Frost_edelweiss

Have it your way, but it really at bottom is two completely different stories. Since you are only comparing dramas, you can't help feeling the glaring differences. Yes TFF is NOT ABOUT Sang Zhi or even the Sang family.

No use trying to compare timelines, since the HL script differed from the timeline of TFF at several points The rest is like comparing what happens in two different countries : even the moments of supposed "overlap" when Sang Yan goes to check on his sister in Yihe have no common feel.

Actually, while TFF drama starts in media res after a prologue about SY and Shuangjiang's breakup, it does get back earlier to find deeper roots to his attachment, and I think it is the drama version which adds the moment when "baby" Sang Zhi played little lost girl bribed by her brother to get Shuangjiang closer to him near school bridge. (when she is 8 or younger, just starting primary school : but in HL, we heard she had long been of fragile health, so this is also a new drama addition, I think, trying to connect with the other drama for obvious marketing reasons).

Once again, I don't feel any connection between the characters as portrayed in the two dramas. It's not a simple "perspective" from female and male view. It's simply two different stories, using some points of superficial overlap to remind there is more to the author's work than one novel, one drama. And it really is no use trying to reconcile timelines and to quote ages in order to force a connection.

I think it is OK to just appreciate both dramas as different.

It's Sang Zhi, not San Zi.

The stories are intentionally different, and the scriptwriter for HL decided to emphasize it by also cutting two years from Duan Jiaxu so he would be closer to Sang Zhi. Therefore, the timelines do not align whether in book, manhua, or drama. I read somewhere that the story of Sang Zhi was written first, from the memory of a childhood crush by the writer, so it does feel quite real to those who have experienced such crushes. The HL drama version is rather fairy story, with the older partner totally angelic from start (he is a smoker and more sarcastic in book and manhua), focusing on studies, work, repaying debts, being kind to all the younger who need help, for instance on the sports field.

Sang Zhi had an annoying older brother whom she liked to tease, because she knew she was her family's darling after some childhood serious health trouble that were over by the time the story started. She had not many interests in common with him and he was mostly absent, coming home for holidays or weekends to just dump himself into a sofa and play video games occasionally with Duan Jiaxu

The latter was his closest friend among a bunch of university classmates (who seemed to view university as hunting ground for dating) perhaps because Sang Yan had come to admire DJX's drive in studies (DJX got top grades and was accepted early in a top program) while DJX outwardly still seemed easy going, joking with everybody, liked by everyone, chased by girls but not interested in romance.

The Sang family helped DJX with money after he lost his mother and was overwhelmed by hospital, funeral debts for her and also for his father, for whom he needed to pay both hospital bills and blood money for a hit and run. DJX had had hell in his last years in school, faced with the hit and run's daughter who kept hounding him until he chose to get away and study in Nanwu, where he met Sang Yan, sharing same dorm.

DJX was already clear on his career goals as developer in the video game industry, Sang Yan looked like he just studied to pass time, had enough money not to worry, could open a bar as a side job for something else, but looked like the bar was his focus rather than career.

So Sang Yan appeared not exactly childish, but like an overgrown adolescent at times, but also as having a tender heart when he comforted his sister on her return from Yihe, where she had covertly tried to check on Duan Jiaxu, having heard a quip from her brother about him being in a relationship. Sang Zhi had disguised her intent under a fake Internet date story, with an imaginary scum boyfriend asking her over, and finding him two-timing and rejecting her. Sang Zhi had been heartbroken over mistaking the older woman who showed up with DJX at her arrival in airport, for DJX's girlfriend. Back in Nanwu, her brother (who was the one who had called DJX to find Zhi at the airport and make sure she got home on next flight) comforted the heart broken adolescent, who next stored away all that reminded her of her crush, and next focused on studies, but still chose Yihe as the best college to study on her chosen career path; from there on, she reconnected more or less happenstance with DJX and the love story slowly started, through her finding him in a time of need where she took him to and cared for him in hospital, once rising up to defend him against the awful woman who stalked him...

Next appearances of Sang Yan were when Zhi came home for Qian Fei's wedding, where there was the mocking "Gege" scene, and left with Duan Jiaxu who had managed to change flight tickets to travel with her on the way back after the wedding, Again later, on a brief holiday, and most notably when Sang Yan showed up to punch DJX in the face for seducing his sister, and the three made up in a restaurant. There was no mention of Sang Yan being himself smitten by the god of love.

