Bu Bu Jing Qing - Episode 4

The episode opens with my least favourite people in the series - Yin Zheng and Lan Lan.  They are indeed having their heart-to-heart at her door.  He asked about her magnolia earring and was easily satisfied with her simple answer that it was given by her now-deceased aunt.  She told him that she will slowly tell him everything that he wants to know about her but pleaded for him to give her time and trust.

Yin Zheng then revealed to her that he thinks she's the one he has been waiting for all his life.  He told her about a recurring dream of a girl whose face he never saw clearly but he remembers that she always had a magnolia with her.  So, he feels that destiny had brought them together.  Bleah!  You've got the wrong girl, Yin Zheng!

Double bleah when before he left, he told Lan Lan not to be angry over an unimportant person and he would settle the problem for her.  Unimportant, Yin Zheng?  If you only knew.  It looks like he does have memories from his Qing Dynasty past and unlucky for him, the wrong girl is holding the clue.

The episode moves to my favourite BFFs having lunch in the company cafeteria when Yin Zheng interrupted them rudely with a knock on their table.  How much more of a jerk do you want to be, Yin Zheng?  At the rate you are going, I'm even going to like Huang Di more than you.  He began to exhibit traits of the boss from hell by finding faults with Zhang Xiao's previous magnolia designs and asking her to do another more elegant one.

His cause is helped by the shoe-polisher Jack, who reprimanded Zhang Xiao for daring to ask Yin Zheng to explain his task.  Jack even told Yin Zheng that Zhang Xiao will submit her work the next day instead of after the two-day deadline he initially set.  I can forgive Jack because of his blockhead Tenth Prince past, so I'll let his mean attitude slide.

Huang Di is my favourite guy among the three in that scene.  He has improved tremendously from the Huang Di we met in Bu Bu Jing Xin.  Anyway, I was less than impressed with Zhang Xiao who immediately threatened to resign and that earned her a mean retort from Yin Zheng about vomitting out the lunch she just had if she was going to quit there and then.  The Ruoxi I know wouldn't have been waving the white flag everywhere- first at Kang Zhen Tian and now at Yin Zheng?

As part of her assignment, Zhang Xiao caught the first glimpse of the magnolia hairpin when it was brought out of the safe.  At that exact moment when she first sight on it, I wonder what her thoughts would be if she hadn't lost her memories.  Zhang Xiao, the Fourth Prince gave you that!  You wore it on the day you asked him to marry you.  He had it fixed after it was broken and put it on for you, saying that he thought it looked nice on you.  Sigh, Bu Bu Jing Xin memories..

Anyway, the magnolia hairpin was taken out for a photoshoot and was seen to be begging to be stolen as Zhang Xiao was super careless with it.  She left it alone to answer a phone call.  When the electricity supply was suspiciously cut off, she turned her back on it to ask if they could continue with the photoshoot anytime soon.  Then, ta-da, a mysterious hand appeared to whisk the hairpin away. 

The theft was reported immediately to Kang Zhen Tian and I loved him for not being merciless with Zhang Xiao.  She deserved his harsh words after all.  But it appears that Yin Zheng already asked her to leave the company and made it out to be all her fault.  Kang Zhen Tian was smart enough to realise that the matter wasn't just a simple theft.  He told Yin Zheng that it is an obvious stunt to get rid of Zhang Xiao whom he personally hired.

While cycling home from work, Zhang Xiao had to fall victim to a snatch thief.  When she tried to pick up her stuff that was thrown on the road, a guy in black came roaring by in his superbike.

Kang Si Yu!  He's so freaking cute and just exudes coolness.  I have high hopes for this guy.  I learnt that he's the reincarnate of the Fourteenth Prince, so I wish for him to always be that sweet guy to Zhang Xiao.  When my other ship (Kang Si Han/Zhang Xiao) sinks, I shall ship him and Zhang Xiao.  So there, Yin Zheng!

He offered her his hand.  She snubbed him, asking if he thought he was at the race track.  On a side note, it looks like all three guys have helped Zhang Xiao in her times of being a damsel-in-distress.  Yin Zheng at the exhibition.  Kang Si Han in front of his place.  And now, Kang Si Yu.  Being rescued by three brothers, what a lucky girl you are, Zhang Xiao.

Kang Si Yu:  Looks like there's nothing wrong with you.  You are pretty but your temper leaves much to be desired.

Theres!  That's the spunky Zhang Xiao reminiscent of the young Ruoxi that I loved!

Kang Si Yu brought Zhang Xiao to the hospital on his superbike (I envy you, Zhang Xiao!) and they had a comical exchange with the doctor.  On their way out of the hospital, he asked for her X-ray film because he was the one who paid all her medical bills.  She was incensed and slammed the plastic bag containing the film at him. 

