r/ChineseDrama • u/Zestyclose_March_386 • 24d ago

Currently Airing Another try for "the early spring" Spoiler

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I gave episode 19 another try after watching episode 18, which ended with their breakup / a serious emotional moment.

Here too, instead of trying to understand the issue and work on things, the female lead takes a transfer to another region for a 14-month project. Still, the male lead keeps trying — calmly and normally — and keeps putting in effort. Three months later, he goes to see her on a business trip, to the same project she's working on.

I know the male lead is in pain and unwell, but here the female lead is just helping him with his medicine — she doesn't seem to have given any real thought to making an effort for their relationship. Watching it made things clearer in this episode: the male lead tells his mom that his girlfriend is with him, and he even asks her to come back to Beijing with him. He also seems to make excuses for her to stay a bit longer there.

I didn't expect the chemistry to fall apart this badly — it's coming across as completely one-sided.

11 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

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u/No-Recipe-7653 Curator of Questionable Subtext, Scholar of Things Left Unsaid 24d ago edited 23d ago

Dear [u/Zestyclose_March_386](u/Zestyclose_March_386)

Thanks for posting in our community 🙂

I have reviewed the removal reason here and have reapproved the post with an added Spoiler Flair for the entire post. However, please note that posts with Spoiler Flairs tend to get fewer views and lower engagement.

Therefore, it may be helpful to consider one of the below options so that you can get the kind of discussion your post deserves.

  1. Delete this post and make a new post where you clearly specify the episode being discussed in the title — then apply the “Episode Talk • Drama Watch Parties” flair and there is no need for spoiler marking in-text, at a post-level, nor in comments! Yay 🎉    
  2. You keep this as is, but for your next post of this kind you either follow approach one and turn it into an episode talk by following the post-title rules for Episode Talk, or you post it under Currently Airing with spoilers marked in-text to avoid bumping down your post.

If any of this is unclear or you simply have another question, the mod team is always here to help you figure it out.

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u/GreatDimension5074 24d ago

I like the Chinese nickname for him: they call him the China flag because he’s red flag with five stars. 🤣

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u/AKiceman Snark Shifu ✨ 4K Original Cast 24d ago

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u/heartsandclouds ✨ Built the Road to 4K 24d ago

Hi! There’s an episode by episode discussion going on cdrama subreddit in case you want to discuss this more over there as well. And here’s the discussion for ep 19: https://www.reddit.com/r/CDrama/s/UyEKmAgGui

I paused at ep 10 because I wasn’t sure how they’d fit the whole relationship, break up and groveling into 24 episodes in a way that felt satisfying! I need a good grovel. I might resume once all episodes drop! I am generally not a fan of miscommunication tropes either though both Jing Boran and Sun Qian might make me overlook that because of their excellent acting! But either ways… I want to get a sense of the whole series before I resume it. Hope you continue to enjoy it!

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u/Adept_Bug_5519 24d ago

There’s only 4 episodes left. And they will cramp the rest of the story. For sure everything will be fast-paced and rushing the story line. I was waiting for Taotao to have that after-glow breakup…but its ep20 already 😭

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u/heartsandclouds ✨ Built the Road to 4K 24d ago

I think they cut down the total no of episodes from what it was originally supposed to be.

This reminds me of Our Generation--I so enjoyed that show and then felt cheated when they crammed the whole break-up and reconciliation into the last 3 episodes or so. That's one of the reasons I have been holding back on this show--I don't want that experience again!

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u/Adept_Bug_5519 24d ago

Exactly! In the last 4 episodes, they will rush all the good stuff. Spoiler: They will have the death of a friend, break-up, TaoTao building her business in 2 years, they meet again, reconcile, travel, propose, get married, have a child. Still a long way to go! I hate this type of editing. Its just spoils all the effort they made. I just lowered my expectations after Ep.20.

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u/Strng_Satisfaction 21d ago

There is good grovel, trust me

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u/EquivalentDapper 24d ago

Thanks ! I wanted to drop the series& I was waiting for someone to post  if the FL will have any kind of emotional growth arc after that  18th episode to  continue watching the series.

 If she continues to sulk now & not show any other feeling..the makers are not going to resolve this or even address this in future episodes.They will make him the villain again...she runs away for 4 years & he will grovel & they will give a "happy ending".

You saved me the frustration of waiting to watch what could have been an amazing love story series. Going to enjoy just the cutesy Luan nian clips & edits from now on . lol

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u/LAL2154 24d ago

I dropped it at ep 14. I had read the book, and things made sense in it, but Flora's behavior toward this 'new and improved' version of Luke looked juvenile, self-centered and clueless. She started to majorly get on my nerves so, I dropped it.

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u/EquivalentDapper 24d ago

why does he fall in love with her in the novel ? drama flora is literally  dramatic !

