It is so refreshing to see Shen Jia Lan choose family and freedom over revenge in Against the Current.

Because listen — this woman has every reason to want revenge.

Every. Single. Reason.

She lost her family. She lost her name. She lost the future she thought she was going to have. And now she is living as Xu Lan Xiang, a servant in the household of her former fiancé, Lin Jin Qi.

The same household she once would have entered as his wife.

If anybody had an excuse to make revenge her entire personality, it would be Shen Jia Lan.

But that isn't what I am seeing from her.

What I am seeing is a woman trying to protect her peace, protect the family she has now, earn their freedom and somehow build a life for herself after everything was taken from her.

And I really, really appreciate that.

Because her mother's final message to her was not:

Avenge us.

It was:

Live.

And Shen Jia Lan seems to have taken that seriously.

When Filial Piety Means Live, Not Sacrifice Yourself

This may be one of the things I appreciate most about her story so far.

Because how many times have we watched filial piety turn our heroines into sacrificial lambs for the family lineage?

Honor the family.

Avenge the family.

Marry for the family.

Give up your happiness for the family.

Suffer for the family.

And if necessary, give up your life too.

We have seen some version of that woman many, many times.

So I really appreciate what Shen Jia Lan's mother leaves her instead.

Live.

There is something incredibly loving about that being her final instruction to her daughter.

She doesn't leave Shen Jia Lan with another burden.

She doesn't make her responsible for avenging everybody who died.

She tells her to live.

And I like the idea that living well can be an act of filial piety too.

That Shen Jia Lan can honor the Shens by actually experiencing the life they were denied.

Find some happiness.

Build a family.

Earn her freedom.

Have some peace.

Enjoy something.

Her mother's final request does not require Shen Jia Lan to crawl onto the altar behind everybody else.

She gets to live.

And Living Looks Very Different Now

What makes that even more interesting is that Shen Jia Lan isn't simply surviving under another name.

Her entire position in the world has changed.

She was raised as the granddaughter of an important family.

Now she is Xu Lan Xiang, a hereditary servant in Lin Jin Qi's household.

And not just any household.

Her ex-fiancé's household.

That part still gets me.

She was supposed to enter those doors as Lin Jin Qi's wife.

Instead, she enters them as someone who could be bought, sold, punished or dismissed.

So when I watch her now, I don't really see a woman hiding all of her abilities because she is weak or afraid.

I see her learning how to maneuver a life where she may not mean very much to the people who own her service — but her life means everything to her.

And everything to the people who love her.

She has to understand which parts of herself are safe to show.

When does knowing something help her?

When does it make her dangerous?

When does speaking save her?

When does keeping her mouth shut save her even more?

That is the life she is learning to navigate.

And I love that she values herself enough to learn it.

Xu Wan Quan and Xue Gui Hua Are Her Parents

Now, this family right here?

I love them.

Xu Wan Quan and Xue Gui Hua don't just give Shen Jia Lan somewhere to hide.

They become her parents.

And Shen Jia Lan truly loves and appreciates them.

That love goes both ways, and the peace and joy the three of them manage to create in the middle of so much sorrow has been one of the most refreshing parts of the drama for me.

They really look out for one another.

And Dad?

Listen.

Xu Wan Quan might allow somebody to bully him a little bit.

But mess with the ladies in his life?

Suddenly he's bout it, bout it.

😂

I love him.

And I especially love the relationship between him and Shen Jia Lan because he is willing to learn from his daughter.

There is no, I'm the father, so I should know more than you.

Nope.

You know something?

Teach me.

You see something I don't?

Show me.

And Shen Jia Lan is more than willing to do it.

That was actually one of the first places where I really saw the heart of our girl.

She never treated the Xu family like people beneath her.

She never acted like they were temporary replacements until she could return to being a Shen.

She teaches them.

She helps them.

She jokes with them.

She worries about them.

She wants better for them.

They became her family.

So when they finally have a chance to start saving money and thinking about freedom, Shen Jia Lan isn't thinking:

Great, how do I get myself out?

She wants all three of them out.

And that says so much about her.

What good is freedom if her parents are still trapped?

She isn't trying to escape from them.

She is trying to escape with them.

She Helps People Without Sacrificing Herself

This might be my favorite part of her character.

Shen Jia Lan is kind.

But being kind does not mean she has to throw herself onto the fire every time somebody else makes a questionable decision.

Thank goodness.

Because dramas love to give us heroines who prove how wonderful they are by suffering unnecessarily.

Shen Jia Lan seems more interested in finding another way.

Look at Ji'er.

Shen Jia Lan warned that girl.

She gave her information.

She tried to help her understand the danger she was walking into.

And when things went bad, she reminded Ji'er of what she had already equipped her with.

