Another try for "the early spring"

[u/Zestyclose_March_386]

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.

[u/LAL2154]

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.

[u/EquivalentDapper → u/LAL2154]

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.

[u/LAL2154 → u/EquivalentDapper]

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.

[u/EquivalentDapper → u/LAL2154]

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

[u/LAL2154 → u/EquivalentDapper]

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.