Frost_edelweiss

Funny as I just breezed through enjoyable LBFAD as a cure for LLTG (when I'm supposed to be more of an addict of xuanhuan, xianxia and fantasy) whereas it was LLTG ("Love Like the Galaxy") that got me raving this August and be loath to leave re-watch there.
Yes.... post-drama depression is a sure sign that the drama was good. This L&P will surely have such effect for me too,. That's also why, despite growing addiction, I tried to wait a little before getting to #36.
While going back to other, past, items in the Chen Feiyu filmography. I also liked Zhang Jingyi in "Fall In Love" republican era drama last year, btw. It was not a masterpiece but quite enjoyable.
I would not mind L&P to be longer.: 36 episodes felt short!! There's a 40 eps drama that by comparison, has me struggling to keep watching, despite it apparently garnering lots of praise : NLB. Maybe that one was "not for me", despite my enthusiasm about Reset back in Jan-Feb and my very much liking Bai Jingting, including his singing elsewhere.
I probably will try to overcome L&P nostalgy by continuing to watch SAHPH ("She and Her Perfect Husband") which also has, imho, a rather well woven modern plot, and characters who are not the standard ones that some reduce them to.
L&P is on another (higher) level, though.
At the moment, I can't think of a plot and acting as compelling as that of L&P except "RESET" (15 episodes) or LLTG (but that one is a historical costume drama, so another category altogether, different from modern day workplace dramas or romances).

I was busy so am only at #33, but do not expect this to let me down so already put a 10. Will watch the end episodes now 😁

But it does: relationship was only apparent.Not genuine.

Episode 2 when the misunderstanding about the confession video and his abrupt departure is still not cleared up, Xiao Shangqi (who was wondering why she had cut communication with him) admitted that he only thought about He Xiaoran when he was abroad and that he regretted that he could not explain about the emergency that had led to his sudden departure and not fulfilling his promise to He Xiaoran.

The three were childhood friends and inseparable for most of the time and he had acted protective to both, to Xiaoran first, next to Fei'er who played the "weak" damsel card to both, to escape her horrible family.

There was no real couple relationship, Fei'er only used rumor to get the powerful males she noticed and as soon as she understood that Mingxuan had a more powerful position than Shangqi who was looked down upon in his family because of his brother's accident, she did not hesitate to discard Shangqi who was not heartbroken, since he'd only helped her out of real friendship.

Maybe you did not watch the same way as I did. The so-called "ex" story was a weapon that Fei'er used to keep Mingxuan interested in her when she sensed that he believed he could hurt Shangqi through her.

Shangqi had already long immersed himself in work, disappointed that his childhood friends had proved so fickle, convinced that Xiaoran must also not really be interested in him, but regretting her enough to keep her small fish shaped radio gift and wanting to have it repaired because he vividly remembered her and her parents kindness back when.

So no, to me, Fei'er never was anything else than ex FRIEND of Shangqi. But she was playing it so that others believed it was more.

True, he should have stepped in to combat those rumors, that are same kind as crazy fans trying to convince others that a drama CP are "together in real life". Why he didn't and let the ambiguity go on, I am not sure about. Perhaps he could not think anyone could genuinely love him, since he'd lost his mother and been rejected by his dad, looked down upon and left to stay in loner's hell for so many years. He had found two friends, one of which needed protection so he gave it, the other who was strong enough to fend for herself and who had already given more to him than the other ever had, in sincerity. But he still put up his hands in shelter to protect her from the"failing tree" and made a promise to her to be there for her final test in college.

One thing I'm sure about is he didn't love Fei'er. Never had.
In fact, without yet admitting it to himself, he always loved Xiaoran.
Otherwise, he would not have rushed to save her in the bridge incident (ep2) and proposed to take her back to Hupu if she resigned from the radio station in Wusu (Suzhou in reality: the Gate to the East arched building from 2013, become a landmark of that Jiangnan city, features prominently in the drama, to point to real name of the setting).

There's no real indication that Shangqi and Fei'er "dated" in college: Fei'er was starting her act there, stirring Xiaoran's jealousy by forcing herself on Shangqi and letting appearances and rumor do the job, but they were still in an "unbreakable triangle" then, all the way to burying their time capsules together. In Shanqi's there was no mention of his wishing to be with Fei'er.

