its_emm

Flowers do play a significant part in some way, but maybe not in the way you imagined? But I liked how it was portrayed later in the novel. Not sure if the drama will keep this though.

But before Zhou Wan was going to leave LXX in the novel, she wanted to make his house pretty and leave him a garden of blooming flowers to accompany him long after she was long gone so he wouldn't be lonely. She planted a bunch of flowers specifically that were easy to care for and had a long flowering period.
Meanwhile, LXX told her right away that her flowers will die. 😂

Zhou Wan was so disappointed to see her flowers did look like they were dying...
───

Cut to years later after they reunited and they circled back to those flowers. LXX tells her that her flowers had wilted initially but always re-bloomed every Spring after she left him (and he realized she planted it make him happy whenever he felt sad/lonely.) Zhou Wan was so surprised to know her flowers made it after all these years and had served the purpose she intended. She also noted how he took such good care of her flowers even though she knew he probably hated her during those years she was gone. She was so happy when she finally saw her flowers blooming at his house.
To me, it symbolized how their love continued to grow through the years just like her flowers, so sweet! ❤️

@AKH
Although the drama has deviated from the novel a bit, it does circle back to some of the big novel plot points in a roundabout way. So, based on the one line from the trailer where Zhou Wan is on the phone and she says: "Lu Xi Xiao, I don't love you." -- my guess is their breakup will still be similar to the novel and driven by her anger against her Mom for her Grandma's death and the deal she'll make with his Grandpa:

In the novel, Zhou Wan is devastated by her Grandma's death. She was expecting her Grandma to have a transplant. Her Grandma cancelled her transplant and and asked the doctor to lie to Zhou Wan that she wasn't a good transplant candidate (but she was) only AFTER Zhou Wan's Mom secretly spoke to Grandma and convinced her not do it (that it would costs too much/leave too much debt). Zhou Wan found this part out later and was the most angry she's ever been at her Mom. She blamed her Mom for Grandma's death (also blamed her Mom similarily for her Dad's death too-- her Mom also convinced her Dad to not go through treatment).

Due to her all consuming anger/hate, she went to LXX's Grandpa and promised to leave LXX as long as he made LXX's Dad dump her Mom and ensure her Mom loses everything. Grandpa agreed and made that happen so she held up her end of the deal even if it meant losing LXX (she planned to leave earlier, but LXX got stabbed, so she waited around a bit until she knew he was better). She still broke up with LXX, was 100% firm in her decision and cut all possible ties with him (In the novel, she transferred schools, moved away, sent him back all money she owed him and stopped picking up his calls.)

A month after she left, he was drunk and called her like 20-30xs and she finally picked up 1 call. That's when he pleads with her if that it she says she loves him just once, he'll forgive her for everything. She replies with the lie of: "I don't love you/I never loved you..." That's what pretty much broke him and he stopped trying to contact her again as he really thought she never loved him from the start... He still feels that way when they reunite again in modern day and Zhou Wan let him keep thinking that for quite some time which is why he's still upset with her because yes, that does play a lot into his abandonment issues/insecurity...🤦🏻‍♀️

Yes, she went to school for a media and journalism degree. She was fired from a media firm because her boss was sexually harassing her and then LXX and her started to get back together. LXX told her she can do whatever she wants so she took up journalism for a small newspaper firm and was doing small stories about rural life and later joined a journalism competition. She got a lot of popularity/media coverage with the competition and continued to work in journalism.

Yes, novel version LXX is CEO of his own company, independent from his Grandpa/Lu family. He doesn't want to rely on his family money or be controlled by them 😂. Zhou Wan assumed he would study finance and take over his family company. But she said he studied computer science and after college, his maternal uncle helped him build up his company. It's not super specific but he owns a technology company as Zhou Wan references intelligence development and that she was dizzy from looking at codes she saw in his work notes, lol
But the drama is saying LXX wants to study art, so he might be different.

Yes, we do find out at the VERY end of the novel that Zhou Wan did have a secret crush on LXX all through high school (even before he really knew her). She told him initially she liked him since their second year of high school, but in truth, she actually ran into him briefly during their school military training BEFORE high school started and fell for him then (but he doesn't remember that encounter, he was jumping over a wall and she was on the other side 😂 ). She also snuck pictures with him in it during their first year sports meet, but told him those pictures were from their second year of school. He later figured those pictures were actually from their first year as their school made them change uniforms between Year 1 and 2. She later admitted she's always been into him, she just didn't feel worthy of him and felt he would never fall for someone like her (poor, shy, a burden... etc).

@chikiyiki
Yes, I totally agree. So much of the big plot points have fallen really flat or fell through the cracks for some reason.

