Theories and clues: Qing Feng, 12th Night and More (spoilers galore!)

Since people are developing some fascinating ideas about this show I thought it might be nice to have a space where we could share and explore them.I don’t have any idea how to do this without spoilers, so be forewarned! Looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with!

Originally I thought QingFeng was the author because in the poster he sitting right behind FL with a book that seems to be glowing and then in the little snapshots in the drama he picks up the book before handing her a rose. But the more I see of him I can’t help but want him to have a bigger role than just a side character or just the author. 

Also I’m glad I’m not the only one that noticed the Christmas tree, your connection is much better than mine. I was like the ML must be secretly lazy that he cba to take it down or is super prepared for Christmas 😂

In terms of the 12th night, ML brother had to stop his sister from killing him at the hospital saying it’s gonna be obvious if he dies now when they just transferred him. And then the sister was like she’ll wait like 2 weeks before attempting to kill him again, so I’m confused whether this coma is only actually gonna last upto 2 weeks? Whilst time goes quicker in the story world.

On a non-12th Night related note…

I'm really getting into the possibility (Lily mentioned this in the comments) that Qing Feng and Au Ran are two sides of He Tian Xing. Here's some supporting thoughts:

1) Because I really want him to be! I never ever get SLS and Marcus Chang is a thing of beauty and a joy forever, but it makes me so sad to think of Qing Feng disappearing into pure fiction!

2) We don't see much of He Tian Xing's personality in the first episode but what we see looks very different from Au Ran's. He actually shows a lot of restraint, deliberation, and gravitas (more like Qing Feng in fact). Rather than seeing himself as being on top of the heap he talks about being a brick that is moved whenever others want him moved. The opening scene might trick us into thinking that he's like the "overbearing CEO" character being described, but as I noted above, much of the description applies to Ming Li as much as, if not more than, to He Tian Xing.

3) In episode 3, Xiao En flashes back to an interview she saw in which He Tian Xing provided her with comfort and a "haven" in a critical moment. In the interview, He Tian Xing says the him everyone sees is the him he's willing to show everyone. The interviewer then asks, "are you saying you have more than one side?" and he answers, "Of course. Everyone does." He also gives that French quote to the effect that you should be an adult in the storm and a child in the sun. When the electricity goes out during the storm (someone--maybe on Soompi?--pointed out that Xiao En's shirt during this scene actually says "after the storm" in French), Au Ran acts in a very childlike way, grabbing on to Xiao En's sleeve and folllowing her like a frightened kid. In fact, his behavior at least through episode 7 is childlike in both good and bad ways--he's impulsive and emotional but also playful and vulnerable. But Qing Feng is much more thoughtful and reserved. And, let’s be honest, a lot smarter.

4) In episode 2, Xiao En pours through various novels in order to form her strategy for surviving the book world, and she comes to a crucial conclusion: feelings between the ML and FL grow every time "the hero saves the damsel." Except for Au Ran saving her from the freezer truck, up through episode 7, either she is saving him OR Qing Feng is saving her--not from physical danger, but by almost magically appearing on the scene whenever she needs him (and even with the freezer truck, he's the one who hears shouts coming from it). The previews for episode 8 suggest that this trend is goign to continue for at least a while.

Am I overthinking? Probably. But it’s helping me hold on till tomorrow and Episode 8…

 Chris:

Personally I think it would be an interesting twist and also another parody of a very classic drama trope. If that were to be the case it would be interesting to watch onscreen.  It would kind of imply that a lot ML and 2 ML would form a whole if put together.

Probably more wishful thinking, but I noticed that the screenwriter also did Someone Like You, which also deals with questions of shared identity, albeit in a very different way (spoiler): ML falls for his dead fiancee's sister (not as bad as it sounds) but then things get complicated when said fiancee's heart is donated to another woman who starts to take on her personality. Hope I did the spoiler right because it's my first time! I'm grasping at so many straws :). 

Ahhhh everyone has such interesting and fascinating theories! I don't know how I feel about Qing Feng being a half of Tian Xing. It makes me sad thinking about how he's not his own person in the real world :(

The music playing as He TianXing falls from the building seems to me to be  ripped straight outta paying homage to "Hallucination" from  Kill Me, Heal Me. I know this is a huge stretch, though I feel the parodies of kdramas in Episode 6 give me a tiny excuse, but I really want to harness the plot of Kill Me, Heal Me in support of my wishful thinking that QingFeng and AuRan are two sides of He TianXing. Spoilers follow: So obviously, KMHM features a split personality, but it's not just that--the two main personalities form the ML and the SML, and the FL is clearly attracted to both. In the end, the SML personality has to "disappear," though there's (if I recall correctly) the suggestion that it's a kind of reintegration. There's also the theme of child abuse in the form of locking a child in the dark as a punishment. I'm not even sure I buy this, so I'm not really expecting anyone else to, but as always I'd love to hear what others think!

