Frost_edelweiss

Character relationship chart

5 million reservations on Tencent, February 26, 2024

One million reservations on Mango TV, February 18, 2024

4 million reservations on Tencent, December 2, 2023

3 million reservations on Tencent, September 1, 2023

Translation of mentions on this poster :
Xin Yun Lai playing as Mo Feng
爱慕 (àimù : admire)
同仇敌忾 (tóngchóu-díkài : bound by bitter hatred for a common enemy)
Zhao Li Ying playing as Shen Li
占有 (zhànyǒu : comrade-in-arms)

same author of novel

lol

lol

Fun to see another familiar face here with "Hans" although German is not his native tongue in reality!
MDL informs "Scotty Robert Cox was originally a Theater stage actor with the New Vic Theatre in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. He came to China and resumed his acting career in 2012, where he has been working as a professional actor, speaking Chinese and English in the Chinese film industry. He is also a teacher at Beijing language and Culture University Training Center."
He had a memorable support role as Anton Fei from the International Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, who wavered between supporting or not the idea of a private militia protecting business interests in Shanghai, in the Republican era romance Fall in Love (2021).

where did I mention fish??? But it's alright. You've already put intentions and words for me that were not in what I wrote (I mentioned toothpicks, for the record, and spinach and meat!)

Mind you, I don't hate romance. Just, I am not ruffled when there isn't any. Don't crave weddings either : in this day and age, it's become an optional addition, the value of marriage being debatable. Besides, I got my fix of sugar in the three other dramas I am watching simultaneously.

If you get too frustrated, there's in the Republican era dramas catalogue : Fall in Love (Chen Xingxu paired with Zhang Jingyi nice and strong love story), and City of Streamer (spectacular Jing Tian dancing tango with Timmy Xu: steaming hot chemistry! or if you don't mind a tad of fantasy mixed with Republican era, there's A Thousand Years For You, where Li Qin played FL, paired with Guochao : special chemistry in that one.)

Of course, if you need sugar here, perhaps your wish will come true. I won't mind one way or another, anyway.

True. Also because he is very short, almost looks like a midget. His voice was not so much effeminate that it never changed at puberty, something which used to be valued in falsetto singers in other centuries, so he got the idea, when he went abroad (to study dentistry, of all trades!) to give a try at bel canto in Lviv, Ukraine, and became comfortable with the knowledge that he could become an opera singer. He holds no grudges, has a solar attitude, now that some lesser singer friends (who aimed at becoming pro too) managed to drag him to sing in competition, where he wowed the judges with the Night on the Baikal song cover. That launched his stellar career. He has a circle of very faithful friends with whom he takes vacations and sometimes jams, recording it or not on vlogs.
You need to listen to this professional assessment of his voice and stage presence : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wMLugkPTIg
He also did one of the videos for Marvelous Cities about his home town of Guiyang : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zin5BL-GOKo

(Laughing : I am not even inducted into his fanclub! although I find it amusing to explore various fandom of singers and performers ! But ShenShen is on my favorite list of 'OST and beyond' singers, as is Liu Yuning, Z.Tao, Allen Ren Jialun, Timmy Xu, LYX, Zhao Lusi, Zhang Zhehan, whose colorful and diverse fandom I know better, among other ones.+ Guangliang, JJ Lin, Jay Chou, G.E.M., and many more.)

Zhou Shen is a legend. Some of my favorite singing from him :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1KwPqbPP5o (Upwards to the Moon, where his voice rises above that of soprano and composer Sa DingDing!!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-VpijW6qtI (a Halloween song!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHedu3KcPP0 (Dalabengba fairy tale song where he uses several "voices" spectacularly: the princess, the dragon, the giant, the kid.... )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbMymsOnrqY&t=251s (the C-929 Planet concert, inspired from the classic novel The Little Prince)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL4HVVFGUHA (Big Fish, his signature song)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNJjMJaaBm0&t=442s (starts at 8:10 Wei Feng Yin, "Song of Majesty" - the MV clip has unfortunately been made "private" on YT, so only the full recording of ZS's part at the National Exhibition day 2021 can be found at the moment, but cherry on top:you can hear him talk before the spectacular performance of the song about the founder of Tang empire.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qel1c3kb5L8 (Let it go in 9 languages - he speaks several, like Ukrainian, Russian, English, and sings in many more, having trained for opera at Lviv National Music Academy of Ukraine)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z325SnsDIU (Huangmei Opera - where he sings the specific style to demonstrate a snippet! he liked since he was small to attend the huangmei popular Chinese opera performances)
And tons of drama OST, since together with Liu Yuning, Zhou Shen is the ruling "prince of OST". Here is one of the many playlists compiling his songs : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGTptYeBL6M (72 songs - he has literally hundreds different titles performed)

