LayarHijau – The Early Spring (早春晴朗) recently released its final episodes early for Youku subscribers. While the finale gave viewers the long-awaited reunion of Luan Nian, played by Jing Boran, and Shang Zhitao, played by Sun Qian, it also brought renewed attention to one of the drama’s most heartbreaking characters: Sun Yuanzhu, portrayed by Liu Xiaobei.
As viewers revisited the emotional journey of the supporting characters, Liu Xiaobei also opened up about his experience playing Sun Yuanzhu. The actor revealed that he was initially intimidated by the role and even questioned whether he was capable of taking it on after reading one of the character’s most important scenes.
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Spoiler warning: This article contains major spoilers about The Early Spring and Sun Yuanzhu’s storyline.
Liu Xiaobei Initially Felt He Couldn’t Take on the Role
Sun Yuanzhu became one of the characters who left the deepest impression on viewers of The Early Spring. Beneath his gentle personality and calm exterior, however, he was carrying an enormous amount of emotional pain.
Liu Xiaobei revealed that his first reaction to reading the scene in which Sun Yuanzhu says goodbye beneath a sky glowing with the colors of sunset was fear.
He even wondered whether he was capable of playing the character at all.
Liu felt the role demanded more than simply portraying Sun Yuanzhu as a kind and gentle person. He had to convey the complicated emotions and inner struggles of someone carrying so much pain that he eventually makes a tragic decision.
The emotional weight of the role stayed with Liu even after filming ended. He later admitted that it took time for him to emotionally separate himself from Sun Yuanzhu because of the character’s heavy inner struggles and devastating ending.
Although Sun Yuanzhu was not one of the drama’s main characters, his story ultimately became one of the most heartbreaking parts of The Early Spring.
Sun Yu Loved Sun Yuanzhu, but Her Feelings Were Never Returned
One of the characters most deeply affected by Sun Yuanzhu’s death was Sun Yu, played by Qi Tianqing.
Sun Yu had feelings for Sun Yuanzhu and repeatedly tried to be there for him. She made more than 20 trips to northwest China to visit him and tried to support him through some of the most difficult periods of his life.
But Sun Yuanzhu never returned her feelings.
He apologized to Sun Yu and turned her down because he did not want her to waste her youth on him, especially when his own life was already weighed down by so many problems and pressures.
Sun Yuanzhu, meanwhile, also had feelings for Shang Zhitao, though he never openly confessed them.
After Sun Yuanzhu’s storyline came to an end, Qi Tianqing shared her own thoughts about Sun Yu and wrote from the character’s perspective about making more than 20 trips to northwest China to stay by Sun Yuanzhu’s side.
Liu Xiaobei later left a comment on her post.
“Tomato and egg noodles—if you like them, that’s enough. Sun Yu, thank you for teaching me courage,” he wrote.
The interaction between the two actors made viewers even more emotional after watching Sun Yuanzhu’s tragic ending.
Sun Yuanzhu Was Remembered During Luan Nian’s Proposal
Although Sun Yuanzhu was gone, his presence was still felt in the final episode of The Early Spring.
After winning Shang Zhitao back, Luan Nian finally proposed to her. For the occasion, he chose a photograph of Shang Zhitao holding a bouquet of flowers that Sun Yuanzhu had once given her.
The photo carried special meaning.
Throughout Luan Nian and Shang Zhitao’s relationship, Luan Nian had repeatedly shown jealousy over Shang Zhitao’s closeness to Sun Yuanzhu. His jealousy had even caused him to lose control and say things he later regretted.
But during the proposal, Luan Nian finally acknowledged something he had struggled to say before.
“Sun Yuanzhu was a good person,” he said.
The simple words deeply moved Shang Zhitao. The flowers used to decorate the proposal venue also echoed the bouquet in the photograph.
The moment therefore became more than just a new beginning for Luan Nian and Shang Zhitao. It also felt like the moment Luan Nian finally made peace with his memories of Sun Yuanzhu.
Liu Xiaobei Shares a Video of Sun Yuanzhu Living Happily in a Parallel World
After The Early Spring released its final episodes, Liu Xiaobei shared a short video on Weibo imagining Sun Yuanzhu living happily in a parallel world.
The video shows Sun Yuanzhu wearing his familiar white T-shirt and black pants as he walks leisurely beneath the sunlight with his hands in his pockets.
The scene then shifts to him happily swinging on a playground swing, walking along a forest path, and stopping to play in the water.
There is no dramatic dialogue or major event. Sun Yuanzhu is simply shown enjoying an ordinary, peaceful day.
That simplicity was precisely what made the video so emotional for viewers.
After watching the character’s tragic fate in The Early Spring, many fans saw Liu Xiaobei’s video as an unofficial epilogue for Sun Yuanzhu.
For them, it offered a small glimpse of another possible life for the character—a world where Sun Yuanzhu could simply walk under the sun, enjoy ordinary moments, and live happily without carrying the unbearable burdens that ultimately destroyed him in the drama.
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