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[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] Heavy Sweetness Ash-like Frost 香蜜沉沉烬如霜


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On 1/28/2020 at 8:31 PM, Bojun said:

I"m definitely very late for party but hoping my questions will still be replied to. We discovered Ashes of Love slightly over two weeks ago in Netflix. We don't know why but Netflix has recommended it many times but we were giving it a past until that fateful day when we finally decided to watch it. We've always like fantasy especially fantasy involving gods and had no idea that Ashes of Love was one. This is our first time watching c-drama and we were definitely not disappointed. Me and my wife had no prior knowledge that it was based on a book nor were we aware of the various "dramas" that apparently occurred during filming. I believe this was for the best because we had no expectation how the drama was supposed to run. Overall we are very satisfied with the drama but we did notice some of the supporting characters seem to have too much screen time. I will not comment on this as this has been discussed too many times already. I'm surprised people are saying Yang Zi is not fit to play the role of JinMi because she is not beautiful enough. I've checked out how all the actresses in the drama looks like in real life and while one or two might be considered more beautiful than Yang Zi, IMHO they will not fit the role of JinMi. Yang Zi's facial features, sunny disposition and overall charisma are perfect for JinMi and combine that with her acting prowess and we have a winner. Another thing I liked was the very strong on screen chemistry between Yang Zi and Deng Lun. My favorite episodes were 60 to 63. The emotional ride was almost too much and almost brought me to tears. JinMi's marriage escape, the revelation of true love via the heart changing stone, the lets make a fresh start moments, JinMi's death (the scene of everyone crying in the Floral realm was painful) , Xufeng's suffering and quest to find JinMi's primordial spirit, the Floral Fairies commanding all the plants to assist in finding JinMi's primordial spirit, Xufeng's joy and pain again after JinMi materialize from his tear and dies again and the Floral realm's sadness on failing to secure JinMi's primordial spirit. The ending was satisfactory but even one JinMi Xufeng moment would have made it better. 

Most of my questions have been answered after reading all 83 pages of this thread but I have a few more questions and thoughts.

1. Is the Elder Demon similar in position and power to Lord Doumu? Lord Doumu seem like a higher level god in the Heavenly realm.

2. What is the significance of the pendant that the old man (later found to be the Elder Demon) in the mortal realm gave Liaoyuan? Liaoyuan died without even using the pendant to obtain the favor(?) on the old man. Honestly the giving of the pendant does not make any sense to me and I'm thinking could this have anything to do with the changes in the script that was somehow overlooked?

3. I noticed a continuity error in the cave scene when JinMi successfully resurrected Xufeng. JinMi's tear fell on Xufeng's cheek but JinMi's was already sitting near Xufeng's stomach.

4. People have debated on the rightness and wrongness of Xufeng bringing JinMi into the battle and someone gave a couple of scenario's on what could potentially happen. I would like to add another one. Xufeng leaves JinMi in the safety of the palace but decides later on to go to the battlefield and subsequently die. I believe regardless of the scenario JinMi is fated to die and in my opinion Lord Doumu gave JinMi the essence ashes because she already knows that JinMi will sacrifice herself to stop the war. What is the point of giving JinMi the essence ashes to remove the so called "doom" if her supreme act does not stop the war? If Xufeng dies and she kills herself then what happens to their love story? I guess people will say if it is the will of heaven then at a certain place and certain point in time they will meet again. But that is another story right? 

I'm in the process of re-watching the drama to make sure I did not miss any detail. This time I will skip the episodes I did not like. As parting words I tried watching Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms but I just can't connect with it. The chemistry between the leads seem off for me. I'll probably watch it in the future for the sake of watching but not with the same sense of urgency as Ashes of Love.   

 

Can you please tell me about this will of heaven? So everything is fated to happen and jinmi is fated to die for the peace of six realms?

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13 hours ago, Koreandramafan said:

Can you please tell me about this will of heaven? So everything is fated to happen and jinmi is fated to die for the peace of six realms?

 

She was fated to die but not necessarily for the peace of the realms. It was a conscious choice she made and therefore carried great merit.

