@dramalava, explanation in the comments.

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    In the novel, the relationship between Lan Zhan and Wei Ying is definitely not just friendship, but because China has banned all homosexual content, the drama had to walk the friendship/romance line very very carefully in order for their work to see the light of day.

    That said, they did a fantastic job of bringing these two characters and the nature of their feelings for each to the screen and this is just one example.

    How did Lan Zhan recognize Wei Ying? Here we go.

    Remember in the cave after they killed the giant turtle monster and WY was exhausted and feverish, and Lan Zhan was doing his Lan Zhan magic to heal him? WY asks him to sing because the cave is too quiet.

    Lan Zhan begins singing, but we viewers are given a montage of their relationship to this point as the song plays. It’s a pretty great song btw.

    Anyways, we’ve heard this before. Where? Well, in episode 2 when this happened:

    That’s a song only the two of them know. Lan Zhan recognizes Wei Ying because he’s playing the song Lan Zhan sang to him in the cave.

    Why do I say the drama did a good job of telling us that this was a romantic relationship? Let’s go back to the cave.

    As Wei Ying is fading into unconsciousness, Lan Zhan tells him the name of the song:

    Wangxian

    If you read his lips, you can clearly make out that he is saying Wangxian. Lan Zhan wrote the song for Wei Ying. It’s his confession of love, and that the production was able to slip this into the drama and not have it censored is masterful. But if you hadn’t read the novel, it was easily missed.

    I hope this helps.

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      Wangxian, if you don’t quite understand, is a combination of their names: Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian.

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        In the BTS of this scene, Yibo asks director what the song is called.. and he gets his script and both XZ and LWJ are discussing it..

        they clearly say wangxian multiple times in their mutual discussions 😛

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    Thank you so much!! I will start reading the book shortly. I appreciate the link 🙂

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      You’re welcome, and welcome to the fandom. Enjoy the book, but be aware, the extra chapters have some very explicit content, so if that is not something you enjoy reading, you can easily skip that.

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