Whew! What a ride! I enjoyed The Early Spring quite a bit and could see myself rewatching some episodes when I am in the mood for something sexy.
Over the last couple of weeks, I have seen some social media posts from viewers who complained that they found our hero, Luke’s character, overbearing or expressed confusion about Flora’s seemingly frustrating refusal to share anything regarding her life with her own boyfriend. I think both of those complaints could make the show feel formulaic or filled with stereotypes, but I do think the main problem came from the fact that the drama production made some key changes to the story, but then still stuck to quite a bit of the novel’s progression.
For example, Flora’s repeated, confounding insistence on keeping Luke in the dark and handling problems on her own. Or the fact that she called her relationship with Luke a disgusting, shameful one when she broke up with him. I think if I had not read the novel, our heroine’s actions would have been difficult to understand. In fact, I think I would most likely have assumed the scriptwriters had purposefully put those nonsensical conflicts just to create friction in the story. However, our heroine’s action made total sense in the novel because Luke was never her boyfriend in the novel. They started their relationship on an agreement to be each other’s bedmates with no attachment at all. It was a relationship that could be ended whenever one of them decided to walk away. In an effort to show Luke that she was a bedmate who knew her boundaries, for quite a while, Flora always slept in the guest bedroom after being intimate with him. Well…there was one other reason. Flora tends to kick and punch in her sleep…
In the novel, it didn’t take Flora too long to figure out she must have fallen in love with Luke in order to allow herself to be physically intimate with him, but by then, she had talked herself into this whole ‘bedmate’ deal with Luke (she was the one who suggested the idea first). Throughout their six years together, Flora tried hard to remember that she was ‘only a bedmate’ to Luke, so not only did her pride not allow her to share her trouble with Luke, but she honestly felt that Luke had no obligation to help her.
Now, over six long years, our heroine obviously fell deeper and deeper in love to the point that she finally asked Luke if they could be something more. Luke, for his part, remained fairly convinced even up to this point that he was simply not cut out for long-term committed relationships and turned our heroine down. Their big breakup in the novel happened more or less as the show portrayed, except for the fact that Flora left Beijing convinced that Luke had given her an extremely low score on her performance, and that was why she didn’t get the promotion. Side note: After their big breakup and Flora left, our hero, with the help of Tracy, investigated until they figured out two of the promotion board judges were helping the other girl and had purposefully given Flora a low score. If I remember right, Luke didn’t take action against the other girl right away, but he would later expose her father’s company’s illegal dealings and send her (she was involved in the illegal dealings by this point) to jail.
So all this begs the question: if our two leads had agreed to be ‘bedmates’ then did our hero really do anything so wrong that required him to go begging our heroine to take him back at the end? On the surface, the answer is no. If one goes purely on their agreement, Luke had been a good boss, a good mentor, and a great ‘bedmate’ who has more than once gone above and beyond what their relationship called for. However, in the novel, there is one detail I don’t think they ever brought up in the drama. In the novel, Luke knew pretty early on that Flora had feelings for him. That was actually why he turned her down at first when she proposed that they be ‘badmates’. He knew clearly that she was not the kind of girl who could keep on having an intimate relationship with him without falling more and more in love with him. Her feelings for him were too bright and dazzling in her eyes for him to not see. What he didn’t expect was his own ‘addiction’ like pull to her. In the drama, our hero admitted fairly early on to himself, to his friends, and even his family that he had feelings for Flora. However, in the novel, it really took our hero a long time before he finally figured out that not only had he fallen deeply in love with Flora but, more importantly, because it was her, he was capable of becoming someone who could love.
One thing I really like about this story is that at first glance, it seemed like a very mature, sexy, sophisticated modern story with our two leads jumping into bed fairly early on by Chinese drama standards. However, once I finished the story, it strangely felt like a rather pure, innocent love story. Both of our leads started their relationship under the guise that they could have a cool, physical-only relationship, and unfortunately, it took them almost a decade to figure out they just really, really like each other. It really was kinda a strange feeling to read something so very sexy but then end with a warm, fuzzy feeling that I just read a very pure, innocent love story.
Overall, I was pretty satisfied with how the drama wrapped up the story. Knowing they had to cut quite a few episodes, I was afraid the ending would feel rushed, but fortunately, it didn’t. Now, there was one thing I wished the drama had been able to include. In the novel, Flora left Beijing convinced that in the six years she spent with Luke, she was the only one who gave her heart, while she remained a mere subordinate who also happened to be a bedmate of convenience to Luke. In the novel, our two leads’ had been apart for four years when Luke finally showed back up in Flora’s life. During the years apart, Flora could finally see past her own insecurities to admit that in all the years they were together, Luke did give her his heart as well. While he might not have said the words, but his actions, big and small, were undeniable proof of his heart. Despite coming to this realization, our heroine was still ready to let a past relationship stay in the past. Fortunately for us, our hero, despite convincing himself that letting Flora go so she can find another man who can give her the love she deserves is the best thing he could do for her, finally breaks down and shows up in front of his girl with the new determination to win her back.
One more thing that I liked about the ending. By the time Luke showed back up in Flora’s life, she was stretched pretty thin trying to grow her company. I like that instead of feeling the need to make Flora show up as an established, successful businesswoman when our two leads saw each other again, the author instead kept Flora on a path that was slow and steady, with some successes but also plenty of challenges. I also loved that Luke did everything in his ability to help, from feeding her, taking care of their dog, to referring new projects to her company…and what’s more, Flora accepted his help without any hang-ups.
Oh, one last thing, I promise. In the drama, there is one scene where Luke was talking to his one female childhood friend, and Luke the dog barked to keep him from talking to her. In the novel, the dog would bark every time he saw Luke talking to any female other than Flora. As one who spoils the dog rotten, our hero would nag the dog a few words, but then he would usually excuse himself from talking to whoever he had been talking to.
All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com