themarchioness

Totally agree, and you know how I appreciate a tight story. 😉 This drama is determined to make me shed tears at every turn. Also, I have a real craving to get a small watermelon so I can cut it in half and start eating it from the center. (Normally I save that part for last, so my last bite will be the sweetest!) I suppose this is at least a healthier craving than what I normally get from the dramas... haha.

Huh. Judging from the DramaWiki synopsis shared above it looks like the drama is already making changes from the book. I really liked the book with its mystery and intrigue, but it's lyrical style too. I hope the drama will be able to retain some of that aura, and that it won't all be lost in the translation. For anyone interested in reading the translated novel, here is a link for that: https://hui3r.wordpress.com/mo-bao-fei-bao/one-life-one-incarnation-beautiful-bones-completed/ And here's an article that describes how the drama is rumored, at least, to be tackling the two lifelines involved in the book: https://www.jaynestars.com/news/ren-jialun-and-bai-lu-to-couple-up-in-love-your-bones-forever/

I don't feel that way at all and don't know why it has to be because of her ex that she stays away in order for it to be valid. Her decision to stay away because she believes it to be in the best interest of her child is sufficient reason for me. (It may be misguided thinking, but it is no less sincere -- actually, it's similar logic to the suspicions we all have in why ZQ stayed in England all these years rather than coming home.)

I agree with just about everything you wrote @Lodestar, but to your point about He Mei deciding to not look back and move forward with her life, I would add that I think a primary reason for that is because of ZQ; she's doing it for him. There's no question He Mei could have handled the abandonment of her child better, but I do believe she sincerely thought handing him over to Papa Li was the better option for ZQ. It's also noteworthy that she didn't just abandon him at random, but made sure first that ZQ would be in a loving, warm, welcome home. Which is why I don't think she's as cold or callous as she may come across right now. We see her urging the cab driver to drive faster not with any joy on her face. We see her telling herself to not look back with much feeling and determination in her voice. And we see her standing outside the doors of ZQ's coffee shop, looking in, and watching him. These things tell us she does still care about him, but she doesn't want to see him. Probably because doesn't want to hurt him any more and believes he's in a better place without the disruptions she would add by reappearing in his life -- that's what I choose to believe, at least, and suspect will be the nature of her story. But, I guess we'll have to still wait and see. 🙂 @NiteWalker, I think a lot of the things He Mei says are deliberate and not an actual reflection of how she feels. She's purposefully portraying herself as someone who's cold hearted, who doesn't care, and who's dropped her son, moved on, and never looked back. But I suspect that's not true. As I indicated above, I think she's trying to cut the chords because she thinks that would be better for ZQ -- to let him think of her as a heartless mother so he can stay the course in his present life. (I agree with @Lodestar in that mother and son are very similar in that regard.) It's for those same reasons that she doesn't try to come back and when she does, it's to watch ZQ from afar. I actually think she's preferable to Chen Ting in that way. I don't think Chen Ting's tried to make amends with LX at all. Rather, the only thing she has ever shown us is how she wants her cake and to be able to eat it too -- she throws away her son, but then returns expecting open arms. While I don't entirely blame her for the divorce and leaving as she did (there were clearly issues there stemming from the death of her child), I do think she could've been more understanding and less demanding when she did return. She continues to place demands on LX and expect certain things from him that I honestly do not understand why she thinks she's entitled to them just because she's his mother. So yeah, she may have come back, but i don't know how that has been any better than He Mei staying away. In fact, I would prefer her to stay away if this was going to be the way she behaved. To put it simply, right now, Chen Ting's actions come across as selfish whereas He Mei's are selfless.

It’s not just JJ. Even I can’t take ZQ seriously. 😂 The dear boy’s heart is in the right place but he needs to stop listening to those around him, and listen to himself instead. I think the same thing as you do @Lynne, that what he really wants is a family. And that’s why Papa Li is so worried. He’s afraid of the damage that could be done if things don’t go well. He knows what ZQ stands to lose. Ah, my heart bleeds with empathy watching Papa Li worry for his little ducklings as he does. Dude. When he decides to start his pursuit, he’s got only one speed level: Full. On. Throttle. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. Xue ba’s... they don’t do anything by halves. 😂 Right??? That’s what I’m saying! Sigh..... Seriously, I need for these boys and all their secrets to be revealed so that the healing process can begin.

Groooooaaaaannnn... 😅😅😅 Spoilers...

He controls them both! Hahaha. Loved that scene where ZQ asks to drink beer and LX says, “Call me Ge,” and so ZQ does, and then LX’s like, “No.” 😅 And omg.... that’s what has been missing from my evening. I’ve been sitting here wondering what was I not doing that I should be doing: skimming ahead! Doh. I blame work today. It has me so brain dead and confused, I’m missing out on Go Ahead.

She has always reacted differently to the brothers even when they were all kids. LX is someone whose friendship she pursued and then idolized. ZQ was more the pesky one that she wrestled around with. 😝

Aw, that’s a beautiful quote and so true. ❤️

@NiteWalker One thing you can count on In this drama is the neighborhood aunties having their share in the conversation. 😝 How much you want to bet, by the end, they’ll be taking credit for everything? Haha!

