Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 blabla100:

What I would really hope to see is the scene when  XY hears about XL's death. And chapter 43, but I highly doubt they added it. 

Leaked script doesn't have that scene? I didn't read it.

We only have XY crying over XL, not her hearing the news.

 Janex:

So they are down playing the whole thing. It is too sad

I seriously don't understand how they think they are going to downplay XL death scene.  It's a hugely bombastic ending that will overshadow anything after it.  I'm very curious how they are going pull off those last few scenes.

 blabla100:

We only have XY crying over XL, not her hearing the news.

Here is the script about the scene. It was not mention how and when she heart that new

https://mydramalist.com/discussions/lost-you-forever/110123-xl-and-xy-story-and-romance-warning-spoilers?pid=2902999&page=419#p2902999

Of course it was not how it was written in the novel

 H19279:

Here is the script about the scene. It was not mention how and when she heart that new

https://mydramalist.com/discussions/lost-you-forever/110123-xl-and-xy-story-and-romance-warning-spoilers?pid=2902999&page=419#p2902999

Of course it was not how it was written in the novel

I know and I am very disappointed about that. Her reaction feels incompleted. 

 Sssnoopyyy:

I listened to YZ’s live with Dai Lu Wa yesterday and tried to gauge from their discussion on what’s to come but couldn’t gather much, just that every character will have a conclusive ending given their fates, and that fans should not be sad because it was a good ending for everyone who got what they wanted.

 Kokuto:

Boy, if that isn't a Tong Hua take on the ending, I don't know what is. lol

It’s possible that all the actors say it's a good ending because they know that the ending isn't want it appears to be. The last episode of the drama is not the true ending for the characters. Tong Hua alluded to the ending of the novel not being the final ending for the characters in several Weibo Q&A posts upon the release of the novel.

26度-晴: 虽然这里谈的是长相思，可是我还是忍不住要问，孟钰是真的死了吗？云中歌看了好多遍，真的好希望陵哥哥是假死或者孟钰只是掉进了河里，这样的话云歌就不是一个人了。
Reader: Although we are discussing “Lost You Forever” here, I can't help but ask: Did Meng Yu really die? I've read “Song in the Clouds” many times and truly hope that Brother Ling is only pretending to be dead or that Meng Yu just fell into the river. That way, Yun Ge wouldn't be alone.

桐华tonghua: 我不知道…我也希望他活着，能多年后，江湖再见。
Tong Hua: I don't know... I also hope that he is alive, and that they can meet again in the world years later.

Although Tong Hua was talking about her hopes for a reunion for the characters in "Song in the Clouds," I would bet she feels the same way about a YaoLiu reunion--especially since she gave this response in a Q&A about "Lost You Forever."

 一朵西柚精: 前两部有很多伏笔, 在第三部里也没有解释, 这, 是什么节奏??
Reader: The first two parts had many foreshadowings, which were not explained in the third part. What kind of rhythm is this??

桐华tonghua: 这是......要长期奋斗的节奏!
Tong Hua: This is... the rhythm of long-term struggle!

"Long-term struggle" means the story continues after the end of the novel. Here are a few foreshadowings in the novel that were not resolved in the end:

1. The lovesickness song foreshadows the path of YaoLiu's relationship. In the drama, the song only has one ending: "Staying together forever, never separating." This foreshadows YaoLiu finally being able to be together (after they meet again).
2. The fable about the snake demon also foreshadows the path of YaoLiu's relationship. The snake demon initially tried to leave Xiao Yao after it found out she was super tricky (XL pushing XY away after 37 years). However, Xiao Yao created a life and death feud with the snake demon by eating its snake eggs (XY poisoned herself and XL saved her on Jade Mountain). The fable ends with the snake demon (XL) chasing after Xiao Yao, something we don't see by the end of the novel, so this can only happen after the novel ends.
3. XL is hinted to be a leader of the Gui Fang clan. The Gui Fang clan has the ability to bring people back to life. The Gui Fang clan also gifts CX nine stalks of soul reversing grass at his first wedding. Why have XL be associated with this clan if not to foreshadow some sort of resurrection?
4. In the novel, Cang Xuan described Aunt Zhu Yu's death. As a demon, in order for her to truly die, she had to destroy her demon core and disperse her consciousness. We're never told what happens to Xiang Liu's demon core so we don't know if he's truly dead.

桐华tonghua: 用这个问题作为开场吧, 其实, 每个故事的结束都并不是那些人物的真正的结局, 在这个问题上, 我是个很不切实际的 人, 我总觉得故事只是他们生命的一个段落, 即使我的故事结束了, 他们的生活依旧在另外一个空间继续, 所以, 每个故事都不可能有真正的结局的。
Tong Hua: Let's start with this question. In fact, the conclusion of every story is not the real ending for those characters. On this matter, I am quite unrealistic. I always feel that the story is just a chapter in their lives. Even though my story has ended, their lives continue in another space, so, it’s not possible for every story to have a true ending.

