Frost_edelweiss

Stripping masks off and exposing unpleasant secrets

Haoming suddenly morphed from loving husband to perfect self-serving scumbag, shattering Xu Yan's heart and simultaneously threatening her with destroying her job if she did not comply with keeping up appearances. Qiao Lin also lied about marriage but this became a private joke between her and Dr Yu with no grim consequence.Detailed synopsis contains spoilers : ---- Xu Yan confronted Haoming about hiding his fatherhood and using her for his ambition while lying to her. Haoming went to his safe and brought out files and photos documenting Xu Yan's deception about her Qiao family and her past acquaintances, when she had married him. He told her that he had liked her qualities of charm, that managed to win his hard-to-please mother, and her endurance ; he had gambled that a more socially equal marriage partner might have caused trouble with his illegitimate son, but that Xu Yan looked noble "without the unpleasant temper", totally confirming Fang Lei's previous assessment that he had chosen her not for sentiments but for her appearance and obedience, that her personal ambitions were welcome because they benefited his career. He detailed the threats he had made disappear for her benefit : Lin Tao, Zhou Zeyuan ... He only was willing to pay in cash and in kind if she kept playing the perfect wife. "From the moment he knew she was a fraud, he could never fall in love with her."Xu Yan clung to some few sweet memories (the band aid, the guihua jam...) but when she calmly told Haoming she was accepting a divorce, he coldly threatened her with her unsecured job if she did not meekly accept to put up a smiling face and remain his false perfect wife. He ordered her to attend some social events although Xu Yan warned him she might not be able to do it. When he came home and she tried to tell her about her genuine love, he coldly rejected her again, disbelieving and not concerned about the anguish that was crushing her and her silent despair. She was blaming herself for all that she was now enduring as punishment for her lie, so accepted the rebukes and commands. She went to the Jinda groundbreaking ceremony, woodenly playing her role, her smiling mask almost slipping her face in interview. Later, he warned her again that her job was on the line... Later that night, as they were sharing a bed back to back, he took a phone call from Han Weiping and rushed over to stop Fang Lei who was threatening with suicide. After he left, Han Weiping mocked Fang Lei quipping that "studying homebreakers like her helped his work". At the hospital, Qiao Lin wanted to help Dr Yu and pretended that she was his wife to explain to the mother of a young surgery patient why she was so positive about him. Her trying to bribe the mom in order to prevent from making trouble ended up making waves in the hierarchy as Dr Yu's colleagues believed he was married! But Dr Yu accepted her apology and sealed it with sharing an ice cream: her lie had in fact won over the difficult family member and helped him. They both laughed it off as a joke between friends.Xu Yan later had to attend a Charity auction. She had had time to assess her losses and acted calm and composed, but dragged Fang Lei to her side in a show of benevolence, while she with apparent cool lack of shame fought to win a precious ring symbolizing love.... (to be continued!)

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Murky dealings and a murder attempt. High heels failing at the sand castle.