And Xiaoran was the first to plan to confess her feelings at school graduation : would she have done so, if she really believed her best friends were together ? She always was a proud person. I don't think she would have if she was not aware that there was no real dating going on between her friends. She was certainly troubled that Shangqi did appear to accept Fei'er's extreme insecurity, but she also knew that no love feelings were involved.

Only when the two disappeared without an explanation (because Fei'er had been injured and Shangqi rushed her to get best cosmetic surgery treatment abroad) did Xiaoran finally blow it out in her mind to believe the rumor of their dating and perhaps eloping. Out of pride, and not seeking an explanation, just cutting them off. Mingxuan also viciously harped on the imaginary ex relationship, to damage Shangqi's reputation and have him cast as an apparently "dumped" ex boyfriend. But he was using Fei'er as much as she used him.

Don't let yourself be taken in by the drama presentation that "instead of ending up with him, [Xiaoran] had to watch on helplessly as he pursued his dreams of love with another woman – their mutual friend Chen Fei Er. She was forced to endure the heartbreak of watching the man she loved begin a relationship with her close friend" . This was what was superficially rumored, but not the reality for the three.

To me, the point in this story was the emotional insecurity and inability to communicate: low EQ.

But take heart and listen to an uplifting song about hope here. And if you can, support the singer by a thumbs up ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX5XzmOGKVI

Their relationship remind me of the classic song Houlai bu Rene Liu Ruoying
Here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW-G11BV_OE

😊🤗 Yes! Learned it back when, have the lyrics in my Chinese song notebook.

Totally agree that I am at present as engrossed in L&P as I became in LLTG 😂
Chen Feiyu and Zhang Jingyi are genius actor CP here just as Wu Lei and Zhao Lusi were.
I wish the livestreams were totally subtitled so everybody can have pleasure in listening to their exchanges about their roles etc.

Remind me of that classic song title, please ? 😁

She stays loosely around Zhu Yun and the singer as a sort of familiar buzzfly who has her own ideas about friendships and feelings, but stays a friend to Zhu Yun. She will "graduate in student unions" specialty (that's clear from the start .😁) She became a lawyer. Maybe something is in store for her in the later episodes. But we are not there yet.

It looks like it was all Li Xun:

He had given back the bank card which she had given him to push him into first battling Fang, keeping only her written pledge that she'd pay 100,000 Rmb for that (despite her first offer of doing it in 50 months instalments) and next, her promise that she'd work for him for free, and stay by his side "forever". He gave her a bank card to keep her earnings from the projects she had worked on anyway, together with the princess dress new year gift.
But he did not need her to invest and was pleased to surprise her when he had her visit the offices he'd found for the start-up in the business incubator building, having already come up with a name for his company. The 50% shares were a gift from him, so when he asked to get them back, Zhu Yun did not hesitate because she trusted that this was for business reasons.

The more to make her suffer from clinical depression when she found out that he was intent on pushing her away and when he intentionally hurt her in telling her she had been delusional, that he had used her from day one to get back at her haughty parents.
But we already know that this "lone ruthless tiger" character was more complicated than that. Playing with his "lioness", tickling her like young cats do in the first part, accepting her food and her closeness then, he already had a special place for her in his plans and in his "stone cold" heart. If he at first thought that driving her away would make their respective situation easier, even at the cost of feelings, her faithfulness and continued support when he needed a helping hand to get back into employment could not go without rekindling dangerous feelings.
Like fire to his ice or iron, causing another change in elements behavior: despite situations might be theoretically predictable, the risk factor in the melting or brittle stage of "forging steel' introduced uncertainty. Both could become vulnerable again to Fang and now Gao's underhanded and perhaps murderous schemes. After all, Gao had crowed that he had been the one to push Fang to abduct Li Lan from the hotel and cause her to die. That boast made it impossible for Gao to let Li Xun get his footing back elsewhere because he knew that Li Xun never let grudges go unpaid to the full and interests. Not only aiming to get his shares back.

How this is going to play out will be interesting, now we know the story is based on the novel but does not follow it slavishly. I am eagerly waiting for next episodes! 🥰😋😍
I love that it is both a romance and a thriller ! And such handsome and excellent actors !

In the OST (helpfully translated for Chinese English Pinyin MVs by Peachey Blossom - see discussion above) there's a nice song by Victoria Song /Song Qian, but I was somewhat disappointed that Timmy Xu /Xu Weizhou had no song to contribute too. He's got a good voice, and is an interesting pop-rock singer in his own right.

