- Title: Shining For One Thing
- Also Known As: 一闪一闪亮星星, Let’s Start Together at the End of the Universe
- Screenwriter: Duan Yu Le, Wang Chen
- Director: Chen Xiao Ming, Zhang Pan
- Genres: Mystery, Romance, Melodrama, Youth
- Country: China
- Episodes: 24
- Year: 2022
- Original Network: iQiyi
- Where to watch: iQiyi, Viki
Shining For One Thing Synopsis
Shining For One Thing is a Chinese mistery drama, with some taste of romance. The Story was about Lin Beixing. Her life was never good recently. Her boyfriend of 8 years broke up with her, two weeks before their wedding. The broke up took its toll on her life and career. She got fired from her job at Nanchuan Zoo. And top of that, she found out that her boyfriend cheated on her with her best friend.
One day, she met a man who told her that her future lies in her past. The next day, Lin Beixing discovered that through her old Nokia phone, she could time-traveled back to the past. Precisely, her 3rd grade of high school period.
As someone unsatisfied with her life, Lin Beixing is determined to fix her life. But first, she had to pass the College Entrance Examination. And Lin Beixing did not hold back herself. She aimed to be number one. Therefore, when she traveled back to the present time, she memorized all the answers for her College Entrance Exam. Lin Beixing’s efforts were for naught. Right after the College Entrance Examination, she returned to the present time, but her life did not change a bit.
After a series of going back and forth in time, Lin Beixing realizes that her return to the present time is related to the death of her classmate, Zhang Wansen. Lin Beixing insisted on altering her fate. Therefore, she decided to return to the past once again, and do everything she could to help Zhang Wansen avert his death.
Whilst she goes all out as Zhang Wansen’s (and her future) guardian, Lin Beixing is unaware of the fact that she was fascinated by Zhang Wansen’s charm and kindness. The 30 years old Lin Beixing once again fell in love with her classmate.
However, before she could protect Zhang Wansen, Lin Beixing must reveal the mystery that surrounds his death. What was happening in the lighthouse that night? What was the connection between her and Zhang Wansen’s death?
Lin Beixing was determined to unravel all the mystery, even though she must pay the price with her lifetime happiness…
Shining For One Thing Review
Zhang Jia Ning and Qu Chu Xiao used to play in the same drama, which was Ruyi’s Royal Love in The Palace drama. Zhang Jia Ning acted as one of Qianlong’s consorts, while Qu Chu Xiao used to act as Qianlong’s 5th son. Never had I imagined they could act as high school sweethearts. However, that’s the beauty of Cdrama that I love. It was full of surprises.
Just like this one.
More Than I Expected
Shining For One Thing drama caught me unguarded. I’ve never thought a mystery movie could be as good as this one. I was laughing out loud, but then I cried like a baby. The mystery was the main key to unraveling a rollercoaster romance of high school students.
But then after some serious thinking, I decided to say that this drama is all about ill-fated love. It’s sweet and heartwarming, but it would break your heart and leave you weeping throughout the last two episodes. In the end, I regret that I watched this drama. Too beautiful and at the same time, too painful to watch.
It was a delight to watch Shining For One Thing. The story was engaging. I barely slept a wink when I decided to watch it. I really appreciate this movie because it progressed with good pacing. Not too fast or too slow. My favorite part was the first 16 episodes when the love was blooming between Lin Beixing and Zhang Wansen. The rest of the episode was hard to follow because the story was heavy. Too many sad scenes that make me cry like a baby.
Nothing was perfect in this world, including the Cdama realm. The thing that made me unsatisfied with this drama, was the ending. It was a sad open ending. And I didn’t like open ending drama because it leads to many interpretations. Those interpretation would play a “what ifs” games in my head, and it would stay at my brain, rent free, for a certain amount of time. And I don’t like it.
Shining For One Thing also lacked of explanation. What really happened to Zhang Wansen. His parents move abroad in a hurry and there were no funeral after the accident. So, I just presumed that he was dead already.
Casts and Characters
Lin Beixing
Lin Beixing, played perfectly by Zhang Jia Ning is an immature adult who was having a stroke of tough luck in life. Her boyfriend left her for her best friend two weeks before their wedding. Shortly after that, her boss fired her.
Lin Beixing’s career was a mess. She worked as an obligation to society, and she has never been enthusiastic about her job. She would put 18 alarms in the morning but failed to wake her up. The craziest things were her boss even reached her mother to wake her up for an important meeting and also tracked her phone. Only to know whether she was at home or on the street. It is understandable why they fired her.🤷♀️
Lin Beixing has spent more than ten years of her life chasing Zhan Yu (played by Wu Xize). She fell in love with him since he saved her from a fire. When they sat in the same class at senior high school, she started to pursue him in an aggressive manner. Lin Beixing follows him every time and everywhere. She would buy him things, such as snacks, breakfast, or shoes. Even though all of them mean nothing to him.
Lin Beixing managed to be his girlfriend in the present time. They spent eight years before they broke up. And he was cheat on her with her best friend/classmate in high school. The one who always encourages her to chase Zhan Yu.
it was such a delight to see Lin Beixing. She was funny, kind, bold, daring, confident, and stubborn. You might want to slap her head because sometimes she was unreasonable and impulsive, but you can’t hate her. She had her shortcomings but was still adorable. Her love for her family and friends was unconditional.
Zhang Wansen
Zhang Wansen, played by Qu Chu Xiao, is a typical genius boy in dramaland. He was a shy, timid, and serious person. His fast-moving strategic brain was able to conceal his awkward nature. Zhang Wansen’s words didn’t show that he was nervous, but we all could see from his microexpression or small gestures. And that makes him such an adorable male lead.
