Guardian Analysis with Bay Part 1/(?)
Y'ALL *deep breath*
If it wasn't enough for me to be convinced that Zhao Yunlan proposed to Shen Wei just by going off of the English translation of the dialogue in episode 13 of the Chinese drama called Guardian, I just investigated the actual Mandarn script and analyzed each character in the dialogue, as one does to practice their Mandarin skills. My analyses are below. Please send healing thoughts because I have never been more emo.
-- Instead of saying "你 要 是," Zhao says "你要算是." This added character changes the verb meaning of "to be" to an adverbial phrase that means "at last," meaning if Shen Wei is giving Zhao the opportunity to call him trouble, Zhao is suggesting that there's more to their friendship than they actually communicate. At last, Zhao has the chance to declare his feelings.
-- In the English subtitles, Zhao says, he would "ask for the trouble," if Shen Wei was that trouble. In Mandarin, he uses the character, “结," which means "to bind or knot." I mean, how can that not be about tying the knot?!
-- Furthermore, Zhao doesn't just say he would ask for the trouble that is Shen Wei, he uses the character "托“ as in "holding in one's palm," so the implication is he wants to hold Shen Wei's hand "carefully, well, and properly" (好好).
-- Finally, he doesn't just say, that he would ask for the troubled Shen Wei to bother is whole life, he says "凡凡我这一辈子." “这“ means "now," as in this very moment. Shen Wei and Zhao are ironically at a WEDDING VENUE when Zhao says this.
-- In conclusion, "辈子“ doesn't just mean one's whole life, rather it means "their entire lifetime." With the intriguing suggestion of an inevitable intertwining of Shen Wei and Zhao's "red threads" aka their fated connection throughout the show, no one can tell me Zhao Yunlan didn't propose to Shen Wei in this scene.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk. <3
The English subtitles say “If you were the trouble, I would ask for dozens to bother my whole life.”