Booksandtrees

I so agree about their Dad....Now I just look at him as the pitiful side kick for comic relief. His antics just pale in comparison to everything else going on around him.

I hope she means it but not ready to believe her. I did a rant right after I posted this. 😣

Episode 30 and 31 really did my head in. Don't the Qiao's get tired of hearing themselves belch out their empty threats. Yi Cheng is always laying down the law with his Dad and Simei but they do what they want anyway. I think that I finally get why Simei freezes every time Cheng Gang's mistress approaches her. Answer: She sees herself in that girl in that she wants something that she shouldn't have and no amount of embarrassment or ridicule from other people will stop her.

So now we know that it really was extortion. The heifer was never pregnant. So why give them the money anyway knowing you have a case to expose them with. Comical how she stands there holding her stomach as if there is anything in there except gas. I can't even with them anymore.

And for the love of God....Deja Vu all over again for Yi Cheng and Nan Fang. Again another wife accusing him of compartmentalizing his family as separate from her. Does he not learn!!! but I cannot let her off the hook either. So much time had passed from her conversation with Jia Min and yet she still could not bring herself to tell him that she was leaving for a temporary position. So what was the point of asking Jia Min for his advice in the first place. So Yi Cheng brings it up and she gets defensive giving him reasons why she did not and could not and then to throw in that that line that what Jia Min says about is him is true. Low blow. Girl fight fairly! I hope I am wrong but that scene just reminded me of his battles with Xiao Lang and her selfishness. Next question how the hell does he move out of her parents home and not tell her. I mean I don't blame him but come on that is your wife. WTH is wrong with their communication skills.

Simei, Simei, Simei...should I trust that she really deserves that line "When a woman's fed up." Time will tell. I am not ready yet to believe her. Not until the final credits roll for Episode 36 and that is all I will say as she has exacted too much of my energy.

It was so nice to see Qi Qi hang with the siblings. Granted it was because of the quarantine but at least we can thank Cheng Gang for inadvertently allowing them to bond as a family.

Maybe like me everyone skipped over their scenes. By the time we got to Qi Qi's I was already in fatigue mode from the partners of the Qiaos and she just appeared as an aggressor from the very get go so I already knew where the story line was going and chose to avoid it. However, technically, it is not rape unless she forced him through threats intimidation or fear (nonconsensual) which I cannot speak to because I honestly don't know. What you are describing is probably more along the lines of statutory rape and if that is the case then they both should have been held accountable because they were both under age. Which is probably why Jia Min was so upset when he heard that they had settled on blaming Qi Qi alone and forced the marriage given that she held a large part of responsibility too and probably why her mother felt sorry for him after she had calmed down. She knew her daughter was a "round the way girl" (the negative). Do I believe that he wanted to have sex with her? Yes. Do I believe that she targeted him? Yes. Do I believe that she kid is his? No. But to be fair, his scenes are so few and far between in comparison to everyone else's that I think we forget sometimes that he is a Qiao and is relevant to the plot.

What episode are you on?

Yes and at what point did her daughter did not matter anymore. Somebody should tell her yes you cleave to your spouse but after your kid turns 18 or whatever the legal age is in China.

Simei's problem is that she is a bit on the obsessive compulsive disorder side with a dose of Daddy issues thrown in which is the total opposite of what being in a healthy love relationship should be. From the moment she laid eyes on Cheng Gang it was game over for her and it did not matter what anyone told her or what she knew deep down, she was going to be with that man through thick and thin which in itself is not wrong. It is just that she picked the wrong man to devote her life and self esteem to. She knew all along Cheng Gang did not love her as much as she loved him but that was not important to her because she had enough love for the both of them and just needing her was enough. Remember she kept telling Sanli as teenager and the Aunties at the factory job what her ideal man should look like and even mocked Sanli for her choice of Yi Ding. We see this pattern all the time with women. Simei is no exception. They love and love and never keep something back for themselves that in the event something like this happens because let's be honest, how many of us can truly swear 100% that our partners would never ever do what he did. Everyone of us is vulnerable because we are human and temptations are all around us. Do I believe her that she will never love again? Of course not. That is not her DNA. She is a romantic through and through and she will keep trying till she gets it right. But on a lighter note....Sanli makes me smile every time her scenes come up comforting Simei because of Cheng Gang. Her character is so different from the one she played in Nothing But Thirty when she found out that the husband of her best friend cheated on her. The scenes where she instantly went into Pitbull mode and wanted to go fight the mistress simultaneously freezing the husband out was so well written and executed. None of this business as we see here with enabling Simei in her ridiculous self destruction.

