themarchioness

Agreed. I have been saying this all along. I think he thinks he’s in love with her, but he’s really not. It’s more codependency and the more XQ seeks her freedom and escape, he feels abandoned and desperate and clings harder. But this is why XQ has also been encouraging him to break free and forge his own path. If he did, he too would be able to breathe easier, find a new life, and his own love.

I think this is the greatest revenge - to show the wicked witch how wrong she is about everything and that XQ and SY can live happily in harmony.

If it goes as expected, she'll be mean and rude to the point where XQ decides to move out of her apartment -- which, that part at least, is not a terrible thing. ;-)

You know the lack of wicked witch today just means we'll have to prepare ourselves for tomorrow... brace yourself! I'm already thinking of additional ideas for our list! Starting with death by a 1,000 tarantulas... lol

Maybe they're talking about the scene where XQ ran into XYX at the mall when she and SY were having a meal together, and it's implied that she's asking XYX to not say anything to her brother? But I didn't see that as wanting to keep SY a secret. Rather, she wants to tell her family first. After all, right before that scene we had also seen her on the phone with her brother where it was mentioned that she'd asked him to go with her to their parents' house that coming weekend -- that she is making the effort to visit without being called home by her parents suggests that she is planning on telling her parents and brother then that she and SY are dating.

XQ and SY just started dating so the weekend is probably the first opportunity she'll have to tell her parents and brother, in person, that she and SY are now dating.

Are you talking about Ep 26 when he was making breakfast? If so, that wasn't her house. Think his house just has a similar decor with the marble.

The drama is already changing things in this regard (such as making her parents indirectly related to SY's father's death and also changing the background of the adopted family who, in the book, were actually a powerful presence in the military with XQ also working at a military-affiliated hospital) so I don't know how the drama will present matters, but...

In the book, XQ's mother had SY framed as a traitor who sold military secrets. He was tortured and his friend thought he'd actually died as a result of that incident, so it can be said whatever he went through, was very, very bad. Once she learns the truth she will confront her parents, yell at them and tell them off. She will also throw and break their family portrait before running out of their house. Her father will try and get her to reconcile, but she's not interested. She only sees them again when something happens to her brother, and they notify her because they need her to talk to him.

You're operating under the assumption that SY will end up misunderstanding that JY and XQ have a thing and there will be a whole fight over this, or something... but apart from a moment of petty jealousy that seeing the two of them together brings, it's not like there's any real conflict. JY makes it clear he's not interested in XQ and is actively working towards bringing them together. So what complication are you expecting?

Actually, that's not true. When she finds out about what her mother did, that will be her bottom line, and she will go home and confront them. Her father will try to persuade her to reconcile, but she's not interested. Obviously we've not reached that part in the drama to know whether that will stay the same, but judging from clips where we've seen her throw a family portrait, which is something she does in the book, we've every reason to believe that won't change.

As to everything else you wrote... it's easy for viewers to look at all that toxicity and think, "It's so obvious. She just needs to break herself away from that." But for the person who's going through it, I don't think it is. On top of everything you've described the culture in which this story is taking place must be considered. Filial piety is a powerful thing. As an ideal, it's not such a terrible concept. But the reality is not every elder is worthy of respect and we shouldn't have to respect or follow someone just because they are an elder, but that's how it works. Which is where all the guilt comes in from - and that's on top of the guilt she already feels from feeling like she should be grateful to this family who took her in.

Instead of being so down on the FL, I think people should be rooting for her -- rooting for her to break free from this toxic family once and for all!

And I'm glad you don't hate the FL. :-)

No, MYC is the biological son of XQ's adopted parents.

There was, however, discussion earlier on this board that it's possible Jiang Yu (in the book) and SY are half-brothers. If they are, the author didn't do anything with this information - as in neither men address it and in fact they don't even meet until the tail end of the book and it's basically just an introduction where they shake hands. Although Jiang Yu says at that time that they may see more of each other in the future, based on an earlier chapter, it can also be understood that he's referring to the fact that they may work together in the future.

Are you talking about Jiang Yu? I don't think he's complicating anything. XQ was forced by her mom to attend a blind date with him and they both figured out neither were interested, and she told him she liked someone else. Jiang Yu figured out who that was and he's been helping her ever since. He even forced SY to admit that he had feelings for XQ, which is why he keeps goading him on there. It's not like SY is under the impression that there is anything between Jiang Yu and XQ.

As for XQ's latest blind date; again, another forced appointment by her mother. But XQ also draws the line by saying she has a boyfriend.

And I totally get this is your view - and to each our own! - just wanted to share another perspective. I think people who are frustrated with the FL are placing her shoes on themselves versus placing themselves in her shoes. Do we have the right to judge the speed by which she finds her guts, as you put it?

And thank goodness this drama is following its own format, so we have something different to watch! I like an easy, breezy watch as much as the next person but I also like to be able to sink my emotions into a good storyline too. It's good to have variety.

