To Love 最初的相遇，最后的别离 [2020]

[abs-oluteM]

After watching eps 28 & 29 , I am nervous again about the ending despite seeing some spoilers here ad there,  and finally realising that the chinese title means First Encouter & Final Parting . Nevertheless , like Xiao Ou , I have faith in YJ's innocence with regards to his buddy's death but I do think that they ( the Yan siblings ) will have be punished for finding someone to take the blame.  I believe the Chinese law can be very strict. 
 

I felt quite bad in these two episodes for Ni Ya and for Cheng Rui Min. 

 

Poor Ni Ya - as a woman your instincts are always spot on when it comes to the man that you love. Even if she may pretend that everything is okay, she now has confirmation why Feng Wei Xing is not planning on marrying her despite her being pregnant. You can see how crushed she felt when she saw how FWX was "drooling" over XO in a wedding dress. I am angry for her. This FWX puts up such a good front but heaven knows what his real intentions are. 

 

I was also very sad for CRM. It is not easy for him to accept that YJ could be responsible for their buddy's death , and to find out that Yan Shen had paid someone off to take the blame. I know now that he's not only very close to YJ but there was also some unrequited feelings on Yan Shen's part for him. Although I can understand YS's desperation to save her brother , trying to blackmail your closest friend this way was just unacceptable.  Poor CRM . 

[abs-oluteM]

@40somethingahjumma in eps 30 - I hope I am understanding this correctly - Did Yan Jin know that his sister was going to bribe someone to take his place 6 years ago, or he only just found out?

[40somethingahjumma]

54 minutes ago, abs-oluteM said:

@40somethingahjumma in eps 30 - I hope I am understanding this correctly - Did Yan Jin know that his sister was going to bribe someone to take his place 6 years ago, or he only just found out?

 

I think he only found out recently that his sister had bribed someone. 

[abs-oluteM]

34 minutes ago, 40somethingahjumma said:

 

I think he only found out recently that his sister had bribed someone. 

Thanks ! I am up to the first few minutes of eps 32  So hard to watch  eps 31.  This couple doesn't have it easy . Not sure what luck YJ has, but all the evidences & circumstances for ErZi and ZhanYu's deaths seem to point to him. And my heart really sank when he asked to break-up. Xiao Ou is amazing because she stood her ground and never doubted him for a moment. And I was so glad his sister spoke some sense into his head when he visited her at the prison. I teared up when he made it for the marriage registration.  This is what I truly appreciate in this drama that even with all the crazy things going on, they remained together. 

[abs-oluteM]

Eps 32 was just bitter sweet...but still this was a beautiful moment

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

If I could freeze this moment for the drama I would ...but I know till Yan Jin clears his name , they can never be truly free. The road ahead looks very rocky, but for now I will savor these lovely moments

[abs-oluteM]

eps 33 : I cried with Xiao Ou here. Not easy for a bride to have to face the chaos even though she (and I) understood why YJ had to hide for now. Any weaker woman would not have been able to do it so XO is truly extraordinary. I understand now why all the men loved her. 

 eps 34 - finally some light at the end of tunnel! As I had suspected XMR's guard was lying. Glad that Cheng Rui Ming trusted YJ and persisted in finding out the truth ....we know YJ was not the one who killed his buddy. But Zhao Ting Hui still thinks that YJ is responsible for Zhan Yu's death.

 

[abs-oluteM]

Full compilation of the OSTs...I love the sound track a lot.  Perfect for the drama

 

[abs-oluteM]

eps 35 to 37 is the real turning point to the investigations and more importantly it hints at who the real murderer  is - Feng WX . This guy is really a wolf in sheep's clothing. I was shocked when I saw how much money he had stashed up there in his bathroom ceiling. Poor NiYa. She's pregnant but he's not planning on marrying her. She sold her apartment to help with LeLe's operations - if she only knew about FWX's secret money. I was happy that they finally brought him in for interrogation - but his alibi seems solid & he brought up a good point about how is it possible to trust the testimony of an ex drug addict . He also mentioned about XMR's guard having eyesight problems which means the cops can't depend on his account of what he saw.  It is not going to be easy to prove FWX's involvement and free YJ.

 

I miss seeing YJ and XO on the same screen together.

 

Subs are available up to eps 12 now @Yana

[abs-oluteM]

@40somethingahjumma ep 38 - XO was telling Lele a story in the hospital. It bothered FWX very much & it seems like she used the opportunity to ask him to do the right thing? That's what I understood. Is that right? Did it convince him?

