Cute girl meets handsome guy and falls in love at first sight! Follow along as she strives to win him over and have him return her affections!
It’s a cliche genre but I feel like they did a really great job with the casting!
Go Go Squid Episode 1 Recap Highlights:
- Male lead and female lead for the first time
- A little backstory on male lead’s past
- Comedic moments as female lead attempts to get male lead’s contact info
Hope you guys are excited because I am! Without further adieu, let’s jump into my Go Go Squid Episode 1 Recap!
The episode starts off with brief block of text that highlights how CTF is the largest company involved with internet security and how they have kicked-off several hacking competitions.
At least that’s what I think it said. T_T I’m soooo bad at reading Chinese! Blame my ABCness!
At this moment, we are led to believe that internet security is incredibly important in modern-day era because it’s an emerging field and the background of the main leads.
Singapore, hacking competition arena.
Merloin statue!
In the middle of a tournament competition, two teams are competing fiercely with each other.
It’s SP versus K&K.
Team K&K
As the two teams battle it out, we get introduced to the 5 members of the K&K Team:
Team Leader/Captain: Wu Bai
Sub-Attacker: Dai Feng (Demo)
Main Defender: Ling Shan
Sub-Defender: Zhou Yi
Planner/Analytics: Shen Zhe
But by judging the expressions on team K&K, the match doesn’t look to be favoring them.
Ling Shan turns to his captain, Wu Bai, who is solely focused on the screen in front of him.
More windows pop up and each one has various strings of text running to the edges of the window.
Zhou Yi also pauses to look over to Wu Bai.
Meanwhile, Shen Zhe stares at the flashing, red errors on his screen showing “Access Denied”.
He slams his hand down on the table in frustration.
Oh man, it reaaally doesn’t look good. K&K is losing. T_T
As Wu Bai continues to make additional attempts, a big red flashing “Access Denied” shows up on his screen as well.
He stares at the screen with a lost expression.
SP vs K&K Outcome
They have lost.
Han Shang Yan, the boss and founder of K&K, knows his team has lost.
He was watching over them the whole time, seated in the front row.
But when the announcer reveals the results, Shang Yan hunches over in frustration.
He clasps his head in his hands while letting a big sigh.
While in contrast, the SP supporting team members stand up with roaring vigor.
Celebrating their team’s success.
Shang Yan composes himself for a moment while he has his face down and then rises up to give the winners a loud clap.
He then gets up and walks off to leave the premises.
But on his way out, a woman from SP stops him and sticks out her hand for a handshake.
She also calls him “Lao Han” (aka Old Han – basically an endearing term using his surname).
But Shang Yan gives her a glaring look and continues to walk on without shaking her hand.
Hmm, I sense that there is some history between these two. Were they formally friends or something?
The woman stands still for a moment, stunned at his reaction. But then she composes herself and starts clapping for her team’s success.
It’s revealed that this woman is codenamed: Appledog and is the team manager of SP.
She then looks over and locks eyes with Wu Bai.
Wu Bai looks away seeming ashamed and gets up from his table.
And Appledog seems sorry for him?
Oh interesting, do we have another potential love match here?
SP’s team members raises the trophy and chants “SP” with rigor.
Celebrating their hard-earned victory.
Aww. Poor K&K, I’m sure this team is the underdog and will rise up again. After all, they are led by Han Shang Yan so they can’t be too bad right?
Heading Home
The K&K team is heading home in a large touring bus but there’s definitely a gloomy atmosphere.
It seems like the team members are blaming each other for the loss.
And no one is owning up to it.
Shen Zhe seems to be the most haughty one, blaming everyone else for not doing their roles properly.
While these guys are arguing, we see the female lead riding in front of the touring bus in a bicycle.
Listening with her cat-ear headphones.
So cute!
The touring bus honks at her until she moves over to the sidewalk and out of sight.
Back on the bus, Han Shang Yan explodes in anger.
Yelling at his team “ENOUGH!”
When he turns around in his seat to glare at Shen Zhe, Zhou Yi and Ling Shan, they stop arguing.
“You guys lost the competition and you guys are shameless enough to argue?” Han Shang Yan retorts.
Oh ouch. Shang Yan is harsh. But you can’t blame him. I’m sure he wanted his team to win too.
He continues to berate his team, telling them that they shouldn’t be satisfied with being second.
Because in a competition, there are only two outcomes: a winner and a loser.
