Hime

Idk how long you have been watching dramas but simping female leads were in almost every drama a few years back and there are still recent dramas with female leads like this, just not as common as it was. These dramas are such a big chunk of my completed list that I cannot even choose one to tell you because they are so many. ^^'

This is a drama, not real life. It is a bit over the top because of the matriarchal theme. I myself did not call it female empowerment, for that there are a lot of other Chinese dramas that do it while not putting down men.

I just was not as bothered by the way men were treated in the drama as some other people were because I felt it was intentional. Yes, I noticed when these things happened and even thought to myself that if a man was doing or saying that to a woman it would be really bad but that was when I started to notice that maybe that was what the drama intended to do, make us question things.

I started watching dramas back in 2010 when it was considered normal to grab a woman by the arm, push her against a wall and force a kiss on her and all that was considered romantic. So a drama like this once in a while is nice. I do wish they had not made the ML a simp but oh well. There were many things that could be improved about this drama but overall I still had fun watching it.

Exactly...that is the point. The men in this drama are treated as the women are treated in most dramas AND in real life.

This drama portrays a matriarchal family so it is exaggerated. In real life we would like some balance, neither the men nor women should feel inferior to the other sex.

Plus, with so many scheming characters, this is not a drama where you can expect people to be in 100% healthy relationships.

One of the sisters literally abandoned her lover and left him to take care of their kid for years...sounds familiar? Everyday thousands of men do this. I feel like the writers intentionally did this so we could experience what it would be like if the roles were reversed.

I agree it was not an open ending but it still felt like so much was missing, probably because I did not want to part with this drama or the people in the comment section.

I also wish they had not put the ML to the side so much, wish we had seen more of him as a magistrate, maybe solving the kidnapping case.

Oh well, thank you for everything and hope to meet you in the comment section of another drama.

A lesson I learned throughout my many years of drama watching (15+ years) is to NEVER watch a drama solely because of the actor/actress playing the main lead.

If a drama seems to have an interesting plot and the lead happens to be someone I like, that is a plus not a deciding factor.

There have been so many dramas I watched because of a certain actor or actress only to find out not even him/her could carry that drama. And so many underrated dramas with unknown actors that were great and that I would never have given a chance if I chose dramas based on the cast alone.

With that said, I picked this drama for the plot and was lucky that both main leads were actors I like but because they were not the main reason I chose to watch this, I was not disappointed or at least not as much as some people, when Hou Ming Hao did not appear as much as expected from a male lead. This is a female centered drama so it makes some sense they did this, if anything I think they should not have listed him in first place in the cast.
Gulnezer Bextiyar was definitely the true main lead of the drama, her and the Rong family members.

Makes sense. Plus it is pretty obvious who is the dominant one in the relationship. The ML might be firm when he is doing his job and dealing with villains but when it comes to the FL he almost turns into a needy child and she does not seem to mind at all. There are all sorts of couples out there, the man does not always have to be the dominant one while the woman is weak and obedient.

Started ok, did not really grab me from first episode, then it became good, then great and then for the last 6 episodes they decided to add a completely new arc with a bunch of new characters instead of focusing on wrapping up the drama. Unless there is a second season, I am disappointed with how they decided to use the last episodes of the drama.

It has been some time since I watched a drama that felt so incomplete, like they forgot to explain things or show what happened to some characters. If there is a second season, then everything makes sense but if this was the ending, then it was unsatisfying to say the least.

The last 6 episodes aside, I had a lot of fun watching this and making guesses between episodes about what would happen next. I gave it a good rating but not too high, if later on they announce there is a second season I might give it an extra point.

I did not watch the preview so I probably missed the context, you were right when you said he was confined, although not exactly for the reason we thought.

Idk if you have finished watching but I feel like they left some loose ends. It was almost as if they started a whole new arc in the last 6 episodes, introducing a bunch of new characters and then forgot that they had no episodes left to wrap up. I hope there is a second season because I cannot help but feel the story is not finished.

Hum, I am not sure if the ML is confined or just in despair because he finds out a huge secret about FL or her family that puts him in a difficult position like him having to arrest someone for murder.

Maybe this is a bit out there but what if the kidnapped girls are being used as fertilizer for the Rong family tea and that is why it surpasses any other tea? Ik this is a bit too dark but...anything is possible in drama land...and I know of at least one criminal case where the killer did this to his victims.

I agree that RSB has so far been shown as the stronger of the 2, probably intentionally since it is a female centered plot. I really hope they meet in the middle at some point because things have been really unfair for LJL.

I feel like there is so much they could do but so little time that a second season would be welcome. I just do not want an open ending full of loose ends because there was not enough time to wrap up. I am expecting the next few episodes to be very intense.

