Ahhhhhhhhh I’m so happy to see a sudden drop of the first promo poster and preview for recently wrapped filming period C-drama The Story of Pearl Girl. Starring Zhao Lu Si and Liu Yu Ning, it’s a female lead centric drama about a slave girl pearl diver and her rise to becoming a self-sufficient business woman and of course a romance with a hottie guy to support and protect her. Tang dynasty outfits are hard to pull off but Lu Si did it once in The Long Ballad opposite Liu Yu Ning and she looks great here as well, and his look is more like pirate warlord lol and I love the dark, conniving, and harsh vibe he’s giving off which we know eventually turns into ride-or-die for his girl.
Story of Pearl Girl:
The trailer is really promising! Wishing they will really take time with post-production coz that seems to be the case with her dramas they always rushing it so they can air it right away.
Right now Youku is opting for a Q3 release. A 6 month post-production for a 40 ep period drama seems really harsh even for c-dramaland’s standards..
I’m getting Pirates of the Caribbean vibes here!! LOL Can’t wait!
LYN’s exotic attires are intriguing🤔 According to the synopsis, his role Yan Zijing first appeared as a foreign merchant from Sogdia, hence the styling. So far YZJ seems like an anti-hero, likely with a tragic ending, both romance and survival-wise. Though AJTL’s genocidal ending still haunts me, I do hope the script actually goes thru with this somewhat inverted trope-setting of the male lead.
It looks fantastic and I’m so excited. I think the poster isn’t great but in motion, Lusi looks beautiful and convincing. Looks like an amazing role for her.
Seated.
I like the dark vibe! I’m really looking forward to this. I wish there is a good plot synopsis than what I’ve found thus far.
Yay!!! Two matched actors!!!! Woooooohoooooo!!!! So Excited!!!
Trailer looks good, but that poster is a choice. Something about ZLS looks a bit off, don’t know if it’s her eyes or lips, or both. I miss when she wasn’t as big of a star, it felt like she was a lot more natural and confident with her acting. When celebs take the more traffic route, sometimes they lose the charm which made them unique, which is kinda sad.
I think it’s the filter they chose and color combination but she looks okay to me as are the men too. Even though she is a traffic actress, she is way better in acting than others out there I agree with what Somebody says. She always manages to bring the right emotions to scenes and she is charming!
The trailer looks interesting. But I don’t think Tang hairstyle works on her.
I think ZLS is a better actress among her peers. I can’t say the same thing about LYN though. But I’ll keep myself open minded and check this out. He did give me a different vibe in the brief trailer from the smarmy ML in A Journey to Love. LOL.
Youku and Zhao Lu Si’s agency which is behind the production of this drama scammed investors and everyone else when they promoted this as a Haoyan cp “double A FL ML” drama before and during filming. Right after filming ended, they immediately stated that Tang Xiao Tian was also main actor and promoted the drama as FL with 2 MLs. Nobody wanted to be the so called ML for this drama for 8 months. Very obvious what the reason is now. From the synopsis, the real ML is the supposedly ML2. They should have just made ML2 the ML and TXT the ML from the very beginning instead of starting all this drama. Just watch how the next promos will show and confirm who the legit ML is. No wonder they announced Liu Yu Ning as the “ML” the very next day after he signed the contract even though filming wouldn’t start way over a month later like they feared he would ditch like all the other actors before that. Am excited for all the upcoming fanwars instigated by the the drama’s production team. Fun times ahead!
Yes, the fighting already started. As a neutral party, I have popcorn. When I saw the second guy pop up, I knew what was up.
@ Qwerty , ur informations is not even assured either just because u read the 10 chapters, there is another website that has 22 chapters also, which was not even complete there too, I can’t remember the the link because it been a while, it show that the story was not complete on that Web page, they just stopped updating when it got to chapters 10.
So yes, it all assumptions including ur informations and my informations.
