An Iqiyi Light on Series, Thirteen Years of Dust is a crime investigation series which follows the life of master-apprentice Wei Zheng Rong and Lu Xing Zhi. It began in 1999 when Lu Xing Zhi joined the investigative team lead by Wei Zheng Rong, with their first ever murder case being a woman’s murder where her corpse is decorated in artistic pose. As they chase after the clues, they are not any nearer to the murderer. The story moves along the 13-year period from 1999 and 2012, following their investigation that changes the personal lives of these 2 policemen.
Wei Zheng Rong ends up leaving the active investigation roles to settle in an administrative role in the police library – partly due to his regret in the death of his ex-girlfriend. He retreats, taking a stance to redeem his guilt and totally changes into a “domesticated” husband who prioritises the welfare of his own family – his wife and son.
Muse #1 – The reversal in role for the master and apprentice is beautifully depicted with slight nuances in their personality and their approach in life. I actually hated Wei Zheng Rong’s guts. He is obviously totally smitten and in love with his ex-girlfriend but he chooses to “sacrifice” himself by not telling her the truth, and the woman actually marries someone else out of spite. In spite of getting married to others, they are still flirting with each other and holding on to a slight chance, but never having the courage to move forward. When it is too late, it hits Wei Zheng Rong hard and totally changes him to be grateful for the family he has ie his wife and son. Luckily he realises this early on, otherwise he will really ends up being alone, old, lonely and probably miserable.
On the other hand, Lu Xing Zhi adopts the daughter of one of the murdered victims, going through some rough patches with his very supportive wife Yang Man and turned into exactly the replica of the efficiently smart but grumpy Wei Zheng Rong in his earlier days.
Muse #2 – I totally love Yang Man’s personality. She is such a cheery & supportive wife to the difficult career that Lu Xing Zhi chooses. And her support matters so much to him, shaping him into the person that he is. I did think that he is a little selfish for putting Yang Man always second to his cases, but she never takes it to heart. The way she defends him to her parents, and the way she is always so accepting of his flaws and decisions. Lu Xing Zhi is so lucky to find such a great woman.
As An Ning, their adopted daughter grows up, they decide to separate in order not to trigger An Ning’s trauma from her childhood. The decision to separate is actually quite weird, as their relationship is still great and both cares deeply for each other. Regardless, the couple manages to provide a great family environment for An Ning’s growth. She grows into a precocious teenager, happy and healthy, even though she still harbours some traumatic (and forgotten) memories from her youth.
Muse #3 – The young actress portraying the younger version of An Ning is very good, but I thought the actress portraying the teenage version of An Ning overacts slightly in her role. Albeit as teenager, she is probably prone to such overreactions, but I would have liked a more muted version of An Ning.
From the beginning, the series takes a wayward look at the slightly weird-acting Yang Zhe, who is smitten with Yang Man. A childhood friend, he is well-liked by Yang Man’s parents and always around Yang Man when she needs help. There are times when I really did suspect whether he is the culprit, and when he is remanded as a suspect by Lu Xing Zhi, it is not really surprising.
The surprise is the reveal of the real murderer(s). And the circumstances that resulted in the murders especially those that happened 13 years later brings forth key questions towards life. And many what ifs. What if Wei Zheng Rong pays a little more attention & love to his ex-girlfriend’s son? What if the son is put to welfare?
Spoiler ahead – The original murderer for the cases that occurred 13 years ago is the husband of Wei Zheng Rong’s ex-girlfriend – Bai Xiao Fu. Her relationship with the husband is probably wrong to begin with as they get married for the sake of getting married. As she describes their relationship – being married is living in hell and there is nothing to say to each other. And the husband after seeing a western picture depicting hell, feels strongly enough to turn his murder into the poses that he sees in the portrait. Frankly, such an eerie response and definitely not something that we can understand.
More importantly, the key question is children in different environment – will they really turn out differently. An Ning grows up in a loving family who protects her while Wu Jia grows up with an abusive father. It is not delved into details how Wu Jia actually turns into a monster himself.
But when it becomes apparent he has hidden agenda in getting close to Yang Man and An Ning, he expedites his action plans. His ending is a little too short, without much explanation on his journey, which is a little disappointing.
Conclusion (9/10)
The opening theme of the series is a short waltz, which I had enjoyed very much. The cinematography is beautifully taken, but as always – the dark lighting being the preferred mode. I actually find the dark mode a little depressive, but I guess it fits directly into the storyline well. The cosmetics of the actors and actresses show their aging well when portraying the respective years during the 13 years.
Generally, an extremely enjoyable and fast-paced investigative series that explore the worst in human being. I love Chen Xiao’s depiction and hope to see more of his works in the future.
Chen Jian Bin who portrays Wei Zheng Rong is the despicable emperor in Legend of Zhen Huan, and he is obviously a veteran actor worthy of your time. He has somehow manages to bring us with his journey through the 13 years to endear himself to the audience. I almost could not recognise Liu Min Tao as Wei Zheng Rong’s wife! Not an extremely difficult role, but I would definitely have paid more attention at the beginning.
At 24 episodes, it is one of the longer Light on Series that I have watched, but trust me, you will need to pay attention and will not be easy to stop once you start.
Cheng's Musings 