South Wind Knows Review

Many C drama fans have been looking forward to the release of South Wind Knows (南风知我意). The filming had been completed for quite some time but the screening kept getting delayed which left some disappointed. So, when it was finally released, the anticipation ran high for fans of the main leads. Having watched some of their dramas in the past, I was also expecting a good story for this one. So, how did it go for me? Check out my South Wind Knows review below for my take on this drama.

My rating: 7.5/10
Episodes: 39
Type: Romance
Aired: September 2023
Images Credit: Baidu

The Cast Of South Wind Knows

• Cheng Yi as Fu Yun Shen
• Zhang Yu Xi as Zhu Jiu
• Fu Xin Bo as Fu Xi Zhou
• Yan Xiao as Gu Ruan Ruan
• Vicky Liang Jing Xian as Zhou Zhi Zhi
• Li Xin Ze as Chen Le
• Paul Chun Pui as Fu Ling Tian
• Yang Yu Ting as Jiang Shu Ning
• Shen Yu Xi as Leo
• Jiang Zhen Hao as Ji Si Lang
• Lan Cheng as Han Si / Professor Han
• Cao Cui Fen as Zhu Jiu’s Grandma

Main Characters

Fu Yun Shen

Yun Shen is a drug researcher in his paternal grandfather’s pharmaceutical business called Ling Tian Group. He has no interest in management as his passion lies in developing drugs to help the sickly. Yun Shen may appear annoying and snobbish but he has a kind side towards those in need. He is also a very cheeky and optimistic man.

Zhu Jiu

Zhu Jiu is a doctor based in Heidelberg, Germany. She is passionate about her profession and both her late parents were also doctors. Zhu Jiu is a warm and sincere woman. She is also smart and a quick-thinker.

Supporting Characters

Fu Xi Zhou

Xi Zhou is Yun Shen’s elder half-brother. They share the same father but have different mothers. Xi Zhou works as a Marketing Director in his grandfather’s pharmaceutical company. He is supportive of Yun Shen’s passion for research and the 2 brothers share a close relationship.

Gu Ruan Ruan & Zhou Zhi Zhi

Ruan Ruan and Zhi Zhi are best friends. They have known Yun Shen and Xi Zhou since young as their parents are friends and business associates. Their fathers are also part of the board members and shareholders of the Fu family’s Ling Tian Group. Ruan Ruan is in love with Xi Zhou while Zhi Zhi have feelings for Yun Shen. While Ruan Ruan is more expressive and direct with her feelings, Zhi Zhi is not as bold and proactive in going after her man.

Chen Le

Chen Le is Yun Shen’s personal assistant. Although he also has to report to Yun Shen’s mother about her son, Chen Le is loyal to Yun Shen and wants the best for him.

Fu Ling Tian

Fu Ling Tian is Yun Shen and Xi Zhou’s paternal grandfather. He is the Chairman and major shareholder of Ling Tian Group. He trusts both his grandsons and has a close relationship with them.

Jiang Shu Ning

Jiang Shu Ning is Yun Shen’s mother. She is the Chief Financial Officer and one of the directors of Ling Tian Group. Her wish is to have Yun Shen as his grandfather’s successor. Jiang Shu Ning is a suspicious woman who is wary of Xi Zhou’s intention.

Leo

Leo is a medical researcher in Heidelberg, Germany. He is also Yun Shen’s distant cousin and a friend of Dr. Ji.

Ji Si Lang / Dr. Ji

Dr. Ji is a surgeon in a hospital in Heidelberg, Germany. He is also Zhu Jiu’s senior as they studied in the same university.

Han Si / Professor Han

Professor Han is a doctor and researcher who runs a charity hospital in a remote tribal village in Country M. He was a close friend of Zhu Jiu’s late parents and they managed the charity hospital together in the past. Zhi Jiu regards him as an uncle.

Zhu Jiu’s Grandma

Zhu Jiu’s grandma is an old lady who is kind and generous. She has a warm and loving heart. She also has a close bond with Zhu Jiu as she raised her after her parents died.

Synopsis

Zhu Jiu is an intern doctor in Heidelberg, Germany. When she was asked to help out in a remote tribal village in Country M, she bumped into Yun Shen who is a drug researcher. Yun Shen’s aim was to look for a herb in the area that is vial to a new drug that he was researching on. While Zhu Jiu and Yun Shen were enemies at the start due to a minor incident at the airport, the 2 of them became closer after spending time together in the village. By the time Yun Shen left the place to return to Shanghai, their feelings for each other were already obvious and they were on the verge of acknowledging each other as their other half.

However, Yun Shen met with an accident in Shanghai that nearly caused him his life. He became immobile from the waist down and could no longer walk. The accident was an indirect result from family rivalry and revenge that left him disappointed with his half-brother. Yun Shen became depressed and cut off contact with Zhu Jiu who thought he wasn’t serious about their relationship.

Fast forward 2 years later, Zhu Jiu is asked by a friend to become a family doctor for his relative who has come to Germany to recuperate from an accident. When she goes to see him, she discovers that he is Yun Shen. However, Yun Shen has become a depressive man who refuses treatment and contact with the outside world including Zhu Jiu whom he pushes away.

South Wind Knows Ending & Recap (Spoilers Alert!)

South Wind Knows has a happy ending. Zhu Jiu and Dr. Ji are kidnapped by militants in Episode 37 while delivering medical supplies in war-torn Country M. Dr. Ji who was injured earlier dies during their escape after their car hit a wall in Episode 38. Yun Shen goes to save an unconscious Zhu Jiu but is shot during the process in Episode 39. Both of them are rescued when government soldiers arrived. They survived after undergoing emergency surgeries and are transferred back to Shanghai to recuperate.

