Jason_17_

Ep 11th

Overall this drama is doing a lot better than other recent successful dramas.

From your comment, I think you finished Ep 23 but haven't watched Ep 24 yet.

Actually In Episode 23, it reveals why Chen Yi went outside even when Miao Jing asked and warned him not to. His decision to enter the Zhang Bin company was of course because of Miao Jing, but not every action is a direct influence of her presence. He didn't go back to his old self you will understand it later, but MiaoJing was indeed hurt when he left despite her asking him not to, and Ep 22 tells us her state of mind: she was having second thoughts, fearing her presence might only plunge him further into darkness rather than bring light to it. So she stops playing it safe. From Ep 25 onwards, they stop having conflicts and open up to each other.

Thanks for the compliment, but I use Grammarly and ChatGPT to correct my grammar. So, credit to them.

ChenYi would have been the top dog both academically and in leading people if he hadn't been denied the chance for education he deserved.

I mean, these characters should not be treated as regular individuals; their lives have been shaped by trauma, and their decisions are deeply influenced by it. Miao Jing would love to have a conversation, and there is even a scene outside their house where she waits, worried, and asks, “Why are you always like this?” To that, Chen Yi doesn’t even realize what she was asking about.

Chen Yi thinks she doesn’t know the danger, and from his reaction, most viewers think she doesn’t know the danger she is getting into. But she knows, and she is willing to get into it. After what Chen Yi did, she realizes that even after six years, he still sees her as a kid that he has to act as a shield for. So, of course, she is frustrated and afraid of what might happen to Chen Yi if he keeps on going like this.

She asks during the wedding, “Have you ever thought about our future together?” and right after that, the marriage needed a bridesmaid and they asked for Miao Jing to be the bridesmaid and Tuli comes in to take the role, Chen Yi doesn’t even say anything. This happened right after she asked about their future. Miao Jing was, of course, feeling jealousy, but she doesn’t show it. This was also one of the reasons she tried to make Chen Yi jealous in the next episode. During the wedding, she also gives a speech about being together. That is not only directed at the couple but also at Chen Yi. It is her way of telling him that she wants to be with him through everything life has to offer, good and bad.

Her actions to make Chen Yi confront what he is to her can be seen as immature, but they did work on him. Miao Jing knows Chen Yi better than anyone, and she is also frustrated with how Chen Yi is. Also, Miao Jing didn’t treat Cen Ye specially in any way, just like a friend. Because he was her supposed ex, treating him as a regular friend might seem weird to viewers, but she didn’t have any emotional connection to him to feel awkward conversing with him. Since they have to work together as a team, she trusts his capabilities and is open to being on good terms with him.

Again, if normal conversations could truly get through ChenYi's head, she would have loved to have a talk with him. In Episode 22, we see that even after she opens up about it, his response is that he willingly did it and just wants her safe.

If the danger you are talking about is from Episode 17, then that was a type of variable even Chen Yi wouldn’t have been safe from. People have blind spots, and Chen Yi is no exception. So what gives Chen Yi the exception that he can go into danger for Miao Jing, but if Miao Jing does the same, she is treated as a fool and a liability? Is it because she is physically weak? She is well aware of that, but she has her ways of protecting herself and protecting him. If she had actually made a move against Zhang Bin in ep 21, do you think she would have walked around carelessly without any plans against ZhangBin?

She is asking a very fundamental question: What is he to her? Is he a slave meant to shield her from everything and a guardian who sees her as a kid who can't handle anything on her own, or her boyfriend who walks hand in hand with her, facing burdens both big and small? She never tried to make him feel inferior.

Was she manipulative and rude? Perhaps. But she likely felt that through normal means, he would never change or that it would take far too long. As she stated, she has lived apart from him for six years, and she simply does not want to waste any more time and there is also a psychological burden on her after she learned and realized Chen Yi is suffering with trauma, and directly or indirectly, it was a byproduct of trying to support her and shield her. So, seeing Chen Yi drive into danger again for her, Miao Jing was also in a messed up state. She wants Chen Yi to understand that she can be his support and take care of him, but words alone won’t reach him. If they could, Miao Jing would have already locked him in his room and had a good talk with him.

Also Chen Yi knew exactly what she was trying to do. He did not interpret her actions as an attempt to make him feel inferior; rather, he felt inferior on his own. Cen Ye’s has a cleaner upbringing, excellent background, and stable career, compared to him, Chen Yi is a huge hot mess and a ticking bomb who might put Miao Jing in danger at any second.

Yes, they end up together.

I mean, you said that she came to show him she had many choices and yet she chose him. But I saw her coming back as needing ChenYi to feel complete. I mean, it was a necessity from her part, not a choice. 😅 You are right; I became so engrossed with them that I'm literally preaching about them, and I didn't properly read your comment.