What does “double A FL ML” mean? Like a drama with no second lead and love triangle?
It means both FL and ML are “alpha” / strong. They were marketing the drama to investors, fans and prolly Liu Yu Ning himself, as a Zhao Lu Si and Liu Yu Ning drama where they are a badass OTP couple together. No mention of Tang Xiao Tian at all. Implying whatever “love triangle” would have been insignificant to the drama.
The internet never forgets. Screenshots of the promos slides for the drama will always be around.
Now, after finishing filming the drama, Tang Xiao Tian is also billed as lead actor and not just a supporting actor playing a supporting role.
LYN got taken for a ride by Youku and ZLS’s agency who are producing this drama for this “ML” role lol
@Qwerty thank you!
from the source material 珠帘玉幕, the story really revolves around the the female lead. she would meet men along the way but it’s always been about her. it’s her journey more than the romance.
lyn read the script BEFORE agreeing to act on it and signing the contract as he said on his livestream.
anyway, wish this would be so big it’ll drown the noise.
The novel is obviously from the FL’s perspective and LYN’s character is the only ML from the novel to make it to the drama. He was not the end game but he had the most screentime with the FL in the novel. TXT’s character did not even exist in the original novel.
No one is questioning this drama being focused on the FL. It’s a no brainer. The issue is the drama initially promoting itself to investors and everyone else as ZLS and LYN being a badass OTP without any mention of the 2nd guy. Also, only ZLS and LYN were mentioned as lead actors.
Now after filming ended, 2nd guy is also lead actor on equal footing as the so called ML. The drama could have been honest instead of lying about TXT’s lead role in this drama.
This is what all the noise is about. Haoyan shippers are disappointed and LYN fans are offended. Most ZLS fans hate LYN so this should be good news to them. TXT’s fans would be happy too. He’s prolly the real ML if we go by the synopsis of the drama script floating around.
Did LYN know TXT will also be billed as lead ML just like him, and what TXT’s script and screentime is in comparison to his own? Only he himself can answer this. I’d love to see him talk about this in a livestream so we can all enjoy the brouhaha from it
@ Qwerty,the novel on website is just a draft of 10 chapters, so honestly no one know who she ended up with. Clearly u have not read the novel because TXT characters absolutely exist in the novel.
By reading the synopsis there are actually 3 male leads ,he is actually the main lead in the novel but his description sound boring that why he is made into the SML. Where LYN character has more present that why the production team made him a male lead , has for the 3 male i dont know if he will still be in the drama because rumours has it that, they combine the 3ML to LyN character because his present was not much in the novel until the show is aired no one knows how these will play out. So TXT character wasn’t just made up for the drama like u r saying n fans who followed the production from the beginning always knew they was going to be 2 Male leads but not sure if the Third one was kept or omitted has the rumours r saying, so wherever u r getting ur source from sound like they put out certain information to start an argument because they have not finished reading the novel since it not online except the 10 draft chapters.
Surely these actors read the script n they know what the story will be about, some fans makes it sound like these actors a dumb going into production n not know what it is about.And being a problematic team from the beginning, i want to believe they will be honest with these stars from the get go , to prevent this kind of situation right now.
Has for fan wars, c neitzen leave for it imo, looking at how they make commotion of every little thing, we r all waiting to see how this play out at this point.
@Mercy
You are the one who is either confused or did not read the novel.
Tang Xiao Tian’s character is Zhang Jin Ran in the drama. There is no Zhang Jin Ran or poet in the 10 chapters of the novel. Please re read those 10 chapters yourself.
Free to read here: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=627133
The real ML in the novel is Ye Zhong Xue, blue eyed blonde haired bandit leader. He is the implied end game because Duan Wu, the FL, wakes up next to him in bed in the last chapter.
Yu Chi is the prince who makes a very brief appearance in the novel.
Yan Zi Jing, the slave trader/ merchant, the only ML that made it into the drama, had the most screentime with Duan Wu in the novel.