Like the Mom reveal, the "reunion" in the present day with the dog scene are super anticlimactic so far, even the whole half-brothers thing was skimmed over so fast that non-drama readers barely caught that. The pacing itself isn't too bad but it chooses to slow down and focus in on such odd places. Like all that talk about the gaokao and then Zhou Wan misses it and nobody bats an eye at school, or all that tutoring and then LXX decides over and over he's just going overseas and then decides not to last minute and gave into his Dad's demand, so what was the point??? Those seem like such randomly thrown in distractions so far 🤦🏻‍♀️

Yes, at that time and even in present day, his Grandpa has not named a successor yet (it's was between LXX's Dad or Aunt). So yes his Dad was weak and gave into the marriage and broke off with Jiang Yan's mom when the Grandpa forced him to do so. And Grandpa told LXX's mom they would never recognize Jiang Yan or his Mom and they would never have to see them again. (Obviously, Jiang Yan does see his Dad but only very much low key only. The Lu family does not include him in anything.) He wouldn't have been allowed to get back with Jiang Yan's mom even after LXX's mom died or risk losing his position.

That's why LXX built his own company so he wouldn't be controlled like his Dad was. Funny thing is his Grandpa wanted to make LXX successor but he turned it down. He didn't want to have anything to do with his Grandpa's company.

I'm so confused about the direction of the plot now since it's deviated sooooo far from the novel with the reveal happening this early!

And that reveal about her Mom was so messy and anticlamatic. Zhou Wan called her Mom, "Mom" and then backtracked by saying she was "like a Mom" to her. Then later she's calling her Mom "Aunt," yet her Mom is acting like her "real" Mom in front of LXX's family by making her call LXX her brother. Soooooo... does everyone think it's her real Mom or not? What a hot mess.

And again, even the drama is embracing the whole sister/brother thing by having her Mom make Zhou Wan call LXX her brother and that she did it too already! (Zhou Wan refused to acknowledge or use the term brother w/LXX up until the end when she broke things off and left him 🤦🏻‍♀️ 🤦🏻‍♀️ 🤦🏻‍♀️ and it was such a gut punch to him when she did it too.) Ughhhh, it's all so frustrating!

I think I'll enjoy the show only if I treat it as it's own standalone story now that it's so different from the novel at this point. I'm disappointed but maybe it'll all work out somehow. Even so, I shall miss the lost potential of what could have been 😭

Yes, they are half brothers in the novel. Jiang Yan is older than LXX by a couple months only and he has his Mom's surname, while LXX has his family/Dad's surname.

Jiang Yan's Mom was LXX's Dad's girlfriend during university. But LXX's mom was the wealthier, privileged partner his parents choose for him. He got married but continued seeing Jiang Yan's mom too which is why they're both pretty much the same age.

Zhou Wan left him all her study notes in his desk before she broke up with him, so he buckled up and took studying super seriously, went abroad for studies, came back and built up a company of his own, and pretty much cut ties with his family. He wanted to be strong enough to never rely on his family's money or connections (he felt his Dad was too controlled by the family's money/decisions and that's partly why when the family wouldn't allow it, he refused to divorce his mom, leading to her depression and suicide).

While cleaning his room at LXX's old house, Zhou Wan discovered in his college textbooks a bunch of doctors note that showed when he was abroad, he developed insomnia and got diagnosed with bipolar disorder and really struggled with his mental health.

Zhou Wan was devastated, she thought she caused that due to their breakup. Later, he assured her his doctors told him he likely had that way before he met her, maybe even after his mom's suicide, but that meeting her helped his symptoms go away, but once she left and he went abroad and was in a new environment, his symptoms returned badly (but he never blamed her).

If you go back and look at the trailers, all the scenes with drawings/diary, I'm guessing those will tie back to his years abroad and his bipolar disorder 😭

I'm not sure if the drama will change things so I can only speak to the novel.

Warning: Super long novel spoilery!

LXX & Jiang Yan have known they've been half brothers since they were children.

For the other reveals:
* Zhou Wan finding out about the brothers:
Jiang Yan and Zhou Wan ran into each other after school, he told Zhou Wan his dad was picking him up for dinner. When the car arrived, Zhou Wan recognized it as LXX's dad's car from all the times he picked up LXX, and she saw LXX's dad's face through the window. She was super confused but ended going to LXX's house as he was self-destructing in that moment (being sad about his mom's death anniversary). Jiang Yan also then arrived at LXX's house telling LXX their Dad wanted him to join them for dinner and was surprised to see Zhou Wan there too. LXX and Jiang Yan fought and Jiang Yan left. The next day Jiang Yan confirmed to Zhou Wan that LXX was his half brother through their Dad.