Every drama and its story is different. You say there's no progress. I disagree. Each episode is a step forward for them. It's not just about their relationship. It's about discovering themselves as individuals, too, particularly in the case of XQ.

As for their relationship, although they have a past, they're not the same people that they were in high school so in addition to unraveling what happened to them in the past, they are also having to figure out if they still want to be together in the present.

So I do see step-by-step progress, and soon we are going to be reaching that climax point - which seems about right given we're hitting mid-way point of the drama. Fortunately, if all goes according to the book there will be no break-up or separation so let's not jinx us on that score!

Some of us enjoy watching the song and dance. If the leads got together in 2 episodes, we'd spend the rest of the drama complaining it was boring with nothing happening. It's also not that sweet, fluffy type of drama.

There's not much to be said. It's said at one point that when SY was little, he heard that his mom abandoned the family to hook up with a rich man. That she had another child with that man and that child was taken from her and sent to be raised by the main wife, since she was the mistress. He then mentions that when he was 10 years old, he snuck away to find her. He found her walking away with the rich man, but she turned to look at him, so SY knows she recognized him and didn't say anything him. In that moment, he gave up on his mom and spit on the man's car.

Much later in the book, when the adopted mom is venting at her husband as to why it can't be SY, it's revealed that XQ's father almost didn't marry the mother because of SY's mother. That's when we learn that her hatred of SY ran deeper than just he came from a background she didn't approve of. It's never indicated in the book that the leads are ever made aware of that twist.

I'm a novel reader and I don't think the brother is bad. I don't think he's great either. I think he is human and flawed. People don't like him because of the barrier that he represents between SY and XQ. But he only "supports" his mother in the sense that they have a shared ultimate goal of not wanting those two to be together. Their reasons for why they want that, though, are different. Obviously, the brother has a self-interest in not wanting to see SY and XQ together. Ultimately, though, he is a person who cares for his sister and would never do anything to harm her. There is also no person better situated than him to know what it has been like for XQ to grow up in the conditions that she has, so he is sympathetic towards her. All of which is to say that in the end, he would never do anything that would truly hurt XQ and so it is pointless to hate him for all of this alone.

As a personal aside, I also think most of his "love" for XQ stems from when she joined their family as a child and she served as the first lifeline for him. If he allowed himself to open up, be free, and pursue his personal interests (as XQ is trying to do, and as she has encouraged him to do), he would probably find a whole different life before him - including a love of his own.

All that said, he is also definitely a product of his upbringing. That's how you get scenes like the one in Ep 21 where he just rolls up to the door and says to Yezi (the bar/art gallery girl), "Get in," versus an actual offer or invitation to give her a ride. I just rolled my eyes at that scene.

As for all his scenes that the drama is including between the brother and Yezi, again, I am a novel reader and I actually support their inclusion - here's why. Everyone is focused on the fact that 1) they didn't exist in the book, and 2) by including them, the drama decreases screen time for the main leads. But this drama is everyone's story, not just the mains. The mains are just the prominent one. More importantly, what happens around the mains, influences what happens to them. From that perspective, we do need to know what's going on and so we should not focus only on the now and how the current scenes between the brother and Yezi affect us now. Instead, we should also think about -- what is this building up to?

As has been mentioned, in the book, there is stuff that happens between Yezi and the brother towards the end. None of knows whether the drama will take the story in the same direction, BUT IF IT DOES, the groundwork they are laying now will make so much more sense for what happens in the future -- as compared to the book. There, I said it! LOL. In the book, when all that stuff comes up between Yezi and MYC, it feels out of left field and that's because the book didn't give us these in-between scenes. Rather, any interactions that they might have had happened off screen and, at best, were only vaguely hinted at. A reader could reach that critical point and wonder, how did we get here? But I guarantee you, for us drama watchers, that most likely would not happen because of all these current scenes. And that's why I'm okay with them, whether you want to call them "filler" or just part of the episode, as I prefer to think of them.

If anyone wants to know what happened btw MYC and Yezi in the book, I wrote a long explanation here: https://kisskh.at/713795-wo-de-ren-jian-yan-hou#comment-13843873

I would first start off by saying that Ye Zi has way more "screen" time in the drama than she does in the book, although she has an "important" role in the book (and we'll see if it plays out in the same way in the drama).

In the book, as in the drama, she works at XYX's bar which is where MYC/the brother (and the readers) first meet her. The next time we really see her it's when Zhai Miao (the cousin) is at the police station as Ye Zi is actually sitting next to her while Zhai Miao refuses to name her as her source. As in the drama, she's eventually persuaded to do so by XQ but soon thereafter a phone call is received and the next thing we know, they're both excused with Ye Zi personally escorted out. It's at that point XQ realizes what must have happened and sure enough, once they exit the police station, she spots her brother's car picking up Ye Zi. [This is different from the drama where the brother ended up at the police station because of XQ, who was trying to help SY/Zhai Miao, and Zhai Miao didn't see Ye Zi until they were back in the dorm.]

