Wouldn’t be up past 5am determined to finish this drama if it wasn’t as good as everyone says. The characters can be somewhat frustrating but the cute relationship won my devotion to finish it. I do wish we could have seen Li Xue put in more effort to pursue Zhu Yun but I suppose that’s part of his charm…
Can someone tells me what actually happened when Li Xun pushes Zhu yun away for the first time? I mean when he…
Li Xun pushed Zhu Yun away because he had already decided he wanted revenge against Zhang Zhi Jing for his sister’s death (and because he knew Zhu Yun hated Zhang Zhi Jing). He didn’t want Zhu Yun to be limited by his relationship with her and wanted what her parents thought was best which was to go abroad. He told Zhu Yun that he was giving her shares to Xu Lina but really, Li Xun gave Zhu Yun’s shares over to Gao Jian Hong because he was trusting that Jian Hong would take care of L&P while he was in prison. Li Xun asked Xu Lina to pretend they were together to make Zhu Yun think that he had been using her all along to get revenge on her mother. When he was signing over the shares to Jian Hong, he asks Li Xue if Zhu Yun didn’t realize what was happening which she didn’t; she was totally blindsided by Li Xue’s sudden change.
Episode 23 when her lawyer friend mentions a lawyer named He who is apparently amazing but unfortunately married to a lady just returned from abroad - is this a reference to another story or drama?
What I like best about this drama is everyone got their revenge. What I like least is we don’t get to actually see the revenge half the time! Overall, it was very good but I think it did suffer from cutting down the episodes. Some logic and plot did go out the window but at least it’s ultimately a happy ending.
Said I was going to wait after I watched the first six episodes and made the vital mistake of saying “just one more episode”. Suddenly it’s ten episodes later and I’ve reached the end of the available episodes ;-; After 15 years of drama watching, you’d think I’d know better by now!
Compared to The Double, the characters here feel more human. Don’t get me wrong, I ADORE The Double but it always felt like they were the smartest and could never fail. Here I feel the mistakes are a bit more apparent and they are not as clever or as unfailing.
Currently rewatching and I have a question 🙋♀️ I know the backstory with Jiang Ying’s dad and Duan Jia Xu’s dad. I know that Duan Jia Xu was repaying the compensation for several years to Jiang Ying directly. My question is - why was she acting like she had a crush on him one minute (sending him gifts, asking to meet up etc) and then the next minute berating him for being a murderer’s son and being hostile towards him?
Is it that she took his debt toward to mean that he was not only compensating financially but also with himself? I think that was my understanding initially but now that I am rewatching, I just don’t find it that clear.
If you watched The First Frost and needed a healing balm, this is the drama to watch! Especially if you were disturbed…
On another note: - super surprised we never had a reappearance of his ex who went abroad to study. I was so sure she’d turn up at the end somehow to disrupt the relationship! - Ngl, when he used the medical centre records to get her number, that raised all the red flags for me. As a doctor, that’s an abuse of his authority and I really dislike that he was interested in her while she was still under his care. I get that these relationships happen but the ethical thing would have been to wait until she was no longer under his medical care before pursuing her. He’s otherwise a green flag but the initial set up is not good.
If you watched The First Frost and needed a healing balm, this is the drama to watch! Especially if you were disturbed by the horrendous FL’s family in The First Frost. I adore our FL’s family in The Best Thing - they love, care and spoil Shen Xifan in the way that Wen Yifan deserved.
Overall, this was a cute love story to watch unfold.
So I was so obsessed with this drama that I read the entire novel over a night and a morning with 5 hours of sleep in between.
However! The plot of the drama is totally different so far to the novel. They’ve used the names and official status (legitimate daughter, concubine etc) but not much else - see below for a non spoiler introduction to the novel.
If I had to summarise the 219 chapters of the translated novel without giving all of the plot away:
Zhuang Han Yan is the unfavoured legitimate daughter of Zhuang Shi Yang. In her previous life, she was naive, trusting those who only sought to harm her. In her first life’s ending, she was betrayed and made to drink a cup of poisoned wine by a person she considered a sister, who plotted to steal her position as a noble man’s wife. Her mother and brother had been unjustly murdered and now she was to follow their fate. Zhuang Han Yan deeply regrets - but, rebirth plot: she wakes up 3 years prior to those terrible events.