Please do not tell me that she came back to disrupt his peace 🤬

That is nuts right??? According to what she told Jia Min, she only knows a little about his past marriage from the best friend Qing Yuan. How is that not the most important point of discussion BEFORE getting married considering it ended in divorce. How does she know that he is not the one at fault unless just the mere fact that he is a nice guy via association is enough for her. But given that neither one of them are exactly spring chickens she should have done a little more operation research.

LOL....Poor Yi Cheng had that mortified look on his face throughout the speech. I felt for sure he was going to grab the mike and interrupt him instead of just sitting there but to Zu Wang's credit the speech while not stellar was not that bad afterall. At least he was smart enough to forgo the libations by having Sanli fill the container with water instead of alcohol even though it was just for the benefit of the new in-laws. Too Funny.

I just don't know what to make of Simei anymore. It is as if she is stuck between a girl and womanhood. What I also don't get is why they keep bailing her out. How will she ever learn that her actions have consequences. Girl that fairy tale myth was busted a long time ago when your husband first cheated on you. The irony is she got so upset at Yi Cheng asking that they not seek him out with their never ending problems but what does she do, runs right there to the in law's house to beg that they bail her cheating ass husband out. I keep hoping against all odds that they stand firm and not give her a dime but I know that is asking too much. How she just stood there when that brazen girl came to her house with her demands I do not understand, almost as if she was expecting it and how is it that the following morning Cheng Gang was still in their house, one if not both of them would have been dead. and how do they really know that she is pregnant? This seems almost like blackmail to me. The affair went on for at least 2 years and I don't believe for one minute that Simei had no suspicion at all during that time. I just hate how this drama has me constantly re-evaluating who my favorite characters are. Right now I am just crushed at her stupidity.

Unto Yi Cheng, how does he not know that his wife Nan Fang is ambitious? Don't they talk about these things prior to getting married? Especially given that his first marriage followed almost a similar pattern (without the lies of course). That scene where he went to pick her up from work and she just hung up on him about not wanting to be bothered to store her bike in a cab if he came. Would that not have been the perfect opportunity to walk (him) and ride (her) and let him know of her plans and why did he stop himself from letting her know that he was already there.
Just unnecessary stupidity all around this episode. Arrgh!😖

I like that you gave a very reasonable counter argument to my response and started to tell you my story of a friend's experience which is why I find his character so familiar but stopped short (in case she ever read it and came after me LOL).

I really enjoyed Ep 28 as it portrayed that life was just rolling along for the Qiao family but why do I feel unsettled that the quiet will not last for long.

