Following the Red Thread to You

When I first saw the title of this drama, I was all ready for the most beautiful love story, and I was not disappointed. We all wait for that exceptional love and to be swept up into an emotional storm of unbridled love; such is the case with this drama.

The backdrop is set in the 1600s during the Qing invasion where you have the young, bright and beautiful Yu Gil Chae (Auh Jin Lin) who has a propensity to attract every man in town, but her eyes are only set on one man--Nam Yeon Jun. She does everything to always garner his attention as well as make the other women in town not like her. They think her actions are inappropriate to say the least. But Nam Yeon Jun while knowing her feelings always makes her feel that he has a slight interest, but he finally put those feelings to rest at last when he marries Kyung Eun Ae.

Lee Jang Hyun (Namkoong Min) arrives in Neunggun-ri, and sees the attractive Yu Gil Chae for the first time as she is on a swing in the woods along with other suitors who are watching her as well. Lee Jang Hyun is instantly captivated as he watches her swing back and forth, smiling and laughing as she goes higher and higher. They both recollect this moment later: One day, I asked you my darling, "Do you recall the day you first saw me?" You answered, "Of course, I do. I heard a very rare sound that day." I asked you what sound you heard. "Do you hear it? This sound, the sound of flowers." Just at that moment the swing broke and he caught her in his arms. As he looked at her up close for the first time, he said thinkingly, "Have you ever heard the sound of spring flowers bloom? I heard that rare sound today." So, began the amazing love story of Yu Gil Chae and Lee Jang Hyun.

Each time this couple met it was always a lively banter of words between which was a growing love, more so for Lee Jang Hyun, but Yu Gil Chae for so long had her sights on Nam Yeon Jun she never allowed herself to even think another man could enter her heart. Lee Jang Hyun played many mind games and their "tug of war" where both their feelings were concerned fascinated him. He did not want her to lose interest in him, so this is how he kept and captured her to him.

But just as things began to heat up for them, war starts and so they are separated before they could even make sense of their feelings.

Many things happen once the war started. Lee Jang Hyun finds himself working for the Khan as well as the Crown Prince. He does save Yu Gil Chae, gets ill and then the worse of it all is that she believes he died. Those who would die, they would put their possession in a box. Yu Gil Chae went looking to see if there was something of that manner for Lee Jang Hyun. Well, she did find a box which contained her red ribbon most importantly--his fan that he was never without. Even though she had these items, a tiny part of her still held on that he was alive. She held onto his coat and even screamed and cried for him to come back but he didn't. Hence, she had to fend for her and the others due to Kyng Eun Ae's husband, Nam Yoon Jun being imprisoned, and they lost everything.

Picking herself up she found a way to make money and get everyone back from the brink of disaster. Enter Gu Won Moo who led her to believe that he was the one that saved her and the others when they were on the island, but we all know it was Lee Jang Hyun. She decides to marry him.

Meanwhile Lee Jang Hyun is finally able to come back to Yu Gil Chae because the Crown Prince has been allowed by the Khan to see his father. Well, Lee Jang Hyun ask Ryang Eum to tell her that he is coming. But because of the beliefs that Ryang Eum has, once he does see Yu Gil Chae not only does he tell her that he is dead, but also that he had another woman during that time. I believe that he had a love for him that exceeded friendship. He used the guise of saying he felt that she was bad for him and was going to hurt him, so he drove her away. I think he didn't want him to have anyone in his life but him. So, misunderstanding ensued.

Coming into town, Lee Jang Hyun is happy because he has all the flowered printed slippers that he promised her. As he is walking down the street, he hears a man calling out about the bride's chest and out comes Yu Gil Chae. To say he wasn't blown away and her too, because she sees him at the same time is an understatement.

They finally meet and he tries to explain things to her but again, she basically doesn't listen to him and believes he is playing games with her, and she is not hearing anything that he is saying. He does find out that Ryang Eum was the cause of him not telling her that he was alive and leading her to continue to believe he was dead. Ryang Eum said that she was already getting married so why should he have told her anything different in his mind. I believe at this point; their relationship was severed.

The final parting of Yu Gil Chae and Lee Jang Hyun was in this letter that she wrote him as he sailed down the river without her. She said, "It is true that I wavered for a moment, but I do not trust you nor love you enough to leave everything behind me. If any small affection for me remains in you, please forget everything about me."

After reading the letter he picks up her flowered printed slippers and remembers what he had told her when he left: "I will come back with the prettiest flower slippers in the world." He then just drops them in the water as they float away...so ends their story for now.

Ryang Eum who Lee Jang Hyun left is on the riverbank watching him leave without him, turning to leave, he looks up only to see Yu Gil Chae and cannot contain in his look his disgust and anger for her.

Yu Gil Chae feels tears running down her cheeks as she watches Lee Jang Hyun leave and thinks: "When I asked you if you ever hated me, you said this--the day you left me forever. I stared at you for a long time because I hated you so much. But no matter how long I stared at you, I did not feel hatred for you. So, I just hated myself. And you asked me, how cruel you are. Did you even fathom how I felt? I can tell you now. I could not even fathom, it is just that my heart shattered into a thousand pieces, and I wished that you would not feel like me. I prayed desperately so."

Two years later we find Lee Jang Hyun in Shenyang and he is once again chasing down escapees from the war.

This is where the drama ends for now. Such a beautifully crafted piece of work. Everyone in the cast gives superb performances. The lavish and breathtaking scenery is just amazing. I am thoroughly in awe of this drama. You will as well.

I did take a bit of my own spin when she had her dream, but this was the most poignant moment to me in this drama,

One day Yu Gil Chae was sewing an embroidery, as she got to the sun, she needed more red thread as she went to reach for the spool of red thread, it fell out of her hand and began to roll. As she watched it roll down the hill she began to run after it. The red spool of thread led her down a path of trees which were in full summertime bloom, through a field of lush yellow flowers, skipping on stones along a babbling brook, a grove of autumn trees with an array of vibrant colors in red and gold, a snow covered path with her feet crunching on newly fallen snow all the while feeling the breath of winter's wind on her face, and a dense forest of trees, where the red spool led her to the sandy beach and the sound of the ocean.

As she watched the blazing colors of the evening sunset against his silhouette, she saw laying at his feet the red spool of thread. Thinking she said, "Was all that I saw as I ran to you, the highs and lows of what was to be expected in our journey?" But as he stepped from the glow of the setting sun, she watched as he slowly reached down to pick up the spool. She asked him..."Who are you, Young Master?" He said, "I have been waiting for you. At this place...for a long time." As she watched his head lean down for a kiss, she thought, "I have waited for you a long time too...my dearest."

Such as the ending I would have liked to have but alas we have to wait for the red thread to continue its journey in October for the second part.

Leia Mais

Never Stop Beating Your Drum for Justice

"A brave girl sought justice for her friend. With the help of righteous men, she forged a revenge plan."

This drama was well-written, and it resonated so poignantly as to what happens within our society today.

Faithful sets the stage of telling a story about a young woman by the name of Lin Ru Lan who enters the Yanyu Tower to learn the art/skills of embroidery and how her life takes a turn for the worse at the hands of Wu Lian who is the master there.

During the unfolding of this drama, we are told through flashbacks of each of the nine individuals who touched Lin Ru Lan's life prior to her committing suicide to prove her innocence at the hands of Wu Lian who sexually assaulted her. Seven years later, Meng Wan, who was a good friend of Lin Ru Lan's plotted and planned the most intricate revenge plan to clear the name of her friend by assembling those nine people to aid in her quest to seek justice on behalf of her.

We see what happens when you do try to get justice.

Disregarding Meng Wan's objections, Lin Ru Lan decided to risk her own reputation to sue Wu Lian. She went and beat the drum calling the court in session to hear her story. She tells the court how Wu Lian violated her. He basically makes it seem like she was in love with him, and he rejected her, and this was her way at getting back at him. She does have Liu San Niang, who is a courtesan as a witness. But you know she was disregarded because of her profession. All and all she lost the case.

But Lin Ru Lan was not to be deterred. Meng Wan had a cousin, Zhao Yucheng who she found would litigate the case for her. We see excitement from both of these women that they are finally getting somewhere. Not so fast, Wu Lian had found out there was a handkerchief that Ding Ru, who he also had assaulted and committed suicide had been found by her mother. Ding Ru's mother went to Lin Ru Lan and gave it to her for evidence. Thinking this would finally seal the deal with getting Wu Lian, she gives the evidence to Zhao Yucheng. Little did she know that Zhao Yucheng was bribed by Wu Lian to fake the evidence in return to giving him a high position and to let him meet Mrs. Ning who was influential within society. (Note: Wu Lian never helped him. He used Zhao Yucheng for his purpose.)

The downside of this, was Meng Wan was going to support her friend only to find out that her mother (who you will not like) knew of her pregnancy (which was by Wu Lian), gave her an abortion cocktail the same day as the trial to get rid of the baby. Being in so much pain, and bleeding profusely, she did make it finally to the court only to find out it was over. Meng Wan made her way to Lin Ru Lan only to meet Gao Cheng Cheng who she had convinced to testify, which she didn't do because Meng Wan did not show up. Gao Cheng Cheng did not allow Meng Wan to defend herself as to why she could not make the trial due to what her mother did. She stood silently as she was berated over and over again by her. Lin Ru Lan had enough and defended her friend once more even though she lost her case, and it would never be heard again.

To show support of Lin Ru Lan, Meng Wan tells her they will leave the city the next day and just travel together. As Meng Wan is getting ready to leave, her mother once again intercedes and stops this from happening. She has a coughing spell and tells Meng Wan that she needs her medicine. Meng Wan goes to get it while her mother goes to the city gates to meet Lin Ru Lan. She asks her where they will go and how will they survive on ruined reputations. She gets on her knees and begs Lin Ru Lan to let Meng Wan go. She wants her to get married and have a stable life. Lin Ru Lan decides to say that she never showed up and leaves. Meng Wan stays at the city gates all day and late into the evening.