He took the film out to admire it while exclaiming that it was so sexy.  Further enraged, she grabbed the film and hit him with it while calling him a pervert and maniac.  She warned him that she will still look for him if she had any future health problems.  She then asked for his phone.

He asked if she wanted his number.  Oh-em-gee, I love his cheeky smile.  Totally makes me swoon!  She told him that she needed his phone to erase the data on her phone lest that it falls into the hands of another pervert like him.

See how he casually put his arm around her?  The two of them are too cute for words.  If Huang Di and Zhang Xiao are my favourite BFFs, Kang Si Yu and Zhang Xiao are my favourite enemies!

This is what Kang Si Yu left her with after she warned him to get her bike safely to her house or else he'd have to compensate her.  So sweet!  Except that the muddy patch of love grass actually stinks.  Who else but her BFF had to help her clean up the mess?  Huang Di thought she did it as a declaration of love to him when he viewed it from the window upstairs.

First, Kang Si Yu.  Now Kang Si Han.  I am being spoiled.  He sent Zhang Xiao a message asking what was the commotion about.  He surmised that the act was an act of love and teased that she didn't know that's what a guy in love would do for a girl.  She told him that whether it was done out of love or hate, she never wanted to see the perpetrator again.  Notice how cute Huang Di looked as he tried to sneak a peak an the on-going online conversation?

My (current) top three most favourite guys on Bu Bu Jing Qing:  Kang Si Han, Kang Si Yu and Huang Di in that order.  Why is Kang Si Han at the top?  The reasons are below!

Don't his smiles melt your heart?  Le sigh..

Zhang Xiao despatched Huang Di to Kang Si Yu's music bar to get compensation.  After much comical humiliation (a failed kungfu attempt) and a successful dare (finishing all the liquor), Huang Di went home with a 100 grand, which he promptly gave to Zhang Xiao for her to pay the company for the loss of the hairpin.  That earned him a hug!

The next day in the office, she was only met with a cold snub from Yin Zheng who asked her to write a resignation letter, leave the company and never appear in front of the Chairman again.  Fortunately, Kang Zhen Tian was outside and heard what he said, so he came to Zhang Xiao's rescue.  He said that if Zhang Xiao had to be faulted, he would think that Yin Zheng had to share the responsibility.

As Zhang Xiao was moping around in her room and spraying perfume all over to cheer herself up, a text came from Kang Si Han asking if ZX already had dinner.

I love their date.  It is like the sweetest and most refreshing thing in this series when love is all around you.  He impressed her with his sense of smell and she went, wah sei (one of my favourite Chinese expressions of "wow").

He asked her to introduce the dish from her hometown and this is how Kang Si Han looked when she asked him to eat a chili.  He was game enough to take a bite but ended up coughing uncontrollably.  When she asked him why did he still eat it even though he can't stand spicy, he said he was embarrassed not to.  Aww, Kang Si Han..

When Zhang Xiao remarked that she still didn't know his real name despite knowing him for so long, he said to continue calling him "Inspector Black Cat."

Zhang Xiao:  All right, I understand.
Kang Si Han:  What is it that you understand?
Zhang Xiao:  You must have a really awful name.  That's why you refuse to tell me.
Kang Si Han:  No matter what my name is, I am still me.
Zhang Xiao:  I agree.

They then bonded over names and family.  He said that his mother has died and he has lost contact with his father for a long time.  She told him that she was brought up by her father, having lost her mother at a young age.

After dinner, she took him to the park to play fireworks and this ended up being one of my favourite scenes.  Everything from the dinner to the fireworks and the way they were reluctant to call it a night (I love their waves and bye-byes) is just so heartwarming.

But oh, my god.  Is that Kang Si Han hugging Zhang Xiao's best friend, Meng Xin Yi?  I felt like my whole Bu Bu Jing Qing world is falling apart.  Meng Xin Yi showed this photo to Zhang Xiao when she pressed her for a photo of her boyfriend during their Skype conversation.  I knew it, I knew it..  Everything was too good to be true.  I hate you already, Kang Si Han!  You were with Meng Xin Yi first?!?!

After the treachery of Kang Si Han, we are then served with Yin Zheng and Lan Lan in a company auction where he looked too full of himself and she oddly out of place in the Qing costume that obviously belongs to Zhang Xiao.

This is Kang Si Han fetching Zhang Xiao to work because her bike ran out of power but my broken heart no longer feels pure joy.  When she asked if his boss was nice-looking, he said yes but she asked how come she couldn't find his picture anywhere online.  The reason he gave was the same as the one Meng Xin Yi gave- he's a private person.  My heart is totally breaking.

