I remember Love And Redemption <琉璃> gaining a lot of attention when it started streaming during the first year of Covid and I did not understand it then but I think I am catching on to it now – the attention was mostly on Cheng Yi (成毅).
Love And Redemption started streaming August 6, 2020 on Youku and it premiered as #4 on the Vlinkage Web Dramas chart, but on the third day, it quickly took the #1 spot.
Cheng Yi stars as Yu SiFeng and Yuan BingYan stars as Chu XuanJi. Both of them met at ShaoYang Sect where a Flower Ceremony was being held. Disciples from the five main sects would compete for the top spot so that their sect would rule for the next four years. As fate would have it, Yu SiFeng fell in love with Chu XuanJi but XuanJi is born without the six senses and thus does not feel love or pain, cannot smell, see colours, taste etc, so this means that she isn’t able to love him. And so we have SiFeng suffering from the Loveless Mask and later on persevering to help XuanJi find her senses so that she can learn to love people, especially him. But their journey to be together is a tough one.
Cheng Yi portrays Yu SiFeng’s suffering and many emotions very well and so many would say you would cry along with him. He made to the drama actor/actresses Vlinkage chart on the 2nd day of the drama streaming at #12, on the 6th day at #3 and then subsequently hovering at #2 #3 spots for the entire run of the drama.
So because of his popularity, Tencent made a move to “suddenly” stream his drama The Promise Of Chang’an <长安诺> in September 2020, riding on his popularity. I tried watching the drama but upon ten episodes, when I realised that Cheng Yi’s character Xiao ChengXu and the female lead HeLan MingYu are almost impossible to be together due to her marrying his brother, I just gave up, ha! Nevertheless, I did enjoy a little of the plot when Xiao ChengXu was tutoring and guiding MingYu’s son to be the King.
Right now, I’m contemplating watching Immortal Samsara <沉香如屑·沉香重华> and hoping very much that Youku would release South Wind Knows My Mood <南风知我意> very soon.
Finally, I just want to mention that I’m watching Cheng Yi’s dramas because of his appearance in He Jiong’s Hello Saturday <你好，星期六> variety show, where in episode of 20220924期 he was really out of this world or in his own world some might say, he was just hilarious.
DramaKaffe 