Again, Tang Xiao Tian is neither playing Ye Zhong Xue or Yu Chi. There is no Zhang Jing Ran or poet ML in the novel.
People should stop spreading misinformation around when they aren’t even sure themselves.
TXT’s character did not exist in the novel and was solely created for the drama version.
Sorry, but if you’ve been into c-ent for a while you’ll realize how messed up it is behind the scene especially the script part. The actors/actress probably were just given a guideline or script draft before they signed on. After the contract is signed usually the gloves are off. They’ll change the script if needed to accommodate the investors that brought the money in and even sometimes create a new unrelated character just to accommodate new actors/actress that’s being sponsored by investors. So knowing the script earlier doesn’t really help much initially. If I’m not mistaken there are cases where they fired a scriptwriter right in the middle of filming and brought in new one, the drama definitely reflected that problem since viewers complained about the messed up drama flow since its been written by two different people with different opinions
This doesn’t make any sense. I am sure any actor, including Liu Yuning, would read the script before signing up.
Regardless of whether LYN knew TXT would also be billed as lead ML like him before signing the contract, the drama lied about it being about 2 leads, ZLS and LYN in their initial promo, and now after filming ended, TXT is also lead actor and the drama is now promoted as a threesome. Should have kept the other 2 guys from the novel so we can have a legit harem drama. Why should only Yang Zi get to have fun in a harem drama?
Well, actually.
I have no horse in this race but I do know cent well.
Reading the script means nothing. Often actors don’t even know they are being used because there is a separate film crew filming the additional scenes that aren’t in the script at all. Then it’s all edited and suddenly, there is a different plot where the added scenes for a character turn out to be a lot. The original actor or actress are basically being used to promote that new person. Or in this case LYN for TXT.
welcome to Chinese entertainment, enjoy your stay.
this is a reply to Eehhhh, I totally agree with you. I remembered the golden hairpin whole fiasco. Both ML and FL fans are fighting each other over the scripts. Supposedly they both got different scripts from each other. If its true, than probably the production duped them both at that time to make them think they’re the main star in the drama over the other.
@amy
Yes, exactly. And this happens relatively often, no matter how extreme it sounds to the international audiences but it’s a common practice in cent.
I love Jin Dong and he is a huge name in China but it didn’t protect him from this same thing just last year. Productions will simply decide that they need to promote someone and that will be that. Almost always ends up in a ruined drama.
Looks like you are excited QWERTY. You are all over this page with this narrative lol who is instigating then?
The drama’s production team duh. Dishonest about who the real ML of this drama is. The drama’s script leaked even before filming started.
And yet they still lied to investors and fans that ZLS & LYN are the cp and selling point of the drama but the truth will be revealed when the drama airs so now they try to remedy it by making it a threesome lol.
Tbh regardless of who the end game ML is, they’re both lacking in the appearance department so it’s an eyesore anyway.
ZLS’s character would be better off single since they refuse to cast a pretty foreign man to play the real ML from the novel.
Shady actions still need to be called out and the drama team is shady af
There is already a major fight over this drama. I don’t even want to think how bad it’s going to get once it drops.
There’s always fighting on chinese platforms. TTEOTM leads’ fandoms were always fighting but they raked good stats for their drama. So are other dramas. As long as audience like what they’re watching, it won’t matter that much. Normal people wouldn’t dwell on these fights.
@Kim
No because no drama has survived this type of manipulation. It always ends up damaging the plot.
The first poster is kind of mediocre. They don’t even look like themselves. At least the trailer seems pretty intense. I was expecting an edgier poster.
LYN’s long limbs looking fab in Tang wear. I am loving the statement rings on his elegant fingers while fiercely shooting arrows. A stylish bad guy!
Hoping for a good, watchable story with these 3. Let the guys fight for the billing, if they wish, who cares. I like Zhao Lu Si in, practically, anything, she is so fun to watch. How long will it take until the premiere? A year? No one knows with the censorship and all.
