly a million more”
“After a moment’s thought, Shen Yi saw through it. The watch purchase was just a cover. The extra million was actually the auction deposit.”
“Shen Yi identified all the watches with a similar price discrepancy, picked one, and told Du Cheng to buy it.”
Du Cheng: “I’ll buy it and let the Economic Investigation Unit reimburse us.”
Economic Investigation Unit: “Are you two trying to fleece the socialist system?”
Du Cheng: “We’re about to lose the target.”
Economic Investigation Unit: “We can’t come up with that kind of money on such short notice. Applications take time.”
“Du Cheng calmly pulled out an unlimited credit card.”
Economic Investigation Unit: “…Okay, rich guy.”
Du Cheng: “It’s yours, actually.”
Economic Investigation Unit: “Don’t lose the receipt—we’re returning it.”
“Du Cheng swiped the card with heroic flair. The moment the transaction went through, Du Qing called.”
Du Qing: “What did you just do that you just spent several million?”
Du Cheng: “Bought a watch.”
Du Qing, deeply skeptical: “With your taste? What kind of watch could you possibly buy? Did you get scammed? Have you downloaded the National Anti-Fraud app?”
Du Cheng: “Shen Yi picked it.”
Du Qing: “Oh! If Xiao Yi picked it, then it must be excellent! Let him buy more!”
“Later, the two successfully located the fake painting at the auction, handed the evidence over to the Economic Investigation Unit, and promptly vanished.”
“Shen Yi took the receipt to return the watch. When he handed it back, his eyes were full of quiet resentment and unmistakable reluctance.”
“After the refund went through, Du Qing called again the next day.”
“Why did the money come back?”
“Du Cheng explained the entire story from start to finish.”
“The following day, Du Qing dragged Shen Yi out shopping and directly bought him the same watch.”
She said, “Our family has money—we’re not short on cash. If you really don’t want to accept it, then just paint me a picture instead.”
“So Shen Yi painted a sibling family portrait for Du Qing.”
“Meanwhile, Du Cheng, who could never sit still, was forced to model for an entire day—strengthening sibling ties and delivering a nonstop monologue about his sister’s lifelong oppression.”
“So yeah, that’s basically the story. Since it never made it into a full script…”
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