themarchioness

Here's the airing schedule: https://kisskh.at/photos/rDxrE_3

Essentially, yes. It also airs Wed thru Sun for those watching one Ep a day (non-VIP, Slower schedule). You can see the airing schedule here: https://kisskh.at/photos/rDxrE_3

The drama didn’t emphasize this point as much as it is in the book bc they’re trying to avoid overt references to the reincarnation concept, but ZSC is named after his past self (hence the name being in the family genealogy). History has recorded his story, though, as historical ZSC being a traitor (hence the cousin’s comment). Remember how things played out with ZSC’s death in One and Only, and how he was punished… basically from that moment on he was talked about as having betrayed the king and having an affair with the crown Princess/king’s wife (historical Shi Yi), and that’s what people think of it now. In the book, bc SY has direct memories of her past, she finds this to be a grave injustice as she knows historical ZSC was only ever loyal and honest.

Lol, I know! For me, it was that LYZ kept sounding like He Yichen from My Sunshine (also dubbed by Bian Jiang). Finally found confirmation of who the dubbers were for this drama, hehe.

I found the credits for the dubbing in this drama and you are correct, LYZ was dubbed by Bian Jiang.

There is no one night stand in the drama. He only helped her when she was drunk in the rain. The one-night stand mentioned in the summary above stems from the book. It was changed for the drama. Another change is, in the book, the ML was the reason the FL broke things off with the doctor, because of their one-stand history. Because such a thing did not exist in the drama, it was changed to the doctor's mom having a past with the FL's dad, and the mom being the reason for the break-up.

Definitely the entire time I was watching it, I was enjoying it through a layer of nostalgia feels. I think it works better when you think of it as a drama from the past, one with angst, sweeping emotions, and not a little bit of pain and torture too. LOL. I mean, the whole Zhenrong dying thing is straight out of an early 2000s Kdrama except that in that context he would be the ML, that would be the ending, and we would all be crying at a drama's tragic ending. LOL. Let's not forget either that this drama was based on a book by Fei Wo Si Cun, who people call the "stepmother" because of the ways she treats her characters. :P That we got a happy ending in the drama is pretty impressive; I'm pretty sure this book's ending is an open-ended one (which is still better than the author's other sad endings...)

Anyway, regarding the discontent people have been having over the time spent on the side characters and especially Fan Lu and LXY, this isn't an excuse so much as it is an explanation/food for thought, but I'm pretty sure this is the formula for Cdramas of this nature. I've watched a few now involving romance/corporate world and often by the end, it's like the focus of the drama changes entirely and the OTP becomes an afterthought especially if the OTP come together early on. I'd argue that because LYZ and DXS didn't that we actually got it better in this drama, in that we still had scenes of them pushing and pulling at each other versus them disappearing completely. It's also not uncommon for side characters who were 'bad' in the beginning to turn out to be not be so bad by the end, particularly if there's a more evil enemy that emerges later in the story... like I said, I suspect it's a formula because this dynamic can be witnessed in dramas like: Here to Heart, Our Glamorous Time (which diverted so badly that people actually suspected the SFL actress of having interfered in the script since her character wasn't even in the book originally and she was an investor in the drama), Love Designer, and the list goes on...

Hahaha. He deserved it after all that he put her through. He should be tortured too! Plus when watching stuff like this, it helps knowing that there's a happy ending at the end of all the push-and-pull and that he'll make things up to her for the rest of their lives. :) If we hadn't had the happy ending, I'm not sure I could've withstood all the angst along the way, but since there was one, I'm like 'bring it!' LOL.

It's a satisfying ending! I skim/watched the raws as I'll wait for them to be subbed to watch in full, but from the parts I did watch... most of the heavy corporate takeover stuff is resolved by Ep 38 which leaves a chunk of time for the remaining dangles to be resolved, including the OTP.

After LYZ saves the company from the hostile takeover the board of directors want to bring him back, but he withdraws from the company and hands things over to LXY. It's not that he'd forgotten or forgiven, it's that he knows LXY was never as evil as he originally believed and recognizes that if LXY had really wanted to screw him over, he could've done that by getting involved in the hostile takeover, which he did not. Most importantly he recognizes LXY's capabilities at leading the company and wants to give him a change at turning over the leaf -- make up for the sins in the past by working hard in the present for the company, and all that.