Everyone is coming at Lin Ru Lan--her brother, her mother, her father, everyone until she tells them that she will marry Wu Lian. Her mother not trusting her locks her in her room. Meng Wan comes to see Lin Ru Lan. She asks her why they have locked her up. What happened? Did they find out she was leaving? Lin Ru Lan tells her no, that she never had decided to leave as she embroiders her wedding dress. Meng Wan is just flabbergasted as Lin Ru Lan says how can they survive on doing embroidery alone. She said marrying Wu Lian was her best choice. Meng Wan does not believe her but she tells Meng Wan that she can marry and live a peaceful life with him.

At last Lin Ru Lan's brother tries to help her and even Meng Wan breaks her fingers never to do embroidery again to pay the debt to Wu Lian to let Lin Ru Lan go. But in the end, it was for nothing. Lin Ru Lan had her own plan to let people hear her and give her justice. Before her wedding Meng Wan and Lin Ru Lan spent time together. She asks Meng Wan to give a letter to Shen Mu at 7 p.m. the day of her wedding.

As I said, Lin Ru Lan was exhausted by everything and had to figure her own way out. She decided the day of her wedding to take Wu Lian up to the top of Yanyu Tower because she always thought this would be a perfect view once they were married. Meanwhile, Meng Wan delivers the letter to Shen Mu that tells him that she is in danger at Yanyu Tower and to come quickly.

Going up to the top of Yanyu Tower, Lin Ru Lan has already set the stage for what was to happen. She had already relented to the decision she had made and settle it within herself that this was the only way to be heard. Wu Lian grabs her by the throat, and she ask him if he has the guts to kill her. He asks her does she think he doesn't. She then removes her hairpin from her hair and grabs his hand and puts the hairpin deep into her throat. Pulls it out and her blood goes everywhere on him. She places the hairpin in his hand as her body falls from the tower. Shen Mu and the other guard watch as her body falls to the ground. They look up and see Wu Lian staring down at her. This was the end and the drive that pushed Meng Wan to seek justice for Lin Ru Lan.

The assembly of these nine individuals took Meng Wan seven years but there were two deaths along the way before the retrial--Liu San Niang and Li Chun Feng. Here is what happened at the retrial:
- Wu Lian said Lin Ru Lan retracted her petition and admitted to false accusations.
- Lin Ru Lan's brother is the one who admits a letter to reopen the case to vindicate his sister.
- Meng Wan and Tian Xiao Ling testify.
- Liu Xin goes to the jail to get Wu An to testify against Wu Lian.
- Zhao Yucheng who represented Lin Ru Lan is called to admit that Wu Lian got him to fabricate the handkerchief with a different one and to lose the case. The maid to Zhao Yucheng testified to the change as well.
- Huang Jiao Jiao says that she saw Zhao Yucheng leaving Wu Lian's study the day before the trial.
- Wu An comes to testify but turns the tables on Meng Wan and tells them that she was holding the maidservant that he liked and threaten her.

But what will get you the most is the testimony of Tian Xiao Ling and what Wu Lian did to her. It is truly unbelievable:
"Seven years ago, the night I met him. I wanted to leave quickly. But he seemed to have had a drink and was in a good mood, so he started talking about embroidery with me. When I said a falling plum blossom seemed desolated, and a plum blossom on the tree showed more dignity, it provoked his anger. In his fury, he pinned me to the embroidery table. But that wasn't enough for him. At that time, I was out of my senses, filled with despair, like the living dead. He took a needle and embroidered this plum blossom on my shoulder stitch by stitch, trying to leave this plum blossom on me for a lifetime."

Can you imagine the pain she felt?

But when you see Episode 19 "The boy gave up his studies for embroidery" we are told the story of Wu Lian. We see how he is left to his own devices without the love of either his mother or father but by Lady Wu the concubine of his father. She is the only one that shows interest in him. He goes out of his way to be around her, even to learn to embroider.

Lady Wu tells him to hide this from his father that he is doing embroidery because this was not a profession that men did. He didn't care. He found out that Lady Wu like plum blossoms and he perfected them. Even being bullied by his friends he didn't care.

But his father did find out about him doing embroidery. He tells Lady Wu that she can no longer stay there, and he was sending her away. Wu Lian raced home because he wanted to see her before she left but he was to let, he found her--dead. She had hung herself. Was this what lead Wu Lian to go down the path he did? The plum blossoms that he felt so drawn to? Were they based on Lady Wu and what happened to her?

We really do not get a definitive reason why Wu Lian assaulted all of these women at Yanyu Tower or why he was the way he was. This was something that was lacking for me. I felt the writers should have given us more when they told his backstory.

There was finally vindication after all, and justice did prevail in prosecuting Wu Lian. Mr. Lou by order of the emperor handled the case as he saw fit and was told to bring closure. And with that, Wu Lian's sentence was: According to the law, he was sentenced to the punishment of flogging and exiled to the northwest for three thousand miles, never to be pardoned in his lifetime. Fitting do you think?

The final encounter of Meng Wan and Wu Lian was when he had already been flogged and was in jail. Meng Wan sees Wu Lian as he is lying face down and doing embroidery. He still doing plum blossoms with fingers that really can no longer hold a needle. Meng Wan asks him if he ever regretted in the slightest what he had done, he never said a word.

As he was lying there, he heard Lady Wu call him (he was hallucinating) and tells him not to do plum blossoms anymore and to put the needle down. He starts calling Lady Wu. Wu Lian swallowed the needle. Meng Wan hears the jailers yelling that Wu Lian had swallowed the needle but she just kept walking out of the prison. All the while smiling. So ended the life of Wu Lian.

In Episode 25 which is called "A Mere Dream" we are given the opportunity to see what life would have been like if none of this had happened. Want to see?

Wu Lian's life changed because his family was loving towards him. He had his mother and Lady Wu together as well as his father with him at dinners. He became a pastry chef. He headed to the capital to open up a shop. He meets Wu An along the way whom he helps.

Then we were given to see what if they didn’t have witnesses.

We are shown the different side of Meng Wan's mother. How her mother was a lot stronger and fended off her husband, not as she did before when he was in a drunken state. Their relationship was much better.

Meng Wan goes off with Xu who she married and was his only wife.
Liu Xin was married and had two children by the girl he first like at the booth selling buns.
Liu San Niang this time saves her master and pays his ransom so he could leave the troupe.
Shen Mu was a fugitive. He robbed from the rich and gave to the poor.
Feng Da was an owner of his own embroidery shop and he was an embroider.
Tian Xiao Ling and Li Chun Feng married.

As for Rulan she gets married, and she sees Meng Wan as she is in her wedding chariot and they both feel they somehow seemed familiar to each other.

Lin Ru Lan is in the market as are all of the nine individuals who played such an important role in her previous life. As the ending comes, everything is just like a dream. Hope it wouldn't come true even if we could never meet again.

I loved all of the lantern sayings:
Meng Wan – To accompany her to see the splendid views in the world.
Lin Ru Lan – An adult girl is fearless.
Liu San Niang – Wait in the boudoir for seven years, but nothing is forgotten.
Lin Xiu – Give a treasure hairpin to the hero. Ignite a candlelight.
Feng Da – The wilderness also has emotions.
Tian Xiao Ling – Troubled by worldly affairs, seeking tranquility in the mountains.
Huang Jiao Jiao – Pray to Silkworm Mother at the door. Worship the God of Wealth inside.
Shen Mu – The young man goes with the wind and returns in time.

When I watched this drama, I was filled with such anger. Why? Because it is still the same today in some ways. We beat our drum and call the injustice that we see to ourselves as women every day, but it can fall on deaf ears. We saw in this drama, the physical and mental abuse, the bullying, the assault of these women over and over again, family and friends turning a blind eye, stereotyping of how women should act and behave, reputations put on the forefront, citizens who tried these women every day. Can you imagine how exhausting it is? And yes, you do give up. You want to keep beating that drum, but how long can you beat it to be heard. I hope, we as women never lose the drive and desire to beat our own drum when we see injustice not only for ourselves but for others that may be so scared to do so. We are in this fight together. It took nine of them. How many will it take for you?

If one only thinks for one person, it's not kindness. A single lantern creates limited light, but so what? As long as this lantern remains luminous, it can light more lanterns, leading to a million lights. As bright as the rising sun, it can illuminate the long night.

Leia Mais

Simply Romantic

I really had no expectations as I started this drama. I read the overall review and thought, "why not." But I was surprised to find that this is really a hidden gem of a good, simple romantic story with a wonderful undertone of the craftsmanship that Ji Chen wanted to keep viable.

Si Qing and Jing Chen are by far polar opposite but as they say opposites do attract. Who would have imagined on a winter solstice night Si Qing would propose marriage to Jing Chen. That is how this romance started. I was blown away myself by her direct and "in your face" proposal. At first, Jing Chen is stunned but after he knew she had something of value that would make his grandfather happy, he agreed.

Like all romances love for these two came slowly but gracefully. It was Ji Chen who faced abandonment issues while Si Qing was seeking a "family" to call her own. This is what drew them to each other because each had what the other was seeking in their lives and was the catalyst that bound them together.

Ji Chen who was silent and held his emotions in, but knowing that his grandfather was going to pass, and Si Qing had what he needed he raced to her office only to knock over and see the winter solstice art that he created, and she had bought six years ago. This realization, and knowing who she was, gave him an added edge in wanting this marriage. As he got to know Si Qing,
he realized so much about how she had such a good heart, kind, generous but also how she was treated by her parents and co-workers, this further added to him falling in love with her, accepting her as his family and being her "one and only" who would protect and shield her from anything that would harm her.

Si Qing had parents that were never around, and work was her go too. Her father had remarried and had another family so when holidays or her birthday came, they were brushed aside. Basically, she was always alone, working late and working hard enough to have the money to buy that apartment that she always dreamed about was her goal. But when she met Ji Chen, and really seeing him with the gold dust when she inadvertently opens the window, everything stopped. He was the man that had moved her heart and wanted as her family.

