Frost_edelweiss

Oh no, consider it as Liu Yifei did, praising him in interview for the difficult role he took. LGX is a talented actor.

And sometimes like this song, the tune of which is "unforgettable" like those transient ones : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMiPICaiSoU (Jiabin)

sometimes, lol

yes, "guests" are in fact rather appropriate in the context. lol

But he/his name is? Dr Lin Gengxin PhD recently (aka Kenny Lin) plays the role of Fang Xiewen, Huang Yimei's husband to be in today's episodes.
The position of ML was only given to HYM's brother ; all HYM's lovers (and husband) are "moments in her life" so production decided to cast them as "supporting", that's all.

OK, I added a line in the companion pieces + a new one for airing The Tale of Rose which had me look up some curious details, and cut some funny Gif for the tall actors (189cm to 180 cm, lol).

Yes, that one was good too.

Yes, the outfits are very beautiful, even though some are not exactly in sync with the period (the Birkin bag of Bai Xiaohe is, but not the crystal bag which is a more recent piece, as for what I found (see in Discussions)

lol - I was waiting for her to fish one like she did Zhuang Guodong in ep.3 🤣
but no...

Thanks Cho Na.
The companion pieces list is now behind the "announcer button' on my profile page :)
Although it will remain low key as before : no statement of intent except allegorically through the ganlan shu collection, no more details about me except as music lover through some other links (it was difficult to choose those: I like a lot of songs), no friends list - I don't use MDL for social media, except comments and answers to questions on and off on the forum, where with time some MDL members must have come to recognize my handle and have pleasant conversations with me within the forum or in DM.
---- Can I link to "Recent Discussions" ? I thought that was only possible when I open up a new companion piece (it is rather time consuming to do them, so I try to refrain myself from doing too many, now).

I also got disconnected from that one, despite being usually very tolerant. Stopped at 22, after much mental feet dragging. Not sure I can finish it.
The worst is that it gave me misgivings about the next two things in this live action adaptations. Perhaps I'll just go back to the donghua instead, although I am not a fan of animation, especially of childish fairy tale animations.

Someone on A.X rant video comments wrote this in defense of Yang Mi : "FYI, Jaywalk actors did not have a choice on what show and roles to take. Yang Mi never wanted to play this role but Jaywalk was heavily invested in this drama. Anything the Jaywalk touches since after TMOPB becomes a borefest. She had since left Jaywalk. This is why as soon as their contract finished, Maggie Huang, Wang Xiao, and Zhang Binbin left."

Look in Discussions for Alejandro Ortega's views of 2022.
Also for your specific questions, perhaps here : https://kisskh.at/78221-fox-spirit-matchmaker-yue-hong#comment-17650829
This drama looked promising alright, but if you want to understand why you disliked it in the end, you can, for once, have a look at Avenue X's scathing rant : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ic7AbrRQnA
For once, I do agree with her assessment (not her insistence on finding it pedo or otherwise perverting, but totally on the perversion of making the drama this way). I found this so boring that I up till now could not drag my mental feet to complete it. Will I drop it? I seldom do, but have an itch to, now. Besides, as someone already pointed out, this first drama in the planned trilogy does not bode well for the next ones, so I'm not sure I will spend time on them.

Actually, although I don't recall the grey black 100 Rmb banknotes, they did exist between 1980 and 1990 mostly, phased out totally in 2018 according to Wikipedia and numismatic info. "The fourth series of renminbi banknotes was introduced between 1987 and 1997, although the banknotes were dated 1980, 1990, or 1996. They were withdrawn from circulation on 1 May 2019".
The hundred yuan banknote appeared on May 10, 1988: ¥100 (1980 edition), the other smaller value banknotes, at other dates ; it featured "four people important to the founding of the People's Republic of China: Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, and Zhu De".