But that’s just it. They were joking around so I can’t say his comment was made based on actual knowledge of how his son feels. Besides, between the two dads, don’t you think it’d be Papa Li who’d be more likely to figure it out first? The only advantage Papa Ling has is that it’s his own son, but really, it’s Papa Li the kids keep in touch with and talk to. (I need to go and rewatch that scene... there are a lot of scenes I need to rewatch... 😂)

As I said to @Lynne this is how you know you’re watching a drama... BECAUSE THEY’RE JUST PROLONGING THE TORTURE. In real life, he’d be setting her straight immediately. 😝 Hahaha. We’d be rolling around the floor, clutching our hearts in frustration. Either that or we’d hop into the computer screen, slap some people around a bit, set everyone else straight, and the drama would be over just like that because HAPPILY EVER AFTER! 😂

@NiteWalker Since you were interested in my mid-watch flails... LOL... Episode 19: - Oh come on! Would it have been so hard to spare a minute in the car to set her straight??? (This is only going to make misunderstanding grow to be that much worse. *groan*) Send her a text while waiting for the airplane, at least! - UGH. LX's MOM. Why wouldn't LX want to return to China? Why would he think of Singapore as his home? The only reason he's lived there for 9 years is because he was held hostage... he grew up in China where his family and friends remain. His time in Singapore was only supposed to be temporary. She's living in a delulu world if she thinks he would want to stay there with her. LX is surrounded by a bunch of delulu women! 😛 - One silver lining to MY's crush is if it helps trigger JJ into wondering why she doesn't feel happier about that news. 😉 - UGH. ZQ... I feel bad for him. I don't blame the aunt because I can tell she didn't really want to ask. It's just his family is filled with unfortunate circumstances, but still. It's painful because there is no winning in all of this. There are too many themes of "debts" and "owing" in ZQ's life and not enough of "having" and "belonging." Also...

You and me both... and I reaaaalllly could've done without the adding of ZB into the mix. The loveline chart in this drama is so all over the place! But I literally groaned out loud when he walked into the girls' apartment and had his golden halo moment the minute he saw MY, LOL.

Welcome, @Lodestar! And welcome to the great debate, haha. I think MY's problem is -- similar to how JJ phrased it, "If not her, who else?" LX literally only talks to two women: JJ and MY. Since everyone (but him) operates under the assumption that he thinks of JJ as a sibling, that only leave her. It's pretty easy, then, for her to wallow in her delusions that it must be she who LX is interested in. Adding to all that, I think it's also pretty normal for someone to perceive things in certain ways because in their heart of hearts that's how they would like it to be. It's like you can't help but wish for it to be that way. Those moments are, admittedly, the ones where I'm facepalming the most and telling MY that she can't be that way. But as frustrated as I might feel, I get it too. As for your other point, I hear what you're saying and I guess what it still comes down to (for me, at least) is she's not being malicious. She's not hurting anybody else. And, in fact, the only person who will end up hurting is herself. I can be annoyed, I can be frustrated, but I'm not going to hate her for that. i think there's going to be a lot of embarrassment on MY's part and it's going to be rough going. Definitely something for them to work through. Hopefully there won't be any resentment! But I've faith in their relationship that their friendship will win over any feelings that she had for LX. If she took the time to sit back and think about it, she'd realize it's just an infatuation and she doesn't really know LX as well as she thinks she does. Beijing would be a convenient way for MY to escape and so it's a definite possibility. Actually, something I've been wondering for a while now is whether there would be another time jump. If I remember correctly it was 1999 the year the boys graduated and left, so now it would be 2018. Now that things are unfolding the way things are, my wondering about a time jump has only increased because MY returning from Beijing two years later would bring us to the present. Anyway... I have no idea why we have diverted to talking so much about MY, LOL. There's so much other stuff to talk about with this drama as well, haha!

I've got brothers too and, I agree with you, the relationships I have with my siblings are nothing like the ones in this drama! That said, this only highlights my previous point which is that we can't judge the actions of the characters in this drama based our own experiences. We should be viewing them through theirs and for them, this is their normal (even JJ and ZQ don't bat an eye when LX asks JJ to act cute for him), which is why nobody has really questioned things this far. I don't blame LX for offering comfort to MY that day. As you stated, the only reason he did it was because he'd picked up on her interest in ZQ and was being kind. It's also the sort of kindness we would expect from any of the three siblings. Who would've expected, indeed, that the one conversation would have her turning her heart so quickly? (Ah, fickle hearts of young teens.) But definitely after that, LX should've picked up on her infatuation for him when he was able to so easily feel it when it was directed towards ZQ. Honestly, I don't really see this and how MY feels about JJ is not something I have ever felt concerned about because I think the friendship she offers to JJ is genuine and sincere, and would be the same even if LX wasn't JJ's "brother." It's not like she's been hanging out with JJ all these years in order to send updates to LX. Rather, it's because of their friendship that LX was able to tap into it to get those updates. And when MY mutters to herself that of course she should help LX because one day she'll be JJ's sister-in-law, those are comments made in the context of how she relates to LX, not JJ. We've seen but a sliver of MY and JJ's relationship because the point of this drama is the siblings, not them, but I sincerely doubt those two girls have spent the last 9 years growing up together and now living together only because MY was interested in JJ's brother. I'm not going to disagree that being friends with JJ gives her access to LX, but it seems more like a fringe benefit for her than anything else. And really, it's a fringe benefit that is only go to blow up in her own her when she realizes how all these years LX has been interested in JJ in that way.

