I'm here to tell you all about the brilliance that is the new season's theme song 不渝, and how it is THE theme song for TGCF
• spoilers for the entire book and the revised edition
• all translations are mine unless otherwise stated !
• buckle up for a long post
Disclaimer: I am Chinese, but I am by no means a literature student. I'm just glazing the hell out of this song because having a production team this talented and this dedicated is the real heaven official's blessing, and this IS a masterpiece. Lemme explain—
I've been looping 不渝 (the new S4 ED), and I just can't help but marvel at Kuo Hao Jun & Co's brilliance. This song is only ~4:00, but it spared no expenses. There's not a single repeated line, and it takes you through Hualian's entire journey from the start of the story till the end.
Credit to 风雪夜小火炉 on WB for this analysis! This song is an all-encompassing, almost bard-like recital of Hualian’s experiences pre- and post-800-year mark. Here are the referenced chapter titles in Eng:
We had 不悟 Bu Wu "Unenlightened" (HC's theme), 不坠 Bu Zhui "Unwavering" (XL's theme), and now 不渝 Bu Yu. I think I'd translate it as "Unfaltering".
The title is a direct callback to MXTX's physical signature and her author's bio: 浪漫至死不渝
It could read as something like: "Romance til death do us part" or "Romance never dies."
The phrase 不渝 means "steadfast" or "unchanging", particularly in regards to feelings about something. It's very similar to 不坠 Unwavering as it means "unchanging" (XL is the heart of the story after all), but in the sense of never letting your principles 坠落 fall.
I think "Unfaltering" fits the song really well (like "unfaltering support"), since both XL and HC's faith and love have been itself, unfaltering. XL has "never wavered" (like "unwavering courage") in his commitment to his beliefs and his love for all things living.
In the song lyrics, all three titles 不悟不坠不渝 appear with respect to the subject of their theme song. I tried to translate these lines as quickly as I could to make this post ASAP haha, so I might amend them later.
如神鬼明彻 又凭何 笑你痴心难舍
这人间沉疴 能与你相随 「不悟」不赦
HC:
"If the gods and ghosts see with perfect clarity, then how dare they laugh at your foolish, clinging devotion?
In this world entrenched with sickness, I walk beside you—unenlightened and unpardoned"
如神怜众生 又凭何 要谁蹈谁覆辙
纵大雨顷刻 存一缕心热 「不坠」深壑
XL:
"If the gods offer pity to all beings, then why must some walk the ruined paths of those before?
Even amidst a raging downpour, I fold fast to the single ember in my heart—unwavering before the deep abyss"
如神怜众生 也为一人 孤注亦值得
奉灰于你掌 至死「不渝」者 无往不克
Together:
"As the gods offer pity to all beings, I stake my all on a single soul, and it is still worth the cost
I lay my ashes in your palm: those who remain unfaltering unto death leave nothing unconquered"
This is a callback to S1E11-12 at Gambler’s Den, a common phrase that gamblers say when they’re making a bet (often added in various media for dramatic effect): 孤注一掷，死亦无悔
"All in, with no regrets even in death."
Moving on to these lines that reference all the major side characters/plotlines in sweeping poetry, as you see Hualian’s adventures flash before your eyes
当鎏金照恩与仇 前错今错未咎 几人曾看透
剑骨埋风流 金枝为筹 一刎封喉
HC:
"As gilded gold shines on both grace and grudge, past and present sins fade without blame; yet how many ever saw through the illusion?
A warrior’s spine buried in gallant charm, a golden branch used as the stake; one slash severs the throat"
叹无垠沙不归人 无边水不渡舟 故人难再有
凌波问星宿 美玉谁困 此心从未朽
XL:
"I lament the boundless sands where travellers never return, and the endless waters where no boats can cross; old friends are hard to find once more
From the Tower of Lingbo, I question the stars: who has trapped this flawless jade? For this heart has never decayed"
(I interpreted this as XL lamenting 叹 in his pov about his friends)
KHJ said they created all the theme songs for the drama before officially releasing anything, so the music serves as a motif throughout the show. So this BGM has appeared wayyyyy back! AT THE START! I got goosebumps when I realised this 😭
Credit to 蛋炒七 on XHS
• S4 Trailer.
• S1E1 after XL ascends for the third time. (the first 5 mins !!)
• S2E2, when MNQ tells XL to go wander, he decides to take down the ghost at Yinian Bridge.
• S3E13 when XL grabbed HC to run in the Cave of 10k Gods.
• The next ep preview for S3E18 when XL faces off against BWX.
Actually, a lot of ep previews from S3 had it too. It's also sometimes used as a theme between Hualian's interactions.
