Amberose

I'm sure that this was probably mentioned before, but I love that Seo-Ri isn't a pushover despite the whole poor fml x rich ml. When Mo Tae-Hui tried to belittle her today and make her feel insecure about the relationship, she completely shut her nonsense down and read her for filth. It's refreshing, and this personality trait is so fun to see when Seo-Ri and Se-Gye are bickering. Loving this so far

There probably is a conspiracy behind the Tribute Ink because the timing was too perfect. The Li family was at their peak and then was quickly struck down. Now I suspect that it mught have to do with the ML's father and then that might cause a rift between him and i Zhen, but I hope that that's not the case.

I get it but it’s not Li Zhen’s fault so they shouldn’t project that anger unto her. It’s been about 16 years at this point. Also her family also suffered from the Tribute Ink incident and her father died too.

I feel so exhausted just watching their nonsense. Honestly, it's the Li family's karma. Hate is a poison, and they've held onto it for 13 years, blaming the 8th family branch for everything and wallowing in misery instead of trying to rebuild and expand their business. Time and time again they've framed, punished and sabotaged Li Zhen for a crime she didn't commit, especially Li Jingdong and that aunt. They tolerate her when they need her and discard her when they don't, even when she's given her all and tolerated so much just for the sake of her family. They're crying about her taking over, but what have they really done for the family? They were too busy infighting and framing others to see the bigger picture, and now it's caught up to them. Li Zhen shouldn't have come back to her family and instead continued with her business because they're a mess. One is selling their lacquer on the side; the other is devoted but yields no results, and the rest aren't even directly involved in the family business. (Looking at you 4th aunt. Because how are you gonna compain about Zhen taking over when you can't either-you can't make ink, don't manage the workshop, you do nothing but scheme and plot all day. Girl hush) Sixth, Grandpa brought it on himself, as his desperation led him to disregard not only his safety but the safety of the workers with him. (Although I do feel a bit bad for him) Now here comes Mr Jingdong, ready to burn down the place. Girl, wrap it up. They have Li Zhen facing trials and tribulations with their tomfoolery, and I'm sick of it. Free my girl and let her leave this family because they've been given so many chances.

Real, mines start Monday and I'm nowhere close to being ready

Life saver tysm

It's stunning, from the music to the lighting, the colour grading 10/10

I agree with this 100%. To me this also reads as him acting out of being desperately in love, just unable to express it. He’s also conflicted as he wants to stay with Chengyu but he knows that he has a duty. Not sure if this is a reach or not, but I his method of being so harsh can also be a defence mechanism. He’s pushing her away because he cares but also doesn’t want to get hurt, however he ends up hurting her instead. They’re both hurting but unable to admit this honestly.

Another point to add is that people often say that sadness is disguised as anger or that it's easier to be angry than sad and I think that's also the case here. Xie Zheng has lived a life where emotions are not needed and probably seen as a hindrance. His parents have both passed yet, I doubt that he was able to truly ever grieve for them. He's expected to level headed and rational, but when it comes to matters of the heart it isn't that simple. He reacts by putting on this cold front but in fact he's devestated. As for Chengyu, we've seen how she's suffered from her parents's death to the nasty, gossiping villagers. She also has to be brave and protect herself since no one else (besides the ml) is going to do it for her. So she also responds in a similar manner, from a place of anger that's really just masking the pain.

Also I love that this internal conflict is so well represented visually with warm, orange cast from the fire and the cool, blue cast from the moonlight on the snow. It can also indicate how he’s alone now and back to his old life filled with knotty schemes, where it’s cold.

Yeah, they should've spent like the first 10-15 minutes establishing her character and background first so that we can better relate to her. While we understand her motives, we've seen several other backstories just like this, so they needed to establish some kind of emotional connection first with the audience so that we can actually care about her and her relations. Showing rather than telling.

1) Family background: Instead of just mentioning her family, I think that it would've been better if we'd seen them first. Show her father as an upright and well-loved official who's praised by the people. Then cut to the fl and her mom having sweet interactions that highlight their bond. The dad can come home, and they all have dinner together. Wonderful in like 10 minutes, we know their dynamic so now when they reveal the tragedy, the juxtaposition between the two scenes provides impact. When they claim that it was the fl's father who caused it, now we have ocular proof that that's not his character and can root for the fl on her quest to find the truth.

2) Relationship with sister and fl's personality: Give us a quick montage of them growing up and their closeness. Showcase the fl's astuteness and other character traits. Again, so that when the sister dies, we, the audience, can actually be impacted by her death rather than seeing someone we met 2 minutes ago die.


Sry for my reply being so long, I'm a yapper at heart

Yup she goes after any guy who shows her attention and guys who already kinda have someone that they're interesting in just to prove to herself that she's better since she 'won' them over or something. Subeen humiliated her so now she needs to pick another guy. She can't play with Sung-hun or else she'd lose the person she vents to, and she isn't into Hyun-Jae. She would go for Seung-il but knows that minji isn't gonna put up with her nonsense and dotishness. So now the next best option is hyunwoo especially since Go-eun isn't here

Same here

Also he should've been establishing boundaries with that other girl. As a married man he needed to clearly draw the lines and keep things professional as to not give her any hope. Not saying that he's 100% to blame for the kiss because I'm pretty sure the girl knew that he was married yet still went for it.

Ohhh I like this theory. My friend also guessed that the Pei's dad is responsible for it, but I din’t consider the whole silencing and control part

See I'm so conflicted. I called it from the start that he had someone else and was cheating and that Xiaorou would eventually end up with Mr. Gong. Now, idk. I think really this is an amalgamation of all the times he didn't tell her the truth and kept things from her (about the company and quitting his job) and her seeing the text messages and the kiss. I feel bad for him because I do think that he genuinely loves her, but her trust in him has been shaken and a relationship without trust won't last. He should've trusted her enough to tell her the truth when he quit his job and was starting the company. He should've clearly told her that he was working with that girl and meeting her to discuss work matters. Instead, he withheld that information which will naturally arouse suspicion because if it's just a casual meeting and nothing is going on why didn't you tell Xiaorou? Also, why is he meeting with the other girl at such late hours and lying about his whereabouts to his wife? All of his actions would plant seeds of doubt in someone else's mind. I mean I've never been in a relationship or married, but I think it's possible to forgive and stay in the relationship, and it's possible to forgive but choose not to stay in it. So all in all, I do feel for him but to an extent as his lies and shifty actions contributed to the situation that they're in now

This summarises honestly how I feel as well

Yea but I want to see both of them being calculated and powerful together. Like they would be such a power couple and they are, but I need them to communicate and work together

Honestly like okay you like her, however he needs to be realistic especially considering the time period and his status. She doesn’t like you like that and he needs to make peace with that fact.

Fr but maybe you should tag this as a spoiler

You're so right they keep falling like dominoes

Real he loves when Sunny and Namnung are interacting but is so uncomfortable when it comes to the guys-it's kinda icky (Just saw the part with him wanting the water to be clearer and stuff-ugh)