themarchioness

I see. Thank you for sharing!

I agree with you, though -- for both the book and the drama, I think we are supposed to think of it as a happy ending for Jia Yue and Mao Tou (and the others). Maybe it's just me but I kind of like the open-endedness of it. There's a lot of room for the imagination to take over, and I love that. I don't think dramas (or books) need to show us every little detail. It can be nice, too, when they offer just enough for us to draw our own conclusions. I think this kind of an ending suits the tone and tenor of this kind of a story where it has always been more about nostalgia and relationships generally across the families in this neighborhood.

I'll have to wait to watch the remaining eps as they air regularly, but your spoiler on the ending has me all sorts of curious! :)

What didn't you like about the drama ending, or what were you hoping to see? It sounds like it's on par with the last extra chapter of the novel and, in fact, gives us a little bit more. The book ends with Mao Tou introducing himself as Jia Yue's online friend, but from what you've described from the drama, it sounds like the drama goes a little beyond that point as they're meeting up with their friends and Jia Yue is even smiling -- that indicates acceptance, whereas in the book, we can only assume she will accept him. Otherwise, all we're shown is Jia Yue cautioning Mao Tou that she's not the same person who she was in the past, and Mao Tou agrees saying he's not the same person he was back then either, and then he introduces himself formally -- signaling a new beginning for them both.

Also, his self-introduction was the very last line of the book. You mentioned he does the same in the drama (only it doesn't end there, as they show a bit more), so what last line were you hoping the drama would add from the book?

You can't always count on MDL's countdown feature. It's dependent on user updates and clearly, is no longer correct for this drama. I just checked the Release Information page for this drama and it's set as airing 2 episodes every day of the week. That's why the MDL count is currently way ahead of what this drama's actual airing schedule is. Specifically, it doesn't account for the fact that this week, some days only had one episode that aired.

Separately, the WeTV express schedule is one ep ahead and so there always be a one-episode difference from what you're probably watching.

The best thing you can rely on is the drama's actual airing calendar/schedule.

The twin bodyguards were played by actual twins! Liu Zi Hao (刘子豪) and Liu Wei Hao (刘未豪).

https://mintyrecaps.com/twin-talents-of-blossom/

That's pretty much what happens *any* time you watch a Yu Zheng produced drama (which both "The Double" and "Perfect Match" are) -- you spend at least the first couple of episodes mentally thinking, "Oh, they were in [such and such Yu Zheng drama]." LOL

The part I was dreading the most was Qian Jia Yue finding out about Chen Mo and Xiao Han (haha, I kept wanting to write Song Mo and it took me a full second to remember his character name in this drama). Fortunately, now that we are finally at this juncture in their story it wasn’t as terrible as I was fearing. But still, this is the suckiest of situations for all three children. Nobody can be blamed. Xiao Han never had feelings for Qian Jia Yue; he’s only ever seen her as a little sister, and he can’t be blamed for falling for someone else. Chen Mo didn’t know how Qian Jia Yue felt about Xiao Han, but also, she should have the freedom to pursue who she likes. And as for Qian Jia Yue – my heart breaks for her and has been breaking every episode leading up to Episode 24. It doesn’t help that she has always suffered from lack of confidence. We saw how hurt she was when Chen Mo first entered their friends circle with Ka Men and she felt left out. Through that, we knew how devastated she was going to be when she found out she’d lost Xiao Han to Chen Mo, too. But honestly, even if Qian Jia Yue was a more confident person, it was going to suck regardless. It always does. That’s the real/raw part of the story writing that I love!

Qian Jia Yue is now grieving that loss, and I love how she expressed her current feelings. She knows Chen Mo and Xiao Han aren’t to blame. She hates that she feels as she does. But she can’t help it either. She couldn’t have been more honest or real. But Chen Mo’s mother and Mao Tou’s father are also correct. Time will heal all wounds, and I’ve faith that Qian Jia Yue will find her way out of this. After all, we aren’t defined by any one moment in our life and she has such a long road ahead of her.

Plus, we already know she has one eager suitor waiting in the wings! And while I know most of us are Team Mao Tou, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that part of my heart tugs for Chang Wuji! He’s so sweet, earnest, and clueless, lol.

