The Crazy Adventures of the Wu Gate (Her Fantastic Adventures) 午门囧事 ( 第二次初见) by 影照 Ying Zhao (OE)

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• One of the more famous time-travelling c-novels, particularly because the author set out to subvert the typical expectations of a time travelling novel. I give it 4 stars. It's very funny at the start but becomes more dramatic with a lot of heart but still some laughter as it continues.

  A brief summary:

  Gu Qing Qiao has time-travelled back and took over the body of the (adopted) daughter of a high ranking official. She learns from a monk that if she gathers four treasures, she will be able to open the Wu Gate and travel back to her time. So, the novel's three parts essentially tells Xiao Qiao's (her nick name, Little Qiao) journey in gathering the four treasures to return to her time and in which she meets three extraordinary men who are caught up in her mission. Who will she choose? And, will she leave these men behind and return to her time?

  For spoilers and to know which guy to ship safely, see my full review:
  http://onesecondspring.blogspot.hk/2014/02/the-crazy-adventures-of-wu-gate-by-ying.html

• Thanks for writing this. I checked this out long ago & was reluctant to read it inspite of the good audiobook bcos there are 3 males. Luckily I trusted my instinct so I saved my heart from being broken to pieces, heehee...

  I finished reading your blog and will comment here bcos I had trouble posting on your blog last night. Oh, reading your summary already made me feel sad. Hence, I don't think I'll touch these books. Moreover there are 3 of them which scared the hell out of me, lol. Anyway, your feature is very well-written in accordance to the mood of the book as well as the intention of the author.

  Btw, I thought 囧 means embarrassing but how come you translated it as crazy? Haha, I am not questioning your language proficiency but I am just curious. Also, ME is not a well-known acronym, so can we stick to OE to represent open to interpretation ending which means you can feel either sad or happy abt it?

  Lastly, I won't simply assume the first male who turns up in a novel will get the girl. It is not a case of first come, first serve, lol. At the same time, I'll not assume the last one standing will get the girl. But I'll assume the guy who makes sacrifices and loves the girl purely and whole-heartedly will get the girl. Even without the spoiler, I think I should be able to board the right ship. However that being said, I'll still feel bad for the loser(s) unless they are written as purely evil or total scumbag. Thus, it is best to read a novel which have a dominant male lead and weak supporting males if any, lol.

• Thanks for reading :) Haha! I still recommend it though, because I was happy - I really liked the guy she ended up with, it's just that I really really really liked the guy she didn't end up with too. Haha. I suppose that's the mark of a good c-novel, plus no one died - which is better than Tong Hua i guess?

  Oh, sure feel free to change it. OE for me suggest that the girl doesn't end up with someone, hence I used ME - mixed ending.

  I went a little mad with the review - it became a full on thesis!!! Haha. Shows how much I like the male lead she didn't end up with I guess :). I really liked what you said - it should be the guy who sacrifices and loves the girl purely and whole-heartedly. In that sense, the guy TOTALLY deserved the girl and i'm so happy for them. I really think everyone will board the right ship but still end up aching for the guy who got left behind heh.

  Oh no, I think it's always great when ppl ask me when I translate certain words a certain way, my chinese isn't very good. I took creative license with the title considering the plot and tone - 囧's original meaning was bright light, but in popular usage it's actually liked a sad, melancholy,depressed - like the three sweat drops on your head kind of expression. It's like 囧 shows the person's face! So you see it often used when the character is embarassed. But, I usually translate it as Silly or Crazy because I felt that's closer to the tone and intent of the author. Haha creative license!

• That was a great summary of the novel on your blog, decembi! Maybe I will go and listen to the audiobook. I actually do not mind sad or bittersweet endings, as those types of ending usually make me think about a story the most after finishing it. Happy endings make me smile but then I simply forget about those stories and move on.

  I, too, especially love peanuts' statement that the guy who loves the girl purely and wholeheartedly should get the girl, because such a man is truly deserving of her love.

  Since I have not read the novel (or listened to the audiobook), I don't want to make too many assumptions. However, I feel that there is no need to feel sad or pity Lu Zhi Zheng. He has clearly made a conscious decision to sacrifice love for ambition. Whether that is the right choice, it does not matter. What matters is that he feels it is the choice that he will be able to live with most for the rest of his life. The minute he has made that choice to abandon his love for Xiao Qiao, he has already prepared his heart and mind to lose her. Therefore, there is no need for us to pity him, for that is the path he has consciously chosen. Life is full of choices, and some choices may lead to regret later on. Unfortunately, we must live with decisions we make, and so must Lu Zhi Zheng.

• Thank you! I was a bit worried I gave away too many spoilers, but there were a lot of details and nuances I couldn't capture and a lot of side characters that I liked :) so hopefully you will enjoy it when you read it. I really don't enjoy sad or bittersweet endings, it's funny because most of the english literature I read is serious and more open-ended, but I guess I see c-novels more like fairy tales.

  Heehee, I agree, peanut's statement is classic!

  What you wrote about LZZ is very sound, and that's what I thought too mostly when I started reading - I read the ending and epilogues and I was all ready to board the correct ship, but my heart couldn't help aching for LZZ I guess, regardless of his choices. Oh, the writing quality varies, but the author's epilogues are vvv good. I hope that's captured in the audio books.

• Hey Mel, I think the audio book only covers part 1 of the novel and there is no audio book for novel 2 & 3. I am not 100% sure so listen at your own risk:P

• Oh that's surprising! Hopefully, someone finished all three books!

• Thank you Decembi for the great review on your blog - it has certainly piqued my interest in the book.

  The audiobook has 97 chapters with 2 epilogues - is that all the 3 books already or is it still only the first book as peanuts mentioned?

  I don't want to start and be totally frustrated at the end of one book only.

• Hmm, I think it should be the whole book? Because, the one I read from jjwxc has 87 chapters for all three books? Haha.

• Decembi, thank you for your explanation about the male leads. I might give it a try later. It's sound interesting. After reading your introduction about the male leads I think I will definitely choose YSQ. But I feel curious because you choose LZZ.
  Decembi, I want to comment in your blog but I can't type more than few words there.