Hidden Love

Sweet, kind boy and overprotected princess baby-voiced girl

Sweet little girly love story, it’s uncomplicated and an easy watch about a sweet boy and a suuuuper over-protected princess with grating baby voice.

Girl can’t do anything for herself. But she’s cutesy and constantly talks like she’s a child even when she’s 19+, which is just…eeeew. I don’t mind it in small doses or lovey dovey chatter between lovers, but it’s creepy when it’s the character’s whole deal. There’s a 5-6 year age difference. This is handled pretty well when she’s in middle school and he’s in college, it didn’t feel yuk to me. There wasn’t any interest in her or even silly jokes about it on his end. Thank God.

I see why she has a crush on Chen Zheyuan’s Jiaxu. Sweet, kind, handsome/boyish cute, confident by not arrogant, suuuuper reminiscent of characters played by Andrew McCarthy in those ‘80s-era American movies. The odd thing is that he wants to hover and (basically) parent his girlfriend. It feels less like showing love through acts of service and more like…her parents handed her off, now it’s his turn to cook, buy groceries, buy toiletries, and drive her everywhere no matter how exhausting his job is or the tough hand that life dealt his family. Whether he’s treating her knee boo-boos, carrying her, or buying her menstrual pads (which was a sweet scene) or rushing her to dr for minor milk allergy or carting her drunk @ss home, I don’t get it.

FL: She likes doodling, and plushies and giggles. Can’t drive, can’t cook (even noodles), can’t even run/jump etc. She literally does nothing in this drama but hang out with her crush, barf on his arm, write cutesy sticky notes. There are only 2 scenes where I thought the character rocked it, and one scene where she aggressively stepped up in defense of Jiaxu, and another where she was surprisingly competent in giving a work presentation. That’s it. Two scenes of you go, girl! out of 25 eps.

I got a leeeeetle bit tired at the end of Jiaxu’s constant gee golly perfect boyfriendness, he never really grew/evolved much at all and he should have as a guy in his early then mid 20s.

Thought the acting was good by all. Story-wise, I thought that wishing your daughter continues to live a fairly wealthy, complete cotton candy existence with nothing everrrrr bothering her where she can giggle and kick her little pink slippered feet and eat fruit (that mommy/daddy/partner shopped/bought/cut up/served/did dishes) all day doesn’t feel like you want your daughter to experience life or grow up outside of a very sheltered existence. I so wanted to root for the fictional character who was a lil spitfire as a kid but then she just turns into a puddle of boring beige.

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This "coming of age" story is filled with heart wrenching and fluffy scenes that are delivered so impactfully by the cast that I was genuinely opposed to watching First Frost after I heard they replaced the entire cast. It was nice seeing Zhao Lusi and her mom from Love like the Galaxy in a warm mom-daughter relationship. The part with her traveling to another city to "meet an online boyfriend" was absolutely terrifying. She was an unaccompanied minor and could easily have been trafficked or much much worse. The fact that the ML cared and ran to make sure she was okay made him the greenest flag. The rest of the show just made him so green I'm having Elphaba from Wicked adopt him. This was one of the last projects Zhao Lusi made before her illness and subsequent transformation into more adult roles and appearances. While I wish she had never gone through what she did; I am happy and proud of her for her perseverance and coming out on the other end. Not everyone does in the entertainment industry. Dark mode aside: this was a fluffy happy drama that you should watch and rewatch a gazillion times. And yes, those siblings are sibling goals.

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"HIDDEN LOVE is resilience, honesty, care, and timeless love."

This drama really deals with the tragedies of young first love in such a sweet, respectful manner that it's so refreshing to see. The drama hits off with absolutely lovely writing of Duan Jiaxu and Sang Zhi. Their chemistry is on par with actual real-life couples, and especially how the age gap is treated here is so sweet and brilliant. I think the drama emphasizes this by constantly reminding the audience of the differences in Zhizhi and Jiaxu's environments, and also the different pressures for example, when Jiaxu had to cancel the dates because of what he said were "trivial life matters," but in reality there were true problems with him being the man, showing that it was his fault, and Zhizhi being the woman respecting that while also asking him if it was really okay. The number of times Sang Zhi showed what falling in love means is to stand up for love when times get hard, with Jiaxu reciprocating the same, supporting her. The prejudice of others about their age gap, the very real worries of parents about their children dating, and whether Zhizhi and Jiaxu were really honest with themselves about their feelings are all explored.