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46 minutes ago, bluehibiscus said:

She was fated to die but not necessarily for the peace of the realms. It was a conscious choice she made and therefore carried great merit.

Thank you. So who is deciding jinmi’s love trial ? For example, jinmi mortal trial, someone decides what will be her life be when she goes to mortal world. So is it the same with her love trial? Someone above them is decides like will of heaven ? Why xufeng says “ i am her  love trial”? Is this love trial only about love ? Love trial means it is involve with love but why do I think that she is in this trial because of the unbalance in their world. Like the fighting of the demon and heaven realm, maybe she have the mission .

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  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...

This was my second venture in the xianxia genre of Chinese dramas and it did not disappoint. You wouldn't think it was 63 episodes since all the characters had their own character development. Of course, there were times where I hated Runyu but it was understandable given his situation. I still hated him at times though. The chemistry of everyone is outstanding and it would be in my list of recommended xianxia dramas. 

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  • 1 month later...

I'm very late catching up this drama. Saw some small youtube clip in my recommendation and suddenly addicted to this drama. What can I say fabulous actors and actresses in this drama. Each character beautifully carried out by the cast. 

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What a wild ride, this drama. I accidentally came across it and started watching it because the whole thing looked ridiculously kitsch and because I love this genre. That is until XuFeng appeared on screen because I have never thought Chinese men could be this handsome :-O those eyes, damn it! After that I was hooked and even the story and the whole 'feeling' of the drama kept me on board, although I have to admit that I'm still unable to watch the episodes after the killing of the water deity and before XuFeng's ressurection. 

I have many thoughts about the whole thing and I have read many comments here and there, so I would really like to give my two cents about it. 

First Jinmi, I still cannot decide if I like her or not. I was rooting for her and Phoenix all the way down, and her character turned out to be quite likable at the end, but.... I think her dumbness and naivety is overdone and I hate when intelligent and competent male characters are head over heels for such an airhead. Could she be even considered as a woman at the beginning? It reminds me how in Honey and Clover male characters fell in love with the child-like autistic girl I did not understand that either. 

Part of her character is justifiable: raised at a secluded place and perishing pellet. Reminds me of Sleeping Beauty's story where overprotecting someone backfires marvelously and I can relate to this symbolism on a personal level really, and it's a very important message. However her character is not consistent: she experienced the tragic loss of her friend which should had an impact on her (other than pursuing lingli left and right) and as she was (supposedly) able to learn several dialects just by reading maybe she should have been portrayed a bit less dumb. I know most of her traits served character development and comic relief but they should have toned it down a bit.  

Another aspect of her character I can't stomach is how was she able to kill XuFeng after everything they went through together and I feel there is absolutely no justification for her action. Maybe I would understand it better if I could soldier through those episodes but even then I don't think I would be able to find any redeeming quality. I think this problem stems from the fact that in the novel at that point their love was still pretty much on sided and Phoenix's character was quite different. However in the drama no one in their right mind would have thought even for a moment that Phoenix murdered anyone let alone the woman's parents he was obsessed with. I was already angry with her when she attacked Phoenix the first time with that issue and even if she saw the act with her two eyes stabbing him in the back without confronting him... just nope, yun dan pill or not. I don't know how this scene, this conflict could have been written really for her to be still redeemable but also accountable for her actions. Because that is another important message of the story, that she gained nothing by revenge only pushed herself deeper into despair. Even if the murderer would have been XuFeng she would have achieved nothing really but instead the consequence of her actions were irreversible. Even though XuFeng was resurrected and even when they reconciled their relationship never will be as it was before. 

On the positive side, she is her absolute best in the mortal realm, which is surprising because she's still the same person and still have the yun elixir. I know this was originally only in the epilogue of the book but I believe it was a great addition, the whole cracking the pill and falling in love for real, drama in the drama. I also like the character development she went through and the actress did a remarkable job portraying this. I like how at the end of the drama she is a completely different person, and I'm glad they didn't go with the novel version where she is still an airhead. (Trying the unfeeling pill and being afraid of what creature she might give birth to? After everything she went trough? Really??)

