Success never goes unpunished.
It was a beautiful success story. It was well-crafted. However, it certainly had its shortcomings. Perhaps there were deficiencies in adapting the novel to the stage. Because some scenes seemed too simplistic to me. Superficiality prevailed in general. No event was explored in depth. The story felt incomplete in some way. Especially the father's story was glossed over with a barely naive and superficial narrative. However, the importance given to the mother was not given to the father; the father is at fault, but shouldn't the fault have been explored and detailed? That question remains in my mind. I also thought that the scenes were cut short because a more in-depth explanation would have required longer scenes and more episodes.
It's a success story, but our main character is a scholar. Is it possible for a scholar to act with a merchant's mentality? I don't think so. But can he be successful? Maybe. But is it possible for this scholar, in this state, to escape from a wild, reckless bandit in a remote, cold, snowy, mountainous region? No. Some things, as I said, were very superficial. People are easily deceived or persuaded. If he gets involved in a business venture, he's always successful. He makes those around him rich, and, as luck would have it, he never benefits from it himself. But when he needs money, these people he made rich help him out of goodwill. How wonderful. It's a complete dream world. Is it believable? I don't think so.
Even the Empress praises him, meets with him, and paves the way for him. It's gone too far. He never stumbled. But he's not interested in money or wealth at all. His father also turned out to be rich. But he was someone who abandoned them and hindered them. That was also strange. The meeting between the mother and father was strange. The fact that they both fell ill suddenly was strange. And they died a day apart. A coincidence? Because of the superficiality of the event, I couldn't understand these shocks and illnesses. I couldn't figure it out. Their shock, surprise, a little disappointment, a little hurt, anger during their meeting after all these years... But it's not unexpected, it's unlikely, that they would be affected to the point of illness and subsequently die. There are such strange situations in our series. However, the portrayal of a success story impressed me. It was beautifully directed, and the cinematography was excellent. The acting was also great.
The relationship between the main characters was also rather strange. It wasn't clear if they loved each other. Later, the girl made a request, but the man avoided it. Because they had an engagement from childhood. I think they separated during the imperial exams. They never saw each other again. Years passed. They changed. And the fiancée fell in love with a rebel. But the male character still insists, even though he doesn't love her. Because there's someone who loves and wants her. He knows this. He himself was affected by that girl. But for some reason, he doesn't leave his childhood fiancée. He pressures her. I think there was a sense of shame towards the parents here. Traditions were involved. While the girl didn't care about this, the man's remaining at this level, especially for a more traveled, experienced, and learned person, was very absurd.
Ultimately, it was absurd that someone who had achieved great success in business ended up in prison, that all that success was punished, even that their head was to be cut off, only to be saved thanks to the Governor, to whom they had brought so much money. I didn't like this ending. It didn't work. This ending didn't suit this success story, frankly. I didn't like it.
Chen Xiao carried the series on his own from beginning to end and was very successful. I liked him. Sun Qian did more than her share. I liked her. Luo Zhi Yhou was very well-suited to his role. I liked him. Ling Zhuo was very, very successful. He's very good at comedy. He prepared well for his role. He acted very well. Well done. Zhu Ya Wen and Julia Xiang had short appearances but delivered very effective performances. Well done. Cheng Tai Shen, Liang Guan Hua, Liu Pei Qi, Li Chun, Huang Zi Zhong, and Zhu Yin were the standout actors I liked. Overall, all the actors were quite good. I liked it.
It's a success story, but our main character is a scholar. Is it possible for a scholar to act with a merchant's mentality? I don't think so. But can he be successful? Maybe. But is it possible for this scholar, in this state, to escape from a wild, reckless bandit in a remote, cold, snowy, mountainous region? No. Some things, as I said, were very superficial. People are easily deceived or persuaded. If he gets involved in a business venture, he's always successful. He makes those around him rich, and, as luck would have it, he never benefits from it himself. But when he needs money, these people he made rich help him out of goodwill. How wonderful. It's a complete dream world. Is it believable? I don't think so.
Even the Empress praises him, meets with him, and paves the way for him. It's gone too far. He never stumbled. But he's not interested in money or wealth at all. His father also turned out to be rich. But he was someone who abandoned them and hindered them. That was also strange. The meeting between the mother and father was strange. The fact that they both fell ill suddenly was strange. And they died a day apart. A coincidence? Because of the superficiality of the event, I couldn't understand these shocks and illnesses. I couldn't figure it out. Their shock, surprise, a little disappointment, a little hurt, anger during their meeting after all these years... But it's not unexpected, it's unlikely, that they would be affected to the point of illness and subsequently die. There are such strange situations in our series. However, the portrayal of a success story impressed me. It was beautifully directed, and the cinematography was excellent. The acting was also great.
The relationship between the main characters was also rather strange. It wasn't clear if they loved each other. Later, the girl made a request, but the man avoided it. Because they had an engagement from childhood. I think they separated during the imperial exams. They never saw each other again. Years passed. They changed. And the fiancée fell in love with a rebel. But the male character still insists, even though he doesn't love her. Because there's someone who loves and wants her. He knows this. He himself was affected by that girl. But for some reason, he doesn't leave his childhood fiancée. He pressures her. I think there was a sense of shame towards the parents here. Traditions were involved. While the girl didn't care about this, the man's remaining at this level, especially for a more traveled, experienced, and learned person, was very absurd.
Ultimately, it was absurd that someone who had achieved great success in business ended up in prison, that all that success was punished, even that their head was to be cut off, only to be saved thanks to the Governor, to whom they had brought so much money. I didn't like this ending. It didn't work. This ending didn't suit this success story, frankly. I didn't like it.
Chen Xiao carried the series on his own from beginning to end and was very successful. I liked him. Sun Qian did more than her share. I liked her. Luo Zhi Yhou was very well-suited to his role. I liked him. Ling Zhuo was very, very successful. He's very good at comedy. He prepared well for his role. He acted very well. Well done. Zhu Ya Wen and Julia Xiang had short appearances but delivered very effective performances. Well done. Cheng Tai Shen, Liang Guan Hua, Liu Pei Qi, Li Chun, Huang Zi Zhong, and Zhu Yin were the standout actors I liked. Overall, all the actors were quite good. I liked it.
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