They did go through several ups and downs but in the end love prevailed. The SFL who you would think would be dramatic was at first but when she realized that Ji Chen was willing to sacrifice and go back to a job that he never wanted to go too...she knew he loved her, and it was time for her to let her dream of being with him go. Si Qing and the SFL both met each other before she knew that she was married to Ji Chen so a bonding with Si Qing had started, so their friendship remained even after she gave up on Ji Chen.

Ji Chen who had an older brother with the same name put to rights all the misunderstandings that they had growing up. He admitted that he did bully him growing up because he didn't want his grandfather to replace him, and he felt that Ji Chen was his replacement. But doing an intervention was what finally help Ji Chen face his demons of his childhood and abandonment issues.

The director did beautifully intertwine the story of those who have a skillset and craftmanship that in this day and age is being forgotten. It was nice to see how they touch upon and let myself as a novice see those who do basket weaving, lanterns, umbrellas, craving wood, etc. It was such an eye opener to see that generations upon generations have handed down these skills but with modern day machinery the elegance of love that is put into each piece is lost. It makes me hope that younger people would want to carry and learn these crafts so we will get to enjoy them years from now.

The scenery was just breathtaking. The field of flowers, the fireworks, the temple of all those craftsmen, it was just a scenic tour which I felt that I was really in and enjoying. But you really will fall in love with the puppies. They are just too cute when you see them following Ji Chen around. I just wanted to keep one.

I can only say that I hope you would take the time to enjoy this drama. It is one that you can sit back enjoy and feel like you are going on vacation and seeing two individuals that you would not think they would ever find love, but they do, in such an unconventional way.

The fireworks for me not only were in the sky but bursting from my heart....

Leia Mais

A Beautiful Love Story

This amazing, well-executed drama has come to an end. What a journey we all had the privilege to enjoy.

Looking back over this drama it was one that grasp you from the very first episode and held you fast to every episode until the nicely wrapped up ending.

I can only say, myself as a woman, and maybe for other women out there, we all would love to have a Lu Chen in our lives. This man knew from the first moment he saw her that she was going to be his and his alone because it was love at first sight. To have that determination and decisiveness of mindset is rare indeed. He may have been silent but everything he did was well thought out of. In his own way, he had guided her, as well as her with him to be the couple that through anything could withstand time.

No matter what pressures they held both within their families, their own lives and their apparent separation, they held fast and firm to their beliefs. In their own way their love of each other healed their families and just made all that were around them see how much love can endure and it was never lost between them, but recaptured and reborn to a more exquisite love story.

This drama held us all in the palm of its hand giving us smiles, swooning, laughter, tears but most of all...love. A masterpiece of craftsmanship by a couple that made us enjoy what falling and being in love is all about.

As the saying goes, all paths lead home...we all have our own road home because that is where love is.

Until next time...love....

Leia Mais

Who is the Killer? You Won't Care.

This drama is one set to give us suspense and mystery in an apartment complex surrounding the death of actress FL (Jia Qing aka Zhou Yun Qi).

ML (Xiao Shun Yao aka Detective Zhao Shang) and Cui Shan He are the first on the scene of the actress death. After reviewing, those who knew Zhou Yun Qi they narrowed the suspects to six individual who lived in the complex and who all personally knew her.

Suspect list:

Hu Jun aka Li Xu Dong: Knew Zhou Yun Qi since childhood due to him being the reason her father was in the hospital which led him to serve time in jail. Once his time was served, he opened up a restaurant and later a bar and made amends for his misdeed by giving money to Zhou Yun Qi and her mother. Zhou Yun Qi professed her love to Li Xu Dong but was rejected. Leng Mei Zhen also knew him through Zhou Yun Qi since high school.

Wang Da Qi aka Wang Lei: Private driver to Zhou Yun Qi. He had no love interest in her but always wanted the best for her. His girlfriend was Chen Jia Jia. She was having an affair with Leng Mei Zhen’s boyfriend Chen Zang.

Zheng Jia Bin aka Chen Zang: Boxing coach and personal coach to Zhou Yun Qi. He was also the boyfriend of Leng Mei Zhen. One of the prime suspects of killing her.

Qian Xiao Ming: Gamer who was a friend of Li Xu Dong who gave him his alibi. He also was a friend of Leng Mei Zhen.

He Du Juan aka Leng Mei Zhen: Bestie since high school of Zhou Yun Qi. She had some connection to everyone in the apartment complex.

Jiang Fang Ting aka Chen Jia Jia: Girlfriend of Wang Lei and who had an affair with Chen Zang. Confronted Leng Mei Zhen about her affair with Chen Zang.

As you can see by the list that all connections lead to Leng Mei Zhen who was the catalyst surrounding Zhou Yun Qi death as well as Li Qi, psychiatrist to Leng Mei Zhen and Detective Zhao Shang.

You are led through all the lives of each of the individual who live in the complex and how all of their lives intertwined with Zhou Yun Qi. Each had a motive. But who really did it and why? Was it one person? Several people?

At first, you are intrigued, but as the drama moved on you are less and less involved because some things are so obvious you begin to lose interest but also some characters go missing for a time, you forget about them. Just like this drama will be forgetful to you. When the ending comes you are pretty much left empty and why a drama that gave you a good start and cast, fell flat.

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Tea for Two and Hot Kisses Too!

This is a cute drama that I found myself enjoying.

You have the ML (Eric Hsiao aka Lu Ming Yu) the cute and handsome ex-bodyguard who meets the FL (Qi Yan Di aka Ye Xi Yan/Xiu Fen) daughter of the Ye Group approximately three years ago. Lu Ming Yu was on assignment, he was injured and was fleeing from his captors when he encountered a drunken umbrella carrying Ye Xi Yan who saw him and told him that she was in a bad mood until she decided to help him. She then promptly dropped the umbrella and kissed Lu Ming Yu.

Fast forward after that meeting, and we now have Lu Ming Yu who has a tea plantation that he owns and sells tea. The whole town is close-knit, and everyone knows pretty much everyone. His two closes' friends are: SML (Tan Jia Tai aka Jiang Cheng Cheng) and the girl that he has liked for years, SFL (Fang Si Chang aka Su Qi Ran).

Lu Ming Yu meets Ye Xi Yan after she is in an automobile accident and men try to kidnap her. He helps her escape. Pretending that she has lost her memory, she lets everyone believe that she is -- Xiu Fen. No one has seen her for years so this became quite plausible for her to be her. She doesn't dissuade anyone from thinking otherwise and even gets Su Qi Ran to help her unknowingly with information about her to make her appear to be believable to everyone.

Eventually we have Lu Ming Yu and Xiu Fan begin to bond together and live together. Oh, and she inadvertently becomes engaged to him as well. But you cannot have this type of happiness last long. Enter Gao Kai aka Cui Zi Hao, the son of Cui Group who was looking for Ye Xi Yan. When she sees him, she denies even being the person he thinks she is and says she can't help the similarity. Lu Ming Yu stops Cui Zi Hao at all costs eventually telling him that she is his girl, and they are engaged. This does not sit well with Cui Zi Hao.

Misunderstandings abound between Lu Ming Yu and Ye Xi Yan primarily due to the tea plantation and how she wanted it to be established as part of the Ye Group. But stock prices began to fall, and the company was going to be lost, stepping in to save the day is Cui Zi Hao who tells her if she does not marry him the company will be bought by him at a rock bottom price. She agrees. Breaking the heart of Lu Ming Yu. He knew that all of this was a ploy to get the company from falling into his hands.

With the help of Lu Ming Yu, Jiang Cheng Cheng, and Su Qi Ran they were able to get the evidence to help Ye Xi Yan get away from Cui Zi Hao once and for all and relay all of misdeeds even kidnapping Ye Xi Yan three years ago and Lu Ming Yu was the bodyguard who saved her.

You have a lot of kisses throughout the drama and ML really gets into his kisses -- check out his steamy hot shower scene with the FL. Wow! Is all I can say, didn't see that coming. But you won't be disappointed with the kisses of these two.

Yes, there is a happy ending with both couples. Jiang Cheng Cheng and Su Qi Ran each of have their businesses and are together. As for Ye Xi Yan and Lu Ming Yu they were of course going to get married and oh, and she tells him that she was pregnant.

I would suggested get yourself a nice cup of hot brewed tea and enjoy this drama, it is worth the cup!

Leia Mais

When the Bells of Love Stop

If you are thinking this is going to be a romantic love story -- it is, but tragically sad.

You see this is about a love that spans over 500 years...

Shen Qi (Amber Song) lived in a village where she fell upon the wounded Chi Ye (Li Dai Kun). The two eventually fell in love and married. But on the day of the wedding, Chi Ye picked up his sword (we don't know why he wanted to kill everyone in the clan) to kill Shen Qi's clan. The clan chief foresaw what would unfold and told Shen Qi that her mission was whenever Chi Ye's sword pointed at her clan members, she had to die under his sword to make Chi Ye feel guilty. She assured the clan chief that no matter what she would do exactly that.

She blocked the sword with her body and died in Chi Ye's arms. Chi Ye was filled with so much grief holding the bloody Shen Qi in his arms, he couldn't bear losing her, "How can I live alone" as he held a dagger in his hand to end his life. Just then he hears bells and a woman's voice, "Do you want to save her?" As he turns his head around, he sees an old woman, cane clicking on the hard ground with bells ringing. She says, "I can let her wake up but there's a price to pay. Her bells turn into a nail on your chest. She'll wake up 500 years later because of you and you never get hurt in endless years. You can never be with her, or their will be punishment. Chi Ye asks, "What is the punishment. Will it hurt her?" Amanma response, "Since red rope is tied, disaster lurks within good fortune. Remember what I said. Even if she wakes up you can never love each other. Love stays so long as you are alive. Only the forever-running water knows the melancholy." She repeats the last words until she disappears.

Fast forward 500 years later...

