Frost_edelweiss

She said she WAS Zhu Yun, and in a different interview, CFY said the same.
Both really got into character.
Or acknowledge they really have similar ways of thinking and reacting irl ?
But according to both and their companies, it did not go as far as falling in love when working together: they just became very good friends. They did do an excellent job.
It would be a good thing if they are driven, persistent, and goal oriented too, able to dismiss threats and slander, in real life, because they have to take in stride jealousy and bias from a fringe of haters too (those who start without even having watched their work, branding the stories this or that, and Li Xun s "toxic", and go on with personal attacks about their looks, family or connections). It looks like this has become very common in c-dramaland, so that was probably what CFY dad [Chen Kaige} meant when he said he did not wish for his second born to enter that industry.
But it does look like CFY handles it well, despite his not viewing himself anything like Li Xun, personally, in real life. Respect ,💖 to both CFY and ZJY here, and kudos for the thrills and deeper thoughts they brought to us with L&P;

🤣🤣🤣

"post drama depression" syndrome. Am with you at the moment. Fourth or fifth time I experience it: first must have been AoL ; last one was LLTG. - Got advised Wild Bloom was not bad, so will check what's out there already while waiting for Wednesday return to normal in scheduling.

Recommending The Brightest Star In The Sky; also Negotiator, to start on Z.Tao filmography. I loved LR too and was amused by the recurring appearance of some things that link the three together, almost Hitchcock cameos style.

salute to fellow 海浪 🌊😁 I love ALL the songs of Z.Tao...

That was my impression too: "novel version isnt very good". From excerpts I found, the story and main protagonist seemed (let's say it mildly) "harsher", so if the drama had followed slavishly, I think it would not have passed censorship or viewers' first five minutes. As some ones said, this is a case where scriptwriters did a very good job in streamlining and adding depth in a more believable way, filling plot holes too.
Perhaps it helped that there's a donghua version which also makes the story sweeter than the novel (you can find it on YouTube, with English subtitles, looking for "Lighter and Princess Dress").
Overall, this is a case where the drama version is better than original (and better than the donghua).
I don't feel the urge to read more of the novel, despite there being more to the story, perhaps enough for more drama adaptation, for a continuation.

I would agree with you that the Li Xun in the novel is toxic, while in the drama Li Xun got to be goal-driven, practical-minded (not losing sight of money-making, since he came from poverty), and repelling those he judged not worth of his attention. But keeping a human touch through his not too obvious support of some friends like Fu YiZhuo, Ren Di, his sister Li Lan ; his respect for his teacher Mr Lin and Lin's wife ; his appreciation of the colorful employees of the Flying company ; and letting Zhu Yun grow and bloom at his side despite the hurdles and "icy cataracts" they were both subjected to. Still cold-blooded, but warm-hearted, as Chen Feiyu defined his view of the character.

I shall be looking forward to January then ! I was cheering for the project since the first reports, being a fan of both toothy Bai Lu and graceful Luo Yunxi from their various dramas, including their common "Love is Sweet" where Bai Lu expressed in interview her desire to do another project with LYX !

Suggestion : Perhaps a special glossary should be added to MDL, to let newcomers not be scared away by all those English title acronyms : AoL, TMOPB, TBSITS, OAO+FAE, NPE, LR, TOOL, TBW, WRTW, LLTG, LBFAD, TYFY, IS, TROTLF, SSOFV, NLB, SAHPH, TTEOTM , ... that are now commonly used in comments for reference to iconic dramas.
Or someone could make a game for that in the new game section of MDL?

Actually this "episode 365' is a Making Of, ending tongue-in-cheek on some images containing 'to be continued". Maybe to be continued in our imaginations.

1/No although there is a "third wheel" from college who will be driven by professional jealousy and hopeless competitiveness despite being less farsighted than ML
2/ Yes although it is complicated since FL never lets go, and ML still secretly cares
3/ After graduation, prison and expatriation (3 years total for all that).
The college story starts in 2012 and lasts till 2015 ; the second, professional, part starts in end 2018, mostly happening in early 2019, before 2020.

Well, it would be fun to get the other BTS organized and incorporated in a longer Making Of, but 36.5 is already following this concept, actually, starting with booting scenes and first meetings of cast and ending with wrap scenes. The choice was conservative as regards the tickling scenes : I seem to remember more BTS like that. And we get different angles for the kiss scenes.

Agree this looked cryptic ! But despite the snippets with CFY and ZJY apparently on a beach, and elsewhere lighting sparklers, I am not sure they saved footage for another episode.

She already had had the light meal promised by Tian XiuZhu, and the invitation to the Lin-Zhao house was likely later, next day at the earliest. So I would lean to Justine's explanation, unless Zhu Yun had something that made porridge sad for her (after all it is often considered as food for recovering sick people). The deep-fried dough sticks on the table, typical breakfast food to be dipped in soy milk or porridge, seem to point to a morning meal, so perhaps she had already had breakfast before coming to the University, and was already full so not wanting to force more into her mouth ?

Well if you are satisfied that they had a fucking chemistry and happy they end up together in a toxic relationship, good for you.

