Today I’m going to
explain a Chinese fantasy film called “How Long Will I Love U”. Spoilers ahead!!
Gu Xiaojiao is a thirty-year-old woman living
in Shanghai. She was twelve when her millionaire
father passed away in an accident and she had
to move away from her childhood home. Ever since
Gu started to work, she has been trying to
earn enough money to buy the house again.
However, her lousy job doesn’t pay her well.
Then, we are introduced to Lu Ming,
a down-on-his-luck property designer. He is
desperately looking for a client to invest in
his ideas but hasn’t met with any success yet.
By the end of the day, both Ming and Gu return
home to their shabby neighborhood. Strangely
enough, they seem to live in the same apartment
in the same building. Gu puts her clothes in
the laundry while Ming cooks himself dinner.
After that, Ming starts to wash vegetables
in the sink and it somehow ends up in
Gu’s bathtub. Similarly, a loofa from her tub is
inside Ming’s sink. Strangely enough, her clothes
have landed inside his cooking pot and his dinner
is where Gu’s clothes are supposed to be.
Throughout the night, their belongings somehow
end up in each other’s apartment. They do not
think about it before going to sleep.
In the morning, Ming wakes up because of
a slap on his face. Gu’s room has merged with his
and turned into one single giant room. Initially,
they panic and think they are being burglarized.
But then, they register the condition of their
rooms which makes them more confused.
Outside Gu’s window is bright sunny
weather while Ming’s side is pouring.
The duo stands in front of their door which
has also merged. Ming goes first and opens
his side of the door. Outside is a world
that seems normal to him but shocking
to Gu. It turns out he is twenty-five
years old and lives in the year 1999.
How Long Will I Love U Watch Online
Gu quickly goes through her side of the door
and this time, Ming is surprised to see the
developed world of 2018. It turns out that
they live in the same apartment but in different
timelines that have somehow merged into one.
When they go out through MIng’s
door, they reach his world of 1999,
and outside of Gu’s door is her world of 2018.
Gu slaps Ming in the face to see if she is
dreaming. When it hurts him, it is clear to
both of them that their fates have entangled
with no possible explanation.
They try opening the doors at the
same time which causes the apartment to merge
further. Upon further inspection, they find out
they cannot open each other’s door and can only
walk through it when the other person does.
Gu realizes that in Ming’s timeline, her father
is still alive. She quickly makes her way to
her childhood home and sees her younger self
playing with her father. The sight makes her
emotional but when she tries to approach
them, the earth shakes and stops her.
At home, Ming also wants to see what happens
to him in the future. Instead of going out,
Gu gives him her laptop so he can
look himself up on social media.
Ming is amazed by the new technology but when he
goes to type his name, the ground shakes again.
They register that they cannot make contact
with their future or past selves since two of
the same person cannot exist at the same time.
At night, Gu plays music on the phone and orders
food through AI assistance. Ming is stunned
by everything that the new phones can do.
In the following scene, a group of wealthy
businessmen and scientists are in a meeting
about dimensional shifts. The scientist gives
an example of a disappearing plane to prove that
it traveled through time and dimension
before returning to its place of origin.
According to his research, a merge of the
dimensions has already formed in the city.
Now all they have to do is find the coordinates
to the place. The businessman plans to use the
dimensional portal to make money. We do not see
his face throughout the meeting but it is clear
that he is funding the research
to profit using the phenomenon.
At night, Gu and Ming cannot fall asleep.
Gu talks about her father’s death and the
impact it had on her. She only has his keyring
to remember him with after the house and all of
his belongings were taken away by loan sharks.
The following day, they go about their normal life
through the respective sides of their doors.
Gu is looking for a rich husband who can buy
her the house in exchange for her hand
in marriage. She goes on several dates
with guys but hasn’t found anyone who is
willing to fulfill her wishes yet.
Gu is on yet another blind date with a man
who seems to like her very much. When he
asks her what she expects in a relationship, she
shows him a virtual presentation of the house.
The guy feels like he is in a meeting
with a realtor which is definitely
not what he is looking for on a first date.
Then Gu meets a man from an online dating app.
She tells him her condition for marriage and he
happily agrees to it. It turns out the man owns a
farming business and is a millionaire. He is the
double of Gu’s age and talks like a pervert but
she still decides to give him a chance. He wants
to pay only half of the downpayment for the house
so it could be bought in both their names.
They go to an ATM to withdraw the money. Gu
goes first and hands the money to the guy
before sending him to buy a bottle of water.
But to her unfortunate luck, he turns out to
be a scammer who runs away with her money.
She has to stay outside the bank for hours
before the police arrive and investigate.
Ming, on the other hand, is enjoying a snack
inside a bathroom stall. He overhears the CEO
of his company and his manager talking about
an upcoming business. After the CEO leaves,
the manager Zhao reveals he plans to steal all
of the CEO’s money and make him go bankrupt.
A few seconds later, he realizes someone is
listening to their conversation and pulls
Ming out from the bottom of the stall. To keep
him mute, Zhao offers to loan him the money
that he desperately needs for his business.
Ming asks for some time to think about it.
Sometime later Ming goes to manager Zhao
who wants to fire him. He has realized
that Ming has no evidence to prove that
Zhao is planning to betray the CEO. Still,
instead of begging for himself, Ming is worried
about the CEO going bankrupt. Zhao calls him a
loser for thinking of others above himself.