Phoenix, oh Phoenix, how can you not fall in love with him. Why is that he looks like a Phoenix even in his human form (damn, those eyes) I don't think he could have been better portrayed. I love how they constantly shoot his face like a Phoenix looking down. I love how they changed his character from the novel and were able to come up with a male lead with pure heart but still being a competent and confident man. I love how he straight out says in ep. 8 that he loves Jinmi and politely but firmly tells the Flower Leader that he is not be be dissed. I have to admit that I've learnt a lot from how he communicates: calmly, trying not be rude but do not yield to guilt tripping. His biggest flaw for me is his biggest strength as well: as he said, he never calculated. And may I also mention that it is highly realistic that such a straightforward overall good person suffers the most throughout the whole drama as a consequence of the actions of others. For he suffers when his love is not reciprocated despite his best efforts, suffers when Flower Leader suggests that Jinmi is her half-sister, suffers when his brother 'steals the girl' from him, he is literally stabbed in the back by his love, then he suffers after being resurrected (lost everything and everyone) even when he wants to make Jinmi suffer I believe it actually hurt him more and he has to experience the death of his loved one three times. It was supposed to be Jinmi's love doom but it was XuFeng's really.  

Another aspect of his whole story I like that he was constantly portrayed as a quite capable leader (I love how after his resurrection he takes the rein in the demon realm) and of course he ended up at a secluded cottage like a hermit. Again, very realistic: the people who are the best suited for leading positions seldom strive for them. 

And there's Night and I know that there is no way convincing those who think Jinmi should have ended up with him that he shouldn't... I mean when I was twenty I firmly thought that Christine should have ended up with the phantom, so most of us have this stage in our life right? But now I'm old enough that Night's character gave me the creeps from the beginning. It was clear already in the demon realm that something was going on between XuFeng and Jinmi - as how XuFeng protected Jinmi and how she trusted him to protect her and how worried she was about him. Even if he indeed developed feelings for Jinmi he should have backed down, but that wasn't the case. All the talk like who deserved Jinmi and marriage contract should not be a part of the discussion in the 21th century. Jinmi is a person, despite the pellet she clearly had feelings for XuFeng (how they held hands after she cured him, how her heart ached when XuFeng was about to leave the Floral realm) how touchy-feely she was with him and not with anyone else. She has chosen Phoenix and that's the end of the story. And as Jinmi said, Runyu in fact never loved her, even if he thought he did, what a miserable life they would have had together has he succeeded in marrying Jinmi it's heart wrenching to think. 

Apart from love matters again I love the message in the drama: in his revenge rampage he became the same or even worse person than those he wanted to take revenge on. I applaud the writers that XuFeng did not take over his position as the emperor but told him to clean up the mess he made himself an take responsibility for his actions. And also terrible childhood can explain a person's actions (to a certain degree) but cannot justify them. 

I like how none of the 'villains' are defeated by the 'good ones' but rather the consequences of their actions catch up with them. Wish it was always like this in real life as well (sadly it isn't.)

As for what is whose fault XuFeng says it in the demon realm that behind his attempted murder at the very beginning basically everyone was involved. Everyone made bad decisions in this drama, no matter whether it was because of cruelty, ambition, stupidity, naivety or revenge, all these decisions accumulated into a series of tragedies and despite the seemingly huge changes life will go on as it always does. 

And finally about the side characters:
Fox Immortal: MVP of the drama, he gave me some uncle Iroh vibes, that brother of the emperor who seems a bit funny in the head but is actually the wisest and most straightforward person in the whole series. Loves his character.

Yanyou: Being treated cruelly by others should not necessarily turn you into a garbage person, right? He was such a fun and lovable character. 

Demon Princess: They would have been too perfect together with XuFeng, right? She was a competent, clever female character, I didn't care much for her love story but liked how level-headed she was. 

SuiHe: It's frightening to think that such people exist, who could go this far in cruelty, lying and manipulation and feel no remorse about it- but they do and I can tell you they seldom end up in a cave being eaten alive. XuFeng should have realized the extent of her obsession at least in the mortal realm and should have done something about it or at least suspected her about Jinmi's dad. 

I heard there will be a second season but I think the story was wrapped up so well it can only go downhill from there. I would have been glad to see some more scenes with Phoenix and Jinmi after they finally reunited but at least there was a happy end...