* Jiang Yan finding out about Zhou Wan's mom:
A different dinner date 😂
LXX took Zhou Wan to a fancy restaurant. While there, his dad and Jiang Yan also arrived for a dinner date too but sat seperately. They were close enough that Zhou Wan overheard her mom call LXX's dad on the phone and he invited her to come join his dinner with Jiang Yan. Zhou Wan was freaking out inside so she and LXX left. Zhou Wan was praying Jiang Yan would not remember or recognize her mom, but he did and brought it up to her the next day. (Note: Jiang Yan and Zhou Wan have been in school together for a long time, even before her Mom abandoned her. Her Mom attended one of their old school events so that's how Jiang Yan has seen her before).

Zhou Wan ended up confessing her revenge plans to Jiang Yan. He was disappointed, but said he hadn't told his father or LXX about her mom yet and that he would not out of respect for their friendship.

* LXX finding out about Zhou Wan's mom being his dad's girlfriend:
LXX suspected Zhou Wan was keeping secrets from him and it might be related to his dad's girlfriend because he always got strange vibes when those 2 were together and Zhou Wan always seemed sad/upset whenever she ran into that woman.

Eventually, he asked a trusted family friend to investigate his dad's girlfriend. That person reported back on her history, and that she had abandoned a daughter long ago named Zhou Wan, who coincidentally also goes to his school.
He was super shocked, because everything about their relationship then made sense. But he quickly got over his shock and anger and decided it didn't matter if she approached him with bad intentions or was still lying to him. He loved her too much, he pretended he didn't know about her mom because he was scared Zhou Wan would leave him if she knows that he knows.

After LXX got stabbed in a fight, and he was in surgery, his Grandpa was super upset and revealed to Zhou Wan that LXX already knew about her mom a long time ago but said it didn't matter to him. But by then, she had already promised the Grandpa she would leave LXX if he made LXX's dad dump her mom, so he reminded her of their bargain. She waited for LXX to get better and told him she knows that he knows everything, broke up with him and never looked back 😭

A lot of Zhou Wan's actually guilt in the beginning isn't so much that she did anything to Lu Xixiao, it's the fact that she approached him with impure/misleading intentions in the first place.

In the novel, she didn't try hard to actively engage with him. They had met in passing and she tried to pretty much stay out of his way. It was only AFTER she found out her mother's connection to him that she actively sought him out and changed how she interacted with him to try and to catch his attention.

Internally, she feels she wronged him because of that, as well as all the other stuff she did later to get back at her Mom. But she very likely would have ignored/kept out of his way if it wasn't for his connection to her Mom, so she feels most guilty for misleading him on why she even approached him in the first place.

In the novel, she didn't have a good time after she left ML. She was poor and couldn't afford to go back to school. She took on a tutoring job for a junior high school kid that included room and board to save up money for school. The mom was nice at first and the kid was good. But the dad was starting to sexually harass her by sneaking into her room, touched her leg, offered to pay/sponsor for school in exchange for you-know-what. She ending up hitting him over the head with a textbook and fought him off and the mom of the house took her husband's side, accused her of being crazy and kicked her out the next day. She took a dish-washing job at a restaurant (even though she has a skin allergy to cold water) for half a year before she could afford to go back to school.

Then in present times, she was dealing with sexual harassment by her boss and fired from her job by her boss's wife (and slapped), then kicked out it her apartment right before she got picked up by LXX.

LXX was so hurt he wasn't there for her the first time as that was shortly after they broke up, but he definitely put her boss through hell for the recent harassment. Pretty much destroyed that company!

Yes, they are half brothers in the novel. Jiang Yan is older than LXX by a couple months only and he has his Mom's surname, while LXX has his family/Dad's surname.

Jiang Yan's Mom was LXX's Dad's girlfriend during university. But LXX's mom was the wealthier, privileged partner his parents choose for him. He got married but continued seeing Jiang Yan's mom too. When LXX was a small child, his Mom found out, her happy world was shattered, knowing she was actually the one who came between them and that he led a whole other double life. She wanted to divorce the Dad, but their familes wouldn't let them. They promised they would only ever recognize LXX as their grandson and never let Jiang Yan and his Mom interfere with their life. LXX's Mom still fell into deep depression, novel him also had a younger sister who died and his Mom committed suicide by jumping off a building😭 and that's why he has an intense fear of heights. He also blames his Dad for his Mom's tragic end.

Jiang Yan has an ok relationship with their Dad but it's mostly one-on-one low key visits/dinners only. LXX is estranged and doesn't care much for their Dad at all and he chooses to be much closer to his Grandpa. But yeah, Jiang Yan and LXX are mortal enemies pretty much because of their Dad.

The drama isn't super clear yet on the official status of her Mom's relationship w/his Dad, but in the book, her Mom was just the Dad's lover/mistress. She hadn't married the Dad or anything. So they're not legally step-siblings. He's pretty much estranged from his Dad too.