As Chi Ye walks to the tree of bells, he remembers his last parting words with the Amanma.
Chi Ye, "When will she wake up."
Amanma: "500 years later when the bells on the tree stop ringing, Shen Qi will wake up."
Chi Ye: "Okay. I'll wait for that day."

Looking at the bells and hearing them ringing as they blow upon the breeze of the wind, he contemplates when will the bells stop ringing. Just at that moment...they stop. He finally will get to see her. Turning and looking around, one of the bells falls from the tree and lands on the ground in front of him. Bending to pick it up, he hears a voice, "That's my bell." Hesitant to look up, he eventually does. In the tree, is Shen Qi, "I can't get down. Can you help me?"

Thus begins Shen Qi and Chi Ye's love story on Silver Bell Island.

Somehow, six years goes by until the next meeting of the couple. When they do meet, Shen Qi falls in love at first sight with Chi Ye. She will not be deterred in any way and begins to chase him. However, Chi Ye's constant rejection and avoidance of her makes Shen Qi think that it's all just wishful thinking, until she tells him "My wish is to be with you". With those words Chi Ye's heart begins to loosen.

They begin to spend endless days together just enjoying life and begin with each other so much so until they decide to get married. But all good things as they say.

Shen Qi finds out about their past life together and breaks up but they both realize their love is what they both want so they decide to face everything that fate has for them together. Their wedding was held, with all of the islanders looking on. Chi Ye finally got his moment with Shen Qi -- to make her his wife -- to be husband and wife.

But again, he was faced with the memories of what Amanma had told him.

Chi Ye: "What if we still love each other?"
Amanma: "Then punishment shall befall us. To avoid it, there is only one way, that is to forge a small knife with the silver ringing on Shen Qi and remove the nail from your chest. But once this contract is broken, her life will come to an end. And you'll return to your normal self.
Chi Ye: "I will never do that."
Amanma: "Cause and effect are always there, destiny is uncertain."

Cause and effect, haunting words which plagued both Shen Qi and Chi Ye since things were beginning to happen on the island. People were getting sick, crops dying, flowers wilting, etc. They knew they had to do something. As they walked along the trail and Shen Qi shared with Chi Ye the six years when she appeared on the island and how she had no memory, they both heard the ringing of bells and the click of the cane...Amanma.

Amanma: "You came here after all. Ling Yi Gu Shu. Infinity of force method. Once offended. There must be a disaster. Chi Ye, with his obsession with you. Change one's life against heaven. Now you two violated the taboo of ancient art will be punished."
Shen Qi: "What if the contract is terminated? Is there any way to terminate the contract? It can make everything go back to the past."
Amanma: "Once the contract is broken, can only accept punishment. And the real punishment is the fall of the island."

Shen Qi has a recall of a memory while Amanma and Chi Ye look on.

Amanma: Shen Qi, I thought you saw it all.
Shen Qi runs away while Chi Ye confronts Amanma.
Amanma: "Do you know the problem now? "
Chi Ye: "Problem. What's the problem? What's wrong with our love?"
Amanma "Now Shen Qi realizes that Silver Bell cast into a knife if you cut out the silver nail from you with a knife Shen Qi will die. I'll give you one last chance. Come to me when you think it's over. Silver nail removable. The collapse of the island can be solved."
Chi Ye: "What's the price this time?"
Amanma: "The life of you and Shen Qi will all end. There are only seven days left in my life. Ruthless is too bitter. Love is evil."

With that said, Chi Ye went back and told a distraught Shen Qi that there was another way. Amanma gave him two rings that that would let them share each other's pain, when they take the silver nail from his chest, they will only have seven days left. She agrees.

You see them spending those last seven days with laughter, love and so much happiness. The gray begins to show in their hair. Shen Qi rest her head on Chi Ye's shoulder. Chi Ye smiles as he thinks of the memories of their love story. He closes his eyes, smiles and rest his head on Shen Qi's. They quietly pass away on the swing holding hands.

Do you believe this was a true story? You see a couple at the end who is listening to a woman telling them this story. They both are in disbelief whether to believe her or not. The woman assures them it is true. She is selling silver bells which leads them to believe she is duping them only to sell the bells.

We also have a second couple Luo Fei (Yu Yi Lei) and Qi Yang (Miao Wei Lun) who fall in love and have a beautiful love story. Qi Yang was the assistant to Chi Ye and knew his secret. Luo Fei came on the island to get away but ended up leaving but coming back to the island because she had fallen for Qi Yang. Qi Yang ended up being the new island owner with Luo Fei by his side.

I really did enjoy this story. I felt there were definitely some missing pieces which could have explain things a bit better. Both couples are so good together. You find yourself hoping that there will be a change in fate for our main couple, but that wasn't to be. Touching, yet such a sad story.

Leia Mais

Teasing that Leaves You Breathless and Wanting...More!

It most certainly does! Honestly, the sensuality of this ML (Jesse Ren aka Xu Zhe Qing) goes from 0-100 in mere seconds. Talk about hot, this man is s-i-z-z-l-i-n-g! You will be catching your breath every time you see how Xu Zhe Qing comes onto his FL (Gao Rong Fang aka Wen Xi/Wen Hao), but Wen Xi is not to be outdone, oh no, she gives it back to him just as good. And just when you are so involved, the episode ends. That is what draws you into this drama and get ready for an adrenaline rush!

Xu Zhe Qing is a mercenary hired to go to the Border of Country M to save Wen Xi who has been abducted. He has to arrive by the evening to enter into a contest because the prize to the winner – Wen Xi. Of course, Xu Zhe Qing does his thing and wins her. But you probably wonder how Wen Xi got into this situation. Well, three hours prior, she tried to help a girl who said loan sharks were chasing her. Wen Xi finds out to late that it was a set up by the girl for her to be her replacement.

Winning the fight, Xu Zhe Qing throws Wen Xi over his shoulders and takes her to the bedroom. He tells her not to struggle because she will need her strength as he puts her up against the wall. Keeping her arms around his neck, he takes his hand and proceeds to take off her shoes. Sliding his hand up her leg and still having her legs and arms wrapped around him, he puts her in his arms and carries her over to the shower. Placing her on the floor and cutting the shower on (of course we see his white shirt become all wet to reveal his nicely tight chest) he begins to apply water pressure on her legs and cleans them. Putting on a t-shirt, he then takes her to the window and turns her around and tells her if she wants to stay alive that she needs to follow what he tells her to do. Carrying her over to the bed he drops her down and straddles her body and pulls his shirt off and uses it to tie her hands above her head.

Because they are begin watched, he makes it seems like he is going to have sex with her because he picks up her leg with his head down on it. The men watching are satisfied and leave. Xu Zhe Qing, once he knows they are gone drops her leg down and continues to apply ointment on her wound. He was actually blowing on a wound on her leg to stop the sting of the ointment. Now that the men outside were gone, Xu Zhe Qing tell her that he works for a private security company and that her family hired him to get her.

There is a lot of action just when you think he is going to get both of them out only to have an issue arise that he doesn't.

Some of his sexiest moves during their captivity:
- Coming up behind her after they “supposedly” spent the night together and whispering in her ear that she had to make it believable that they did, so he left a mark on her neck.
- When one of the captors took Wen Xi and he chased them down to get her back only to find they couldn't leave because there was GPS in the car to track them. He then gave the illusion when Mr. Jia and his team approach the car that the two were making out.
- Mr. Jia's daughter drugging him. Wen Xi (ok, no choice here) has to sober him up, hence the best "water kiss" you have ever seen. You can literally hear him swallowing the water, so hot!
- Catching her with one arm (girl must be lighter than a feather) all the while holding a gun.

It is funny to hear Mr. Jia say that he can't believe how Xu Zhe Qing is so into her. The true test comes when Mr. Jia's daughter tells her father that she wants him. Xu Zhe Qing tells him that he will go with her only if he can have Wen Xi come as well. This was the opportunity for her to escape with the help of his "man Friday - Ren." But again, it was foiled due to the fact that Wen Xi knew they were testing him, and to Xu Zhe Qing's surprise and to Mr. Jia and his daughter, she comes out of the dressing room asking him if he likes her dress.

Finally, the escape happens, and we now meet SML (Liu Tian Yang aka Ling Yuan) who Xu Zhe Qing was told by Mr. Jia to kill. He doesn't kill him and they too like Wen Xi escape unscathed.

Thus begins the adventures of Xu Zhe Qing and Wen Xi.

Wen Xi finds out that the contract payment was $1,640,000 which is more than two years of her sister's salary. She asks Xu Zhe Qing if there is a discount, and he tells her he does need a female partner for some things so he tells her that she can help him in order to pay off her contract. Eventually, he tells her there will be no more jobs. The contract is invalid. He rips it up. Before they part ways, Wen Xi gives him her number and tells him the next time he is in China to call her.

Three years later, Wen Xi is back to her life. Xu Zhe Qing is back to his or is he. The number Wen Xi gave him was in his pocket of the clothes that Ren washed and, you got it, the number was unreadable. Fast forward and Xu Zhe Qing see Wen Xi as she is fixing her hair in front of a convenience store window. He follows her and see her bending down on the ground. He offers her his hand. Only for her to hand him a nail that was near his car tire because she didn’t want to have his car run over it. Xu Zhe Qing is surprised that she shows no reaction or recognition of him. But in her haste, or was it, he found her key card with the name "Wen Hao" indicating to him it was not Wen Xi but at least he found out where she was working which was the same company as him. He would test her to see if she really was Wen Hao or Wen Xi.

Working in the office and same company posed as a challenge to not only Wen Xi but Xu Zhe Qing as well. They always seemed to have the steamiest encounters. You will never look at a chair in an office the same way. Trust me. Oh, and the glasses he wears, that even makes him hotter to Wen Xi. She continues, with the utmost effort not to be swayed by Xu Zhe Qing. That went by the wayside when both her and Xu Zhe Qing are basically working on the same case. He is trying to prove his father's innocence with regards to embezzlement and she trying to find out about who killed her twin sister.

