Romance in the Rain
Episodes: 49
Primary Characters:
Vicki Zhao Wei - Lu Yi Ping
Ku Ju Ji - He Shu Huan
Ruby Lin Xin Ru - Lu Ru Ping
Alec Su You Peng - Du Fei
Introduction:
Romance In The Rain is a remake of an old series by Qiong Yao - Yan Yu Meng Meng which starred Liu Xuehua and Chin Han. In this new version, Romance In The Rain, aka Qing Shen Shen Yu Meng Meng, Qiong Yao had revised the original storyline. New characters like Du Fei and Cai Yun are added. The setting is also changed from Taiwan to the early 20s in Shanghai. There are also a few subplots that are not in the original version (Yan Yu Meng Meng).
Summary of Storyline:
This story is centered on the Lu Family in the early 1920s, Shanghai. The patriarch is Lu Zheng Hua who used to be an influential general commander in northern China. However, due to war and chaos, he had brought his family to Shanghai. Although he had nine wives, he had brought only two of his favorite wives and their children with him. Due to a series of misunderstandings, the eighth wife and her daughter named Lu Yiping (played by Vicki Zhao Wei) were driven out of the family house and forced to take out lodgings in a shabby house. Years passed and every month, Yiping will go to her father for monthly allowance.
On one night, Yiping had decided to brave the heavy rain and went over "there" (the Lu Family House) to get some money from her father. While she was there, Yiping got into an argument with the ninth wife (Auntie Xue) who had not been willing to hand out the money. As a result, Lu Zheng Hua became angry and decided to whip Yiping for her insolence. With her body bleeding and clothes torn, Yiping had vowed revenge. She promised that "one day, she will laugh to see them cry".
In order to get money to pay for rent, Yiping decided to sing at a nightclub. Coincidentally, she got to know a journalist called He Shu Huan (played by Ku Ju Ji) who was there to interview the boss (Qin Wu Ye) of the nightclub. On her next visit to the Lu Family House, Yiping discovered that her half sister, Lu Ruping (played by Ruby Lin), likes He Shu Huan a lot. Thereafter, she decided to snatch Shu Huan from Ruping. On the other hand, after a series of encounters with Yiping, Shu Huan had became smitten with her. He decided to court her after finding out that she is not the girlfriend of Lu Er Hao (the eldest son of the Lu Family). When Shu Huan and Yiping started to go out together, Ruping became very upset. She was also reprimanded by her mother, Auntie Xue, for not being capable enough to get Shu Huan back. Then, on one occasion, Ruping declared her love for Shu Huan. Shu Huan was moved enough to embrace Ruping. This scene was chanced upon by Yiping and Du Fei (played by Alec Su). Both of them became angry. Yiping then decided to break off with Shu Huan while Du Fei was upset with Shu Huan because Du Fei had always like Ruping.
Shu Huan became very depressed after breaking up with Yiping and got into fights with the Japanese soldiers and was subsequently jailed. Yiping later on forgave him after seeing how Shu Huan had been injured and sad about their "fight". The couple made up and soon Shu Huan proposed to Yiping. Unfortunately, Shu Huan came across Yiping's diary and discovered that Yiping had liked him only because Ruping had liked him. Her purpose of going out with him was for revenge. Shu Huan got angry and decided to break off with Yiping despite Yiping's pleas and explanation. In order to forget Yiping, Shu Huan decided to be a reporter at the frontline. Subsequently, Ruping persuaded Du Fei to accompany her to find Shu Huan. On seeing Ruping again, Shu Huan was overwhelmed and decided to accept Ruping's love. The two of them decided to get married. This news of course was not well-received by many. When Yiping heard about it, she was hurt and became mentally unstable. She insisted on congratulating the couple but became so upset that she fainted. She was helped out and send home. However, on the way, she asked to be dropped at the bridge. In her unstable mind, she climbed onto the pillars and lost her footing while singing up there. At this moment, Shu Huan jumped into the river and saved her. He also realized that Yiping is the one he loved the most. The series ended with Yiping and Shu Huan being a couple after years of waiting while the latter went off to war. On the other hand, Ruping and Du Fei got married too after seeing each other again at the frontline.
Reasons for rating:
This series is highly recommended to all fans of Vicki Zhao, Ku Ju Ji, Ruby Lin and Alec Su and, of course Qiong Yao! As usual, Vicki had been in top form in the series. Although Qiong Yao had tried to flesh out the Ruping character, Ruby still did not get much opportunities to develop the character in the series. Alec showed his comedian skills well as the character Du Fei, however, he too, suffered from lack of opportunities. On the other hand, I find the series a drag in some scenes such as the one about the old woman looking for her cat and about the character Cai Yun. These subplots slowed down the pace of the series and as such, I feel that the main cast are not given enough opportunities to develop their characters. Overall, the cast in the series had displayed good, although at times, dramatic acting skills. However, the theme songs in the series made up for the weaknesses of the series. Altogether, I still think that the original version by Liu Xuehua and Qin Han is the best (This may be bias on my part since I don't think well of remakes and sequels of drama series).