The next day Gu is at her work at the jewelry
store when she bumps into her childhood
best friend Xiaoya. She pretends to be
a rich customer to seem more appealing to
Xiaoya who is married to a millionaire.
The girls talk for a while and
throughout the conversation,
Gu boasts about her non-existent billionaire
husband. The lies backfire when Xiaoya arranges
a dinner between the two couples that evening.
Gu makes Ming wear a rented suit and brings
him to dinner. It goes well for the first
half before Ming drinks from the ice cup,
shows the rent tag in his coat, and says that
he works as a UFO researcher. At the end of
the night, the fake million-dollar diamond in
Gu’s finger falls on the stove and melts.
She returns home crying while Ming
consoles her. The two watch the TV
together when a show about lottery tickets
catches their attention. The Next day,
they excitedly collect the winning numbers of the
lottery ticket and buy them in the year 1999.
Even before the results are announced, they
start to celebrate. Gu takes Ming out on a
date where they play VR games, walk around the
city, and go to the bar at the end of the day.
They forget that they are broke and
drink more than they can afford.
Gu gives the restaurant her expensive purse,
promising to return the money the next day.
The next morning they wake up on the same
bed. They are nervous because it is the
day lottery results will be announced.
They eagerly wait for the announcement
and are overjoyed when they actually win the
lottery. However, it doesn’t last long since the
number on their card disappears right after.
Only then do the couple realize that they cannot
alter the future in any way. But if so, they
are confused why their fates were intertwined.
Gu never gets her bag back from the
restaurant and returns home angry.
On the way, the duo argues and calls each other
names. All of a sudden, they notice Ming’s face
on a large billboard. It is then revealed that
in 2018, he changed his name to Shiyi and has
become one of the biggest builders in China.
He owns a multi-millionaire dollar company
and is about to hold a press conference
in a venue that is only minutes away.
Ming is shocked to be looking at his future.
Gu, who was arguing with him a second ago,
starts sweet talking to him. Ming goes to
the conference and sees his future self,
Shiyi for the first time. But the incident
causes an earthquake and the conference has
to be canceled. Shiyi realizes what is going on
when a bunch of memories are added to his brain.
Ming’s arm is hurt which creates
a scar on Shiyi’s arm as well.
This means anything Ming does will
directly affect Shiyi in the future.
It is then revealed that the businessman who
wanted to profit off the dimensional portal
is none other than Shiyi. The scientist
says that Ming must go back to how he was
before he met Gu because the new memories might
change his persona which will affect Shiyi.
The next day, Ming goes to Zhao with a
resignation letter. Since he is bound to
become successful in the future, he doesn’t
want to accept the money from Zhao.
The same day, Shiyi visits Gu at work and takes
her out on a date. He claims that he wants to
treat her because he knows she was close to him
in his younger years. The man and Ming are the
same people but Gu doesn’t feel comfortable
around Shiyi as she feels with Ming.
He takes her to a fancy restaurant but it is too
awkward for Gu to enjoy. At the end of the date,
Shiyi asks her to stay away from Ming because her
involvement will cause him to divert from his true
purpose in life. He promises to buy her the house
she always wanted in turn for her loyalty.
Gu agrees to do as told, not for the house
but for Ming’s future. She returns home at
night and hugs Ming before telling him that
she is moving out. She also says that Shiyi
asked him to take manager Zhao’s offer.
The next day, Gu moves out of the apartment,
but coincidently, her door is left open by
an umbrella. This means Ming can go to 2018
even without her help.
Somewhere else, the CEO
finds Zhao in his office and finds out about his
plan to betray him. Zhao panics and knocks him
out before making him gulp alcohol. He plans to
kill the man and make it seem like an accident.
Gu is in her home after years when Shiyi
arrives with the bag that she had to give
to the restaurant. When Shiyi turns around, Gu
notices a rent tag on his clothes and realizes
it is actually Ming. She kisses him and tells
him a proper goodbye before he walks away.
Both of them cry, knowing that they
can never meet each other again.
When Ming reaches home, he gets a call from
Zhao who calls him on a bridge. He wants to
use Ming’s help to kill the CEO and make it
seem like an accident. Ming refuses to do so
but Zhao claims that he is too deep into
the matter to turn away at this point.
Suddenly, Ming realizes Shiyi chose to help Zhao
in the past which is the reason for his success.
He took over the manager’s position after the
CEO’s death, building his empire on blood. With
time, he became ruthless to the workers and
cared only about money. That is why he is a
completely different person from Ming.
The universe has given Ming a chance to make
the right decision this time. Furthermore, by the
CEO’s keyring, he discovers he is Gu’s father.
All this time, Gu was orphaned because of the
decision Shiyi took. Not wanting to make the
same mistake, Ming saves the man’s life.
As soon as he does so, the evil Shiyi of 2018
disappears, meaning Ming changed the future.
Now, Gu will never have to lose her father
and will grow up to be someone else. This also
means that the current Gu will cease to exist.
In the last scene. We see Gu and Ming return
to their apartment in different timelines.
When they meet in the middle, Gu disappears.
Thank-you.
ALSO READ THIS: You Should Have Left Explained |Plot And Ending