Nothing else.
He gets up to leave the bus and his team members ask where he’s going.
Trying to convince him not to leave and that they know they were wrong.
Shang Yan probably wanted to take sometime for himself to cool off. And it’s interesting how the team members call him “Lao Da” (aka BigBro but in a less formal way than “Lao Ban”)
ML Meets FL
Shang Yan walks on the sidewalk while listening to a music app and we find out that the girl on the bike earlier is Tong Nian. (The female lead!)
Tong Nian is a college student studying computer sciences with an emphasis in internet security. (And the ML is the founder of a competitive hacking company, these guys are a match made in heaven!)
Tong Nian and the male lead end up in the same convenience store, Lawsons, but are not aware of each other’s presence.
Shang Yan is buying red envelopes and Tong Nian wants to buy snacks but they don’t have her favorite flavor: strawberry.
Strawberry is also my favorite flavor! What’s yours?
They don’t meet each other until Shang Yan decides to spend the night at an internet cafe.
Guess what? The closest one is where Tong Nian is helping out for the night!
Because her relatives own one.
Love at First Sight
When Han Shang Yan walks into the internet cafe through the transparent doors, we see Tong Nian at the counter with her head slumped down.
It’s late and boring manning the desk I guess. haha.
Shang Yan takes off his earbuds and asks for a night package.
When Tong Nian lifts her head to face him she is stunned.
Omigod, love at first sight!!!!
Tong Nian is so shocked that she gets up from her seat.
Meanwhile Shang Yan is still showing a grumpy face? (Maybe this is his natural look?)
He stresses his order and wakes Tong Nian from her reverie.
She recovers and asks for his ID. (I think this is pretty common for most internet cafes.)
Tong Nian checks him in and tells him that the night package is from 11pm to 6am in the morning.
Wow that’s late but a pretty good deal if you need to spend the night somewhere.
And that the internet cafe closes at 7am.
When Tong Nian looks at his ID, she gets his name and birthday.
He’s born on Valentine’s Day! And his license shows his grumpy face as his picture. Guess that is his natural look XD
Cupid’s Arrow at Work
She continues to tell him about the cafe, like how they have cup noodles for snacks and hints that she can make some for him.
Aww, she’s already trying to get his attention.
Shang Yan doesn’t seem to care though. He asks for his ID back and walks off to find a spot to settle down.
Tong Nian has fallen HARD. She even had a slow reaction when the ML asked for his ID back. ~(˘▾˘~)
Tong Nian trails after him and gazes fondly at a distance.
But another internet cafe customer mistakes her gaze for him.
Eww. As if Tong Nian could like you old man.
She realizes that and walks to another location to spy on him?
Meanwhile, Shang Yan found a corner spot and placed his stuff down.
He opens a bag of candies and puts them in a tin can.
But plops an unwrapped one into his mouth.
Tong Nian gazes at him from an opposite row.
She is definitely smitten.
So she decides to win him over with food and get his contact info.
FL’s Cousin
We get introduced to Tong Nian’s male cousin, Hu Dou Nan.
He normally runs the cafe for his parents but occasionally asks Tong Nian for help.
When he sees Tong Nian grabbing a cup of noodles and various snacks, he comments how she’s really taking advantage of working here.
He think she’s really hungry so offers chocolate.
And Tong Nian doesn’t hesitate to grab some to decorate the food tray.
Dou Nan thinks the presentation is ugly but Tong Nian goes to deliver to Shang Yan anyways.
She thinks it will capture the ML’s attention and make him want to befriend her at first sight.
But alas it didn’t work out that way.
Not only does the ML ignore her until she tapped his shoulder, her cousin jumped in and said that the food tray costs 30 Yuan.
Cousin’s Impression of ML & Side Support
Dou Nan thinks Shang Yan is just like any regular customer that comes to internet cafes.
And that there’s nothing special about him.
But Tong Nian ignores him so Dou Nan can’t help but want to help her out.
Dou Nan also calls her “Jie” (aka Sister) so I’m guessing they are pretty close.
So the two brainstorm on how to get his contact info.
Dou Nan suggests giving Shang Yan a free package at the internet cafe so he can come whenever he wants.
Tong Nian think it’s a great idea but adds that they spin the story like this:
- The internet cafe has a drawing going on and Shang Yan happens to win a free package for the cafe.
- But he needs to provide his Wechat info to claim the prize.