The episode ends with Yin Zheng receiving a call from his assistant notifying him that the hairpin thief had been caught, and Kang Zhen Tian getting back his prized magnolia hairpin from the police.

My Thoughts:

This is the episode that gave me so much happiness in the shape of Kang Si Han, Kang Si Yu and Huang Di but towards the end, everything sweet that was related to Kang Si Han turned awfully bitter and hard to swallow.  The innocent first love shared between him and Zhang Xiao had been tainted in my eyes.  Huang Di doesn't disappoint.  He played the BFF to perfection: standing beside Zhang Xiao while she's under attack, cleaning up the mess with her and facing up to the bully for her.  Kang Si Yu made a grand entrance as the bad boy but his cheeky smile betrays his good side.  My only consolation is when Kang Si Han falls from grace, Kang Si Yu will still be there for Zhang Xiao - like how the Fourteenth Prince was there for Ruoxi at the very end.

I have no love for Yin Zheng and Lan Lan.  Just as long as they stayed wrapped up with each other and in their own world, I am fine with it.  I am actually waiting for Yin Zheng's "pride goes before the fall" moment.  I am thankful for Kang Zhen Tian.  While Yin Zheng's presence turns everything sour for Zhang Xiao, Kang Zhen Tian makes it right again for her and put Yin Zheng back into his rightful corner.  

 

I shall now retire to start nursing my broken heart over my less-than-dreamy ship of Kang Si Han/Zhang Xiao.  Sob!

Bu Bu Jing Qing - Episode 3

I love this episode because this is where the much talked about Kang Si Han appears and he totally melts my heart with his sweet, sweet smile.  If he's the reincarnate of the Eight and Ninth Prince and he's showing all his Eight Princely behaviour in the first half of Bu Bu Jing Qing, he's got my vote over Yin Zheng any time!

Kang Si Han and Zhang Xiao's first meeting takes place somewhere in the middle of the episode and he is every bit a gentleman - no, scratch that - a prince charming that one can hope for.  Le sigh.

The episode begins from where we were let off in the previous episode.  Zhang Xiao has another accident involving electricity and water.  At first, we were scared into thinking that she might have total amnesia.  The good news is it looks like she still has part of her old memory intact.  The bad news is she has forgotten her memories of the Qing Dynasty!

Yin Zheng saw her looking curiously at his jade ring.  He asked if she has seen it before.  She answered, I don't know.  Well, at least it wasn't a straight no.  Imagine if she hadn't lost her memory and she could tell him that she had seen the ring being worn by Yongzheng Emperor, his past self!  Wishful thinking again like the encounter with Kang Zhen Tian.

After Yin Zheng and his assistant left, Huang Di asked Zhang Xiao if she knew who Yin Zheng was.  She told him that he was their boss.  He asked besides that fact, what else can she remember about Yin Zheng.  She then asked besides that, what else is there to him?

Huang Di:  Yinzheng?  Yongzheng?  Huang Di?
Zhang Xiao:  Yongzheng?  Qing Dynasty?  What has he got to do with me?  What on earth are you talking about?

Just as Zhang Xiao seems to have forgotten all about Yin Zheng, Kang Si Han appears and sweeps me off my feet.  I must confess that I like him more than the Eight Prince.  It's just too bad that he turned Anakin Skywalker towards the end.  Huge sigh.

He walked into an abandoned place and from his flashbacks, we learn that he used to live here as a kid with his beloved mother.  He writes "Z&X" on the dusty window and said, "Mama, I've come back."  Aww, at this point, I don't know what Z&X means yet to him but it totally spells Zhang Xiao to me.

Zhang Xiao returned home with Huang Di.  She found her place to be like a pigsty and warned him not to let her find a strand of woman's hair.  He defended himself by saying that he had been busy taking care of her in the hospital and had no time to clean up the house.

Zhang Xiao decided to let it slide and to further confirm her Qing memory loss, she thought that the Qing Dynasty books lying around belonged to Huang Di.  We also find out that she didn't like calligraphy.  It appears that the Ruoxi who practised calligraphy in Bu Bu Jing Xin really did it out of her love for the Fourth Prince.

She asked Huang Di to explain everything.  When he asked her to look at the pictures of Yin Zheng and his jade ring in her phone, she really didn't seem to have any recollections and so, he asked her to let it go.  The doctor also told her that her lost memory may or may not come back and she had to be mentally prepared to face that.

Kang Si Han and Zhang Xiao's first encounter happened without either of them realising it.  She was cycling by his place and wondered why the company had the same "ZX" initials as her name.  He was busy directing the movers and renovation workers.