[40somethingahjumma]

3 hours ago, abs-oluteM said:

@40somethingahjumma ep 38 - XO was telling Lele a story in the hospital. It bothered FWX very much & it seems like she used the opportunity to ask him to do the right thing? That's what I understood. Is that right? Did it convince him?

Yes, that's right. It was a plea to turn himself in. And he might have too. Except that he got a call from Niya.

It was the story about some grey wolf I think. 

[abs-oluteM]

Thanks @40somethingahjumma. I just got off eps 39 , and if I thought some of the earlier episodes were heartbreaking , eps 39 was probably the worst. Why didn't Xiao Ou just wait for ZTH to return her call? Why did she got there alone?  I suppose it was the natural thing for her to do ...but still ... So sad when ZTH , CRM and wife met him outside the prison ,and they couldn't even break the news to him. Made me cry.

[abs-oluteM]

Gosh I cried buckets in the final episode when Yan Jin was reminiscing  all the sweet moments they had. Thankfully the last few seconds saved the day , or I think I may have been cursing the show.   I understand sometimes a not so happy ending may be the better ending but for me given all that this couple has gone through they deserve to have their slice of happiness together.

 

This show was not an easy watch - not because it was badly produce or had a bad script. On the contrary it was one of the best dramas I have seen this year . It was hard because you will go on a roller coaster of emotions. There is plenty of chemistry between the leads, and every scene of them together left me wanting for more . However as this is also a crime/ police procedural , they don't give you much time to savour those sweet moments. And there were many moments where that would make you doubt  our male lead, Yan Jin's innocence. That stressed me out  sometimes 

 

This drama was also unique in its story telling. The first half of the drama was told in flashbacks from the perspectives of both the leads. I know some didn't like it but  I found it interesting because you can see how the situation turned around when you had seen both sides of the story . Another thing that I liked was that once the leads properly got together , there was no unnecessary separation. XO never doubted YJ , and for YJ he made sure that XO was taken care off even when he couldn't physically be with her.

 

The fact that I decided to watch this drama without subs despite my poor Mandarin skills, says a lot about how good this drama is. Thanks @40somethingahjummafor opening the thread and recommending this. I hope that more folks will get to enjoy this when all the episodes are subbed.

 

[Yana]

On 12/23/2020 at 4:19 PM, abs-oluteM said:

Full compilation of the OSTs...I love the sound track a lot.  Perfect for the drama

 

I love that 4th song!!

[40somethingahjumma]

12 hours ago, abs-oluteM said:

Thanks @40somethingahjumma. I just got off eps 39 , and if I thought some of the earlier episodes were heartbreaking , eps 39 was probably the worst. Why didn't Xiao Ou just wait for ZTH to return her call? Why did she got there alone?  I suppose it was the natural thing for her to do ...but still ... So sad when ZTH , CRM and wife met him outside the prison ,and they couldn't even break the news to him. Made me cry.

 

I know how you felt, I was saying the same things too. Why didn't she just wait for Zhao Tinghui? 

But it's consistent with her personality -- the boldness and recklessness and I think she never thought that the culprit would hurt her. She must have felt that she'd waited long enough and wanted justice for Yan Jin (she said as much). 

 

Despite the bittersweet ending, it was a really well made drama. It's one of the few C dramas that I have some real respect for. It had substance and it's good to see a romance that's written for adults. 

 

Thanks for going on this journey with me... between the two of us (and the occasional guest drop-in) we got us to 3 pages. 

[SilverMoonTea]

Tag @movingwheelthis is to love thread, let's discuss when we start this 😂 For the love of Lin Geng Xin...

@ktcjdramawill join us too...

[40somethingahjumma]

You certainly dragged this one out of the graveyard. @SilverMoonTea

Hope you enjoy it. Lin Gengxin notwithstanding, it is one of my favourite C dramas of all time.

[ktcjdrama]

I started watching already. So far enjoying it. A bit thrown off with the timing though because this is a 2020 drama, filmed in 2019, while the 2022 Master of My Own was filmed in 2018 😅😆. So LGX filmed this one after MOMO. 

I kept laughing at Yan Jin’s attempt to charm Xiao Ou. Her heart really is made of iron that she could ignore him so much and not be moved/amused/touched by him. 
 

I am not sure yet that I like the format of going back and forth with the separate character narration. You really have to pay attention which scenes/incidents come first, which probably is not the best in a story with a mystery to solve. Can still manage it, but cannot say I am thrilled by the format. 
 

One thing though, I see some crying scenes in the closing credit.... Give me a little bit of spoiler please... Will there be tons of melo and angst ahead? And I don’t even know if I want to ask if the ending will be a happy one? Considering there’s a tragic death involved in the story....