Finally caught up to Ep 25 and I just wanted to say I really love this drama and find it so well-written. I love how all the characters are genuine, complex, and multi-dimensional. No one is perfect, everyone is flawed, but at their core they are all good people and that’s what makes them so interesting to watch. Whether it’s the children or the adults, everyone is busy navigating family relationships, friendships, romantic relationships, school/work, and life in general.

That said, as much as I enjoy the drama, I have found it hard to watch at times too. What is the drama’s strength is also it’s hardest part – for me, at least! I also do not say this as a criticism, as I wouldn’t change a thing. But what I mean is because the drama is so real, at times, it hits the emotions hard and that’s especially true when I can see pain coming down the pike. It has sometimes made me dread watching and then I have to remind myself – this is life, this is what happens, but it’ll be okay because we deal with it and we grow/learn and move on…

(Posting the rest of this Comment as a Reply so that I can put it under a cut for potential spoilers.)

We've been mostly getting two eps a day, which is pretty quick, IMO. It's not uncommon for Cdramas to switch to releasing only one ep a day at some point in their schedule. It's also not uncommon for Cdramas to have different airing schedules depending on membership levels -- it's how the platforms make their money. Honestly, this is far better than with other Asian dramas where you only get two or - eep! - one ep a week!

According to the airing calendar, 26 and 27 won't come until Thursday (2/6) and Friday (2/7), respectively.

https://kisskh.at/photos/VX28R0_3

Not sure if Chen Mo's parents are divorced in the book. I read the last few chapters/extra chapters machine translated and the impression I have from one of the extra chapters is that her dad is present while Chen Mo is helping her daughter with her math homework, and when Chen Mo expresses frustration over her daughter's wrong answers her dad's the one who's telling her to not be so hard on the child whereas Chen Mo's a little speechless given how her father treated her while growing up. But everyone knows grandchildren are treated differently than children!

I totally agree the dad is frustrating in the drama, especially with how overbearing he is towards his wife and daughter! Scenes with Chen Mo's dad when he's interacting with his family can be very frustrating!! But on the other hand I like the relationship he's formed with QJY's dad...

The actor playing Daniel (small role) hasn’t been added to the cast list yet, but he was played by this actor: https://kisskh.at/people/17279-kudousi-jiang-ainiwaer

This drama was filmed 3 years ago, so you can't go by their current age as to how old they were when they filmed the drama.

Yes. Xiao Han and Chen Mo end up together. The main story ends with the children taking their college entrance exams, but through the extra chapters we know XH and CM are married with kids. And it ends with the suggestion that Qian Jia Yue and Mao Tou will get together.

April 2023 was when they started shooting.

I’m sure there are a lot of behind the scenes negotiations that go into billing order. Status, pay, etc. and that’s why you’re not going to have all the children listed as mains.

The actors/actresses are credited based on how they were casted in the drama, and not based on their importance to the story. Therefore, don't make any predictions based on the cast credits. You have to watch the drama to see/why the pairings unfold as they do.

I wanted to clarify that the way the actors/actresses are listed in the MDL cast list are based on how these individuals are listed in the opening credits of the drama (to the best of MDL's ability based on its available categories). I double checked while watching the opening credits to clarify my own understanding of how the actors/actresses were being listed in relation to the actual narrative that is being shown.

I, otherwise, agree with you that the drama's narrative is from the POV of Qian Jia Yue and that all the other people around her, her family, her friends, their families, are all important to the story -- each has their own story, their own growth arcs, and that is most true of Qian Jia Yue as in life, we are directly impacted by the people and events that take place around us. I also agree with you that we should not assume any sort of "relationship end game" based on how the cast is credited. Instead, just watch the story and see how it all organically unfolds (*not* based on the the cast credits).

They're mixing in some Shanghainese since it's set in Shanghai.

An express package dropped the other day (i.e., users can pay extra money to watch the remaining episodes in one fell swoop). Once the express package drops, the licensed streaming sites typically drop to airing one ep a day. If they don't do that, the express package option won't seem as attractive.

Yes, she will leave (when the original length of her stay ends). I don't remember for how many eps she's gone anymore, but it's not long... long enough for her to visit her friend's parents, help her parents move, and decide on a new life path... one that takes her back to Yunnan.