Xu Zhe Qing does find out that she is the Wen Xi that he fell in love with three years ago. She gets drunk and he questions her, and she reveals everything. This makes Xu Zhe Qing very happy.

Finding information, and mind you, we find out that Xu Zhe Qing has been setting up Wen Xi in different ways to find out what she knows. Case in point, she finds papers and gets caught. Of course, Xu Zhe Qing comes to the rescue. As the guy gets away, the papers and key go out into the road. Xu Zhe Qing goes to get them and almost gets hit by a truck. Now, this has to be the HOTTEST kiss!!! She runs over to him after finding out he is safe and he takes her in his arms and he gives her the most passionate, I mean passionate (look closely, you see that tongue action) kiss. Remember, this is a man that has been wanting her for THREE years. You gonna love this man, for real!

She reveals the truth to him about her sister and everything and the papers he is holding will prove what her sister was doing and reopen the case. But what he does will surprise you. He burns them right in front of her. At that point, he lost her.

The other nemesis in all this is Ling De Chang, who is the father to Ling Quan and is the best friend of Xu Zhe Qing and lover of Wen Xi's sister Wen Hao.

But again, instead of these two working together so many miscommunications ran rapid. Due to the fact of them both wanting to find out the same things but going about it differently, but also Ling Yuan who posed a problem for both of them. He pitted them against each other to do what his father wanted. It was up to Ling Yuan to kill both of them so that the company would survive and none of their dirty dealings would be revealed.

Xu Zhe Qing was trying to protect Wen Xi so, he had her leave her job, move in with him and boy did things heat up at home too. But Wen Xi was at the point that she no longer trusted Xu Zhe Qing so she went rogue a lot which drove him insane because he was afraid, he would not be there to protect her. This reached a head after he told her everything that had happened with his father and how he used her. She could not bear anymore deception from him and told him the relationship was over.

As she was leaving to go Xu Zhe Qing snatched her back not once, not twice, but three times until he pushed her on the couch. Holding her down and beginning to cry and covering her mouth with his hand, not having the words yet to say to her, Xu Zhe Qing finally uttered “I’m sorry. I was too arrogant.” He said this to her over and over, all the while staring at her until his lips come down on hers in another passionate kiss, saying to her, "From now on, you protect Xu Zhe Qing and Yu Zhe." He then continued kissing her until he wakes up the next morning naked in bed looking for Wen Xi. He thinks she is gone only for her to appear and say that she was going to get breakfast, and he needs more sleep because his eyes are still puffy from crying.

You know it couldn’t go smoothly. Ling Yuan's dad gets her at the convenience store and calls Xu Zhe Qing and tells him to bring the phone which Wen Xi’s sister had copied all the information of where the monies went. He takes the phone and has to go back to Border M to get Wen Xi.

At last, getting to her, he gets in the car and is given the key by Ling Yuan which didn’t work because he took control of the car. Disabled the breaks. He and Wen Xi jump out of the car before it went into the water.

One last attempt to take out the duo is when they were caught by Ling Yuan's father. Xu Zhe Qing is held in a separate room while Wen Xi awakes to find Ling Yuan's father making the decision to wipe out her memories and turn her into her sister Wen Hao. But the doctor turns out to be Xu Zhe Qing who breaks out and comes to the rescue of Wen Xi. As they are leaving, they run into Ling Yuan who is dressed in black, just as Xu Zhe Qing did on his assignments. He gives them keys to the car to escape. Ling Yuan's father shoots and unbeknownst to him until he takes off the mask, he has killed his own son.

Everything comes to fruition and the illegally raised funds under the name of Yu Wan Qing, the sudden death of Wen Hao six months ago, exposing G.E's money laundering, illegal transactions brought the case finally to be tried.

There was another love match with Ren (Xu Zhe Qing's bestie) and SFL (Zhang Ya Meng aka Qiao Fei). They are too cute together because he is so much younger than her. He has the same sexiness that he takes from watching his boss. You will enjoy those two as well.

At last, our couple is together and just as we get another moment of them giving us those hot kisses. Wen Xi stops him to open up the parcel that came. To their surprise in the box is a black mask and outfit which is Xu Zhe Qing's signature outfit with a note -- "Don't slack off. This isn't over yet."

Yes, we are looking for a season 2!!!!

Jesse Ren is definitely one to put on the hot list of short dramas along with: Dai Gao Zheng (Forever Love), Richard Li (The Deliberation of Love), Yang Ze (The Killer is Also Romantic), Fan Zhi Yan (My Lethal Man), Tsao Yu Ning (Mysterious Love) and another newcomer Yu Yang (First Marriage). All of these are the hottest men when it comes to passionate kisses.

I can only say, this is another drama that is definitely worth the watch. Get ready, this will be one that will not only leave you smiling but also have your pulses racing.

Leia Mais

What Do You Call Love?

I took my time writing this review because I wanted to digest such a wonderfully well executed drama.

We all have high expectations when watching these dramas. Why? Because we invest so many hours each week watching episodes. This drama is a hidden gem that you will definitely want to watch. The title, "Call It Love" you are drawn to it because we see these two beautiful people looking at each other and think what a great love story, I'm getting ready to watch. Which it is but, it isn't your "traditional" love story; we all think of as, Boy meets girl. They fall in love. Couple has issues with their families, an adversary to break up the couple, couple gets back together, and, in the end, true love prevails. In my opinion this isn't that type of love story.

Lee Sung Kyung as Shim Woo Joo is our main character that has decided to make things right by seeking revenge and getting justice in the loss of their family home. She does this by getting close and working at the same company as Han Dong Jin. Seeing Shim Woo Joo for the first time, you see a woman that has eyes that are expressionless, you can't read her due to the aloofness. She has a coldness that emulates her every fiber along with her no-filter type of personality which I believe is her mechanism to keep people at bay. But there is another side that she saves and hides which is a supportive, caring, loving individual that has such pain that you want to just want to wrap your arms around her. The first few minutes of just seeing her I could tell she would give us a performance to remember. And she did in spades!

Kim Young Kwang as Han Dong Jin was the male lead that was in some respects a man that had the "weight of the world" on him. He was reserved, quiet, thoughtful, and loved his mother unconditionally, which was his weakness and his downfall. When he found out everything that Shim Woo Joo had done, he felt more pain and sorrow for what his mother had done to Shim Woo Joo's family. So as the saying goes, "the sins of his mother" became the "sins of the son" which HE willingly accepted because of his love for his mother. But then after all was said and done, we got to see him go his journey of self-discovery and eventual happiness. Another poignant performance which held you.

Lee Sung Kyung and Kim Young Kwang in this drama were so well suited and cast. Each scene they were in together just held us all in the palm of their hands relishing such thought-provoking performances. We didn't even need them to speak because them not speaking made us get to see the emotions that their silence portrayed to us their every gesture, look, glance, smile, and we were so honored to be a part of those beautiful moments by this extraordinary couple.

There were so many nuances that touch you but two in particular for me.

The first was when Shim Woo Joo's mother was meeting Han Dong Jin's mother at the home which her husband had left to the children, and it was first time they were meeting. This to me was a pivotal moment for Shim Woo Joo's mother because she had the flashback to when she left the house and smashed the potted plant at the bottom of the stairs. Her remembering this, and seeing her expression, the sigh that she let out, meant she had finally left all those emotions of her husband leaving her with that smashed potted plant all those years ago. She now had the strength to confront this woman that no longer held any meaning to what had happened.

The second scene which I believe was so meaningful was when Shim Woo Joo and Han Dong Jin were standing in front of the house and Shim Woo Joo was telling him everything about the revenge that she wanted to take to get the house back. But as in usual fashion for Han Dong Jin he knew that Shim Woo Joo did not mean to hurt him per se, hence him saying to her, "Because you didn't. But in the end, you couldn't take your revenge on me. I wasn't ruined." He wasn't ruined. How profound is that? After everything that had transpired, his only thought was she didn't ruin me. He wasn't feeling any animosity towards her because he had fallen in love with her as she with him.

They both in some respect would have come out of this situation unscathed but there were still ramifications that did follow so they accepted their fate and broke up. But like all things it takes time for everyone to take a beat, step away and just let go of what no longer matters. Love in the end did go full circle bringing the happiness that everyone deserved.

This drama really had so many meanings that everyone of us can take as we see. I fully enjoyed every moment of it. There is so much more I could write but I feel you need to experience this drama for yourself. Take the time and watch it.

And keep in mind as you are watching it; What is your meaning of love? What do you call love? Think about it...

Leia Mais

Can I Please Go in the Novel with Ji Chu

How would you like to become a female lead in your own novel? Such is the drama of Different Princess. Hua Qing (Ireine Song) is a novelist who has been writing her novel online. Hua Qing was proud of herself as an author for being innovative and keeping the villain evil up until the very end--killing off the male lead successfully. She had thought this idea would captivate her readers. As the novel uploaded “The Tale of Yun and Xi,” Hua Qing was excited to see all the comments. Only they were not as positive as she had hoped, as a matter of fact, the readers were livid. She had killed of their beloved male lead. The readers began to type, “Curse her, Curse her.”

Being the author, she didn’t care and told them to go ahead and curse her. She was never changing the ending and a bad ending is an ending too. Well, be careful what you wish for. Her keyboard began to move on its own and her screen turned red with the words ‘Curse.” Taken aback she wiped her eyes to make sure this was what she was seeing.

The following words appeared: ‘Dear Author, your reader enmity level has reached its limit. Please change the ending of “The Tale of Yun and Xi.” Revive Ji Yun and make him topple Ji Chu. If not, the plot will backfire on you.”

Of course, Hua Qing thought it was nonsense. Reader enmity? What kind of stupid setting is this, she thought.

Then the next choices came up:
A. Change the ending.
B. No way in hell.