The stories although happening at same time in the book and manhua, do not show the same kind of girl Sang Zhi or friends. The Sang Yan in TFF is focusing on his love first, his bar next, we get a fleeting moment when he gets into another more well paying and less risky business. In Hidden Love, his character seems more like that of a performer who likes to sing and appear unconventional, closer to Victor Ma's personality (like here : https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=EfAGTNLtE18 - so removed from the Sang Yan in TFF who dresses totally different, is totally different.) In TFF, the sister appears as close enough to know about Wen Yifan, but not that family minded. She uncharacteristically helps her brother attract the attention of Wen Yifan as a tiny child, which is completely opposite to what she would be doing in the story of Hidden Love. She supports her brother's love when she meets Wen Yifan in the shared apartment of SY and WYF (a moment that is not included in Hidden Love where she appears totally unawares that her brother could be have a serious love life, and does not seem to know about Shi=unagjiang)... No way this is same mindset as the girl from Hidden Love.

Both Sang Yan and Sang Zhi should simply not be looked as same characters in the two works. The author's intention was clearly not to have them aligned, but to focus on a darker story, around parental abandonment and broken dreams, family violence. The warm and supporting family of the Sang home in HL is totally forgotten, and Sang Yan looks almost as if his parents don't really love him, contrary to HL where the elder boy is a balancing force, kept in check by the mother who makes sure the much younger sibling does not get bullied at home despite the older boy likes to tease her. The mothers in HL and TFF are as different as day and night.

The author toyed with yo-yo-ing the story between Nanwu and Yihe, throwing in a third location with Beiyu in TFF, that we never hear about in HL. (The Hong Kong part I'm not sure I remember from the novel: was it in?) It's a long time since I read TFF, after HL which I thought was simple but delightful. I found TFF more ordinary, with its focus on the dark story to be resolved, and much less romantic, more heavy, when HL was not exactly always light, but focused on finding ways to overcome hurdles and past hurts without a necessity to bring in police and law in it: DJX only has to face the stalker with a copy of the law before she caves and disappears (to seek psychiatric treatment probably as Sang Zhi suggested, but the story of the horrible Jiang girl there stops at her weeping over the legal warning).

There is no mention of Wen Yifan/Shuangjiang/DianDian in the Hidden Love book, manhua, or drama. In TFF, she appears at the end of friend Qian Fei's wedding when DJX first ascertained his and Zhi's interest for each other, and some though that was also in HL but it simply was not : there is no scene in HL showing Sang Yan and Wen Yifan together with Zhi or Duan Jiaxu.

But it does give commenters a ball to try to reconcile what is deep down just two fantasies of the author using partly same or similar trappings, like children who deck out Barbie dolls in different clothes and invent different stories, different boyfriends, with the same doll. For some like me, we just watched them as separate stories, in a way comforted that the Sang Zhi, Qian Fei, Duan Jiaxu, parents, and Sang Yan in TFF are played by totally different actors emphasizing the different feel. Victor Ma expressed that he did not want to play the different San Yan The actors chosen for TFF are a better fit for that story; Zhang Ruonan got a star role there, which fit her image as reluctant to coax, and Bai Jingting was the good fit for the tall protector forced to stay looking from afar, but ready to rush in as "white knight" (his fighting for her in the book felt more highlighted there, although the drama started satisfactorily with the fistfight with her first "roommates" in Nanwu ; I was less happy about the portraying Sang Yan as seeming clueless about her family after having stalked Shuangjiang all the way to her door to bring back the book she had forgotten: it is one of the things that made suspension of disbelief harder in that drama, still quite good for me).

It's a bit frustrating, but hey, it left me time to really enjoy the three other dramas I'm watching (The First Frost, more from curiosity, but is an ok drama albeit nothing unexpected ; Filter: a fireworks of fun morphing now into more serious and fluffy, my primary go-to everyday ; Si Jin, which I started out of curiosity)

and since Northward is still in limbo, I will give a peek at The Best Thing, apart from my various older items re-watch. Will enter those I finish in my watch list whenever. At the moment, I only firmly commit to Northward, Filter, adding TFF for Bai Jingting faithfulness and for Zhang Ruonan who is, as I suspected, perfect in her role - but that drama is way too slow. I will let some episodes pass there, before I get back to that one.

Looking forward to see what XWH got back from his trip to Zhongguancun. Fond memories of Haidian came back there. And what's going to happen back in Suzhou/Kunshan along the Grand Canal, now that the neighborhood committee takes action for Ma Siyi's grandma.

