Deirdre19

It think this was a Red Herring... they may have similar rings because of some other reason.

Right now my top suspect is Lord Xian Hou. He clearly dislikes the Qi and he would fit the description of "someone in a high place" that was given when they discussed the person behind the trade with Qi vital stones.

She feels a bit out of place here, since there are no other annoying characters. It's almost as if she crossed over from one of those dramas that are filled with these annoying delusional female characters (usually as an obsessive love-rival of the FL).

It's a light-hearted mix of detective and romance drama,. Even though it is a different genre it has everything that I would have wished to see in TJOCZ .... Here are the positive points from my perspective:
- Coherent script-writing without gaping plot-holes or worn-out clichés
- Adult relationships between most of the characters
- Pretty good fight scenes
- Decent acting performance by the whole cast
- No overly annoying or childish characters
- No love triangles with obsessive love-rivals
- No stupid misunderstandings that drag on for ages
- FL is half-way clever and doesn't permanently trip over her own feet
- FL can speak in a non-baby voice
- No excessive use of pastel colours or sparkles
- CGI is used sparingly and looks good

To me it feels almost like the people who we given this project went out of their way to ruin it! The actors are mostly doing a great job, especially the ones whose characters we hate so much, but the incompetent writing, the sloppy editing and the clownish make-up are just an insult to both the actors and the audience.

Check directors/screen-writers of the dramas that you disliked and avoid them like the plague in the future.
Just as an example, the obsessive-love-rival-king who bored the hell out of me with Legend of Yun Xi was also responsible for the plot-hole-riddled Blooms At Ruyi Pavillion and the I'm-too-lazy-to-come-up-with-an-ending Song of the Moon. The pastel-colour posters for those dramas are a hint towards endless boredom.
The girlie who thinks she's a better writer than the authors of the original novels and bungled the script for The Blue Whisper went on to ruin Unchained Love by dumbing down the characters and trying to turn serious material into a comedy.

If you watch Warm on a Cold Night you will see that another way is entirely possible. What we see here in Chong Zi is simply lazy and uninspired writing, heaping one old cliché on another one.

...plus most of the actors/actresses look much better in darker colours!

LOVE IT !!!!
I didn't expect anything when I started this but this drama impressed me by sucessfully avoiding almost all the tropes that I hate in xianxia-wuxia and that most of the writers can't seem to do without.
You know what I mean, the baby-voiced FL, the misunderstandings that last for ages, the obsessive love-rival, the obligatory break-up because of secrets that can't be shared, everyone dressed in pastel colours, etc. etc.

It may be sufficient if she comes to live with him in Qi, that way the flame will technically have returned home...

I'm sorry that you feel upset about this. Personally, I take her with a large pinch of salt. To me, that bit about the non-Chinese clothing patterns sounded so ridiculous and absurd that it made me laugh. So I shared it...

It is refreshingly different. Here are some of the most positive points from my perspective:
- Coherent script-writing without gaping plot-holes or worn-out clichés
- Adult relationships between most of the characters
- Pretty good fight scenes
- Decent acting performance by the whole cast
- No overly annoying or childish characters
- No love triangles with obsessive love-rivals
- So far no stupid misunderstandings that drag on for ages
- FL is half-way clever and doesn't permanently trip over her own feet
- FL can speak in a non-baby voice
- No excessive use of pastel colours or sparkles
- CGI is used sparingly and looks good

I had the same problem, so I read the book. Then I realised, it's not the story, but the acting (no chemistry between the leads, totally mis-cast ML, etc.) The fact that the scriptwriters had to invent love triangles where originally there were none and changed key parts of the story didn't help either.

OMG, so Avenue X has done a review of this (not good... surprise!).
Since she couldn't come up with any real stuff to criticise (like production, acting, plot, etc.) she complained that some patterns on their clothes were "un-Chinese". I mean, seriously??? Who could give a flying f*ck about this!

Yes, I really wish some of the other script-writers take note of how the guys behind this drama have managed to avoid almost all of the usual boring tropes that usually plague this genre.

Same here! Just imagine the wonders the talented writers of this drama could have done with the Chong Zi plot, cast and budget...

Yes, I understood that from the hints that were given. It's why I really felt the SML's pain of being robbed. This is really treating women as objects that can be sold off to the highest bidder. It surely happend in ancient times, but I don't want to watch it happening.

Seen from my perspective, he is still very young 😂
It must be tiresome for him to be so often paired with kids who can barely act. In this one the FL is also quite young, but she's done a fair bit of acting. I remember seeing her in Ever Night. She was quite good in that role...

There is a translation on Novel Updates (look for The Times Spent in Pretense), but it seems they never got beyond the first few chapters...

... they were a bit sad, but I still really enjoyed them. If anything they made me appreciate this drama even more because they were done so well. Even though FL and ML are on non-speaking terms right now, they were still able to be honest with each other and express their feelings. The scenes around the funeral were very atmospheric and filmed beautifully without ever being cheesy. Not a single person came up with "I told you Qi are trouble" despite the ML looking guilty as can be.
In this two episodes the writers managed to avoid so many of the worn-out clichés of the genre and instead gave us a grown-up version of a drama! I really cannot praise them enough for this!
The acting was similarly impressive especially in the silent moments without too much dialogue.