This is Tong Hua's most direct clue that the ending in the novel is not the true ending.

 Sssnoopyyy:

Actually I remember Dai Lu Wa noted that there will be characters who return to a very familiar place in the end - I think she may be referring to CX and AN going to Qingshui Town (apparently the ending scene in the leaked script).

There is a theory that the drama is going to form a cycle from the end back to the beginning in Qing Shui Town. YaoJing settle in QST. Jing dies a hundred or so years later because of his shortened life expectancy. Sometime after that, another beggar shows up in Xiao Yao's life. This time, it is XL after his reincarnation/resurrection and he has lost all his memories. Xiao Yao saves him and they are able to stay together.

Season 1, Episodes 1-3 supposedly splice together scenes from the beginning with scenes from YaoLiu's reunion in QST hundreds or years later. Scenes of the beggar where we don't see the beggar's face are meant to represent XL as a beggar hundreds of years later. For example, when WXL first discovers the beggar in the bushes after throwing a rock at a bird, that beggar is meant to represent XL so the scene is actually from hundreds of years later. The Lirong emblem can be seen as a marking on the beggar's arm: https://youtu.be/7zIQIzFhiQE?si=iUJqNI96z5xWwlnY&t=974. XL has this marking because he was once a slave in the death match arenas owned by the Lirong clan. The marking remains on him even after his reincarnation/revival similar to how A Heng retained her scar after her reincarnation/revival.

I'm excited to see the ending of the drama to see how plausible this looping theory is.

YaoLiu Reunion in Qing Shui Town

There is a theory that the poem “First Encounter”(初相遇) by Xi Mu Rong (席慕容) inspired the name of Qing Shui Town (清水镇) and the title of the first volume of Lost You Forever: Like the First Meeting (如初见). The appreciation for the poem begins with:

每个人都有着一种初遇情结，真的就象一杯清水一样清纯透明。
Everyone has a first encounter complex, which really is like a glass of clear water, pure and transparent.

We know that Tong Hua likes to choose meaningful names. Qing Shui (清水), which means "clear water, " is a river in Classic of Mountains and Seas (山海经), which inspired a lot of the character names in Lost You Forever. There are other river names in Classic of Mountains and Seas, so there must be a reason why Tong Hua selected Qing Shui to be the name of the town. Perhaps the name Qing Shui Town (清水镇), where YaoLiu first met, was inspired by the appreciation for Xi Mu Rong's poem. 

The appreciation for the poem goes on to say:

人生若只如初见，岂不是人生最好的写照吗？
If life were only like the first meeting, wouldn't that be the best portrayal of life?

This might have inspired the title of the first volume of Lost You Forever: Like the First Meeting (如初见).

The appreciation for the poem is identical, word-for-word across multiple websites, which leads me to believe that the appreciation was published alongside the poem in the poetry anthology.

The poem itself is about two people reuniting in a dream and being able to start anew, as if meeting for the first time. This might hint that YaoLiu will meet again in Qing Shui Town, and the reunion will feel like the first time they met. Perhaps YaoLiu can finally have a new beginning after all the heartache they encountered in Lost You Forever. Here is the poem:

初相遇
First Encounter

美丽的梦和美丽的诗一样，
Beautiful dreams are like beautiful poems,
都是可遇而不可求的，
They are serendipitous and cannot be sought,
常常在最没能料到的时刻里出现。
Often appearing at the most unexpected moments.

我喜欢那样的梦，
I like that kind of dream,
在梦里，一切都可以重新开始，
In dreams, everything can start anew,
一切都可以慢慢解释，
Everything can be slowly explained,
心里甚至还能感觉到，
In my heart, I can even feel,
所有被浪费的时光，
All the wasted time,
竟然都能重回时的狂喜与感激。
Suddenly returning with ecstatic joy and gratitude.

胸怀中满溢著幸福，
My heart overflows with happiness,
只因你就在我眼前，
Simply because you are right in front of me,
对我微笑，一如当年。
Smiling at me, just like back then.

我真喜欢那样的梦，
I really like that kind of dream,
明明知道你已为我跋涉千里，
Clearly knowing you have traveled thousands of miles for me,
却又觉得芳草鲜美，落英缤纷，
Yet feeling the fresh, lush grass and the beautiful blossoms falling in profusion,
好像你我才初初相遇。
It's as if we are meeting for the very first time.

The line, "traveled thousands of files," is reminiscent of a line from the book introduction for Lost You Forever Volume 1: As When We First Met (如初见):

小夭遇到了叶十七，也遇到了相柳和玱玹，属于他们的故事正是拉开了序幕，但一切都只是草蛇灰线，绵延千里。
Xiao Yao met Ye Shi Qi, as well as Xiang Liu and Cang Xuan. The curtain to their story was raised, but everything was only "snakes on the grass, lines on ash", stretching out for thousands of miles.

