I completely fall in love with this drama and with the beautiful love story between Jian Yue Lou and Chen Yu Zhi. Whether it’s romantic or platonic, rarely I have seen before such a lovely, healthy, well-balanced and mature relationship.

STORY:

If the background of the drama is a classic mafia versus police story taking place in the Republic of China era, the originality of the drama can be found in the treatment and in the development of these characters. Everything here is about duality and how the image that we have on a person is not necessary who they really are. The cinematography and the way scenery props are arranged in this drama really support this concept and the director will often film the actors through mirrors reinforcing the idea that some people are not who they seem to be, just a reflection. Also, thanks to the complexity of all the characters, this drama will make us wonder what defines a bad or a nice person and how far is the distance between good and evil.

CHARACTERS:

The beautifully written two male leads are the real strength and the core of this drama. Their chemistry is beyond expectation. I was so into their relationship and I was completely addicted to it to the point I still cannot moving on.

For Jiang Yue Lou it was love at first sight. The moment he saw Chen Yu Zhi, he felt attracted to him, attracted to his kindness and to his calm demeanor. Even if at the beginning Jian Yue Lou still has some trust issues, really rapidly he is happy to have Chen Yu Zhi in his life. Chen Yu Zhi became his anchor as he’s giving him love and offered him a sense of comfort and belonging. The way he stares at him and feels the need to touch him and be close to him all the time is also very romantic. Jiang Yue Lou, you are way too obvious.
Chen Yue Zhi has also a deep and profound affection for Jiang Yue Lou but show it in a more discrete and subtle way. He is really worried about him and only cares about his happiness. I think at some point of the story someone asked Chen Yu Zhi what will make him happy and he answered something like “I just want to save a person that I care about” and that sentence describes exactly how he feels about Jiang Yue Lou.

The level of trust and understanding they have for each other is a delight to watch. This is a really honest and mature relationship. They’re really equal. They both have their own job, their own personality and none of them is dependent on the other. They don’t share the same opinions on several things but they always listen what the other has to say before taking a decision. This kind of relationship is really refreshing to see.
During the course of the drama their relationship will be tested one big time when Chen Yu Zhi lost a really important person to him indirectly because of Jiang Yue Lou’s actions. But thanks to Chen Yu Zhi’s personality this event will make their bond even stronger. And after that, nothing, NOTHING, will be able to tear them apart. They will stand for each other and protect each other until the very end of the drama and for that I am so thankful! This couple is so beautiful!

JIANG YUE LOU played by Mao Zi Jun: Outstanding performance from this actor.
It’s my first time seeing him in a drama and I was so amazed how he wonderfully portrayed this 3-dimensional and very complex character. Also, the way he moves, the way he jumps and sit on a table or on a sofa like the place belongs to him really screams “cat energy” and I found this really funny to watch. Duality is the best way to describe Jiang Yue Lou. He is a very powerful, intelligent, and righteous man, ready to fight the bad guys and bring justice but at the same time he is so arrogant, short tempered, has little empathy to anyone and doesn’t care too much about the consequences of his actions.
Trough the drama Jiang Yue Lou will get one of the most beautiful character development. At the beginning of the story, he was completely lost, lonely, angry, sad, blind to others, unable to trust anyone or to control his emotions due to his tragic and painful past. But everything changed after he met the kind doctor. Chen Yu Zhi was his blessing and thanks to him by the end of the drama Jiang Yue Lou is able to open himself to others, able to trust, to love and to forgive people.
Everyone has his own interpretation of a story and for me the drama was all about Jiang Yue Lou’s journey to be able to love and trust again. That’s why even if I am happy that we got two endings (a happy one and a very sad one), I still loved the “meaning” behind the sad ending. Because at the end of the drama, Jiang Yue Lou is “saved”, he is healed and so he “doesn’t need Chen Yu Zhi anymore”. So even after he tragically lost him, Jiang Yue Lou can accept this lost as he is now ready to face the new life that the meeting with Chen Yu Zhi offered him.

CHEN YU ZHI wonderfully played in a very subtle way by Ian Yi.
He is my favorite character of this show and for me he represents “HOPE” in this drama. He is truly one of the greatest, strongest, faithful and noble character that I have ever seen in drama land. He is a very clever, very calm and collected person. He also has a deep understanding about how society works. He is also well aware about the trouble time they are living with during the period of the drama and about the consequences this trouble time have on people’s life. We barely know anything about his past but with the few words he said about it “I was born in trouble times, the day is rich, the day is poor, right now it’s already not easy to survive let alone being rich and successful” we can understand that he also went through a difficult past but he managed to live with it and accepted it. I also really love how his quote truly reflects on his life philosophy.
For him, the world is not just black and white with good and bad people. For him circumstances matter, people are allowed to make wrong choices and everyone deserve a second chance. His personality is so beautiful. He was always ready to help and trust people, and not in an innocent and naive way but in an understanding way.
Yes, sometimes he will be betrayed, some people will use his kindness against him but still even knowing that he prefers to give a chance to everyone first rather than giving up on them without even trying to understand them.
I am so happy Chen Yu Zhi exists and I think the message the writers delivered through his character is really important.


YU TANG CHUN and ZHAN JUN BAI:
As I said before in this drama everything is about duality and this couple can be seen as a dark version or as the other side of the coin representing Jiang Yue Lou and Chen Yu Zhi relationship. They represent what would have happened to our two man leads if they didn’t trust each other.
Zhan Jun Bai is a very powerful man coming from a healthy family. He is really mysterious and secretive and it’s really hard to understand what he really thinks. But he has a passion for singing and acting and because of that he will fall in love with Yu Tang Chin, a singer and an actor who has a terrible past that is somehow connected to Zhan Jun Bai. So, knowing that, Yu Tang Chin will use the affection and “the image” that Zhan Jun Bai has of him, to be able to get close to him and get revenge. Unfortunately for him, in the process, Yu Tang Chin will also start to develop feelings for Zhan Jun Bai which make their story really tragic. Their relationship was so toxic and so sad but at the same time so interesting to follow as you’re always wondering if what they showed are their true feelings or if they are faking it to get what they want from the other.

CHU RAN: A very interesting female character to follow. She is a very strong and independent woman and was always ready to help the male leads. By her, we can also understand how hard it was to be a woman at that time and how much she has to fight to have the right to choose is own destiny but still she did it perfectly. Hands up for her!
Through the drama she also falls in love with Jiang Yue Lou but unfortunately for her it’s a one-sided love. But despite knowing that he only sees her as a friend, she is not pestering him and she is still ready to help him and that is very nice to see.
About his love for him, I think more than being in love with the “real” Jiang Yue Lou, she loves the “image” she has of him, the image of the strong knight in shining armor always ready to fight evil guys.
Also, interestingly, in many scenes, it seems that the script will use her as a “counterpart” of Chen Yu Zhi to make us understand in a subtle way (and probably also to bypass censorship?) who Jiang Yue Lou truly loves in this drama.

All the others support roles are also really well written and I couldn’t find any unnecessary character. Every one of them was interesting to follow and was used as a counterpart of another character to make us understand how environment and circumstances have an impact on people’s life. Again, it’s all about mirrors and duality.
Special mention to Song Rong, Sun Yong Ren and Wang Meng. I truly loved these 3 guys, and was super happy to see them every time they were on screen.

REWATCH VALUE: Definitely high for me!

I am so in love with the plot and the beautiful relationship between Chen Yu Zhi and Jiang Yue Lou. And I can tell you that you will spend be a wonderful time watching them facing adversity together and falling in love with each other.