This is by no means a comprehensive comparison between Ski Into Love the drama and the novel, but rather just differences that caught my attention…or more accurately, ones I still remember.
- In the drama, Jiang Yi Ming’s character was like the perfect secondary male lead. He was ardent in his love for our heroine, but promptly recast himself as the perfect older brother once he realized our heroine really does not love him. In contrast, Jiang Yi Ming’s character in the novel actually gave off a really creepy vibe at first, but kinda just disappeared once our two leads got together. Oh, he also wasn’t our heroine’s BFF’s brother.
- In the novel, our heroine was an online comic artist who pretty much drew whatever storyline according to her mood. The novel didn’t mention any company she signed with, thus that whole conflict with her greedy ex-boss never happened in the novel. A hilarious difference from the novel is that our heroine’s very popular online web comic is actually…x-rated…very.
- Our hero also had no clue that our heroine was a very successful comic artist. For almost 2/3 of the novel, our hero was under the impression that our heroine came from a well-off family, but she herself was, in her own words, a struggling artist still dreaming of one day making a name for herself. Believing all the while that his girlfriend is extremely shy and innocent when it comes to anything intimate (which is true since our heroine had plenty of book knowledge but no actual experience), our hero was completely in shock for a good while once he found out that his “innocent” girlfriend could teach him a thing or two.
- Hero’s sister was also not an aspiring comic artist. This character feels a bit more mischievous (in a fun way) in the novel, but I do feel her story was much more developed in the drama.
- In the novel, there was a slight hiccup right before our two leads got together when our hero found out that Jiang Yi Ming was supposedly our heroine’s fiancé. Thinking that our heroine is already taken, our drunk hero admitted in front of all his friends during a dinner get-together that he liked someone he was not supposed to like. Already believing that there was probably a slim chance our hero was referring to her, our heroine’s little heart was broken into a thousand pieces when Bei Ci (hero’s friend), who had been mistakenly informed by our hero that our heroine has a fiancé, also assures her that a kiss our drunk hero had placed on her lips before was just out of pity. Fortunately, our two leads quickly figured out their misunderstanding, and our heroine was able to explain to Shan Chong that the whole thing with Jiang Yi Ming was just one-sided wishful thinking of her parents.
- In fact, in the novel, before our heroine went off to go snowboarding, she just had a big showdown with her parents, Jiang Yi Ming, and his parents. Used to just going along with whatever her parents asked of her, our heroine originally thought she might be able to obediently marry Jiang Yi Ming. However, after Jiang Yi Ming came back from being abroad, our heroine was dismayed to realize that she couldn’t even stand being touched by him. Knowing that there was no way she could marry Jiang Yi Ming and frustrated that her mother would start arranging her marriage without asking her, our heroine’s temper finally exploded during a get-together between the two families, and after flipping the table (because they kept ignoring her and continued with the marriage talk), she vehemently declared that she would never marry Jiang Yi Ming.
- In the novel, our heroine’s parents, especially her mother, were not as uptight and opposed to our hero as they were in the drama. In fact, neither of our heroine’s parents ever said anything rude to our hero or tried to break up our two leads. Our hero was also a bit more confident in the novel. While he did want to finish saving up for his sister’s treatment before he officially visited his girlfriend’s parents, his attitude was such that I don’t think he would’ve broken up with our heroine just because of her parents’ disapproval.
- The secondary love line between Jiang Nan Feng and Lao Yan was pretty different in the novel. Lao Yan didn’t know Jiang Nan Feng previously, so there was none of the secret crush stuff. Lao Yan was fairly popular with the girls and didn’t think his relationship with Jiang Nan Feng would be any different than the usual short-term romance he always had…until he did something stupid (lending a new coat Jiang Nan Feng bought for him to a female student to wear while texting her how much he treasured his gift then getting caught red-handed by Jiang Nan Feng). Belatedly realizing how much he truly liked Jiang Nan Feng when she broke up with him, Lao Yan started on a long path of convincing Jiang Nan Feng to take him back. By the end of the novel, the two haven’t gotten back together yet, but it was obvious that Jiang Nan Feng’s attitude was starting to soften, so I count that as a happy ending for this couple.
