The First Frost (难哄) has gotten such high popularity on Youku as well as Netflix that it is hard not to give it a try. You can find details of its popularity here. Given the hype and the millions of views, I too can’t resist the temptation and started watching it a week ago. After watching, I do have to agree that this drama has its attractive points that will make you drawn to the characters. Of course, not everything about it is good either which I will detail in The First Frost review below. Anyway, this is a nice show that is worth the time especially for those who like a different feel to a romance drama.
My rating: 8/10
Episodes: 32
Type: Romance
Aired: February 2025
Images credit: Douban Movie
The Cast Of The First Frost
- Bai Jing Ting as Sang Yan
- Zhang Ruo Nan as Wen Yi Fan
- Edward Chen as Su Hao An
- Zhang Miao Yi as Zhong Si Qiao / Qiao Qiao
- Yuan Ye as Mu Cheng Yun
- Zhai Xiao Wen as Xiang Lang
- Feng Yun Zhi as Zhao Yuan Dong
- Kong Lin as Che Yan Qin
- Duan Xing Yu as Zheng Ke Jia
- Wu Yu Heng as Duan Jia Xu
- Liu Chu Tian as Sang Zhi
Main Characters
Wen Yi Fan
Yi Fan is a reporter with a TV network. She appears as kind and gentle and is always courteous towards others. However, she is also emotionally distant which is her defense mechanism. Yi Fan comes from a tragic background as his father died when she was in high school and her mother quickly remarried which left her feeling abandoned.
Sang Yan
Sang Yan is a bar owner together with his friends. His main expertise is in IT in the gaming industry. Sang Yan comes from a rich and happy family. Apart from his parents, he also has a younger sister called Sang Zhi. He is appears quiet and aloof with a couldn’t care less attitude towards Yi Fan but has deep feelings for her. They used to be classmates during high school.
Supporting Characters
Su Hao An
Hao An is Sang Yan’s best friend since high school. He is a rich second-generation kid with a superior family background. His parents and brother died in an accident when he was young leaving him with his grandparents. Hao An seems unruly and willful on the surface but hides a soft and sensitive side. His girlfriend is Wang Lin Lin who happens to be Yi Fan’s colleague.
Zhong Si Qiao / Qiao Qiao
Qiao Qiao is Yi Fan’s bestie since they were kids. Together with Xiang Lang, they grew up together as best friends. Qiao Qiao has a sunny and cheerful disposition. She also places a lot of importance on friendship with her sincerity. Qiao Qiao is a gig worker who helps clients to fulfill errands. She lives with her warm but noisy extended family.
Mu Cheng Yun
Cheng Yun was a child actor when he was young and is now an intern in Yi Fan’s workplace. He is gentle and polite but intrusive and immature. He has a crush on Yi Fan and is always looking for opportunities to get close to her.
Xiang Lang
Xiang Lang is Yi Fan and Qiao Qiao’s good friend since young. He is modest person and a loyal friend. Xiang Lang has secret feelings for Yi Fan but has never dared to confess to her.
Zhao Yuan Dong
Yuan Dong is Yi Fan’s mother. She is a housewife and was a loving mother to Yi Fan before her husband died. While she looks gentle and practical, Yuan Dong is also a self-centered woman when life becomes a challenge.
Che Yan Qin
Che Yan Qin is Yi Fan’s aunt. She is married to Yi Fan’s father’s elder brother. Che Yan Qin is a toxic woman who is fierce and selfish. She has a son whom she dotes on and also a brother, Che Xing De.
Zheng Ke Jia
Ke Jia is Yi Fan’s stepsister in their blended family. She is a petty, domineering, and pampered young lady who has no respect for Yi Fan.
Duan Jia Xu
Jia Xu is Sang Yan’s good friend. They used to be dorm mates back in college. Jia Xu is a good-looking and warm guy.
Sang Zhi
Sang Zhi is Sang Yan’s younger sister. She is a well-behaved and sweet girl but is clear on what she wants. Sang Zhi used to have a secret crush on Jia Xu when she was younger.
Synopsis
Yi Fan is a reporter who decides to return to her hometown, Nanwu, to work after an unhappy episode in her past employment. She bumps into Sang Yan again after returning. Sang Yan was her classmate in high school and they were in an ambiguous relationship back then. He was pursuing her and tried his best to take care of her then. Yi Fan led a miserable home life at that time as her father had just passed away due to illness. However, an incident at home left her feeling unworthy of him and she broke off their relationship which left him devastated.