Towards the end of the book, MYC will be accused of sexual assault in an online post -- Ye Zi claims to be the victim. Apparently she and that group of college friends had run into him at the bar, and so the friends take Ye Zi's side and everyone online believes her story as well. XQ is called to the police station by the Meng family since MYC refuses to talk to anyone or say anything that would clear his name. Of course SY goes with her. While XQ goes to talk to her brother SY realizes his cousin must be around somewhere, given this group of people, and sure enough finds her hiding in a stairwell. She confesses she has photos on her phone that would clear MYC's name, but she doesn't want to help the Meng family given what they (the adopted mom) did to SY in the past. She also doesn't think SY should want to help him.

SY convinces her it's the right thing to do by pointing out that he doesn't forgive them, nor does he want an apology from them as he wouldn't be able to forgive them, but he also doesn't live with resentment nor does he seek revenge -- in other words, he's completely moved on and they don't have any significance in his life. Zhai Miao then goes to the adopted parents and tells them she has what they need to clear their son's name, but she thinks they should kneel before her to make up for what they did to her family in the past. The father was going to kneel, but the mom stopped him and said she would. Just as she was lowering herself and about to reach the knees, Zhai Miao called it off asking how she would look before her "sao-zi" (sister-in-law, aka XQ) if she actually let her parents kneel before her. I think it was enough for her that they were finally wiling to do so (albeit out of desperate need), and so she hands over the evidence and MYC is released. Ye Zi, on the other hand, is arrested and awaiting sentencing at the time of her mention.

As you can see from the above, we don't see a lot of the in between stuff. It can be understood that there is something going on at least on a surface level between Ye Zi and MYC , but it happens off screen in the book. I know a lot of drama watchers don't like their added scenes because they see it as filler and time away from the OTP, but honestly, I like that it provides context and fleshes out their story because from the book perspective, it's so vague you kind of have to put the pieces together for yourself. At least the drama tells you what's going on.

XQ's mom should take lessons from Jiang Yu on how to be an effective matchmaker.

But, wait, oh right, you'd have to first actually care about the people you were trying to matchmake to be an effective matchmaker!

In any event, all I know is that when SY and XQ get married, they're the ones who are going to have to give Jiang Yu a nice, fat red envelope! Haha.

One today (Friday, 7/14), one Saturday, and none on Sunday.

The first part of the drama followed the book more closely, but even then, there were changes made and that's no different from what is happening where we currently are at in the drama. All the changes that have been made though have been for (likely) censorship reasons, to flesh our certain aspects/characters from the book, and to give life to still others. I have read "Waiting For You in the City" many times; it's a book I really enjoy. And I'm really enjoying the drama now, too. I don't mind the changes; in fact, I appreciate them. Understandably, people's mileage is going to differ about that -- some are going to mind the changes more than others. You don't like them and that's fine, but like @tsukikoo00 said, making changes from the book doesn't necessarily mean "disrespect."

I've also read/watched "Road Home," and while I haven't read the book that "Hidden Love" is based on, I did watch that drama as well, and what I would say about both is that their stories are much simpler to tell. "Road Home," especially, has always read more like a sketch/outline of a novel to me -- I don't mean that as a criticism, as I really love that book too. If anything, it's a compliment in that it means I want more from the author. I actually had hopes that the drama might build on that, but it didn't. There were a few changes made there, including some fleshing out of certain things and for censorship reasons, but on the whole, you're right - the drama stayed fairly faithful to the book and in that regard, I hate to admit it, but sometimes I got a little bored. It was that predictable.

I don't feel that way with FoMH. There's predictability and there's not -- although I can be certain of what will happen, i don't know how the drama will get us there. That holds my interest. Additionally, as indicated, it's a much more complex book. The characters are more complex. In a book medium, it's easier for an author to tell us what a character is thinking/feeling because they have only to share those thoughts with us. A scriptwriter can't do that - either they have to have characters speak their thoughts out loud in a drama (which isn't always practical since most people don't walk around muttering to themselves) or they have to find some other way through the storytelling to convey those thoughts. I think this drama is doing that. Similarly, in the book, there would be transition moments where the author could directly state things like, "Several months passed after that," before showing us the next "scene" between the main characters. Time skips of that nature in a drama are harder to do, which is why we've had this period of "filler" scenes as some people like to describe them. Personally, I've really enjoyed this time of getting to see the leads in their respective work spaces, and getting to know them better as individuals. I don't mind these changes; indeed, I quite like them, and I think the drama has otherwise done a good job of keeping to the spirit of the book.

A drama can make changes without disrespecting its original source. Of course there are some dramas that so completely butcher the source that it's based on that yes, I agree with you, that can only be described as disrespect. On the flip side, I've also watched a few dramas where I've walked away thinking either it's better than the book it's based on or it helped me to have a better appreciation of the book because the adaptation was just that good. In this case, I'm finding that there is a space for both the book and the drama in my heart, because they are both that enjoyable. I'm sorry that's not the case for you.