Like you, don’t care about the weird fans and anti-fans. I’m looking forward to a Zhao Lu Si drama! The trailer looks so intense, with lots of action.
Same here! I’m just here to watch drama and enjoy. Let the actors and their agencies deal with whatever. Some c drama fans like to nitpick about every little thing and wanna involve themselves like their faves are not adults lol
Right now Youku is saying they plan to release this drama in Q3, though I’m a bit skeptical if it’s possible. Even though Lusi does have a track record of her works being released within a year after wrapped, a Q3 release would mean the crew only has less than 6 months for post-production..
Whoa… that’s a good trailer. Definitely on my “to watch” list!
Is it a new trend or just something ZLS is choosing to do? Her make up lately seems focused on making her lips look bigger/more plump. Not sure I’m a fan of the look. The trailer looks interesting. I’ll probably be checking it out.
U should check out her natural pics then , she has a natural plump lips but of course the way the lipstick is applied can make it look more pronounced.
@Mercy
Yes she does have naturally plump lips.
@Jia I totally agree with you, nowadays she wears makeup that makes her lips look even plumper and a tad swollen. I don’t know if it’s a kind of look she’s going for nowadays. But I wish she’d fire her current makeup person. They’re not doing her any favors, she looks botoxed, which is where all these recent plastic surgery rumors come from. I don’t know if her recent pictures are heavily photoshopped, but she no longer looks like herself in them.
@Mercy, I wasn’t trying to imply she did any work to them. I think her natural lips are plump enough and are quite pretty. It just seems like the make up style she’s been using lately covers her natural cupid’s bow (top part of her lip where it indents a little) and goes a little outside her natural lip line, making her lips look plumper. It makes it look like she’s got lip injections (I know it’s the makeup). personally, I thought she looked amazing in her college era in Hidden Love. I like that style for her more. She’s free to try whatever style she wants. Just my opinion that her more natural look is prettier.
I think she got something done to either her jaw or her lips.
In her older dramas before 2022, the lower part of her face looked different. Once I saw the difference, I couldn’t un-see it. But this is just my own speculation. Maybe it’s really just makeup and heavy photoshopping, maybe it’s not. Who knows?
Yeah I noticed this too. If she got PS, then I’m sad, cause she really didn’t need it. She’s naturally pretty. That being said, there’s a lot of pressure in the industry to look a certain way and if she’s happy with it, that’s what counts.
Compare her younger pics she’s definitely had fillers in her upper lip in addition to other work on her face. Her face looks unnatural and oddly puffy sometimes. Her makeup artist and retoucher needs to be fired. She looks like a different person every time I see her. Just let her be herself!
Compared to her younger self, she look like herself but have lost weight and is matured now. She naturally has puffy cheek so if that looks unnaturally to u then so be it. U can tell she is definitely trying different make up looks , so yes she is going to look different every time u see her, especially when she put on make up.
All the criticism about her looks have been on the make up side , how about we criticise her natural look without makeup to tell if she has indeed gone under the knife, there is plenty of those pics online too.
The funny thing is if she is has done plastic surgery,as u some of u think, I will want to also think that she will shop off those puffy cheeks first since most of the c neitzen used that to label her as being fat before anything else on her face.
I think it’s a douyin/korean makeup trend and it’s so distracting in costume dramas! Ju Jingyi had lips like this in “In Blossom” and all I could do was stare at her shiny puffy lips lol! It’s especially odd when the FL is the only one with makeup like this.
Honestly the thing is , apart from the 10 chapters that has been drafted online know one knows what the complete story is about from the synopsis online, so every one is making their assumptions has they see fit.
In case you didn’t read my reply to you above, I’ll reply to you here again.
I reiterate that TXT’s character, Zhang Jin Ran, did not exist in the novel and there is no poet ML.
