Episode 5.5

> "Not searching for unusual subject matter but making the commonplace unusual."
>
> -Edward Weston, Quote in the episode title card

***Marrying by Contesting*** (Chinese: 比武招亲 *Bǐwǔ Zhāoqīn*) is the 5.5th episode of the first season of Link Click. It is a special episode unrelated to the main story line.

## Synopsis

In return for beating them at a fighting game, the duo must do a job for Qiao Ling. Liu Siwen wants his girlfriend’s hand in marriage, but must defeat her father in a martial arts duel to receive approval. Not being from a martial arts family, he finds it difficult, especially so thanks to a special move the father keeps using. Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang attempt to discover the secret to the technique to no avail. Worried that another suitor will take her hand in marriage first, Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi understand Qiao Ling’s imperatives that the job be done soon. It is revealed that Liu Siwen is now elderly and teaches at a dojo Qiao happened past, and the trio help the elderly man ascend the stairs to confront his girlfriend’s, Ouyang's father again. He collapses before the fight, and asks if next year they can fight at the bottom of the stairs. The father concedes defeat, realizing that his rejection has not been beneficial to his daughter or grandson.

## Plot

Liu Siwen makes his way up an exhaustively long flight of stairs reaching far up into the sky, wondering what the hardest thing about love is. He thinks to a past experience in which he overhears some female classmates discussing their horoscope. Out loud, one of them mentions that Virgos will have bad luck that month and that Capricorns will meet their soulmate. She excitedly asks who amongst them is a Capricorn, and at that moment, Liu Siwen walks by them. They single him out as a Capricorn, but he quickly runs away in embarrassment while they laugh. He continues traipsing up the staircase and begins thinking about the first time he met Ouyang. She kicks a man twice her size down to the ground as Liu Siwen looks up at her in awe, with his face battered and bruised. Bleeding from his nose, he asks her to be his girlfriend. Ouyang starts, taken aback. Moving on from all these thoughts, the Liu Siwen on the stairs trembles in fear before the menacing aura emitting from the top of the stairway, one coming from Ouyang's father himself.

Cheng Xiaoshi and Qiao Ling are fighting each other in a lava-streaked cavern. She lands multiple kicks and punches on him while he continues missing. In a moment of reprieve, Cheng Xiaoshi runs at Qiao Ling, implementing his "Wheelbarrow" move. She is pushed back, but she wastes no time in grabbing his shoulders and flinging him behind her. A large "K.O." appears on the screen and the real Cheng Xiaoshi groans in defeat. He complains about the low CPU but hands the controller to Lu Guang to give him a chance. Lu Guang dismisses it as child play but begins the game with a serious expression. Not even a minute later, Lu Guang is completely knocked out without having made any hit on Qiao Ling. Trying to lessen the blow of his defeat, he tells Cheng Xiaoshi that he doesn't hit girls. Qiao Ling laughs at the two, but sighs because she doesn't believe the two can succeed in their next mission. Cheng Xiaoshi bounces back excitedly, asking her for details.

Qiao Ling describes it as "a man who has fallen in love with the daughter of a martial arts family and has confessed his love to her multiple times." But the father of the girl is an unrivaled master who won't let anyone marry his daughter unless they can beat him. Even though their client, Liu Siwen has tried multiple times, he has always been beaten due to the old master's "unique set of skills". Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang's goals are to figure out the trick behind it in order to let Liu Siwen marry Ouyang. Qiao Ling puts down a picture of the couple on the table, one taken before Liu Siwen goes to fight. She warns them that he doesn't have many chances left to confess, before leaving them. Cheng Xiaoshi asks Lu Guang why he couldn't just find out the skill through his ability, but Lu Guang says it's too much of an intuitive thing so he needs Cheng Xiaoshi to enter it anyways.

Liu Siwen snaps a picture of him and Ouyang posing together on some shop chairs. He calls it an engagement photo, joking that he will succeed this time and gain her hand in marriage. Ouyang just looks down and calls it unlikely. Liu Siwen tries to cheer her up by saying that he has practiced a lot of secret skills and that he was sure to win this time. They both remember Liu Siwen's first attempt at a proposal; when he finally got to the top of the stairs, all he could manage out was a "Ouyang! I've come to marry you!" before immediately collapsing form exhaustion. Ouyang's parents are appalled, but the girl blushes and laughs. Cheng Xiaoshi also dissolves into giggles, getting a slight reprimand from Lu Guang. Ouyang tells him not to shout this time, and then punches him when he promises to anyways. He brings out a flip phone with the evidence of Ouyang's confession to him, to which she grabs at it in vain, accidentally falling against Liu Siwen's chest. He smirks, calling it cute when she blushes. Lu Guang, listening, spits out his tea and reminds Cheng Xiaoshi not to improvise his lines. Ouyang warns him that her Senior has already proposed for her hand in marriage to her father, sobering up Liu Siwen. Lightheartedly, she says that she wouldn't accept it, even if her father allowed it. She says her goodbyes and leaves Liu Siwen alone to think. Cheng Xiaoshi remembers Qiao Ling's words about Liu Siwen not having many chances left, and Lu Guang also reminds him that each photo could only be used once.

