Nepeta 22

Looks like you've written yourself the part 2! And it sounds good 😂

I reckon, when she woke up, it was like a dream to her which is magical too. It means she has an idea Shen Cheng might be somewhere, so that's a story to go on itself, that her dream might actually be reality. That is a start.

Others state that firstly, the final scene is actually Shen Cheng which means he was adopted as he would not exist if history had changed. But the twist was someone else said the person at the letter box was also Shen Cheng, which means somehow he too knows about the letter box. What a twist. I'm sure that final scene is some sort of teaser.

Thanks for finding the time to list all the reasons you have enjoyed about the drama. I'm glad it fulfilled you. Unfortunately for me, many of the fight scenes were cut using stunt doubles and you are unable to see many full fight sequences. But, I get it, quite a few are impressed with the fights. I think outside of China they are just not as good with this and I guess Chinese dramas offers unique content.

Main leads and everyone did well, I can't dispute that. But the whole drama seemed lightweight and demeaning to viewers, re-sold as some kind of performative female empowerment. All it's done is piled on more pressure for women to think they must dominate in men's domain as well as excelling in traditional female roles. This is thanks for female authors brainwashed by a men's lens and now the tool to re-sell what women should do and feel.

It's interesting we both interpret the drama differently. The teachers are probably aware but turn a blind eye on it. This is evident when her own tutor who had a past relationship with Cha Dong clearly is aware of her family background but have not pried into her life. Why? At this point, her father is just a gambler like many who suffer a similar addiction. She does not stand out from rest in her background.

Her father tells others she's insane only when she is reacting aggressively telling others, she has not recovered from losing her mother. But, that has nothing to do with her school work. School is her special place in her mind. It's a place of hope and a chance to get a good education to get out of her situation.

You are again putting your 2025 mindset into this drama that was set a good 30 years ago. The idea of neighbours helping out or hearing noises are not the issue, it's the fact that they see this as part of life. The person that stood out and cared about her was the ML. The bond they formed was the backdrop of something different within the world they lived in at the time. They shared trauma together, and they both cared about each other where others turned a blind eye.

As for the police, just to give you an idea of where China was at. In 1991 they still had not started using DNA yet. This idea of 'body language' training is almost laughable. I suspect they're more interested in catching robbers or drug dealers than deal with family scuffles/domestic violence. The culture in the police force will be very different to China's police force now. I know for a fact that some of the sleepy towns were more than happy to take back-handers to spare some people from death penalties!

Please can you put your post in a spoiler box or consider editing parts.

I'm sorry to say that you haven't fully immersed yourself into a young women's view and system back in a sleepy town in China in 1991. Domestic violence and violence towards women is sadly common. Many even turn a blind eye to this type of situation.

She will have been beaten down by years of abuse. Many abused victims are so low in confidence by that point, they don't believe the system can help them as it's clear, her father had spent years of gaslighting her and telling everyone in the neighbourhood she's crazy.

There is a scene outside a mental hospital where she laid flat out with bruises but by-standers just gawped but did nothing. This is the type of attitude she grew up in. It's normalised.

Don't watch cuts. That's how I find some people get mis-information from dramas. Please don't be afraid. I can assure you the life you live in the real world is possibly far more scary than this type of drama! it's only because you don't know what's happening ahead. I would say, if you haven't watched it yet, give it a try with a few episodes to see...

Yes, I was thinking about them too. Their story felt tragic. Was it me? Was he last seen on a boat sailing alone?

Part of this style of presentation is to give it an air of mystery and quite a common way of telling stories to keep viewers hooked and second guessing. It's a way to make this more engaging instead of just sitting and getting the story to fall into your lap.

It also makes us viewers ask more questions and imagine how we would deal with situations at the time with the limited info to go on just as the characters at the time will have faced. Then injecting more for us than the characters would know in the drama adds more stress for us as we beg or hope they don't fall into the traps we already know.

Personally, I don't feel it's rushed. I think it was just right, but just my opinion.

I agree that the chemistry kept this drama alive. It just goes to show that all this quest for kissing that some strive for does not always equate to chemistry.

Sounds good. I haven't but looks interesting.

It looks like it as the police officer shows her son a photo of him, so I assume that meant that was the other person with her in the car as originally they assumed it was Tang Yi Xun.

Could be. But, he is getting the roles now and he has a lot of very promising dramas to come. I'm looking forward to How Dare You.