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  • 8 months later...
On 9/18/2018 at 8:18 PM, missnymeria said:

 I read these scenes a bit differently.

 

For me, Xu Feng utterly gave up on lying to himself and fully embraced the fact that he loved Jin Mi too much to let her go right after the wedding. He forgave her, only he didn't tell her in so many words because he still had his pride to consider. Hence Jin Mi's words as she's dying: "Idiot. You finally admit it" --> ie you should have told me last night. The loving words he said during the wedding were his true thoughts but he only felt free to say them because he knew that they would help with his plan of pushing Sui He to her limits.

 

As mentioned by another poster above, from the moment Xu Feng sees the stone change color and discovers it was Jin Mi under the veil, he considers himself truly and irrevocably married to her. But it must have hurt both his pride and his heart to discover that Jin Mi wasn't acting of her own volition and even revealed it to the whole room. The fact that she took off her wedding dress didn't help matters either. 

 

He's pretty vulnerable in the post-wedding scene, a bit like a wounded beast. His emotions must be all over the place and he plays it a bit hot and cold. He's finally learned all that Jin Mi sacrificed for him and he feels incredibly guilty. He finally acknowledged the fact that he was still in love with her and forever would be not matter what she did but the fact that she did kill him is still a raw wound. He almost can't believe his dearest wish of being married to her has been granted and feels vulnerable when he thinks he's the only one wishing for a true marriage. He knows everything that has happened in the past is too messed up and entangled but he's willing to grasp onto the chance he's being given of starting again, as equals. And that's when he repeats his words from the wedding, if only in his head. He has no audience to play to and he frees himself by saying them once again. As mentioned above, Xu Feng is a straightforward guy. He doesn't lie. Well except when he was desperately trying to sever all ties with her as a matter of survival but that's another story.

 

I believe he needed more time to fully process everything in order to have a better conversation and understanding with Jin Mi. But the war happened the very next morning. It can actually be seen as good thing too because there's nothing like seeing your loved one dying in your arms to cut through all the richard simmons. His pride, all that was left unsaid and all the misunderstandings became a moot point. It was the perfect reset.

 

I think Xu Feng fully believes her when she says she had nothing to do with Run Yu's plans for war. And as he says: "It's not you I don't trust, it's Run Yu". Now that he's in possession of all the facts, his brain functions at full power and he clearly knows that the Jin Mi of the past was too naive and inexperienced to have plotted anything with Run Yu and the Jin Mi of today has done too much for him to betray him again.

 

As to why he takes her with him to the battlefield, I think he couldn't have done anything else. The safest place for her was probably next to him. The Flower Realm was under attack and anywhere else would have left her vulnerable to a kidnapping from Run Yu while he was stuck on the battlefield.

 

And there's a logic to him provoking Run Yu. He knows full well that he's handicapped by both the pill backfiring and the fact that he gave up half his cultivation the night before. His only chance to win the battle is to make Run Yu so mad that he would act rashly and make a mistake. Also, he's proud (in the good sense of the word) that he managed to nab Jin Mi as his wife and he isn't ashamed of boasting about it. Plus it needed to be made clear that Run Yu was not attacking for rightful motives so as to preserve the reputation of the Demon Realm. Although I do agree that it was also sweet revenge on Run Yu. The fact that Jin Mi was going to marry Run Yu really grated on him and he reacted very strongly when he learned that Jin Mi Had run away (although he didn't dare believe it was true). So he was like a boastful teenager claiming "I got the girl".

 

If Run Yu had backed down after learning that Jin Mi had married him, he wouldn't have attacked. He didn't want this war but he knew it was inevitable and did everything in his power to win it. Once started, the battle couldn't be stopped and there was no way he would let Run Yu take Jin Mi away now that she was finally lawfully his.

 

But yes, he did lack the insight that Jin Mi would be likely to sacrifice herself to stop the war. It was outside of his comprehension.

 

EDIT: talking about the drama , not the novel.

This is three years late. 

 

You captured my thoughts of this scenes accurately. XF thought Jinmi purposely crashed his wedding and was pleasantly surprised till she apologized revealing it was not her intention to do so and hurt his heart & pride again.

