Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 AH :

Oh? Dare I ask which drama?

It's a run-of-the-mill short Chinese film about the typical nasty husband with supposed pregnant mistress and poor ill-treated wife who is actually the granddaughter of the richest, most powerful family but kept her identity hidden during the marriage. Trust me, you don't want to watch it unless you feel like having your eyes roll all the way to the back of your head and run the risk of it staying there. It was bad in terms of the nonsensical storyline (the usual makjang tropes one can think of sans Truck of Doom) and OTT acting. I only watched it because it felt cathartic after all the pain of LYF. Pfft! 

 AH :

Sometimes it's simply impossible to perfectly convey the original meaning with a translation. But it's always clear that your translations are careful and well thought out. I have no doubt that, to the extent that it is even possible to convey the original meaning, you've done so. 

Thank you very much!

 AH :

If WXL transformed into a female form and pretended that that new female form was her true form, she would have to admit that her male form was not her true form (and that she had lied when she insisted that it was). The issue isn't whether XL would or would not know that the new female form wasn't her true form (even if she said that it was). The issue is that WXL insisted that her male form was her true form, and that form really did look like her true form. It was seamless. If she transformed into another form and that one was also seamless (and it would be), despite the fact that she had such low spiritual power, XL would almost certainly ask (as he did in chapter 6) how she managed to transform so seamlessly despite her low spiritual power. And WXL wouldn't be able to insist, again, that the new female form was also her true form. 

WXL was not her real form anyway, the Lover's Bug was an irresistible evidence that she was a woman. From XL's POV, it didn't matter whether she would explained it or not, he already had his mind set to the idea that he wanted someone whose background he didn't know. 

 AH :

Meaning that the commitment he was making was not irreversible.  He had a way out, which was important because it meant that if he got to the point where he knew he was going to put himself in a position where he was going to lose all of his remaining lives and fully die on the battlefield, he could break the connection with WXL first so that she would not be condemned to die with him. 

Or, it is possible to assume that wary XL had a back-up plan: not revealing his feelings out in the open to WXL so as not to be vulnerable while secretly being committed to her because he loved her. XL did accept the bug because he was pressed by the urgency of the situation (break the bug connection between WXL and CX for her safety). Until XL could check that WXL was not a threat or until WXL would decide to reveal the truth about her (and provided that she is not a threat), perhaps, XL would have then confess. However, if meanwhile her real identity/purposes would have shown compromising, he would have quietly killed of her. Hence why he nearly killed her in chapter 13 and hence why he made her take that vicious oath chapter 7.

 AH :

Maybe it was because a direct confession wasn't his style. Maybe it was because he wasn't sure how to do so, even though he wanted to.

If these reasons should excuse him for not declaring himself, what about WXL/XY? Why would we grant to one what we deny to the other? I see double-standards when it comes to justifying XY's attitude and that of XL. There's no leniency to XY, meanwhile we're finding a whole host of excuses for XL all throughout the novel. I understand that this isn't your specific point here. Just an aside parenthesis on the "whose fault it is" debate because I believe that if one really wants to find a culprit, then XL and XY are equally to blame. Although I personaly think that the only one to blame is the author who has wracked her brain off to conceive a sprawling plan and an inextricable trap to block all the doors for XL and XY to ever be together. 

 AH :

In the dragonbone prison, XY didn't promise TSJ that she would transform into a female form. TSJ promised to break his engagement and to return Ye Shi Qi to her within 15 years, and in exchange she promised not to let another man into her heart for 15 years. 

I wouldn't be fooled by mere words of WXL. She was already very intimidated in a girly way by YSQ/TSJ and sexually attracted by XL. What about "keeping you heart" for somebody if that doesn't implies romantic undertones? 

If WXL had never returned to Haoling, all possibilities are open to in what form she would have wanted to continue a relationship in which attraction and feelings of love were already present and mutual. Tong Hua even added an interesting wink in the drama episode 17 by subverting WXL and XL's genres by using an analogy with the Legend of the White Snake.