We then find Zhang Xiao rushing into the company elevator and seeing Yin Zheng in it.  But hurrah!  Now that Kang Si Han has appeared and she has no (sad) memories of the Fourth Prince, she could be her bubbly self around him.  Even when he asked if he had seen her before at an exhibition, I wasn't the least perturbed when she replied that she didn't know.

Lan Lan appeared in yet another photoshoot wearing Qing costume.  I  wish it has been Zhang Xiao in those costume in memory of Ruoxi.  I had wanted Lan Lan to become unavailable for one of the photoshoots and Zhang Xiao had to cover for her.  I bet that would have given Yin Zheng a memory shock and make him remember his Qing Dynasty past.

Yin Zheng walked into the photoshoot and it becomes apparent that Lan Lan had not forgiven him for the snub.  When he actually apologised after she wanted to end their business contract, I was like, no, that's not the Fourth Prince I know.  The Fourth Prince does not apologise to anyone.  Much less to a snobbish girl like Lan Lan.  Bye-bye, Yin Zheng, you have officially become irrelevant in my eyes.

Zhang Xiao walked into their conversation to discuss the magnolia pictures with Yin Zheng.  When Zhang Xiao innocently remarked that she and Lan Lan looked very similar, Lan Lan snubbed her by saying that the resemblance was only external.  Yin Zheng's assistant came over and it looked like he had asked her to investigate Zhang Xiao and Lan Lan's backgrounds.  The report came back as saying that they have no relations whatsoever to each other because they have separate family histories and backgrounds.

Yin Zheng makes me hate him more for asking Zhang Xiao to send magnolia flowers to Lan Lan every day.  To her credit, she did say that such an errand could be arranged with the flower shop but he insisted that she personally carries it out as a mark of sincerity.  Bah!  If he wanted to show sincerity, he should deliver the magnolias himself.  Darn you, Yin Zheng.  Her first flower errand resulted in more snubs by Lan Lan.  Gah!  Where is the spunky Ruoxi when she she faced Mingyue in Bu Bu Jing Xin?

Anyway, no need to get mad over Lan Lan because Kang Si Han is here to make my day!  Zhang Xiao was cycling past his place again when she had to manoeuvre her bicycle between a car and a truck.  She made a scratch on the car and was inspecting it when someone came out from nowhere to push her away from a falling box.

Oh, Kang Si Han!  My, I mean, Zhang Xiao's, bai ma wang zi (prince charming).

And this is Zhang Xiao's look of love when she first saw Kang Si Han.  He picked her shawl up and apologised for scaring her and dirtying her shawl.  He was such a perfect gentleman when she showed him the scratch on his car.  He then gave her a present for the inconvenience caused by the renovation works and even put it into her bicycle basket for her.  Kang Si Han looked at Zhang Xiao as she cycled away.

That night, Zhang Xiao tried the perfumes he gave her and was shocked by their retail price.  The spunky her had no qualms about going over in the middle of the night to return the present.  She was initially hesistant to call him but she accidentally set his car alarm off, so he came running out.  She quickly explained that she was here to return the perfumes.  He asked if there was anything wrong with them but she said that the problem lay with the price.

 See how good they look together?  I was totally squealing at their cuteness overload.

They left each other while repeating the other's names and smiling.  No matter what happens later on, I will hold on to this beautiful and innocent love between Kang Si Han and Zhang Xiao.

We are shown Lan Lan taking a shower and her magnolia tattoo makes another appearance.  It looks like she might have something to do with the Qing Dynasty past based on her interest in this particular flower.  It's revealed that the tattoo was done by some non-random guy in a somewhat seedy place.  This must be a hint of her shady past.

Yin Zheng called her and she agreed to meet him.  He asked her about the lone magnolia earring that she was wearing but she refused to tell him the story of why it is not in a pair.  Kang Zhen Tian appeared at their restaurant with a business associate, causing Yin Zheng to ask Lan Lan to leave with him.  At the playground, Yin Zheng and Lan Lan had a heart-to-heart where he revealed his troubled heart and past.  She told him about her 14 year-old neighbour who got raped, somehow to console him in his despair.  An odd story to share.

Yin Zheng's mother makes an appearance and we see that she's totally different from De Fei Niang Niang in Bu Bu Jing Xin.  She obviously dotes on him but is frustrated with his coldness towards his stepfather.       

More Yin Zheng-Lan Lan scenes.  He brought her out to dinner and prepared a fireworks performance for her.  She was scared witless by the beautiful performance, leaving him bewildered.  More hints at her damaged soul and shady past.  Anyway, Yin Zheng was already totally smitten with her.  When she asked that she never sees Zhang Xiao again, he didn't seem to disagree.  He also agreed to stand outside her room just to chat.  Yin Zheng, Yin Zheng..  Where is the Fourth Prince and what have you done with him?

