abs-oluteM

This is the premise of the show. Poster is not official

I enjoyed the first 3 episodes very much. Pacing was great & leads have chemistry.

The setting of Nanping is first of all just lovely- a town with character and natural beauty. The way they shot this, along with the use of  the warm filter, is a feast for the eyes. Nanping is the hometown for both ChenMaiDong and Zhuang Jie, though ZJ is now currently residing in Shanghai where she works as a sales representative selling medical equipment. Both their families are still here and the story starts off with us seeing CMD teaching in a conference away from Nanping, and ZJ being wheeled into the surgery room for a minor procedure in Shanghai.

It didn't take long for them to meet where ZJ immediately recognises and greets CMD on the train home to Nanping. ZJ is truly a ball of sunshine - friendly with an infectious smile. Unfortunately CMD does not or claims to not recognise her and immediately set up this invisible wall between them. But of course being the small town that it is , they keep bumping into each other much to her amusement but to his disdain. But I swear , she's going to win him over sooner or later as it is impossible to dislike ZJ. 

So what makes this pairing rather unique is the fact that both don't exactly have the right specs in the "marriage market".  CMD has a job as a mortician - not exactly a job that society looks up to. As the episodes unfold we are also told about his troubled youth being in gangs and beating people up, his parent divorced and remarried and has a ill-tempered grandma who raised him. I love grandma though. She's such a character but also greatly embarrasses him as she goes around looking for a bride. She chances upon ZJ and they hit it off. To grandma's delight, ZJ was school mates with CMD , and grandma finds ZJ a girl with outstanding personality and tries hard to set up ZJ with CMD.

Now ZJ would also likely find it hard to find someone given that she is disabled - has leg amputated and is using a prosthetic . The accident that lead to that killed her father. ZJ mother remarried to a lovely man called Uncle He whom all the kids adore.  ZJ has a brother in uni (by her father)  and much younger sister ( by Uncle He). I love the sibling dynamics - the younger ones clearly look up to ZJ.  Mum also has temper and is strict but loves her children dearly. ZJ left for Shanghai to further her studies and is doing well workwise but has come back to Nanping to recuperate from her minor surgery. 

So the interesting bits is in the backstory between CMD and ZJ, nothing is fully revealed yet but clearly there is a history between them. We are also privy to CMD's past love life and how grandma keeps setting him up on blind dates. However grandma now has her heart quite set on ZJ ( doesn't care about her disability) - this was fueled by what her fortune teller friend tells her about how CMD and ZJ have such a deep bond , and they seem like star-crossed lovers. Friend tells her there will be hardship ahead but grandma is certain CMD is resilient to overcome it! 

First week airing schedule

13 minutes ago, ktcjdrama said:

I was saying fast, because the skinship, the hugging and all, rather excessive for 2 people who were sooo awkward around each other before. Lots of teasers full of tension too, haha... so I'm glad when they fiiinally get to kiss.

This show is like so weird for me. In most dramas I am always hoping to see sweet scenes and skinship but here, it was too much.  And sometimes, I feel like WuLei's character is like a stalker here. 

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Nway , maybe you can check this one out. It will premiere today , and plot and romance much more promising. Short - 21 episodes. 

Small town romance. Guy is a mortician who was once a troubled teen and FL is disabled. 

Okay I managed to catch till eps 13. How? Hhahahaahah I abused the FF button and watch at 2x speed for characters I can't stand especially when our leads are not there. Even 2nd ML , HyunSung who seemed like a nice guy at first , is too stalkerish and possessive for my liking. 

Anyway I need to iron out some relationships:

1. WooRi's family members are all not blood related except Uncle Woo Chang and the older lady (whom Ara keeps calling as grandma ) are siblings. WooRi, DooRi and Ara are all "adopted" or being raised by Mum - Seong Young. I am fine with WR's family scenes as everyone is a decent human being , and  it goes to show blood ties is not everything when it comes to family. But poor Uncle WooChang who has been in love with mum like for 15 years or something. Hope she can see him romantically and stop trying to set the poor man up on blind dates.