Armed with knowledge from her previous life, she cleverly outmanoeuvres those who would plot her downfall from her unloving father to his scheming concubines and concubine born sister, Zhuang Yu Shan, while Han Yan protects her younger brother. She attracts the attention of the imperial family, in particular, the cold but attractive younger brother to the emperor, Prince Xuanqing, Fu Yunxi.
Several deeper plots are afoot - the mysterious circumstances surrounding Zhuang Han Yan’s birth, an invading enemy country, political ploys, and many schemes against Han Yan that she must solve.
It’s a very satisfying read with misunderstandings being quickly solved and Han Yan is wickedly smart!
Content warning - Han Yan is underaged and is referred to as 12 or 13 for much of the book. However, there is no underage sexual content but she does have several people who plot to ruin her innocence (and she outwits them all). There are no descriptive sex scenes but there is mention of intercourse (eg. “embracing”) between consenting adults.
I really enjoyed it. I look forward to see whether the drama becomes more similar in plot later on but certainly the first few episodes I’ve seen really don’t resemble the book.
The first 4 episodes were very promising and I love the similar vibe to The Double which was my favorite drama last year. My only regret is that I didn’t wait for it to finish airing so I could binge it because I know waiting for episodes is going to kill me ;-;
Cannot wait for their upcoming love story, I can tell it will be very fun.
This was a quick and cute binge watch! Green flags for the male leads and her family. At one point, I found myself shipping the male leads, they were such nice guys. I really appreciate the main lesson is learning to accept yourself, flaws and all, and that neither plastic surgery or makeup were seen as quick fixes but rather tools to use if so desired.
At this point, Kim Soo Hyun needs to speak up directly for this situation. He needs to apologise for his actions that have contributed to the death of someone he was allegedly so close with. This is not how you treat your colleague, let alone your ex-girlfriend. No matter how his lawyers or company try to explain, there is no improving his tarnished character without him speaking up.
I hope Kim Sae Ron is finally getting her peace because these villains surely did not let her have any while she was alive.
The Sang family is shown. Sang Zhi has several appearances. Jiaxu has a few. But they are played by different…
@twinty I know that much but I meant - do any other characters of First Frost have a mention in Hidden Love? For example, are Wen Yifan or Su Haoan ever mentioned?
(I do know the obvious crossover characters like Sang Zhi, her parents, Duan Jiaxu and Qian Fei and I recognize some of the events from Hidden Love like Qian Fei’s wedding, Sang Yan’s trip to Yihe when Sang Zhi stayed for summer break (when he found out they were dating) and about her parents’ hesitation to accept Duan Jiaxu at first. Just wanted to know if anyone noticed any other mentions of HL events.)
I mean they share the same characters. Sang Yan has a pretty big role in Hidden Love, more than Sang Zhi and Jia…
@jtyu I know that much but I meant - do any other characters of First Frost have a mention in Hidden Love? For example, are Wen Yifan or Su Haoan ever mentioned?
(I do know the obvious crossover characters like Sang Zhi, her parents, Duan Jiaxu and Qian Fei and I recognize some of the events from Hidden Love like Qian Fei’s wedding, Sang Yan’s trip to Yihe when Sang Zhi stayed for summer break (when he found out they were dating) and about her parents’ hesitation to accept Duan Jiaxu at first. Just wanted to know if anyone noticed any other mentions of HL events.)
When he was signing over the shares to Jian Hong, he asks Li Xue if Zhu Yun didn’t realize what was happening which she didn’t; she was totally blindsided by Li Xue’s sudden change.
Overall, it was very good but I think it did suffer from cutting down the episodes. Some logic and plot did go out the window but at least it’s ultimately a happy ending.
Suddenly it’s ten episodes later and I’ve reached the end of the available episodes ;-;
After 15 years of drama watching, you’d think I’d know better by now!