My Thoughts:

I am so not interested in Yin Zheng and Lan Lan's relationship and I think that it's sacrilegious to the memory of the Fourth Prince and Ruoxi.  I don't care if Lan Lan ends up being Zhang Xiao's twin sister because she is no Ruoxi.

Anyway, I will not bother with that pair because I have a new pair to ship!  I know what becomes of Kang Si Han but for now, I shall enjoy his sweet smiles as they keep coming in droves.  See how he makes Zhang Xiao smiles so brightly?  Kang Zhen Tian and Kang Si Han are my favourite guys for making Zhang Xiao smile while Yin Zheng only makes her cry.

I am glad that Zhang Xiao could be her real self around Kang Si Han and I look forward to their development.  I really miss the Ruoxi from the earlier part of Bu Bu Jing Xin.  The Zhang Xiao in the last two episodes reminded me of the Ruoxi from the later part of Bu Bu Jing Xin.

Hence, this makes me glad for her memory loss so that she could fall in love with Kang Si Han and not be hurt by Yin Zheng.  More so when this Yin Zheng is so obviously no Fourth Prince.  I don't know who he is.

Bu Bu Jing Qing - Episode 2

Anyone who can make the gloomy Zhang Xiao smiles like that totally has my vote.  And it is my current favourite character from Bu Bu Jing Qing, Kang Zhen Tian.  While Kangxi inspired more fear than respect in Bu Bu Jing Xin, here he has my respect because he is less irrational and exudes sensibility and warmth despite his still regal standing.

Before we get to my favourite elevator conversation depicted above, we have to suffer through tons of unappetising scenes between Yin Zheng and Lan Lan.

The episode begins with Yin Zheng drinking in the bar with his Uncle Wang.  I truly miss the camaraderie between the Fourth and Thirteenth Prince.  No offence, Uncle Wang is no substitute for the Thirteenth Prince.

Uncle Wang is trying to advise Yin Zheng not to make his father angry anymore.  Here I am not impressed with Yin Zheng at all because he acts like a petulant child who feels unjustly mistreated and that the world owes him.  He thinks that Kang Zhen Tian didn't deserve any gratitude for taking care of his mom all these years and for making a success out of his real father's business.

This is where I think he's wrong and well, future episodes reveal as such.  If Kang Zhen Tian hadn't married his mom and expanded his dad's business, I doubt that Yin Zheng would have any such Zhen Tian Group to fight for and for this, he is even resentful of his half-brothers?  Oh, please..

This Yin Zheng is so different from the Fourth Prince.  Where is the calm and collected Fourth Prince who calculates his every move behind his icy appearance?

Anyway, the scene has to be made worse with Lan Lan walking into the bar with her magnolia tattoo on her back in full view and catching Yin Zheng's attention as she ordered a tequila.  The cheesy background music doesn't help the Fourth Prince's reincarnate's cause.  Sigh, I never thought I'd miss the iciness of the Fourth Prince.

And thus begins the ridiculous love affair of Yin Zheng and Lan Lan.  All because of the magnolia!  Ugh, Yin Zheng.  You've got the wrong girl!

Huang Di and Zhang Xiao have become my favourite pair of BFFs.  At least they are more palatable than the pair of Yin Zheng and Lan Lan.  Here they are dissecting the mystery of Zhang Xiao's interest in Yin Zheng and her likeness with Lan Lan over a bunch of McDonald's fries.  Huang Di seems to be a merge of the Tenth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Princes.  Oh, how I miss my princes until I'm seeing them in these modern characters!

Of course Huang Di had to dress up as an eunuch and mistook Lan Lan as Zhang Xiao in her dressing room.  Isn't that blockhead enough for you?  Haha.

We then see Jack showing Zhang Xiao her new cubicle in the office and exerting his bossiness.  Ah!  This reminds me of Ruoxi's first day in the palace as a palace maid and I miss Li De Quan.  The next scene shows Lan Lan being interviewed and Yin Zheng watching her.  It appears that she was targetting him and had done her homework well by matching her interests to his.  Boring.

After Huang Di's sleuthing stint, we now see Zhang Xiao sneaking into Yin Zheng's office.  She sees the jade ring and she only had the thought that he likes antique stuff?  Didn't she recognise it as the ring that Yongzheng used to wear? 

We find Zhang Xiao standing outside the Zhen Tian Group's building and we wonder what is in her mind.  A black car pulled up and we see that it's Kang Zhen Tian.  He told his assistant that he wants to speak with Zhang Xiao.

