bingewatchingdisorder

At ep 30 and I'm mildly pleasantly surprised that they brought back the AI vs human translation conflict. Which makes sense since that is the premise of the show and how we started off, but I almot forgot about it when enjoying the romance. The pacing of this show is done really well

Haha I went to check after seeing your comment. It's close but not the same! From what I understand this was filmed before My Boss. Would have been a nice easter egg for CXX fans if it were the case though :)

Y'all Lin Xi is a cheeky little bugger and I love her relationship with her dad. Also, she and XYC are soo cute together. Not outwardly gushy like in puppy love, but adorable in the way that adults let themselves be childish around people they're comfortable with. Not a vanilla frappe, but more like coffee sweetened only with full cream, yknow?

Does anyone recognize the device Lin Xi was using for notetaking during the meeting with Dept. 3?

That's what I thought too! So far we don't seem to know. Maybe it'll be revealed later on, or maybe it got cut.

I wanna chime in to say that I get the dislike for Lin Xi - because we've been shown more of her flaws and failings than anyone else. This show is very much her story (I mean, two-thirds in and we know little else about XYC beyond his work and love for LX), so in a way, we see how wonderful XYC is because that's how LX herself sees him.

Just watched up to ep 22 too and I see that we're now entering Phase II. First 15 was LX helping XYC overcome company crises, and now it's XYC's turn to help LX pull through her own professional setbacks. They really are great partners for each other.

There are bugs in the show but this has been a stand-out among recent idol dramas.

Fun fact: the leads mentioned in an interview that the scenes with the puppy in ep 12 were the last scenes they filmed

Also, I gotta say I like how relatable this translation crisis is. They could have done a oh-no-we-lost-the-client-gazillion-equity-dollars, which sounds impressive but rarely strikes the right emotional chord in dramaland -- but 6k tonnes of radishes potentially rotting away is a problem that I (who struggle to cook my groceries before they spoil) can feel in my bones.

Anyone else seeing how Wei Tian and Sha Sha's relationship mirrors Lin Xi's parents'? Mainly the contrast/mismatch in family background and upbringings. I'm more vested in them now, after their little arc today. Let's see how the younger generation (both the couple and the parent) handle it this time.

Love how everyday-comfortable our main leads are with each other.

Still not really feeling Tong Xin and Cheng Yao though.

Lin Xi is thawing! She remains mostly poker faced and keeps her words professional but her body language and the way she looks at Xiao has softened so much since the first ep. Finally she's letting herself be vulnerable with Xiao in the next episode - full on tears and seeking comfort and validation. This girl really doesn't do things halfway.

We saw a bit of how warm and expressive Lin Xi can be when she was drunk or when she's around friends, so I'm excited for the leads' relationship era. Gimme all that loveydoveywarmfuzzies.

Awww that's harsh. He's just a young punk bumbling about in love. We've all been there 🥲

2 eps Mon-Thurs, 1 ep on Fri-Sat :)

Yeah I feel like a lot of the negativity can be chalked up to fanwars

I'm relatively new here so I wanted to ask - is this kind of bashing common for Chinese dramas on MDL? I don't see the same extent of negativity on K-drama comment sections, criticism is mostly targetted at the characters/writing. Over here the disparaging comments feel...too personal

Based on a look at their MDL profiles, I'm guessing you're refering to the age gap between Fei Qi Ming (Cheng Yao's actor) and Yu Sha Sha (Tong Xin's).

I have to disagree that it's careless casting in this case, since - spoiler warning - they do end up in a older woman/younger man relationship dynamic. Their characters are both highly educated working adults, so I don't think there's anything controversial about their eventual relationship, even if still unconventional in the real world. This relationship dynamic seems to have taken off in recent years in dramaland, so is it really of shock value?

In any case, actors and actresses play roles not of their actual age all the time - which I think is a good thing so long as they suit the role.

No comments on that show with the 6 year gap, since I have no idea which you're refering to and have no context.

Hahaha at this point I'd suggest just fixating on another drama instead. Too many dramas too little time!

I'm with you on this. The pacing and fillers undermines the tension they're trying to build and is making me lose interest. Will still finish the series but only just to complete the plot

The tie-in of small details, from ep 1 to this episode, was really satisfying to see! Yuyi's business trajectory, to multiple features of Jingge, to Huasheng's project with the agriculture conference. Now we also see why this Charlie was mentioned on phonecalls a couple times with Wei Tian (who's at said conference).

Not something I penalize idol dramas for (since that's not what I'm watching it for) but it's extra extra sweet when business logic checks out. Jingge's own investment focus on medical/pharma areas makes it more convincing that Mr Sun would vote for Huasheng not just because of his connection to Lin Xi. He was already looking at longer-term prospects with Yuyi's AI, so the immediate sales boost to their translation device is of little benefit to him.

Minor side characters are also used well and not just as a convenient one-off tool. I thought Lin Xi decided to take on that Dr's translation case only because he was affiliated with an existing big client, but now we know she was gunning for something bigger. That little arc also helped flesh out how adaptable she is as a manager to Sha Sha, and made me see Sha Sha's merits.

We are at quarter-mark so I'm praying that we maintain this quality of writing for the rest of the show.

Episode 10 chat

Around the end of this month for members, going by the current release rate

Would love a discussion thread for this!