Either way, it's literally been here since day 1!! 🤯 Who can “full circle” the way this audiodrama full circles
Then to cap it all off, the last line of the song is:
此处千灯长明 一人心上 「满城笙歌」
"Here, the light of a thousand lanterns burns forever. With my beloved upon my heart, the entire city is brimming with song"
While our first theme song, 赐我 Ci Wo "Bestow Me" starts with:
「满城笙歌」曾经鼎沸过人海
"A city once brimmed with song that drowned out the crowd"
This is a literary technique called 首尾呼应 in Chinese, in which the beginning of a work echoes its end. An enchanting start to our story, with a prosperous Xianle singing the Crown Prince's praises, closes with a perfect finish, with Hualian reuniting under the light of a thousand lanterns that allude to the bustling Ghost City.
There are still SO MANY callbacks and imagery I want to go through with this song. You could do a whole literary analysis on this song. It’s simply packed to the brim. I will labour to attempt to translate the lyrics to the best of my abilities, but I don’t think I can ever do it justice 😭 It shows just how much thought has been put into this drama by our heaven-sent production team. 冥凰老师 and the entire music team, 我向你们跪谢 😭🙏🏼
I’m SO excited for the PV and to hear the Main Cast ver. Zhang Xingde actually sounds so much like Su Shangqing in the song, and they got Zhang Endai from Bu Wu to reprise Hua Cheng’s singing. I know SSQ and CZTK are gonna kill it in their version ><
As KHJ said, “Romance and love is the greatest power that can counter the bitterness of life and the dragging of time.” The love for the story has propelled me forward on many a day when I had no motivation to keep going. So eternally grateful I get to experience this story in such an extraordinary way. Thank you, 福崽们 ♥
So in the end of modu i couldn't really tell if fei du still worked at SID or he's a full time ceo now but sometimes consults lwz on a case?
Also do you have chapter timestamps of every romantic/flirty/cute/sad moments lwz and fei du have on the novel..Thank you 💓
hey nonny, i am having a fine day! as it happens i had to drag chat in on this one bc i couldn't remember if fei du ever still consulted for SID. but no, as the extras confirm, he is back to full-time CEO:
so having pulled off what clean profits he could, ahead of his plans (since he knows all the dirty money would be confiscated by the government once everything's discovered), he's now managing a new conglomerate, though it apparently has a different name; we don't ever find out what the name is, because lu jia can't remember. this is relevant because lu jia is, in fact, its chief administrative officer, and zhou huaijin (now known as "zhou da-ge," which is adorable) is the chief financial officer (and where is my 85k fic of their zany adventures and slowly falling in love? where?? WHERE?).
in the extras, there are various references to president fei's working late, having boozy business lunches, making phone calls and sending emails, and, in particular, where he has his home office set up:
so there you have it: best wfh arrangement ever. cat, beverage, pillows, and half-naked sweaty luo wenzhou. not sure how fei du handles zoom calls but i'm sure he can just blur out the background.
as far as timestamps, though? i sure do not. mo du is somewhere in the neighborhood of 540-550k words long, and i have my personal annotations but a proper version would take a zillion hours to do. plus in most places, my note for e.g. "romantic scenes" would just be "these whole five chapters in a row." if you're not a reading person, though, may i recommend the audio drama? it's still on maoer and widely acknowledged to be pretty spectacular, you can find instructions for how to access it on this carrd. thank you for this question nonny it made me stupid happy. xoxoxo!
How to buy Chinese Audio Dramas and Translate Subtitles (Compilation)
Rec to check the step by step tutorial link from others to set up your account and come back here to understand the system.
Common platforms:
Maoer FM: https://www.missevan.com/
Mimi (Maoer Japanese version): google play , ios
Maoer International: gplay , ios
Manbo: https://www.kilamanbo.world/ , ios
Pika pika live (manbo Japanese version, no censor version): https://pikapika.live/
Ximalaya (more straight genre): gplay
Bookwalker Taiwan (sells some uncensored popular AD mostly from Manbo): web link
DL site (sells some uncensored popular AD)
兔U (new app)
You MUST have the APP to login and use the full features. Login is usually through phone number.
*warning If you use IOS, do not top up in app. Use web version or Taobao official shop.
*discount events: Chinese new year, 520, maoer birthday 712
Top up
The easiest payment method is by connecting Alipay as the exchange rate will be based on the bank you use. Apple users can use Apple Pay. Google users can use Google Pay. However, some people said their exchange rate there were high.
Downloading from Play store allows you to use Google Pay or Apple Pay.
You can use Alipay or their official store on Taobao. There are tutorials everywhere on how to use Alipay.