 HeadInTheClouds:

Is this one of those short-form drama with 10-minute-long episodes?

I'm about to reveal my extremely questionable taste, but I love this kind of "trash". It's like a bodice ripper from the 80's or 90's or those old-school Thai lakhorns that are filled with extremely questionable "heroes" and "romances". I used to "sneak" watch and read them - hiding them from my mum, of course. Ah! The memories.

Yes! You hit the nail on the head, except this one was was 3 hours long (plenty of 10-min episodes combined) - thank goodness for the FF button! And the stories are pretty much recycled from one to the next, just a different cast lineup rehashing similar yarn. It's a great distraction with good eye rolling exercise guaranteed, as well as snorts interspaced in between!

Have you ever read the reviews on smartbitchestrashybooks.com? That site was a source of so much snark and hilarity for me back in the day to the extent where sometimes, I even found the reviews (and the terms coined!) to be even more interesting than the books themselves! Have not visited it in quite a long while now, but if you ever need cheering up, that's probably a good place to start. I wonder how they would have reviewed Tong Hua's novels. 

 HeadInTheClouds:

I think Balads of the Desert is the only one of her novels I read with a HE.

I couldn't even be completely happy with the HE of Ballad of the Desert because of Meng Jiu (The Meng men will always find a way to break my heart). Do you feel that more than Meng Jue with Yun Ge, Meng Jiu and Jin Yu's relationship paralleled YaoLiu more? I get that feeling sometimes, even if I can't remember a lot of the details.

 AH :

In the circumstances, XL was willing to tie his heart and his life to WXL through the bug connection, and that was a commitment of sorts. But when XL told WXL that she couldn't transfer the bug from CX to just anyone, he wasn't willing to tell her what those criteria were, as doing so and then offering himself as a candidate who met the criteria would have revealed his feelings. He also wasn't willing to tell WXL what kind of bugs they were (Lovers' Bugs), which also would have revealed his feelings. He wasn't willing to directly confess his feelings and he wasn't willing to make any promises to XY about being by her side long-term in the traditional sense (and not just connected to her through the bugs). Perhaps some take the view that he did not have the opportunity to do any or all of those things, but it's possible to point to the instances where he could have done so. Maybe it was because a direct confession wasn't his style. Maybe it was because he wasn't sure how to do so, even though he wanted to. Maybe it was because he never intended to let WXL know his true feelings or to have a long-term romantic relationship with her. Whatever the reason, I take the view that the commitment that he did make to WXL by accepting the Lovers' Bug was a limited one. Especially because I also take the view that, at least in the novel, XL knew from the get-go not only what kind of bugs they were but also that he was in the unique position of being able to break the bug connection after it was established as long as he was willing to sacrifice one of his extra lives. Meaning that the commitment he was making was not irreversible.  He had a way out, which was important because it meant that if he got to the point where he knew he was going to put himself in a position where he was going to lose all of his remaining lives and fully die on the battlefield, he could break the connection with WXL first so that she would not be condemned to die with him. 

 blimarch:

Or, it is possible to assume that wary XL had a back-up plan: not revealing his feelings out in the open to WXL so as not to be vulnerable while secretly being committed to her because he loved her. XL did accept the bug because he was pressed by the urgency of the situation (break the bug connection between WXL and CX for her safety). Until XL could check that WXL was not a threat or until WXL would decide to reveal the truth about her (and provided that she is not a threat), perhaps, XL would have then confess. However, if meanwhile her real identity/purposes would have shown compromising, he would have quietly killed of her. Hence why he nearly killed her in chapter 13 and hence why he made her take that vicious oath chapter 7.

Sure. I suppose it's possible that the reason why XL was not willing to tell WXL about the criteria for a Lovers' Bug transfer, was not willing to tell her that her bugs were Lovers' Bugs, was not willing to confess his feelings to her directly, and was not willing to make promises about being by her side long-term in a committed romantic relationship might have been that he was not willing to put himself in a position of emotional vulnerability like that with WXL at that point, at least while her true identity remained unconfirmed. 