Have it your way, but Gao Rui Fei'er (Li Hui) and Chen He Yi (Sui MingWei) are not listed as main roles. They are support roles, not even SFL and SML, despite being allowed some time on screen, though not that much more than Gong Wan Yi (Chen Fei'er) and her two successive suitors.
Btw Chen Fei'er is hardly ML's ex, they were never married or even in a non ambiguous exclusive girlfriend boyfriend relationship (if He Xiaoran imagined more, it was mistaken). Fei'er was gold digging elsewhere as soon as she could hide her scar.
Of course, mentioning the parents was more tongue-in-cheek but I think the portrayal as totally opposed types of parents the first benevolent and the second toxic and exploitative, ultimately damaging to their daughter, was mildly interesting.
Of course the toxic parents caused her relationships to become a hackneyed Cinderella story for Fei'er, except she was not virtuous and deserving. But it did finish with a happy ending anyway for Fei'er and Lin zong.

question cleared : "Li country" was abbreviation for Lebanon. Not that tropical, but since this was probably a mixup with the Syrian conflict zones, that was indeed a "dangerous place" to go reporting for a stint. To remind us that there's a long way to go until peace on Earth can be achieved for coming Christmas.
Well even peaceful countries have their danger zones, but I was smiling in disbelief about "He Xiaoran"'s parents being worried that she lived alone in Suzhou!
China as a rule is the most safe country I know, together with Switzerland!
I've been there in different incarnations and capacities, once somewhat like "Li Hui" or rather like "Sui Mingwei" since I'm not playing instruments except the guqin (more fitting for my imaginary jianghu warrior princess persona 😁) although I sang with chorus, excitingly going on stage and TV with them for the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai ! Otherwise singing in KoK or at hotpot gatherings 😂) I went haunting Beijing rock and Strawberry Music festivals and live houses in appreciation of the "underground" music stages (not very confidential, just gleefully weird at times, or nostalgic as when they hosted Cui Jian). One acquaintance has become relatively well-known as fusion musician composer since he settled in Beijing in 2000.
But to celebrate the happy end of Almost Lover, I'll rather invite you to listen to and perhaps support if you can, Patty Gurdy, who is putting up her application song for the 2023 Eurovision song contest. Here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX5XzmOGKVI It's a catchy and romantic tune full of hope.

Well there's Fei'er and Lin Zong, too, with the kid in tow (cute one).
plus He Xiaoran's dad and mom couple (very conventional) as opposed to Chen Fei'er's horrible thuggish ones.

Does anyone know where "Li country" is ? (I understood somewhere in a war torn tropical state, but apart from Somalia, can't really pinpoint ; although I suppose it might help if I went back where it was mentioned and turned on Chinese subtitles)
Anyway, fortunately we are not going to be treated to a Wolf Warrior style escapade, as I feared when I checked the length on WeTV which bizarrely had 49 thumbnails for it!!! After all, finale was supposed to be for yesterday. (Don't get me wrong, I am also a military movie or drama watcher too and was quite impressed by Wu Jing, at the time. Similar vein, Yang Yang in Glory of the Special Forces held my attention despite its length.)

I am in half of episode 36, pausing at the return of FL so as to grab a cup of hot beverage since temperatures have dropped and I was (still am) busy with Black Friday work too.
This Almost Lover drama was a bit messy and sometimes draggy from my pov. Watchable, but some parts took the glimmer away. Besides, I may be too taken with L&P at the moment. I like Xu Weizhou, esp as a rock singer, and liked him in City of Streamer, but my male actor preferences now go to tiger-gait and smoldering hooded gaze Chen FeiYu, as "Li Xun" or phenomenally fit eye candies like Wu Lei and Dai Gaozheng in LLTG and Maid's Revenge 🤣🤣🤣.
Plus, viciously watching several dramas quasi simultaneously, including (but not limited to, as lawyers say) SAHPH and NLB, may affect my enjoyment and tolerance, also for the latter one. They are still different enough stories that I do not mix them up, but watching this way will affect my reviewing stamina. I usually don't rush to give my opinion....