This episode is full business drama with crime elements and family struggle around Haoming and his ambition for power in the company. It was not totally easy to understand why the ruler of the Jinda empire Shen Jinsong (played by Xu Yajun, a movie and drama actor seasoned in drama acting since 1993) was so mistrustful of his son and alleged heir.Xu Yan's vague feelings that the sand castle of her marriage was crumbling started to become a reality. High heels failing to support became a repeated symbolic motif of the quashed hopes both for her and for her enemy Sun Siwei, while Fang Lei stripped off the mask of appearances although she could only get malevolent pleasure from the harm she did. Detailed synopsis below includes spoilers:----- A disgruntled member of the board first tried to make Haoming help him in his dire straits, but Haoming remained cold and unforgiving. Haoming was saved by his wife from a knifing from Wu Deliang (played by Ding Zhiyong, support actor who also was among cast list of 2022 "Who Rules The World" starred by Zhao Lusi and Yang Yang). Haoming next forced a bank card into Xu Yan's hand but lied about the business he rushed to next, which was in fact a meeting with Mr Fang (played by Guo Qiucheng), a powerful businessman and long time acquaintance whom he had promised to look out for and help Fang Lei, the legal advisor team member of Jinda group. He also carelessly ignored his wife's phone calls and his promise to be home for dinner, going instead to collect Haochen at school and spend the evening with the boy until he fell asleep. Xu Yan was struggling to balance her job as news anchor and host of the cooking show, but Sun Siwei was still in the media company and in her team as a subordinate, disrespectful to her and slothful about her job, bullying an assistant. At Jinda, Fang Lei was fishing for Haoming's attention. She brought a well made report to his office, only in view of playing the role of weak hypoglycemia sufferer to let herself be driven home by her boss. A few days later, Fang Lei joined Haoming at the golf (barely acknowledging Xu Yan), and readily accepted to join him for a business dinner with the Jiang people. Xu Yan declined the off hand invitation by Haoming and went instead to dine and have a talk with Qiao Lin. Her sister could not believe Haoming was cheating despite Xu Yan 's feeling that "a glass wall was separating her" from her husband lately. Meanwhile, Fang Lei was all over Haoming who had brought her home in a half drunk state. He ignored Xu Yan's phone call but answered his assistant Chen Li and once the news he was waiting for arrived as a document on his phone, let the mask fall off, turned icy cold and promised Fang Lei a bonus for her performance with his business partners, informing Fang Lei that he only had been "keeping her stable from outbursts". Waiting at the door, now revealed to be the private attorney of Haoming, was Han Weiping (played by Hei Ze, playing support roles in many dramas since 2019). Han had evidence recorded on his pen spy camera of Fang Lei's maneuvers to wreck Haoming's marriage and left Fang Lei thoroughly defeated and in tears...Back home, Haoming deflected his wife's attempt to confess, telling her that if she was going to say something that "might upset him" she'd better stay silent, next striding upstairs to go to bed, leaving Xu Yan standing like a convenient coat rack.When Xu Yan went to collect Haochen from school, Fang Lei confronted her and revealed she was the boy's biological aunt, and Haoming was in fact the boy's father, adding that Haoming had from the start only been looking for "a name to put on a marriage certificate" but never been in love with Xu Yan, only using her for his ambition. As Haochen rushed to Xu Yan, and Fang Lei looked at her with mock pity, Xu Yan suddenly felt teetering at the edge of an abyss, her high heels almost giving out supporting her weight at the realization of how much she had been misled.

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Influence game on background of repressed or delusional relationships