Meanwhile, LYZ uses his newly found spare time to win back DXS. It's not an easy feat but it was entertaining watching him try his hand. As Shangguan observed for the first time in LYZ's life, he had to pursue a girl when normally it's the girls who are lining up to date him. Following Shangguan's advice landed him in a pickle and as DXS said, she never wanted him to change for her. She's also most upset that he never shared with her what was going on with the hostile takeover. She realizes he was only trying to protect her and keep her safe, but that's not what a relationship is about - she wouldn't have been afraid of being tailed or being put in harm's way. On the other hand, what she does fear is knowing that she could've lost him without ever having known the danger he was in. LYZ had a loooong road of him in terms of winning her back - there's cuteness along the way, so lots of OTP scenes in the remaining episodes, but it does take him up until the final moment to turn her around.

As for Fan Lu and LXY, the turn a page in their relationship and become a real marriage, but LXY continues to feel guilty for the past and against everyone's advice, even LYZ's, he decides to atone for them by turning himself in. I know everyone was ready to move on from the past but for his sake, I'm glad he did and it is presumed that when he's released, he and Fan Lu can continue on as a family. Regarding DXS's best friend and LYZ's assistant, they finally get married (in fact, Fan Lu and LXY renew their vows and the other couple decide to join in for a double ceremony). LYZ gifts them a house -- finally that long desired symbol of having made it in Shanghai.

I think that's about it... oh! And obviously, once LXY goes to prison, LYZ returns to the company. In case anyone was curious about that.

You will not be spoiled by my discussion of the book, because I only go up to the part where DXS and LYZ meet initially in the book. I don't know either what happens from there because I've only read up to the doctor's death and the initial aftermath.

The only reason I provide such lengthy explanation regarding the book is to explain the difference in emotional impact because in the book, it is one incident that causes LYZ to form an impression of DXS whereas in the drama it's a variety of factors. That's why the rest of my reply is also lengthy because like you said, the story in the drama also has to make sense from the perspective of the drama (not the book, particularly if they're going to make the changes that they did) -- and that's what the rest of my long answer explains (or tries to explain).

I don't know if this will help because I feel like some of us have tried to explain already, but it may be like @SCPY answered the other day, there are some things you have to accept as the screenwriter's vision and if you can't see it, then you can't and maybe that's just what you have to accept. (I do that sometimes too when watching dramas.... accept things as part of a story that I can't really make sense of and move on because at least I like the rest of it.) That said, my personal view (for this drama) is that I don't think things are as illogical as you find, so I'll try to offer some explanations/ insight. Maybe it will help, maybe it won't. I'm also going to first discuss some of the changes from the book and drama because I think? hope? it might also explain some of what you find lacking.

In the book, LYZ doesn't really make an appearance until the DXS and SZR are well-settled into their relationship. In fact, they're already talking about buying a house together, marriage, kids, when SZR takes her to visit his family and the minute she is introduced to his second brother (LYZ) she's stunned. Both she and LYZ play the part of strangers for the rest of that visit, but that night she gets a phone call from him where he says they need to talk. After they return from their trip, DXS breaks things off with SZR because she's feeling guilty over the fact that one year earlier, she and LYZ had had a one-night stand. It's something she regretted from the minute it happened, but at the time she was reeling over a bad break up (college sweetheart cheated on her to marry a rich woman), got drunk, and when LYZ tried to help her she put the moves on him and he followed. But with the deed already done, she feels unworthy of SZR and dumps him without much explanation. At the same time, she can't really get over him and still reappears in front of SZR in one way or another, much to his confusion and frustration as well. Unfortunately there's a natural disaster that SZR has to go help with, so before he leaves he tells DXS to wait for him and they'll talk after he gets back. Right after he leaves, LYZ visits and instructs DXS to give up on SZR for good. He tells her that although his family is wealthy and powerful, they're actually pretty open-minded in terms of who the children but marry but the one thing they won't accept is anyone who's not 'innocent.' This actually causes DXS to find her backbone as she decries the hypocrisy of his statement; after all, LYZ is hardly an innocent either. She finally tells LYZ that what happens between her and SZR is none of his beeswax, and resolves to tell SZR the truth when he returns. She says that if SZR can accept her past history with LYZ then that's something they'll worth through together, and if he can't, then she'll understand and move on. But she's not going to let LYZ let her feel like a cheep floozy. Unfortunately, before she can do any of what she says, SZR dies participating in the rescue efforts and both LYZ and DXS are devastated. I haven't read much beyond that in the book (yet) except to know that after SZR's death, DXS struggles mentally and emotionally and starts haunting LYZ everywhere he goes in order to get control of the apartment that had meant to be hers and SZR's. But even from that part so far, it's pretty easy to see why LYZ is biased against DXS in the book -- their past entanglement is one that has a strong impact. So far, it sounds like his evolution in feelings towards her (in the book) is witnessing her determination and persistence as she follows him around despite her illness (he describes her at one point as a blade of grass sprouting between two rocks) and also the realization that he probably had developed feelings for her after their one night stand, but again, I haven't yet read beyond that point in the book as the chapters are still being translated -- but happy to report back after I have.