 

When they got back to their chamber, he still processed the whole scene as her willingly crashing his wedding.

 

I loved how he just repeated the words he said to her in public when she was going on about him saying those things to push Sui He.pan widget

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On 1/12/2019 at 8:59 AM, bluesytb said:

Was reminiscing about the reasons I like this drama so much:

 

1.  The acting/chemistry - the main leads especially.

2.  The writing - when its good, it's fantastic

3. Soundtrack.  I had to buy it.  Sa Ding Ding is amazing and likewise Mao Buyi does such an amazing job with Unsullied.  YZ & DL have really nice voices.

4. Characters:  Mostly (esp. main characters) were very human & complex, have their dark sides, uncertainties etc.  Some of them felt very real.     

  •  Jin Mi:  Naive as heck(for good reason), but still shown to be intelligent/well read, also is cheeky, bubbly, loyal and def. has a dark streak.  Her growth is really cool to watch
  • Phoenix: Behind his snobbishness from being royal, he's kindhearted, sensitive, has a cheeky side, loyal, has no interest in power/money = he's pretty down to earth beneath the spoiled rich kid veneer. lol    (there def. needs to be far more "softer" male characters everywhere!!  Other dramas with softer/non pushy main leads I really appreciate are Splendid Politics & Sweet Combat)
  • Demon Princess - despite her character losing out with the Mu Ci story line, she's still pretty cool.  Loyal, kindhearted, bad richard simmons.
  • Hong/Moon - A lot of fun, despite some of the more questionable things like trying to set up Carrot with one of the young Flower Fairies
  • Carrot is just so fun
  • Yan You Is a pretty interesting character who seems more lighthearted than he actually is.
  • I actually really appreciated the head fairy of flower realm - thought she was pretty realistic with her protectiveness of JM
  • and I kinda hate to say it, but Run Yu - a worthwhile villain - even if his story line was draggy/we saw too much of him.      

5. Themes I noticed:

  • Since JM is so innocent the way she perceives the world is so pure.  It really strikes me how many social norms/restrictions there are(in pretty much all corners of the globe), when really there's a lot to be done away with to advance (all) societies.  Sometimes it's played for laughs, but I also felt a questioning feel to it all.  I mean Empress is very hoity-toity, especially seen during the banquet w/ JM & Sui-He's framing of Yan You.  RY, like wise is pretty pretentious with his ultra 'dignified' demeanor.  Xu Feng might have an air of pomposity at first glance, however, he's pretty down to earth and just lets Jin Mi do what she does (often touching him, like when she was trying to find his wound, and when she "kisses" him for the first time) and doesn't really judge her for it.    Yan You is likewise opposite to RY/Empress.  (and yeah, I know there's a reason, but we didn't really see much of him before his "fall") Hong Hong is the same - he just is who he is, with no airs.     
  • Also the fact that JM is going around reading Fox/Moon God's/Hong's smutty novels and not feeling ashamed  - or feeling really anything about any of it (really - how it should be!) is so absurdly hilarious and at the same time it's like wait a second... 
  •  
  • The nature of power/how it can and will corrupt & that the best life is a simple one with loved ones.  Everyone who chased wealth/power paid for it.  RY forced himself on JM and in the end it blew up all in his face, with her being killed and him almost losing himself to the daemon (if not for XF)  
  •  
  • Consent!  As JM says at the end - A fish can only be caught if it wants to be caught.  JM is shown consistently pushing away contact she does not want.  Yan You, Run Yu, Moon God - she's been shown to avoid all of their touches at one point or another.  I mean in contrast she keeps on touching XF, regardless of him - so it's an interesting dynamic on how she is someone who doesn't know what consent would be - until others put themselves on her.    JM also confronts RY and calls him out once she finds out his malicious lies/ill intentions/etc  "You made me kill the person I loved best, who loved me best/you don't know how to love" etc
  •  
  • (close to consent, but I feel it deserves it's own category) Forcing yourself on someone/manipulating them Is. Not. Love!  Love is not one-sided and someone doesn't belong to you because you want them/they make you feel good.  Love is accepting a person for who they are and not hurting them with your actions.  (ie.. RY saying to JM, who is devastated by XF's death that he "wants her to go back to the way she used to be.")        

