ShortCircuit

YES!!! I knew it ! That was such a satisfying ending.

WJ is being desperate. He WANTS and NEEDS to trust Mr Xu because he was duped into believing his father is still alive and sending him messages. It still might come true, because why should Mr Xu know about his nickname? But also, Mr Xu has an eavesdropping habit so he could know that detail already and use it to further convince WJ.

And WJ is smart but not cold-smart. He wouldn't make a good lawyer anyway, I guess he could just switch to being a police officer, if his contribution toward catching at least some three major smuggling organisations and recovering the lost treasures stolen a century back would count toward his rehabilitation. LJ never lost trust in him and in the end it came through for both of them. He - WJ - is allowed some growing pains.

Mr Xu on the other hand is really a chimera - he organised all these intricate plots, defused other orgs' plans, ensured all competition takes a walk, danced around the police for a dozen years or more, had so-called pupils - like Li Anfu - in order to pass on his skill, etc. and he still can't help himself but be crude and violent. I bet he killed Old Fang, and ZY, and that he'll attack Ma, his accomplice too. It seems to be in his bones.

I am pretty satisfied with it all, TBH.

He got another one. Probably just switched the SIM card to the new one so that his contacts were all there. After all, he's kind of obsessed with being able to contact people.

Not that my last theory isn't probably wrong, as in, ZY is most likely dead.

But Mr Xu is fkkn Monsieur and I KNEW IT. I had a victory yell moment when he whacked WJ over the head LOL, poor kid. But he had it coming because WHY DIDN'T HE TRUST LJ? I just hope he gets some allowance from the law since he's cooperating like crazy and letting the police know everything just in time to catch Mr Xu when he thinks he's won.

BUT if ZY does turn up alive, I'll just do another victory dance LOL. This late in the game though, I guess they won't do another huge twist like that.

So, highlights. The thugs finding LJ on the roof, and he - exhausted - showing them his badge, then, barely breathing, D-don't run, it's the police. LOL. Yeah that would stop them. Then falling asleep in the surveillance car - I wasn't sleeping honest, I'm up, I'm up, LOL. Sure you were.

WJ being crazily stupid, finding the hidden weiqi pieces - I had a second yelling moment right then (the first yell actually was when he decided to not trust LJ but Mr Xu and leave with the painting. The fact I was yelling at him not to be stupid didn't help, since the episode was probably filmed some years back and there's probably no direct connection in space-time from my computer to wherever the character was at the time, so I could tell him directly how stupid he was being, so that he'd stop) and TELLING Mr Xu the secret. You know, WJ, for a quiet guy, you run your mouth a lot. Just sayin'.

The dead man walking - LOL, does that Dai person REALLY think Mr Xu will let him live now?! I mean, he (or DSH, THAT was another interesting piece of info) killed a cop, and he has a very mean streak, why would he leave any witnesses behind? As for the other one, it looks like DSH is really going to be left rotting in prison, well, comeuppances and the lot. Good riddance. I don't think it was DSH killing Old Fang BTW. I bet it was Mr Xu, he's way too impulsive in such matters, strangely, like he can't help himself. If anyone killed ZY, I'd bet it was also him.

The drowning - please stop drowning WJ, can we please, show? Or if not drowning, having him electrocuted to death, or in risk of falling from heights etc. Thank you. Also, am I crazy or did Mr Xu made the car go in the water exactly where the other car went in, 12 years back?! Like making it a full circle and ensuring he wiped out the whole Zhuang family. He really did hate them all.

The moment WenJie realized who Mr Xu was. The pleading in his eyes that it be not true, that if Mr Xu had to be a swindler, at least he'd be an underling and not the big boss, the person responsible for his father's death. (And maybe his mother's). My heart broke for him.

WenJie and Luo Jian putting two and two together - I just BET those are coordinates to the other artefacts, just as I previously suspected. And I hope LJ catches Mr Xu red-handed on that. And that he doesn't get to kill anyone else (maybe his accomplice.)

How come WJ was never told of the necklace though? Was it his father trying to keep him away from the underlife, but trying to have some insurance? Sadly it (very probably) didn't work. What if he's still alive somewhere though? That would be... amazing, though very improbable...

BTW I just realized where I knew Mr Xu's actor from, LOL. Yin ZuSheng played one of the bad guys wolf runners (contrabandists) in Hunter / Wolf Hunter, that I actually loved. No wonder I didn't trust him, even though I didn't remember him immediately LOL. He wore way too many (and different) clothes in that series, but now I remembered, it's really strange I didn't recognize him from the very beginning. Oh well.

So... Please please please Luo Jian put a good word in for WenJie so that he doesn't pay too much for being too young and stupid and hoping his father was alive. And also, let every good guy also stay alive. Let's go on to the finale!

Not that I wanted to brag, but. I TOLD YOU SO.

*crowing in victory right now*

Counter suggestion - original version is better, a lot of nuance and details are gone in the special edition, with just a few extra scenes or longer edits of the same scenes. The SE is good for someone who would like to see the more romantic part first and mostly, but the OE is where all the goodies are hidden :D

No, this is strictly a police/heist/revenge story. One of the female characters is WJ's friend (there are hints but nothing very obvious), and the other two are police officers, pretty self-reliant too. The story doesn't really need a romance plot anyway, TBH.

OMG Gao Yang!!!! I mean, Xin YunLai, LOL. Please don't let this be on Mango, please don't let this be on Mango *reading info on drama*

... Dammit, it's on Mango :((((((

Ep 22 was AWESOME. I mean, WJ still has an acute case of the stupid over Mr Xu - how COULD he tell him his dad's nickname?! He didn't need to know!!!! - but the code number system he told LJ about before worked like a charm.