I wanted to send you this as answer, also themed for Women's day, but time went too fast :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c1BThu95d8
"Have you seen her all in gold, like a queen in days of old,
She shoots colors all around.... She's like a rainbow"
Anyway, hope you'll like it. Golden oldie. 😂

Don't worry, since there are so many who spilled the beans on this page already, I can't hold it against you 🤭
Let's enjoy what's upcoming, known or not ! 😂

Ok, hope you are enjoying as much as I do.
Although I'd say I generally agree with your words, when you decided to put them in here, I'd say this is fantasy rather than science fiction (it's nothing like the Three Body Problem :) and I am a long standing SFF fan so would not mislead readers... It's not because of the strapping of "updates" like a computer that the bangle is not magic and fantastical. Scientific alibis as once supposed by TQ are just another disguise and filter of the Filter...
It's good fantasy AND humor, and not just empty-headed slapstick fun.
It's full of references to other works too, there's a lot to dig there, so much that it's almost overwhelming although it's not hammered out ponderously.
To me an 8.5 overall rating is way below the worth of this gem of a drama.
But you can perhaps soon correct that when you really reach episode 32.
Looking forward to episodes 26-32 :)

name?

Umm, where did you watch the still unreleased episodes after episode 25 today ?

But now even what we thought might have been his cold despising of her with the comment about her picture in first episode was turned around by getting another perspective from him... This drama really shows how preconceived ideas "filter" and color our vision of people in dark and unforgiving colors they did not deserve.

Reserving harsh judgement is best, especially when there was no real violence. The outlandish "death" of Su Miao was so clearly "unreal", cinema, as were the alpaca from the zoo, the going away on rainbow steps, and the comic strip character demise : Tang Qi's inner logic felt there was something off with all this and he eventually unraveled the tangled web he had unwittingly caused to create, to find the true core and align with it. Could they have cleared the air before? I don't think so. The filter stories had become part of Su Chengcheng and products of circumstances ; Tang Qi was man enough to live through them, accept to face his own shortcomings in matters of appearances, accept all versions of his sweetheart : so sweet!!

Will the filter help again, now they have resolved "differences"? Can there still be more? Eager for the continuation of the fun and delicious story that has a feel like going through a large jar of differently colored and flavored addictive jelly beans. We got it all : spicy, spiky, meaty, cloying, salty, sweet, durian smelly, childhood pink spun sugar reminding, before discovering new tastes. This drama is such a treat !

aaargh don't spoil upcoming fun !!!! Use spoilers !!!!!

Don't read comments, just roll on with the drama ; it is so perfect 😍😍😍😍

No, just the right blend, although were not we forewarned when Tang Qi put milk and a big lump of sugar in the cup he handed to Gu Yu ?
We got just everything that could be hoped for 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣😍😍😍😍
And since it's not over yet, I am eager to be yet again surprised !

This drama is just adorable !!!
and it's not over yet.

Last episodes 24-25 made my heart race again and smile, almost weep, such a roller-coaster of emotions to reach this new height in the story ! The inner monologue update was both fun and so much in line with the blend of realism and fantasy! Something that might be feared, since it gives away the secret thoughts, but explained so logically by Tang Qi who is a wonderful lover of his girl.

I'm already awarding a 10 to this drama, since I can't put in a 100. This is the best I'm watching. Thanking all those who made it, and the adorable JC-T and Li Landi, everyone. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Even if there could still be some complications to come, until the end of mission of the magic bangle (surely brought in by the god of love, updated to 21st century tech, lol!) I'll trust Tang Qi and Su Chengcheng can overcome them and show us more delights.

Eagerly awaiting next episode, but, as many here now, I'm already wondering how I could focus on other dramas after this one. -- Well, I already suppose I'll be re-watching many times, like I did for other ones I have on my favorite fluff list. There, going back to random past episodes for the laughs, like the one with the fluffy alpaca, the tiptoeing tree.... And next probably playing that sweet honey end of ep25 on repeat.