Cheng Xiaoshi arrives at the foot of the mountain and stares up at the expanse of stairs in horror. Slowly, he clambers up one stair at a time, but is told by Lu Guang that he's taking too long. Already tired out, Cheng Xiaoshi groans at his turn of events, vents his frustration into the sky, and starts running up the stairs.

Lu Guang, after taking his time eating snacks, falls asleep. He's woken up by Cheng Xiaoshi when the photo-jumper has nearly reached his destination. Exhausted and sweating, he stamps both feet on the uppermost platform and shouts out loud.

> Ouyang! I've come to marry you!
>
>

Ouyang's father simply walks over and chuckles flatly. Liu Siwen approaches him as well, promising to beat him this time. Her father assumes a fighting stance and begins listing all the reasons why his family would never accept him. One, he wasn't from a martial-arts family; two, Liu Siwen was younger than Ouyang, something he deems inappropriate. Lu Guang instructs him to put his left palm forward and shield his heart with his right, but yells at him when he switches his left and right. Ouyang's father mocks him for not even being able to get the basic stance right, then charges. Lu Guang quickly directs Cheng Xiaoshi to deflect the blow, but he acts too slow and is punched in the face. As he falls, Lu Guang wonders why he's so bad at fighting while being great at basketball. Liu Siwen hits the ground hard but is immediately told to get up by Lu Guang.

Even though Lu Guang gives out multiple commands, Liu Siwen is unable to fight back against the blows Ouyang's father gives. Frustrated, Cheng Xiaoshi tells Lu Guang his talking is giving him a headache. Lu Guang simply says that Cheng Xiaoshi needs to keep with and predict the direction of the attack. Liu Siwen wipes his mouth and gets up, ready for more. Ouyang's father, getting more and more enraged, calls him frivolous and nothing like a decent marital arts student. Liu Siwen responds by calling him his "father-in-law", and stating that he can win even without a form. True to his words, Liu Siwen manages to evade the rest of the master's punches by ducking and swerving around them. Ouyang and her family watch in shock as he avoids getting hit. Lu Guang reminds him that he still needs to get hit, so Liu Siwen charges at the master while shouting, "'Monkey Steals Peach' move!". But as he stretches out his hand, his surroundings glow bright white and the master finally lands a uppercut that knocks him into the air. Lu Guang is stupefied, neither of them having any ideas as to what the killer move might be. Satisfied, Ouyang's father retracts back to his fighting stance.

Lu Guang implores Cheng Xiaoshi to try again and he runs back into the fight, ready for more. Senior, one of the master's disciples, thinks about the time when he asked permission for Ouyang to marry him. Her father approves of the him, but asks to be beat before he can go along with it. In his mind, the senior student likens Liu Siwen's struggle against the master to his own.

On the ground, Liu Siwen is battered a bruised, and still has no idea what the trick was. Weakly, he wonders if this was the end for him. Lu Guang, with an insistent face, tells him he needs to keep on going. In his thoughts, Liu Siwen remembers the moment when he met Ouyang, and the future that he wanted to have with her. These strong emotions help him stand up, even with a completely beat-up body. Ouyang runs to her father's side and begs him to stop if she promises to never marry anyone for the rest of her life. As she implores him to listen to her, Liu Siwen slowly lifts himself up from the ground. Ouyang's mother drags her back as Liu Siwen makes on final, desperate stand. He runs at her father, who lifts his fist in retaliation. it glows gold, and his vision goes white.

Cheng Xiaoshi appears back in the photo studio. Qiao Ling enters their room, asking if they've figured it out, only to see two dejected faces. Lu Guang breaks the bad news to her, but she takes it with composure and takes her phone out to message the client. Cheng Xiaoshi, on a whim, asks where Qiao Ling got the request from. Lu Guang is about to remind him not to ask but she answers before he can. The month before, Qiao Ling came upon a martial arts dojo and inquired within due to the recent spike of murders happening. As she's inspecting the room, the master of the dojo walks in. Revealing to be the present-day Liu Siwen, he invites her to take a look around, and there is where Qiao Ling learns of his ailment; Due to their families not being a good match, he has been unable to honorably marry the woman he loves. He begins crying, leading Qiao Ling to present a possible solution for him.