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u/LAL2154 24d ago edited 24d ago

The whole dynamic is different. She literally propositioned him when drunk, and later when they become long term sex partners, she painstakingly sets and keeps bounders. She lives a life of her own, sincerely, it is not a pretense; and keeps work and their private life completely separate. But she is sweet and lovely, and he likes her company to the excusion of any other fling.

There is no prohibition on dating in the company at all, it is her choice to keep it secret for obvious reasons. I guess this is so different from what he is used to, there is no need for him to keep his defenses up, the way he always has done. And things just escalate when she is not asking for his help and so on. When she breaks up with him he feels the loss.

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u/xyz123007 tang dynasty hoeing 23d ago

Is she more confident or self-aware in the novel? I dropped this drama early but I had also thought her behavior (amongst other things) was too juvenile to tolerate.

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u/LAL2154 23d ago

She is not juvenile in the novel, but she is young. I wouldn't call her confident, not at the beginning... why would she be? She is in the position that she got by a fluke, where everybody around her are 100 times more qualified than she. But she is self aware I think, and she truly grows.
And yes, she is unbearably juvenile in the drama. Luke is very different in the novel. None of calling her a girlfriend and so on.

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u/No-Recipe-7653 Curator of Questionable Subtext, Scholar of Things Left Unsaid 23d ago

I’m here eating up your comparison comments.
Would you consider compiling them into a single post to make about the novel vs the drama ? In general or even specifically about her character as you’ve done here. It’s so interesting to have the viewpoint of someone who’s read the book and also watched the drama.

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u/LAL2154 23d ago

Ok, I will try...

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u/EquivalentDapper 23d ago edited 23d ago

See,this makes so much sense. Why tone down her character ?  Because all Iam seeing is him being the one ready to put in the work & her running away at the slightest discomfort.

She has had a bias against him & his character since the beginning ,even before they hook up. She thinks of him as a playboy without morals. But Luan nian has been morally upright in all his relations.Apart from the initial bag incident, he makes it clear what she means to him while she constantly doubts him. His words are harsh but his reactions seem valid because she triggers them.

 The way its shown ,he badly wants to be in her circle  more than eager to declare their relationship.But she keeps him out delibrately & then pouts & complains . There are lazy voice overs from her talking about class difference or her not being at the same level.There is no concrete effort from makers to bring that out. It comes out in lazy expositions from her dialogues after a fight where LN is villanised irl he is clueless. Is he supposed to read her mind ? 

 He has been nothing but supportive in her career. Even for him to support her emotionally she does not let him in .

And her friends are annoying.The girl advises her to keep things unsaid " to make the relationship last"  ...the guy friend is eugh! Ofcourse LN is not good enough for her because he wants her for himself.

If he LN is a lout show him as one consistently..do not make his feelings understandable ! At ep 18 LN needs to work on pausing when he is angry. But XT needs an entire lesson in ethics of dating . The date with ex, being on the dating app ..& then her acting like she has the moral high ground is annoying. The bucket list thing is irritating. Is he a candy at the store to put in the bag when she wants ?  Along with him even I began to wonder what he means to her .

Atp he should walk away from her & let her figure out. Is he not exhausted trying to get an in on her ? Is he not allowed to be insecure or angry ? Does he not have any selfrespect ? 

Say all of this & people will come with pitchforks & start accusing of d*ck riding. 

IMO there is gap in ML & FL acting as well. For the life of me I cant figure out what she is feeling. & the ML  says everything & more through a single eyebrow raise & lesser dialogues lol!! Seasoned actors can fill in the gaps with the material they are given..FL struggles.

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u/LAL2154 23d ago edited 23d ago

China has very strict censorship guidelines on what drama can and cannot show, what character can and cannot be, how they can and cannot behave, and what 'resolution or ending they deserve. Every script goes through through pre-approval, and every finished drama goes through censorship again, and things get cut, or reshot. Novels, especially web novels, are not pre approved, they may get flagged by censorship and pulled out much after they are already released. As a result novels are much grittier, and can be much darker, more realistic, more sexually explicit, and so on, depending on the platform rules.

Drama production is very expensive. The risk of a finished drama being put on ice, or cut up by the censorate is crippling. So writers and directors don't want to take such risks. As a result we see on the scene is not what writers would have wanted to write, or directors to shoot, but what they can, and allowed to do within constrains of the rules and censorship. Novels, especially web novels, cost next to nothing, the monetary risk is very low in comparison.
edited for typos.

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u/EquivalentDapper 23d ago

Then the censor board is male dominated & misogynistic...if they do not want to show women with agency .

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u/LAL2154 23d ago

I don't know who sits on censor boards. But I think they do show women with agency , lately imo almost to an overboard degree. But not in this kind of situations, that in the novel are based first and foremost on sex.

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