The Youth Memories finally ended, bringing with it closure to the characters involved. Until the end, Xiao Chun Sheng stuck to his beliefs and ideals. Although at times, he knew it would give him a disadvantage. But I suppose having a clear conscience was what matters to him the most.
The Youth Memories Ending Explained
The ending arc was set in the early 2000s. The healthcare company set up by Xiao Chun Sheng, Chunxiao Healthcare, flourished and became the leading and most trusted company in the domestic market.
At this time, Ye Guo Hua’s company, Hua Sheng, was doing well too and was planning to break through the international market in healthcare machinery. Hua Sheng just received a massive order from abroad and was in the process of carefully selecting among the local companies, one which met the standards and requirements laid out by the foreign client.
One such company that stood out was Chunxiao Healthcare. Ye Guo Hua, who has received Chen Hongjun’s guidance and care in doing business, had no idea that Xiao Chun Sheng was the one behind Chunxiao Healthcare. He was seriously considering to select Chunxiao Healthcare as the exporting partner to expand his business overseas.
Ye Guo Hua and Chen Hongjun thus planned to meet with the representative from Chunxiao to discuss their plan over lunch.
Needless to say, the two of them were shocked when they met with Xiao Chun Sheng instead. Guo Hua more so than Hongjun. The three childhood best buddies were now like strangers in front of each other. Both Ye Guo Hua and Chen Hongjun kept an unspoken jealousy and frustration towards Xiao Chun Sheng. But Chun Sheng was oblivious to it, he only wanted his best buddies back in his life.
The unexpected meeting brought them together and each updated the others of his own situation in life. Guo Hua and Hongjun learnt that the name Chunxiao was taken from Chun Sheng and Xiao Mei’s names. Guo Hua was still married with Hong Ling, as well as Hongjun was still married with Ye Fang.
The meeting was awkward to say the least. Chen Hongjun was overly friendly, treating Xiao Chun Sheng like how he would a normal, unknown potential business partner. Whereas Ye Guo Hua was a little cold, speaking in codes, expressing his displeasure.
In the end, Hongjun persuaded Guo Hua to give the order to Li Shang You.
But Guo Hua knew Li Shang You’s company did not have the capacity nor the technology to meet the standards and requirements for the order. So he disagreed to Hongjun’s suggestion. Cryptically, Hongjun told him that Li Shang You’s company will soon no longer have that problem.
Behind the scene, Li SHang You played dirty. He bribed and coerced Guo Hei Zi, who was working at Chunxiao Healthcare under Chun Sheng, to steal the core technology of their machinery.
Li Shang You threatened Guo Hei Zi that he would hurt Xiaohui if he didn’t comply. Li Shang You also promised Hei Zi that he will give him as much money as he needed to solve Hei Zi’s financial losses in the stock market.
So, knowing that he would break the trust that has been given to him by Xiao Chun Sheng and Qi Tian, Guo Hei Zi did Li Shang You’s bidding. Fortunately, the copy of the core technology which he stole from Chunxiao was not the latest one. The version that he leaked to Li Shang You was the inferior version. But this will be revealed later on.
Although Li Shang You’s company was able to meet the requirement at this time, Ye Guo Hua knew that this was done at the cost of harming Chunxiao Healthcare. However, after the many arguments and cold wars, He Hong Ling happened to ask for a divorce at this very moment. This pushed Ye Guo Hua to choose Li Shang You’s company for the overseas order, instead of Chunxiao.
After learning the situation at hand, Xiao Chun Sheng went to meet Ye Guo Hua at his office. He warned Guo Hua the dangers of dealings with Li Shang You, the risk he would be facing would be the downfall of Hua Sheng which Ye Guo Hua has painstakingly built over the years.
Blinded by jealousy, Ye Guo Hua dismissed Xiao Chun Sheng’s well meaning warning and argued that Chun Sheng just did not want to admit that Guo Hua was better than him.
Xiao Chun Sheng realized that Ye Guo Hua had deep resentment towards him, but it was not something he felt he was responsible for. So Chun Sheng left after letting Guo Hua know that he was only doing this to look out for Guo Hua. In the end, Ye Guo Hua declined his unwanted favor.
As the deadline to the order was coming to a close, it was revealed that the machineries produced by Li Shang You’s company did not meet the international standard agreed previously. The overseas company was disappointed and requested for compensation, while Li Shang You just washed his hands clean, trying to get himself away from the responsibilities set out in the contract.
Ye Guo Hua was in disbelief. Everything that Xiao Chun Sheng was warning him about was coming into reality little by little. Hua Sheng’s reputation was damaged and the company was on the verge of collapse. He tried to confront Li Shang You, but it was Li Shang You’s nature to snake his way out of liabilities and troubles which he had caused himself.
When Ye Guo Hua was at his wit’s end, Xiao Chun Sheng came and offered his help to replace the machines with ones made by Chunxiao Healthcare. He showed Guo Hua how the core technology stolen by Li Shang You was the outdated version. The current technology allows Chunxiao to meet the demands by the overseas client with no problem.
Ye Guo Hua was shocked, he did not think that Chun Sheng would lend him a hand during this time. He had thought Chun Sheng had come to mock him and prove himself to be superior. However, Chun Sheng reassured Guo Hua once again that he had always thought of Guo Hua as his best friend. The long resentment in Ye Guo Hua’s heart finally resolved.
With Chunxiao Healthcare’s help, Hua Sheng was able to get back on its feet. The overseas company was even very satisfied with the equipment that they engaged Hua Sheng for future orders. And so it seems everyone received their happy ending, or did they?
What Happened to Xiao Chun Sheng and Tong Xiao Mei?
