Wei Wuxian

The guy’s obsession with soup had me gagged when reading the novel. I think the author just really, really likes soup for some reason.

There are some scenes missing from the novel that make this make more sense, and they didn’t share with drama viewers that Lu Qing and Xiao Fan’s reunion took 12 years. In that time, Xiao Fan’s brother went back home to the country and became a humble farmer on his parents farm. His mom also was WAY more dramatically in favor of Xiao Fan and full of regret for all they’d used him. Even as early as when she and Ping were staying with him after he loses his job because of the pregnant Feng.) She goes so far as to runs her head into a pillar at some point (If I remember correctly because it’s been a while since I read it- not to die, but in her grief, regret, and sorrow for all that happened to Xiao Fan that she believes is the Lu family’s fault). She’s a redeemable character in the novel- honestly the only one from the Lu family.

I wish they’d do a special episode to show what happens after to wrap it up better. Because they do actually go visit his family in the country. Their attitudes are much different towards him 12 years later.

But I still agree that he should have just cut ties with all but his mom. The rest are irredeemable, even in the novel. ESPECIALLY the brother and father. Useless.

Nothing much other than him being embarrassed and leaving. He tried to “seduce” Lu Qing into taking him back through that impulsive move, but it didn’t work since his high school sweetheart was there. But Lu Qing was pushing him away to protect him because his mom is a bitch who went after his last partner- His feelings for Xiao Fan are more enduring so he wants to protect him and become financially independent from his parents. (Lu Qing’s just an ass about how he treats the person he’s supposed to love so much.) I actually skipped over that scene because I knew my second hand embarrassment would be too much.

The high school sweetheart was playing a role of boyfriend rather than actually being back in the role of boyfriend. Lu Qing used him to push Xiao Fan away so he could protect him from his mom while simultaneously pretending to be engaged to the guy’s female friend to throw his mom off while he planned out financial victory in the stock market- something that was supposed to happen in a few days. With this victory, he would have been forever free of his mother’s manipulations and be able to be with Xiao Fan in the open.

There was supposed to be a scene where the mom tries to financially intimidate Xiao Fan (if I’m remembering correctly), but it doesn’t work. It’s been a while since I read the novel and I’ve read other novels since then... But I think it’s supposed to happen after their reunion 12 years later.

The story is basically run on misunderstanding after misunderstanding and a whole lot of lack of communication between them. Xiao Fan is kind of impulsive in his conclusions- which are always from the lenses of someone with a negative view of himself. He can’t possibly imagine that Lu Qing is serious about him of all people- though he secretly harbors a small hope he can’t help. And Lu Qing is obsessed with him and cares a lot about him, choosing to how his love through actions- but he speaks none of it. One is mute and the other is blind.

EDIT:

sorry- I re-read and it’s 2 years, not 12…

No. In the novel, 2 years pass from the time he bankrupts Lu Qing and the time Lu Qing finds him in his little Chinese soup restaurant. I reacted the same way when I read that. Like, bro was another level of spring on Xiao Fan. Whichbis partially why he didn’t put up much resistance when they found him and he proposed. 12 years is a long ass time. And in that time, the useless, arrogant asshole of an older brother became a humble farmer tending to his family farm in the country- go figure… I felt like he needed a much harsher reality than the author gave him. Though I guess for an arrogant and entitled money hungry person, becoming a humble farmer would seem like a just ending for him.

This followed the novel very closely. Though I would have liked to see the last little bit of the novel after the last scene in episode 12, just to put a bow on it. I waited after episode 3 to continue until all episodes released because, as the novel did, I knew the upcoming episodes were gonna frustrate the hell outta me until the reveal of Xiao Fan’s actually pretty smart mind and growing self-confidence behind that screen of doormat behavior I knew was coming.

Gotta say, the Lu family pay off scene wasn’t as satisfying as I had hoped. Xiao Fan’s mom actually is significantly more dramatic in her guilt and regrets for all the Lu family put the second son through- she’s way more regretful and sorry for going to Xiao Fan even after moving in with him and his useless older brother when Feng exposes him and causes Ping to lose his job. I think they could have made her more like the novel for viewer satisfaction. The dad is even more useless. Like he regrets even having a second child. He was as thoroughly despicable as his eldest son throughout the entire novel. Though the author tried to redeem them both at the very last chapter- I wasn’t buying it. Some people are not redeemable.