It shows what it is like when you support someone endlessly and do not doubt the person you love. In this case, the story of Jiaxu's family history and the Sang family knowing it and questioning it, and how Sang Zhi comes forward truly and maturely with a tender heart about liking him for a long time, is shown in a very true manner: first being just an infatuation, then when Zhi reaches a certain age realizing it may be a crush, and then the story kicks off to the "hidden love." The show doesn't undercut when it comes to choosing or having to make decisions, with Zhi enrolling in Yihe University and then having an internship, which matters not just for love but also for personal growth both Zhi's feelings and career, and Jiaxu's feelings and career. The parents show concern and take steps like confiscating phones and making time to be at home for Zhi, having Yang pick her up, actually video calling her in college days, and everything in between. The college days are shown very truly: friends, school bullying, college tests, and seminars.

Very mature characters, both Sang Zhi and Duan Jiaxu, show respect for their original concerns about being together, from consent questions like "Can I hold your hand?" to "Do you want to...?" to showing menstruation problems, predatory relationship issues, and putting dreams and family health relationships first. Zhi smartly takes on the pressure of the problems given by the debtor's family while supporting Jiaxu's feelings of "You've done your part; she can't bully you forever; it's not your fault." Very lovely, both Jiaxu and Zhizhi, and the hard-hitting line "Am I really getting too old? Why are my parents no longer here?" just encapsulates everything in one line. Then Zhizhi embraces him and tells him, "I've got you," showing he has a home, a family that will love him.

The drama is very well written and exceptionally adapted, with incredible acting and a lovely cast. No fake drama, no plot twists just real, mature, cared for, true first love. Zhizhi had to hide it for a long time the treasure of "HIDDEN LOVE is resilience, honesty, care, and timeless love." That's the brilliance of this show.

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Puppy Love - a Slow-burn Romance across 25 episodes

Hidden Love follows the journey of Sang Zhi, whose childhood crush slowly blossoms into a mature romance over the course of several years.

As a child, Sang Zhi is a spirited, slightly spoilt girl who is forever bickering with her older brother and getting into trouble at school. When her teacher insists on meeting her parents, she recruits Duan Jia Xu—her brother's university friend—to pretend to be her older brother and rescue her from the situation. It is an amusing beginning to a relationship that neither of them realises will shape the rest of their lives.

From that moment, Sang Zhi quietly develops feelings for Jia Xu. Years later, they meet again while he is at university and she is a young teenager. Her childhood admiration gradually turns into genuine love, but like many teenagers, she is far better at hiding her feelings than expressing them.

When Jia Xu graduates and returns to his hometown, rumours begin circulating that he has a girlfriend. Heartbroken, Sang Zhi travels there hoping to find out the truth, only for a misunderstanding to spiral completely out of control. The consequences linger for years, driving them apart and causing them to lose contact altogether.

Watching this unfold, I could not help thinking, "If the two of you would simply sit down and have one honest conversation, we could save about eight episodes!" But then there would not be much of a drama. Miscommunication is hardly unique to Chinese culture, but in societies where people are generally more reserved about expressing their emotions, small misunderstandings can snowball into major heartbreak, especially during the early part of a courtship when each are uncertain of the feelings of the other.

Fate eventually intervenes when Sang Zhi enrols at a university in Jia Xu's hometown. They meet again as adults, and although they remain polite on the surface, old misunderstandings continue to cast a shadow over their relationship. As Sang Zhi cares for Jia Xu when he falls ill, his feelings for her deepen. Winning back her trust, however, proves far more difficult than falling in love.

