Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 HeadInTheClouds:

The novel described nights when Xiao Yao couldn't detect his breathing, suggesting that he was probably in a state of hibernation to heal from whatever injuries he sustained :-(

That never occurred to me until you mentioned it... and it makes perfect sense since there is no reason for him to tender foot around her, especially when she is supposed to be in limbo. Yet another source of pain...

 HeadInTheClouds:

My feeling for Xiao Yao is a combination of annoyance and pity. Annoyance because she didn't dare to face her heart and pity for the very same reason :-)

 HeadInTheClouds:

I don't have much sympathy for drama Xiao Yao. I find her shallow and thoughtless.

As readers, we are privy to hints of her internal conflict, and understand how she can be so contrary even if it is frustrating to see. I used to get whiplash from how she would have tender, intimate interactions with Xiang Liu, then turn around and be overtly affectionate with Jing. Now, in retrospect, there is a realisation that this may have been a projection of what she could not, dared not do with Xiang Liu due to the scruples that loomed between them. It was always interesting how, as many have pointed out, she was not the one in any hurry to get married long after every obstacle that stood in their path were torn down, choosing to spend another 42 years working on the medical texts before considering the wedding. 

Likewise, the question A Heng asked with conflicted feelings after a long silence, "Is there no one else who treats you well? Why is it him?" I used to chalk it up to a mother's conflicted emotions because her daughter stood before her all grown up, with a lover, when the last time she saw her, she was still a child. However, now I wonder too whether someone as spiritually powerful as herself, felt the inadequacy of the young man to protect her daughter who wished to entrust the rest of her life to him. However, her acceptance of Xiao Yao's explanation that he would never abandon her indicated that she understood abandonment as the deepest fears that haunt her daughter, fears she herself contributed to, and she could only give her blessings.

Based on Yang Zi's interview, and the leaked script, it looks like the drama will go down the route of ignorance on the part of Xiao Yao. Yang Zi reiterated time and again that the choice was never on Xiao Yao's part, but the fact that Xiang Liu and Cang Xuan both had loftier goals they needed to achieve. Even so, I felt that the execution of that ignorance could have been better by giving voice to the internal conflict she had. Instead, we have recreation of iconic scenes from the novel with a Xiao Yao that felt far more brusque and callous, which ends up jarring, like the one in her chambers, which you and I dislike intensely; and removal of scenes that would have made Xiao Yao's feelings far more obvious. 

The latest leaked script covered scenes from Ep30 onwards in S1. Will try to find time to compare what the script described against what we finally got, and see whether anything was lost in translation, or changed.

 liddi:

Um he wasn't crying in that scene. He was furious.

Oh really?  I had the impression he was crying. Hm, furious is even worse than crying, I could have understand his crying, altough that's not something novel's XL would do, but furious over XY and Jing sounds so one-sided, especially because în the novel he kept supporting their relationship. 

@liddi,I think her mother knows.

Ahheng saw Jing following Xiaoyao, unable to kneel down, so she naturally understood everything. Her mood was complicated, and she couldn't say a word for a moment.
Xiaoyao and Jing knelt uneasily. After a long while, Xiaoyao finally couldn't hold it in anymore and shouted: "Mom?"
Ahheng woke up from a dream and asked: "How does he treat you?"
Xiaoyao said: "Okay. , very good."

such a dynamic afternoon/evening discussion (it’s afternoon here in NL) this It is Sinterklaas weekend in NL (for kids mainly with gift given- similar to Christmas in some other countries) therefore i did not have much time working on my laptop. @windiaaa041293, hope to give you some supplement info on Monday. Have good time to all

 H19279:

Ah Heng could sense X didn’t love Jing I think. XY’s words are the proof for that already. Generally when a girl brings her boyfriend to introduce to her family. It is typically says that “we love each other a lot or he loves me much first”. Kindness is not the primary reason for a marriage relationship 

I was about to post the same. I think Ah Heng does sense that XY doesn't love Jing with passion. 

 H19279:

Ah Heng could sense XY didn’t love Jing I think. XY’s words are the proof for that already. Generally when a girl brings her boyfriend to introduce to her family. It is typically says that “we love each other a lot or he loves me much first”. Kindness is not the primary reason for a marriage relationship 

 blabla100:

I was about to post the same. I think Ah Heng does sense that XY doesn't love Jing with passion. 

The thing is that her conflicted emotions started even before she asked Xiao Yao why it was Jing. How could she have sensed that Xiao Yao did not love Jing passionately without her saying anything before hand? I can understand if it was after Xiao Yao's answer, because that answer itself indicated that it was a passive response to Jing's love, rather than one where she passionately pursued the happiness she hoped to have from it. Xiao Yao's answer sounded like she was settling for less than what she could have, because he loved her more. However, I don't think A Heng could have gleaned that before Xiao Yao said anything...

 blabla100:

@liddi

"I think I see where your confusion about him crying came from. The single, silent tear mentioned in the script refers to the tear Xiao Yao shed, that he transformed into a pearl."

Exactly, that's it.  Idk, no matter how I look at that scene, I still don't like it and IMO it is one of the worse addition from S2.

I don't feel quite the same way. What riles me most is how Xiao Yao is portrayed to act around Xiang Liu, her apparent cluelessness and callousness really rubs me the wrong way. So much so that if the leaked script really pans out, I feel drama Xiao Yao does not deserve Xiang Liu, unlike novel Xiao Yao.

"Ah Heng looked at Jing bowing on the ground behind Xiao Yao with no intention of getting up and understood everything. She felt conflicted and couldn’t speak for some time."

I think that's the part that got Ahheng conflicted. Just a guess, but perhaps seeing him bowing obedient behind XY made her question the nature of their relationship. Maybe knowing how XY was when she was little and giving that she is her mom's daughter, jing's profile doesn't really fit to what she thought XY would want as a love partner. Too weak, too obedient. I belive that if it was XL who was sitting next to her în front of her mom, AH Heng wouldn't have had this conflicted emotion, because XL would never sit behind XY, but next to her and he wouldn't have kept his head low with no intention of getting up, allowing others to speak on his behalf.  Jing didn't have the courage to rise up and speak to her, asking for her daighter's hand, their relationship maybe didn't feel very genuine to her. A man who loves and is loved by a woman would have more guts, maybe, but Jing had no intention of getting up, he was too insecure.