Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

@nathsketch

I think at that time he was angry at Xiao Yao for cheating on him, and he actually fell in love for a bunch of lies. And he realized this Haoling princess would probably never returned to Qingshui Town and never see him again.

 Kokuto:

I'm always happy to see XL's figure in a glass globe, cause it shows I'm not alone on my take about XL's alterations. ;p

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10230379687651957&set=g.807434947498079 

Of course, this isn't XY's crystal globe.  And I'm not sure what Si Shou means.  But I'll take it!

Chang Xiang si = 长相思 = long lovesickness = long yearning

There are many word which has pinin as [shou]. It can be life - 寿 [shòu ]

Thus, it can be " long yearning life" 

 Kokuto:

I'm always happy to see XL's figure in a glass globe, cause it shows I'm not alone on my take about XL's alterations. ;p

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10230379687651957&set=g.807434947498079 

Of course, this isn't XY's crystal globe.  And I'm not sure what Si Shou means.  But I'll take it!

Gorgeous globe, yet heartbreaking to see.

The words should refer to the saying 长相厮守 cháng xiāng sī shǒu.

厮守 means two people relying on and protecting each other.

长相厮守 means Eternally staying together and watching over each other.

I just read a fun little tidbit. 

Apparently, TH was planning to have XL confess/express his feelings to XY, but the fans were strongly against it. She was worried about fan reactions so created a poll. The result was overwhelmingly in favour of XL keeping his aloof, non "love brain"/lovesick attitude. Considering that novel fans are overwhelmingly XL's fans, it seems like we liked XL with or without XY attached to him :-). We can't even blame it on TH guys, it was our fellow XL fans who wanted to keep him for themselves that created the problem :-)

When TH was writing this novel, it was in serialized form (like I think all of her previous novels) - she released it chapter by chapter online. The consensus from fans who were there right from the start was that XL was by far the favourite character. Readers liked Jing at first, but after his amazing showing *snort*, most defected to team XL by the end. 

From my observations, XL's fans don't like Jing because of who he is and not because they think Jing got in the middle of XY/XL. Jing sees XL as a love rival, but XL has never seen Jing as a love rival - he didn't have that power. The thing that came between XL and XY was primarily her "psychological deficiencies". 

So what do you ladies think? How would things have played out if XL confessed his feelings to XY? A happy ending for our lovebirds or will it still be the same outcome? One thing for sure, we won't be debating about XL's intention of having a relationship with XY or not for the past few days :-)

Oh. And long time fans also confirmed that TH did based XL's image on this hotty

The "husband" and crush of many manga/anime fan girls of the 90s.

 HeadInTheClouds:

I just read a fun little tidbit.

Apparently, TH was planning to have XL confess/express his feelings to XY, but the fans were strongly against it. She was worried about fan reactions so created a poll. The result was overwhelmingly in favour of XL keeping his aloof, non "love brain"/lovesick attitude.

That is interesting. May I know where you read it? Do you know when the serialised chapters and poll was conducted?

Tong Hua's Weibo post about being sad when she was reminded of Xiang Liu was posted 26 Feb 2012. Her choice of words ("a character in a story") indicates that readers have not been introduced to Xiang Liu yet:

Coming out from the supermarket, the wind was strong and the sun was bright. Through the car window, I saw that the blue skies were really blue and the white clouds were really white. I thought of Nine Lives (a character in a story), all dressed in white, living nine lives in the mortal realm, a demon who should have been so unfettered and free but instead trapped himself with responsibility. I always love to use the snow to describe him. Just as I was feeling sad, it suddenly started snowing, and the snowflakes hit against the car window. I was shocked! The sun was clearly still shining brightly. My husband said, "Sunny and snowing! It's a rare occurrence!" 

Her letter posted on Weibo exactly a year later on 26 Feb 2013 when Lost You Forever was published says that she had not published a new book in two years:

I have not published a new book in two years. This is my new story "Lost You Forever" for you -- my beloved readers, my companions on my journey!

Without you, I will not have story after story [to tell]. Thank you!

Does it mean she actually published the serialised chapters followed by the book within a year? 

 HeadInTheClouds:

Did TH got her start on some online platform with Bu Bu Jing Xin rather than through traditional publishing?

Yes, her very first novel 步步惊心 Scarlet Heart was initially released as a serialised web novel in 2005 on 晋江原创网 Jinjiang Original Works website and first published in 2006 with a revised edition in 2009.

I see no mention of her subsequent novels being released in serialised format so far.  Do correct me if I am wrong.

However, I do know that fans have mentioned how Tong Hua would chat with them on Weibo during the time when she was writing her novels.

Unfortunately, her earlier posts are no longer visible on Weibo, so screenshots that fans have shared online are such a precious boon to gauge her mindset during a certain period of time.

Someone on the Tong Hua forum on Weibo stated that Tong Hua's post about her experiences writing Lost You Forever, including the shelved book that took place after Once Promised before Lost You Forever, as well as "The female protagonist [Xiao Yao]'s choices had always stemmed from her psychological shortcomings ", was posted in 2016. 

 HeadInTheClouds:

Got around to uploading pictures of Mr. Grumpy Pants

He's gorgeous, bad hair day and all, with or without the barrette! You must teach me how you managed to tame his mane of glory. I keep sputtering in laughter each time I see my girl's and have told her he is probably dying of embarrassment, but my girl insists that he is fine LOL.

"I see no mention of her subsequent novels being released in serialised format so far.  Do correct me if I am wrong."

@liddi Nah! It's highly likely that I'm the one who is mistaken. It was a comment in a Facebook post and I can't locate it anymore. The poster probably means she followed the Vietnamese translation as the translator released it chapter by chapter and because I recalled BBJX was serialised I ran with it :-). Given the timeline that you set out, it's not likely to have been serialised. 

Now I'm wondering if the poll was after the release to see what the readers thought? I wouldn't be surprised if fans were OK with XL being XL instead of changing his character.  But, as with anything online I take it with an ocean of salt until a primary source could be located. Otherwise, it's always "apparently". Sorry, didn't mean to claimed it as a fact. 

TH's frame of mind appeared to be quite low during the writing of this novel from the little tidbits that I've read.  I've read many opinions that think LYF is one of TH's weakest work in terms of her writing. XL was great, but the way she handled the other characters was not good. They felt that it wasn't as tightly written as her other works - like she didn't have a clear idea of what she wanted to convey and just slap things together at the end. I can't claim to be a fan of hers and it has been a very long time since I read her other works so I can't really compared. But I really struggled finishing this novel. The 3rd book was a real chore to get through for me. The fact that I didn't like Jing or XY probably didn't help :-).

And I remembered some tidbits about an earlier attempt to adapt LYF that I'll share a bit later. 

And also a tutorial on How to Tame the Wayward Locks of Your Grumpy Hydra :-)