Taobao official store names on the pict
Update: 15 Mar 2025
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Maoer FM
1. System
Maoer only uses buy out system. You have to buy the whole season to listen. There are a few free AD but they are mostly for practice and not completed.
*You can win an entire season of AD by entering a giveaway in the search section. You will enter a live broadcast and participate by following the host and clicking the join button. Very low chance to win.
2. Currency
Currency used to buy dramas: diamonds.
10 diamond = 1 RMB.
Common price for 1 season: 200-250 diamonds (old) or 400 diamonds (new).
You can get free diamonds everyday from:
Daily login to collect points.
Point exchange: 1 diamonds every 1000 points.
3. VIP Membership
Since 2025, Maoer opened a membership feature similar to Manbo.
Some AD are membership exclusive.
Members get 5 diamonds every day (must log in).
4. Dried Fish
You get dried fish when you log in everyday. You can give it to AD episodes or songs to increase its popularity.
5. Translation
Open Maoer website on a browser with web translation tool (e.g. Edge, Chrome).
Activate the translation tool.
Login.
Open the audio drama and play it (the play button s at the bottom).
Check if the change of subtitles is translated correctly according to the dialogs.
6. Maoer FM International
Same system as Maoer FM.
Login and bought items are synced in both apps.
Payment in Hongkong Dollars, slightly more expensive.
Contains uncut version
The web version seems to be the international version when viewed outside China.
Recs:
Thousand Autumns (fan eng subs on bullet comments above the screen)
GUIDE TO TOPPING UP MAOER DIAMONDS ON USING ALIPAY by coco I am here with something for y'all android phone users on how to topup your ma
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Manbo FM
1. System
Manbo has buy out (per season) and VIP membership system. There are also some free ADs.
Audiobooks can be bought per episode.
2. Currency
Currency used: red beans.
100 red beans = 1 RMB.
Common price for 1 season: 2000-3000 red beans (>20 RMB)
You can get 10 red beans every day from entering the top live broadcast and snatching red envelopes.
3. VIP membership
The VIP dramas can only be watched by buying VIP.
VIP membership plans:
Monthly with 1st month discount (15 RMB/month).
3 monthly (39 RMB).
3 months not continuous (49 RMB).
1 year not continuous (168 RMB).
1 month not continuous (18 RMB).
VIP benefit:
Obtain stars, double claws, and 50 red beans after logging in everyday. You need to manually collect it.
Every month you also get 1 VIP ticket.
20% red beans discount on buy out AD.
VIP ticket:
When you have VIP, you can also use tickets to buy VIP dramas so that you can listen to it when your VIP ends.
Common price: 4 VIP tickets/season
1 ticket = 100 claws.
You get 1 claw every day when you log in without VIP.
You can also get 1-30 (usually 1) free claws by obtaining EXP until the second achievement in the 快速升级 tab is achieved.
You can get EXP by watching ADs, Live Streams, or Short Videos.
Advice: 10 beans from stream red packets are now exclusively for vip members
4. Translation
Open Manbo website on a browser with web translation tool (e.g. Edge, Chrome). You can also easily do this by sharing the link from the app to yourself.
Activate the translation tool.
Login using the QR code.
Open the audio drama and play it.
Check if the change of subtitles is translated correctly according to the dialogs.
Expired copyright membership AD
You can still listen to it on the android app by: searching for the playlist on search bar and add the playlist content to your own playlist. Listen when you have current active membership.
Example AD: Paper Lover season 1, The Yin Guest, Chasing Game, I Like Your Memes, Your Majesty Be At Ease, After Waking Up Beside the Villain
Recs:
The Approach
The Fallen Merman & Lop-eared Guard
Four Faced Budda (all time top)
I Can Do It
Eternities Still Unsaid
Step by step tutorial:
Advice from me: It is better if you come for an AD which novel you are a huge fan of. Don’t be like me. I paid for the 1 year vip discount on 520 in 2025, which is quite a good deal at first. But if you’ve been in the fandom, you’d know that this industry is very vulnerable to censorship cleansing. First around 2021, now Sep 2025 (bastards). The entirety of AD on their app disappeared in just one night and, when they were back a few months later, they were edited beyond recognition. Actually, the cut parts can easily be found through yt or xhs search. The only problem for us intl readers is that the subtitles are not matched to the cut audio, so it is very difficult to understand. So every time you encounter this problem where the audio and subtitles don’t match, they have been censored. You can still open the official version on mute only for subtitles, then look up the full uncensored version, and then play both at the same time. Which is a huge hassle, you can’t do this on one phone, and it makes you question what’s the use of buying vip in the first place if this is the experience 😢 Actually if you mind the cuts and censors, just buy from Bookwalker TW or other non mainland apps, since they can be translated the same way as Maoer and Manbo. Lastly, don’t be discouraged from this long post. Let’s hope the situation gets better so we can get more contents by supporting the team 🤗
First of all, I want to thank you so much for your amazing translations & all the hard work you put into them. Coming from a country where almost every Chinese payment app is banned & even GPay doesn't work, it's often impossible to support or even access these audio dramas, even when we genuinely want to. It's truly a blessing to find people who are willing to share them freely & make them accessible. Most people don't, so thank you.
