Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

@H19279

"I think differently. XL got aroused first and XY felt bliss because of XL's sucking and kind of kiss."

Oh yes, that's very likely too. The bottom line is that IMO I belive XL felt / knew she is getting turned on, that's the feeling I got while reading and watching that scene. Even without CX's comment that's the impression I had. He knew, so him touching her neck and clavicle wasn't because he was the only one aroused, but because he knew that she was too. 

 H19279:

Indeed, TH managed to turn the tables with the epilogue.

 H19279:

I was kind of shock reading the epilogue. Then I wondered if I missed something which made me re-read the book from the begining.

That epilogue is the novel's pièce de résistance! Without it, LYF would have been just another run-of-the-mill "romance" novel and the YaoJing romance not particularly outstanding or memorable, IMO.

I've read that a number of readers really didn't pick up on YaoLiu's thread until the epilogue. I guess Tong Hua hid it so well, that even with the Lovers Bugs people got blindsided.

 H19279:

The story itself is average in my opinion and scale. However, she is good at the use of word, short conversation and writing techniques are quite interesting.

I thought the story started out strong but lost steam towards the end. Started with a bang, and ended with a whimper. The 2nd half of the 2nd book onwards was a bit of a slog to get through for me. The writing was unfocused and meandered, and it seemed as if Tong Hua just wanted to resolve issues and wrap things up in whatever way possible. It's like, she had the outline - Xiang Liu has to die for that tragic ending between him and Xiao Yao, but all the other details appeared secondary.

Have you read any of her other novels?

 HeadInTheClouds:

Have you read any of her other novels?

Only Once Promised

Is it possible? initially TH wanted to make XL the male lead, but after realizing that XL had to die, TH tried hard to resurrect Jing?

 HeadInTheClouds:

I haven't come across anything that discussed Tong Hua's original intention for the characters, except that she didn't want the same tragic ending for Xiao Yao as her parents. That would suggest that Xiang Liu was not intended to be the male lead at inception. Additionally, I did read about how the more she writes, the more she loves the character of Xiang Liu, to such an extent that she wants to push him up and have him end up with Xiao Yao. Unfortunately, the character "wrote himself" and the result is the one that we got. 

Mmmmm...i see.

may I ask one thing?
during the wedding robbery, after XL asked xy a few questions, the next day xy suddenly forgot what happened last night, xy finally gave up trying to remember.
Is that the result of drinking too much?
Or because of something else?

 windiaaa041293:

@liddi...please help with correction.

 blabla100:

Very interesting article, I am curious about the translation too, if liddi doesn't mind. 

This is my rough translation of @windiaaa041293's post here:

https://mydramalist.com/discussions/lost-you-forever/110123-xl-and-xy-story-and-romance-warning-spoilers?pid=2871187&page=368#p2871187

记者：小说的第一部不到400页，直到第72页十七的身份才表露，刚刚进入正题，而小六更是到了第154页才显露女人身份。如果说整部小说故事节奏不够紧凑，你是否认同？
桐华：这个观点我不能赞同。没有无缘无故的爱情，一份感情能经得起时间和各种挫折和磨练，正是因为基础够牢固，就像小夭和十七。只有理解了他们的爱情是建立在什么样的基础的，才会理解何为“长相思”。

Reporter: Vol 1 of the novel is less than 400 pages long. Shi Qi's identity is not revealed until page 72, just as it gets to the main story, while Xiao Liu's identity as a female is not revealed until page 154. Do you agree that the pacing of the story in the entire novel is not tight enough?
TH: I cannot agree with this point of view. There is no love that happens without a reason. A relationship can withstand time, various setbacks and trials precisely because the foundation is solid enough, just like Xiao Yao and Shi Qi. Only by understanding the kind of foundation their love is based on, can you understand what "eternal yearning" is.