Anyway, the reason I took the time to share all of the above is to show the contrast btw the book and the drama. Because of the changes that the drama made (I suspect for censorship reasons) the emotional pressures and impacts are totally changed; that's the first thing that stood out to me when I started watching the drama. But even within the context of the drama, I think they have built a layered story to explain some of the questions you have.

First, you've asked, what made LYZ prejudiced towards her. Unlike the book where it was literally the one act of their one-night stand, I don't think there's any one reason in the drama. Rather, it's multiple things that built upon each other. It started with her passing out drunk in front of his car. You're right, if it was just that one act alone, his bias against her wouldn't make much sense, but it wasn't just the one thing. Instead, it was the seed - by which he started to question the quality of this person, who would get drunk and pass out randomly in the middle of the street to be found by strangers. It was then compounded by how quickly DXS and SZR came together. Part of that lack of comprehension was due to his own views towards relationships -- as SZR told him at the time, he and LYZ viewed relationships differently. But his protectiveness towards SZR caused LYZ to be even more suspect towards DXS - because she was the type to get drunk and pass out in front of strangers and frankly, because she came from a different background. It made him wonder if DXS wasn't just in it for the money, and things like DXS telling SZR that she wanted to break things off to return to an ex didn't help because that only confirmed for LYZ that she hadn't been serious about his friend.

As you can see, these questions, these doubts, they all impact one another and that's what caused him to be so against DXS. Even after SZR died and the LYZ and DXS started to get to know each other better, we saw how those past prejudices lingered in the background through the whole incident where LXY gave DXS a dress and his apartment to stay in. Though he didn't want to believe it, he didn't outright reject the possibility either, and that's what DXS was so upset about that night -- that he could think her capable of using/taking from another man like that.

As for what made LYZ start caring for DXS after SZR died, I don't think that process was as fast as you believe because again, it was a process. It was witnessing her determination over trying to win the apartment back, witnessing how she took whatever crap he threw in her face, getting to see firsthand she wasn't the type of person that he had always believed her to be, with the final linchpin being overhearing what she said that day at SZR's gravesite. After all, a big question for him had always been why DXS broke up with SZR but that wasn't anything she had ever been willing to explain whether it was to SZR or to LYZ, but at the gravesite that day, he finally heard the truth about SZR's mother's involvement. From that moment his views towards DXS relented and as he'd already been getting to know her through all their interactions, of course by that point, his feelings would start to engage. Plus, like someone else observed earlier, there's always a thin line between love and hate, and there were definitely instances that we got to see where even though LYZ didn't want to care, he couldn't help but care!

Honestly, this whole dichotomy *is* the charm of the drama so if you haven't been able to see all this already I'm pretty impressed you've made it as far as you have. ;)

Anyway, the answer to your other questions are a lot easier... he refused to see her when he was in jail because he didn't want her to see him in the place and really, because he didn't want to see her in that kind of a place. That was pretty well-explained when his assistant tried to chide him for being so mean towards DXS after all that she'd been doing for him behind the scenes, and LYZ got mad at the assistant for putting him in a position where he had to be mean at her. Call it one of the many "noble idiocy" moments of the drama -- he's fallen from his pinnacle and he doesn't want her to suffer alongside him, and that's why he tries to create distance between them - both when he's in jail and right after he gets out.

As for your question about why they became BF/GF "overnight," again, it wasn't really the work of a moment but rather the evolution of their relationship over time. He first fell in love with her, and then he put the kernel of the idea into her head. She was just coming around to accepting the feelings that were already there when he was then thrown into jail for things he never did, and that put a damper on their relationship. But you can't ignore what's already present, which is why DXS helped out so much while he was in jail. Like her parents observed with some grumpiness, it was like she was already a daughter-in-law of the Lei Family. So yeah, by the time she calls him out on his noble idiocy after he gets out of prison, they come together officially, but again, that's wasn't the product of a flipped switch. Rather, there were a lot of built up feelings over time and if anything, I think him calling her his "girlfriend" at the party with is friends was just putting a label on a relationship that had already existed for some time.

