JJJ

Episode 15 officially!

Yup, I get that some fans aren't that deep into the drama circle to know many of these melons are fake (and then start being invested in the drama actually being their favs'), but it is always better to see these drama rumors as false until they start filming. You have actors/actresses who can even get swap out on the first day of filming.

Also, I have seen rumors going around on TikTok that Bai Lu (and Ryan Chen) were supposed to have these roles and that is not true. These dramas usually release fake melons first with popular actresses/actors to just generate interest, but it doesn't mean production actually gave them the script. LLD was given 2 choices, this drama or "Serendipity" at the same time and she picked this drama. ARP was then also selected to match her and for his role.

I have seen BL X ARP shippers trying to spread this for a long time due to them loving MM and because the producer is also a producer of MM (plus a lot of the same actors/actresses) but BL was never considered for this role (at least based on the info available from drama insiders), nor would it have been possible for them to have a 2nd collab that early especially because of billing issues.

She has such a sweet smile! She can look so "cold" when she doesn't smile and switches into a whole cutie when she does. It is such a great contrast.

Sharing some excerpts from this drama's screenwriter's interview: https://weibo.com/3809799228/5192048480095521

-Rewatch rate of this drama: iQiyi has data to track whether viewers continue watching episodes of a drama beyond the 3rd episode and if they rewatch it (because that is when they usually drop it if they don't like it).

-The rewatch rate for this drama is 81% by episode 3 which is a really high number compared to their other dramas. In addition, the rewatch rate goes even higher with the later episodes compared to some of their other 10K heat index dramas.

-It took the team a lot of effort to find the right actress for Qin Wan because the character is too hard to play; she needs to be young, pretty, looks smart, and able to memorize a huge amount of dialogues so requires someone with really good acting skills and vocal skills. When they saw Li Landi, everyone thought, she fits every single quality they needed for Qin Wan. They praised her for being able to memorize and say all her lines without missing a word when even the screenwriter has a hard time saying the lines.

-For Yan Chi, they wanted to look for someone with high/good visual, good acting skills, and someone relatively new as they know the audience was sick of seeing the same few people acting with each other (swapping partners). They saw Ao Rui Peng and he gave off "living vibes" (sincere, hardworking, not a diva, has that young energy, etc.) and he was just missing an opportunity.

-Li Landi is easy going and bubbly but turns into a total professional/serious when it comes to discussing/acting her role. For the water/drowning scene for Case 3 (Herbs Garden), she was hanging on wires for 6 hours with her waist almost injured and did not complain even once. Ao Rui Peng would analyze his character and plan how to act out his next scenes. Both are just very sincere and hardworking.

-Li Landi and Ao Rui Peng rarely rest even when it isn't their scenes. They would watch others perform by watching the monitors. Ao Rui Peng rarely asks to rewatch his own scenes, but he would constantly watch Li Landi's performance and constantly say she "acts so well".

-Potential second collaboration between them.

ADWAD did good but it is not to the point of say TPB. One of the main reasons is because the pairing for ADAWD didn't blow up. For an idol period romance drama to really hit big, the pairing itself also gains tons of shippers. It corresponds to how well a drama does because most people tune in mainly for the ship and if the ship is good, they are willing to ignore plot holes or draggy plots. ADAWD's main ship didn't blow up among C-fans/C-netz.

Noooo, this 7th case is not a filler at all because there is something bigger behind it. It will all be pieced together in the 8th case, but it is not just a simple cult case with just a random doing all this. The episodes already hinted it is "punishing the heaven".

All I will say is that non-fans are tuning into this drama en mass (especially with this summer period) and it is super obvious to see just with the bullet comments on the episodes on the Chinese platform.

When a drama has nothing but "ML is so hot", "FL is so stupid", and names being spammed to do data, you know that drama is viewed mostly by the fans and not non-fans. In addition, a lot of these bullet comments on the drama episodes tend to put down the FL so you have non-fan viewers who end up dropping the drama or turn off these comments (aka don't engage) which decrease heat index. I myself have dropped watching dramas because I was sick of the FL characters being criticized and having to engage in discussions with severely pro-ML fans.

This drama however is filled with top comments from non-fans that actually point out the plot, funny things happening, and jokes during the episodes. None of the characters are being dragged either in a malicious way. There is actual engagement in these episodes, and it has been pointed out by many that it has been a long time since people have enjoyed watching episodes with the bullet comments turned on. When there is enjoyment in chasing an on-air drama, non-fans are more willing to do data. They will ask how to increase heat index; they will recommend the drama to their friends/family. This is a low stress drama, and these non-fans don't have to worry about fans jumping them for pointing out things they don't like in the plot (unlike dramas with traffic stars where fans have constantly dragged people for not liking certain plot points).

You can argue about heat index all you want since they make multiple adjustments every few times a month due to how bad the industry is doing. But you can't argue about other independent data sites like Yunhe, Lighthouse, etc. that have nothing to do with iQiyi. All those sites have been consistently putting this drama as #1 or #2 at this point with the viewership increasing every single day with the %. Yunhe is literally these stans' go to drag material, and this drama has increased since the first day from around 9% to close to 30% now. They are now pretending Yunhe is a joke.

Yup, and these dramas compared to the dramas a decade ago would never have reached any of the current numbers they reached. These platforms have continued to lower their requirements every single year because the current long-form drama industry is doing that bad. None of these current dramas 10K or 30K heat index can compared to those from years ago. These requirements had to be adjusted just due to less and less people tuning in for these dramas in general. So Idk why these fans of traffic stars are acting up when their favs' numbers are already inflated to begin with compared to the ones from years ago.

Bai Feng and Fu Ling had some positive feelings for each other in the novel, but it never developed further, and they never ended up together. The drama is setting them up to be together though.

If the system that is set up is unjust, it just leads to more people suffering under that unjust system. 😔 They really need to revamp everything from the top.

Yeah, it is a slippery slope, they had to tone down some of the violence a bit since it can be used against this drama to say this is a "bad drama" for that reason.

I know the answer to this but just acting-wise, he is giving neutral right now which is great. It is hard to read him.

This Prince Jin case really reflects the whole "no answer provided" = admission of a crime. Reflects a lot of some of the current criminal justice system too where a suspect is forced to give a false confession due to police brutality or them not saying anything = they admitted to the crime.

Guess it really showed how comfortable she got with him. 🤣

The actor for Li Muyun is doing so well for the character because it is really hard to read him as either good or bad.

Yue Ning slapping Yan Li's ass??? 😭

They will solve everything at the end. Some of the previous cases have been cut short already because the novel has 500+ chapters and the novel actually goes more in depth about the investigations/steps. The drama pretty much streamlined it to them coming to the correct conclusion a lot quicker than the novel just due to the episode/time limits. Then there are some cases not in the drama just due to the change in Qin Wan's origin so there was no need for some of those cases to exist anymore.

Might be a misdirection and not the full truth.