The red banknote with only Mao circulated at the same time as the former design from the issuance of fifth series in 1999, but perhaps not really everywhere : I only remember the crisp red banknotes and being taught to tell if they were true or fake by the feel and sight. By the beginning of 2010s, these banknotes were much better secured against counterfeiting through several features, but at the same time the boom in e-payments (cards of various types, such as for transport, that could be recharged in ATMs, e-commerce etc) quickly did away with large cash payments: UnionPay is still available " at 1.7 million ATMs outside mainland China, covering major travel destinations like Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Southeast Asia, United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Europe and the United States". In places that don't have mobile payment transactions through Weixin or Alipay.

So, here are pictures of the banknotes twin designs : http://www.chinatoday.com/fin/mon/
The article, dated BEIJING, July 12, 2008 (Xinhua) further mentions the 5, 10, 50 and 100 yuan banknote had two types and for the 100 yuan it was " -- one in gray blue which debuted in 1990 while the other in red which was first released in 1999. The 1990-type note has a portrait of four former Chinese leaders, namely Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi and ZhuDe, on its obverse while its reverse is the Jinggangshan Mountain in South China. " Stating in conclusion :
"Very few of the 1990-type 100-yuan paper notes are currently circulated in China."

The production must have done a lot of digging (like me to find evidence here!) to find these zombie banknotes (which are supposedly still legal tender so could be deposited or exchanged at the bank! but hardly in shops and markets because of the past frequent counterfeiting issue)

hard!!!
Nevertheless, it's early in the drama, so I'll check on some more again. Ep 7 tomorrow...

Sure sure. Wu Lan still must have traveled faster than Jiang Li, if she was in the capital at the time of opera performer Tao Hong recklessly flying with drawn blade targeting Duke Su.....
There are some plot holes in the drama (yes, from start, we need a lot of suspension of disbelief).
But Duke Su is still yummy to behold. So I am not ready to drop it.

Puzzled by the money Yimei squeezed out of her father to get a mobile phone. It's been decades that 100Rmb banknotes were red, so the grey color looked very strange to me.
Also the almost decrepit apartment her parents, who work as Tsinghua faculty members, live in.
Be it in Beijing or in Shanghai, universities and housing there have been very much upgraded there over the past 15-17 years, so flaky paint narrow stairways on campus of this prestigious university, today, raise my doubts. Same as the girl not having a smartphone when almost all business of daily life is now using QR codes and phone payment.

BUT
Now when was this filmed? Baidu has the answer : Shooting date Approximately June 2023 to November 15, 2023 ; and then this precision : "The play is adapted from Yi Shu's novel of the same name, The Story of a Rose. The story is based on the growth story and emotional journey of Huang Yimei (played by Liu Yifei) spanning more than 20 years. It deeply portrays the emotional life of the city. The whole play focuses on many social phenomena and Popular topics, vividly interpret the wonderful moments of contemporary women's bravery and blooming."
Ok, so the story starts somewhere around 2001-2004 when mobile phones were less numerous than now. Makes sense. Also the flaky paint. There were only 2-3 metro lines in Beijing at the time (1, 2, and brand new 13 from September 28, 2002). The art scene was already starting to rise with art galleries starting to colonize Dashanzi (798) on the other side of town in the decrepit warehouse and industrial northern suburb (it has changed and modernized a lot, since the mid 2000s).
Onward with story then. The grey banknotes still don't make sense.
EDIT : the grey blue banknotes did exist (see my next answer, with a link to visuals and more story, plus who these banknotes depicted and honored).

The starting 20 mins were very funny, black humor at the marriage bureau!
The guest actors are a star-studded line-up : Lin Gengxin, Lin Yi, Peng Guanying, Wallace Huo Jianhua, and FL Crystal Liu is a favorite, so I will try it for a few episodes at least.
6 episodes out on WeTV. At least 2 to sample on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7PI7tDQ29U
2 episodes in now on WeTV, I'm considering staying with it, but for those without a subscription, beware it is VIP after those first two episodes.

Metal fans reminded me of an old donghua/movie called Princess Iron Fan ; story from Journey To The West. Ah, YT has it : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocUp840yj2c (1941 black and white, 1h+, sound and songs of the times :another era). It has been remade since, in more versions I think than those listed on Wikipedia.

40 x 45' is indeed a long one (many episodes were almost 60' ; 17 is 57' ; so 45' must be taking into account cutting opening song credits and )