As for why LYZ is keeping DXS in the dark now, well, just chalk that up to another "noble idiocy" moment for the drama. He's doing it for her safety and protection, and thinks it's better for her to not know what's going on, and if I have to explain how that drama logic works, I can only say, that's just how it always is in the dramas and you should watch more of them to understand. :)

Just helped her up. The one night stand is from the book, which they changed for the drama.

Are you asking about the scene at the gravesite where the ML overheard the FL expressing regret over breaking up with the doctor because of the doctor's mom? If so, Episode 10.

I mean... that's one way of looking at it and certainly you're entitled to that opinion. Just as I don't think she should be blamed for it when it wasn't a decision she made lightly or one she wanted either, and I was really glad when he finally learned the truth and started changing in his behaviors towards her. So there you go; two possible ways of looking at the situation. Sounds like you're really struggling with the story line and that's cool, maybe it's not for you then. *shrugs*

There was a key scene where he overheard her at the doctor's gravesite. He heard her tell the doctor that if she could do things over again, she wouldn't have let their parents' problems become a problem for them. The ML realizes at that point that she didn't betray the doctor or break up with him willingly; in other words, she wasn't as terrible a person as he'd assumed.

In addition to what @SCPY wrote, I think the first clue came during their run-in at the airport. That was the first time the ML and FL bumped into each other in the current timeline, but he recognized her immediately as the girl he'd once helped after she passed out drunk in front of his car in the rain. With all that the ML has to deal with in his life and all the people he has to meet, it strikes me that while he might recall the incident, he wouldn't remember the face unless it actually mattered to him. My interpretation of this scene, then, is that as much as their past run-in caused him to be biased against her, she also on some level intrigued him. Combined with everything that followed after they were formally introduced it was only a matter of time before he fell in love (as @SCPY explained).

Notably, in the book, their past run-in didn't just consist of him helping her to stand up after she fell down drunk in front of her car. Rather, they had a one night stand! So his feelings back then were definitely more engaged as compared to the drama, and that might be the part you feel you are missing. They changed that bit for the drama.

If you want to call ZYL's character a SML... I don't know if he lasts long enough to be considered that. He was a special appearance for the drama. But yes, she and the doctor (played by ZYL) fell in love and were in a relationship when the doctor introduced him to his closest childhood friend, who was like an older brother to him - that's the ML (the above summary says they're siblings because that's the relationship in the book; it was changed for the drama). The doctor's mother objected to the relationship (another change from the book) and the FL broke things off with the doctor, lying that she was going back to an ex-boyfriend. (This caused the ML to dislike her even more; he was already prejudiced against her b/c it turns out one year earlier, they'd crossed paths when she passed out drunk in front of his car.) Nursing a heartbreak, the doctor participates in a volunteer effort attached to his hospital and while he's away, dies in a car accident. This occurs in the 5th or 6th episode, fairly early on in the drama, and the rest of the drama revolves around the FL and ML's relationship - how they resolve misunderstandings, fall in love, and weather the trials/tribulations thrown in the path of their relationship.

I just wanted to add that although Ep 30 was the first episode where the ML introduced the FL as his girlfriend, their interest in each other started well before that. In fact, the drama can be described as a constant push and pull of feelings, heh. :)

I don't think so. He actually seems to be turning a corner.

LXY pays her a visit and compliments her for being such a persistent person. He also says he knows she has certain views about him, but he doesn’t blame her for that bc he knows he was wrong. DXS doesn’t really want to hear him talk about these things, but he asks her to hear him out and says that after the experiences he’s been thru with his wife he’s come to understand some things. Some things can’t be forced, some things require hard work, and some things require persistence. She asks what he really wants to say and he answers that he knows he’s done a lot of wrong things in the past, especially the harm he did to LYZ. DXS cuts him off then as she doesn’t want to talk about LYX, so he says that’s fine. Then they can talk about themselves. DXS’s like, “Us?” And he says yes and asks her for a do over to allow her to meet another side of him. He asks her not to misunderstand he just wants to be friends with her as they were before. DXS asks if they can still be friends after all they’ve been thru, and he says it’s bc they’ve been thru all that that they can be friends. She asks what’s what kind of friends and he says one that’s lower than love but higher than friendship; a close friend. He then adds that he won’t force her as he’ll give her and himself time to test himself, so DXS agrees to be his friend and they shake hands.