You know she picked “B” – no way in hell. Her computer went black and cut off. As she banged on her keyboard as well as her screen--nothing happened. She thought it just died. Tired from all the nights of getting the novel completed, Hua Qing went to sleep. Falling asleep, her computer cuts back on and takes the pages of the novel back to Chapter 3: To suppress Ji Chu, Hua Qingge marries into Liang. She was murdered by Ji Chu and thrown into the pond.

Waking up, she finds herself in wedding attire as Ji Chu with sword in hand—kills her.

Her computer states: “You’ve been killed by the backfiring plot. As you failed to change the plot, the plot shall be replayed.”

Waking up the next time, she is still in wedding attire, and very much alive.

After avoiding death, she discovers that she had now become a character in “The Tale of Yun and Xi.” Where she is Hua Qingge, Princess of Fuyu to be married to Ji Chu the villain. Her mind goes back and sees the novel in her head and remembers that she is the niece of the current empress. She came all the way from Fuyu to marry Ji Chu. People thought she died because she fell into the pond by accident, but he killed her on their wedding night.

Since the princess died on her wedding night this caused a huge conflict between the two kingdoms. That was also the reason why Ji Chu committed the deed. Under the emperor’s order, everyone acknowledge the fact that Hue Qingge slipped and fell to her death. They buried her in secret.

Thus begins Hua Qing’s journey with rewriting the novel.

The drama gives us everything that you would want – palace intrigue, villains, jealousy,
misunderstandings, poisons, deaths, stabbings, fights and solving crimes. Pretty exciting, huh? You will not be disappointed in the least.

Hua Qingge found herself at every turn trying to dissuade Ji Chu from his villainous ways, but little did she know that he had his reasons. She remembered that his mother had been poisoned, turned into a demon and killed at the emperor's birthday. Ji Chu was out for revenge to prove that the empress was the killer of his mother and plotting a rebellion.

Empress Hua Yunni always lived in the shadow of Ji Chu's mother who the emperor adored. So much so that he kept her picture hidden behind another one just to look at her. You see, he wanted Ji Chu's mother to be the empress, but jealousy prevented that by her being killed by Empress Hua Yunni who wanted her son, Ji Yun (Sun Zu Jun) the crown prince to have the throne, not Ji Chu.

We also have Ji Wan Er who was the sister to both Ji Chu, Ji Yun and Ji Feng. Sadly, Ji Feng dies at the hands of the empress. Ji Wan Er falls in love with Gong Ye Qi, owner of the Mystic Medicine House. The two fall in love. But the empress had other plans and broke them up and decided to marry her off. Then we have the marriage of Ji Yun to Lin Xi Yao. Ji Yun had his heart set on Hua Qingge, but he knew that Ji Chu would never give her up because he truly loved her.

There isn't a story without the other woman and in this case, it was the Princess Wei Nan Yi from Liang that protected Ji Chu as he was an envoy there along with Gong Ye Qi as his friend and doctor. She turned out to be a good person that knew when to give up fighting for Ji Chu but was willing to give advice to Hua Qingge in understanding him.

I found the saddest and most preventable death was that of Ji Wan Er. Ji Chu did help his sister by faking her death as she went to the other kingdom for marriage. He eventually told Gong Ye Qi who was in love with her that she was still alive. They got married and she were expecting a child. After the rebellion started by the empress at the palace, Gong Ye Qi went to settle the score of her killing his family. Getting ready to kill her, one of the panels to the hallway opened. But that time, he had already thrusted the blade towards the empress, but it was Ji Wan Er that he stabbed not the empress. She unfortunately opened the panel just as he was going to stab the empress. To see his anguish, he killed both mother and child. He never recovered from the loss.

So shall we talk about Ji Chu (Ding Ze Ren). This man will send your pulses racing. Yes, they will. His smoldering eyes, those pillow-kissed lips and that voice. You can’t help but swoon when you see him. Your eyes cannot leave him. Especially when he is with Hua Qingge. At first, we know they will not get along but when he finds out he loves her and can't be without her. You will be screaming for her to stay with this man, even though it is a novel.

Sadly, Hua Qingge realizes that the novel is coming to an end as she notices her hand fading. She makes the decision to start pushing Ji Chu away from her.

As Hua Qingge sits on the floor crying and fading, she says, "I still have so much to tell you. I haven't seen you let go of your hatred. I can't leave." Ji Chu is walking away from her until he hears her scream his name. Turning around quickly, "Qing, Qing, what's wrong with you? Don't scare me. Qing." She jumps surprisingly into Ji Chu's arms still crying, "Ji Chu, I've never betrayed you. I just wanted to duplicate a fake fish-shaped token for the empress." Comforting her as he held her in his arms he says lovingly, "I know Qing. As long as you say the word, I'll always believe you no matter what."

But as time goes by, Hua Qingge knows she has to leave him without saying a word. Ji Chu goes to find Hua Qingge but when he doesn't find her, he becomes frantic. He sends his men out to search for her. He eventually finds her fending off a would-be attacker, and of course, he gets rid of him.

JC: "You are wandering around the streets in the middle of the night instead of going home. what are you trying to do?"
Hua Qingge walks away from him only for him to get in her path.
HQ: "What is it that you need, Prince Chu?"
JC: "You are my princess consort. Of course, I'm here to take you home."
HQ: "I already told you very clearly. Why do you want to keep me by your side? The marriage between us is just a conspiracy. If everything went as planned, I would've been dead already."
JC:"I was wrong before this. But now, I can't be without you anymore."
HQ: "I'm a spy sent by Her Majesty. You know that."
JC: "I don't care."
HQ: "I do. Ji Chu we are doomed, to begin with, you are with Wei Nan Yi and are meant to be together. The two of you grew up together. Both of you are childhood friends."

Best moment ever (trust me, there are several with this man)! Ji Chu, he doesn't let her speak another word and he gave her the most passionate "don't say another word kiss". Ever, wow! His hand is locked behind her head, and he is working, I mean working that kiss. He took her breath away and will yours too. The way he looks at her after the kiss...his eyes, the love in them is really overwhelming. If you look at her, I think she even surprised herself, for the passion that she had for him.

JC: "Qing, I've never fallen for any woman other than you. How many times do you want me to tell you that? (Once is good for me) You are the only one in my heart."
She starts to fade again, and she leaves. As Ji Chu goes to grab her his hand goes right through her.
JC: "Your hand."
HQ: "Ji Chu, isn't it better to let me leave quietly?"
JC: "Leave? What's wrong with your hand? Stop keeping it a secret from me."
HQ: "Ji Chu, I'm not from this world. I am an outsider. I come from another world. I'm going to leave soon. And I won't be able to return!"
JC: "You are not from this world. Of course, you are not from here. You came from Fuyu. When everything has settled down, I'll take you home to visit your family."
HQ: "You know that is not what I meant."
JC: "If you think that's not enough, I'll conquer Fuyu after this. If you want to live in Fuyu, I'll make Fuyu the capital city of Liang."
HQ: "I'm not talking about Fuyu, Ji Chu!"
JC: "I know. I'm arrogant and cold-hearted. And I'm emotionally unstable. I'm not proactive enough and not considerate enough. Qing, if I change all of my bad habits, can you stop leaving me? " (Didn't that just break your heart?)
HQ: "Are you just going to ignore the truth?"
JC: "How much time do you have left?"
HQ: "I don't know."
JC: "Hua Qingge, I don't care who you are or where you are from. You are not allowed to leave me."

From that moment on, Ji Chu became very possessive of Hua Qingge, so much so that when he was doing his work, he made her sit on his lap while he read. (Not a bad option in my opinion). But Ji Chu did want to have a more meaningful wedding and night with Hua Qingge, and it was a good one from the looks of it.

But the novel was ending, it was time for the demise of Hua Qingge. As the empress was going all crazy and tried to kill Ji Chu. The empress holds a knife to Hua Qingge's throat. Instead of Ji Chu dying, Hua Qingge takes the knife that the empress has and slits her throat. Ji Chu is devastated. He cradles her in his arm and cries and cries as her body disappears, only to leave her gold bracelet.

Hua Qing wakes up in her bed as if no time has passed. She is crying and calling out for Ji Chu. The clocks begin to tick. She jumps up from the bed and goes to her computer and there is a new ending.

On the day Ji Yun ascended to the throne, he took poison to atone for his mother's sins. Fortunately, Gong Ye Qi saved Ji Yun. From then on, Ji Yun and Lin Xi Yao lived in seclusion at Melodious Serenity Abode, leading a peaceful life. With Gong Ye Qi's treatment, Emperor Xuanqi was saved from the brink of death but still required long-term bed rest. Therefore, Emperor Xuanqi abdicated in favor of the third prince, Ji Chu. After Ji Chu ascended to the throne, he changed the era to Xian De ushering in the flourishing age of Liang. Emperor Xian De mourned the passing of the late Princess Consort, Hua Qingge. He lived the rest of his life without remarrying, passing away peacefully in old age. - The End

The novel was well received and a guaranteed blockbuster. Leaving the office, the assistant told Hua Qing that her boss was interested in seeing her. She said that she really didn't need to see him and for him to just offer a higher copyright fee. She just bought a new laptop. She was broke. Rushing to leave, she turns around and standing in front of her is Ji Chu. She drops her new laptop. If you pay attention closely you will see the slightest uplift of his brow when she drops it. He opens up his suit coat, drops down on his knee and says, "Hua Quingge. Do you actually have no feelings for me? Are you picking me up and tossing me off?"

The ending is open to your interpretation but if you remember his parting words on the palace steps when he was the new emperor, you will understand:

"Xiao Yan, do you know what is my current wish? I'm now impatiently looking forward to finishing this life. Then go to Qing's world and take a look. "

Wouldn't we all like to take an opportunity to go into a novel? I know I would, Ji Chu, I'm coming....

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There was No Future Here

This drama had great potential based off of the synopsis and also having one of my favorite male leads Luo Zheng. But it faded fast after just the first episode.

