Cheng's Musings

Synopsis

At 40-episode, the backdrop of the series is romance sprinkled with family drama. Helmed by the ever-handsome Yang Yang who portrays Song Yan, accompanied with the love of his life Xu Qin who is portrayed by Wang Chu Ran.

The couple starts off with puppy love during high school, but breaks off due to parental objections. Within a span of 10 years, Song Yan has served in the special army force at the border and is serving proudly as a chief fireman at Shilitai Fire Station. Meanwhile, Xu Qin studies medicine abroad and returns to Yan Cheng City Hospital as a doctor at the emergency ward. Fate teases with the couple, giving them plenty of opportunities to meet each other in the duties as fireman and emergency doctor. As they meet more, they are still attracted to each other although the attractions are filled with doubts and misgivings.

After going through the experience of life and death during the rescue mission post-earthquake, the couple finally determinedly decides to give another try to pursue their love. As expected, Xu Qin’s parents, especially her mother still objects and places significant pressure for them to break up. As the couple re-learn about each other, they go through the phases of love – sweet, bickering, misunderstandings, facing challenges together and finally renewing their love to each other for the rest of their life.

As the series follow their love stories, there are many side characters and side stories accompanying the main couple. The main couple has a sweet loving journey, but the side stories are equally good and interesting.

The Meng Family

The most interesting is the foster family and their relationship with Xu Qin. A foster child, Xu Qin is grateful and eager to please her foster parents. She lives the life of a princess in a rich family, doted by the foster parents and cherished by foster brother Meng Yan Chen. Picture perfect family? Except that the matriarch Fu Wen Ying is a controlling freak who sets rigid rules for the children to follow, accepting nothing but blind obedience. Both children are so restrained and look totally miserable all the time. Their relationship brings out the harms of having a control freak as parents, and how both children are “conditioned” to follow the rules and obey unconditionally. The kind of manipulation to meet the parents’ requirements.

The anxiety shown in both Xu Qin and Meng Yan Chen are quite well-presented in the show. In actual fact, I would say both grow up with selfishness bred into them since childhood. Their misery arises from the conflicting need for kindness & putting others first and the need to first serve their own interest.  

For Xu Qin, her love for Song Yan serves as the catalyst for her “rebellion”. The doubt keeps coming back to haunt her, leaving her almost paralysed and running away from facing the issue. When she finally finds the courage to face her true feelings and her unrestrained happiness when she spends time with Song Yan, she finally gains the courage to break free from the bondage that her foster mother has built over the years.

Muse #1 – I actually hated Xu Qin’s personality. Moping, undecisive, selfish, immature most of the time but pretending to be noble and mature. Wang Chu Ran’s pouting annoys me to no end. Xu Qin’s behaviour is exactly what I would imagine a spoilt brat will behave. But it is also because of her “imperfection” and many flaws that endear the audience to her. She is relatable because she is quite real. Her growth throughout the love journey with Song Yan probably helps to redeem her flaws. I would say – one lucky girl to get the noble Song Yan!

For Meng Yan Chen, it is even more pitiful. He has more than sibling love for Xu Qin, but is restrained with just one glance of disapproval from his mother. The rigid rules set by the mother to manipulate him to be the “perfect” son to take over the business empires, even finding the right kind of wife/ girlfriend, sets him back into depression. He is never smiling, never happy, always with a frown. He is cold to everyone, never wanting to express his own feelings. At the same time, he shows the little kindness that is so out of character of the cold Meng Yan Chen.

Muse #2 – I love the character the most, and totally loving Wei Da Xun’s portrayal of this character. It is layered, restrained with such negativity that you feel for him. He is conditioned to obey his mother. Although in love with Xu Qin, he can only show his brotherly love. His peculiar temper when facing off with the idea that he will lose his childhood companion in misery is quite a mystery. Does he really love Xu Qin for who she is, or is he just afraid of losing a companion in misery?

Meng Yan Chen’s sympathy for Ye Zi the “Cinderella” who is working hard to make a living and his seeming confusion of his feelings for her seems to be the flame that attract the moth that is the young & impressionable Ye Zi. He is adamant to ensure she doesn’t go astray but at the same time, he seems to be toying with her feelings. And Ye Zi’s total 180 degree change and the fall-out is a major shock in the series. I actually appreciated their interaction. Final result totally not expected, but shows the kind of extremes that a person could resort to.