Enjoy !

I'll just reply by pointing out that there is no "romance" tag on this drama.

You seem to believe that a drama like this one absolutely needs a touch of romance between the leads. I think it is not necessary, but will humor you that who knows, since we are far from end, it might evolve so, to please those who absolutely can't do without a cherry on top of the spinach and meat dish, or rather without a compulsory dessert to main fare.

But that said, one conception of dessert for a not small part of older Chinese is: the Toothpick! Of course, I'm slightly exaggerating. There are lots of dishes, even meat based, that mix sugar in, and there are genuine desserts, albeit not always same taste as in the West. Still if you ask those who lived in the leaner and rougher times before the 1980s in the PRC and even in SEA, you might hear that joke about the toothpick.

I hope you get what I mean now, since you like subtlety and metaphors.

Arsenal Military Academy
The Rebel
2016 Sparrow
2023 Thin Ice
2024 Dark Night and Dawn, upcoming, which will star Chen Zheyuan, NIe Yuan, Xing Fei, Annabel Yao : I'm looking forward to that drama 😅,

Other ones are probably too much leaning towards romance for your taste :
Love In Flames Of War
The Last Princess (see my detailed Review on its drama page)

Not to mention the memorable romances first, just using Republican era costume ones:
City of Streamer
Falling in Love
Maid's Revenge (mini)
Provoke (mini)

It also crossed my mind that those dumplings filled with burning hot soup, specialty of Shanghai, might be laced with something, but then LQS still does need that surgeon. The teeth and behavior of that one looked so much like a scurrying scared rat !

Sure good at portraying a character we love to hate! (LQS)

Yes, it looks like LQS has changed his idea of conquering her to finding a new target to torture and kill, as he graphically depicted what he did to his former best friend at the academy... Worrisome.

LQS is a throwback to feudal times when those who were suspected of going against emperor were demoted, exiled, thrown into slavery, or if too close to central power, all killed from ancestors, descendants, sometimes to collateral family, while data about them was erased. He serves as the horrible executioner / "running dog" of "corrupted nobles" of his days.
There's no hope of redemption from that sort!

This drama is not based on a novel from famed Jinjiang e-romance publishers, if I am not mistaken, it is an original script? It focuses on the evolution of an ordinary employee of the Central Bank, in the 1930s, to become a revolutionary smashing the Kuomintang's economic blockade of the Central Soviet Area, according to synopsis, which on Baidu further states "Communist Party member Shen Jinzhen (played by Li Qin) used the guiding light of Marxism to illuminate Wei Ruolai's heart." (well, it’s common theme in Chinese Republican era / Revolutionary times dramas, movies, and stories, which showcase their own form of patriotism, different from other countries’ historical experience and tenets.)

In episode 15, Shen Jinzhen played a key role in saving Wei Ruolai's lfe, but not out of sentimental entanglement. It was interesting that even those corrupt "investigation officers" manipulating evidence were beaten down by clues and facts. I was impressed by the very good German spoken in that episode. Will it serve any purpose if LQS manages to get LSD (that's a joke?) to talk after his operation? Suspense!

Anyway, we are only at episode 16 of the 38, so will there be "slight romance" in the "inspirational story" of patriotism ? We shall see. It is possible, if the lyrics of this OST song don't refer only to love of country : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=towyMP9NFjo But I do not expect torrid romance, as I wrote before!

I am sure there will be more trilling events, as the story moves now into the territory of foreign concessions.