I've watched When I Fly Towards You, Twelve Letters, and Reborn. These take time to create love, unlike this one.…
It’s based on the donghua Soul Land, which has around 265 episodes. This drama adaptation begins roughly around episode 100 of the donghua, so a lot of the early story has already happened. By that point, Tang San and Xiao Wu’s relationship is already established — they’ve been a couple long before the adaptation starts, and the drama assumes viewers are familiar with their bond.
yes, earlier episodes’ long bangs is a wig/clip on and his hair when he got out of prison is a wig too. the episode after he supposedly had a haircut is his real hair.
Zhou Yiran’s message to Tang Yixun as Twelve Letters airing come to a close.. i’ve also posted this on discussion board
**To Tang Yixun**
**Ah Xun,** Fate has reversed itself. Are you doing well now? After leaving Meiwan Town, did you go somewhere far away, where the night sky is full of stars?
I’ve seen you in Meiwan Town—spirited and full of life, with a resilience like wild grass, unafraid to risk everything for those who matter. And I’ve seen you in Beixing City—weathered by time, trapping yourself in memories, guarding a promise for a lifetime. In your youth, your fists fought battles and collected debts; by middle age, your shoulders carried the weight of others.
Kindness always echoes back. When fate handed you a swamp, you turned storm clouds into an umbrella. I’m here—believing that love and light have always been with you. No matter how difficult things get, you will make it through.
You and Ah Tang must have gone to Beiji Village—seen the heavy winter snow, and witnessed the brilliance of the aurora. I believe fate will let you meet Xiao Nian again. Remember to hold her tight when you do.
Every year on **November 9th**, you must be happy. Because now, you have us. The cake will be sweet, and you can even have an extra bowl of sweet soup. I hope you live for yourself. I hope you stay healthy. I hope your whole life is a good one.
Somewhere in the tunnel of time, there must be a mailbox connecting you and me. When spring returns and the flowers bloom, we will meet again.
Drama Diary EP02Let’s talk about episode two, it’s a bit shorter.The scene where Ye Haitang’s father abuses…
Drama Watching Diary EP04
* Ye Yibo caught Ye Haitang making a phone call in a shop, and on his way out, he took the 10-cent coin she used to make the call.
* The scene where Grandma’s memorial photo gets smashed — not sure what brand of glass the props team bought, but no matter how we threw it, it wouldn’t break. In the end, we had to smash it with a hammer for a long time to get it to shatter.
* I really liked the scene where Tang Yixun threatens Ye Yibo in the mahjong parlor. I told the actor to play it with a bit of a sinister edge. Xiao Zhou (the actor) kept switching between being fierce and smiling — it was very satisfying to watch. By the way, the people who later came to beat up Ye Yibo weren’t sent by Tang Yixun — it was just a coincidence.
* The scene where Ye Haitang applies medicine on Tang Yixun left a strong impression on me, because it could’ve easily come across as cliché. The focus was on Tang Yixun’s emotional reaction to someone caring about him. We used very close-up shots to capture the looks in their eyes. In fact, the use of close-ups in this episode was pretty restrained — mostly medium shots.
* In the scene where Tang Yixun brings Ye Haitang some steamed buns, there was originally no rain planned, but it started raining on set. So I turned it into a rain scene. It rains a lot in Meizhou anyway, so I asked props to get umbrellas ready and we started shooting. But by the time we moved from wide shots to close-ups, the rain stopped. That got awkward. I had Lulu awkwardly hold the umbrella and act like it was still raining. We had to add the rain with special effects in post-production, which ate into our already tight budget.
* Tan Xin stepping on a billiard ball outside the pool hall — that was apparently a real accident.
* Li Chadong isn’t cut out to be a gangster — he just doesn’t have a dark enough edge.
* The scene where Tang Yixun and Ye Haitang are staking out the mailbox — originally, I wanted to shoot it on a little boat in the river. We even prepared the boat. I thought having them squeezed together in a boat’s cabin would be more hidden and more romantic. But during those days of filming, the river current was extremely fast. The on-site producer warned us it was dangerous, and I didn’t dare take the risk. So we moved the scene to an alley opposite the bookstore. The art department set up some broken crates and burlap sacks. I think the final effect wasn’t as fun as it would’ve been on the boat, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise — we added a new scene on the spot where A-Qiang and his group pass by and Xiao Tang has to suppress his reaction.
* The owner of Sunshine Bookstore is actually named Yang Guang, but no one in the drama ever calls him by name — that was my oversight.
* Shen Xiaojun drawing stick figures on the blackboard — I used to do that in middle school too. I’d draw stories about my PE teacher’s love life.
* In the scene where Cat 26 jumps on the mailbox — the CG cat looks a bit skinny. Probably a budget issue — we didn’t have the money to add more body to it. Creature effects are super expensive and troublesome. I always try to use a real cat if possible. Cat treats aren’t that expensive.
* The actor who plays the older Tang Yixun, Teacher Zhang Qi — I think his facial structure is very similar to Zhou Yiran (younger Tang Yixun). But in real life, he doesn’t look like someone in his 50s. Still, considering that Tang Yixun worked as a manual laborer in the Northeast — exposed to the elements and harsh conditions — aging faster is believable. So I talked myself into it. Teacher Zhang Qi is a wonderful person. This was our first time working together. One day we were filming a night scene really late, and I told him, “Teacher Zhang, it’s been a long day, please take a seat.” But he insisted he wasn’t tired at all, said he works out every day and feels totally fine. Extremely professional and always emotionally engaged.