The below detailed synopsis contains spoilers and an opinion about one supporting actor.Fang Lei and Xu Yan had different approaches to help Haoming connect with the Jiang of Yuanhang fund., Jiang Yun and Jiang Liang (played by "Adrian" Fan Shiqi, see note below the episode synopsis). Jiang Liang had met Fang Lei before and took her to a drinking party with three other returnees. Xu Yan arrived late, inappropriately dressed on purpose, to catch the attention of Jiang Yun and her thorough preparation paid off: she charmed the unapproachable Chairwoman. Fang Lei,weakened from alcohol, had mood swings and helpless jealousy while Haoming got annoyed but, for old times sake, took care of her and had her driven home by his assistant Chen Lin (played by Li Fancheng) . As she was leaving, Haoming picked up her bracelet and put it in his pocket. On their way back, Fang Lei said to the assistant that her heart "belonged solely to Haoming" before and in the future, hinting to a past history that Haoming, left alone, also recalled. Although the influence battle was not totally won, Haoming gave a precious necklace to his wife as reward for her help. He also had a silk robe sent to her and invited her to his agave shop to celebrate her birthday. But he got sidetracked by Fang Lei who had met Haochen (although she had been forbidden to meet him). She told Haoming that the boy looked like herself.While Xu Yan was waiting for hours, Haoming was rushing Fang Lei to hospital. When he finally got home and gave Xu Yan a peck on the lips for having waited patiently, he was still brooding on the deeply hidden memory in his mind of his lover Fang Yu, Fang Lei's sister, who had drowned, and of the body bag in which he had last seen her. Meanwhile, Dr Yu got an unwelcome visit from Lin Tao who shrilly accused him of interfering with his "his wife". Both Qiao Lin and Dr Yu thought he must be mad.------Side note : "Adrian" Fan Shiqi is a singer and actor who gained increasing popularity since 2013 before being subjected to a witch hunt linking him to the death of 7 years older "Alan" Yu Menglong on Sept.11, 2025. Alan was another popular and successful singer-actor with whom Adrian Fan was acquainted since the Super Boy competition in 2013 and who dined with him and a handful of friends on the eve of the tragic accident that triggered a full fledged conspiracy theory with wild rumors flying. Passionate fans flung conflicting rumors about, targeting variously both "unknown powerful people", and the friends and owner of the Beijing apartment from which YML had fallen after locking himself in one of the bedrooms. Through a swiftly orchestrated network campaign, the fans and people they called to rally to slogan, were convinced that the truth had been "hidden" and tried to blow it up into an anti China campaign, linking the death to Xinjiang since the Han actor was born in Ürumqi, (although he was not known as controversial or a known dissenter or even as a Moslem! despite clearly doctored videos put on tik tok after the actor's death). The mother of Yu Menglong called for calm, convinced by the findings of the swift inquiry which ruled the fall as accident caused by drunkenness. The authorities consistently gave information about the death and the using of it for sensational purpose and clickbait by "influencers", three of whom were arrested and admitted to fabricating lies and videos with false evidence, such as photoshopped pictures, AI speech imitation "recordings", strange items "found" such as "a USB" and "one or two Rolex watches".... But foreign agents, among which a group in Taiwan, kept fanning the flames, having found a "convenient martyr" to stir up opinion and if possible cause unrest. Irate fans of Yu Menglong and other people following rumors called for punishment of the people he dined with, together with "unknown powerful people". They did not recoil from naming Xi Jinping (!!!), naming and shaming the other actors, and even demanding the removal of Fan Shiqi from Love's Ambition cast list -despite only rumor supported their opinion- managing to bully his promotional pictures into being taken away and cause a boycott of a smaller Chengdu concert. Up till now, Fan Shiqi and other actors involved in the witch hunt have not been let down by their agency, suing and issuing statements denying specific rumors, and continue the filming projects and work they were involved with before the whipped up scandal, where things now have grown more murky than in vertical drama revenge plots! (from which attentive watchers could surely recognize elements, but newcomers or others with previous bias swallow the bait, hook, fish and line).The drama Love's Ambition continues its stellar career online, despite the backlash from the scandal lovers joining cyber bullying rings against the leads - although the drama was filmed one year ago and had no link with YML work. This while they simultaneously complain against (non existent) censoring YML images or removing dramas he played in from viewing platforms. But anyone can check that star dramas like 2015 "Go Princess Go!" (that one on YouTube because it was a minor drama not widely accessed before the 2023 released sequel "The Princess and the Werewolf", which did not feature Yu Menglong since it focused on the previous characters' descendant), 2017 "Eternal Love (Ten Miles of Peach Blossom)", 2019 "The Legend of White Snake", are still available online. If Netflix really streamlined the extensive cast listing and did not include his name in present description of "Eternal Love", that has nothing to do with China since Netflix is not a Chinese owned platform.

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Getting rid of burdens through confession is not always easy

Zhou Zeyuan tried new tricks to force Xu Yan to give him access to Haoming and money. He meddled with Qiao Lin's former fiancé, with Xu Yan's real parents to have unpleasant discussions. He even threatened her physically in the garage but was fought away by Qiao Lin who was coming to bring a gift to her sister. Haoming who kept tabs on what his wife did, and had become aware of Zhou Zeyuan's shameless need for money, prepared a shrewd way to get rid of the villain.Despite the threats had faded away, Xu Yan now felt the urge to confess her lies to Haoming. But when she came to do so one evening, he cut her short: to him, "principles were just packaging", not needed in marriage and the liar ought to keep her secrets hidden! She ought to focus on helping him with a new task : Yuanhang fund, around two new players, Jiang Liang, "gifted with photographic memory" and Chairwoman Jiang Yun whose profiles he let her read. Haoming needed these new stars of finance, for his own projects.

