Our Generation

《Our Generation(樱桃琥珀, 2025)》 - We Shape Ourselves Through Each Other

A Name That Became a Scar, and Then a Smile

“Lin Yingtao(=Lin Qile) had no interest in grades or anyone else. To her, there was only Jiang Qiaoxii.
The name that Qiaoxi’s father had given him carelessly was always bitter, a reminder of disdain and resentment.
But in Yingtao’s heart, those three syllables turned into something else—
like a poem, sweet and clear, her voice carrying a smile that softened the air whenever she called him.”
(Excerpt from the Original Novel)

His name, once nothing but a wound, was transformed by her into a moment of warmth.


The Weight of Memory, the First Consolation

Burdened by the shadow of his deceased brother, Jiang Qiaoxi’s grew up as a boy always waiting for love that never came.
To him, memory had always meant pain.
But in Lin Yingtao(=Qile)’s presence—honest, open, and brimming with affection—he discovered something new:
that memory could also be joy, and that being remembered did not always mean being trapped by sorrow.


The Meaning of a Name

To Qiaoxi, “Jiang Qiaoxi” was once nothing but a symbol of neglect,
of yearning for affection he never received.

But for Yingtao (=Qile), the same name meant something entirely different:
to bring happiness,
to guard a smile,
to make someone laugh.

The moment Qile’s naming turned into a gift,
she witnessed a quiet boy’s face come alive with color.
To her, it was more than a scene—
it was the first time she understood what it meant
to bring light into someone else’s life.
She saw what it meant
to breathe warmth into another person’s existence.


Fragmented Time and Memory

Their shared childhood became unforgettable precisely because it was a time when their identities had not yet hardened.
Open hearts and malleable senses made every moment indelible.
And when distance grew between them, memory was all that remained.
Letters became the way to hold onto those memories.
Even undelivered, they deepened the bond—
a fragile thread that connected two people across absence.


Growing Pains, and the First Shattering

But reunion did not bring comfort; it began with rupture.
For Lin Qile : entering a new environment meant rejection, jealousy, and rumor—wounds inflicted by the small society of adolescence.
For Jiang Qiaoxi: seeking a wider world only brought him into harsher walls of control and expectation.

Their affinity collided with the demands of the world, and each carried scars from the impact.


A Missed Gesture, A Deeper Wound

Jiang Qiaoxi thought ignoring her would protect her.
But silence and absence only erased her efforts,
turning his protection into betrayal.
The more urgently he tried to keep her safe, the more deeply Lin Qile was hurt.
When he said, “Let’s begin again with Qile,”
to her it sounded like erasing “Yingtao,” erasing the very years they had lived together.
And so she whispered that perhaps she would rather have known nothing at all.

Yet, in his clumsy teenage way, Jiang Qiaoxi finally began to close the distance—
admitting his loneliness, showing his longing,
and little by little, the bitterness between them started to loosen.


The Collision with Parents

“I didn’t get hurt because of a friend. I protected one.
I am becoming someone better than before.”
(Excerpt from the Drama)

But Jiang Qiaoxi’s growth came at the cost of clashing with his parents.
His parents, bound by guilt over their lost first son, placed all their hopes on the second.
They called it love, but it was chains.
What they could not let go of in the past, they forced onto the present.
When Jiang Qiaoxi began to resist, they blamed Lin Qile for changing him.
What they believed to be protection was in truth control.

And his rebellion against it set the stage for a deeper generational conflict.


From Novel to Screen

Compared to the novel, the drama sometimes falters in rhythm.
But by expanding the conflict from peer rivalry to parent-child struggle,
it widens the lens—
turning a story of youth into a story of generations.

What emerges is a narrative that is not only intense, but also tender—
a story where growth is inseparable from pain,
and where memory itself becomes both the wound and the healing.

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Should've been longer

I've read articles about this drama that it was supposed to have 40 episodes, now that I have finished it I can see why.
The pacing was weird every episode, the cut seems off, there are dialogues that never used only scenes and mute.
I still like the overall story, coming of age, bestfriends, love that started as friends. But it feels unfinished, it feels raw, it really needs more episodes to flush out better storytelling. I would've like to see Yu Qiao and Ye Yun to have something, I would've like to see Qiao Xi mother to come and fix there relationship, I would've like to see the year when Yin Tao comeback to China.

Now with the positive, I really love Zhao Jin Mai acting here, it is her best even surpasses her acting in Amidst a Snowstorm of love. ZLH did a phenomenal acting too even with his character not being the best. They're chemistry when both in the screen really blends well. Now with their friend group, I really like it even when they don't get a lot of screen time. Ye Yun and Yu Qiao sacrifices are cruel to not end up together in the end but it was well written and really shine their friendship to Yin Tao.

Overall, its still a great watch. Just don't get high hopes, watch it for the acting more or less.

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