As she stood next to his car, he melted me with his fatherly attitude when he asked to get into the car because the wind was blowing strongly outside.  He then asked her if she liked working in the company and if she enjoyed her work.  Well!  You don't see Kangxi asking Ruoxi if she enjoyed being in the palace, did you?

What was also unexpected is Zhang Xiao telling Kang Zhen Tian that she had decided to resign.  Obviously he wasn't going to let her off that easily.  He was clever enough to tell her the following:

Kang Zhen Tian:  If you think that avoiding the problem would be a good solution to the problem, then I'm going to tell you that's not true.  Facing your problem is the best solution.  

Lan Lan is seen weaving her web over the smitten Yin Zheng in the next scenes.  She sent a representative over to discuss her contract.  He went all the way to Hong Kong to see her yachting.  The yachting scene between Yin Zheng and Lan Lan is pretty cool with he in white and she in red.

What is not cool that Yin Zheng thought he met her at the exhibition!  So not cool, Yin Zheng.  Something must be wrong with your head.  When she told him that she wanted to go horse-riding, I went like, oh, no, please don't desecrate my favourite horse-riding scenes from Bu Bu Jing Xin!

Luckily, they went riding on a merry-go-round and spent the day at Hong Kong Disneyland.  Really, Yin Zheng?  Yes, as ridiculous as it may seem but since he's with Lan Lan, I'll settle for ridiculous.  At dinner, she signed the contract without reading and when he asked her why, she said that she trusted him.  He believed her.  Again, really, Yin Zheng?

Using a good bottle of red wine as a reason, Lan Lan tried to lure him to her room but credits to him, a bouquet of flowers went in his stead with an apology card.  She was obviously not happy at the snub and binned them.

We then see Zhang Xiao pulling an all-nighter in the office drawing pictures of magnolias with Kang Zhen Tian's words ringing in her head.

An infatuated Yin Zheng got to office and found Zhang Xiao sleeping at her cubicle with her pictures of magnolias.  That's the girl you saw at the exhibition, Yin Zheng!  Gah!  After he left, Jack woke Zhang Xiao and sent her running to get his breakfast.

And that's when she inadvertently rushed into the Chairman's elevator.  Cue to the picture sequence above.  I loved it when they started talking about Kangxi.  I really wished that Zhang Xiao could tell him there and then that he was the reincarnate of Kangxi!  He was amused at her fascination with Kangxi and she told him that she thought Kangxi was not a simple Emperor, which he concurred.

He then told her that in response to her question the other day, he likes tea and not coffee.  I'm really looking forward to the day that Zhang Xiao makes him a cup of tea!  After Kang Zhen Tian and his assistant exited the elevator, he asked his assistant about his investigation on Zhang Xiao and news on Kang Si Han.

Jack passed a new tablet to Zhang Xiao and left her with instructions to see Yin Zheng.  She was really apprehensive about meeting Yin Zheng and who would have guessed that the one step she took towards him would lead her to being electrocuted again?  After she fainted, Yin Zheng went to her side and I can't believe that he actually thought she was Lan Lan!

The hospital scene in which Zhang Xiao woke up with her bandaged head and she wondering where she was was really reminiscent of the scene in which she woke up in the Eight Prince's house.  Wouldn't it be totally bizarre if this time, it was Ruoxi's soul in Zhang Xiao's body?

Fortunately or not, that didn't happen.  She put one hand over one eye like how Ruoxi did and when Huang Di appeared in front of her, she asked him who he was.  I went like, oh, no!  Total amnesia?

Huang Di:  I am Huang Di.
Zhang Xiao:  Huang Di?  Which Huang Di?

I burst out laughing.  When Huang Di left to get the doctor, who has to walk in but Yin Zheng?

In her blurry state of mind, she saw his figure and when he put the cover over her, she grabbed his hand and said: Don't go, don't go.  Then, she fainted.

In the next scene when she woke up after the doctor had left, she appeared not to know who Yin Zheng is and the significance of the jade ring he wears.  Even when he asked her if she remembered what she told him before fainting earlier, she hadn't got a clue.  All signs point to her forgetting her Bu Bu Jing Xin stint.  Oh, dear.

My thoughts:

I like Kang Zhen Tian.  Heck, I even like Huang Di.  I just don't like Yin Zheng and I don't like Lan Lan.  What do I think of the memory loss?  I would have liked to see how Zhang Xiao faces the modern world head on with her Qing Dynasty memory intact and I thought that she taking the first step before the accident was a good start but alas, this story arc was cut short.  Too bad.  So much potential.

Bu Bu Jing Qing - Episode 1

When this is shown towards the end of the opening of every episode (for the unabridged version - I realised that the TV version's is different, more on that later), this must mean well for the ending of Bu Bu Jing Qing, right?  Right?  Yin Zheng and Zhang Xiao looking at THE picture together, holding hands and smiling.