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Solving and tackling new problems and threats

Dr Yu Yiming went for lunch with Qiao Lin and she proved her warm heart in welcoming Xu Wenjin, a new female neurosurgeon (played by Li Ao, a young actress who has been acting in support in regular dramas or main roles in mini dramas since 2020). Although Qiao Lin again got overlooked in her job, because of her rustic family, she kept her positive attitude, cultivating her friendship with Dr Yu and asking him to tutor her with evening classes for remedial learning. She was spontaneously supported by her two girl friends. [Yao Yao (played by Smile Wei, a longtime friend and colleague of Zhao Lusi) and Guan Guan (played by Gao Rong, another colleague and friend of Zhao Lusi, who also appeared, like Smile Wei did, in 2024"The Story of Pearl Girl") had been working at odd jobs when Qiao Lin had shared an apartment with on arriving in Jingzhou, but Qiao Lin remained faithful to these new friends.]Meanwhile, Xu Yan found a way to reassure Haochen that they need not be enemies, but could be allies to get the boy what he needed. Both Haoming and his parents were impressed by the depth of her care. Haoming seemed moved when he heard her confide that "A happy childhood can heal you a lifetime ; but an unhappy one takes a lifetime to heal." He gave her a car, but she softly chided that he "was a typical CEO" and that his love had become "transactional".The threats from Zhou Zeming to Xu Yan became more blatant, Despite the three threads of story here (Qiao Lin and Dr Yu ; Xu Yao and Haochen + family ; Zhou Zeming as antagonist) weaving in and out without much intersection yet, seeds of unrest were sown.

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Gaining supporters but finding a new enemy

Mrs Yu sealed her approval of her daughter-in-law with a precious gift and entrusted Xu Yan with solving the issue of Haoming's brat brother misbehaving at school and at home ; Xu Yan took the boy to riding practice ; she filmed him, including when he fell and broke limbs. Even in hospital, he was rude to Xu Yan who had to pause to think about how to handle Xiaochen (played by Fu Bohan, a young child actor with an impressive filmography since 2019, including two previous dramas with Zhao Lusi: playing as her little brother Shrimp in 2024 "The Story of Pearl Girl", and as Han Pu, the TCM sect kid survivor become the godson of Bai Fengxi in 2022 "Who Rules The World": Fu Bohan and Zhao Lusi were very comfortable acting together and had fun in behind the scenes moments and social occasions ever since.).Meanwhile, Xu Yan was worried despite the rebuke her rival at the media company had suffered : she felt that her spot there and in Haoming's heart might be at risk. Haoming suddenly urged her "cousin" to dine with them, using the opportunity to make her talk, not seeming surprised when Qiao Lin told him that he needed to cherish his wife since he was Xu Yan's first love but pointing out his surprise that they had been at school together. Xu Yan was surprised by the loyalty of her elder sister. Qiao Lin, contrary to Haochen, could have resented the newcomer for stealing her spot when she was brought back to the Qiao family, but the elder sister had proved fair to Qiao Yan on several occasions and could not be blamed for the mistaken choice by their parents about college studies: Qiao Lin had not coveted the opportunity to study, in the first place, and did not blame Xu Yan for seeking ways to realize her dreams. A new challenge arose, when Zhou Zeyuan (played by Zheng Zhongyu), an old acquaintance of Xu Yan suddenly appeared and tried to impress her with his startup and gain her influence to finance it. But Xu Yan saw through his schemes, lies, and clear glasses designed to impersonate a wealthy returnee keen to develop business in the socially desirable health market. The episode ended with unresolved issues, but changes in the games of alliances.

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Married!