I have to disagree with this because the only reason we (the viewers) have been able to see the "obvious" signals is because we have a broader view of the story and its characters. The characters in the drama do not enjoy that same benefit; namely, they do not get to see what LX is thinking like we do, which is why none of them have figured out how he feels (except probably his mom and maybe the dads, but we’ll have to see about that). From MY's perspective, LX is just her best friend's older brother. It's impossible for her at this point in the story to imagine that LX would have feelings for JJ because the only context in which she has known them has been as siblings. That's how LX and ZQ are introduced to her and that's how she's lived with the three siblings all these years. That's why when LX does things like reaching out to her for information on JJ, MY's not going to connect to the dots and think, "Oh! He's got a crush on JJ." Rather, she's going to think, "Oh, he's keeping tabs on his little sister." Notably, at this point in the story, even JJ would think the same way as MY. An example of that is when MY talks to FXX and finds out that LX's in love with someone he went to school with and who's two years younger; naturally, she thinks of herself. Because apart from JJ, his “sister,” she’s the only other female he talked/talks to. Even JJ says the same thing when she and MY leave the dentists' office together. I think sometimes we have to put ourselves in the shoes of the characters to better understand what they're thinking and why they make the choices that they do. If we try to understand them from our own viewers' perspective that's not really fair because we necessarily know more than they do. MY's current confusion over where where people's true affections lie is very understandable. We can blame the siblings for that -- they're so close they've made everyone confused, LOL. After all, even JJ and ZQ will end up confused about their feelings and if they're confused, why would we expect MY to be able to figure it out? The only person who is clear-headed in all of this is LX (and the viewers) and that's because they are his own feelings (and the viewers are privy to them). When it comes to deciding whether to like MY, I think the better question to consider is: Is MY the type of character who would hurt or backstab JJ? Answer: No. These women are thick as thieves and like sisters. I'm sure if she'd had any idea from the beginning of how LX really felt, MY would've steered clear. The problem is she didn't and so this fantasy has been allowed to build over nine years. Honestly, sometimes I actually feel more frustrated with LX because if he was perceptive enough to figure out back in high school that MY had a crush on ZQ, surely he should have been able to figure out how MY felt about him. And yet, instead of maintaining distance and discouraging MY, he's kept in touch with her so that he would have access to information about JJ. Also, to make clear, it's not that I think MY is any sort of saint or anything like that. I just think she's human and flawed, like all of us. I also experience my share of frustrations with her, but it's just more in a facepalm-y sort of way because I know when everything is finally revealed, she's going to fall and she's going to hurt. I ache thinking about the turmoil that her friendship with JJ will go through, and just, well, everything. But that's also life and I'm confident that by the end of this drama all our beloved characters will have worked through their problems to find happiness. [And zomg... I should really be sleeping right now... 😂]

Lol, I can, I can, I just can’t do it while I’m watching. Hee hee.

Your phone can’t die! It needs to be able to receive all my messages where I flail excitedly over this drama.

Oh, I watch up to where YouTube/Viki have released eps... and then I go and skim the released advance eps and spoil myself. So, I’m already spoiled — and know I’ve a lot to look forward in the next few days! Haha. (Do not have a discord account)

This is not surprising to hear. Our Yibo has always been like this. Hardworking, earnest, and eager to learn and do. 👍🏻 https://38jiejie.com/2020/08/22/wang-yibo-insisted-on-doing-his-own-stunts-in-my-strange-friend/

Omg it’s a combination of all the things I love. Wang Yibo and the cast of Go Ahead, as they guest on Day Day Up! https://mobile.twitter.com/uniq5s/status/1297559576670162944

Hahaha, @Lynne, I know, I know, I’m just being naughty and deliberately misunderstanding... your idea does - admittedly - put images into my head. And I can already picture the two Dads with a grandchild.... so we shall see, we shall see... let the drama finish first. 😂

https://www.jaynestars.com/news/being-a-hero-starring-wang-yibo-chen-xiao-wraps-filming/ Can’t wait! Sounds intriguing. (Although I find the way the article is a written a little annoying when it says Yibo hasn’t had a hit since The Untamed... he hasn’t had a drama air since then, except for that one that was filmed in 2017 and only released a few weeks ago. Hrmph.)

You’re going to write it?! 😜 (and lol. Your gif....)