Xie Xuan's Unrequited Feelings for Gu Huaian

Xie Xuan's Unrequited Feelings for Gu Huaian form a sharply exposed secondary relationship in which long-standing devotion meets an unequivocal lack of reciprocity. Xie Xuan has liked Gu Huaian since childhood, while Gu Huaian regards her neither as a romantic partner nor as someone who fits his preferences. Her attachment becomes most consequential after his accident, when she attempts to turn his memory loss into an opening for herself; instead, the crisis makes her one-sided hope visible and reinforces Gu Huaian's commitment to Shen Tang.

Background and Emotional Imbalance

Xie Xuan's feelings are presented as longstanding rather than sudden. She has liked Gu Huaian since she was a child, and her family connection gives her continued access to him through her brother, Xie Yuan. That history supplies emotional confidence, but it does not create mutual intimacy. The relationship is therefore structurally unequal from the beginning: Xie Xuan interprets familiarity and proximity as grounds for romantic possibility, whereas Gu Huaian does not respond to her as a beloved or prospective partner.

The imbalance is intensified by the contrast between Xie Xuan's private expectation and Gu Huaian's actual relationship with Shen Tang. Shen Tang's marriage to Gu Huaian began through a marriage agreement: she was expected to appear as his wife at occasional family dinners, maintain the appearance of a loving couple, and receive substantial financial compensation, including a monthly payment of five million and a two-hundred-million settlement after the two-year term. Yet the formal arrangement develops into a relationship that Xie Xuan cannot displace merely by exposing its contractual origin. The agreement is a secret in the household, but Gu Huaian publicly identifies Shen Tang as his wife, and his emotional allegiance is directed toward her.

The Memory-Loss Opportunity

Gu Huaian's fall from a cliff and subsequent rescue by hikers create the immediate circumstance in which Xie Xuan acts. He strikes his head and loses his memory, and Xie Xuan takes advantage of the resulting uncertainty by telling him that she is his girlfriend. Her claim is not a misunderstanding produced by the accident; it is a deliberate lie designed to occupy the place left open by his missing memories. In this sense, the memory loss becomes a test of whether romantic attachment can be manufactured through narrative control.

The attempt is undermined by Gu Huaian's response. Although he has lost his memory, he has not lost his judgment. He lightly assures Shen Tang that he is not foolish and that Xie Xuan is not his type. His remark reduces Xie Xuan's supposed opportunity to a temporary deception: amnesia may erase biographical knowledge, but it does not automatically generate desire. The distinction is decisive because Xie Xuan can provide a story about their relationship, yet she cannot produce the mutual feeling that would make the story true.

Confrontation at the Hospital

The conflict becomes explicit when Xie Xuan enters Gu Huaian's hospital room without waiting for permission and greets him as her brother-like intimate, asking whether he is awake. On noticing Shen Tang and Gu Qing'an, her manner changes immediately, and she demands to know who they are. Shen Tang answers that she is Gu Huaian's wife, a statement that forces Xie Xuan to confront the relationship she has tried to replace. Xie Xuan reacts with shock and asks who she is supposed to be if Shen Tang is the wife.

Xie Xuan then appeals to Xie Yuan, throwing herself into his arms and asking whether Shen Tang's claim is true. Xie Yuan confirms that it is. Her distressed reminder that he had promised to help her exposes the existence of a prior plan, while Xie Yuan's attempt to cover her mouth suggests that the plan was not meant to be revealed in front of Gu Huaian and Shen Tang. When Shen Tang presses her about the statement, Xie Xuan admits that Xie Yuan had promised to deal with Shen Tang. The vague wording leaves the threat alarming, but the admission establishes that Xie Xuan's romantic pursuit is entangled with interference against Gu Huaian's wife rather than confined to private longing.

The confrontation also reveals how precarious Xie Xuan's position is. She arrives expecting the authority of an alleged girlfriend, but Shen Tang's calm declaration of marriage reverses the scene. Xie Xuan's confidence becomes public embarrassment, and her attempt to use Gu Huaian's memory loss against him exposes both her dependence on deception and her inability to control the room once the truth is challenged.

Rejection and Narrative Significance

Xie Xuan's most direct defeat comes when Gu Huaian states that he only likes Shen Tang. The declaration answers the question beneath the hospital quarrel: Xie Xuan is not merely unable to prove that she was his former girlfriend; she is romantically excluded by Gu Huaian's present desire. Shen Tang's embarrassment at the confession further marks the difference between the two women. Xie Xuan seeks recognition through an invented past, while Shen Tang receives an emotionally direct affirmation in the present.

Her disclosure of the marriage agreement briefly threatens to expose Shen Tang and Gu Huaian's secret. Xie Xuan insists that they married only by agreement and suggests that Shen Tang should release Gu Huaian so he can be with her. The revelation alarms Shen Tang and surprises Gu Qing'an, while Gu Huaian furrows his brow and rejects the claim as nonsense. Whether Xie Xuan knows the full circumstances or merely weaponizes a fact she has discovered, the information functions as leverage: she treats the contractual foundation of the marriage as proof that the relationship can be annulled in her favor. Gu Huaian's response denies that conclusion, showing that the marriage's origin does not determine its emotional present.

The relationship therefore operates as a contrast between possession and reciprocity. Xie Xuan has access, family familiarity, and a history of childhood affection, but she lacks Gu Huaian's consent and affection. Her actions move from concealed intervention to open pleading, yet neither strategy changes his choice. The episode gives her feelings dramatic force without validating them as a viable romance: the story acknowledges their persistence while making their one-sidedness unmistakable.