Gao was paranoid enough to suspect it, I assume, so I was puzzled that he nonetheless intended to use it. But we know that Gao never was a really bright one, despite having scored "6th place in the provincial exams' and apparently being successful in cheating Li Xun out of his shares in L&P. The brain tumor probably muddled his thoughts.

Remind me who is Zhang Xiao Pei ? Ah, yes the woman "CEO" who exploited students for her own benefits. After she was exposed at the dinner with Zhu Yun's parents and the university leader, she had to hand back to Li Xun what she had extorted from him and to suffer that at least one of her graduate student slaves quit (to farm fish). So she wasn't heard from then on, having suffered such a heavy blow to her "face". Even her name would be forgotten. Like I forgot 😁

I don't agree. She is insecure and has been fighting depression with medication since childhood, as she admitted in episode 27, but is "braver than she thinks" as Ren Di told her and firm in her choice, even if it is not easy. Geniuses are very hard to get along with, because they are so driven that they appear cold and heartless, even betraying, at times. It helps when the mate is not clingy and stupid, and has her own reasons to forge on.
Depression is always a threat though, and toying with suicidal ideas is not uncommon ; being driven by reason may help, as it did for Zhu Yun, who acknowledged that she had to learn from Li Xun not only code, but also how not to be a victim of her own emotions.
When he pushed her away as the best solution to not getting her involved in his revenge of Li Lan, she went abroad and examined in her sleepless nights all the outlandish ways of disappearing. On cold blooded assessment, she could turn them into black humor private thoughts, to be dismissed because impractical and useless. That's what she did, after toying with the melodramatic idea of imitating Ophelia from Hamlet.
It may be the reason she always was wearing that desperate smile and finding reasonable ways to treat what looked unreasonable in her life, from being treated as a non-sentient being or chattel by her own mom, to being attacked by the really toxic Fang ZhiJing, and by the also toxic student exploiter, and tackling other porcupines like the guys at the Flying company.
If she wanted a quiet life though, she could have chosen her painter friend. But she was principled and faithful to the destiny she had chosen for herself, confident that it would turn in her favor. And she was right.
So I think she is a good example of someone who deals successfully with such difficulties.
If she had made a different choice, her life would have been boring and predetermined by others. Freedom of choice always comes with a price.

From what I read, because of the mourning period for Jiang Zemin passing, a lot of things are getting postponed after Dec 9. But "episode 36.5" (sort of super BTS "Making Of" 30 mins long) has been added now.

Li Xun is not toxic. But quite a porcupine type. He just wants to be left alone to do his things and not depend on others.

Trying to satisfy your curiosity, "good skinship and sweet kisses", in modern setting? Maybe "You Are My Destiny" with Xing Zhaolin and Liang Jie (better known for the lovely "Eternal Love" xuanhuan romance trilogy), "Sunshine of My Life", "Dating in the Kitchen", "My Love Enlighten Me", "Once We Get Married" ... Not sure it is up your alley, but you might also have a laugh at "Assistant of Superstar", "A Robot in the Orange Orchard", "My Girlfriend is an Alien" (where the female protagonist is funnily attracted to male hormones!)

Checking for "love & kisses c drama", I found some vids that can inspire you : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaRU3OdhMJU ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEP6b4y6zho ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5vFx3zc7gI (yeah for having included in that list the darkly thrilling "Maid's Revenge" which can now be found in a 4h21 compilation 'movie edition' : Dai Gaozheng's abs got famous from that one, very recently 😂 ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIhnqFXWgKQ&t=435s)

While we are in the lull of drama releases for the passing of an era with Jiang Zemin, because of official mourning until Dec 9, you can head to the YouTube WeTV channel that is live-streaming since Dec 1 some gems of its catalogue : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr4SOcTq0-k I caught the last minutes of "The Untamed" and the beginning of "Side Story of Fox Volant" yesterday.

But since I had watched that already, I tried to switch to "She And Her Perfect Husband" (SAHPH) which I quite like the beginning of (Yang Mi as Lawyer Qin Shi and her fake-real young husband Yang Hua played by Xu Kai). Alas, it is on the wait too so 😁 .... goodnight!

At the moment,I am still under the spell of L&P for best modern romance, though I concur that "You Are My Glory" is a close contender. Nevertheless, my all time personal best modern drama (despite its alternate time twist) remains the short, 15 episodes, thrilling RESET .

But if you are looking for recom, it really depends on what you like and how wide your interests go to. If you want a change from "hearts and flowers", "love and kisses", there are some very good slice-of-life dramas like "Ordinary Glory", or "The Story of Xingfu". If you crave for "strong females" and some kisses there is "My Little Happiness", "Master of My Own" and if you want to tackle e-game romances, there is "Falling Into Your Smile" , or with NO romance but still a rousing and gripping story of team and friends : "The King's Avatar". If you are not averse to a tad of alternate time threads mystery, I strongly recommend "RESET" and "Love In time". Back to workplace romance, there's the very interesting "The Brightest Star In the Sky" (about the entertainment business 😁) or the ... lovely "Love Is Sweet".