P.S. - I have also had this feeling from the start that LJL is a prince or something like that but we are so close to the end that I am not so sure now. It seems a bit late to reveal that.

That is exactly my point, they are a lot more similar than most people would like to admit. But because Shan Bao is the female lead she gets a pass. Although their main difference seems to be that Shan Bao does not drag innocent people into her schemes even if she might put some of them in harms way while working for her.

About the parents generation I agree we need to see more and we might get that considering how episode 30 ended but I would also not want them to waste entire episodes on it, they are afterall characters that no longer belong in the plot. Showing the past should be done just for context so we can better understand how we got to this point.

There are only 6 episodes left so I am wondering how they will choose to end the drama. I have a feeling that there might be enough story to show that would justify another season but that is very rare for Cdramas. I have a feeling either the Rong family or Shan Bao herself have a deeply disturbing secret that will soon be revealed, I even have guesses as to what it is.

Hahah, I can totally understand how you feel. Idk if you have already watched todays episodes but some of our guesses were confirmed although things did not happen exactly as we predicted, but it was pretty close. I am starting to guess new things but will not share them in case you have not watched yet, don't want to spoil the fun for you.

I do have bad eyes and wear glasses BUT I have a mother that is over 60 and looked a lot younger than Aff when she was her age. I am not saying the actress looks old, she looks her age and that is not a bad thing. She still looks young but you can notice some wrinkles that are only natural when you reach a certain age and in her voice you can tell she is a middle aged woman, not someone in her twenties or thirties. While the ML is in his twenties but could easily pass as 18 years old because he has a baby face.

Like I said, them dating in real life does not bother me at all, they are both adults, if they love each other and are happy together, good for them.

But for dramas I have some expectations and she does look like she could be his mother while she is supposed to look just a bit older, like an older sister. This alone breaks the original relationship dynamic of older sister-younger brother.

Of course if the plot was good, that alone would not have stopped me from watching. It bothered me only at first until I got used to it. But the plot and acting are not good, which is why the drama has a low rating even for Thai drama standards.

I watched this drama when it aired so it has been over 5 years but if I remember right she never falls for the other guy or doubts her feelings for the male lead. It is more like she is conflicted between doing what she wants and what the society expects of her, it was never about choosing between the 2 men but choosing between herself and others, if that makes sense.

Yeah, you might be annoyed with some things that happen while she is in this conflict but this is a pretty good noona romance with a lot of romantic moments between the main leads so if I was you I would at least give it a try. You might be missing out on a drama that you would enjoy because of the synopsis.

I also feel like doing that sometimes but usually prefer to read the comments because synopsis are not always accurate and are often out of context or too short to express the real essence of a plot.

The plot is a bit messy and so is the ending but it was a fun watch. I have watched worse short dramas.

That and if they show someone else as being the man who visited the nany. I mean, maybe it is the guy who is always next to him, but he is definitely involved in her death. He either threatened her or told her something that would cause her to commit suicide. I just know he is involved. He has to be... 😅

RSB of course not but maybe her grandma or someone else behind the scenes. But yeah, I lean more towards the second guess that it has to with tea. Yan's actions do make it seem like he is related to Wei and we still do not know how he got all that tea knowledge, specially since his identity is fake.

I guess the hints were not too obvious. I have been watching dramas for a very long time and have watched A LOT of them so I usually catch things a bit earlier. Well, I'm sure they will reveal it soon since there are not many episodes left. Of course, this has been just a guess so far but after watching episode 28 I am pretty sure that beggar is either the real Mr Yan or someone who knows the current Mr Yan is fake.

We also need to find out what happened the day Ms Yang died and I'm pretty sure the fake Mr Yan is also behind it.

I would be surprised if he didn't. I have been suspecting him of being involved in her death since the episode she died. Although the way she sent the younger sister away makes it seem more like she comitted suicide after hearing whatever he said. Maybe he threatened her to kill herself and she did it to protect the Rong sisters.

I guess we will soon find out. Probably once the FL reveals he is not the real Yan, most likely on their wedding day. The FL likes to do these big reveals when everyone is there to watch. XD

I honestly agree with all your guesses aside from 13, which you yourself said it was a pure guess. I think there is something deeper involved, maybe the Rong family is involved. I cannot keep away this weird feeling that the Rong family has some dark secret that they have been hiding for generations. Like maybe the whole tea thing is a cover for something darker or they stole the original tea producing techniques from another family...maybe this would tie with the fake Yan?

So many possiblities. I just love dramas that keep us guessing.

You do realise that Mr Yan is not who he says he is, right? Her grandma would be kind of right if Mr Yan was the real Mr Yan and was sincere but it has been pretty obvious since the beginning that he is hiding something, it has been hinted at that he his faking his identity and episode 28 just confirmed all that. I can already guess what the beggar is trying to write....Yan Bai Luo