Should Lu Qing and Xiao Fan have made it to the end? I kinda feel like Lu Qing should have done some groveling. Yeah, Xiao Fan made Lu Qing search for 2 years, but that’s not enough of a punishment for all the unnecessary and nasty things he said that hurt Xiao Fan when he secretly had been completely in love with him from the beginning. He always let Xiao Fan misunderstand. Even his bestie tried to warn him not to do that- to come clean with Xiao Fan.

And speaking of his bestie, Zi Yang is part of the reason these misunderstandings between the two continued- with him constantly reinforcing Xiao Fan’s negative views of himself and how unimportant he is to Lu Qing, because of course he must be happy with whatever scraps of affection Lu Qing gives him since he’s nothing and wouldn’t be anything without the kindness of the Bei family and especially his Ge. I wanted to slap Zi Yang sometimes- ok, often.

The chemistry between Zhou Ning Jia and Guan Yue was really good. I can definitely appreciate the effort they put into bringing these characters to life- they accurately portrayed the novel’s depiction of them and gave life to these characters. For that, I give the drama a 7.5. I give another .5 because the drama follows the novel so closely, which is refreshing. The way I felt reading the novel was the same way I felt when watching the drama. To me, that’s a definite plus and I appreciate the effort of all involved to make it so. Would I watch it again? Probably not. It’s hard to watch someone be so emotionally abused for so many episodes.

Donr forget Eternal Faith!

My “what” is in your comment about the main couple verses the second couple- since you didn’t clarify which couple you meant and mentioned ignoring the main couple- the main couple IS Li and Teng. The stepbrothers are the second couple.

I agree with you that, if we skip all scenes of the creepy “love” story between the stepbrothers, the love story between Xiao Li Cheng and Teng Mu Ren is super sweet.

As long as I’m not too emotional about my issues with this drama, the characters, and the actor(s), am I right? 😉 Just an appropriate amount of what-the-fuckery shall suffice while commenting on this drama as it moves more and more swiftly toward head-tilt direction.

Actually, it took me a bit but I found it. I read the original text (no images), so not the manga. I painstakingly read the text on a Japanese site called Novema: https://novema.jp/book/n1757180/1. I used an app called Papago to translate. Lots of work but I didn’t mind since it’s a cute read.

I think it was pulled. I don’t remember where I found it, but I did a basic search for an English read online version with each of the titles it goes by and read it all as quickly as I could before it disappeared. I just did a search and it is gone ☹️

So…you prefer the stepbrothers storyline with the creepy rapey-but-it’s-ok-because-it’s-my-birthday-and-I-love-him younger brother? I don’t know how romantic love can bloom from finding out your younger brother got you so drunk on purpose and screws you, and then has the audacity to have a kiss the first thing he does when you see each other again and you’re drowning in guilt thinking YOU were the one who forced HIM! His older brother was clearly very much out of it and in the forbidden zone in terms of awareness and consent- as he admitted to intending.

…Unless you thought the step brothers were the main couple (they are not).

Sigh…of course they do… smh I haven’t been on YOUKU much in a while so I hadn’t noticed like I have with iQIYI- which I’m on almost daily.

Hey! We meet again 😊 Like minds and all that 😉. It is unfortunate that YOUKU used AI- maybe testing how well it will be received in small doses? But I was just thinking that iQIYI has quite a number of full-AI dramas posted on their offerings, so maybe they’re testing out a bit before they do an adoption (I hope they don’t because these AI only dramas are full of continuity issues and weird cuts everywhere).

The plot really is interesting. I’m hoping for a happy ending too. I don’t want to invest hours to get another ‘Lost to You’ bs ending. (So much potential and they just literally threw the series away like ‘F it!’ 🤯)

…The VISUALS though…🥵 Where did they find these guys? Like, jc I can’t. From their eyes to their jawlines to their (well, so far just Kingston’s) smiles… These guys have that screen presence I look for. And the tension? They got it. 🥵I love how Fei Foon is kinda a tease and laid back because it works well against Leok Tou’s seriousness and uptightness. Like, you can tell he WANTS to break free, but his circumstances constrain him. I definitely don’t like the mom or whomever she is to him. But even his brother/cousin and his peers pal assistant/bodyguard are attractive af! Like, whomever did the scouting needs a raise for visuals alone.

