Lian Nian Bu Wang

Well written, solid acting & ML is a feast!

This drama appeared on my Youtube dashboard last week. I recognised the guy in the thumbnail - Cao Tian Kai. I liked his performance as sickly CEO (he was so endearing) & even though I didn't like his drama about blind girl & her fiancé's uncle, he was extremely hot in that drama. The YT comments for this drama were generally positive. So I clicked 'Play' and I must say that this drama is one of the best written vertical dramas I've watched!

What I liked:
1. Romance - I love romance heavy drama and this is one of the few ones in vertical dramaland. When I say romance heavy, I mean PLENTY of kisses, flirting/teasing, hugging. I love watching them being supportive of each other and constantly communicating with each other. Thank you director for including ML's shirtless shots!
2. ML characterisation - Green flag ML. He understood how much FL values her career and never undermined her efforts to succeed on her own.
3. Acting - Cao Tian Kai's best performance thus far. This was my first drama of Zhang Shan. Her performance is alright. The actor who played FL's adopted brother gave great performance. I also like the actress who played FL's adopted mother - she always portrayed evil stepmother in other vertical dramas so it's nice to see her as a kind adopted mum.
4. Supporting characters - One of the reasons I highly rated this drama is the supporting characters. They were well-written e.g FL's adopted brother, ML's close friend, ML's cousin (who also became FL's love rival), FL's adopted parents.
5. Friendship - I enjoy the interactions amongst old friends (ML and his friends) and new friends (FL & ML's cousin).
6. Ending - I like how they wrap up FL's brother character.

What I disliked:
1. Kidnap - A common trope in vertical drama. I wish there wasn't any in this drama.
2. FL's feelings - I didn't sense the sincerity of FL's feelings for ML until the confrontation. Not sure if this is director's instruction or Zhang Shan's approach to the character.
3. Unnecessary arc - There was a guy who wanted FL for lust or revenge. I find this arc not significant and can be omitted since there are more substantial villain arcs.

Favourite scene
When FL & ML's secret relationship was discovered by FL's adopted brother

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Lian Nian Bu Wang (2025)*********[Also Known As: Never Forget Love or 戀念不忘 (I Can’t Forget)] is a great miniseries with Cao Tian Kai (as He Ting Zhou) and Zhang Shan (as Song Shuang Xu) in the leading couple’s role. The drama is well written, especially for the leading couple. Cao Tian Kai waited five years for Song Shuan Xu to come back home from studying abroad after forcefully sent away to separate her from her brother Shen Yu; since she was an orphan that went to live with them. Song Shuang Xu was not loved by her family and she had a crush on Shen Yu with whom she had no blood relation. Although Shen Yu’s parents really loved her and saw her as a family member, they wanted to save face and find a partner for their son of equal or better social and financial status. Shen Yu wanted to be with Song Shuan Xu but he was never brave enough to brave the storm. He Ting Zhou knew about Song Shuang Xu’s crush but, this time around, he’ll do anything to get her to fall in love with him. Cao Tian Kai and Zhang Shan have a wonderful chemistry, whether they are bickering or intimate, they fascinate the viewer with their acting and rapport. Overall, this is a very nice romance drama, enjoy it!
Can be found on YouTube under the caption: “After letting go of her crush on brother, the powerful CEO fell for her and pampered her” or “She was asked by her brother's friend to be his secret lover”.

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A great version of this often re-done plot

One of a number of versions of the same plot (usual for vertical dramas). This one tells the story with a logical sequence and flow.
The ML is a 'green flag' and gorgeous to look at. He teases and coaxes the FL until she falls in love with him & then reveals he has loved her since they were children but knew that she was crushing on her (non biological) 'brother'. He waited until the right moment to come crashing into her life. A great story, filled with romance, interesting plot, warm and developed characters, good skinship where the FL looks natural and plays an active role in the intimate scenes. In a lot of web Cdramas, the FL looks tense and unwilling. Couldn't rate the music much because I don't remember it. In a lot of these YouTube uploads
the music/background audio is not the best. This one I didn't notice at all. Too focused on looking at the delicious ML actor!
An excellent version and enjoyable watch. Watched on YouTube

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Toda vez que eu assisto ao Tai Zi Ye Ta Guo Fen Ye (2025) com o Zeng Hui e a Deng Ling Shu, assim que termino venho para esta, por quê?
Enquanto no do Zeng Hui eles são mais "agressivos" em suas ações para prevalecer o seu papel de namorado/amante oculto e as interações com a FL Deng Ling Shu são mais pontuais, aqui o Cao Tian Kai e a Zhang Shan interagem muito mais no quesito casal no início do namoro, seja pela viagem e pelas interações na casa dela e na dele e o discurso do amigo para o irmão adotivo dela no final foi certeiro, enquanto ele a afastou para proteger, outro esteve presente e a conquistou. E gosto muito que tenha mostrado a cena do casamento dos dois, definitivamente este aborda muito mais o romance.
Todas as versões que assisti são ótimas, queria completar as restantes, mas infelizmente ainda não tive a sorte de conseguir todos os links, mas nada supera a cena épica do confronto da tia com o ML onde o Zeng Hui atua maravilhosamente bem e mostra que enquanto todas as famílias sempre acharam que ela era a causadora de todos os problemas, ele que não era bom o bastante para ela.
Ps: enquanto aquela já assisti 4 vezes, esta já estou na terceira, foi quando finalmente percebi que nunca tinha feito sua resenha.

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