Compared to The Double, the characters here feel more human. Don’t get me wrong, I ADORE The Double but it always felt like they were the smartest and could never fail. Here I feel the mistakes are a bit more apparent and they are not as clever or as unfailing.
Still love both dramas, the scheming is amazing.
I know the backstory with Jiang Ying’s dad and Duan Jia Xu’s dad. I know that Duan Jia Xu was repaying the compensation for several years to Jiang Ying directly. My question is - why was she acting like she had a crush on him one minute (sending him gifts, asking to meet up etc) and then the next minute berating him for being a murderer’s son and being hostile towards him?
Is it that she took his debt toward to mean that he was not only compensating financially but also with himself? I think that was my understanding initially but now that I am rewatching, I just don’t find it that clear.
Grateful to anyone who can clarify!
- super surprised we never had a reappearance of his ex who went abroad to study. I was so sure she’d turn up at the end somehow to disrupt the relationship!
- Ngl, when he used the medical centre records to get her number, that raised all the red flags for me. As a doctor, that’s an abuse of his authority and I really dislike that he was interested in her while she was still under his care. I get that these relationships happen but the ethical thing would have been to wait until she was no longer under his medical care before pursuing her. He’s otherwise a green flag but the initial set up is not good.
Overall, this was a cute love story to watch unfold.
However! The plot of the drama is totally different so far to the novel. They’ve used the names and official status (legitimate daughter, concubine etc) but not much else - see below for a non spoiler introduction to the novel.
If I had to summarise the 219 chapters of the translated novel without giving all of the plot away:
Zhuang Han Yan is the unfavoured legitimate daughter of Zhuang Shi Yang. In her previous life, she was naive, trusting those who only sought to harm her. In her first life’s ending, she was betrayed and made to drink a cup of poisoned wine by a person she considered a sister, who plotted to steal her position as a noble man’s wife. Her mother and brother had been unjustly murdered and now she was to follow their fate. Zhuang Han Yan deeply regrets - but, rebirth plot: she wakes up 3 years prior to those terrible events.
Armed with knowledge from her previous life, she cleverly outmanoeuvres those who would plot her downfall from her unloving father to his scheming concubines and concubine born sister, Zhuang Yu Shan, while Han Yan protects her younger brother. She attracts the attention of the imperial family, in particular, the cold but attractive younger brother to the emperor, Prince Xuanqing, Fu Yunxi.
Several deeper plots are afoot - the mysterious circumstances surrounding Zhuang Han Yan’s birth, an invading enemy country, political ploys, and many schemes against Han Yan that she must solve.
It’s a very satisfying read with misunderstandings being quickly solved and Han Yan is wickedly smart!
Content warning - Han Yan is underaged and is referred to as 12 or 13 for much of the book. However, there is no underage sexual content but she does have several people who plot to ruin her innocence (and she outwits them all). There are no descriptive sex scenes but there is mention of intercourse (eg. “embracing”) between consenting adults.
I really enjoyed it. I look forward to see whether the drama becomes more similar in plot later on but certainly the first few episodes I’ve seen really don’t resemble the book.
Cannot wait for their upcoming love story, I can tell it will be very fun.
I hope Kim Sae Ron is finally getting her peace because these villains surely did not let her have any while she was alive.
(I do know the obvious crossover characters like Sang Zhi, her parents, Duan Jiaxu and Qian Fei and I recognize some of the events from Hidden Love like Qian Fei’s wedding, Sang Yan’s trip to Yihe when Sang Zhi stayed for summer break (when he found out they were dating) and about her parents’ hesitation to accept Duan Jiaxu at first. Just wanted to know if anyone noticed any other mentions of HL events.)
(I do know the obvious crossover characters like Sang Zhi, her parents, Duan Jiaxu and Qian Fei and I recognize some of the events from Hidden Love like Qian Fei’s wedding, Sang Yan’s trip to Yihe when Sang Zhi stayed for summer break (when he found out they were dating) and about her parents’ hesitation to accept Duan Jiaxu at first. Just wanted to know if anyone noticed any other mentions of HL events.)