Great Article by the Way.🌻

My very first Asian drama was Story of Yanxi Palace in 2019 which only happened because of clips floating on my YouTube feed. Second was Crash Landing on You then When The Weather is Fine both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. Prior to that I had no idea that the Asian drama world even existed preferring to spend my time immersed mostly in the English/Scottish world with a smattering of Italian and French dramas. Having said that I have since logged hundreds of hours of my free time to the demise of everything else that I ought to be doing. To answer your question, I think K dramas have a solid lead and footing amongst the three. Finding a good C Drama for me at times feels like trying to find a needle in a haystack (but once I do, I latch on till the end) and if I am honest worse so for the J Dramas or it could just be that the really good J Dramas are not subbed or available on my streaming service so I just don't bother going in search of. Since I am late bloomer to this I cannot give an opinion on the content prior to 2019 but I have heard the rumblings and I too have noticed a shift in my favorite genre (Romance) where a Rom Com is more comedy than romance and more often the comedic elements fall flat. For me though the appeal of K Dramas is less about the popularity of the actors/network and more about the content and delivery of the storyline via said actors. K Dramas for me are a huge form of entertainment and escapism from the hum drum of my daily life and because of that I am quite picky about what I consider to be quality viewing and worth my time. Robotic execution and silly pointless cliched/storylines especially during the first episode I quickly dismiss and cannot espouse. As with finding a quaint restaurant that not too many know about so the meal maintains some integrity until it is bought out by a super chain, similarly, I am already seeing the changes with respect to the type of K dramas carried by Netflix and other streaming services and worry about their authenticity. Dramas like Nevertheless and Devil Judge felt a bit gratuitous and commercialized to me but were extremely popular internationally. This may very well be a case of the genie being let out of the bottle but I don't think that things will go back to the way they were given Netflix's astonishing profits in 2020 from K Dramas which can be attributed to its global appeal. Only time will tell if Japanese Dramas will join in for a piece of the pie but I for one hope that they do not.

There were too many of my favorites here for me to vote, I would have felt like I was cheating on the runners up. LOL

Yah!....Someone recommended Heard it Through The Grapevine to me and boy did it not disappoint on any level.

Can't agree with you about Yi Ding. The way he speaks to Sanli when he gets angry is a just No No in my book and TBH, does not make him any different from Cheng Gang except that we all probably had an inkling about Cheng Gang's true colors from the very beginning. I don't disagree that he does not love Sanli but the angry outbursts only seems to come at her and if we know anything about real life experiences, it only gets worse as the years go by. Look at the way Sanli handles it now. Barely and feebly responding even though she is quietly dissatisfied......but she expressed that she will ride and die with him so let's see.

I did think it was cute that Yi Cheng recognized Nan Fang from that first encounter when he was what 10 maybe? That is what I call Fate LOL. I do hope his happiness arc is finally here.

Sorry I know you don't want to talk about Simei but totally agree he deserved that slap and more....what a jerk but Simei is not doing herself any favors is she.

Everything seems to be coming full circle at this point. Only 8 more episodes to go and the one constant so far of the 5 siblings is Erqiang. Nothing about him has changed. He just goes about his life quietly and dignified regardless of what the rest of them think. TBH, I was in Simei's corner up until EP 27. Being a romantic is not a death sentence but it comes with responsibilities and some hard truths. Of course after just delivering a baby, that probably was not the right time to kick him out when she wanted to share in the joy of their daughter but my problem with her is that she was wants Yi Cheng and Sanli to look the other way too because she was so quick to forgive him. What she does not realize yet is that their relationship is forever changed and she will always have to be a sleuth where he is concerned. What is sad is the damage that she will do to herself in the process because of her blinders.

As for Yi Ding, his personality always bothered me. I have met his type before. The go along to get along type who is always helpful and pleasant on the outside and you will not see the more sinister side of them until something triggers it. To me it was always a no brainer where his mother and wife were concerned. Sanli seemed to be the one at every turn who yielded to his wishes where his mother was concerned and did the most compromising and yes I get it that his mother is his mother but at what point do you take a stand in defense of your wife. Their battles were just a recurring loop. They fight, he apologizes with a quick joke, then she smiles and all is well till the next time. What happened in Ep 27 with them moving to a new house should have been done ages before because look at the result. There is a line from a Bob Marley song which goes the stone that the builder refuse shall be the head cornerstone (or something like that). The absence did make his mother's heart grow fonder because she had to face the reality that in the end all she had was Yi Ding and Sanli.

So what is going on with Yi Ding? Is this a case of wolf in sheep's clothing? How dare he speak to her like that. So now we have another generation of dysfunction and I guess in a way his mother won the battle since they never did move out and continued to pay for Yi Ning's house. Crazy that he is still pressing the issue of his mom coming to live with them ...then what was the point of them getting their own house 😫