“First Encounter” appears in Xi Mu Rong’s poetry anthology Youth Without Regret (无怨的青春), published in 1982. It is the first poem of volume two of the anthology. The other poems in volume two include “Origin” (缘起), “An Afternoon of Painting Lotuses” (一个画荷的下午), “The Flower Season of Sixteen” (十六岁的花季), “Bewildered” (惑), and “Question” (疑问). The entire collection of poems in volume two tell a story that is reminiscent of YaoLiu’s relationship.

The poem “An Afternoon of Painting Lotuses” (一个画荷的下午) contains the lines:

我的一生本来可以有
My life could have had
不同的遭逢如果
Different encounters, if
在新雨的荷前
Before the freshly rained-on lotuses
你只是静静地走过
You had just walked quietly by

The poem mentions “freshly rained-on lotuses.” The lotus symbolizes Xiang Liu. When Xiang Liu appeared at Ma Zi and Chun Tao’s wedding, he is described as being “as clean as a white lotus blossom that had been washed by the rain for three days and three nights.”

相柳一袭白衣，站在回春堂门口，长身玉立，纤尘不染，就好像一朵白莲花，还是被雨水洗刷了三天三夜的，干净得让所有人都想回家去洗澡。

Xiang Liu was dressed in white and stood at the door of the Hui Chun Hall. He was tall and graceful, as clean as a white lotus blossom that had been washed by the rain for three days and three nights, so clean as to make everyone want to go home and take a bath.

— Vol 1 Ch 2 (Chapter 2)

The line, "You had just walked quietly by," is reminiscent of a line from the book introduction for Lost You Forever Volume 2: 诉衷情 (Love Confessed):

最好的年华，总在不懂得珍惜前就已消逝；最深爱的人，却在来不及用心前悄然远离。
The best years often slip away before one knows how to treasure them; the person we love the most quietly leaves far away before one can cherish them.

The poem “The Flower Season of Sixteen” (十六岁的花季) contains the lines:

爱原来是一种酒
Love turns out to be a kind of wine
饮了就化作思念
Drink it and it becomes longing

The book introduction for Lost You Forever Volume 1: As When We First Met (如初见) notes:

相思是一杯有毒的美酒
Lovesickness is a cup of poisonous fine wine.

Comparing longing/lovesickness to drinking wine is another similarity between Lost You Forever Volume 1 and the poems in the second volume of Xi Mu Rong’s poetry anthology.

The last poem in the second volume, “Question” (疑问), contains the lines:

年轻时　如羞涩的蓓蕾
In youth, like a shy bud
无法启口
Unable to speak

等花满枝丫
When flowers filled the branches
却又别离
We parted ways

而今夜相见
And now, meeting tonight
却又碍着你我的白发
We are hindered by our white hair

So the two people in the poem parted ways in their youth when the flowers were in bloom on the trees in the spring and met again many years later.

The chapter titled “Fearing Still That This Meeting Is in a Dream” (相逢犹恐是梦中) begins with Xiao Yao waking up after Xiang Liu saved her on Jade Mountain:

小夭醒来时，看到窗外阳光明媚，桃花盛开。她不知道这是哪里，却肯定地知道，自己还活着。
When Xiao Yao woke up, she saw the bright sunshine and peach blossoms outside the window. She didn't know where she was, but she knew for sure that she was still alive.

— Vol 3 Ch 16 (Chapter 49)

Similar to Xi Mu Rong’s poem, YaoLiu parted ways in spring when the flowers were in bloom on the trees. It’s also worthwhile to note that Xiao Yao’s clinic in Qing Shui Town is named Hui Chun Tang (回春堂), which is translated in the drama as Rejuvenation Hall. However the words “回春” can also mean "to bring back to life" or "the return of spring." In the poem, two people reunite many years later. Perhaps YaoLiu will also have a reunion in the spring many years later in Qing Shui Town.

Resources
[Appreciation for Xi Mu Rong's “First Encounter”]
[All the poems in “Youth Without Regret”: "Volume 2 First Encounter"]
[Original source of theory on name of Qing Shui Town]
[Liddi's translation of the book introductions]
[The lotus symbolizes Xiang Liu]
[Lost You Forever character name analysis]

 MissUnderstood50:

I hesitate to start watching Season 2, feeling like my heart will be at a breaking point and bracing myself for the sad ending. The temptation is just too great, and even if I am supposed to be in leadership boot camp for the next two weeks, the images of XL are seducing me. Undeniably, I am being sucked into this abyss once more.  

There is definitely an overwhelming sadness about this season.  But it is so lovely to see our old friends.  But you need to brace yourself for the ending, which you know if you've seen the trailer.