The implied ML in the novel is Ye Zhong Xue, the bandit leader because Duan Wu, the FL wakes up next to him in bed in the final chapter.
Yu Chi, a prince, makes a very brief appearance in the novel.
Yan Zi Jing, slave trader / merchant, who has the most screentime with Duan Wu in the novel, is the only ML that was included in the drama.
Feel free to read the 10 chapters of the novel for free here: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=627133
Nobody is making assumptions.
Some people are mad because the drama was marketing itself as “haoyan 2nd collab” and the drama was supposed to be “double strong FL ML” with ZLS and LYN as the leads. The drama’s own words in their promos to investors in their promo slides, not mine.
Now, after filming ended, TXT is also billed as lead actor, and they are marketing the drama as a threesome.
Of course other than haoyan shippers and LYN fans, no one else is mad about it. ZLS and TXT fans are perfectly happy about it.
Lol, have already read seen those chapters but rumours has it ,that is not the complete story , the writer stopped updating it so it not really a conclusion. When the drama was rumoured there is another synopsis apart from this u talked about which is even on the duoban and baidu page from the very beginning, including the name u have mentioned, it also on the story of the pearl girl photo gallery in MDL, which u will still find that synopsis when u search for it now. So TXT character was not made up, it existed right from the beginning including this character u mentioned.
So am still sticking to the fact that we really don’t know what the story really is, apart from the general synopsis, so assumptions r still being made.
@Mercy
That synopsis is from the “leaked script” of the drama floating around. Zhang Jin Ran is THE ML of that “leaked script”. Yan Zi Jing is ML2 in the leaked drama script just like in the novel.
Since TXT’s character was not in the original novel and the ML in the novel was another character, yes it is accurate to say that Zhang Jin Ran is a character created solely for the drama.
Again, I stand by the fact that the poet character did not exist in the original novel. The ML of the original novel is Ye Zhong Xue, the blonde blue eyed bandit leader.
Also doesn’t take away the fact that the drama production team itself is the one starting drama and instigating fanwars by first promoting it as haoyan 2nd collab to attract investment and now that the drama is done filming, they market it as 3 leads. Why couldn’t they just be honest from the beginning?
People can pretend all they like. This was promoted as a ZLS and LYN drama. One FL, one ML. Then yesterday it suddenly isn’t but it is a FL and 2 MLs.
No wonder LYN fans went ballistic. Of course, ZLS stans will defend it all to death and pretend that it was always two MLs.
I’m from the start of filming people know there is a second ML why all of a sudden think that way? And just because there is a second male lead does not mean he is the main!
From day 1, it was promoted as lead actress ZLS and lead actor LYN. Be it promo slides to attract investment for the drama or the drama’s official weibo posts they only state 2 leading people.
The 2nd guy was made to look like he was just a supporting actor. Why didn’t the drama team dare to state that he was also a “lead actor” at that time?
They started being shady right after filming ended. In the weibo posts celebrating the end of filming, TXT was listed as “lead actor” in a separate weibo post but they did not include him in the same weibo post as ZLS and LYN.
Now, there state 3 “lead actors”. Be it weibo post or official poster. It’s the inconsistency that are pissing people off.
Why do people think TXT could be the actual ML? Well in the leaked drama script that spread before filming started, TXT’s character is the ML.
If the drama team was honest about it being 3 leads from the start, would there still be all this brouhaha? They obviously want all this noise for the drama. What a dumb move
@Liz
Not second male lead but two main male leads. They went and did a bait and switch. Yesterday was about one FL and two main MLs.
It’s up to LYN now to fight it off as much as he can. That’s not easily doable.
Exactly @ Liz, from the very beginning there was 2 Male leads so where did all these , they just made this male lead up blah, blah, blah coming from . To be honest their narrative doesn’t make sense.