And they're now working together, yay!! I love, love, LOVED LJ patiently waiting for him on that back building, just because WJ told him to. That's trust right there. And then in ep 23 when LJ got WJ and touched him, my heart stopped. And then WJ got LJ back on the ledge later, awww. Bromance FTW!

I am ashamed to say that I LOLed for real every time LJ had to go up, then down, then up again, then down again, then through the vent system, then on a rope, for dozens of levels LOL. Poor guy. I felt the pain. Hang in there LJ! Your gym time for the whole year was annuled, you don't need it any more :D

I think fkkn ('scuse the expletive, I am still on a high from the eps) Mr Xu IS the real deal. He had some shmuck play at being Monsieur, and set up all that play act just so he remains anonymous himself AND drags out WJ's dad. What else would he be there for? And he even knows the code name of the guy he whacked in the computer backroom (he's way too violent that one. He's definitely the one who killed Old Fang.)

And WJ, this stupidly smart kid who managed to guess the whole theft plan AND get in the action, AND involve the police, AND fit seamlessly with LJ, just HAD to go and tell him Luo Jian is there too!!!!

I mean, WHY?!!! WHY, WenJie?!!! He's going to kill LJ if he can, too. DAMMIT!!!!!

Now they're both on a ledge, and Mr Xu has only to wait until the painting is retrieved (by WJ nonetheless, dammit!!), maybe LJ is killed (not on the roof, 'cause WJ is coming, but soon), AND WJ's dad appears :(((((

I don't want to see a repeat of the events 12 years back...

And where is Ding ShengHuo all this time?! Is he really all spent? Was he just a puppet in Mr Xu/Monsieur's hands?!

The wait is killing me...

PS Not only did WJ get a full year's workout in an hour, LOL, his poor phone is toast. They were Dumb&Dumber in the vent system LOL. And WJ was even cracking jokes that the phone is done for, while LJ was so SURE it wasn't. Shows what LJ knows about phones LOL. Definitely the carpet's fault.

PPS The only two elements of the plot that appear in the trailer and not still not in the show are LJ being attacked on the rooftop (definitely where ep 23 leaves them off) and the whole police force with guns out stalking the underground parking lot of the hotel. Nothing more. Total surprise from now on.

NOOOOO don't tell him!!!!!!! G!@$#@$@%# and @!@!!!!!!!!1!!!!!!

But also, yay, team work. Too bad people in this series keep dying falling from heights.

Edit. Wait. I have this thought...

You know that Chinese proverb, the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it?

You know which twist would definitely be the greatest for this drama? What if... just what if, it's not Monsieur hunting WJ's dad, but the other way around? I mean, Monsieur is using WJ to try and find ZY, but it might be that WJ is the cicada (though he's definitely aware of the mantis), Monsieur is the mantis... and ZY is the oriole? :D

The painting definitely is the bait someone's been using to draw out their enemy. It could be just Monsieur, but then, ZY is in the last second of the trailer telling us how you can turn the whole game around if you offer someone the right bait... I want a good twist!! (And nobody dying, on the good guys' side anyway).

I still think he is... it's way too suspensful LOL

Oh, he definitely is a bad guy. I mean, he sold out WJ's dad, and keeps pushing WJ into making dangerous moves. And he's so fake when he's pretending to care for WJ, he definitely doesn't have good intentions.

In other other words, it's a cat and dog bromance :D (with LJ being the dog and WJ being the cat).

There's a hint of something silvery there, but I don't think it's the cane. He wouldn't be so stupid to leave it in the open, though, if it's him.

It's kind of depressing in its first half, you feel like none of the MCs have any chance to win at anything. In the beginning it even appears to be the type of "what worse thing could happen to this beautiful human being today" story. But by the end it transforms into a hopeful story. If you manage to go through the first few episodes, it'll turn.

I wouldn't call it inspirational, and I don't know what your definition of inspirational is, but this is not a poster for feel-good dramas until the very end.

If you want a drama that will leave you with the feeling the MCs have WON something, that they've broken through to the other side... Then yes, this is it.

Okay, ep 14 is epic.

And his mother was a b!tch.

OMG it looks like KHW's initial fate switched over to KGR's prosecutor junior (is he Koo Seung Hyuk? There really should be more description for support charas, so that one could see who they were. There's more description for the guest roles LOL).

He even got to enjoy the killer's preferred goodbye speech. I bet that made KHW really mad.

So I guess we're starting the next ep with a good fighting scene. Or maybe Dr. K does a Count Rugen and runs away :D

But at least the story is finally moving somewhere. About time, too. Getting excited for the end game again, it definitely looks like MinSoo will probably turn, too. 6 more days...

Now, this is getting het up, LOL. I like it. I want more!

Also, I LOVE how small Shen Yi is in comparison to Du Cheng, and how often that bromance they've developed seemed to slide over a line, from time to time LOL, just because of how they stood in relation to each other.

I don't have prosopagnosia (I already knew about it since I was trying to make sense of my own problem) but I can never remember a face unless the person becomes special to me, and even then it doesn't last for long if we separate for a long time. I can't even fit a name to a face even if we meet daily (again, unless the person is important to me for some reason). I'd be the world's worst eye witness ever, worse than each and every eye witness in the drama who ever described a suspect for Shen Yi LOL. A portraitist's work therefore is no less than magic for me, so the drama was amazing due to that, too.

For anyone interested in the drama, do watch it, it's worth it :D

And one of the most hilarious things - when Du Cheng wasn't friendly with Shen Yi in the beginning and they're using the AI generated image of the suspect, LOL, they end up with a basically shapeless plastic-looking model... Du Cheng's disgusted face at that moment was amazing :D

Each and every portrait drawn in this drama is masterpiece-level (even when it gets to superhero levels of accuracy, I could find no fault for it.) I am ready for a second season and more pets for Shen Yi to gather!