themarchioness

I had the same initial thought and then my second thought was: ahh --- drama logic, lol. I mean, how else will they bring the leads together? For example, since they couldn't work the story in a way to have the FL join the mountain rescue mission, they made it so he had to call her! :P

I know. I’ve read the book. But for the drama, it has significance which is why I ask the question. ;-)

The brother is not adopted. He is the parents’ biological child. The FL is not blood related to that family; they took her in because the dads were friends.

Random question. Does we think SY will ever find his lighter with XQ's picture? After losing it initially, I recall him searching for it another time or two, but nothing since. It just occurred to me that we haven't seen/heard mention of the lighter in a while. Part of me would like to think the timing of the loss is symbolic -- he loses it when XQ returns in person, and no longer needs to carry the lighter around when can have the real deal instead. But given that it also looked like that lighter helped to save his life at one point, I can see it popping up again later when that portion of SY's past is revealed to XQ. He'd still have to find the lighter first, though!

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Agreed - I feel the same way. You can just sense that energy between the two men; it's like they instinctively recognize the competition in each other.

Yes!! I also thought it was very telling where XQ cut MYC off in that conversation. I can't remember the exact words without rewatching, but as I recall he was asking her whether she was really so willing to give up everything to be with SY and if she was willing to do that, then why couldn't "we" and she stopped him at that point. It felt like she stopped him there on purpose because she knew, if she didn't, he would've gone on to ask - then why can't we be together? Especially since it was at that point that the drama transitioned to the past where we very clearly saw how the adopted mom's decision to formalize the adoption was a direct attempt to ensure that nothing would ever happen between the two children.

In the book, she was 10 years old when she was adopted. Drama doesn't really say, as far as I can recall.

Regarding Ep 13 and the conversation between SY and MYC outside the hospital... did anyone else pick up vibes that SY was calling MYC out on his true feelings for XQ? I was discussing that scene with a friend earlier and their only takeaway was that we now have definitive proof that SY knows XQ is adopted, but I actually think his comments involved more than that - it was just subtle and maybe hard to pick up on.

Specifically, it's the part where SY asks MYC what right he has to decide for XQ noting that if MYC had the power to decide, he wouldn't be standing before him (SY). I felt like through this comment, SY was reminding MYC that he has no sway, and no "right" to XQ, because if he did, then like he (SY) said, they wouldn't even need to have their conversation.

MYC answers that it's because he's her brother and a family member she can never forsake, and SY sarcastically responds, "So you know you're her brother. But your care and possessiveness over your sister is a little excessive. Even as a family member, you should have a sense of propriety." To me, he's pointing out that MYC is not behaving like a normal brother would. Which is why he then makes an "oh right," kind of sound and adds, "I forgot. You're not her real brother."

Coming on the heels of an observation that MYC is not behaving like a normal brother, and highlighting that they're not blood siblings, I feel like SY is indirectly pointing out that he knows MYC is really behaving in this way because he has romantic feelings for XQ. Especially since SY then goes on to call MYC a hypocrite who doesn't dare face himself -- it's like he's trying to get MCY to own up to his real feelings and acknowledge what this confrontation is *really* about -- it's not really an older brother exerting his protective right, but really, a would-be competitor calling out another competitor.

Or am I reading into this convo too much because I've read the book? ;-)

It is because of her. In the book she asks him about that, and he indirectly admits to it by responding, "What do you think?"

I agree. I don't find MYC's feelings for XQ to be totally weird in that they were old enough when she joined his family for them to know they were not siblings. In a different family, under different circumstances, maybe it would've followed that they grew up together and fell in love with each other at the same time. But really for MYC, I think it's about what he said to her when he was likening himself to the butterfly. She was like a lifeline when she entered his family and his life. His 'love' for her is based more out of a need and at grasping at straws. That's why in a lot of ways, despite his creepy overly protective ways, I pity him in the same way that I pity her. You have two children, raised under the same roof, one calls herself a beast raised by a trainer and the other a butterfly dissected to death while still alive. Says a lot.

Or they've decided not to go the half sibling route in the drama? I feel like the ages would have a hard time matching up for SY and JY to be half-sibs in the drama. The mom didn't leave until SY was at least 8-10 years old. SY and JY are near similar age given that JY's being set up on blind dates. I guess we'll just have to wait to see if anything develops in this regard, but I'm not going to assume or expect anything at this point - just going to sit back and watch the story unfold. The drama has followed the book in many ways, fleshed out some things in other ways, but is also starting to deviate in some ways too so it's best not to assume too much.

As for your comment re: SY's mom not feeling happy, as SY said when he was a teen - it's neither good to have too much or too little, one should just have enough money to spend. Wise words.

When the mom ran out after the little kid in Ep 14, she called him Zi Hao, so it couldn't be Jiang Yu. And yeah, what a gutted feeling that must've been for SY to see his mom taking care of someone else's kid -- and it's not like that other kid even likes his mom either. Makes it all seem so pointless.