In my opinion Qingfeng is burning because :

1) he's going against the authors plot by liking Qiao En instead of chuchu

2) Maybe he is disappearing from novel world slowly because his counterpart don't exist in real world unlike Aoran.

3) or at the end of drama maybe he will transported into the real world.

4) maybe he is slowly realising that he is merely a character in novel and Qiao En is the author.

5) Or he is stuck in fictional world not his soul like Qiao En and Oran .

There are various interesting theory going around qingfeng some of them are really very mysterious. I wish screen writers could see these theories. I don't think that writers will show the much anticipated reason of qingfeng's burning.

Going to the plot  I think that following scenarios may /should happen :

1) By end of the drama MingLi should regret all about her wrong doings and apologize to He Tian xing. Same for He Tian Jian. The master mind behind all these evil scheming uncle should be sent to prison. I think maybe he's the reason behind He Tian xing father's family fight. Sole reason for MingLi to hate her brothers is her mother. So she should also regret and repent for her mistakes.

2) He Tian xing father should also apologize to He Tian xing for ignoring that what his wife and children were doing to his son and also apologize to MingLi for not understanding her.

3) He Tian xing should leave the company for good and start his own company. Qiao En and He Tian xing should end up together with a proper ending not a rushed ending where viewers are confused by ending.

*Many viewers are liking Qiao En and Qingfeng because they have more screen time as compared to aoran and Qiao En but can't expect scenes between FL and ML so early in the drama as drama is going to be end up on October with 20 episodes. Aoran and Qiao En have a potential story in real world also.  We will see scenes between FL and ML by the end of episode 13-14. I am rooting for aoran and Qiao En. Qingfeng can be seen as a good friend of Qiao En as he cares for her but aoran and Qiao En look great together But I do hope that qingfeng too gets a proper ending. 

 Phroggies:

I didn't realize until episode 8 that XiaoEn's friend Lin ChunTian had a different (but related) name. Her presence seems unique--she's the only actual friend of XiaoEn's who shows up in the novel world (come to think of it, XiaoEn never even saw the "real" ChuChu from a distance). I wonder if it's her physical contact with the real XiaoEn that's allowing her into what otherwise seems like He TianXing's world. 

I think the people in the story world is made of people with familiar faces to XiaoEn (XE) and He TianXing (TX). With the exception of AoRan and MoRan, Their names are variants of the OG world counterpart. 

• ChunTian (real) ---> Qiu Tian (novel)
  • btw XE only has one friend in the real world. She doesn't have relatives nor was she closed to anyone aside from Chun Tian. I think she is the sole person XE misses from her OG world. 
  • Also wanted to note that QiuTian does not equate to ChunTian in XE's eyes. They are different enough that XE considers them two different people (which I fully respect). 
• Susana ---> Susan
  • TX's best friend in the real world. XE has probably seen her a couple of times. 
• Lin Chu Chu ---> Chu Chu
  • Lol she doesn't have a last name?!?! The author of the novel world really wrote every halfheartedly
• AoRan, Moran is the only other person to have shown up with a completely name to their real world counterpart 

Everybody, that holds some significance, in the story world is either apart of TX's life or XE's. This makes QingFeng's existence even more precarious in my opinion. There are plenty of real world people that didn't make it into the story, and yet why is there one that is original to the story. Is it because neither leads know anybody that would fit the warm-hearted persona? But It doesn't seem like the story characters replicate their original counterpart's personalities. Maybe only people they have some degree of good will towards gets a pass in. 

 Phroggies:

The question of reverse engineering is a good one (but scary! Poor TianXing!). I rewatched the scene in which he blacks out and realized--he's actually holding ChuChu's arm in the same way he holds XiaoEn's a) when he grabs it in the real world, b) when he grabs it during the power outage as she's falling asleep and c) when he grabs it at the end of Episode 9. Also the music that evokes Kill Me Heal Me is playing during the montage that follows. So falling and reaching out do seem to be powerful symbols of what's going on with the AoRan/TianXing connection.

I thought of them waking up with the ending of the novel but what would be considered an ending. In normal overbearing president stories, the ML and FL of the novel would get married and maybe have kids... that's probably not going to happen with the way the story is progressing. There is no true ending in life until death, which lead me to the conclusion they will probably have to die? to get back home. 

I think grabbing and falling is a powerful theme for TX, It's also what connected XE and TX's fates for the first time. I don't what to make of it though...