{Until Episode 10} Character Perspectives And Assumptions EXPLAINED

Hello Everyone
I initially put most of this text in the comment section. Going through comments I realized a lot of people weremisunderstanding or misinterpreting Chi Cheng's character, his motivations and his perspective. Someone suggested that I put my explanation in the thread, so here it is.

Part 1 :

CHI CHENG's BACKGROUND and PERSPECTIVE

- He is GAY. He is a rich and powerful heir to a substantial Machinery, construction and real estate empire.

In Asian cultures, this means that your business dealings are half above the table and half below them, if you know what I mean. So morality is not something such an heir would be raised with. You can either be very good with PR, networking and Social Skills, or you can be Ruthless, domineering, intimidating, and extremely SHARP to be able to Run such a business, practically a gangster in all but name. In the Novel, his father forces Chi into Civil Service (police) but in the Drama it's business.

- You can see from the few interactions CC has with his parents that even they are intimidated by him. His father though powerful in his own right, is also intimidated by his Son. 

I don't know if I am remembering correctly and I am unable to confirm it but in a Q&A like 10 years ago, Chai Jidan stated that CC himself has huge personal wealth that he has directly inherited from his Grandfather and is not totally dependent on his parents for money. Even though I cannot confirm about CC's wealth. I think there is a reference to this in the drama 2 times so far. First time when we first see CC's father. He offers CC money in exchange of the Snakes and CC answers him with "You can take my Money". This happens again when his father comes to visit him when WSW is in the hospital. CC informs his father that he is starting a business with his friend. 

 CC also has a brilliant mind for Business and control and was exceptional academically. So the only thing his father can really control him with is the thing he does control him with, and that is the SNAKES. And that too is because of the Gay rumors going around about CC. He is their sole heir and you know what that means.

- It is established early on that CC has a ruthless habit of meeting a betrayal with 10X worse punishment. *Cue the infamous and ridiculous Gangrape scene*
But also his dealings with Guo Cheng. It's been years and he still holds a grudge.

- Chi is also very domineering sexually and extremely attractive physically with Hyper sexual tendencies. As beautiful and rich as he is, and the circle he moves in. Availability of sex and sexual partners is not an issue for CC. 

Which then brings me to......

Part 2

Chi Cheng X Wu Suo Wei:

Chi Cheng's first 3 encounters with Wu Suo Wei are totally accidental. A hand of fate. But initially WSW assumes that it is Chi Cheng's intentional doing. Which sets off the whole chain of events of the story. 

For Chi Cheng, here comes this ridiculous Boy, so innocent and Naive trying to seduce CC. Chi Cheng in all his brilliance cannot tell the reason behind the SEDUCTION. I mean who could, in their right mind even think of the reason WSW is trying to bait him is YueYue? Because CC definitely does not give any importance or even looks at YueYue enough to figure out that that might be the reason. So he is confused. 

Of course, the boy is cute, and has this Joie di Vivre, that CC cannot look away from as in his circle he does not come into contact with that. And then... for the first time in CC's existence, the boy is GIVING Chi, stuff! Candies and Snacks and lollipops, and sugar-blown candies and Bao cream and just showing up everywhere, shaking his perky little butt at Chi. And Chi knows something is up with this stupid boy who does not even know that he is practically baiting a King Cobra. But he likes the intrigue of not being able to figure out why he is being played with. This boy is trying to impress him with reading books he does not understand. And doing anything possible to stop Chi from meeting his Fake Girlfriend. This boy, that even Xiao CuBao is in love with immediately.

CC is head over heels before he realizes it. First it was just lust, but now it's more and he is surprised at his own control. The push and pull is promising a grand prize in the end, but this ridiculous boy will not let him have it. Anytime there is even a chance of Chi slipping out of his grip, this boy will pull with all his might, but the moment Chi steps towards him, the boy would run off. Cue "I don't know if I like men, I only know that I like you!"

And remember, this has been going on for MONTHS now.
And Chi has gone without SEX for months now because of this boy.
Who is seducing him still, but still won't let him touch.
And Chi cannot bear to just take what he wants by force.

So he sometimes slips. He is human after all, and there is only so much a guy like him can take.
I hope this now gets you into Chi's perspective of the events so far, and why he would go threatening Xiao Shuai to push WSW to make up his mind and commit to Chi, both romantically and physically. It's not entirely a good thing to do, but then Chi never was a good person and desperate times call for desperate measures. That Dancing and singing in the bar scene is where it comes to head for Chi. He can tell WSW is conflicted, even though he keeps telling Chi he likes him. This boy would cry at the thought of parting from Chi, but will not commit.

As another user pointed out,  It comes to a head for CC when WSW says that he wants to break up.  

"I would like to add that CC also brings the threat to JXS after WSW told him they should break up (which he did out of guilt). He absolutely does not want to break up with WSW. And he brings it to JXS because JXS is WSW's "shifu" and he *knows* that JXS has been scheming with WSW and coaching him on the gay stuff, so he is best poised to influence WSW in the right direction (from CC's POV). But he also knows they're friends, so he uses his bad reputation as a tool to threaten JXS, because otherwise, why would JXS betray WSW? And it worked once before, when he threatened JXS into revealing where WSW's home was."