When Yi Fan and Sang Yan meet each other again, things are awkward between them. They pretend to be indifferent towards each other but fate throws them together again when they end up as housemates. Gradually, the barrier between them melts away with Sang Yan’s quiet concern and tenderness. However, when Yi Fan’s past caught up with her, her courage to move on with her life with Sang Yan comes to a real test. Can she overcome her fear and learn to truly love and be loved in return when she has got used to being abandoned?
The First Frost Ending & Recap (Spoilers Alert!)
The First Frost has a happy ending. After putting the past behind her with the villains being punished, Yi Fan’s birthday wish is for Sang Yan to propose to her the following summer after a period of dating in Episode 30. In Episode 31, Sang Yan brings Yi Fan home to meet his family. They treat her as their own which makes Yi Fan feels loved and a sense that she finally has a family.
Sang Yan arranges for a proposal in the classroom that they used to study in together in Episode 32. It is a moving proposal with a video recording of interviews with people who know them and have witnessed their love for each other. The drama ends with Yi Fan accepting Sang Yan’s proposal.
When Did The Leads Get Together?
Yi Fan decides to court Sang Yan in Episode 16 after he celebrated her birthday with her. In Episode 17, Sang Yan secretly hopes that Yi Fan will be more obvious with her pursuit as he is still uncertain about her feelings and fears to give his heart away again. They start dating in Episode 18 after Yi Fan summons up the courage to ask Sang Yan to consider her pursuit. He confesses that he has only liked her all along.
Is There Any Breakup?
In Episode 8, Yi Fan tells Qiao Qiao that she didn’t get together with Sang Yan in the past because she felt that she is an emotionally distant kind of person and he deserved someone who could love him passionately.
After they got back together, Yi Fan leaves Sang Yan again in Episode 24. She feels guilty that Che Xing De is targeting Sang Yan and causing him trouble because of her. So, she quietly moves to Hong Kong. Sang Yan looks for Yi Fan in Yihe where she used to study and work. He learns that her life has been much tougher than he had anticipated during the years that they were apart. Sang Yan also has an inkling how horrible Che Xing De is when he caught him harassing a female customer at the bar.
After 6 months, Qiao Qiao and Hao An manage to locate Yi Fan in Hong Kong through Hao An’s family contacts in Episode 26. She has been studying, working part-time as a waitress and being a stand-in ballet teacher during the 6 months. After a period of healing and meeting her friends again spur her to face up to Che Xing De and reunite with Sang Yan.
Yi Fan calls Sang Yan and he flies to Hong Kong to meet her again in Episode 27. She finally opens up to him about her experience of being sexually assaulted by Che Xing De and being abandoned by her mother. She felt guilty and shameful. Yi Fan was also at a loss. Thus, she opted to escape to Yihe to get away from it all which ended up hurting Sang Yan back then. She feels that she doesn’t deserve him but he convinces her otherwise. They get back together again and return to Nanwu.
What Happened To Yi Fan In The Past?
As early as Episode 6, we have a glimpse of Yi Fan’s past. Her mother sent her to live with her grandmother after her father passed away due to illness when she was still in high school. Then, her grandmother fell ill due to old age and couldn’t take care of her any longer. Yi Fan was then sent to live with her paternal uncle.
Her past catches up with her in the form in Che Xing De who is Che Yan Qin’s brother. He starts to harass Yi Fan in Episode 23 and blames her for ruining his life when she reported him to the police in the past. Che Xing De also causes trouble to Sang Yan by getting his friend to maliciously frame Sang Yan’s bar for serving contaminated food which caused food poisoning.
In Episode 25, Yi Fan’s flashback reveals that Che Xing De is a pervert who has been targeting her when she was living with her uncle’s family. She sought her mother’s help but her concerns were brushed off. When Che Xing De actually tried to sexually assault her, she fought with him and both of them fell from a window onto the street below. Yi Fan reported his assault to the police while her mother didn’t seem to be too concerned over her predicament. Her mother’s priority then was with her new family. The incident left a deep scar within Yi Fan that she couldn’t fully recover from.
The Villains
Che Xing De assaults Che Yan Qin’s daughter-in-law in Episode 28. But Che Yan Qin discourages her daughter-in-law from reporting to the police. This is because the house that they are living in are mainly paid by Che Xing De. That is why they have been tolerating Che Xing De’s behavior. However, her daughter-in-law secretly records Che Xing De and Che Yan Qin’s conversation whereby they are arguing over his sexual assault tendencies including the murder of a neighbor’s daughter. Che Yan Qin had helped her brother to bury the girl’s body back then.