Assumptions, Assumptions, Assumptions, don’t take us seriously people,these r all rumours that no one knows the truth about , when the show air n it flocks ur boat, please do enjoy has I would 😉 😀
Ya’ll are missing the point big time.
The drama team first marketed this as ZLS x LYN aka 2 main leads only.
TXT’s character at that time was not marketed as part of the main leads aka only a supporting actor just like ML3. No mention of him being main lead in the promo to investors or even during the drama booting.
Now that filming ended, they are marketing it as ZLS x LYN x TXT aka 3 main leads. TXT is now officially main lead with ZLS and LYN.
LYN’s character was in the novel but was not the ML aka FL’s love interest.
TXT’s character is not in the novel but is in the drama script. In the leaked drama script, he’s the ML aka FL’s love interest.
If they had marketed this drama as 3 main leads ZLS x LYN x TXT from day 1, there would be no issue right now.
The drama team is doing this deliberately and they enjoy all the publicity even if it’s negative
Either way why are you so huffed up about it though. You are literally on every comment going on about this negativity stirring up the pot for what. Let’s watch the drama altogether and judge then. If it’s a good drama or not. All these rumors going around that we won’t know for sure if true or not unless we are the parties involved. It should be based on how good it is. I don’t know why all this negative things, if something was changed then let the actors/actress and agencies deal with it.
Why can’t anyone wait until we see more trailers and the end product itself? Is it worth getting all their panties in a wad over a poster and ten chapters?!
I just don’t understand the need to be going on and on about another male lead, he’s not even featured much in the trailer they released. It’s mostly Lusi and Yu Ning, which I’m totally fine with to be honest, they look like a good pair.
Yes, at the end of the day, if it’s a great drama, well-edited, and well-acted, what does it matter? Why the crazy ranting about one ML or two ML? If the drama were done well, then viewers would praise it. If it were choppy and badly-produced, then viewers would pan it. Isn’t that what WATCHING A DRAMA is all about? I get so confused with the “so-and-so-actor must fight this and we must destroy this drama” rants. He was paid to do a job and if he did it well, he would shine. The trailer was awesome and all they could focus on was the poster. #scratchinghead
well well.. guess i’m the only one who’ll watch this for LYN. ZLS is great but not my favorite, TXT is okay and pretty handsome, but not my cup of tea. not a LYN fan, but he looks great in the trailer. he’s the only one who got me intrigued in the trailer. i just hope that his character would be great (he can be a villain and i couldn’t care less, as far as his character is well written).
Me too. Will check it out for LYN. Neutral on ZLS. Have only watched 1 drama of hers (and still have not finish LLTG even though I love Wu Lei).
Love the bad guy (dark) vibes from LYN.
Since u have started it, u should try finishing it. The best part is in the last 12 episodes.
@Mercy, I plan to. Just taking my sweet time.
I am also looking forward to LYN. Overall this drama looks very interesting and promising and based on the trailer, they all are showing acting prowess!
Daddi was supposed to be the ML for this drama. Liu Yu Ning stole the ML role from him. He is the villain not the hero. How can the villain be the ML? Youku better change this drama to the original storyline of it being Rosy and Daddi. People wanna see a couple well matched in looks. Nobody wants a beauty and beast pairing. Come on now
LOL. So fun to read all the scripts mess-up behind the scenes in C-ent. No wonder The Longest Promise and Sunshine by My Side went derail at the midway to my chagrin. That all makes sense now.
It is unfortunate to know that what is happening with this drama is common to the Chinese entertainment industry. In order to reach an objective successfully, the process should be well planned and methodology well crafted which should be clearly reflected in the contract. If the process and end goal is not what is written, the outcome will always be chaos and possibly rift among the actors and sometimes downfall of the drama.
Us peng feinhave decided not to support, you can play by yourself. We’ll support Yan ZiJing only and whatever video/cuts/edit, we’ll download and circulate ourselves. Good day. If ur a global peng fei reading this, know Ning ge got scammed. We need to have a bottom line.