Frost_edelweiss

Oh the picture of the community is quite realistic and true to what I witnessed in several cities I lived in : pockets of decaying housing like the 76 years old grandma's courtyard in the drama still existed in the very high end quarter where I still lived in not long ago, and probably survive too before they'll be developed out of the new suburbs, where buildings and whole quarters can change dramatically in a few months time.

The community in the drama is not in a slum area, granted, but in a developing suburb, that used to be on the edge of the rural countryside and the old state subsidized industrial townscape (we don't feel it because it is already far in the past, but the 76 year old scrap collector is clearly a symbol for that sociology). So decrepit housing could still survive for a time in some parts even nowadays. Rural and decaying industrial parts can still be very poor, even though the worst of poverty is now reputedly eradicated in China. It does not mean everyone is now affluent.

I was not close to the local police station and my neighborhood was very peaceful (because of working cameras, walled residences etc.) So I only had polite interactions with the police, did not need to trouble them for help. I do believe they have ideals that are akin to the Chinese military, and the CPC, which I know better.

Anyway, I hope you found the drama interesting, like I did.

Totally agree.
Even if there was some possibility when the Xia Jie de mama and the Dawei de mama got chummy and the latter threw thoughtful glances at her son when she planned the "KPI". We were also spared the cringey business of having parents set up "blind dates" for their offspring. Instead we got the hilarious act of Yang Shu as unsuccessful undercover agent / male escort replaced by mischievous Dawei.
The only hint of romance, in passing, was the bringing together of Xia Jie de mama with her suitor, cheerful Dawei de mama acting as funny Cupid.

Thank you 😊 Happy thatyou liked it.
I binge watched too much, so now need some sleep before I tackle another c-drama! (maybe I'll go for some romance sugar or back to some old movies, before embarking on the other hit of the moment, A Dream of Splendor. I am already convinced that I'll like that one too. My only big disappointment compared to expectations was Love in Flames of War.)
But I can say that I found this Ordinary Greatness drama particularly interesting and true to what I saw and felt when I lived and travelled in China for a long long time. It had the warmth and humanity that I was used to, the feeling of extended family, the drive for excellence allied with practicality. It is indeed well worth watching.

I was randomly going back along the Yang Yang MDL list to check if I could catch glimpses of what I did not watch before...
So this one here, "Unpredictable Lover" is supposed to have aired in 2016 with 12 episodes according to the MDL description above. But neither YouTube nor the cool site seemed to have a recording for it. The page for Yang Yang lists 4 dramas in 2016 including the link to the page I am writing on. I tried to find the Chinese title searching the rather comprehensive Chinese Wikipedia page but it drew a blank. Ditto on the cool site or on YouTube.
The description here further states he plays the role of "Yang Yang" and Zhao Liying plays as "He Shiyu" ; the "Unpredictable Lover" shows up on the drama list for her but not for Lin GengXin's who is supposed to be in the support cast.
Misnomer?
About the Jasmine clue, there were two short films with Jasmine in the title according to Wikipedia english version. MDL has "Jasmine Flowers" 茉等花开 2016 in the list with the description An Advertisement cute mini-drama starring Love O2O main couple (YY & Zheng Shuang, 12 minutes), this ties in with the description on IMDB of "Master Kong Jasmine Tea: Jasmine Flowers" . I haven't found it up till now.
The other one mentioned on Wikipedia, "Love of Jasmine" 茉莉之恋 2017 does not appear on the MDL list or on IMDB. But it does indeed show up on YouTube as an 8.43 minutes short film ("full version") posted in 2017 as "Jasmine Love" with Zhao Liying., 87,500+ views and 1,9K likes. Very nice.
This was altogether a mysterious and unpredictable love escapade 😁

There is only a short trailer on iQiyi and the drama has been renamed to Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty with episodes 1-37 mentioned but not put in yet. Wondering when or if this will be unshelved. For Halloween perhaps ?

I agree with Nav about many viewers may have dropped the drama after the stereotypical first few episodes, and giving it bad rating, therefore. I was myself lukewarm , when I saw the SL female in high heels and aggressive lipstick crowding Ning Meng's boss. Even joked that I wished she would fall under a steamroller to be ironed out flat. But the script provided a better solution.
Still there's enough fun and quirks in those "painful" episodes to not warrant fast forwarding. I sat through them patiently while noticing those in the audience who were reacting epidermically, and heartily hating Lu zong's guts, keeping a grudge where the FL character had already grown to overcome pettiness and even become an ace in psychological warfare for his sake !
Looking at the larger picture is what was the first lesson there. Finding answers hidden as gems in what appeared as taunts was another ; losses can be opportunities.
The FL character is strong enough to endure the hardships and get even stronger, that's the point.
The supporting cast is generally playing pleasingly and helps the story move forward instead of bogging it down with unnecessary side stories.
I think this drama has value generally not only as entertainment but also as an inspirational but not too preachy story. I will generously give it 9.5, perhaps not 10 because of some tropey vaudevillesque stuff that did creep in unnecessarily. But not too often.
I think that generally, the music of the OST was pleasing to listen to. and came in when it should, so I will also rate it around 10. The credits are even nice to watch through!