praised be the "mǎ" ! 😂
thanks for your addition to info

Tan Jianci is a wonderful actor - and he is also an excellent singer, diminutive in stature but the whole package nonetheless 🥰.
I tried to give some perspective about him in an illustrated Mini Profile which I penned for the drama Love Me Love My Voice, where he plays a gufeng and professional dubber character juggling with a busy life as doctor in a hospital, and lover of a young singer (a bit too much, but all the parts when he sang and many of the romance moments when he appeared were memorable) : https://kisskh.at/discussions/really-miss-you/121599-love-you-love-my-voice-playlist-and-more?pid=2904475&page=1#p2904475

yes, that's why I have difficulty understanding how they were criticized as intentional deceptions.
The scene when Tang Qi lets himself be carried away by anger and envisions her as a fiend mocking him in several personas is soon erased in his logical mind by contrasting such bad light painting job with memories of many instances when SCC proved her kindness, and by simply going over the timeline since the appearance of "Su Miao" which could by no means be construed as intentional at the time. Even if he did not hear that she replaced Fang Jin at a critical moment on request from her lawyer sister, he connected the dots for her appearance there....
He had every reasons to forgive her, and even be sheepish about his possessive feelings for the alpaca !!!!! 😂

Lin Yuan and Gu Yu are absolutely lovable despite being more conforming to expected c-drama romance tropes ❤️

So this is my reaction today after the piece about the importance of colors in this drama that i wrote previously (https://kisskh.at/759405-lv-jing#comment) and my observations about the playful delight of finding in the drama some Looney Tunes like humor (tiptoeing tree...) also noticed by some other commenters who enjoyed these humorous and iconoclast cartoon characters. ---

In the beginning, the colored flowers on the grey and stony sidewalk brought not only colors but life and wonder to that first experience of receiving a beautiful gift from the mute old woman, witch or fairy, who gave the gift of the bangle to change her fate to Su Chengcheng...

Flowers feature repeatedly in the drama, even in the form of the carved stone bloom at the foot of Su Chengcheng when she bent to buy the flowers, as an act of kindness to the perceived poor pedlar. There are also the flowers that Tang Qi purchased but cruelly wanted her to pay for, as they were a fake token of interest from him, at the time.

Today, in episodes 22 and 23, the flowers took another meaning with the perfume bringing back old memories, delightful or poignant.For the first time in the drama, I felt my throat tighten and tears welling up when the old woman looked at the black and white photograph of the couple that did not last, and the offer to renew memories through imagining what could have been! 😭

This drama has taken another dimension, beyond the petty squabbles and disbelief that made some commenters band together to accuse it of dire sins and paint alternatively Tang Qi and Su Chengcheng as guilty of crimes against mental health ! But what is expected can be understood in different lights from a different point of view which does not subscribe to conformism and following the ordinary tropes and "rules" of sociability. Our two characters here must be observed from birth (with the fairy bestowing the gifts) to their evolution as thick skinned people, stronger than they seem, who protect their soft hearts and the ones they like, in unconventional ways. They are not a simple mirror reflecting usual people's behavior and they don't subscribe to tropes transposed from fiction o from real life current norms.

So, what is sometimes viewed as "dead or dying flowers" in cut bouquets or perfumes that are viewed as vain, futile, useless, can bring more life, more hope and soul colors than a potted plant which according to the old teacher, should not be offered to a sick person lest it jinxes the sufferer through "illness taking roots" !! Unwitting curses are possible pitfalls at every step in a world which has magic (even though logical Tang Qi tried to explain the bangle away, reasoning that Su Chengcheng might have come by a lab tool linked to most recent research, somehow, in the form of the bangle).

Tang Qi bringing the bouquet to the old woman also was, I believe, a form of apology about the pangs of jealousy he had felt when he spied on Su Chengcheng, relaxed tasting the cakes she purchased to bring to the old people's center. But it also was a disguise for offering flowers to Su Chengcheng indirectly, from love slowly blooming : I think he had come logically to the realization that she was the one his heart was beating for, and his memories welling to support his choice were a sign that he, even when he was unaware of it, always had singled out Su Chengcheng for his attention and soulmate). "lies" only, and fears of opening up to be rejected or to No time wasted on makeup talks and kisses from him : actions have deeper meanings than passing noise, and he Tang Qi knew, deep down, that Su Chengcheng would not be moved by mere words or ordinary gifts even if they symbolically brought the moon and the stars down into her lap.

To win his fated and extraordinary girl, he is starting to move on an uncharted journey with few if any models to guide him, and anyway, none from banal c-drama romances. Loving this twist that completely ignores old tropes to break ground for new ways to usher in romance ! 🥰

This drama is so layered and delightful ! Can't praise it enough. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

even the alpaca!

further explanations : mǎ jiǎ 马甲 means "sockpuppet" in internet slang : an online identity created, and used, for purposes of deception.
But LY did not have any evil intents in aiding and abetting SCC's deceptions. Nor did SCC for that matter.