HOP2020

Ok, I’ve binged enough to make a first comment. It’s the usual Chinese trope drama, nothing exceptional to it. However, in between serious and creative dramas, the usual tropes are a great in between especially when it has a strong /smart female lead (not the usual cry baby and give everything up for man theme) and good actors.
The downside for me is that I see a recurrence of the same conversations over and over again that I begin to wonder if the director forgot this has been done already or they just want to fill space. The happens in various scenes already and I’m just in Ep.20. I can just imagine how they will soon fill it up with flashbacks (classic Chinese style. ).
Chinese drama should learn to use less fillers and just keep a drama to reasonable length so as not to kill the quality of dramas.
I’m also hoping for a well directed finale and not the epic Chinese fails.

Oh, this gave me a nostalgic feeling of Fujian. Seeing the scenery in the new episodes that I have just watched, arrrggh! I miss that place.

Thank so much. Indeed it was an insightful read.

It does have 汉字 (Han Zi) which makes following what they're saying easier for me who only studied standard Chinese.

I was enjoying the article until I got caught off and asked to pay, LOL!

I have gotten so far to episode 3, it's so good as reviewed. The cinematography, actors, everything. I can feel the emotions being conveyed each time. It reminds me of Like a Flowing River and Nothing but 30, where I felt all the emotions in the drama too.

I have this drama on hold for such a long time after just one episode. I picked it up again and I find the way they wrote the female lead annoying.
Gosh! I hate how Chinese dramas make their adult female characters to act like kids. She's a University graduate for crying out loud, so should be in her 20s. Why acting like a teenager SMH.

I navigated between Kissasian.sh and dramacool.so because sometimes an episode is broken on one site and I go the the other to watch it.
Keep in mind that subs are terrible as you go higher in episodes. I understand Chinese enough to navigate through.

I can’t believe I finished this drama. I dropped it so many times. I swore off long Chinese dramas that have already completed, but once I got to Ep..15-20, this drama became addictive.
I enjoyed it. The ending isn’t terrible either considering the time period. I was pained though by the ending of 17th Prince.

I made it to 67 episodes. It's so good. My night rests has been affected ?

I just got to 39. It is still a long way to go, butI've come so far and will stick it out to know the end.

I am finally hooked ☺️. Thank you for making me continue. I am now half way done. Although it's slow paced, but interesting.

Oh wow! I will give it another go then. I will report again if I finished or dropped. ?

Actually, they showed both men in the toilet and the ML heard Fang Ning making the plans on the phone (he called his room/location plus the name of the FL). With this information it was pretty easy to know where. The location was also the place they were having coffee with other people.
My problem with that scene though, is that no luxury hotel (as painted) will not have security and let a random person run into their hotel and go up to the rooms without been stopped/noticed. It's impossible. Because he had already left and then turned his car back to save her.

Just 2 episodes in, I hope I hold on and finish the 76 episodes. I dropped it so many times already and couldn’t get past the first episode, but so far, I’ve moved ahead.

EDIT: Made it to EP.16 but dropped again. The comments on it about how the FL turns out and her predicament demotivated me from continuing. I need a strong motivator for a 70 Episodes show.

I fear this drama is heading down the path of Legend of YunXi (rushed at the end and not properly finished) because for a 40 episodes drama, and almost half way through, a lot of the foreshadowed events are yet to happen. They’re spending so much time repeating stories of crime investigation and solving it .
I hope I’m wrong because I hated the way they did Legend of YunXi at the end.

Exactly, the reason behind him being the big bad wolf is terrible. Not to mention, is nephew, Su Prince, was just a child at the time and everything was an accident. To throw such heavy responsibility on a child is not well thought out. Especially as the Duke An is written to be smart and all.

Looks like this drama is going to be rushed towards the ending and have a Yunxi kind of ending (I really hope I am wrong). It's almost half of the drama and nothing tangible has happened yet. Just foreshadowing, investigations and back to square one.
So, far it's entertaining, but I keep waiting for something major to happen and they return to where they started.
For all the calamities foreshadowed, they need more episodes to tell it properly.

Also true ?

Only Yuan Shuai and Jiang Jun, knew and had evidence of Du Lei's crime. At the meeting with YS, he agreed as he had once helped him and JiangJun, he would not report him to the officials but he also has to leave MH and stay away from further crimes.
I think that's fair, seeing that JiangJun did not want to report him in the first place.
As for pay cut, that's about employing JiangJun's former colleague and JJ did not get a consequence because it was Du Lei's plan.