The romance is filled with delightful moments of humour. Jia Xu is wonderfully smooth when it comes to flirting, alternating between subtle hints and bold declarations. One memorable scene sees him casually asking Sang Zhi about her "relationship status"—she nearly chokes in surprise while the audience is left grinning. At times, the drama feels like a masterclass in modern courtship: how to flirt, how to tease, how to pursue someone... and occasionally, how not to communicate.

Of course, once the flirting begins, so does the classic game of playing hard to get. Fortunately, neither lead becomes frustrating enough to make you want to throw your remote at the television.

The drama also explores a more serious lesson: making life-changing decisions without consulting the people you love can cause enormous damage to a relationship. One well-intentioned decision almost derails a romance that has taken years to bloom.

Several obstacles stand in their way.

First, Jia Xu carries an enormous financial burden because of his irresponsible father. I found this storyline particularly moving. Jia Xu spends years paying for mistakes he never made, and when he finally confronts his father, he says almost exactly what I had been thinking throughout the series.

The second obstacle is the five-year age gap. Personally, I never found this particularly convincing. Five years hardly raises eyebrows in today's world, so I felt the drama made rather more of it than necessary.

Hidden Love is, above all, a slow-burn romance. Very slow burn. It takes around twenty-five episodes before the relationship truly blossoms. I will confess that my streaming speed mysteriously increased to 1.25× somewhere along the way—not because the drama was boring, but because I was simply too impatient to find out what happened next!

One final nitpick: the English title.

How many Asian dramas have already been called Hidden Love? Surely we can do better. The original Chinese title, 偷偷藏不住, carries the meaning of quietly hiding one's feelings for someone. Titles such as A Love Kept Secret, The Boy I Secretly Loved, Love in Silence, My Secret Crush, or The Secret of My First Love would have captured that meaning far more beautifully while avoiding yet another generic English title. Come on, translators—if inspiration fails, even AI can help these days!

Overall, Hidden Love is an excellent portrayal of modern courtship in China. It captures the awkwardness of first love, the pain caused by poor communication, and the joy of watching two people gradually find their way back to each other. The cast is outstanding, the chemistry between Zhao Lusi and Chen Zheyuan is irresistible, and the story is both heartwarming and surprisingly relatable.

If you enjoy gentle romances, plenty of butterflies, and enough flirting to make you smile from ear to ear, Hidden Love is well worth your time. And who knows—you might even pick up a few dating tips along the way.

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Nothing special

I heard so much about it so thought to watch
Drop after forest twenty min
The young girl who played Zhao lusi is v young May be 9 or ten. And it becomes creepy to see her fall in love

When Zhao lusi is 17 why she talks in whining voice. , have the director been to ny high school girls in grade ten and 11 don’t talk like this , ny one seen going for high jump with cap?
She hurt her leg and they carry her on back what happened to wheel chair?
so far male lead is the only saving grace I might watch till they grow up but if it’s still same I might drop

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Another show rated highly because the actors are pretty?

I watched about 5 episodes and dropped it.

It's a decent show with decent acting, but I found it borderline unbearable for the following reasons:

1. It's PAINFULLY slow and uneventful. If you're looking for a fun, nice pacing, eventful show that will stir your emotions to really get hooked on, to me, this definitely isn't it. I can definitely see this show being compressed into a 10-15 episode show.

2. The demeanor, especially the main girl, is almost annoyingly reserved, quiet and shy. Basically, the poster girl that they want to portray in China. This is their ideal girlfriend / wife material, very different IMO from how it actually is.

3. I follow the news of how China actually is now, just makes it harder to stomach. They basically want to pretend to the rest of the world that their lives are filled with beautiful houses, an extremely peaceful and secure existence, with beautiful people. It's made to be visually pleasing for the rest of the world to view, but there's not much going on. A big facade to the chaos and mayhem that's actually over there, especially for regular people. If you watch the news, it's anything but that. I know a lot of these Asian dramas kinda do the same, but I think it's ESPECIALLY true due to how horribly they're actually treated over there now and in the last few years.

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