Xu Yan deftly defused the situations which might have marred her perfect wedding and Haoming subtly helped ; they both visited the grandma and Haoming charmed the old lady, vowing to take good care of Xu Yan, and agreeing to help let her grow and not be hard on her if her early education in the countryside had left her lacking. He dismissed Fang Lei and took his bride on honeymoon, returning to show her an old but poetic retreat in a typical but atmospheric courtyard house hidden inside the hutong alley maze of old Beijing (Jingzhou city in the drama). The repairs and improvements needed for the old house mirrored the need for Xu Yan to stay alert and maintain her careful facade, as if Haoming always was aware of her inner wounds and the necessity to keep up the charade for them both. Measuring her height with lipstick on a window pane, despite its transient nature, was a sweet move, as a symbol of her having reached blooming and leaving all heartaches from comparisons behind, even if other people had etched it in the window's wooden frame. He had kept the unknown former owner's memory but was not attached to know more about those...

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New threats to Xu Yan's careful construct

The episode shows the struggles of the young Qiao Yan, after she was denied studies in university by her father and fled to her grandmother. A rotten tomato discarded from her shopping bag takes on an ominous portent, as does the young woman's tears when discovering the jars of guihua jam in the fridge after having picked the blooms in the late September balmy garden when she pays a visit to her grandma. While the real parents suddenly turn up in Jingzhou to find Qiao Lin through Qiao Yan, whose address they got hold of through an acquaintance, Xu Yan experiences a split moment nightmare when the fake and real parents almost brush with Haoming and Mrs Yu. Qiao Lin next encounters the fake parents; she guesses right about the situation, but chooses to withdraw without exposing the lies. But another threat looms on the horizon with the return of Haoming's brazen green tea presenting herself as white moonlight Fang Lei, who joined the company without telling Haoming.

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Dive into an unhappy childhood

An unwelcome visit triggers Xu Yan to re-live her most heart-aching moments with her birth family and her elder sister Qiao Lin, whom she thought would stay away. Xu Yan had almost been killed and was driven to tears by her uncaring parents who always chose to favor the elder, even to denying a future to their unwanted daughter. How will Xu Yan handle this new threat to her careful construct? Agave preparing to bloom is not a happy omen.Zhao Lusi's tears when playing the high school student denied to attend college exams by her own father are not exaggerated, but convey the depth of emotions. We meet Wan Peng (better known for her lovely and airy role in "My Girlfriend is an alien") as the selfish Qiao Lin, and, briefly, Guan Zijing as her fiancé (who, despite being always in support roles is an actor who even in fleeting small bits doesn't fade into the background, since playing Yuan Shuai (LYX)'s secretary in "Love is sweet").

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How to get the top host position through culinary deception

Xu Yan is never giving up, and sees every meeting as an opportunity. She manages to rope in powerful ladies into her show, and even Shen Haoming is impressed. Zhao Lusi waving gracefully with kunqu opera water sleeves is a delight : the art is not as easy as it appears to be. This episode is more about upper class ladies and their hobbies: gossip, selecting expensive scarves, tennis, opera, and aided by trusted cooks, making signature dishes, such as Dongpo rou mouthwatering red pork meat cooked to melt with sweet flavors; but in her show, Xu Yan challenges them to make an Emperor's favorite simple dish of cabbage leaves salad, the Qiánlóng báicài, 乾隆白菜. Now it's interesting that this dish never appeared in History records, but is linked to a Beijing chef who invented it in the 2000s! The drama has more layers in deception that initially presented and the actors gleefully roll with it !

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"You mean, even if you're lying, I still have to pretend to believe you; whatever you say is right"

Prologue : Five years earlier, XZZ had an argument with Yu Zhecheng about his switching specialty from thoracic surgeon to rehabilitation therapist. Remembering him as her savior in the blast of five years before, Qin Fei told XZZ that she now believed in destiny and quantum entanglement. But although XZZ was relieved that she had got on same track as his, he could not help being plagued by a nightmare memory from his time on war frontline. He went back to sit talking to a young boy who asked him if he had told Qin Fei about him. Later, a doctor had his brain scanned and seeing nothing wrong there, suggested he try psychiatric help.XZZ and Qin Fei exchanged text messages in the period she was away filming. She finished the shoot early and gave a rose from her wrap bouquet to Xiaoxiao.Xiaoxiao went for dinner with Chen Shen and broached the subject of his unrequited feelings for her. The nurses were excited when XZZ brought chocolates for Nurses Day. QF was getting jealous as she had arrived earlier than she said she would, but XZZ stopped her anger with a kiss! They agreed to go on a date in the nearby (Gate of the Orient) mall, but her "wrapping herself up like a zongzi" attracted the attention of some high school girls. Ren Siqi berated Qin Fei and told her to stay at home. But they needed an escape, asking for advice from their friends on how best to go unnoticed on their planned outing. A rented car and a schoolgirl like wig did the trick! They went to watch the lunar eclipse in a park, sleeping in a tent.