Sticking by to one’s ideals and beliefs has awarded Xiao Chun Sheng and Tong Xiao Mei a happy little family of their own. Together they were blessed with a daughter named Bei Bei.
The last 2 episodes of the series showed Tong Xiao Mei dealing with a highly infectious unknown respiratory virus. Everyone had to be quarantined, demands for masks and healthcare equipment were high in the city, very reminiscent of the covid pandemic we had not too long ago. Not sure why this was included in the story. It could be that this was to match the timeline as in 2003 there was a severe SARS outbreak in Beijing.
Either way, this incident showed the strong bond and love that was shared between Xiao Chung Sheng and Tong Xiao Mei. It also gave a glimpse into the sacrifices made by employees that work at healthcare factories. It may have slipped our minds, but they also had an important part in making sure the healthcare needs in the city were met.
Perhaps it was because covid was not too far away in our memories, but I felt quite sentimental at this part. Although, I have to say, in the bigger picture of the whole story telling process, this incident did not fit into the plot to me.
What Happened to Ye Guo Hua and He Hong Ling?
After years of cold wars and cruel words cutting at each other, the couple decided to sit down and talk it through. He Hong Ling had decided for a divorce. But she also confided for the first time to Ye Guo Hua how happy she was that he loved her so. She also realized how selfish she had been.
She wanted the love that Xiao Chun Sheng offered but she also needed the comfortable life that Ye Guo Hua was able to give.
However, the moment Xiao Chun Sheng chose Tong Xiao Mei, everything ended for him and He Hong Ling. Ye Guo Hua believed her and he also took responsibility to the miscarriage of their child. If he hadn’t forced He Hong Ling to quit the military and started her music career in an orchestra where she had to work hard from the bottom, the baby would not have been lost.
Words of regrets came too late. Too many things have happened and He Hong Ling just wanted to set Ye Guo Hua free and start living for herself. They decided to divorce. Ye Guo Hua committed his time to work and expand his company in South East Asia while He Hong Ling enrolled herself in a music school in Paris, living her dream.
What Happened to Ye Fang and Chen Hongjun?
Ye Fang’s intuition of Chen Hongjun has proven correct over the years. Money and power got into his head. And the honest and timid Chen Hongjun began to change. Not to mention, he now also had some dealings with Li Shang You. Needless to say, Ye Fang’s view of Chen Hongjun decreased significantly over the years.
She minded how Chen Hongjun did Xiao Chun Sheng dirty, minded that he mingled with the likes of Li Shang You, minded that he abused his power and was involved in shady transactions at work. Ye Fang kept the evidences to his dirty deeds over the years and considered reporting him to the authorities.
Ye Fang confided to Tong Xiao Mei that she never loved Hongjun enough to really build a family together with him. That was why she always refused to give him a child. She knew this was unfair to Hongjun, but Ye Fang could not see herself building a family together with the ambitious yet small minded Chen Hongjun.
One day, she finally found a clue to Chen Hongjun’s double life. Turns out, he has had a mistress and together they have a 3 year old child. This was Ye Fang’s chance to divorce him.
Chen Hongjun was frustrated and felt that Ye Fang had been cruel towards him. Everything that he has done was only to increase his worth in front of Ye Fang. But Ye Fang was unmoved. She decided to leave and live for herself.
When Chen Hongjun pulled one last trick with Li Shang You to mess with Xiao Chun Sheng and Ye Guo Hua, Ye Fang submitted all the evidence of his crimes to the authorities. Chen Hongjun and Li Shang You were arrested.
Not too long after the divorce, Ye Fang met someone at the college where she worked as a professor. He was a fellow lecturer as well and it seemed their relationship was blooming.
What Happened to Guo Hei Zi and Zhao Xiaohui?
After Guo Hei Zi lost his temper and assaulted Xiaohui at work, she divorced him and left without a word. Hei Zi was not able to find her whereabouts for many years. However, this became Li Shang You’s way of finding Hei Zi’s weakness. He always threatened Hei Zi with Xiaohui, although in reality he didn’t know where she actually was.
After Guo Hei Zi betrayed Chunxiao Healthcare and gave the core technology to Li Shang You, Qi Tian decided to cut all ties with him. The company also reported him to the police. He was arrested and was put in prison for 5 years.
Zhao Xiaohui came to visit him during this time. Turns out, she has been in contact with Xiao Yanqiu over the years. So, she has always known about Guo Hei Zi’ situation.
Hei Zi apologized profusely to her and told her that he regretted everything he did. The thought of her getting hurt because of him, tormented Hei Zi over the years and he could not bear for her to be hurt even the slightest more. Xiaohui decided to forgive Hei Zi. She told him to go look for her in Hong Kong after he got out of prison.
What Happened to Xiao Yanqiu and Qi Tian?
Other than Xiao Chun Sheng and Tong Xiao Mei, this couple is the most compatible one in the series. They supported each other and became each other’s strengths. They found comfort in one another and made their lives happier by being together. It was heart warming to see.
I felt sad before when Yanqiu thought that she did not deserve love because of her age and background. But Qi Tian had a good eye to see someone’s true worth.
Both Xiao Yanqiu and Qi Tian worked at Chunxiao, they were one of the first investors in the company. Yanqiu handled the finances while Qi Tian was responsible for the production. The two remained happily married and lived harmoniously with their daughter, Qi Miao.
That was the end of The Youth Memories. Such a beautiful story of resilience and tenacity of youth. The scene ended beautifully of Chun Sheng and Xiao Mei walking hand in hand through their old neighborhood. It showed how the passage of time may change the people but some good things remain the same.
I hope you have enjoyed the series as much as I did. You can stop by to see The Youth Memories drama review, I also wrote it. And if you have not decided whether to give this drama a try, I strongly suggest you should.
