Episode 17 recap: Lei Ming was expelled, and Class 11 was disbanded.
Let's go back to the year 1999. That year, Lei Ming made headlines for being the top scorer in the college entrance examination. He was the pride of his entire family. In celebration, the teachers even prepared a banquet for Lei Ming's advancement. However, Lei Li Zhou, his father, was busy tutoring other students and couldn't attend the banquet. Lei Ming felt deeply disappointed because his father didn't show up on such an important day.
Although Lei Li Zhou's student, Lei Ming, got into college, their family didn't have enough money. When Lei Li Zhou went to borrow money outside, he ended up getting beaten up. Lei Li Zhou originally intended to save the money for his son's university education, but after giving it some thought, he decided to give the money to his student instead.
Now, Lei Ming, for undisclosed reasons, established Class 11 in the school, recruiting five students and utilizing the school's teaching resources. The purpose was to increase investment for his own business project. He kept this information hidden from the students and forced them to participate in some commercial activities. The school issued a warning and disciplinary action against Lei Ming.
Lei Ming wanted to inquire about the fate of Class 11, but the principal told him that he had no relationship with them anymore. Lei Ming returned to his office to pack up his belongings. Over time, Lei Ming had grown attached to the school, and he went to the classroom, reminiscing about the diligent students. Ultimately, he had to leave.
However, at the classroom entrance, everyone asked Lei Ming if everything was a lie. Jiang Qing Lang felt that Lei Ming definitely had some undisclosed secrets. Lei Ming gave them an explanation, but Cheng Yu Shan was angry and said that they studied seriously not for money. Everyone threw their money at Lei Ming, and he simply picked it up. Lei Ming warned them not to trust any teachers who were exceptionally kind to them in the future. Sang Xia told Lei Ming to leave quickly. Each person felt deeply hurt. Li Ran followed Lei Ming outside, and it started raining heavily.
After learning that they had been completely fooled by Lei Ming, Li Ran directly attacked him, and Lei Ming didn't fight back. He just picked up his things and left. Now that Lei Ming was gone, the school started considering whether to disband Class 11. Principal Lou naturally didn't want the class to be dissolved. Sang Xia pleaded with everyone to provide more information for the five students in the class, but Principal Gao decided to let them return to their previous class for now.
Although everyone had returned, they were all very curious about Lei Ming's situation. They went back to their original classes. Cheng Yu Shan continued sleeping in class and was scolded by the teacher. Cheng Yu Shan boldly claimed that he had already solved the problems on the blackboard two months ago and proceeded to write down the correct answers on the board, much to the surprise of the teacher.
After skipping class, Cheng Yu Shan encountered Yu Yang. He didn't want to study in his original class because of the classmates' bullying. In the evening, Lei Ming went to the hospital. Before entering, he heard his father shouting his name. When he went inside, he saw several doctors and nurses restraining his father. At first, he felt angry, but later he learned that his father was now unable to control his bladder and bowel movements and had to rely on a catheter. Lei Ming had no choice but to silently accept the situation.
Father is now suffering from aspiration pneumonia, coupled with Alzheimer's disease, which is a double blow to Lei Ming. It is very difficult for his father's condition to be completely cured. Lei Ming slept in the hospital corridor at night. In the morning, a nurse came over and told him that Lei Li Zhou wanted to see him. Lei Ming hurried to his father's side. His father coughed and said that he had something important to tell his son, but he couldn't remember what it was when the words reached his lips.
Sang Xia went to the nursing home to visit Lei Li Zhou but found that the entire room had been emptied. Cheng Yu Shan planned to go upstairs to have a meal and happened to overhear his foster parents discussing the idea of demolishing his small room. They suggested that Cheng Yu Shan temporarily stay in their room for half a year. Cheng Yu Shan didn't go upstairs but sat blankly on the stairs.
Cheng Yu Shan went to the bookstore and bought review exercises. Although Class 11 had already disbanded, they still studied together. At first, Cheng Yu Shan thought Li Ran wouldn't come, but in the end, he did. Over this period of time, everyone's grades had improved rapidly. Lei Ming had indeed been a great help to them. If he knew about their progress now, he would surely be very happy.
Li Ran hesitated to speak. He should know some inside information. Principal Gao went to see Manager Wang. In fact, they used to be married, but they had divorced. She thought that Lei Ming established Class 11 to secure funding from her ex-husband, and she thought she should inform him about it. Actually, Principal Gao could tell that Lei Ming genuinely cared about these five students. Even if they were really handed over to an educational institution, Lei Ming still gave a stern warning to the other teachers.
He truly cared about these five students, but the responsible teachers didn't take his words to heart at all.
Lei Ming has been patching up his life for 38 years, constantly striving and repairing. Suddenly, Lei Li Zhou grew old and developed dementia, forgetting about him. The students were handed over to Zhi Xiang. It seems like fate hasn't been kind to him, never truly affirming his worth.
Just when things were starting to improve a little, a bigger blow came, crushing his frail backbone, weighing down his shoulders, leaving him with thinning hair, and a face that appeared withered.
Let me point out a few things:
1. The details about Yushan's younger brother have already been set up. He helps his sister by pulling out a chair, interrupts their stepfather, and refuses to tell his sister about not having his own room. Later, when Yushan moves out and the disc incident happens, it's likely that the younger brother is siding with Yushan.
He's probably not a purely bad child and still has a conscience.
2. According to the usual plot design, Lei Ming's understanding should have been expressed by Sang Xia. However, it's unexpectedly Gaoxiao who speaks the understanding words.
Sang Xia has consistently been in an awkward character setting, and it's unclear what kind of complete character development the screenwriter has planned for her. But it seems we'll have to wait until Lei Lizhou's storyline unfolds to see Sang Xia's full character development.
The director wouldn't leave such a big loophole in her character setup.
Lastly, I want to praise Zhang Ruoyun's acting skills. Audiences can always trust his commitment to quality choices, and he never disappoints the viewers.