6. There is little to no chasing!  Our Main Characters fall for each other gradually over a long period of time, even if one of them is restricted from love.  They get to know each other and find out there's more to each other than meets the eye.  It's organic and natural and boy did YZ & DL sell it.  Which makes the latter part of the drama SO devastating!  I still find myself sad over it even if I haven't even seen it months.  Talk about heart wrenching.   

 

7.  Not only did it make me cry - it made me laugh!

 

8. The characters grow!  i.e. Jin Mi "grows up" in the mortal realm & XF seems to grow more down to earth/drop the more he falls for JM.  

   

I might have to come back to this later and fix/edit/add lol.  

Interesting note on consent. I think XF should be the one crying 'consent' here because JM kept touching him without his 'permission'.

 

Like the saying 'harassment is as perceived by the receiver' so while XF was not 'asked his consent' before touched, he wasn't harassed and welcomed it. I think that is the organic relationship between men and women I appreciate in some Asian dramas. There is no much drama about seeking consent as to the receivers' perception and reaction to it: We know JM had a different feeling for XF because she always cringed when others tried to touch her either sexually or other wise.

 

After watching AOL and several clips online, I am convinced that JM loved XF even before the moral realm arc. She ALWAYS wanted to be with him, touch him, wanted to make him happy, etc. That's why I find it difficult to understand JM's killing of XF, I think it was a major plot hole. She didn't kill him at the spur of the moment, she planned to kill him. If she killed him when she was grieving at her mother's grave, it would be easier to process. She bids her time for three years, writes him a love poem and gives him her lock of hair to keep at his essence to remember her then stabs him there. No matter how I process it, I can't blame the Yun elixir. I would have preferred Run Yu hypnotized her and she killed him in a fit of madness at the wedding.

 

I find it fitting that RunYu apologized about JM to XF while he wasn't sorry for the death of his parents. I appreciated that Run Yu came to the understanding that he had no claim to JM; the engagement was just a convenient tool for him not to marry (he told his Fox Uncle once that he was not interested in marriage).

 

Phew! This drama leaves a huge impression on me.

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  • 2 weeks later...
19 hours ago, eggy said:

I love this drama! probably one of the top three in my all-time favs along with 'The Untamed' and 'Empresses in the Palace'. I may be in the minority for prefering Run Yu over Xu Feng... 

Me too! I love the story so much. 

The novel is equally good.

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19 hours ago, eggy said:

I'm not sure whether novels would work just as well; if it's too long I'd abandon!

Hahaha! I don't mind the length of most novels but there are some that are just too much.

3000+ chapters!!

But I still continue to read.

Heavy Sweetness, Ashlike Frost is just right in length.

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  • 1 year later...

So finally started with the drama... coz of the void left by #TTEOTM...  people say, LYX got famous due to this drama...

 

I saw LYX's interview about the drama...where he said, when they were filming, the place can get so hot until 50ish degree, and they would sweat immediatedly.... but because it is a high budget drama, his sweat was covered by CGI... ha! I thought it was hilarious...  furthermore,  Yang Zi did say LYX's face is so small... LYX being thin caused her to lose 20pounds;  she also  asked  LYX to stop losing his weight....  i guess LYX didnt listen to her.. hehe... 

 

After watching 3 episodes,  i see why its a big budget drama... and i see LYX's face is a bit fuller here than his dramas after this...  

 

Seeing this after Deng Lun got ban... sigh, so much drama...

 

Back to the drama.... by 3rd episode Fire God already liked Jin Min... thats fast...  hmmm... since ji min gave that red thread to Run yu, i wonder whats the significance... 

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Well... was watching slowly... got side tracked.... at ep8...

 

Stumbled on the drama drama itself... shocked when reading this...... 

 

https://dramapanda.com/2018/08/screenwriter-promises-more-yang-zi-and.html

 

 https://dramapanda.com/2018/08/writers-and-production-in-cat-fight.html 

 

I hope Leo's rep has been restored?:neutral:... while  Deng Lun is now....????

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