Some favorite scenes from the Ski Into Love novel:
Scene 1: The first time Mama Wei met our hero. Location: At our heroine’s front door.
Wei Zhi wrapped her arms around Shan Chong’s shoulder and buried her face against his neck. After forcefully rubbing her face against his neck, she said “Can’t you stay two more days before going to the winter camp training? Hmm? Can’t you keep me company some more? Alright? You even saw Han Yi Ming so why not just go all out and see my mother, who won’t give up until she sees her future-son-in-law?”
“I did see.”
A woman’s voice came from behind the two.
With her face still buried in Shan Chong’s neck, Wei Zhi’s ears twitched, wondering if there was something wrong with her hearing.
Three seconds later, she raised her head and looked through the gaps between the Shan Chong’s hair and saw that behind them, at the bottom of the steps, was Ms. Wei. Still wearing her professional work clothes, Ms. Wei even had a bag of lotus roots, a bag of pork ribs…oh, and a bag of string beans.
Wei Zhi “……..”
Wei Zhi silently patted Shan Chong.
Madam We: “What’s the use of patting him?”
Wei Zhi “……..”
Wei Zhi “…No reason, just thought since we committed public indecency together in broad daylight, then I should get him to shoulder the consequences together.”
Shan Chong left. All he said the whole time was one single sentence of “Hello Aunty. I am Shan Chong.” then he left.
A dumbfounded Wei Zhi watched the man leave without a backward glance. Even an uncle who bumped into them on his way out to throw away garbage might have said more than he did.
This was the first time Wei Zhi personally experienced the (Chinese) saying “Husband and wife are birds of the same forest, but each flies their separate way when disaster strikes.” What has this world come to…
phone texts
[Wei Zhi:You sure left resolutely, probably wished you could’ve put a snowboard under your foot.]
[Shan Chong: Didn’t want to make the driver wait too long.]
[Wei Zhi: But when you were mouthing off in front Dr. Han then it didn’t matter if the driver waited until the cows came home?]
[Shan Chong: That’s different.]
[Shan Chong:That’s your mom.]
[Shan Chong: ……….]
[Shan Chong: Who might even be my mom in the future.]
[Shan Chong: How can I get mouthy?]
[Wei Zhi:…….]
Whatever, shoot.
She can never win him when it comes to talking.
Favorite Scene 2
After Shan Chong and Wei Zhi had a very awkward dinner with her parents, Daddy Wei texted his daughter and assured her that it was simply a dinner and to not overthink it. Like in the drama, Daddy Wei explained that Wei Zhi had always listened to them growing up, so they had mistakenly thought they could also get her to marry someone they thought would be the safest bet to provide her with a good life. However, after seeing Shan Chong, they have come to realize their daughter is all grown up and they need to let her make her own choices. My favorite line is the last sentence in Daddy Wei’s text [Xiao Zhi, you need to trust that your parents are kind people, and that’s why you have grown up to be the way you are.]
Favorite Scene 3
While I thought the show did a great job on casting and generally liked the changes/additions the show added to the storyline, one thing I felt the show wasn’t able to portray fully was the two leads’ hilarious dialogue with one another.
In this scene, our hero had just had a very unpleasant experience where reporters were asking him about his past, including his sister’s injury. Knowing well how much the past must still hurt, our heroine goes to comfort our hero…and things start to heat up. Stunned and surprised when he could tell our heroine might intend to take things all the way, our hero…
Felt like as if someone suddenly told him that he won half a million dollars. It was a bit abrupt.
Thinking maybe he should still be a good moral guy and asked “Are you thinking that I would be in a bad mood because of what happened today and is doing this out of pity…”
Halfway through speaking, he suddenly realized what he was doing. He immediately stopped and lay right back down, “It’s okay, it doesn’t matter. You should pity me. I was surrounded and attacked by so many reporters…”
Her hand reached the edge of his belt. Her soft fingertips brushed across his firm abdomen. The man subconsciously held his breath, revealing the outlines of his abdominal muscles.
He let out a soft sigh and said in a very sincere tone: “I really was so pitiful.”
All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com