I only dove into C dramas about 2-3 years ago after having taken off for deep space exploration. Before that, I just viewed some episodes, but rarely a whole drama, even "The Legend of Condor Heroes" that I had to rewatch (I chose the 2017 version) and my first full length ones were "Ashes of Love" and "The Untamed". I was more a cinephile.
There are quite a number of dramas that I have earmarked for later. "Royal Feast" is one I started but had to reschedule for later. "Yanxi Palace" is widely acclaimed, so I will probably give it a go when I can. "Delicacies Destiny" did not come to my attention before, so thank you for recommendation.
I have been watching the beginning of MoMO and I am quite happy with it, at the moment: Seven Tan may become a role model for the young female professionals who find they have been sidetracked in their careers and have let their precious diplomas gather dust. Hoping that the story does not get too much bogged down in mushy soap opera romance later and that the annoying female character in high heels and aggressive perfume will fall under a steamroller to be thoroughly evened out. The sooner the better. (I used to love Tex Avery animated cartoons...)
Wishing you continued happiness in your drama watching.

Yes you're right, soon time to move on, stop complaining or dreaming. Maybe this drama will have a flamboyant and satisfying ending after having dragged us along the rocky paths of the characters.

Thank you, same my end, put a solid 10/10 for WRTW. I agree about the rushed ending, plus some character development of Wu Yuan might have been nice before, instead of just dropping his inscrutable face at key points. I thought that might happen after he recognized BFX as Xiyun. Still, I will not subtract points. I enjoyed that drama from start to end.

I will look up the ones you recommended too; then. 😊

My starship has a force field shield so don't worry, it is quite undetectable and only cultivators of the highest standing in league with heaven officials like Xie Lian might board, in which case they would be greeted with xiaochi in whatever style they like, sweet osmanthus cakes and good "emperor''s smile" baijiu. Maybe I'm mixing up with Wei Wuxian' s preferred poison. 🙄

Well at the episode I reached, Hangjing is .... officially dead.
I assume she will resurrect as a teacher and leader of the Youth League. Perhaps, who knows, as a co-founder of the Jiangxi Soviet Republic and an eminent woman guerilla on the Long March ?? 🤣🤣🤣
since instructor Du is busy reeling in Beichen to join the Gongchandang.
And the wretched Fengqi will maybe take her model on, or become the bff of Li Xianglan/ Pan Shuhua/Yoshiko Yamaguchi and be recast as the hidden daughter of a Japanese couple or shogun, spy and traitor on top of murderess and parricide??
There are still many episodes to go.
Are you enjoying the ride, or hanging on with your teeth, imagining the weird ways this story could have gone for our enjoyment ? 😉

I am still with WRTW where I savour the looks of Yang Yang and his partner in crime Zhao LuSi (two that I really like) + reluctantly with LiFoW despite the FL; it is saved by Dou Xiao who can look yummy too.
You're so right about the appeal of uniforms - lol, I can't write too much yet about my Earthling-form personal romance which is probably more interesting than LiFoW . Much is still under explicit or tacit NDA 😂.
(Hahaha, from my alien starship positioned somewhere above "Singapore", I sometimes I feel like the Murderbot "addicted to Earth based dramas" 🤖)
Btw I won't fail to mention there was a nice Chinese SF thriller drama out not so long ago, if you haven't seen it, look for RESET. I plan to nominate it for an award in 2023, since it was out technically in 2022.
I am eager to watch somewhere the new Michelle Yeoh movie Everything Everywhere All at Once: it looks promising!
I will join you soon on MoMO 🤣🤣🤣

What means does this damsel have to support herself? The mother of MZZ was taken care of by the organization behind the Youth League. Otherwise, MZZ had to get money from these too or be housed, fed and cared for by the Jin walord or with some financial aid, by the kitemaker uncle. So now her father died, and she does not seem to have a house of her own, it looks unlikely she'd go away like that from comfort with a personal maid.
To me much about this character is highly unlikely. She suddenly knows how to do ace driving on a gear shift armored car (ep25) etc. She is not even courageous, as her reaction to her dad's death showed. It looks like all the funeral arrangements were taken care of by her long suffering spouse who certainly ought to be glad to be rid of the wretch. I can't understand what he found interesting about her, she did not even know how to knit! So probably could not take care of a household, had no common interest with him, does not know how to behave in high society to find support or friends there (witness the mahjong and parties scenes). But she out of the blue knows how to get her "opinions" published in a "progressive news" outlet, find a progressive reading group, which don't provide her with funds sufficient to be independent. Is she going to suddenly morph into a singer or an actress or a restaurant owner, without having shown any interest in this before ? unlikely ....