Yes, she planned to use him to get back at her mother. Not sure if the drama will change her motivations, but when she discovered her Mom was dating his Dad:
Her initial plan was to date him for a bit to annoy her Mom and get her Mom to give her money for her Grandma's treatment/surgery and upcoming liver transplant cause her Mom wouldn't help financially. Her Grandma was really sick w/liver disease, she did side jobs but really had no way to pay for meds/surgery, she was really desperate to save her Grandma who was her last remaining loving relative 😢.

At first, she was just threatening her Mom to expose her relationship w/LXX to LXX's family/Dad (her Mom's rich lover) cause it would be like an almost brother/sister kind of dating scandal and might cause her Mom to get dumped by LXX's Dad. So her Mom paid her some money to shut up (more like gave her money her Dad left her anyways).

Later, she found her Mom secretly talked her Grandma out of going through with the transplant so her Grandma ended up dying. Her Mom had done the same with talking her Dad out of treatment when he had been sick with lung cancer that could have extended his life too and he also died before his time. Her Grandma's death propelled her to up her game and she went straight to the top of the food chain: LXX's Grandpa (family head/patriarch and who LXX was most close with (he's estranged from his Dad)). She offered to leave LXX forever only if he made LXX 's Dad dump her Mom. His Grandpa agreed to make it happen cause his grandson/his family's standing was more important than the gold digging lover of his son anyways. So she upheld her end of the bargain when she knew her Mom got dumped. She went through with her breakup even though she had fallen in love with LXX by then.

The novel did a good job showing how guilty she felt with her plans all along as she fell in love with LXX, how she tried to brighten his life for the brief moment she planned to stay and how she prepared him for her departure. I never blamed her for her initial plans. She was a victim of her circumstances, and then she was so distraught that her Mom practically killed her Grandma (and Dad) and abandoned them all that she had to get revenge against her Mom. And she knew she would have to sacrifice LXX for it, but she'd figured she was just another fling he'd get over quickly and move onto his bigger and better life after her. She never realized how much hurt she caused him and how much he loved her.

Btw, halfway into their dating era, he figured she was hiding a big secret from him (she was a poor liar 😂). He said he had ways to find out but he was too scared to go looking. When he finally did find out the truth, he still pretended he didn't know cause he just wanted to be with her, and knew she would leave him if she found out he knew the truth about why she approached him in the first place (revenge).

I'm still cautiously optimistic about the drama and can see where much was changed, and feel a bit let down so far as compared to the novel. The drama and LXX's intro is just so much lighter than I expected. I also liked the nonchalantly-ness in which he "dated" before Zhou Wan, given he never did much but let girls chase and hang around a couple times with him and his friends til he shoo'd her away anyways. It really emphasized how much he loved and focused on Zhou Wan when he put his heart and soul into a real relationship (plus it made for a couple funny moments later when Zhou Wan would comment on his past dating history and how his good looks kept attracting girls everywhere they went, and he told her she could cover his handsome face up with her hands when they were out so no other girls could see his face 😂).

I'm also not loving the back and forth-ness between the past/present time lines. Something about the way it's presented out of the blue every couple episodes just takes the angst/the *bam* hit you in the face 'first time reunion' scene that I always anticipated away since they've technically already re-met again with the dog scene in the present time 😭. And since LXX isn't styled much differently (looks, hair... etc) in the past vs present, it almost feels like he's just moving between today/tomorrow when it's supposed to have been years.

I don't mind the initial start in the present and flashback, but I wish they kept it in chronological order vs the flipping back and forth with the time lines which I found somewhat jarring and taking me out of the story.

Yes, that's EXACTLY how the drama explained it. It would normally surge/get rid your inner power, but since MQY had none, it got rid of his poison instead, thus saving him. It still feels like a copout to me but okayyyyyy drama, we'll go with that explanation for now. *side eyes drama in disbelief*

Although super randomly thrown in, Shangguan Haonan did have 2 ladies by his side at You Guanyue's wedding so assuming those are his 2 wives. 😂 (And novel wise, he actually had 3 wives and they all ran away, lol. Xiaolan did also have his baby but none of that was even explored in drama at all, so I wish they had just left out the wives and him & Xiaolan since that came in wayyyy too last min and felt really out of place/disjointed.)

Culturally, even during ancient times in China, it's was actually normal for men have worn flowers in their hair.

I think this hasn't happened as often in cdramas, but I've seen it show up more in recent dramas, especially for festive events like weddings like they did here.

In addition, I think this director embraces the whole men with flowers in hair look, I remember Wang Xingyue had flowers in his hair too briefly in this same director's drama, The Double. (It's been a while so I don't remember exactly, but I think FL gave ML a flower and he wore it in his hair too.)