😊

Ah, I am not on re-watch yet, so can't pinpoint to you exactly when and what in first part. And yes, I do like it too when a drama also pushes me to do some research or re-reading.
The History interest of Li Xun is more obvious since it came up in the most recent episodes 25-27 😊. I think Li Xun already had a plan in mind, or read up on national history to stave off boredom in prison. He also shows a remarkable awareness of who he is mixing with (knowing who his teacher's wife was), and how he could get their help despite his cold and haughty "stubborn" stance or who he can oppose or cooperate with (warily, with the painter).
Li Xun is like a Siberian tiger, a ruthless loner and lightning-speed hunter, who can tolerate a tigress or lioness for mating but is not seeking company except in special circumstances ; Zhu Yun is more like a lioness, a relatively social animal, which can been trained as a pet animal for royalty, fitting for a princess. Not same species, despite same genus 😁

At the moment, I am more drawn in by "Lighter and Princess" than by "New Life Begins", which is becoming a bit boring: why do the ladies only think of launching a restaurant to find more freedom? What's with that Princess dragging her spear everywhere? And the romance of Prince Zheng is also getting rather stale; the power play is like marionettes, especially the anger fits of Prince Song and Prince An. I am not sure I will be able to keep an interest in this despite the pretty faces and delicious dishes that at first whetted my appetite. I had some hopes for it because of Bai Jingting, who was so good in RESET.
"She and My Perfect Husband" is alright, up to now. But I might prefer to watch it in one or two binge watches later, like "Unexpected Falling" and "Winter Night" that are also splitting my attention, but I watch in fits and stops there, because of L&P fascination.

No interest in World Cup for me, but I was thrilled to get an alert tonight about Patty Gurdy from Germany, who has posted her Eurovision 2023 application song. I like Patty since her "The Longing" song. Now, her new "Melodies of Hope" make me think also of the story of Li Xun and Zhu Yun. Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX5XzmOGKVI Enjoy!

Yes, let's not forget ShenShen's Fireworks in the episodes outros. 🥰
And Chen Xueran's song Knight and King in the beginning is so well chosen for building anticipation for this drama.

Completely different, but the lyrics of this one make me think of the Li Xun & Zhu Yun story : the German application for 2023 Eurovision by Patty Gurdy (She is one "Viking metal princess" that I have been listening to since her song The Longing, with her band called Storm Seeker, at the time). It is a lovely pop song called "Melodies of Hope", here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX5XzmOGKVI

I wondered about the name of lawyer Lu Xun at first. It sounded like choosing Charles Dickens or Mark Twain for an anglophone character name...
Because Lu Xun, that name, was linked in my mind to the Chinese writer Lu Xun. Among his short stories is the " Diary of a Madman " (1918; Chinese: 狂人日記; pinyin: Kuángrén Rìjì) Essential school reading for young Chinese in the PRC. It was the first and most influential work written in vernacular Chinese in republican era China, and would become a cornerstone of the New Culture Movement.
I have read a lot of Lu Xun's works, also Lao She, Ba Jin, Mao Dun... These guys shaped thinking and expression in China for the 20th century and beyond.

Mao Zedong too, with his powerful aphorisms which did not preclude him from using lovingly the traditional forms in his shi (詩/诗), and ci (詞/词) poetry. Look up here for samples : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetry_of_Mao_Zedong
Of course the translations take away a lot of the color and feel of these poems which also use a hand that is close to that of a painter, for calligraphy. As for sound (word music) and meaning, I believe that for Chinese poems, if you haven't been raised in the language, and don't know references and allusions, the only thing you can do is try to find 5-6 different versions to approximate meaning, rhythm and rhyme, and try your own gut feeling version. I tried my hand once at doing a rhythmic translation into English of a Tang poem, getting inspiration from a song version by A-Lan: it was a rather thrilling experience, also very gratifying in that I got praised by both an American songwriter and a Chinese poet who I had sent my version to. But I don't aim for publishing, instead I'm only doing such things for private pleasure.
Anyway, I am still far from being a specialist of Chinese poetry and literature. Dabbling in such is another of my private passions, which will last me 一辈子 😁

But I am also thrilled when I spot literary references in dramas. There was one by Li Xun in the first part which uncovered that this character was not only a technically minded geek; in the second part, the discussion around History confirms this, pleasingly.
I am also admiring the gaze and tiger gait of Chen Feiyu as LI XUN in this drama,. This one has me counting hours until next episode!

Yes. first part just before she returned brokenhearted home, and only woke up later to the news where she understood what Li Xun was preparing, and rushed to the competition where he would tackle Fang physically, witnessing the incident despite Li Xun's best efforts to keep her away from being mixed up and harm her reputation as the lover of a criminal.