It sounds like maybe you're also suggesting that you think that, by accepting the bug transfer, XL's intention was to commit himself to WXL for a long lifetime, as long as she didn't prove to be his direct enemy herself? And his intention was to wait and only reveal his feelings to her after he had confirmed her identity and determined that she was not his enemy?

That's not my interpretation, but I do think there's room for speculation and multiple interpretations when it comes to XL's reasons for accepting the bug transfer but keeping his feelings hidden.  

 blimarch:

 AH :
In the dragonbone prison, XY didn't promise TSJ that she would transform into a female form. TSJ promised to break his engagement and to return Ye Shi Qi to her within 15 years, and in exchange she promised not to let another man into her heart for 15 years. 
I wouldn't be fooled by mere words of WXL. She was already very intimidated in a girly way by YSQ/TSJ and sexually attracted by XL. What about "keeping you heart" for somebody if that doesn't implies romantic undertones?

If WXL had never returned to Haoling, all possibilities are open to in what form she would have wanted to continue a relationship in which attraction and feelings of love were already present and mutual. Tong Hua even added an interesting wink in the drama episode 17 by subverting WXL and XL's genres by using an analogy with the Legend of the White Snake.

The words of WXL's promise to TSJ are important because they specify what she was and was not required to do in order to fulfill her side of the promise. They also provide insight in what she was willing to commit to. And, after the promise was made, Tong Hua took the extra step of adding more dialogue about WXL possibly not being willing to give herself hope when it came to TSJ for a whole lifetime and TSJ declaring that he was okay with that and willing to wait for a whole lifetime - as long as she didn't disappear he'd be happy. 

The promise demonstrates that, at that point, TSJ was clearly daring to hope that they might have a romantic relationship in the future, which would probably entail WXL changing into a female form. But it was also pretty clear that WXL was not there yet. As TSJ said, she wasn't willing to risk her heart first. And she didn't transform into a female form in chapter 9, chapter 10, or chapter 11, even after her true identity had been revealed. She only seemed to care about changing into a female form in chapter 12 because it was her true form, which was something she had wanted since she first lost the ability to transform back to the face that she thought was her true face 200+ years earlier. 

As for what would have happened if WXL never went back to Gao Xing... before CX went to WXL's clinic to bring her back to Gao Xing (and after the bug was transferred from XL to CX), WXL was preparing to leave QS town. It did not seem like she was remotely close to being prepared to start a romance with XL or with TSJ in a female form in QS town. She was preparing to run away. 

-----

Chapter 8:

After some time, Jing’s voice spoke. “You tenderly cleaned my wounds. You carefully washed my hair. You patiently fed me medicine and food. You gently bathed my body. You were afraid I was in pain so you talked with me. You were afraid I was ashamed so you told me jokes. You were afraid I would give up so you described the beautiful views for me. You were afraid I was lonely so you told me interesting stories. You didn’t just heal my body, you saved my soul. You will never be able to imagine how much I wish I were Ye Shi Qi. But I have no choice but to be Tu Shan Jing. Because of this, more than you I hate myself. I know you hate Tu Shan Jing, so I control myself not to come visit you. But I’m scared to leave. You gave Ma Zi a family, you found Xan Tian Er for Chuan Zi, you set up everything for Lao Mu. You are already prepared to leave it all behind and continue wandering. I’m afraid if I turn around even for a second, I won’t be able to find you ever again.”

This was the first time Jing spoke so much and the atmosphere was very solemn. He silently looked at Xiao Liu but Xiao Liu never turned around. Jing finally got up and quietly left.

Xiao Liu suddenly collapsed on the pallet and stared at the wind chime. Shi Qi saw through it, that he was planning to leave. Someone walked into the yard and Xiao Liu covered his eyes and said in annoyance “I’m resting, don’t bother me!”

