[Character Discussion Thread] Andy

[doctorskuld]

It's time for all of us to come together and discuss our favorite pouty fox, Andy!

All we know about him is that he's the owner of a bar and club that Tang Yi frequents, he's one of Tang Yi's closest friends, he's got a boyfriend (who is apparently even closer to Tang Yi than he is), and he and Tang Yi might have had a thing going back in the day.

He's also not going to refuse an opportunity to one-up Meng Shao Fei whenever possible.

There's not much that is ever verified in canon, but there sure can be a lot of speculation!

The first time we encounter Andy, he's hanging off of Tang Yi's arm at the same bar that Unit Three are staking out so they can catch a drug dealer. Meng Shao Fei becomes immediately jealous of Tang Yi's casual intimacy with Andy.



Andy and Tang Yi are so close and comfortable with each other that sharing a kiss is NBD, and Andy doesn't even complain that much that Tang Yi is obviously using him to get at somebody else.



Later that night, when Shao Fei and Tang Yi go out to have some midnight tea(?) (is that even a thing?), we see Tang Yi string MSF along for a while. MSF's disappointment is palpable until TY finally reveals that he and Andy are just friends. He even shows an adorable picture of Andy and his partner, which allays MSF's fears and reassures him that yes, TY is single and available.



We encounter Andy again later when he's meeting up with Tang Yi to give him some information on who really abducted them, but not before he riles up both Li Zhi De and MSF with one little smirk.



The show uses him masterfully against LZD and MSF both, before giving us one of the funniest exchanges in the series where there are three grown men fighting over Tang Yi's attentions.





He's a great narrative foil for MSF to realize that he does have a crush on TY and that he is, maybe, a little jealous, but there could be much more to Andy's character that we never get to explore.

Who is he? How did he and Tang Yi meet? How long have they known each other?

Andy's character is wide open for exploration in fandom, so let's get talking!

Comments

[doctorskuld]

Do we ever learn what Andy's BF does for a living, like we do with Dr. Jiang's (which is uh, geology, right?)?

I must have missed the geology thing? I thought that Dr. Jiang's boyfriend was working with some NGO, but I'm probably misremembering? (Was this in the novelization?)

I don't think we ever learn that Andy's BF does for a living, so we are all free to make up our own!


My headcanons:
Tang Yi floated Andy a significant amount of the start-up money to open the bar.

HEADCANONS ACCEPTED.

After Tang Yi and Meng Shao Fei get married, Andy frequently teases MSF about a foursome because it makes MSF's ears go red and he gets all flustered and defensive.

This is absolutely perfect and so totally what Andy would do.

I don't know if MSF ever decides to go for it, but if he does, it's to try to bluff his way out and then realizes that uh-oh, he's really really turned on by all the attention.

Just so you know, I would read the hell out of a foursome like that.

I'd love to hear ideas on how Tang Yi met Andy, and how he met Andy's BF.

I'd like to headcanons that Tang Yi and Andy are actually childhood friends, and that Andy's parents are former higher-ups in Xing Tiang Meng. I'd like to think that Andy's BF and Jiang Jin Tang joined up when they were in school, and they were like...this little gay mini-mafia running a lunch hustle in high school or something.

[clevermanka]

I must have missed the geology thing? I thought that Dr. Jiang's boyfriend was working with some NGO
I don't remember anything other than BF's away on business (in...Bali? oh dear) and he flies out (literally) in a jealous fit of pique. For some reason I thought this had to do with something? involving? digging? lololollll GUESS I'LL HAVE TO REWATCH IT.

Alas, I don't think I'm up for writing group sex where more than three people share pronouns. That sounds stressful af tbh. 😂

LOVE THE LUNCH ROOM GANG IDEA omg Tang Guo Dong would be so amused and fake-angry at finding out. (I bet Hong Ye's the one who starts it tho)

[doctorskuld]

LOL, you've found out my secret, which is that my brain completely shuts off whenever Jack and Zhao Zi aren't on screen, so I am really bad at side character details! 😆 Bali? Mali? Digging? ...anything is possible. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Oh no, you're actually right! Hong Ye is actually the one that starts the school lunch hustle, and she actually has all the boys working for her! Tang Yi keeps them in line (and threatens the ones who can't pay for their orders), but Hong Ye has the organizational scheme and schedule. It involves a rotating timetable for who takes the orders in the morning, who the money goes to, and who has to leave class early so they can go to the local cafes and restaurants and pick up the food without the teachers figuring out what's going on.

[clevermanka]

Cutest. Lunch Hustle. Ever.

[no_detective]

ahahaha, i must admit i had to rewatch that part of the last episode for the details. the good doctor's bf is in mali, and i think we inferred it was a dig of some kind bc tang yi relays andy's bit of gossip as "there's an english guy who's after your man, he insisted to share a tent with him" - i'm paraphrasing but that's what sets off the jealous reaction. :D

(i also remember that tang yi thanks dr. jiang at one point for his help and says something like "your family always comes through, and so do you" or something like that... so it's possible the doctor's family is/was connected to the mob at some point too?)

[clevermanka]

Mali! Thank you. Good to know I wasn't completely wrong on the details (which is handy, since I need that throwaway line in the fic I'm writing now).

[no_detective]

happy to help! i haven't even been able to read fic for over a month now, so anyone who's actually writing is bscly a GOD in my eyes <3

[litalex]

According to the novelization, the Doc hasn't told the object of his affections that he wants to be together yet. And i think they're distantly related or something. IIRC, the other guy is an archeologist digging in Mali, where a white dude is trying to share his tent. I forgot what goes on in the show (sorry, only watched it once).

Also, the doc has a similar name and same surname to some characters in the other History series; so more relations?

[clevermanka]

Archeologist! So much more romantic than a geologist 😆 Thank you.

[no_detective]

omg i am SO HERE for the doctor being secretly in love with an indiana jones character, lol

thank you for this info! (also i love your icon <3)