* At the end of Episode 4, the time-space communication finally begins.
**Today’s heat level broke 21,000. Will tomorrow be even better?**
https://kisskh.at/discussions/754413-hou-hui-you-qi/144794-director-s-notes?pid=3393058&page=2#p3393058
**To Tang Yixun**
**Ah Xun,**
Fate has reversed itself. Are you doing well now?
After leaving Meiwan Town, did you go somewhere far away, where the night sky is full of stars?
I’ve seen you in Meiwan Town—spirited and full of life, with a resilience like wild grass, unafraid to risk everything for those who matter.
And I’ve seen you in Beixing City—weathered by time, trapping yourself in memories, guarding a promise for a lifetime.
In your youth, your fists fought battles and collected debts; by middle age, your shoulders carried the weight of others.
Kindness always echoes back.
When fate handed you a swamp, you turned storm clouds into an umbrella.
I’m here—believing that love and light have always been with you.
No matter how difficult things get, you will make it through.
You and Ah Tang must have gone to Beiji Village—seen the heavy winter snow, and witnessed the brilliance of the aurora.
I believe fate will let you meet Xiao Nian again.
Remember to hold her tight when you do.
Every year on **November 9th**, you must be happy.
Because now, you have us.
The cake will be sweet, and you can even have an extra bowl of sweet soup.
I hope you live for yourself.
I hope you stay healthy.
I hope your whole life is a good one.
Somewhere in the tunnel of time, there must be a mailbox connecting you and me.
When spring returns and the flowers bloom, we will meet again.
**September 6, 2025**
* Ye Yibo caught Ye Haitang making a phone call in a shop, and on his way out, he took the 10-cent coin she used to make the call.
* The scene where Grandma’s memorial photo gets smashed — not sure what brand of glass the props team bought, but no matter how we threw it, it wouldn’t break. In the end, we had to smash it with a hammer for a long time to get it to shatter.
* I really liked the scene where Tang Yixun threatens Ye Yibo in the mahjong parlor. I told the actor to play it with a bit of a sinister edge. Xiao Zhou (the actor) kept switching between being fierce and smiling — it was very satisfying to watch. By the way, the people who later came to beat up Ye Yibo weren’t sent by Tang Yixun — it was just a coincidence.
* The scene where Ye Haitang applies medicine on Tang Yixun left a strong impression on me, because it could’ve easily come across as cliché. The focus was on Tang Yixun’s emotional reaction to someone caring about him. We used very close-up shots to capture the looks in their eyes. In fact, the use of close-ups in this episode was pretty restrained — mostly medium shots.
* In the scene where Tang Yixun brings Ye Haitang some steamed buns, there was originally no rain planned, but it started raining on set. So I turned it into a rain scene. It rains a lot in Meizhou anyway, so I asked props to get umbrellas ready and we started shooting. But by the time we moved from wide shots to close-ups, the rain stopped. That got awkward. I had Lulu awkwardly hold the umbrella and act like it was still raining. We had to add the rain with special effects in post-production, which ate into our already tight budget.
* Tan Xin stepping on a billiard ball outside the pool hall — that was apparently a real accident.
* Li Chadong isn’t cut out to be a gangster — he just doesn’t have a dark enough edge.
* The scene where Tang Yixun and Ye Haitang are staking out the mailbox — originally, I wanted to shoot it on a little boat in the river. We even prepared the boat. I thought having them squeezed together in a boat’s cabin would be more hidden and more romantic. But during those days of filming, the river current was extremely fast. The on-site producer warned us it was dangerous, and I didn’t dare take the risk. So we moved the scene to an alley opposite the bookstore. The art department set up some broken crates and burlap sacks. I think the final effect wasn’t as fun as it would’ve been on the boat, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise — we added a new scene on the spot where A-Qiang and his group pass by and Xiao Tang has to suppress his reaction.
* The owner of Sunshine Bookstore is actually named Yang Guang, but no one in the drama ever calls him by name — that was my oversight.
* Shen Xiaojun drawing stick figures on the blackboard — I used to do that in middle school too. I’d draw stories about my PE teacher’s love life.
* In the scene where Cat 26 jumps on the mailbox — the CG cat looks a bit skinny. Probably a budget issue — we didn’t have the money to add more body to it. Creature effects are super expensive and troublesome. I always try to use a real cat if possible. Cat treats aren’t that expensive.
* The actor who plays the older Tang Yixun, Teacher Zhang Qi — I think his facial structure is very similar to Zhou Yiran (younger Tang Yixun). But in real life, he doesn’t look like someone in his 50s. Still, considering that Tang Yixun worked as a manual laborer in the Northeast — exposed to the elements and harsh conditions — aging faster is believable. So I talked myself into it. Teacher Zhang Qi is a wonderful person. This was our first time working together. One day we were filming a night scene really late, and I told him, “Teacher Zhang, it’s been a long day, please take a seat.” But he insisted he wasn’t tired at all, said he works out every day and feels totally fine. Extremely professional and always emotionally engaged.
* At the end of Episode 4, the time-space communication finally begins.
**Today’s heat level broke 21,000. Will tomorrow be even better?**