Fireworks of My Heart

Fireworks of My Heart (我的人间烟火)

Main Cast & Synopsis

Drama is still airing. For VIP members, all 40 episodes will be available to watch by Jul-22. For non-paying members, all episodes can be viewed by Aug-16. *Currently paused drama due to lack of interest.

“Fireworks of My Heart” is a romance drama that centers around Song Yan, a firefighter, and Xu Qin, a surgeon. Formerly lovers in high school, they are brought back together as adults through the dangers of their respective professions. Despite their attempts to move on, their feelings for each other remain strong over the years. As they reunite, they strive to reconcile their past and embark on a journey of personal and professional growth together.

Yang Yang, known for his roles in “You Are My Glory” and “Who Rules The World” portrays Song Yan, the chief firefighter at Shilitai Fire and Rescue Station. As a child, Song Yan was left in the care of his father, who has since passed away. Growing up under the care of his uncle, the carefree teenager Song Yan fell in love with the quiet Xu Qin. Years after their breakup, Song Yan has become a tough but respected chief who deeply cares for his team and the well-being of the people. Despite his efforts to appear indifferent, Song Yan still carries Xu Qin in his heart.

Wang Chu Ran, the leading woman from “Love Heals,” portrays Xu Qin, a surgeon at The First People’s Hospital of Yancheng. As a child, Xu Qin experienced the heartbreaking loss of her family and was subsequently adopted into the Meng family. It was during her time in high school that the reserved and shy Xu Qin crossed paths with Song Yan, who became her protector and opened her eyes to the wonders of the world. Following their breakup, Xu Qin decides to study abroad in order to establish herself as a member of the Meng family. However, fate brings Xu Qin back to the city where their love story began, and she finds herself crossing paths with Song Yan once again.

Character Breakdown

Questions and Answers: Plot of “Fireworks of My Heart”

heavy spoilers ahead

How does Xu Qin and Song Yan meet?

Xu Qin and Song Yan first met in high school. Song Yan fell in love at first sight with Xu Qin and actively inserted himself into her life, protecting her from her bullies. Over time, their relationship developed, and Song Yan continued to stick by her side.

Why did Xu Qin and Song Yan break up?

As the adoptive daughter of the Meng family, Xu Qin was scared of being abandoned by the only family she had. Faced with the threat of being disowned by Mother Meng, Xu Qin made the difficult decision to choose the Meng family over Song Yan. She broke up with him and decided to study abroad.

First Impressions: Fireworks of My Heart

Rating: TBA

Positives and negatives of novel: “Waiting for You in a City”

There are many things I want to get off my chest while we wait for the full 40 episodes to finish releasing. So, I’ll do a first impression and then edit this into a cohesive full review after watching the whole show.

I always try to do my best in separating the two entities if I have read the novel because live adaptations are never accurate to the original work. After reading the novel, I was quite enamored by the love between Song Yan and Xu Qin because it was one of the few love stories that spanned throughout the years and left an impression. The author’s intentions for telling an unwavering love story between Song Yan and Xu Qin were received well on my end. First, I’ll state what I liked and disliked about the novel ‘Waiting for You in a City'” before we get into my drama impressions of “Fireworks of My Heart.”

Complexity of characters

• Positive: Good character setup with solid backstories that justified their characters. There were a lot of inner monologues and situations where we saw the complexity of Song Yan and Xu Qin—why they made certain decisions and the difference between their youth and adult selves.
• Negative: Though it was set up, it was never really delved into in detail due to the length of the novel. As the reader, we had to fill in the blanks, such as, because Xu Qin grew up like this, she acted like that. As Xu Qin was the protagonist in the story, a lot of focus was on her thought process and backstory, with little information on Song Yan’s story.

Length of novel

• Positive: Short romance story of two people that spanned across 10 years, but concise in focusing on their internal struggles and overcoming their past to be together again.
• Negative: Didn’t allow diving deep into the characters to make them gritty, lacked the backstory of Song Yan, Song Yan’s feelings weren’t highlighted, Meng family was barely touched upon, and other aspects.

Relationship-driven

• Positive: We see a lot of interactions between the two leads, we get stories of their past, and we see their thought process change. Their feelings of longing and pain were raw and heartfelt.
• Negative: Didn’t focus on the world setting, building relatable and realistic characters, and unraveling the story rather than telling it in certain parts.

Interesting female lead character

• Positive: Our female lead, Xu Qin, had low EQ, was selfish, didn’t know how to empathize and connect with people, cold, distant, and somewhat manipulative. She wasn’t an ideal female lead but was driven and grew because of Song Yan.
• Negative: Although Xu Qin was interesting, because the length of the novel was short, the focus of the story was on their relationship, not her character development. Meanwhile, the male lead, Song Yan, had even less focus.

First Impressions of “Fireworks of My Heart”

While the sequence of events of how Song Yan and Xu Qin met and their several interactions as a firefighter and doctor stayed the same, there were few events that were changed that I disliked.

One thing I disliked about the novel was its lack of focus on Song Yan. The drama now focuses on Song Yan as the protagonist who gets most of the screen time, so far. We get to see a little bit more of Song Yan’s backstory, from his parents and upbringing to his daily life as a firefighter, something we didn’t get to read about in the novel. However, many of the scenes involving Song Yan feel like filler scenes and lack important takeaways regarding his character and the people around him. In the novel, when we read scenes about Xu Qin’s career, it unraveled different aspects of her personality to us.

However, because we get more focus on Song Yan, Xu Qin becomes less important. And the most significant issue, my biggest concern, is that the characterization of Xu Qin is now different. Could the novel’s Xu Qin have been my interpretation of Xu Qin and not the writer’s intention? Probably, but there are vast differences between the novel and drama versions of Xu Qin that make her immensely less unique. Instead of being distant with her co-workers, indifferent with low EQ, depressed, and not understanding her patients, the drama’s Xu Qin is now close with her co-workers, has made a friend in the drama, is cowardly and timid, and is willing to be sympathetic to her patients. What’s worse is that instead of just changing Xu Qin’s personality in the drama, they decide to keep some elements of novel Xu Qin, thus making the two characters clash and not make sense. Like her mysophobia, empty house, and certain scenes/more had reasons behind them in the novel, but the drama doesn’t explain it or keep her character consistent, so it doesn’t make sense.

Lastly, the acting for the two leads is lacking. What made this novel stand out, despite not being well fleshed out, was the emotional impact. There was a lot of angst and intense emotions whenever the two met or when the past was brought up. So it was easy to want Xu Qin and Song Yan to work something out in their relationship, even if they didn’t end up together, just to add closure to their lives. But I didn’t feel the same in the drama when Xu Qin and Song Yan met. I didn’t feel the longing, the sadness, the frustration, etc.

While I was hesitant about the 40 episodes, I still am, and I dislike the filler rescue scenes and whatnot. I appreciate a little more focus on Meng Yan Chen and the Meng family’s intricate relationship with Xu Qin that would have led her to make the decisions she had made and become who she is now. This adaptation isn’t horrible, but it could be better, and I’m still intrigued to stick to the end. I’m hoping good surprises will be brought my way for the last half of the show as we have yet to see other scenes from their past.

Full Review Coming Soon…