The person didn’t speak and just sat down on the pallet being so still that if it wasn’t that his body didn’t have the scent of medicinal herbs, Xiao Liu almost thought it was Jing who left and came back.

Xiao Liu moved his hands and squinted, then his eyed popped wide open. It was Xuan!

Xiao Liu stammered “You…what are you doing here? I already removed the bug. You ought to have been able to feel it. If you don’t believe me, I’ll prick myself right now.” Xiao Liu looked around for something to prick himself but Xuan stopped him with a smile.

“I know the bug has been removed. I’m here for another reason.”

“Another reason.”

“My Master wants to see you.”

Xiao Liu’s heart raced and his body weakened but he forced himself to smile. “Why does your Master want to see me? And who says that if he wants to see me, I will go see him.”

Xuan stood up. “My real name is Zhuan Xu. Xuan Yuan Zhuan Xu. I am the eldest grandson of the Yellow Emperor of the Xuan Yuan Kingdom. My Master is the Grand Emperor of the Gao Xing Kingdom.”

Xiao Liu didn’t know how to react so feigned fear. “Such lofty personages! I am from Qing Shui Town and not a citizen of either Xuan Yuan or Gao Xing Kingdoms.”

Xuan said, “When I was healing in Yang Valley, my Master came to see me. I told him about you and for some reason he was very interested and asked me to tell him every single detail about my interactions with you. After he heard it all, he asked to meet you. He specifically ordered me to come take you to Gao Xing to meet him.”

 liddi:

It's a run-of-the-mill short Chinese film about the typical nasty husband with supposed pregnant mistress and poor ill-treated wife who is actually the granddaughter of the richest, most powerful family but kept her identity hidden during the marriage. Trust me, you don't want to watch it unless you feel like having your eyes roll all the way to the back of your head and run the risk of it staying there. It was bad in terms of the nonsensical storyline (the usual makjang tropes one can think of sans Truck of Doom) and OTT acting. I only watched it because it felt cathartic after all the pain of LYF. Pfft!

 HeadInTheClouds:

Is this one of those short-form drama with 10-minute-long episodes?

I'm about to reveal my extremely questionable taste, but I love this kind of "trash". It's like a bodice ripper from the 80's or 90's or those old-school Thai lakhorns that are filled with extremely questionable "heroes" and "romances". I used to "sneak" watch and read them - hiding them from my mum, of course. Ah! The memories.

 liddi:

Yes! You hit the nail on the head, except this one was was 3 hours long (plenty of 10-min episodes combined) - thank goodness for the FF button! And the stories are pretty much recycled from one to the next, just a different cast lineup rehashing similar yarn. It's a great distraction with good eye rolling exercise guaranteed, as well as snorts interspaced in between!

Have you ever read the reviews on smartbitchestrashybooks.com? That site was a source of so much snark and hilarity for me back in the day to the extent where sometimes, I even found the reviews (and the terms coined!) to be even more interesting than the books themselves! Have not visited it in quite a long while now, but if you ever need cheering up, that's probably a good place to start. I wonder how they would have reviewed Tong Hua's novels. 

Sometimes a bit of ridiculousness, trashiness, or pure distraction is exactly what the doctor ordered. 

And sometimes the bad dramas (or books) are so bad they transcend to the point where they become so-bad-they're-somehow-good. ^^

 liddi:

It's a great distraction with good eye rolling exercise guaranteed, as well as snorts interspaced in between!

 AH :

And sometimes the bad dramas (or books) are so bad they transcend to the point where they become so-bad-they're-somehow-good. ^^

The eye-rolling and the snorting because of the ridiculousness are the best parts about watching/reading these sorts of things. That and the grimacing :-). I have "snark party" with friends where we would watch something extremely questionable and cackle like hyenas the entire time :-). The last movie that we watched was Wyld Mountain Thyme and it was wild I tell ya :-)