2. So who is Woo Ri's real family? So far nothing shown but I am guessing 2nd ML's mother ? HyunSung and WooRi are not off to a good start with HS feeling wary of WR and SJ's interactions. Anyway HS's father is the hospital director - married the mother who seems to be able call the shots. So I am guessing it's her family that started the hospital. Nway, mum & dad's relationship are strained. Mum especially is not happy - the frown on her face is almost perpetual.

3. Soo Ji - her family is horrid. I don't mind the lil brother but the rest especially her sister, Na Young (who sadly is the 2nd FL with plenty of screen time) is just a nasty person. Soo Ji is the real daughter of WR's adopted mum ( so incoming "fauxcest" issues to be expected when leads fall for each other). She was separated from mum when mum had the accident and I am assuming went into coma or was unable to come get her. So the father with the grandmother , and her stepmum moved abroad or away. Na Young and Soo Ji, I believe are not related. NY must be from stepmum's previous marriage / relationship. Soo Ji's dad cheated on SJ's mum and that's how they had the brother. 

So right now , I don't think there's anything romantic between the leads yet but their interactions are funny and they tend to jump to conclusions about each other quite a bit. Though, things are mellowing as the episodes progress. Hyun Sung and Soo Ji were dating in uni and I think we'll have to suffer through them rekindling the relationship before Soo Ji realises it isn't going to work. Also will have to suffer watching NaYoung and her one sided crush and chasing of WooRi.  

@Nohamahmoud2002 I swap  the headings around to have the English title first ya. 

I love her positivity & outlook in life! D-day .

This pre-release is so cute & does show grandma being ship captain! 

@ktcjdrama did you finish this ? 

5 hours ago, mademoiselle said:

Lastly, I laughed out loud so much in two scenes. First one was when Ho Jeong threw a dynamite out of the window and accidentally bombed the Chief's car. Another was Yeong Han throwing a shoe at Detective Hwang, and it hit his face. Honestly, I diedddd.

Me too! I super love this show. I like that we have a good mix of brains, brawn and passion in the team. The way that they solve the cases is gonna be so much fun to watch judging by the last case involving the military.

I was surprise that the romance move quite quickly, and I enjoyed their scenes. There's a bit of spark there. HyeJoo's a quick thinker too seeing how she got the thugs to leave her bookshop. I already like her. I don't think the love triangle will be played out too much...or at least I hope it doesn't .

@ktcjdrama thanks for the tag & thanks for opening the thread @Nohamahmoud2002 . I started watching this in the first week it aired but I put it on pause because the 2nd FL is so so so annoying & she had so much screen time . Also I miss BSH’s charming character in The Love In Your Eyes . Here his character took me a while to warm up to. I’ll watch again & try to catch up 

True to its title , this drama is determined to have us cry a river .  But as long as she has a shot at living , losing those memories will feel like a small sacrifice if you ask me . 
 

Just now, rocher22 said:

Jiang and Xiaosheng, also had their own drama in the modern era...that was so funny...

I also like them....felt super sad about what happened to Ah Jiang though he always had this tragic arc written for his role. The promo the actors  did was so cute. 

4 hours ago, mademoiselle said:

At the moment I'm interested to know who Zeus is? Is he a friend or foe?

Not a foe. He does provide very crucial evidence for her.

Yes the episodes are draggy - the reveals take forever,  and not to mention the messy love entanglements which I am not a fan of. Despite my complaining , I am still here hahahaahh. The story made sense after a while. It helps that I have @peperomia for company and I felt motivated having two VIP oppas of mine in a single drama. LOL! 

@mademoiselle Yes, I don't think she's played any memorable roles in a sense. Let's see how she fares here. But anyway I think hers is  just a supporting role.

I finish the episode and look forward to ep2. The coming together of the team seems promising. But does the corruption feel even more overt in this era? I am used to corruption in every police drama but here the gangs run the show and the cops seem so powerless. 

