LayarHijau – The drama starring Oliver Chen Xingxu and Zhang Yuxi, A Beautiful Lie, recently concluded. Its ending sparked anger and disappointment among viewers in China and internationally.
Some international viewers have pointed out that the drama’s ending is completely different from the novel’s conclusion. A Beautiful Lie is adapted from the novel Your Lies Are Beautiful by Er Yue Sheng. The novel is relatively short, consisting of 10 chapters, each divided into 4–5 subchapters. It has not yet been officially translated into English or Indonesian, though unofficial Indonesian translations are available on Wattpad.
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Aside from Qin Fei and Xing Zhizhi, several supporting characters have different names and backgrounds compared to the drama. In the novel, Qin Fei is not an actress but a famous model with a high income. Ke Fei, Qin Fei’s assistant in the novel, is dating a popular young actor, unlike in the drama where she dates Xing Zhizhi’s friend, Dr. Yu Zhe Cheng. Xing Zhizhi’s older sister, Xing Zhi Zu, is a soldier in the novel.
Near the story’s end, Xing Zhizhi and Qin Fei travel together to Sudan. Qin Fei accompanies her boyfriend on a dangerous humanitarian mission. In the drama, the country is renamed Suman. During this mission, Qin Fei helps Xing Zhizhi’s female doctor colleague, Bai Meng, prepare her wedding dress and marry her lover. It is also during this mission that Xing Zhizhi openly tells Qin Fei about the hallucinations he suffers.
In the novel, the child and mother involved in the plot are seemingly not Chinese and travel to Sudan. Xing Zhizhi does not know them as closely as in the drama. At one point, a terrorist attack occurs. The mother brings her child to the hospital and asks Xing Zhizhi to examine him. Seeing that the child appears uninjured, Xing Zhizhi assumes the situation is not serious and leaves them at the hospital entrance. After treating other patients with serious injuries, he hears the mother screaming—her child has died. This incident leaves Xing Zhizhi feeling guilty for neglecting the child.
During the mission in Sudan, Qin Fei receives invitations to design wedding dresses and attend interviews for participating in the Sudan mission with her boyfriend. Xing Zhizhi decides to accompany Qin Fei on these appointments. They fly to Hong Kong, then to France, before returning to China. During the trip, Xing Zhizhi proposes to Qin Fei, asking the beautiful model to become his wife.
Their wedding attracts international attention, as Qin Fei is a well-known model and Xing Zhizhi is a doctor involved in international missions. The ceremony is conducted in multiple languages, including English and Mandarin.
Several months after the wedding, Qin Fei expresses her desire to have a child. Her wish is fulfilled, but she discovers her pregnancy while receiving an invitation to a prestigious fashion show. She hesitates, worried it may affect her baby, but Xing Zhizhi supports her decision and encourages her to attend.
Qin Fei’s management contacts the event organizers to discuss her pregnancy. Interestingly, while training and walking the runway, Qin Fei does not experience common early pregnancy symptoms. The event also publicly announces her pregnancy, surprising the public as she does not appear visibly pregnant. This news goes viral and serves as inspiration for other models.
When asked by a reporter why she accepted the runway invitation while pregnant, Qin Fei explains that she wants her baby to become the youngest model in history, walking the runway with her mother. However, when the reporter asks, “What if it’s a boy?” Qin Fei becomes annoyed, as she wishes for a daughter.
On New Year’s Eve, while the Xing family is gathering, Xing Zhizhi receives an assignment to go to an epidemic area in Jiangcheng. Qin Fei is forbidden to accompany him due to her pregnancy and the risk of contagious disease.
This mission is as dangerous as the Sudan mission. Qin Fei accompanies her husband to the airport and asks him to promise to return safely. Xing Zhizhi assures her he will. “You promise me you’ll come back safely. I trust everything you say. Even your lies are the most beautiful lies,” Qin Fei thinks to herself. This line serves as the novel’s title, Your Lies Are Beautiful.
The novel does not detail Xing Zhizhi’s mission in Jiangcheng but jumps to the aftermath once the epidemic is contained. Qin Fei safely gives birth to a son named Xing Xing. Xing Zhi Zu’s two children adore their cousin.
However, the father notices their son has a disorder. As a young child, Xing Xing cannot distinguish between his father and cousin. In kindergarten, he also struggles to recognize teachers and friends. Examinations reveal that Xing Xing has prosopagnosia, or facial blindness, making it difficult to recognize people around him. The novel ends with a brief discussion about Xing Xing and his father’s intention to help him overcome this condition.
Your Lies Are Beautiful is a typical online novel of its type—short chapters, concise storytelling, and many events not detailed fully. It is unsurprising that the drama added new characters and subplots to make the story more engaging. The hallucinations experienced by Xing Zhizhi are not explained in detail in the novel, leaving how he recovers unclear.
However, the drama’s ending is very different from the novel. In the novel, Xing Zhizhi and Qin Fei marry happily and have a child.
How do you feel when comparing the novel’s ending to the drama’s ending?