Hi, this is just my view. I see it differently. I agree that she had choices and could have chosen to stay with someone else. She had plenty of options, but there's a reason she broke up with her exes: she never loved them. They were never able to fill the void inside her.
As you know, she has abandonment issues, and someone with those issues seeks safety, reassurance, and a sense of completeness. I remember her mentioning that the city felt cold and empty. Despite having friends and a successful job, she had a life that most people would consider perfect, yet she never felt complete.
She didn't come back to prove that she chose Chen Yi despite having other choices. She never saw it as a choice. To her, Chen Yi was the only person with whom she could truly feel complete. When she said she was selfish and wanted a man who would put her first, she wasn't lying. She truly wanted a man who would make her his first priority and someone she could make her own first priority in return. I think her character traits perfectly align with that.
Chen Yi never needed to learn that she chose him despite having many safe options, and she never tried to make him see it that way. She only wanted to show him that his darkness wouldn't consume her, that she was strong, that he didn't have to carry everything alone, and that she would stand by him through it all. To her, loving him wasn't just about the sacrifices. It was also about trust and the willingness to walk through hell together. To see happiness even in hell when the person she loves is there. To her sticking together is more important than the burdens.

You’re Welcome and thank you for sharing your thoughts.

I think she didn't talk about it for two reasons. First, Chen Yi didn't think much about it because he was the one who wished her to move on. Second, she never loved her exes. If she had even the slightest feelings for any of them while she was dating them, I believe she would have told Chen Yi because that's just the kind of person she is.

Why did she date a second time? Maybe because she was too proud to accept that she could never have the home she wanted without Chen Yi. She tried, In the end, she realized she couldn't keep pretending and eventually returned to him and found what ChenYi actually went through. That is also why she showed cold shoulder to ChenYi from ep21 because she was afraid that history might repeat.


The drama could have explored their pasts in greater depth, but from the very beginning, its intention was to tell the story of two lost souls who grew up together and became each other's light and home. That's why it focused on establishing their characters and their struggle to build the future they both dreamed of and not about their separation period. As viewers, we naturally want to know more, but it's clear that the director's intention was never to dwell on the past but on healing. It never confronted the past cause to ChenYi and MiaoJing being able to be with one they love was enough to slowly heal.

I agree, rough and a bit flawed characters suit him a lot better.

I can understand the frustration. As I said, Miao Jing knows that Chen Yi loves her, deeply, but from her perspective, the sacrifices he made were not what really mattered because she was willing to sacrifice everything for him at any time. She made it clear that all she wanted was a simple, stable life, and Chen Yi presented himself before her as someone with a simple, stable job. Many of the things we know as viewers are unknown to her.

Miao Jing's mother loved her, but Miao Jing was never her first priority. She let go of Miao Jing's hand the moment things became difficult. So when Chen Yi said, "I'm tired of playing house," and, "Don't be ridiculous," Miao Jing did not believe him completely, but she was afraid that it might be true because that was the pattern her life had always followed.

She did not try to move on from Chen Yi for a long time. Even in the novel, she dated for only a short period before realizing she could not keep pretending to love someone she did not actually love.

As for the physical intimacy, the drama cut all of Chen Yi's intimate scenes with other girls and even toned down his wildness with Miao Jing, so I do not understand why people think the writers would have kept Miao Jing's physical intimacy the way it was in the novel. The drama never even mentions whether she was physically intimate with anyone. At this point, it is up to the viewer's interpretation, but based on my understanding of the drama version of Miao Jing, I do not think she was physically intimate with anyone.

The reason I think the drama never explored her six years timeline is that Miao Jing herself does not care about the past. She only cares about the present and the future with Chen Yi. The drama relied heavily on "show, don't tell," and I can see that what they showed was not enough for most international viewers and I’m one of them.

Well, not every drama is everyone's cup of tea. I’m not gonna say it doesn’t have any flaws but I have to disagree with Miao Jing’s love being lesser.

I heard the novel's author personally chose Song Weilong for the male lead. She liked his portrayal, so I think he did a decent job in Shine on Me.

I'm looking at it from her perspective. I guess I can agree that they could have shown her pain a bit more from the six year gap so that most of the audience could better understand her perspective. Maybe because I never doubted her love and was invested in their story, I was able to understand them.
Her actions and determination to stay with Chen Yi showed both her pain and her love. Her childhood also showed how deeply she longed for a place she could truly call home. She felt abandoned because Chen Yi never explained anything to her or shared what he was going through. She knew he must have been in a mess, but she had no idea how deeply he had sunk into it or how dangerous it was. So all she could do was see things from her own perspective.

To better convey her perspective, the director chose the abrupt flashback cuts because that was all she knew and that was how she felt about everything. Most viewers saw those cuts as terrible editing, when in fact it was a very deliberate and effective choice. I know Chen Yi didn't abandon her, but from her point of view, she had been abandoned again… by the person she considered home.