The daughter-in-law becomes fearful and reports to the police. Yi Fan is tasked to be the reporter for the case. Her aunt is detained for being an accomplice to a murder while Che Xing De is on the run. He is arrested after Sang Yan noticed him loitering near Yi Fan’s office and got into a fight with him. The court sentences Che Yan Qin to 3 years jail. Che Xing De is given the death sentence after admitting to his crimes.
After Che Xing De’s crimes are exposed, Yi Fan’s mother goes to look for her in Episode 30. She regrets not caring about her daughter’s plea for help in the past. Her current husband has also been cheating on her. But Yi Fan doesn’t want anything to do with her mother anymore. She tells her mother that she will cut off contact. To Yi Fan, she is not disappointed with her relatives for what happened because they have no obligation to raise her. But her mother’s abandonment of her in favor of her new family made her realize that she has already been cut off back then.
Is There Any Love Triangle?
There is no love triangle as Yi Fan and Sang Yan only have feelings for each other. However, Xiang Lang do have secret feelings for Yi Fan while Qiao Qiao likes Xiang Lang. A misunderstanding over a bracelet that Qiao Qiao thought was Xiang Lang’s gift to her when it was actually meant for Yi Fan brings their feelings out into the open. But Yi Fan turns down Xiang Lang as she has no romantic interest in him. She only sees him as a good friend. Xiang Lang then applies for a posting transfer and leaves Nanwu in Episode 10. Qiao Qiao also moves on without much drama.
Mu Cheng Yun also has a crush on Yi Fan and sees Sang Yan as a love rival. But she makes it clear to Mu Cheng Yun about her feelings for Sang Yan in Episode 19 after they have got together. Mu Cheng Yun accepts Yi Fan’s decision and wishes her happiness in Episode 22.
Second Couple
Hao An opens up to Qiao Qiao about his late parents and brother in Episode 14. They died in an accident which caused much pain to him and his grandparents. But they have been suppressing their pain all along. Qiao Qiao consoles Hao An and he hugs her. When Hao An’s grandfather is diagnosed with dementia in Episode 15, Qiao Qiao helps him to cope and take care of his grandfather. Hao An finds himself falling for Qiao Qiao and tells Sang Yan so in Episode 16.
In Episode 19, Hao An tells Qiao Qiao that he wants to be her boyfriend. But they have a misunderstanding when he assumes that she still likes Xiang Lang. In order to understand and know Qiao Qiao better, Hao An seeks out Xiang Lang to tell him more about Qiao Qiao. In Episode 21, Qiao Qiao is open to a relationship with Hao An but wants him to take it slow and gradually discover her good side. She brings him back to meet her parents in Episode 23.
Hao An and Qiao Qiao travel together to Hong Kong to look for Yi Fan in Episode 26. He confesses that he has never traveled with his exes before as he wasn’t comfortable doing so. But he feels it is totally different with Qiao Qiao. Upon hearing his confession, Qiao Qiao decides to be together with him and make it official.
The First Frost Review – A Forlorn Female Protagonist
The First Frost is basically a co-habitation and second chance romance rolled into one. Each episode begins with a snippet of what happened in the past from the time the 2 protagonists knew each other as classmates until they graduated university and started working. So, you will learn how their relationship developed and how close they were back in high school. The pain of breaking up is also effectively conveyed. Hence, flashbacks can be kept to a minimum in the story proper. This helps to keep the story flowing smoothly rather than being disjointed by memories of the past.
I think what partly makes The First Frost so popular is the move away from typical sweetness and fluff for an idol romance drama to something more emotionally profound. There is no overbearing and domineering CEOs here like My Boss and Only For Love. The focus is more on the girl who needs to heal with the guy being indifferent on the surface but cares a great deal in his heart. A lot of time and effort is made to showcase his hidden love and patience for her. The sweetness is not in your face kind of sweetness but quiet and deep for a large part of the drama. So, it feels different and touching at times.