However, it turns out that this internet cafe doesn’t have a Wechat account.
For those of you not familiar with Wechat, it’s like the asian form of Whatsapp a communication app. Super popular in China!
Well Tong Nian isn’t a computer science major for show! She quickly makes an account and gives her cell phone for Dou Nan to convince ML to add his account.
Dou Nan tells Shang Yan about how he won the grand prize and it’s a completely free package at the internet cafe.
Shang Yan tells him he doesn’t need it.
Who refuses free stuff?
Anyways, Dou Nan tries different approaches to get Shang Yan’s contact info and with his persistence he prevails.
Man, Tong Nian, you’re lucky to have a great supporting cousin.
The Wechat account ends up being K&K’s Wechat account though and not Shang Yan’s personal account.
Which baffles Tong Nian, wondering what K&K is all about.
Falling in Love Makes You a Fool
When Shang Yan decides to check out for the night, Tong Nian was watching over him and sketching a picture of him.
He surprises her and she tries to make conversation while hiding the sketch.
But I guess falling in love makes you a fool.
Because Tong Nian didn’t know what to say to him.
And ended up saying that if he was an adult, saying up to 2am wasn’t too late.
She smacks herself and admonishes herself for failing to start conversation with him.
Tong Nian, you don’t need to say much because this ice-block is known for little words!
But the night ends on a relatively good note when she chases after him to give him back his ID and calls out his name.
More About the ML
Han Shang Yan grabs a taxi back to K&K headquarters which is basically where the team sleeps, eats and trains for competitions.
It’s late so everyone on the team is asleep.
When he leaves the taxi and walks into the headquarters, he shares some of his thoughts.
Shang Yan came back to China to establish a branch here and knows that the bigger the dream, the bigger the cost.
He worries about how he is going to help these kids accomplish their dreams because he knows there’s a lot of stress on their shoulders.
Because these kids want to become National Champions and want to give China glory.
The parents of these kids worry about this industry and wonder if it’s lucrative enough.
But he knows first-hand that the kids are talented.
And he knows they can win if they put in more effort.
The ML is such a caring person and a big softy. He’s definitely a tsundere.
Shang Yan heads into each room designated by numbers (they each look like the doors of a cargo box) and cleans up any mess left on the tables.
Then he acts like a mother hen as he checks on every one of them and sees if they are safely tucked in.
Before turning in for the night.
K&K Team Members
In the morning, the team members wake up and Ling Shan wonders if their BigBro came back last night.
If he didn’t, maybe he stayed over at a lady friend’s?
The whole group sneaks over to door number 1, where their Boss sleeps and tilts their heads close to the door.
As if they can hear movements coming through it.
Ling Shan is about to knock but changes his mind and asks Demo to do it.
Demo asks why and Ling Shan tells him it’s because he’s the youngest and least likely to get yelled at by their BigBro.
LOL, poor Demo. Always being bullied by his older bros. T_T
But before Demo even attempts to knock, Shang Yan opens the door.
The group scatters like flies.
Leaving Zhou Yi, Ling Shan and Demo to turn their backs, away from Shang Yan.
Somehow mustering some courage, Demo asks their BigBro where he went last night.
Shang Yan’s reply is not even a reply as he answers a question with a question.
But Demo states that he was simply worried about him and asks if he’s feeling better.
Awwww, Demo you are so cute!
Shang Yan gives him a glare which scares Demo into trying to leave.
Han Shang Yan receives a buzz from his phone and it turns out to be a Wechat message from “Fated Night Cafe” (the internet cafe from last night).
Looks like Tong Nian is already trying to contact him, sending him a weather forecast for today.
Ling Shan is surprised he started using Wechat. (I guess he doesn’t use it much?)
Apparently Tong Nian sent several messages but Shang Yan doesn’t reply which frustrates her.
ML & KK Team
The weather forecast proves to be true when the K&K team stops somewhere outside to do training and it’s raining.
But Shang Yan shows tough love, making the team members run in the rain.
We see more of the interactions between Shang Yan and his team to get a better understanding of what he’s like as a person.
When the team is done running, Shang Yan lectures them on how they need to work harder.
Asking them if they already forgot how they lost to SP.
ML & SP
But Demo touches a nerve, when he counters how losing to SP is not shameful.
Ling Shan stops him and closes Demo’s mouth before he can say anymore.
Shang Yan states that losing to SP is the most shameful thing they can do.