If Cen Ye isn't stupid, he must have already realized that Miao Jing dated him because of his name. That's also one of the reasons he asks, "What makes ChenYi a better choice?"

Miao Jing is a masterful communicator. Her response doesn't diminish his worth; instead, it gives him a reality check: she will never make him her first priority, and she will never be his. That also doesn't mean he was her second priority, maybe he wasn't even on her list of priorities. She admits that they make a great team because they can both read people, see the situation clearly and respond without letting their emotions cloud their judgment. They're both ambitious.
Her response made Cen Ye give up, ensuring that their future conversations for work wouldn't be awkward because he understood and accepted that he never had a chance.

Miao Jing wants to live a normal life, so even after being abandoned repeatedly, she keeps getting back up and striving for it. She dated because she believed it was part of living a normal life. But the normal life she worked so hard to build felt colder than ever. She had a good job and friends who cared about her. Yet she didn’t feel the warmth she thought she would, The life she had worked so hard to build never felt like home. She realized that what she could never move on from Chen Yi. The home she was trying to build was actually left in past.

She wanted Chen Yi's love because without ChenYi she would never be able to get the normal life she wanted.

So she risked everything to go back. After returning, she found a broken man. The man she came back for repeatedly tried to drive her out of the city. She could have left if she wanted to, but she stayed and became his light once again. She walked through every danger by his side.
If this isn't true love, then what is?

To those saying there is no progression in their relationship(Spoilers ahead):

ChenYi and Miao Jing’s relationship is not a typical couple’s journey. It doesn’t follow the standard path.

They have been each other’s world since they were kids. They never needed an official label to define what they have or what they are. The only thing holding them back is ChenYi’s trauma and his instinctive need to keep Miao Jing away from the 'filth' he is immersed in. He is terrified that his shadow will consume and destroy her. Why?

He was abused by his supposed father. The place he was meant to call home was a torture cell. To survive, he had to rely only on himself; to avoid being bullied, he had to appear wild, untamed, and strong. Then, his dream of becoming a police officer was shattered by that same man. To make matters worse, he discovered that the years of torture he endured based on the suspicion that he wasn’t his father’s biological child, were all for nothing. The revelation that he was indeed his father’s biological son shattered him completely.

He still chose to see a future, but he was hit with a mountain of debt by the woman he never considered family. She ran away, leaving behind her daughter. ChenYi stepped in to take care of Miao Jing, but he needed massive amounts of money for her and to clear the debt. He walked a thin line until that line snapped, throwing him into another nightmare.

For two years, he fought brutally to survive in the underground world. He went insane survive , and the scars etched into his heart. His life has never stopped throwing nightmare after nightmare. With the way his life trajectory unfolded, how could he possibly allow himself to be in Miao Jing’s life? How could he not constantly fear destroying her?

And besides, they were already each other’s world. So, what more 'insane' progression are you expecting? Healing is a process, and Miao Jing’s presence woke him up and made him conscious of the way he was living, her presence alone forced him to change, what greater progression do you want then this? The drama is not just about their relationship tag progression because again they were already each other's light, the anchor that let them hold on to see the beauty of life.

I understand what you are saying but that was how it was supposed to make you feel, as that was their intention: to show how Miao Jing felt about the situation. To her, it was an abrupt change, and she had no idea what had transpired to make ChenYi abandon her. The cut shows us the situational and character dynamics. It was not a terrible cut, but a deliberate storytelling choice that clearly conveys exactly what it needed to.

I thought they would reveal the truth to us through MiaoJing Pov, but they chose a different way. They chose triggered flashback technique to revel the truth. That choice was done beautifully

She knows what kind of person CenYe is. To me, her words sounded like she didn't want to hurt him because he just helped her and she might need his help in the future works, but also wanted to make him give up the idea of dating her entirely. So, she chose to talk about their ambitions, explaining that she could never be his first priority and that he would never be hers (This certainly doesn't mean he was her second priority; I doubt he was even her least priority. Despite making friends and attempting to date, she felt alone. If she truly had even a spark of feeling for him, she wouldn't have felt so empty to the point the entire city felt distant.). ChenYi is her first priority, and to ChenYi, she is that person. Essentially, she gave CenYe a reality check and also made sure that their relationship remains normal and not awkward.

Miao Jing suffers from abandonment issues, so to feel safe her desire for love like ChenYi's is normal. She did date to move on from ChenYi, but she realized she could never move on from him. As she admitted, she is selfish; she came to fill the void she has. There is nothing wrong with wanting to feel safe or wanting a assurance that the person she is with won't leave her. Isn't that normal? ChenYi's love gives her that assurance.

A lot of internationally loved dramas have scores lower than 6.0. This drama scoring 6.9 is a real good score.

ThankYou