 (Thanks to Aprillen) 

Part 3 

Wu Suo Wei's Sexual awakening and Chi Cheng. 

Now you have to remember first and foremost. WSW, actively baited CC from the get go SEXUALLY. From wearing that crop top and posing outside of his club, a throwaway scene most people look over. To the basketball playing. They have not shown it that much in the series, but it is implied that there is a lot more seduction going on with basketball playing. So at that point, CC knows he is being baited sexually. Now why would anyone assume that same-sex person who keeps blatantly baiting you, in a not-so-subtle manner either is Straight?
I mean generally, even if there is an ulterior motive behind such a seduction, you would not assume that person to be not the sexuality that they are presenting themselves to be right?
So by the time WSW confesses that he does not know that he likes MEN but he only knows that he likes CC. At that point in story,
- CC has fallen for WSW already.
- They have gone on a date.
- WSW is showing jealousy towards Yue Yue, which Chi assumes is because of him.
- WSW has trained and invested in SNAKES as a business, which CC assumes he is also doing to get closer to CC.
Now add all this to that Love-confession.

So It's fair for CC to assume that WSW is in the closet.
WSW has not shown any interest towards women since CC has been observing him.
CC has waited for over a year now to get WSW into his bed, but WSW just keeps side-stepping. WSW definitely has feelings for CC which are not PLATONIC, both we and CC can tell.

Long story short - CC does not think that WSW is STRAIGHT at all. And WSW is not STRAIGHT also. JXS also does not think WSW is straight. ONLY WSW himself thinks he is STRAIGHT because he is stubborn and being GAY was never part of his plan for his life. WSW is **added in edit**our adorable idiot. And were he not so simple, yet complicated and stuck with his own complicated feelings for Chi Cheng, well, the story would not exist. **added in Edit**

Hope this explains and clears up some confusions so far. 

Ciao! 

LOL... You and Chi Cheng both.  

Me calling WSW an idiot was meant adoringly as well. May be I should have mentioned that, I shall do it now.  I have yet to write my character perspective of WSW. I adore him as well. This story would not mean anything if Wu So Wei, our protagonist was not at the center of it.  He is a dork. And he can be extremely sharp, yet extremely naive at the same time which frankly makes this such a hilarious yet a ride full of heart.

So please, I want to hear more from you about WSW and what might be the reasons behind his relationship breakdown with Yue Yue and if he ever was truly straight? 

I also think it is important to add that, just as CC is the sole heir to the empire, Wu was the only boy in his family as well. While he grew up poor, it was likely ingrained in him from childhood that it was his responsibility to marry and have children to continue the family. 

A few things I would like to add, from the book, that I think are relevant as well is:

With Yue Yue and WSW:

When they met, he was an athlete, and his appearance was what drew her to him. However, she'd told him that skinny men don't appear 'secure', so he stopped working out to please her. He also sacrificed literally every dime he had for her, and occasionally burrowed money from his mother to give YY things. One instance in the book was that he saved every paycheck for months to get her a phone she wanted (but didn't need), while his own phone was broken. She also was prone to threaten to break up with him. This is why he didn't initially believe her when she said it this time. My take on YY and WSW's relationship is that she was likely emotionally and mentally abusive and manipulative. In the book its not stated that she was already cheating on him, but its likely that when she made the decision to really break up with him, she already had another guy in mind. 

I think Wu comes across like he is completely reliant on CC to start his business, but actually Wu is really good and hardworking when it comes his business. His pursuit of CC shows he is actually quite cunning and intelligent. But his mother never wanted him to start his own business, as she viewed it as unstable. She thought it was much better to work for an established company, just collect his paycheck and focus on starting a family without striving for anything better.  I don't know if they will do this in the show, but in the book WSW never tells his mother about starting his company or how wealthy he becomes, believing that she would think he made a bad move. 

So between his devotion to YY and his mother, its easy to see why it took him so long to grow in confidence or apply himself. 

WSW and his sexuality:

While Wu does maintain for a major part of the book that he is straight, but by the end of the book he basically says 'I'm not gay and I don't know that I am bi either. I mostly prefer women, and am so-so towards men.' I take this to mean that while he has finally accepted that he finds some men attractive, since he has chosen to spend his life with CC he sees no point in exploring this further.  I think the show will deviate here since this is a romance, is how it shows that Wu isn't just attracted to CC. Once that door is opened for Wu, he actually admits to being attracted to 2 other men in his life. On one drunken occasion, he even states that if he and JXS hadn't met CC and Guo, he thinks he would've ended up with JXS. So, it is most likely that even without CC in his life, he would've figured out he wasn't straight eventually.

 favour.a:

" Wu, he actually admits to being attracted to 2 other men in his life" Who are they?? because I know Wang Shou brother was attracted to him,just curious.....

Well.... *admit* isn't the right word..... while drunk in an extra chapter he spilled to being attracted to JXS..... and then he had very strong reaction with a toy, CC put in him when around WZ.