Okay, it’s definitely obvious Shang Yan has something against SP.
Shen Zhe pipes up saying that the reason is because Shang Yan doesn’t want to lose against Wang Hao (who’s the representative of SP).
Of course Ling Shan jumps in again and stops Shen Zhe before he can say anymore.
Shang Yan arrogantly tells his team that he doesn’t recognize the definition of losing.
So they need to always win.
After some more lecturing, he disperses them for lunch.
At some kind of restaurant.
It seems like everyone in K&K respects him because the whole team waits for Shang Yan before attempting to eat.
Even though they are all starving while staring at the delicious food.
But Shang Yan has other plans.
He tells Wu Bai to pass out red envelopes for year-end and to use his own judgement for how much to give for each of them.
Ohh so this was why he was buying red envelopes at the convenience store the other night.
Meanwhile, he gets a ton of texts from the “Fated Night Cafe.”
Wu Bai notices and offers to unsubscribe him. But Shang Yan refuses thinking it’s too troublesome.
He leaves the team in the care of Wu Bai while he goes off on a trip.
More About FL
Yaya, Tong Nian’s classmate and roommate wonders what’s wrong with Tong Nian lately.
Yaya tells her that she shouldn’t live life without experiencing some love in her youth.
Does she have a sixth sense? Cupid’s arrow already struck Tong Nian. LOL
Before Yaya can grill Tong Nian on why she’s been so tired lately, Zheng Hui shows up.
He’s a senior classmate of Tong Nian’s and is seen carrying two drinks.
When he arrives in front of Tong Nian and Yaya, it turns out the drinks are filled with Vitamin C.
Zheng Hui asks for a moment of Yaya’s time. Just for a few minutes.
Tong Nian has a silly smile on her face and she wonders if Zheng Hui has something “special” to say to Yaya.
But it turns out Zheng Hui wants Yaya’s help on how to confess to Tong Nian.
And of course, Yaya agrees to help, because she thinks they are a perfect match.
Oh Yaya, if you only knew. ~(˘▾˘~)
ML’s Hometown
It turns out Shang Yan’s “trip” was to his old hometown.
He walks out of a taxi and stands in front of a small grocery store.
When he steps in and starts looking for someone, a voice tells him that he can grab anything and then put the money on the corner.
The voice continues saying they don’t accept Wechat pay or electronic payment methods.
Just cash.
Is this the person Shang Yan is looking for?
Shang Yan pauses in front of a guy squatting in the aisles, restocking some goods.
“I’ll buy you. How much?” The ML asks.
The man named Mi Shao Fei starts to tear up as he gets up to face Shang Yan.
We can assume they are old friends.
Shao Fei gives him a big hug and can’t help cry a little. (I guess it’s been a long time?)
Shao Fei grabs Shang Yan to go for a drink since it’s been awhile.
As they reminisce about old times, Shao Fei mentions that Shang Yan shouldn’t have retired back then.
He was borne to be a hacking champion.
They chill in the store for a bit to catch up but Shao Fei drags him out to eat and drink.
Meeting of Old Acquaintances
At the restaurant, Shao Fei seems to be looking for someone and Shang Yan wonders who else could be coming.
Shang Yan jokes if he’s going to meet Shao Fei’s girlfriend.
And the one who shows up is a man who looks like he’s a prankster.
Ou Qiang is surprised to see Han Shang Yan back in town and asks if he just arrived.
Shang Yan asks if his arrival is making him nervous.
But Ou Qiang doesn’t answer, instead mentioning that he’s not alone.
Who else is going to show up? O.o
Comments
I don’t know about you guys but I am hooked! I loved the expression Yang Zi expressed when she was showcasing how Tong Nian fell in love at first sight. It’s spot on.
Li Xian as Shang Yan is great. He exudes indifference and arrogance naturally and the many different sides of Shang Yan well. He can joke with Shao Fei, be a mother hen with K&K and snub Appledog. I want to continue seeing how he will weave the complexity that is Han Shang Yan.
Lots of mysteries hinted on throughout the show! Old bonds and new, what’s the deal with SP & KK? Why is there animosity between the two teams?
Guess we’ll find out as we watch more!
What were your thoughts about the show? Leave a comment below!
i want a this t-shirr
Hi Shafi, which shirt are you referring to? The KK team shirt or Tong Nian’s hoodie/sweatshirt?