Episode Summary
In the first episode, the boisterous Lin Yingtao and the reserved Jiang Qiaoxi meet under awkward circumstances. Fearing he will expose her mischief, she tries to win his favor. However, after discovering the tragic reason for his family's neglect and his own sense of meaninglessness, she finds a powerful definition for his name and shares a special place with him, forging a genuine connection and marking the start of their bond.
Spoiler Alert
"Our Generation" Episode 1: A Tale of Two Names
The story begins by introducing Lin Yingtao, a spirited and mischievous girl who, despite being a handful for her teachers, is cherished at home. She's the leader of her own little crew. One day, her attempt to sneak some books from the library is thwarted when she runs into Jiang Qiaoxi, a quiet boy she’s never met. She makes a quick escape, only to find him in her living room that very evening. It turns out Jiang Qiaoxi's father is her dad's new boss, and he is transferring to her school, Qunshan Elementary.
Worried that the quiet and reserved Jiang Qiaoxi will expose her attempted theft, Lin Yingtao's entire attitude shifts. Fearing she'll be "taken away," she begins to treat him with excessive kindness, even instructing her friends to be nice to him.
Lin Yingtao takes it upon herself to show Jiang Qiaoxi around their small company town, introducing him to her circle of friends. There's Du Shang, who lives with his mother; the tough Qin Yeyun, whose slaps are notoriously painful due to her "broken palm" (a palmistry term); Yu Qiao, from a large and crowded family; and Cai Fangyuan, a boy who loves good food. She also points out Qin Yeyun's father, Uncle Qin, who runs the local shop after a leg injury and practices qigong, which she finds amazing.
The episode reveals more of Yingtao's imaginative personality through an anecdote. She once wrote in a school essay that she was going to die after an encounter with a snake that jumped higher than her—a local superstition she'd heard from older kids. Her terrified teacher, Mr. Zhang, rushed to her house, only for everyone to reassure her that there was no truth to the silly tale.
The central conflict of the episode emerges from a school assignment: to share the story behind one's name. While all the other children have meaningful stories, Jiang Qiaoxi has none. At a dinner with both families, his father casually explains that the child was unexpected, and he simply plucked the name from a poem in a newspaper without much thought.
Later that night, Lin Yingtao overhears a heartbreaking conversation between her parents. They reveal that Jiang Qiaoxi's parents had a firstborn son, Jiang Mengchu, a child prodigy who died young. They had spent months choosing his name. Devastated by the loss, the couple nearly divorced and remain emotionally distant from their second son, Jiang Qiaoxi, whom they seem to treat as a replacement. His father doesn't even remember his correct birthday, his mind still fixed on his lost first child.
Deeply moved by this revelation, Lin Yingtao looks up Jiang Qiaoxi's name in a large Chinese dictionary. The next day, she takes him to her favorite spot, a mountaintop with the best view. She tells him the meaning she found for "Qiao": a high, pointed mountain. She wanted to share the beautiful sunset she had once seen from there with him. Although it begins to rain, obscuring the view, the gesture is not lost. As the rain falls, Jiang Qiaoxi asks her to describe the sunset to him, a quiet moment that marks the true beginning of their friendship.