Qu Chu Xiao didn’t have that heavenly handsomeness that a male lead used to have. He looked very thoughtful and downcast as if he always worrying about something (of course, he was worried for Lin Beixing… duh!). But somehow, it makes your heart flutter every time you saw him.
If Lin Beixing spent more than ten years loving and chasing Zhan Yu, Zhang Wansen had been more foolish than her. He fell in love with Lin Beixing when they met at the zoo. And then they went into the same elementary school. Zhang Wansen always wanted to be near her. Therefore, he intentionally made his exam score low, so their name could be next to each other. Because at that time, Lin Beixing could only earn a rank of 99. Zhang Wansen, who could reach to be in the first rank, was happy to earn number 98.😅
It didn’t stop there, dear readers. Zhang Wansen’s love-struck continues to middle school when he learns to play basketball, only because he overheard that Lin Beixing likes a boy who could play basketball. Ahhh… nothing could be compared to young love. They were soooo.. amusing.😆
Their Friends
Gao Ge (Played by Fu Jing)
If the first rank in Nanchuan High School always belongs to Zhang Wansen. The second rank would belong to Gao Ge. She was the dark-side female version of Zhang Wansen. She was smart. But compared to the shy Zhang Wansen, she was bold and daring. She was not afraid to show her opposition to her father, Gao Guangming, the school dean. She would try many ways to annoy him.
Gao Ge actually loves her father. But as a single parent, he was super busy taking care of the school and students that he often neglected his daughter. And to get his attention, Gao Ge becomes a rebel.
She was talented in art. Gao Ge always wanted to pursue a career as a painter. But her father had another idea. To get back at her father, she often skipped class or neglected her homework. But her grade was always good. I guess, if you are smart, you need extra work to be stupid compared to staying smart.
Fu Jing played Gao Ge, perfectly. She could portray the rebellion phase of a teenager without missing a beat. I really like her, except for the wigs. She looked so much prettier in her own hair.
Fun fact, Fu Jing sang one of the soundtracks for this drama.
Yang Chaoyang (Played by Luo Ming Jie)
Yang Chaoyang used to be Lin Beixing’s deskmate before she moved into Zhang Wansen’s class. He was a good friend, a nice, supportive, and helpful person. Yang Chaoyang was obsessed with crosstalk, and he always wanted to be a crosstalk master. Lin Beixing knew that in the future, Yang Chaoyang will become a big star in the crosstalk industry. So, she always supports him, no matter what.
His relationship with Gao Ge was never fruitful. Both of them were too busy to plan for their future. But in the end, after long years of building the career, he finally made a move on her.
I didn’t actually understand what crosstalk meant. Only after a small research, I found out that crosstalk was some kind of traditional Chinese stand-up comedy. But if you could enlighten me about this crosstalk matter, dear readers, please do.😊
Zhan Yu (Played by Wu Xize)
Zhan Yu was the most narcissistic person in this drama. He was a person who was full of themselves. He despises Lin Beixing who followed him everywhere and craving for his attention. Zhan Yu also makes sure that everyone around him knows it. But secretly, he enjoys all the attention. Therefore, when Lin Beixing stopped following him, he tried to win her over. The one who hated being pestered has turned into the one who pestered others.🤦🏻♀️🙅🏻♀️
In my opinion, that was the main reason why he ended up in the relationship with Lin Beixing in the present time. When they almost get married, he realizes that he might lose the fun of being chased by Lin Beixing. Therefore, he cheats on Lin Beixing with Han Teng Teng, who was also fallen in love with him since high school. A new person equals new excitement.
I couldn’t find a good reason to praise his character except for being good-looking, a famous basketball star kind-of-type guy. Cheating is my bottom line in a relationship. But if you cheat with my best friend, you are waaaaayyyyy out of my bottom line. So get lost Zhan Yu! 😡
Maizi (Played by Jiang Yun Lin)
Maizi was the one who sparked Lin Beixing’s curiosity about Zhang Wansen’s death. She saw her beating Zhang Wansen in the background of an old video. Therefore, he was Lin Beixing’s primary target when she decided to protect Zhang Wansen.
His friendship with Zhang Wansen lasted long enough, even after Zhang Wansen’s death. He keeps some mementos from their friendship. Their photo, Zhang Wansen’s diary, and a parrot that he steals from the zoo, just because it was trained by Zhang Wansen to say “I like you”.
Maizi played the most crucial role when Zhang Wansen protect Lin Beixing from the thugs. He was able to provide him with inside information because he was one of the thugs. Maizi was assigned to kidnap Lin Beixing when he knew that she was the one that Zhang Wansen liked. Since then, he helped Zhang Wansen to hide Lin Beixing from the thugs.
Zhang Wansen’s death shocked Maizi. The guilt burdened him until he decided to tell everything he knew about Zhang Wansen’s feelings and what he had done for her to Lin Beixing.
The Ending
The ending for Shining For One Thing was kind of sad. I thought it would be a happy ending, but it was not. You won’t find Lin Beixing and Zhang Wansen live happily ever after together. I wrote this drama ending in separate post, Shining For One Thing ending explained. You can read it if you feel curious about it.
The Conclusion
This is the longest review I’ve ever write for a 24 episode drama. But it was worth it. The story was engaging and I had a great time watching this drama. But if I got a chance to do a time travel such as Lin Beixing, I would tell my self to stop watching at episode 16. There is no need to continue the episodes only to have my eyes swollen like a frog.
If you like a mystery melodrama romance drama. Go for this one. It had sweet romances combined with a darker mystery. It balances everything. Very suitable for a good relaxed weekend.
Hope this Shining For One Thing drama review helps. Go grab some snack, a nice couch, and tons of tissues. Then you’ll be ready for a good time. Happy Watching, dear readers!