I don’t even mind the AI because I assume it was way too expensive to rent a Bentley so AI was the only way to go, adding Leok Tou getting out of it because some people may recognize the interior part of the door otherwise. And likely too expensive to film an actual gunshot into the sea scene without the handy aid of AI. He looked good coming out of the water, though… He cleans up well- Kingston looks even more handsome without the bleached tips in his hair. …Though now I wonder how he would look all blonde for some random reason…

The only part that was noticeably lacking in continuity was where Leok Tou got sliced with a knife in the beginning before they encountered each other. One of the thugs who got out of the car initially sliced him in the front by his side- there was even blood. Yet, when they’re dressing each other’s wounds, that area is without blemish and instead he has a cut on his upper back, same side… I let it go though, but I’m wondering why they changed their mind on the location. Or if it was truly just an “oops, we forgot where he was sliced before…hope they don’t notice”.

I wonder if we will get two episodes a week, or if it’s just a gift for this week…

Getting used to hearing Cantonese over traditional Mandarin will be interesting, but knowing it’s not dubbed and these are their real voices is a nice perk. At first I wasn’t sure I’d recognize a difference, but there is a clear difference in both cadence and tone. Look at me learning something new. 😊 (Languages and dialects are SO interesting.) Random thought. 😉

Lately I’ve been relatively quick to drop series when I can’t take it any longer. I shall see if this one becomes one of them…

I popped on over to the My Golden Blood thread for shits and giggles…the love fest going on over there makes me 😬 because I really, TRULY don’t see what they see. Die-hard fans of the cp, for sure, imo. I also hope they end the cp partnership. Thailand really just needs to do away with the whole business couple pairing thing. Less fandom drama when a partnership ends.

No, he is definitely not MY idea of a perfect bottom. And while he also reminded me immediately of Gawin, I also can’t stand Gawin as a bottom either, so there you go. Both are very awkward bottoms to me, like they look like they dislike their role but clearly do it for the money in hopes to make a name for themselves so they can leave the BL side of the industry and go mainstream. Even their fan service is awkward to watch.

I don’t think either have beautiful features- but beauty is in the eye of the beholder so… DEFINITELY don’t see a quiet sensuality… Both are unattractive to me. Just a little less than average in looks. But good acting always makes up for that- which I don’t feel they have because I’m too busy seeing their discomfort in their acting.

You are my exact polar opposite in this it seems. Nice to meet you 😊

When I mentioned the thing about Gawin in My Golden Blood’s comment section…the fans were outraged! How dare I?!

I’m glad I wasn’t alone. It felt like it in that comment section. I just couldn’t get why people liked it other than shirtless Joss.

I forgot about Gawin in Onky Friends: Dream On because I didn’t watch it. I also think he was ok in Not Me.

LJane likely won’t take the time to listen to explanations and it already appears he’s all in his head about BJane’s side hustle. And BJane refusing to explain is now to the point of just plain stubbornness. But LJane really doesn’t listen to anything and does whatever the hell he wants while having the audacity to play self-righteous in front of the very person he wronged over and over - and calls that love... He’s not a well-drafted character.

If they were gonna half-ass it, they should have just ended with kisses and a good night.

I wonder if they filmed the scenes in reverse order… It may explain why it’s become more awkward since their first moments. The pilot really did over-promise. Maybe not, because Heng doesn’t seem like he is committed to the bottom role. Also, I haven’t really felt the sexual tension since they reunited. Even LJane’s “guilt” and desire to reconcile seems superficial. Heng’s acting seems most genuine with Jaime and Gap- more relaxed (though not the dialogue- with those weird pauses on what should be more spontaneously flowing conversation). I’m kind of becoming meh with this drama and have adjusted my rating accordingly.

He’s stuck in this immature place that is so far beneath BJane I’m not sure how he will traverse the distance in the remaining episodes if he stays so distrusting and wanting to fix everything his way. He’s a character that doesn’t want to bend or accept all of BJane, but is sure that he wants BJane in his life. He’s full of accusations and righteous indignation without the desire to understand his partner.

As for why BJane does this blood contract for favors side hustle, it’ll probably be some anti-climatic reason that LJane feels he can “help” heal him of with the power of his “love.” Clearly, BJane has daddy issues. I’m sure his dad has something to do with it. His person mentioned LJane not knowing how he was raised, as if that has something to do with it. It’ll be interesting to see how they link that though.

LJane has definitely been an awkward and reluctant bottom thus far. He gives me the same vibe as Gawin, whose acting I also find awkward and not believable. I ended up dropping My Golden Blood around the halfway mark because I just couldn’t see him as a 20 year old or in the role of a bottom. Not even a shirtless Joss with all that beautiful golden skin revealed could save that drama for me. I think this pairing will have me second-guessing watching their dramas in the future if they become an official “couple” after this, just like I now avoid JossGawin dramas. sigh