Liu Siwen arrives at the start of the staircase one more time. Kilometres above, Ouyang's father turns away from the staircase, telling his daughter to give up on waiting for him. He reminisces sadly about "the desired one" (Ouyang's Senior) who gave up too early, while the one who shouldn't have come (Liu Siwen) had finally gave up. All of a sudden, they hear a commotion by the staircase. Liu Siwen, supported by Cheng Xiaoshi & Lu Guang and followed by Qiao Ling, has finally arrived. Once again, he shouts his desire out loud. Step by step, he gains speed as he runs in the direction of Ouyang and her father. Running out of breath, he collapses right at the master's feet. Ouyang calls out his name is worry but her father looses his stance. The photography trio watch with bated breath as Liu Siwen makes out a few weak words.

> Next year, can we... fight at the bottom of the mountain instead?
>
>

Ouyang's father bends down and puts his hand on Liu Siwen's shoulder. He admits to loosing, and then lets his daughter run to her lover in relief and happiness. Cheng Xiaoshi and Qiao Ling run to the two as well, celebrating their reunion under the master's word. Ouyang's father stops at Lu Guang, who asks him why he waited that long to grant his approval. He replies that Liu Siwen and Ouyang's child was a martial artist too, of international skill, yet Liu Siwen could still never beat his child's grandfather, so how could he ever accept it?

In a flashback, Liu Siwen brings out his phone with Ouyang's confession on it. Ouyang's text says, "Waiting for you to come marry me". Liu Siwen's response is an agreement, and a promise to grow old together.

### Epilogue

Several Bilibili user-submitted stories and photographs were selected and featured at the end of the episode. The following is a translation of the stories:

妈妈愣了一下，笑起来说："可以吗！太好了，我的梦想就是穿学士服拍照！"
 17年，在外国。那里没有家人，也没有认识的国人，我感到特别孤独和恐惧。
但是开学第一天我认识了坐在旁边的Maggie。她是个广东姑娘，比我大一岁，但是却像个小孩子一样顽皮可爱，时不时用一些玩笑把我耍的团团转。
可是她又像个大人，厨艺好而且非常养生，给我做饭吃，还在我感冒的时候把国内带来的强力感冒药给我吃。
But on the first day of school, I met Maggie who sat beside me. She is a Cantonese lass, one year older than me, but is mischievously cute like a child. From time to time, she uses tricks to play me like a fiddle too.
 这张照片是拍摄于2020年高考前。没有一个人会预料到我们的高三下学期见面的机会只有两个月了。
看着那一个个熟悉又陌生的面孔，内心是五味杂陈的。好在还有两个月让我们好好地说再见。
 项链是一个认识快九年的同学送的，上面刻的是"爱是永恒的，它不会消失"。
他还送了《笑傲江湖》和《鹿鼎记》，还有一把大——伞。我开玩笑说："当我收破烂的吗？"
我把所有的都好好收起来，房间不大，还都是他的礼物。
He also gave me a copy of "The Swordsman" and "The Deer and the Cauldron", as well as a huu-ge umbrella. I jokingly said, "Are you treating me like a scrap collector?"
 去年三月的照片。疫情期间养老院不让进去，外公隔着铁栅栏和外婆说话。
今年三月的时候外婆走了。
想着最后一次去养老院的时候，我喊了好多声外婆，还能勉强得到一句回应，现在无论我在怎么声嘶力竭，也等不到一个回应了。
March this year, grandma passed away.
 这张照片是我在前往考场的路上随手拍的，手上戴的红绳是临走前班主任亲手帮我系上的，平时不苟言笑的他在这天也变得细腻温柔了起来。
 我家是重组家庭，今年过年，我跟妈妈来到遵义，恰逢情人节，妹妹说要去买花。
我想着7岁不到的孩子估计也就是为了一个好看吧，就给她买了。
她抱着花，跑过来说：姐姐，送给你。
I assumed that a little kid of not even 7 years old probably would like some flowers to look pretty, so I went ahead and bought some for her.
 高三结束的暑假，我们在她家的房顶上，弹琴唱歌。假期结束，她就会出国留学。我们将隔着五个小时的时差，当我这里的清晨降临，她那边的月亮才升上树顶。
"她会成为我的过去吗？"
现在是2021年5月，我们在一起4个月了。
有情人，时和空，从来都不是距离。
"Will she become my past?"
It's the May of 2021 now, we have been together for 4 months.
 当时是因为觉得奶奶的背影很可爱，像个小孩子，所以拍了下来。后来总觉得这副温馨的画面里面总少了些什么。
和她走了一辈子的人不在了，她唯一能够听到的声音逝去了，在无声的世界里过了大半辈子，现在真的只剩了寂静。
The person who accompanied her for a lifetime is no longer here, the only sound she can hear passed away. After a lifetime of living in a soundless world, now she really is left with nothing but a lonely silence.

## Trivia

* The events happening in this episode are not directly connected to the canon storyline, as Qiao Ling understands their abilities here but is supposed to be unaware of them in canon.