I also wanted to ask you something. How do you download audio files from Maoer? I've purchased (or won) a few audio dramas before, & I'd really like to keep offline copies of the audio, or the subtitle files if they exist, for future safety since Maoer has a tendency to edit or remove content because of censorship. I've probably tried every method I could find, but none of them seem to work anymore. If you know of a way and don't mind sharing or pointing me in the right direction, I'd really appreciate it.
Thank you again for all your hard work!
Thank you lovely~ This is one of the biggest reasons why I'm doing what I do. I truly believe accessibility is everything and that owning what you pay for is so important in our society run by capitalism and AI.
Unfortunately, Maoer recently put DRM protection on their site (like Netflix). I've also tried every method I could find, but the only way to get audio now is to screen record. I have some browser extensions that mute the tab while recording, so I can do other stuff in the meantime. Any will do, but I like Smart Audio Capture or Screen Recorder. I'm not an audio specialist, but it doesn't seem to affect the quality of it too much (?) I'm not sure how to go about getting it in its original quality anymore though.
Omg guys this PV is more than I could've ever imagined, it's SO GORGEOUS (ಥ﹏ಥ) I had a blast editing this and I spotted some lovely hidden details so here's a mini analysis 🍃
The statue of Xie Lian is hugging Honghong'er, in his hand he holds a white flower. It turns to the coral bead, before silver butterflies fly across the screen and he's holding a white flower again.
Xie Lian's eyes first reflected the statue when the lyrics refer to BWX. The atmosphere is cold and bleak. When we see his eyes properly again, it's warm-toned and he's on the ox cart. In his eyes instead, are a reflection of red—because Hua Cheng is there with him :)
At first I thought this was XL fighting BWX, but upon closer inspection, I realised it was actually both XL! This was Calamity XL vs the true XL, hence the lyrics of him questioning who's really behind the mask. He was fighting an internal battle constantly between his best intentions and his worst impulses.
XL lying there undead after he was pierced by the swords (；ω；) with ghostie WM watching over him, as the lyrics mention "a wandering soul".
The main imagery motif of the song: A desolated Crown Prince statue, with a delicate white flower in one hand, while gripping his sword in the other. “Though he holds the power to unmake the world, his heart still knows how to cherish a flower.” The statue is covered in vines and freshly grown plants, like having the strength to hope and fostering an undying love amidst utter hopelessness—which is absolutely quintessential to XL and his character.
I mentioned this before in my last post when I made my own PV because I was too impatient waiting for it come out 👇🏼
The title “不坠” also comes from a well-known poem in the Tang dynasty by Wang Bo (王勃), called “A Tribute to Duke Teng’s Tower” (滕王阁序)
穷且益坚，不坠青云之志。
“Even in adversity, one grows only more steadfast, never letting fall the aspiration to rise as high as the blue clouds.”
Essentially—This is Xie Lian's theme song, it's pure perfection, and I think the Audio Drama team has once again outdone themselves. I'm floored. Go support the creators on MissEvan!!!
Anyways, I'll sign off and catch some sleep now <3
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It only happened a few days ago! I think a lot of people heard that S2E08 has been altered, which is the underwater kiss scene. But a bunch of Chinese netizens have said that there's actually been more (ಥ﹏ಥ) I'm hoping to compile an updated list of episodes once I've gathered more info. A lot of audio dramas have been affected recently, like Mo Du (Silent Reading) and Ti Deng Kan Ci Dao (Behold the Bayonet). Four dramas have been removed as well. People aren't happy and are worried about the future of MaoEr.
I'm not really sure what to do about it, just wanted to make people here aware 🥲 I do already have all the audio files downloaded and stored safely, which you can access on my Masterlist (thank you to @thebarofgold for this foresight ahahha). And I'll, of course, aim to translate the original uncensored videos.
Hello danmei fandom! I would really like to highly encourage to please do support the danmei authors you love by purchasing their digital books in jjwxc! :) Through this we can thank them for creating masterpieces we love🌸
If you have any questions in regarding how jjwxc or maoer/missevans work, send me a message. I will gladly help!