Luo Zheng again is playing the role of CEO. At this point of playing a CEO in his last three dramas, including this one, I feel it is time for him to start looking into other roles. He has mastered, in my opinion, how to truly be a CEO that he is being typecasted. It is time to refocus. Let him move onto other roles. But let me tell you about the drama.

Shen Jun Yao (Luo Zheng) is CEO of a tech company that he has put all of this scientific equipment into the home that Xia Mo (Ji Mei Han) is coming back to reclaim. After literally "falling" for him at the airport, the media cast her as the "new" woman that he is seeing. When Xia Mo comes to the house Shen Jun Yao is only willing to share the house and not give it to her. Due to his problem now with what the media misconstrued at the airport he devises a way to keep the house and have her be able to stay as well. How do we handle this? We create a "contractual" couple agreement. Meaning they would be a couple which killed two birds with one stone. Letting her stay in the home but also fixing his problem with the media by having them be a couple. We also have "Starlight" a robot which Shen Jun Yao created to ease his mother's mind after losing his brother in a fire and Danika an AI that is able to access and handle things as needed for Shen Jun Yao and his grandfather, who is the president.

All of that sounded good but this drama went downhill fast.

Xia Mo (Ji Mei Han) was so annoying, bratty, whiny and so miscast as his love interest. I have no idea why Shen Jun Yao, yet alone his brother Lin Heng were so enamored of her. To watch them fighting over her was just sad. Why Shen Jun Yao was even interested in her yet, fall in love with her was so beyond me. Even though these actors have appeared in at least three dramas together. In this one, there was no attraction. It felt so awkward and forced every time they kissed. I cannot tell you how many times I cringed just watching her, yet alone them as a couple. She does get a job at Candy which was a subsidiary to the tech company that Shen Jun Yao was CEO of. But the unbelievable part is she had no experience at all, yet they let her head up major projects. She dressed like she was 12 years old, even her mother mentioned how she was dressed. Watching her go to head up a presentation in front of executives in tennis shoes, suspender blue jeans was just so wrong. I could not stand her when she came on screen.

I was looking to find out "who" was from the future. I guess it was Starlight the robot. I could not think of anything else. There were not that many things I felt were that futuristic. Again, a title that served not purpose for this drama. Yang Ze (Starlight) was the saving grace of this drama. Playing a robot was so well done that I wanted him to have more screen time.

To make the drama even more interested we had Lin Zheng (the real brother of Shen Jun Yao) kidnap Xia Mo. For what? Who knows just added drama. We have Lin Zheng admit to Shen Jun Yao that he was the brother that he left in the burning building. They brothers fight and Starlight saves Xia Mo as she is hanging from the ceiling. But to have more added drama as Lin Zheng has a taser like instrument that he uses on Starlight which damages his core. Shen Jun Yao and Xia Mo have to decide if they save Starlight or let him go due to his core damage. Since Xia Mo is really the owner of Starlight when he saved her in a house fire, she is the one to make the decision on what to do. Of course, it is to save him no matter what the cost. Yeah! Starlight lived.

The brother come to terms with their estrangement over the years and make up. Shen Jun Yao proposes to Xia Mo in front of family and friends. But you would think the ending would consist of a wedding or the family all together, but they show his brother in a police car in handcuffs headed to jail to pay for his crimes. The End.

You notice there was no promotion for this drama. I can see why. It was so poorly thrown together that when it came to the ending you were happy to see it done. If you feel this drama has something futuristic in it, then you definitely have the wrong drama. Don't do it to yourself.

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Do You Wear a Mask?

This drama was led by four women: Do Jae Yi, Yoon Hae Mi, Go Yoo Na and Ju Yu Joeng. These women were not only beautiful, strong, influential but had a sense of bonding, friendship and loyalty. It was nice to see in this drama that no matter what twist, turns or malicious behavior befell each of them in the end they remained true to not only themselves but to each other.

We were dealt with two crimes in this drama which was the catalyst or driving force throughout. Who killed Gi Do Shik, son of the assemblyman Gi Yoon Chul and fiancée of Ju Yu Joeng and the rape of Do Jae Yi by a masked assailant in Suite 2401.

Another subplot was who was the mastermind of the Angel Club which was below an orphanage that belong to the Yeongun Cultural Foundation. The club's criteria consisted of each member wearing a mask to attend all events and they must be rich, powerful, political, and influential.

Of all the ladies that suffered the most it was Do Jae Yi. She never shared with any of the women what had happened that night in Suite 2401. She privately dealt with this matter, and it was horrible to see. She endlessly collected every type of mask to find the one that was worn the evening of her assault. Never allowed herself to become close to anyone especially the man who loved her silently, Choi Kang Hoo. But just when things were finally getting better (meaning she finally knew who her rapist was), we watch the happiness that they both waited for so long end as he dies in front of her. His death really tore me up. It was so sad to see his throat being slit just as he called her name for the last time. That death led to other surprises. Such as: Ju Yu Joeng marrying the rapist of Do Jae Yi and Do Jae Yi finding this information out the same day of her best friend's wedding.

There were many twists and turns throughout this drama that kept you guessing. Just when you thought you were on the right track something else would happen. But the thing that remain true were these women. They may have for a minute thought of being disloyal and thinking of only themselves, but they always knew there was a better way that they could survive without hurting each other.

In the end to find out who was the mastermind behind the Angel Club was the biggest surprise to me. You never really look his way because he seems so insignificant. He hovered in the background always looking smug. In listening to the reasons for him doing all that he did with killing Gi Do Shik, Song Je Hyeok and Choi Kang Hoo along with all the other tasteless things he did was shocking to say the least. His explanation to Do Jae Yi: "Power defeats the law" really didn't help him in the end. He tried to take everything away from Do Jae Yi and even tried to get her to run the "new" Angel Club which he envisioned for her, but the one thing power couldn't buy him was his own mortality. His own man that he trusted all along ended his life. So much for loyalty.

One final thought that was said: "To survive in this world people put on a mask either knowingly or unknowingly. You think you get credit for living without a mask? What do you see behind the mask? Truth? Look. What do you see right now? Truth is always ugly and dirty. Thats why you have a mask. Because the ugly truth gets hidden if you put on a mask. Are you wearing one now?"

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One...Two...Three...Click

There is a saying that goes like this, “A tiger leaves its fur after death and humans leave photographs as evidence of their life.’

The Midnight Studio is now opened.

We have countless memories in our lives, but there is one we can’t photograph – it is the memory of the last breath.

If there were a studio that took photos of your last memories, the ones that you couldn’t take when you were alive, wouldn’t you want that? Somewhere between life and death. Somewhere on the treacherous and arduous path of death. It only allowed you to want it desperately. You cannot go back once you get lost on the path to death. You have to walk in the skin-cutting snowstorm, across the valley where the ground splits and fills with molten lava and go through endless mazes to finally reach this place. What place is that? A photo studio only for the dead – a photo studio that only opens at night.

The secret of this drama was based on the camera which could not only take photographs of the dead but also the miraculous power to bring them back to life. Many intruders tried to get the camera, but the Grim Reaper was the guardian and its protector.

One soul came to the Netherworld and stole the reaper’s belongings. His Excellency made it back to his child who was ready to die with the camera, but the Grim Reaper followed him. Chastising him for taking the camera and he wanted it back. His Excellency begged the reaper to let him have the camera to save his child and let him live until his age, 35. The reaper agreed telling him that his sons and all his descendants that follow will all end with the same fate. The dead would chase them during their very short lives. His Excellency agreed to the reaper’s demands. But with this agreement, little did he know that he created a curse that lasted thousands of generations.

The ML (Joo Won aka Seo Ki Joo) was the 7th photographer in his family that ran a photo studio that only ghosts frequent. The FL (Kwon Na Ra aka Han Bom) is a lawyer who unbeknownst to her would become involved with Seo Ki Joo due to their past history.

Seo Ki Joo has two ghosts who were earthly bound which were: Assistant Manager Go (Yoo In Soo aka Go Dae Ri) and a former police officer (Eum Moon Suk aka Baek Nam Gu) who were in charge of bringing in ghosts as customers as well as handling closure to cases to help the ghosts move on.

Assistant Manager Baek Num Gu was a violence crime unit detective who married his childhood sweetheart. On the night of their anniversary, he promised her he would be home on time. Chasing and cornering the perp they began to fight and in split second Baek Num Gu was stabbed and died. His partner came too late and found him dead. Staying bound and not leaving he wanted to help his partner find who killed him which eventually he did. Baek Num Gu had the ability to hold objects and move them.

Assistant Manager Go was earthly bound due to dying of a heart attack on the job from overwork. The day of his heart attack he was to go on a blind date. He thought that Han Bom was his blind date until he realized her roommate was the woman he was looking for. His ability was he was able to take possession of another person’s body for approximately 20 minutes. This allowed him to go on dates with Kim Ji Won. She did figure out that he was a ghost.

Han Bom was connected to Seo Ki Joo based off her car accident with her parents and also his uncle being at the scene at the time. He died trying to save Han Bom.

This drama gives us various poignant moments as we learn more about the studio and are given beautifully crafted stories of the "ghost" who will or are facing death.
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- The Virgin Ghost Bride
- The child is Han Bom (she was in a coma)
- The husband who the police believed killed him in the hospital
- The priest
- Han Bom’s grandmother
- The CEO
- The high school senior
- The twin brothers
- The con
- Seo Ki Joo's uncle
- The evil stalker

There is one particularly funny part when all the "ghost priest" are dancing to Aespa. Hilarious. They do get out of character; you will definitely enjoy that.

Of course, everything cannot all be happy and light. We do have an evil spirit that possesses a stalker and finally takes full possession of Lieutenant Lee Seon Ho. His demise comes on the death of our favorite detective...Baek Num Gu.

Each moment with the “soon-to-be-departed” Seo Ki Joo would take a photograph. The camera would only allow him to take two shots. The first one of the living and dead to meet each other. These are such heart wrenching moments that you better have some tissues nearby. The second photo signifies – goodbye or their final departure. This is also so gut wrenching. The lovely part is as they watch them leave and fighting through their tears, the last photo of the desperate souls last moments falls down giving them that inner peace and memory of their final goodbye.