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"Next time you do a kissing scene, I’ll kiss you ten times more."

Prologue: Indeed, XZZ was worried about the kissing scene; he phoned Liu Yanze to ask how he had reacted to Xiaoxiao's kissing scenes in the past and heard his reply that after those, Liu would wait and kiss his actress ten times more in real life!Qin Fei was worried too and sent XZZ away on a bogus cake purchase mission, but he still overheard the actor preparing for the kiss scene. He was affected by the passionate scene and the director repeatedly asking new takes, and went to wait for hr in her trailer, kissing her to wipe away the traces of the actor, who was really trying to pursue her, unmindful of the fans who were stalking and taking pictures in view of scolding her. Qin Fei was sad about the situation but XZZ perked up when she once more said he was her "family member" : they agreed he could openly pursue her if he managed also to steer Liu Yanze back together with Xiaoxiao who missed her former lover.Liu Yanze had a tiff with Xiaoxiao who had found his tablet in her car, and looked at all the documents he had stored about her over the years ; but he still refused to admit he still held romantic interest about her in his mind, focusing on his protection mission. He investigated a likely deranged stalker hiding in the hotel, although Xiaoxiao's reluctance to call in the police had prevented his direct access to surveillance footage. One evening, Xiaoxiao something was off with the man running behind her ; she called Liu Yanze and next Chen Shen to find her and drive her back. Liu Yanze had almost caught the knife wielding stalker. But Xiaoxiao went off to spar her fright and heartache down with Chen Shen who had become her confidant on top of being her agent. Chen Shen could only be the shoulder she'd cry on, her best friend...Meanwhile, Liu Yanze was having drinks and a heart-to-heart with XZZ about his reasons for not letting Xiaoxiao get back with him. His earlier worries about the social and income gap between them was not the only reason. Even if she might understand his sense of missions, he refused to let her risk experience the pain he had witnessed. XZZ went on to stumble into Qin Fei's arms after getting hopelessly drunk with the bodyguard.

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"Well, if someone on the set asks me what my relationship with you is, what should I say ?"

Prologue: Four years earlier, XZZ was watching Qin Fei's movie during his lunch pause in the hospital. He was disturbed by the level of hate for her churning online, that his colleague Yu Zhecheng showed to him.On set of the new movie, the director praised Qin Fei and even Hao Jun had changed his mind about her. Xiaoxiao was trying to rekindle Liu Yanze's past feelings for her and was puzzled when he barged in to stop her from drinking a glass of wine, and locked her out of the room. He was checking it again and found a hidden camera spying on her. Later, she made inquiries to Liu Yanze's colleague about where and why Liu had disappeared in the past but only got the answer that he had been on a secret mission.Meanwhile, Qin Fei had gotten back to the fountain plaza and went to order a meal in a restaurant but she fled, leaving her meal paid but untouched, when she overheard some colleagues of XZZ (whom she did not expect to be there) appear and talk about introducing her to the director's niece. XZZ excused himself to rush out and follow Qin Fei and use the opportunity to sing once again his love song to her. Later, he eased her self-doubts. She invited him to come visit her on set and if he came, she allowed him to say he was her "reserve family member".Kafei forgot her worries about Qin Fei when Yu Zhecheng showed up at her doorstep.Xiaoxiao was less thrilled to find Chen Shen waiting for her in her hotel room when she came back from a night run exercise session protected by Liu Yanze. In the hotel corridor, Hao Jun tried to wrestle XZZ thinking he was a stalker, but XZZ presented himself only as QF's "physical therapist"; Kafei and QF were worried that XZZ would get mad if he learned that the kissing scene between actors was for next day!

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