Yes, this is going to be one motivating factor for me as I watch episode after episode week after week.  This is much better compared to Bu Bu Jing Xin where I was just dreading the episodes as I neared the end.

I can't wait to start talking about episode 1!  But I need to clear some stuff first.  My recaps/reviews will be based on the unabridged version, which is different from the TV version.  However, I am watching both depending on which videos get uploaded first on Youtube but to avoid any confusion, I will write based on the unabridged version.

The difference between both versions is the unabridged one is longer (40 odd minutes versus 30 odd minutes), so that start and end points of the corresponding episodes for the respective versions are not the same.

Anyway, here's my recap/review of the first episode of Bu Bu Jing Qing:

It starts off with us meeting Zhang Xiao in her living room while she's watching (can you believe this?) Bu Bu Jing Xin!  How totally bizarre.  Fourth Prince shows up on the small screen on his horse in all his glory.  So, it appears that either Zhang Xiao is an obessed fan of Bu Bu Jing Xin or she is remembering something from her Qing Dynasty past.  I'd like to think that it's a mixture of both even though this uncertainty is caused by something as unromantic as the SARFT ban on time travelling elements in Chinese dramas.

Zhang Xiao:  It is difficult to love someone but it is even more difficult to let go of someone you love.

Instead of showing Zhang Xiao searching for information on the past where she just returned from in Bu Bu Jing Xin where she was reading about the fates of the princes, this time she's watching the drama that you and I watched.  Like I said, totally bizarre.  Nonetheless, it is heartening to see her crying the way I did when I watched those exact same scenes.

We then move to the past where we see Yongzheng Emperor still shedding tears over Ruoxi, and he had his jade ring and her magnolia hairpin put in a box to be buried in the sands of time (the desert).

From the past, we are blasted back into the future where Zhang Xiao is looking at the picture in the exhibition.  This scene was actually a favourite of mine from Bu Bu Jing Xin because it tied up the whole series very well.  After Ruoxi's twenty years in the Qing Dynasty, we have nearly forgotten that she was really Zhang Xiao from the future.  That is how well she had taken Fourth Prince's advice and lived the best she could.

Yin Zheng finally appears and thus, marks the first meeting between the Fourth Prince and Ruoxi/Zhang Xiao in the modern world.  Both were fascinated by the magnolia hairpin in the painting and both touched it minutes apart.

When she turned to see him at the painting and tears started running down her cheeks, it is rather melancholic if she had thought of this man in the suit as the reincarnation of the Fourth Prince.  The burst of music at that very moment really nailed it for me.  When he asked if she was all right and if there was anything he could help her with, I thought this was truly the Fourth Prince I know.

After he walked away, Zhang Xiao thought: No, I cannot let him go.     

This is the Fourth Prince and Ruoxi holding hands in the twenty-first century after he helped her in a scuffle with a balloon seller outside the exhibition and told her not to be sad anymore.  Notice the entwined pair of dolphins?  How symbolic.

All this while, Zhang Xiao could only either say thank you, cry or stare at him.  I really wished that she had the spunk and energy of the Ruoxi we first met in Bu Bu Jing Xin.  This Zhang Xiao was a pale shadow of that and more reminiscent of the dying Ruoxi.

Anyway, she started to go stalkerish and followed him all the way back to his company.  I wasn't exactly thrilled with this because it seemed like Su Man in Tong Hua's "Secrets Hidden in Time".  True to character, she decided to get a job there.

Before that, we are introduced to Huang Di.  Remember the crazy boyfriend in Bu Bu Jing Xin who was two-timing her and caused the quarrel that propelled Zhang Xiao back to the Qing Dynasty?  Yes, he's the one.  He made a less-than-favourable appearance into the series but don't worry, he kind of grows on you.

I have no idea why he and Zhang Xiao are still on terms good enough for her to let him crash at her place after he just broke up with another girlfriend but I guess he's there to provide comic relief.  Besides, he's also conveniently an employee at Yin Zheng's company.

Hence, Huang Di could fill Zhang Xiao in on all the scoop on Yin Zheng.  Kang Zhen Tian (the current boss of Zhen Tian Group) is actually Yin Zheng's stepfather after he married his mom.  Kang Zhen Tian has his own son, Kang Si Han, who we learn in this episode itself is back in Beijing from abroad.  Kang Zhen Tian and Yin Zheng's mom had another son, Kang Si Yu.  Voila!  Three half-brothers from three sets of parents.  Wicked.