Seo Ki Joo did find out how his brother did die. He did have the opportunity to take the last photograph of his brother.

To lift the curse Seo Ki Joo had to take the camera back to the Netherworld and to the Grim Reaper. He was successful but unfortunately, he could not leave. It took him one year to come back with the help of the twin brother who he had helped cross over.

The ending -- we see them all sitting ready for a photograph together and as we know that Seo Ki Joo and Han Bom will be happily together but unfortunately for Kim Ji Won and Assistant Go, he was just a spirit who one day would have to cross over.

I can only say how much this drama touched me personally. Dealing with the loss of my mother and sister made me wish that I would be able to really afford to have such moments one last time. I believe we all would. You will feel so much during this drama as I said, have tissues ready because it just helps in its own way to help all of us seek closure when dealing with death. We never can get over the loss of a loved one but if watching this drama can help, then I say do so, it did in its own special way for me.

Final thoughts regarding the studio: That it helped people who’d only been chasing tomorrow, cherish the precious moments right now. And I’ll ask you to cherish them today.

One, two, three…click

The Midnight Studio is now permanently closed.

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There Was Nothing Lovely Here

In reading the synopsis for this drama, I had high expectations because it sounded so interesting. But I have to say that I was less than thrilled with this drama.

Han Zhen Zhen (mother), Zhuang Jun Jie (father) and Zhuang Ying Wen (daughter) all move as a family to a new home and community for a fresh start due to not only financial issues but for their daughter being bullied at school as well as being sexually assaulted.

In the first couple of episodes the parents completely ignored their daughter who was still struggling with not remembering what happened to her during her time at school. She is on medication and just runs every evening. My mind could not fathom why her parents didn't step in and question her more often on how she was getting along, how she was feeling, they pretty much left her on her own. She did meet one young man in the community, Fan Yan Zhi who was suffering with his own demons. His parents had such high hopes for him that left him putting on a facade everyday with them and everyone else. The only person who saw who he really was, was Zhuang Ying Wen.

The whole basis of this drama was how two young individuals struggled with things they have done and the domino effect and impact that it had on the lives of those they loved.

To see Fan Yan on the rooftop and confess to Zhuang Ying he was the one that had sexually assaulted her was an eye opener. But to add further to this confession was the fact that his mother was on the rooftop as well and heard. Fan's mother tried to convince him that she was to blame for all the hardships he had to endure by not listening to him. He was undeterred by her sentiments and jump off the roof. But his mother still managed to hold onto his hand and would not let go until he convinced her to let him finally make one decision for himself. She did. Releasing his hand from hers, she watched him fall to the ground.

The other eye-opening moment was to find out that Zhuang Ying was not the person who was bullied but the one who did the bullying. All these emotional build ups led her to shut down and cut off all her memories because of what she herself had done to her best friend as well as being sexually assaulted.

These two pieces were the catalyst that drove this drama. If they would have focused on these moments and expanded more in depth, this would have been much more interesting to me.

Even the last episode they tried to clean everything up by jumping one year and bringing closure where I still felt it was just thrown together to give us an ending all neatly tied together but it was not, it, to me was rushed.

In my opinion this did not need to be a nine-episode drama. The last two episodes were the most poignant pieces which would have made for a much better movie than dragging it out into nine episodes.

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A Friend Until the End

Wow! Talk about crazy. This is actually a drama that you can binge watch. You probably will want to with all the craziness that goes on. Hang on!

It starts out with Duan Ruo Nan doing a video proposing to her boyfriend Li Xiao. In the middle of the video, she gets a call from Fan Xiao Wei saying she is going to kill herself. Duan Ruo Nan then calls Li Xiao and they both go to Fan Xiao Wei's apartment and find her in the bathtub with her wrist slit. They take her to the hospital.

But Duan Ruo Nan finds out from Fan Xiao Wei's the reason why she slit her wrist and it is because her ex-boyfriend was getting married, and so Duan Ruo Nan decides to interrupt the proceedings. Now, Fan Xiao Wei did not ask her to do this, she did this of her own volition. Duo Ruan causes quite the scene at the wedding wielding a baseball bat. The girl he was going to marry breaks up with him. And so, begins the craziness.

Fan Xiao Wei's ex post pictures (because of what DRN did at his wedding) of her on the internet and that puts her in a downward spiral. Duan Ruo feels guilty about what she did to her ex but also, she feels sorry that she tries to kill herself over the situation, so she tells her to stay with her and Li Xiao place for a "few days."

Fan Xiao Wei does seductive stuff to gets Li Xiao's attention, but he is doing pretty good ignoring her, but he eventually caves in. Fan Xiao Wei does a pretty good job of always being "the victim" and appearing helpless and that is why everyone is always on her side.

Duan Ruo Nan tells Fan Xiao Wei that she is going to propose to Li Xiao when they go to the lake. But Fan tells Li Xiao about this. As Duan Ruo is pulling out the rings and goes to put Li Xiao's ring on his finger he jerks back, and the ring goes into the water. He apologizes but Duan Ruo is upset.

Duan Ruo does not understand why he rejected her because they have been together 4 years. (It also doesn't help that Duan Ruo's mother keeps calling her asking when she is getting married.) So, Duan Ruo and Fan go for drinks. She thinks if she shows that other men will want her that Li Xiao will accept the proposal. Duan Ruo gets drunk and Fan calls Li Xiao who comes to get them both. Duan Ruo throws up on Fan and when they get home she has to change. Li Xiao puts Duan Ruo into bed and hears Fan cry out in the bathroom. He asks her if she is alright and says she hurt her ankle. He tells her he is coming in and see her on the bathroom floor with just a towel wrapped around her. He helps her up only to have Fan's towel fall down. (Like we didn't know that was going to happen). Duan Ruo wakes up and starts calling for Li Xiao. They are both in the bathroom and so Fan tells her he went to get something to sober her up. They got out of that.

As Duan Ruo and Li Xiao both head to work they leave Fan there. She calls Li Xiao and tells him she is sick. Unbeknownst to Fan that Duan Ruo has to come back to pick up documents, she had called Li Xiao to tell him that she was sick and needed medicine. He jumps at the opportunity. Enter Duan Ruo who comes to get those documents she left and asks Fan why she just has a nightie on, she tells her she is sick. Then low and behold here comes Li Xiao in. Duan Ruo asks him why he is there, and he says he is sick. So, Duan Ruo stays home to take care of them both. No action there...oh, well!

Then there is the necklace. Duan Ruo finds the necklace that she believes is for her but really Li Xiao bought it for Fan. Now, Duan Ruo is still clueless and still trying to propose to Li Xiao. They go to dinner only to have him tell her he has to go meet a client. But Fan had text him and told him that she was moving out. Of course, giving him the address. He leaves the restaurant only to have Duan Ruo following him to the hotel.

She catches them together and sees the necklace that she believes was hers around Fan's neck. Duan Ruo goes to pack to leave. (She has her own place because I was wondering why she was leaving giving them her place.) They argue and Li Xiao just tells her he never wanted to marry her, and she is suffocating him with wanting to get married. He fell in love with Fan at first sight. Duan Ruo is visibly upset and rightly so because here are two people she trusted, and they now dissed her.

It is funny how Fan bounced back like two days after her man left her, but you will know why. Li Xiao thought he had the perfect girl. Only to find out that Fan was clingy, obsessive, paranoid and a psychopath. She called and text him at work nonstop. He took 7 days off just to be with her. That still wasn't enough. She put an app on his phone, so she knew where he was and was getting all of his text messages because she felt he was still seeing Duan Ruo. Which he really wasn't but he realized he made a mistake in choosing Fan because of the behavior she was showing him once they got together. That is probably why her ex left her as well.

Duan Ruo on the other hand did so well at her job because of her performance, she was sent to another branch. This is where she meets the man she will eventually end up with Wu Ze. Her job is going well and of course there is always one that doesn't like you and that is Beija. She doesn't like Duan Ruo from day one and doesn't make her life easy.

Finally, Li Xiao can't take Fan anymore and breaks up with her. She agrees to him breaking up with her if he gives her 300,000 yuan because her father is in the hospital. He tells her he can't give her all of that but some and he wants her gone. She says she doesn't know where to get the rest of the money. He tells her to get a job. Ya think!

Fan sends out her resume and keeps getting rejected. She finally lands at the same company Duan Ruo is at. Beija sees that they went to the same college. Fan (I have to give her credit on this) told her that they were not really friends, and she didn't want to work there.) Beija insists and hires Fan. Beija hired her because she knew that Fan would be quite the nemesis for her with Duan Ruo.

Fan again always acted like the victim, and she wasn't. She took projects from her, locked her up, smashed a bottle that was exclusive to the marketing team (Li Xiao found a duplicate for her), took more projects away from her by lying that she did them, and pitted her against the other co-workers. I mean she just went totally nuclear. It also didn't help that Beija was aiding her as well. Duan Ruo's only ally was Wu Ze who fell in love with her and wanted her to be his gf. He was always supportive and helping her but at some points he couldn't because the evidence would always fall in Fan's favor.

We still have Li Xiao now wanting Duan Ruo back and she kept telling him they were done. Wu Ze stepped in and told him that she was his gf now.

Things reach the final breaking point when Beija got back the director who was basically molesting the female employees. Beija got booted out because Fan set her and Duan Ruo up. She got what she wanted which was a higher position than Duan Ruo, but the price was her.

At the end of all of this craziness, it was that Duan Ruo, Wu Ze, Fan and Li Xiao had to all band together to take down the boss who was not only molesting woman but illegally doing things at the company. Duan Ruo and Wu Ze decided that they were going to travel the world. She eventually forgave Fan and Li Xiao and Duan Ruo just were best friends.

All and all I did enjoy watching it. It is entertaining that is for sure. But it really makes you wonder, how far you will go to help out your best friend.

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