6-12, 13:20
鸵鸟石: 还是喜欢相柳的洒脱，既然明白不能在一起，就彻底斩断所有念想，不留一点余地，不会像殷南昭这样拖拖拉拉，害人害己！
桐华：我觉得吧，感情永远是相互的。小夭可没有骆寻这份不论生死地猛扑。小夭冷静的直接把他划拉出去了 - 不能入梦的人。

鸵鸟石: I still love Xiang Liu's unfettered attitude. Since he understood they could not be together, he completely cut off any hopes without leaving any room for it, unlike Yin Nanzhao** who dragged his feet, harming others as well as himself!
TH: I feel that [their?] feelings are always mutual. Xiao Yao did not have Luo Xun**'s ability to throw herself passionately in[to a relationship] without consideration for life and death. Xiao Yao clear-headedly pulled him out - someone who could not be allowed to enter [her] dreams.


** In Tong Hua's futuristic novel 斯散落星河的记忆 Memories Scattered Across the Galaxy, 殷南昭 Yin Nanzhao and 骆寻 Luo Xun loved each other through several lifetimes. He tried to cut off the relationship, but could not bring himself to do it.

------------------

At first glance, from the picture it appears that Tong Hua was advocating YaoJing, but what is the reality?

What is the foundation of YaoJing's relationship? Pity! Feelings that are not genuine! What does "long-lasting yearning" mean? A yearning that cannot be realised, a love that cannot be together! Isn't YaoJing a happy ending? How is it a love that cannot be together? So isn't Tong Hua being ironic? The correct interpretation is: It is only when you truly comprehend how YaoJing is not a genuine relationship, can you understand what true feelings are!

From the start, Xiao Yao was definitely very clear-headed and classified Xiang Liu as someone who could not be allowed into her dreams, but what of it? In the dreams that followed over nearly a hundred years, who was the one who kept appearing in her dreams? What does this tell us? There is no rationality in true love!

So do you understand Tong Hua's writing technique of stating one point and leaving nine others?

Going back to the novel, Yao had always kept Liu hidden very deeply. Many of the feelings she could not verbally express to Liu, she would express it by changing the subject to Jing. So often times, the scenes you see of Yao missing Jing, is actually her yearning for Liu. The main point is to conceal the truth, deceiving herself as well as others.

In the middle of the night, Xiao Yao woke up from her dream with a start. She seemed to have heard someone knocking on the window, so she jumped on the ground barefooted and rushed over to the window in a few steps, opening the window, "Jing... Jing, have you returned?"

Miao Pu held the pearl lamp in one hand, clothes in the other, "Young Lady, it is just the sound of the rustling of the branches in the wind."

Xiao Yao felt dizzy and unsteady on her feet. Leaning against the window, she murmured, "Is it really not him?"

The bright moonlight accorded an unobstructed view outside the window. There were only flowers and trees, but not even a shadow of a person. Disappointed and sad, Xoao Yao asked quietly, "Miao Pu, why do you think I never once dreamt of Jing?"

Miao Pu draped the clothes on Xiao Yao's body and handed her the embroidered shoes. Not knowing how to answer Xiao Yao's question, she could only say vaguely, "I don't know."

Xiao Yao looked up at the moon and said, "I really miss him. Even if I really can't see him anymore, it would be good to see him in my dreams."

This paragraph opened with Yao "waking up from her dream with a start", but after that, she said she never once dreamt of Jing. In that case, who was she dreaming of? Xiang Liu!

She seemed to have heard someone knocking the window. If it were Jing, shouldn't he enter through the front door, why would he come in through the window? Do you still remember the late night visit to her chambers?  Who was the one who entered through the window?

In addition, who was the one whom she missed as she gazed at the moon? Even I am embarrassed to say it haha.

Then there is the pearl lamp. The full name is 海贝明珠灯 seashell pearl lamp. You can do a search for this text. Xiao Yao had become crazy enough to collect items around him! When she could not see the person she missed, she made a palace lamp out of seashells to be kept by her side at all times.