Perhaps the other reason for its success is the way they have written the female character. She is someone that will invoke your sympathy and understanding. I think this part is done well. If she can move the audience with her plight, that can only mean that the character is relatable and likable. However, on the flip side, this may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
Female Character Is Messed Up
The female protagonist in The First Frost, Yi Fan, is a melancholic character. She is kind and gentle but always has this forlorn look that gives you the impression that she has been through a lot and has not really gotten over it. She appears tough on the outside but is emotionally fragile on the inside. Her background will easily make you sympathetic of her. As a result, it feels good when you see that her vulnerability brings out a strong protective instinct in the hero. It also feels romantic which is a must for a love story. So, it is not surprising that this drama sells.
However, if you prefer an optimistic female lead who is full of sunshine or at least, emotionally strong, then stay away from The First Frost. At some point, you may also be mad at Yi Fan for running away rather than facing up to her past. You are led to believe that she has slowly gotten out of her shadows but then a reversal happens deep into the story which is unnecessary to me. If that is the case, her mind is still obviously messed up and she needs psychological help.
Personally, I think the screenwriter has marred the character somewhat with her choice to escape. it would have been more satisfying to see her going from strength to strength with her man beside her rather than retreating back into her shell. I guess for that we would have to blame the plot.
A Blip In The Plot
The male protagonist, Sang Yan, is the type of guy with a warm heart. When he loves, he loves unconditionally. Even after being abandoned the first time round, he still feels sorry for her and couldn’t let go. The second time she did so, he also felt the same. He has to because the story would break apart otherwise. This means the plot has to make him a perfect boyfriend which is how he is projected in the drama.
The first breakup is understandable. She was young, vulnerable, and confused. But the second breakup spoils the essence of the story and characters. The team might have wanted to make the plot more dramatic but it isn’t compelling. Running away when faced with the monster from her past and then suddenly deciding she now has what it takes to face him after hiding for 6 months isn’t very convincing. The thought process that makes her flip isn’t well-explained. One moment she is running away. Next, she is calling her boyfriend again after her friends found out where she is hiding and turn up in front of her.
It might be a combination of different things that made Yi Fan choose to come out of hiding. But these are not put together well enough to make the plot truly satisfying. It was going well for the most part until this weakness towards the last quarter took marks away. But the acting and chemistry of the leads ensure that the drama retains its overall attractiveness.
Acting & Chemistry
I think both Zhang Ruo Nan and Bai Jing Ting successfully brought out the essence of the characters. Zhang Ruo Nan is sweet and beautiful which makes her very suitable for the role of Yi Fan whose good looks naturally attracts boys’ attention in the story. Yi Fan is a complex character. She is strong, yet emotionally fragile; stoic, yet feels abandoned. Zhang Ruo Nan managed to flesh out these complexities and contradictions in the character to evoke your emotions.
Bai Jing Ting also understood his character very well and seemed to be totally immersed in it. You can sense that he really feels Yi Fan’s pain through his facial expressions and body language. Hence, you will feel the same pain along with him and that creates the touching moments in the drama. He is a very versatile actor to me as I have watched him in not so serious dramas like New Life Begins to a tough policeman in You Are My Hero and his performance is always on point.
Chemistry-wise, I like what I see between the 2 leads. They have great understanding between them to make the characters’ interactions feel natural and intimate. The news is that they will have another drama together called Pinocchio which is a K-drama remake. It will be interesting to see if more sparks will fly between them in their second collaboration together.
My Verdict – Watch!
The First Frost is definitely worth watching to me. It attempts to move away from the usual direction of romance dramas to take a different perspective. It uses the female lead’s miserable life experience and pain to flesh out the romance in the drama. The fact that the guy’s love and tenderness have always been there for her in his heart will automatically make the story feel romantic and touching. In short, it is able to stir your emotions which is ideal for a romance drama.
Of course, some parts of the story may seem unrealistic which is part of its drawbacks. The female protagonist keeps getting sexually harassed in the beginning of the drama which is a bit exaggerated. She experienced being harassed by different parties throughout which include her boss, relative, and housemates. The male lead is the perfect boyfriend who is so patient with her and doesn’t mind picking up where they left off after being abandoned. The second couple’s story is basically underdeveloped and unnecessary.
Nevertheless, the weaknesses don’t really take away the overall enjoyability of the drama. Its strengths more than compensate for those weaknesses. The touching moments, the healing process, and the guy’s protective instinct towards the girl he loves would be the things that stay with you rather than the weak spots. So, for this review of The First Frost, I would rate it 8/10. Watch it for the leads too and their chemistry. Be patient and you will find the sweet and kissing scenes in the latter half of the drama.
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