#Wu Gang

[halorvic]

庆余年 / Joy of Life, S02E07

[dramashii]

This was a scheme of God. A scheme of God? Is God sitting on a wheelchair?

JOY OF LIFE 2 (2024) | Ep 30

[electricsoul-rpg]

WU GANG (吴刚) as Chen Pingping

Joy of Life 庆余年 s2 (2024)

[dilirebas]

Cast photos for Joy of Life 2

[green-ajah]

《 庆余年 》Joy of Life (2019) ⤷ Fan Xian is born in the ancient empire of Southern Qing with memories of the 21st century. He lives in a rural town as the illegitimate son of the Minister of Finance, raised by his grandmother. His mother, Ye Qing Mei, was once a celebrated inventor and the founder of the Overwatch Department, the country's spy network but was killed shortly after her son was born. Fan Xian has since been protected by a blind martial arts expert, Wu Zhu, his mother's bodyguard. He learned martial arts and the art of poison as a child, also assisted by his knowledge from the 21st century. 

After an assassination attempt, he decides to venture into the capital to find out more about his mysterious mother and why anyone would want to kill him, as he perceives himself to be an unimportant person. He also wants to know why he has memories of a sharply different era. In the capital, he accidentally meets Lin Wan Er, the sickly illegitimate daughter of Princess Royal, and falls in love with her. Unbeknownst to him, she is the woman the emperor chose for him to marry so that he would be the new overseer of the Royal Treasury, an institute Fan Xian's mother established in the palace and currently handled by Princess Royal. 

In the capital, however, he gets entangled in the intrigues of the Emperor and the two Princes, as well as the Overwatch Department, leading to him questioning his whole identity and inducing him to find his true life goals, abandoning his original intention to just "enjoy life".

watch on Viki | watch on YouTube | watch on WeTV | watch on Amazon Prime

[hyog-blog]

Under the Microscope

This is such a neatly made little historical drama, based on an actual case from the Ming dynasty, that you could absolutely binge-watch it in a day or two (just 14 eps). What starts as a simple math problem, a discrepancy in numbers between the actual field measurements and what is written in the registry reports, later blooms into a huge case of corruption on different levels of the government system in 8 different counties along with tax evasion, murders, false witnesses, and whatnot.

Chinese bureaucratic system of that period seems like a real nightmare, even more so, when someone is trying to investigate a case (and, in many ways, things really haven't changed that much in modern times). The story revolves around Shuai Jia Mo, a math genius who lacks social skills and is probably mildly autistic. His parents die in a fire under mysterious circumstances. All he's left with are a few memories and the number 3530, which turns out to be the exact number of taxes his whole county is paying out of thin air. No one knows where the tax came from and why people have to pay it, so he starts the investigation with the help of his friend. Naturally, all the powers involved try to silence them as soon as possible.

I really had no idea a show about ancient Chinese taxes could be so captivating - mostly thanks to a well-written plot and superb acting, as well as interesting, shrewd, and excessively scheming characters. I guess this is a story more about human nature, that's why it's so relatable today, and the quest for justice, because for each bad and greedy person out there in the world, there is one with a pure heart and soul who wants to do good. And sometimes, that person could actually win (well, at least in a cdrama :)

We see quite a few charismatic faces here. Wang Yang (Teng Zijing in JOL) seems to be very compatible with Zhang Ruoyun. Here he starts as an antagonist, Cheng Renqing, a lawyer who defends anyone who pays him more (in this case, the bad guys). For a good half of the show, he's just an increasingly annoying lil' shit with a broad smile and a sharp tongue, but then things change, we get to know his story, and he turns to our boy's side eventually. Wu Gang (Chen PingPing from Joy of Life) is a welcome treat no matter what role he takes. He's so good at playing skin-crawling bad guys, it's just remarkable. I also fell in love with Feng Biyu, a feisty lady-owner of a meat shop, who can beat the hell out of quite a few bullies who go after her little bro and the ML.

Needless to say, Zhang Ruoyun's performance was top-notch. I can't imagine how hard it is to depict such a character - but I totally believed him! Both his math genius side and the slightly autistic side. It actually leads to some pretty funny scenes because of how straightforward he is, not understanding the intricacies of human behavior (and the lies and the games between people).

I was not-really-surprised to hear Liu Yuning's voice at the ending OST of the series (the guy is literally everywhere:) but ah, he's just such a good singer and the song really got me hooked from the first notes. I also want to say that style-wise the show is quite beautifully made, too. It's a true-to-life historical depiction of the Ming period, but the shots, the light, the colors - everything was just very pretty!

The show is a kind of detective case story about tax evasion, but the characters make it very alive and entertaining to watch. There's some drama sprinkled with a bit of comedy, some math, 0,1% romance, but everything comes together so nicely that you really don't have any complaints in the end. The show is exactly what it promises to be, not overlapping with other genres. I, personally, was in the mood for it and it's definitely a 10/10 for me.

P.S. also, there's a cat)))

[inmoonlightpoetry]

中秋节: The Mid-Autumn Festival

Ever wanted to learn more about the Mid-Autumn Festival (September 29th of 2023)? Here are some tales surrounding the holiday, as well as famous poems made with the holiday feeling in mind.

For whom do we eat mooncakes? Why is it that on every 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar, many cultures across Asia reunite with their families to sit out and admire the moon? Why should the moon be admired, and how did this come to be in the first place?Chinese tales hold many beliefs about the holiday’s origins, and a quick look into history provides an added layer of understanding…

[lostinadrama]

𝐉𝐨𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 2 (2024)

[xbethelight]

[movielosophy]

后浪 | forgiven

[halorvic]

庆余年 / Joy of Life, S01E38

[endlessthoughtsofafangirl]

谁又知道后面的事情呢？

[t-taxiansgf]

LMFAOAOAOAJ

[chineseredcarpet]

Wu Gang and son Yue Yang for ARENA HOMME+ China - June 2023

[kringkroll]

Listen these ideas just came to me and my senses got taken over so I drew these real quick

[siren61]

What would happen if one was a hugger in a group of people who hates physical touch?

Morro absolutely HATES (loves) it <333

He’s never been hugged in his life :( , not even his former mentor WHAT⁉️ Well, probably one time if you would consider that one moment when he saved him a hug but y’know

And yeah, Ghoultar sleeps like that please don’t get me

Also here’s some low quality Soul MEWER (i hate you sm rein) memes i hate myself sm for making these AHSHWKJSA