3 minutes ago, mademoiselle said:

aybe there will be a bit of romance with Seo Eun Soo, but I'm not fond of her in the sense that I didn't find her good with anyone in romance. 😅

Hahah...I only remember her sad story in Missing The Other Side. I felt so much regret for her character's fate and love story with the detective there. I guess you are remembering her from Duel? 

3 hours ago, mademoiselle said:

Well, at least we don't need to worry our protagonist, Park Yeong Han, will die since we are assured he lives till the present time. Heh.

Halfway through episode 1. It comforts me that PYH will live a good long life and even has a grandson that looks just like him . Did you get "KimDoki "( Taxi Driver)  vibes from grandson? 

I love Detective Park ! He's such a character and out of the box thinker. Lee Je Hoon picked a great role again. I do crave him in romance & yes, his last one was Tomorrow With You ( which is a favourite of mine)  But I am glad he has chosen this as I generally love police procedurals and I think this is the first one I have seen that is set in this era in South Korea. Perhaps we will see a bit of a love story with Seo Eun Soo's character which I am guessing will be his wife. 

Apparently this comes out almost end of the year @SilverMoonTea

Pre-released with translations

Hong Haein vs Bang Sil, meeting of two people whom Baek Hyunwoo was flirting with.

Haein: What are you doing?

Misun: Oh... Have you ever tried this? Dyeing with balsam flowers.

Haein: No...

Kangmi: You know there's a saying, if the balsam dye remains on your nails until the first snow, your first love will come true. That's why Bangsil always dyes her nails with balsam in the fall, not in the summer.

Haein: That's romantic.

Kangmi: Well, it's not so much romantic as she has a bit of a dark side.

Bangsil: Is it really that dark? The person just happens to be divorced... Well, I didn't notice when he wasn't around, but lately, I keep running into him.

Kangmi: Hey... shut your mouth, will you? Just stop it.

Bangsil: Sorry, sorry, sorry, I was too honest, wasn't I? Don't be too upset, President Hong.

Haein: Why would I be?

Bangsil: Actually, back in the day, when Hyunwoo was in the church youth group, he flirted with me a lot.

Haein: When did Hyunwoo ever flirt with you?

Bangsil: Didn't you know? At church, when they give out snacks and stuff, Hyunwoo would always make sure to give me two of everything, like Choco Pies and steamed buns, in front of everyone...

Hyunjeong: That's because you take other people's stuff to eat.

Misun: Oh, sister-in-law, it's not like that. Bangsil, you always talk nonsense...

Haein: Does it have to remain until the first snow?

@mademoiselle It looks like that the alternative food business is just a small part of what BF is capable of. Clearly the ex-president, the current Prime Minister  and PM's father are all after the undisclosed technologies that BF has .Agree with you that BF could have technologies to regenerate cells that can be used to replace body parts. This isn't too far fetch given human parts have been successfully  grown in pigs & not forgetting the development of stem cells tech. 

 So I supposed that they,  or rather the PM's father who approached her to buy over BF, had a hand in killing the runaway scientist and is likely responsible for the latest attack on her. They were completely ambushed. I think from preview, WWC will realise he is being used. 

This was funny . Can't blame audience for using a romantic lens to view their interactions 

20 hours ago, mademoiselle said:

The pacing is not bad, quite fast in revealing who is behind the ransomware.

Yes!  Was surprised that that was the case . But ok , I don’t mind that since it means that the plot has more to it than just the internal betrayal . 
Watched only till eps 3 . Will comment more after eps4

@mademoiselle yes . I do plan to watch  . The teasers look fun ! 

Love the pre-released @mademoiselle. She moved in with him ❤️

With subs 

@NiteWalker  new thread: 

Trailers

The small town setting is beautiful

CAST & CREW
Director: Liang Cheng
Screenwriter: Even Jian

Main Role

Li Xian -  Chen Mai Dong

Zhou Yu Tong - Zhuang Jie
 

Supporting Cast (credit MDL) 

( in spoiler)