During the 37 years under the ocean, the opening and closing of the seashell was etched deep in her memories after her hearing was restored. In Qingshui town after being forcibly taken from her wedding, the sound of Liu closing the door reminded her of the sound of the seashell closing. How should such emotions deep beyond words, be expressed? Only by quietly placing the seashell pearl lamp by her bedside as if he were by her side, could she survive sleepless night after sleepless night...

Xiao Yao walked over to the window and gazed at the full moon in the sky.

The 15th day of the lunar month is the day when the moon is full. Jing chose this day to get married, which should be in hopes that their marriage would be perfect. However, it turned out that the reunion moon (full moon) did not shine down on reunited people.

The moon had always represented YaoLiu's 意向 intent. Was the full moon here, perfect? Yao gave up on true love, and even Liu chose to fulfil her wishes. She chose what she considered was a perfect relationship, but in the end, it was all in vain. From her bowing to the moon, it can be seen that Yao already had an obsession with perfection.

Xiao Yao gazed at the blue sky. There was no fury for being deceived, no fear of imminent death, only grief over shattered hopes. She had always lived a very hard life from childhood, her heart always drifting, always feeling that she would be abandoned at any time. After her engagement to Jing, her heart finally settled down, and she thought that things would finally be different. Who knew Jing would also leave. Just like her parents, he had to abandon her out of reasons that were beyond his control. The days ahead were too long and she no longer wished to keep hanging on in pain. Since Jing laid in this ocean in eternal slumber, she wanted to be with him.

After Jing died, what was foremost was her grief from shattered hopes. She thought she could finally lead a stable life, but in the end she got nothing. Here it said that she was willing to be buried with him in the East Sea, yet later when she thought of Miao Pu, she suddenly no longer wished to die. Could it be that Jing also could not compare with Miao Pu? Whose territory was the East Sea?

When she was trapped inside the crystal coffin, Yao desperately wanted to kick it open at first, her will to survive strong. However, when she encountered the maelstrom, she really hoped the crystal coffin could be more robust. Why? Because Yao was waiting for Liu to save her!

Almost suspecting it was a dream, Xiao Yao stared dumbfounded at Xiang Liu.

"Almost suspecting it was a dream"! How many times had Yao dreamt, to foolishly not be able to differentiate between dreams and reality? (halo~ can you please watch your image? Your fiancé just died...)

Liu asked Yao several times who the killer was, but Yao started avoiding again, infuriating Liu so much he wanted to remove the bug, no longer wanting to be bound with this idiotic woman. This frightened Yao that she quickly changed the subject, provoking Liu's heart: You wish to remove the bug, wish for a divorce? I have now found someone willing to accompany me for life, are you angry! He would even accompany me to see the moon that you and I saw! I also wish to sing him our love song! (What nonsense!) Liu was really speechless! (Come on, you are a widow who just lost your husband. Could you stop smiling so gaily?)

....

There are too many such examples. YaoJing's relationship cannot hold up to scrutiny, they are all just candy-flavoured glass pieces, haha. 

@liddi

Thank you so much for the translation, liddi! I am not really sure how to interpret TH's words, but the rest of the article makes sense to me. 

 blabla100:

@liddi

Thank you so much for the translation, liddi! I am not really sure how to interpret TH's words, but the rest of the article makes sense to me. 

Reading back, I amended the translation slightly - I think what Tong Hua meant to say was that [their - Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao]'s feelings were always mutual. However, Xiao Yao did not dare recklessly throw herself into a relationship without consideration for life or death (knowing that he was on opposing sides with Cang Xuan, that he had his loyalty to the Shen Nong army and could die any time on the battlefield). Which was why, she clear-headedly chose to see him as someone she dared not allow into her dreams. 

 windiaaa041293:

[ So do you understand Tong Hua's writing technique of stating one point and leaving nine others? ]

can anyone explain it? In several articles I read, there are always these words.

This is probably similar to the "snake in grass, line on dust" technique - she puts clearly on paper just one point, but adroitly hides the other hidden messages she wanted to convey in plain sight. Just my two cents.