In the drama, all that is said is that the mom left to be with a rich man. This made SY's father turn to the bottle for comfort. He would beat SY when he was drunk, but then cry in apology when he was sober. SY said he didn't mind because he understood why his father became a drunk. Eventually the father drunk himself to the point where he passed out in the cold and died from that.

It is revealed later in the book that SY's mom and the FL's dad once had a thing -- FL's dad almost didn't marry his wife because of SY's mom. From that I've always assumed that this would've happened prior to their respective marriages given the age of the children. In other words, it's not that SY's mom left because of FL's dad.

In the drama, SY's parents were already having marital issues when SY's father ran into work issues. He was trying to help his coworkers get money for being laid off, but in the end, the company paid his coworker to betray him so he took the fall for everything. The mom decided to leave after that and then same thing - dad became a drunk and eventually died. So, while not directly responsible, we can probably say that the Meng family had an indirect contribution towards SY's father's death, although I'm hard pressed to say that they're responsible for it -- there were a lot of things going on there. It could even be argued that at some point the mom would've left him anyway - this just ended up being her tipping point.

As for whether the FL's adopted family has anything to do with her biological parents (I'm assuming that's what you're asking) - no. In the drama all that's been said so far is that they took her in because her bio dad and adopted dad were close. In the book, the FL's parents were having marital problems and one night, the mom burned their house down. She ended up killing herself and the dad. But the FL was rescued and sent to orphanage where she stayed for a bit until the adoptive parents came to take her home with them (it's also said in the book that the dads knew each other).

Just want to remind the ending may be changed for the drama - we will have to see how things play out in the drama. Cdramas do like their redemption arc so that is a possibility… even though I’d prefer how the book left things. Just don’t want to get people’s hopes up if it turns out to be different in the drama so again, emphasizing, what I shared relates to the book only! :-)

She has a clue. Notice where she cuts him off in their convo, when they're fighting in Ep 13. He asks her if she's so willing to cut things off with her family for SY, then why can't "we" - and just as he says "we," she stops him. We know what he was going to say next (it would have been some variation of "why can't we be together") because the scene then transitions to the flashback where the teenagers were being sweet with each other, the mother sees this, and after that decides to formalize the adoption, forcing XQ to change her last name to Meng. The mom was trying to prevent them from forming a romantic relationship. The brother knows this, just as the mom knows her son has feelings for XQ - that's why she questions the real reasons why he doesn't think XQ should have to change her name and says their only other alternative is for XQ to be sent abroad.

For your first question, not sure about titles... but they call JY/SJ a "zhidaoyuan," and according to my dictionary that's an abbreviation for political commissar and can also mean instructor, coach, or a political instructor (in the PLA).

As to your second question, yes, the dog is named after the FL - specifically, from the book:

XQ laughs, "What is its name?"
He laughs lightly and answers, "Xiao Meng."
"... Is it because of me?"
"What do you think?"
"It could only be because of me, if not, wait for it." [Probably more along other the lines of - "just you wait for it," but I don't have the original text to know.]
He laughs.

In the credits ZBB is listed as "Act of Friends" - in other words, a fancier version of a cameo. More than just a brief moment on the screen, but not a cast member for the duration of the drama. He has ties to both YY and the director, so he probably joined as a special favor.

In the novel, not much is said of SY's mother beyond the fact that she abandoned her family to be a mistress for a rich man. SY says that when he was little, he was told his mother had another kid, but that kid was taken from her and sent to the main wife to raise, so that kid doesn't even know about his mother. When SY was 10 years old, he went to look for his mother and saw him with the other man. She noticed him, so he knows she recognized him, yet she didn't say anything. In that moment, SY gave up on his mother.

As for XQ's adoptive mother, after XQ learns what she did to SY back in the day, she cuts things off with her family - her father tries to get them to reconcile, but she's pretty firmly against them/her mom. Something will happen to MYC where he is accused of sexual assault. The person with evidence that would help to clear his name ends up being SY's cousin. If it were up to her, she would not come forward with the evidence, but SY tells her it's the right thing to do. She doesn't want to forgive them, though, but SY tells her - he doesn't forgive them, nor does he want their apology because even if they apologized for what they did to him in the past, he would not forgive them. He also, however, does not live with resentment nor does he seek revenge -- in other words, he could give two figs about XQ's adoptive family. As a result, the cousin steps forward with the evidence and asks them to kneel before her first. The dad was going to do, but the mom wouldn't let him and said she would do it, and right before she would kneel the cousin tells her to forget about it b/c at the end of the day, she's her sister-in-law (XQ's) parents. It can understood that they won't have much to do with each other in the future, unless they have to.

In the novel, not much is said of SY's mother beyond the fact that she abandoned her family to be a mistress for a rich man. SY says that when he was little, he was told his mother had another kid, but that kid was taken from her and sent to the main wife to raise, so that kid doesn't even know about his mother. When SY was 10 years old, he went to look for his mother and saw him with the other man. She noticed him, so he knows she recognized him, yet she didn't say anything. In that moment, SY gave up on his mother.