I also liked Fall in Love , and City of Streamer, particularly the hot tango scene in the beginning and the archery + literature exchange about Tagore poetry., and the seducing scene in Nanjing before they flew to Beijing. The ML/FL there had better chemistry than in this one where FL seems always to have a stomach ache and keeps behaving unlady-like despite her supposed good upbringing. playing the offended party from her high horse when really she does behave very offensively and stupidly throughout, not like a "writer from the south famous for writing opinions" would.
I find this FL character in LiToW excruciatingly ugly and tiring, and I can't see what the ML character saw in her to continue to attract him : he must be a masochist? Dou Xiao was not handed the best of scripts... He does his best and without him I would not watch on, but even then it is the small details that I focus my attention on which make me still be here (the poems in the notebook ; when did the Shakespeare plays hit bookstore shelves in translation, answer mid 1920s ; why did they not play Macbeth, answer because that one had been used to satirize Yuan Shi Kai in the 1910s and caused the actor to be shot dead ; why are they wearing the multicolor star emblem of the Beiyang army, trying to visualize which factions or cliques of the real period 1919-1928 were used as models here ; trying to reconcile the imaginary Beixin port city with still relatively free ports on the coast of the Bohai ; puzzling about the railroad line to the Songhua river from which a fish was brought...) Without this actor and these things, I would have fled to Master of My Own or rewatched other stuff while waiting for the last episodes of WRTW.

Na zdravi ! Skål ! Broscht !干杯 ! ура ! Cheers ! Salud ! 🤗😎🤖👽 Despite my alien superpowers, I wish I had more time for Genshin Impact, Elden Ring or League of Legends Wild Rift ("Open this sky!" Tao song), for reading, watching 33 to 100+ episode Cdramas, listening to music, singing, writing, exploring...
I may need some more clones, or perhaps I'll transfer some data to my SecUnit persona that is well known to be the ultimate drama lover. (Ref: Murderbot series) - Thanks for today and perhaps until next drama. There's some Special Forces on now and, from April 18, Who Rules The World 🙂 before we get Z.Tao again in upcoming (don't know when) New Vanity Fair.

Ok. Thanks! If I have time, I will read the translation since the link was posted before by a helpful soul 😁 - Here : https://www.sunkentranslations.com/dont-fall-in-love-with-the-boss/

Ok. Thanks! If I have time, I will read the translation since the link was posted before by a helpful soul 😁 - Here : https://www.sunkentranslations.com/dont-fall-in-love-with-the-boss/

I was not so sure, but you are certainly right. It's so conventional then, when it could easily have garnered some humorous approval if it was a case of quadruplets for the boxing lady, as punishment for having sown doubts in the mind of her sister in law. But that's going to be just another dream then ;D

ok, peace bro (or sis?) Don't get so heated up. "Some like tomaoes and some like potatoes.... " +navigating the arcane rules of C drama is dangerous sailing these days.
So I'm satisfied, but you aren't : to each their own.
Maybe I expanded too much my reply to "staying away from the comment section etc". Apologies if that made you feel you needed to lose time spinning a fruitless conversation. (btw no, I don't have a habit of examining profile pics, can't see how it'd be relevant; you just drew attention to yours that I had not even noticed ; but don't bother with mine, it's just a random one to avoid a letter).
In a way it's reassuring to me that everybody doesn't have only one view and opinion.
Just enjoy drama watching as you see fit. 🙂

good, you've got a musical culture, I see. 😏😁😂
right now I'm busy sampling the 62 MVs of the childe Tao playlist. The latest I listened to is fantasy game oriented, I like it.

sure, I was replying to those who lamented they couldn't go on with WeTV after forking out to Tencent, like you maybe did. 🙂 plus it's always useful to have a VPN anyway. Hope you are enjoying the drama. I was with the finale on the Youhug Media channel for the sheer pleasure of cowatching and reacting together then. 😋 While crunching nails together with the popcorn 😁