We are then treated to a flashback of Kang Zhen Tian's memory as he was viewing the very magnolia hairpin that the Fourth Prince gave Ruoxi centuries before.  He and a bunch of guys (that included Yin Zheng's father) had gone on a treasure hunt when they were young men and they were the ones who found the box that Yongzheng had buried.  Talk about fate.

A new day dawns and I nearly squealed when the Tenth Prince appeared.  He is now known as Jack and he's definitely not the adorable blockhead we know in Bu Bu Jing Xin.  He is totally gay, very mean and bullies Zhang Xiao.  He was going to fail her in the interview when lo and behold, Kang Zhen Tian walks in.

I may have disliked the Kangxi Emperor in Bu Bu Jing Xin but I totally like his reincanation, Kang Zhen Tian.  So far, he seems like a nice man.  So far.

I love the parallels that I can find between Bu Bu Jing Qing and Bu Bu Jing Xin.  I think it is very clever of the writers and obviously, for this sequel to work, they have to work elements of its predecessor in.  When Zhang Xiao first saw Kang Zhen Tian and recognised him as the reincarnation of Kangxi Emperor, they played the melody of "Amazing Grace".  An odd choice but it pulled at my heartstrings.

His interview is reminiscent of the first time Ruoxi entered the palace and they even fit in the poem that she recited when Kangxi asked why she deemed him an Emperor of Great Wisdom.  Needless to say, our girl totally wowed him.  In the palace, he laughed and had her rewarded.  Here, he laughed and offered her a job.  I also loved how she asked him if he loves to drink tea.  I'm totally looking forward to seeing the interactions between Kang Zhen Tian and Zhang Xiao.

Kang Zhen Tian was still a shrewd man to ask his assistant investigate Zhang Xiao's background and we see that he has an old photograph of a girl who looks like Zhang Xiao.

Then, my least favourite character chooses to appear.  Lan Lan.  Bleah.  It is hard to imagine that she and Zhang Xiao were played by the one and only Liu Shishi.  She appeared dramatically enough.  In a Qing costume no less, walking and tumbling down the stairs in the high wooden shoes.

It is weird that no one else besides Zhang Xiao thought that she and Lan Lan looked like freaking identical twins!  Maybe it's because Lan Lan always that sullen face and cold eyes but still..  We find out that Lan Lan is a model and she gets to sing "Snowflakes and Red Plum Blossoms" in a shoot.  Gah, Bu Bu Jing Xin feels!

Yin Zheng appeared and seemed to be mesmerised by Lan Lan.  Double bleah.  As the song continues playing, Zhao Xiao thought of memories past with Yongzheng.  I hope it's really from her own memories and not from the drama she watched.

The end of episode 1.

My thoughts:

I totally loved this start of Bu Bu Jing Qing.  Zhang Xiao's state of mind was confusing to comprehend to say the least.  The going back and forth between the past and present was done well enough.  What I love best was seeing old characters and listening to songs and words from Bu Bu Jing Xin here!  I don't know if the comment that only Bu Bu Jing Xin fans will enjoy this series rings true because I AM a fan and thus, I can't help liking everything about this.  Except for Lan Lan.  I still kind of wish that they had not introduced this identical-face character.  If she is her evil twin sister, geez..  If she wasn't and if they could write a plausible plot for her character, then it might be easier to accept, especially when Annie Liu starts playing Lan Lan.

Startling Love With Each Step / Bu Bu Jing Qing

I am writing this as I listen to Mayday's Step by Step (Bu Bu), the opening theme of Bu Bu Jing Qing.  How apt!  I definitely have to be doing everything "step by step" as I am new at blogging, I am a newcomer into the C-drama scene and I have no formal education in the Chinese language.  Nonetheless, I'm game enough to do this because I appreciated what others have been doing for the dramas that I have been following in the past.

Just what on earth am I planning to do?

I want to do a drama recap/review for Bu Bu Jing Qing.  Yes, you read that right.  I figured that since I hope to be watching the new episodes as they come week after week, it'd be a good sort of challenge for me to be disciplined enough to work on my blog.

So, why Bu Bu Jing Qing?

I am a latecomer onto the bandwagon for this phenomenon that happened way back in 2011.  I only started watching Bu Bu Jing Xin a few weeks back (this is 2014!) and I finished the entire series in a week.  I love it a lot and why I love it probably warrants another post but suffice to say, imagine my excitement when I read that its sequel was so close to broadcast!

That's why I'm here and about to go on this ride of Bu Bu Jing Qing.  The series started last 22 April and I'm watching it on Youtube.  I'm confused about the unabridged version and the TV version but I'll figure it out.

Hence, let's be pleasantly startled by the love for Bu Bu Jing Qing with each step (episode).