She gave Ji'er something she could use to survive.

But she also allowed Ji'er to make her own choices.

That matters.

Shen Jia Lan helped more than she needed to without putting on a badge that said:

I AM HELPING YOU. PLEASE NOTICE HOW GOOD I AM.

She just helped.

Quietly.

Now me?

I'm going to tell the truth.

At some point I probably would have fed Ji'er to the wolves.

LOL.

IJS.

Because if I have explained the danger, pointed at the danger, shown you the danger, and you still stroll toward it like, Hmm, I wonder what's over here?

Girl.

😂

But Shen Jia Lan chose kindness.

And even then, she didn't decide that Ji'er's choices meant she had to sacrifice herself too.

She gave her the tools she could.

The rest belonged to Ji'er.

I appreciate that.

Her Family Is Not Collateral Damage

And I really hope this continues.

Because I don't want the Xu family suddenly becoming disposable once the Shen family case starts moving forward.

They are not placeholders.

They are not the warm-up family before Shen Jia Lan gets back to her "real" life.

They saved her.

They risked themselves for her.

They gave her their daughter's identity.

They loved her.

And over six years, they became her family.

So when Lin Jin Qi starts realizing Xu Lan Xiang is much smarter than she has been pretending to be and begins pulling her into his problems, her parents' safety still matters.

I love that.

Because revenge stories can turn everyone around the heroine into pieces on a chessboard very quickly.

Someone gets sacrificed because the mission is more important.

Someone gets endangered because revenge comes first.

Someone becomes an acceptable loss because clearing the family name supposedly matters more.

But Shen Jia Lan already knows exactly what it feels like to lose everybody.

Why would she willingly risk going through that again?

She can love the family she lost and fiercely protect the family she has now.

One does not cancel out the other.

She Is Careful, Not Weak

Can we also appreciate that Shen Jia Lan knows how to keep information to herself?

Because this always irritates me in dramas.

A character learns something extremely dangerous and what do they do?

Make an announcement.

Confront the villain.

Let the villain know exactly what they saw and exactly what they know.

WHY?

😂

Why are we telling people our business?

Why are we giving a dangerous person advance notice that they may need to get rid of us?

Shen Jia Lan is doing what I think most of us are sitting at home wanting these characters to do.

Be quiet. Pay attention. Put that information in your pocket until you actually need it.

She notices things.

The accounts.

The seal.

People behaving strangely.

Someone not being who they claim to be.

The fact that she herself is being watched.

But just because she notices something doesn't mean everybody else needs to know she noticed it.

Thank you.

When she realizes she could know too much about Zhao Xing Tang's situation, she doesn't run off to confront anybody.

She makes herself visible.

She creates witnesses.

She makes it harder for someone to quietly make her disappear.

That isn't weakness.

That is survival.

Sometimes the smartest thing a heroine can do is not deliver some brilliant speech.

Sometimes the smartest thing she can do is think:

Oh. This is dangerous. Let me mind my business until this becomes my business.

And keep walking.

Now, About Du Cui Que…

I'm watching her.

That's all I'm saying.

😂

Because although the drama is presenting some of what happens with Du Cui Que as coincidence or misunderstanding, I think most of us can read between the lines.

Something is not sitting right with me.

The flower situation is a perfect example.

Lin Jin Qi wears the cuique flower without understanding how other people might interpret it. Then people connect that flower with Du Cui Que's name, and suddenly an innocent action from him can be read as a public acknowledgment of special feelings toward an unmarried woman living in his household.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

And while the drama is still giving us room to call some of this accidental, I am not overlooking Du Cui Que.

Her name and the imagery surrounding her already feel like they are telling us something.

The way I'm reading Du Cui Que right now?

Beautiful and medicinal, but lethal.

And I cannot wait to see how Shen Jia Lan maneuvers this particular path.

Because even with the flower situation, Shen Jia Lan doesn't immediately expose her.

She doesn't embarrass her.

She doesn't start running around making accusations about another woman's intentions.

She solves the immediate problem.

One cuique flower on Lin Jin Qi suddenly carries a romantic meaning?

Okay.

Give everybody one.

😂

Now your special romantic symbol is a party favor.

Problem solved.

Lin Jin Qi is protected.

The household is protected.

And Shen Jia Lan hasn't created an unnecessary enemy before she even fully understands who she may be dealing with.

I like that.

Gather your information first, Sis.

Shen Jia Lan Keeps Looking for Solutions

That may be the easiest way to explain what I am enjoying about her.

She looks for solutions.

Her father gets caught up in the painting situation?

She sees what everybody else missed.

Someone takes her family's money?

She knows enough about the law to find the pressure point.

Ji'er puts herself in danger?