Looks like you know a lot of the differences & the pinyin system/ tones! I must admit I was not paying attention to that level! The only thing I know is in China, they tend to favour the northern or Beijing accents more, especially for historic dramas. Perhaps many of the actors that strive for perfection, whether they are born native to Beijing or not, may practice to sound more like a Beijinger. It's lost on me obviously as I'm busy trying to catch the subs too much 😉!

Yes, that's the song. I heard the other Cantonese song as well. Not sure of its origins, but suspect it would have been some old folk lullaby coming from the farming communities of the past.

ML seemed to be speaking normal mandarin so not aware if he spoke in any other dialect. I'm new to mandarin, so can't tell accents. Someone told me Beijing mandarin has stronger tongue roll on the 'r' sound and many of the end/tail words ends with an 'er' sound. But I can't tell!

It's not a shelved drama. It was after his success of A Journey to You. This was filmed not that long ago. There are big actors like Liu Yi Jun and Tong Yao in it so very unlikely held back or shelved.

Thanks for confirming that. I was sure it was Hakka dialect, there are a lot of variations based on areas in China. Maybe that poster was thinking of the group in places like Fujian which has a large Teochew speaking community. Since I saw it was filmed in Meizhou, it's well known in China as the Hakka speaking capital. It also helps as I grew up listening to this dialect with my parents...

Also I like how the drama lifts music from the past to put as part of the score here. That's evident with other songs played. The song from the end of episode 3 was a modern version from an old Hakka mountain song which is part of Hakka culture.

Thanks for that honest response 😂!

It's all good, and I know this particular drama has its plus points. Otherwise if your points of 1,2 & 3 didn't exist, I'm afraid it may have been less successful.

With the last paragraph, yes that forced marriage by emperor has happened and seen loads of times, but for me, this was less of female opinion and empowerment but more laced with high drama and designed for us the viewer/reader to get aggravated and annoyed, or even angry. Sadly less of the emperor but more the 2ML. It should be more about (if this was from a female empowerment point of view) why FL is not tackling this old system or is she waiting for the man to make the move for change because it also affects men?

What was more interesting was some viewers seem to be more annoyed that FL cooked and made some needlework for her love. But they seemed to gloss over the fact that the message FL gave episodes before that was demeaning to some of the "female" roles of sewing and cooking by contrasting it against defending borders and it was a subtle way of saying being a soldier or general was better and more moral than sewing. It also tells women they need to do "everything" including traditional areas that men dominated in. If this isn't pressure on women, I don't know what is. I find that type of brainwashing more damaging than FL cooking for someone she loves which she clearly "chose" to do.

It starts from around 1940s to 1990s so I would say it's more than a republican era drama. Cheng Lei will be in the early segments as it's an all-star ensemble cast which I expect will get a lot more chatter and interest. I have been waiting for a drama like this for ages, so looking forward to it.

What are the sole reasons that attract you to watch this drama? Is it because it's fun to see women posing as a men? Because there are numerous dramas that have females dressing in male attire and never really questioned. They just are, and they work in men's spaces of the past. So this type of scenario would be a bit old-hat & done many times before.

A little tug and chase of ML finding out she's a female and happy ever after after a convoluted twist and turn with of course some 2nd ML in the way to cloud her judgment whilst she's usually level headed in all other matters?

It obviously can't be anything to do with female empowerment with this drama, as clearly the drama classically puts in the emperor forcing "female" general to "marry" who and when he wants. Regardless of if she likes either suitors. This, after all that gallant talk to the other females about defending country and important work for the emperor.

Or is it a chance to see female dressed in a man's attire act all flirty and childlike for most of the drama because you get cheap laughs when it's probably a man's fantasy for such an act. Or do women see this and fall in love with it too? Because if you do, may be, just maybe you have been brainwashed by storylines that have male influence rather than a female's view point. By the way, women can be the tool men's fantasy. This happens every day. To me, this drama represents it in the most graphic form.

I don't follow Chinese entertainment that closely. This is the first drama I have seen ZYR in. When you mentioned nepo baby, I was curious as I did a quick check on him yesterday but could not see if his family were influential or not.

But if you meant his agency, then I don't think that would be the actor's fault. Most times, they're quite powerless to their agencies' antics. Only the very big well known actors that have been around a bit have influence on how they are managed, but I doubt actors of this range would.

I agree, some platforms and agencies have very questionable practices that many can see through anyway. And as I can see, it can ironically bring more hate than love which is a little short sighted on their part.