Personally, I would have liked the series to leave it open-ended for Ye Zi rather than the redemption that they built for her at the end. And I also did not really like Meng Yan Chen’s final choice of returning as the scion to the Guokun Group. It smells of atonement of his deliberate decision to “punish” his mother, whereby the direction favours filial piety and family prioritisation over his own individual needs. The stark differences are very apparent in the culture of the East and West. I really think that Meng Yan Chen would have been happier as an ordinary person especially with his introverted personality. It kind of pains me to realise that he chooses to be a filial son rather than choosing happiness. The good thing is the series provided the acceptances the character would need to move on in life. He accepts his family’s flaws and expectations, he accepts Xu Qin’s choices, he accepts that it will always be just sibling love between them, he even accepts Song Yan. An open end for his character in the pursuit of happiness.

Another almost family-like member is in the form of Xiao Yi Xiao, the happy-go-lucky childhood friend to both Xu Qin and Meng Yan Chen. He is the “normal” kid, who is able to provide the kind of warmth to the two children in Meng’s family. Always the understanding and rationale guy, giving great advices to both Xu Qin and Yan Chen.

Muse #3 – I am rooting for Yi Xiao and Dr Yang Si Jia. Such different personality, but would be so good to have them to be attracted to each other!

And who could leave out the terror of the Meng family – the matriarch Fu Wen Ying. The actress is so good that she has such a stone-face all the time. And her inability to recognise the hurt she causes her children, and her unrepentant self even when she has been exposed. She is still indignant that she does all the right thing. She has no qualms nor misgivings in destroying a young man’s future and in hurting her two children in her quest for power. As Xu Qin calls her – hypocrite. Apt indeed.  

The Song/ Zhai/ Fireman’s Family

Song Yan is a rebellious child from young, losing his parents in unfortunate circumstances. However, he is lucky to have the Zhai to take care of him. And what a wonderful family the Zhai is. Loving uncle and aunt, with a precocious younger sister in Zhai Miao. Ever so accepting of Song Yan, cultivating and shaping Song Yan into the noble person he is.

As a character, Song Yan is considered a little male chauvinistic. He hardly makes decision together but chooses to make a decision on his own without consulting Xu Qin. This is a major flaw, but his redeeming personality of such honesty & righteousness overturns everything. 😀

I love the brotherhood he strikes up with both the inspectors in Shilitai Fire Station – at the beginning Suo Jun and later Jiang Yu. And such different characters these great friends of his too! Suo Jun is portrayed by Vin Zhang Bin Bin, whom I thought look so familiar but I could not put a name to him! Jiang Yu’s initial sparks with Song Yan almost did not fly. But their sincerity & their passion for the firefighting profession finally provides the glue that closes the gap.

Muse #4 – I am also rooting for Jiang Yu and Li Meng. I thought Jiang Yu is such a gentleman, and so empathetic too.

The scenes in the fire station provides plenty of introduction and conversations on various challenges faced by the firefighting profession. Profession’s benefits, trainings both physically and mentally, understanding of medicine & first aid kit in rescue missions, new technology in firefighting, the real-life experiences in assisting rescue missions, sacrifices of a firefighter’s life. Even post trauma stress disorder (PTSD). Great discussion points, although it feels a little educational and perhaps a little bit of propaganda.

I like the idea of providing more glimpses into the real lives of firefighting and medical personnel. The discipline inculcated, the sacrifices from individual personnel and their family, the difficulties and the danger that they face. And of course, the kind of abuses that they also face on daily basis from none other than some ingrates.

Conclusion (7/10)

Generally, I always think 40 episodes of love story may be a little too much. However, this series with its side stories provided a little more room for others. I love the growth in the main couple’s love story. I love the side characters and always rooting for them. And of course, who can resist Yang Yang’s good looks! He looks way better in a fireman’s suit than in martial art costumes or a soldier’s uniform (comparing here with Who Rules the World and Glory of Special Forces). Catch this show for a heart-warming love story.

Muse #5 – It is hard not to compare the love series with others that I have watched recently eg Meet Yourselves (Li Xian and Liu Yi Fei) and Road Home (Jing Bo Ran and Tan Song Yun). I love all three series, but there are some slight differences. Meet Yourselves and Road Home have a lot of beautiful sceneries, which are great eye-candies for me (on top of the handsome actor and beautiful actress). But I do think that Meet Yourselves show a more realistic down-to-earth couple, while Road Home is very much like Fireworks of My Heart. Except Road Home kissing scenes are way more romantic compared with Fireworks of My Heart. And my little suspicion – the former is directed by a woman while the latter is directed by a man. 😀  

Most series are never really that great at tying up the loose ends to conclude the series. Similarly, this series seems to ackwardly tie up all the loose ends. They gave some closures to side characters and provided glimpses of a future for their romances. They also tried to redeem the villains of the series including the Meng matriarch and even Ye Zi. Although I do believe in second chances for people, the series is stretching it to try to get these people to repent within the short period of time. Regardless, an easy-going enjoyable love series.