She equips her with something she can use.

Lin Jin Qi needs information?

She observes.

The flower situation could turn into a scandal?

Change the meaning of the flower.

Now Lin Jin Qi is facing accusations serious enough to threaten his career, and where does Shen Jia Lan's mind go?

Evidence.

Who made the winter clothing?

Who can verify what happened?

How do we prove it?

That is where her mind keeps going.

What can actually fix this?

And I enjoy watching that so much more than watching a heroine ask herself every episode how she can make somebody suffer.

She Is Creating Power Without Chasing It

The funny part is that Shen Jia Lan isn't exactly chasing power.

But she is becoming more powerful anyway.

Through what she knows.

What she remembers.

How well she reads people.

Her education.

Her understanding of the law.

Her ability to recognize when something doesn't add up.

Her ability to remain calm enough to think.

At first, she wants to stay unnoticed.

Well… yeah.

Look where she is.

She is living under another identity as a servant in the home of the man she was once supposed to marry.

Being recognized isn't just an awkward ex-fiancé reunion.

Her life could be in danger.

Her parents could be in danger.

Everything the three of them have built could disappear.

So yes, girl.

Stay unnoticed.

But slowly people are beginning to notice what she can do.

And I keep coming back to that idea Yuchan gives the women: having ability gives you options.

That feels so important for Shen Jia Lan.

Maybe this journey isn't about her becoming powerful enough to take revenge.

Maybe it is about her becoming capable enough to choose what happens to her own life.

I like that much better.

Justice and Revenge Are Not the Same Thing

Now don't get me wrong.

I absolutely want to know what happened to the Shen family.

I want Shen Jia Lan to learn the truth.

I want the false accusations addressed.

I want her family's name cleared.

And if people deliberately destroyed innocent lives?

Oh, consequences are needed.

Absolutely.

But I don't need Shen Jia Lan spending every waking minute consumed by revenge for that to happen.

I want — and I'm sure we can all appreciate — a heroine who knows how to maneuver herself out of trouble.

A heroine who knows how to preserve her peace.

A heroine who strives for her own happiness.

A heroine who remembers that she is allowed to want something beyond justice.

Because seeking justice doesn't require her to stop living.

She doesn't have to sacrifice Xu Wan Quan and Xue Gui Hua.

She doesn't have to sacrifice herself.

She doesn't have to throw away her freedom.

She doesn't have to remain miserable forever to prove she loved the family she lost.

Absolutely not.

Let's not waste your family's sacrifice, Sis.

LIVE FOR ALL THE SHENS.

Enjoy everything that was taken away from them.

Love somebody.

Laugh.

Eat good food.

Make some money.

Protect your parents.

Get your freedom.

Find some peace.

Have some joy.

Live enough life for everybody who didn't get the chance.

Now...

If you happen to bop a few deserving heads along the way?

Acceptable.

LOL.

IJS. 😂

She Knows What It Costs to Lose Everything

Maybe that is why all of this works for me.

Shen Jia Lan already knows exactly what it feels like to lose everything.

So of course she protects what she has now.

The Xu family isn't standing between Shen Jia Lan and the life she should have had.

They are part of the life she built after losing it.

And I think there is something beautiful about that.

She doesn't cling so tightly to the person she used to be that the woman she is now doesn't get to live.

She was Shen Jia Lan.

She is living as Xu Lan Xiang.

She loved the Shen family.

She loves Xu Wan Quan and Xue Gui Hua.

Both things can be true.

One family doesn't replace the other.

And protecting the family she has now doesn't mean she has forgotten the family she lost.

If anything, I think it shows just how deeply she understands what family is worth.

Her Mother's Last Word Was "Live"

And that brings me right back here.

Live.

Such a small word.

But what an incredible final gift from a mother to her daughter.

Stay alive.

Protect yourself.

Protect the people you love.

Find a way out.

Earn your freedom.

Build something that belongs to you.

Find some peace.

Find some happiness.

Don't let what happened to us take the rest of your life too.

That is what I am seeing Shen Jia Lan do right now.

And it is so refreshing.

I absolutely want her to uncover the truth.

I want the Shen family name cleared.

I want people held accountable.

But I also want this woman to have a life that isn't defined entirely by the worst thing that ever happened to her.

Let her parents be safe.

Let all three of them become free.

Let Shen Jia Lan build something for herself.

Let her enjoy everything her family would have wanted her to enjoy.

Because maybe her greatest act of filial piety isn't destroying herself trying to avenge the Shens.

Maybe it is doing exactly what her mother told her to do.

Live.

And not just barely.

Live well.

Live freely.

Live happily.

Live for all the Shens.

__________

😂 I had a lot to say. My perspective for eps 1-12. Now I can watch 13