However, Zhu Jiu ends up with PTSD and could no longer become a surgeon due to her hand injury. Yun Shen is sorry for leaving her and causing her so much pain. He vows never to leave her again. His mother could see her son’s pain and love for Zhu Jiu. After dreaming of her departed loved ones including Dr. Ji who advise her to be strong, Zhu Jiu slowly comes out of her depressive state.

5 years later, Chen Le is now wooing Zhi Zhi. Ruan Ruan and Xi Zhou are happily married with a daughter and a son on the way. Zhu Jiu is now a lecturer and giving a presentation of the disease that was afflicting the kids in Country M. After the lecture, she gets a call from her aunt that her late grandmother’s house has been sold. When she goes back to take a look for the last time, the buyer turns out to be Yun Shen. He proposes to her in front of the house and she accepts. The last scene is of them kissing.

When Did The Couple Get Together?

Yun Shen and Zhu Jiu already have an ambiguous relationship very early on in the drama. By the time they parted ways in the remote village in Episode 8, there is an implicit understanding that they will be a couple. But they lost contact due to Yun Shen’s accident and only meet each other again 2 years later in Episode 11. They become a couple in Episode 15 after Zhu Jiu finds out from Zhi Zhi that Yun Shen had willing to get out of his room and fallen down the stairs because of her. Zhu Jiu was wrongly accused and locked up by the police then.

The couple has a loving relationship and Yun Shen plans to propose to Zhu Jiu in Episode 22. But she stops him as she has not gained his mother’s acceptance. However, she did tell Yun Shen that she loves him and will be there for him as long as he needs her. Circumstances still force them to break up in Episode 31 and Yun Shen goes to Country M to look for Zhu Jiu again in Episode 37 after his grandfather died in Episode 36. The couple reunites in Episode 39 after a near death ordeal involving some militants in Country M.

Is There Any Breakup?

The couple parted ways in Episode 8 when Yun Shen has to return to Shanghai as his mother is supposedly sick. But they keep in touch via calls and messages until Yun Shen’s accident leaves him paralyzed from the waist down. Zhu Jiu has no idea what happened to him and her calls and messages went unanswered until Zhi Zhi picks it up which sends Zhu Jiu the assumption that Yun Shen has ended their relationship. Hence, they lost contact in Episode 11 as Yun Shen also turns depressive and reclusive at the same time.

After the couple starts dating in Episode 15, Yun Shen asks for a breakup in Episode 31 by using his poor health as an excuse. This is because his mother is giving Zhu Jiu a hard time and pressuring her to break up with him. At the same time, Zhu Jiu’s grandmother is suffering from liver cancer and is urgent need for a transplant. Yun Shen agrees to break up with Zhu Jiu in exchange for his mother’s promise to get a liver donor for Zhu Jiu’s grandmother.

Zhu Jiu knows the real reason for the breakup in Episode 32 after her grandmother got a donor and could proceed with the surgery. But her grandmother dies on the operating table due to poor health. Zhu Jiu then decides to resign from the hospital to get out of her sorrow and return to Country M to serve as a volunteer doctor in Episode 34. She writes a farewell letter to Yun Shen. She notes that they still love each other but realizes that she can’t force and insist that they be together.

Is There Any Love Triangle?

Zhi Zhi is also deeply in love with Yun Shen and his mother is always trying to pair them together as Zhi Zhi’s father is one of the directors of their pharmaceutical company. Yun Shen’s mother needs Zhi Zhi’s father’s support to fend off Xi Zhou. However, Zhi Zhi could see how much Yun Shen loves Zhu Jiu when she visits him in Germany in Episode 15. So, there is no love triangle here as Yun Shen has also told Zhi Zhi a few times that he doesn’t have feelings for her and she knows it. It is Zhi Zhi who finds it hard to completely let go although she refuses to resort to schemings to get Yun Shen despite pressure from her and Yun Shen’s mother. As such, they remain as friends.

Dr. Ji also likes Zhu Jiu although she only sees him as her senior and mentor. He also knows she is in love with Yun Shen. Hence, he keeps quiet about his feelings but gives her support at work and personal advice whenever she needs them. Dr. Ji follows Zhu Jiu back to Shanghai in Episode 20 and County M in Episode 35. He never did confess his feelings and remains a good friend and gentleman to the end. He dies in Episode 38 while escaping from rebels with Zhu Jiu in Country M.

When Did Yun Shen Regain His Mobility?

After being together with Zhu Jiu in Episode 15, Yun Shen decides to go for a risky surgery to regain the ability to walk. He does so in Episode 16. Although the progress is slow, he is back to his optimistic self. Yun Shen recovers and could walk with a walking stick in Episode 17. However, he is beaten up by thugs hired by Xi Zhou’s minion and requires another surgery. Yun Shen makes a full recovery in Episode 18 and returns to Shanghai.

Ruan Ruan & Xi Zhou

Ruan Ruan expresses her feelings for Xi Zhou which he surprisingly accepts in Episode 10 although he doesn’t love her. This is because he needs her father’s support in the battle for control of the pharmaceutical company against Yun Shen’s mother. The couple registers their marriage in Episode 14. But Ruan Ruan gradually feels that there is no emotional intimacy in the marriage as Xi Zhou refuses to open up his heart and share things with her. They quarrel over it in Episode 20.

Although Ruan Ruan got over the quarrel, she decides she has had enough after Xi Zhou fails to turn up for their private wedding ceremony due to an emergency situation at work in Episode 23. She tells Xi Zhou that she wants a divorce in Episode 24 and sends him a divorce agreement in Episode 26. But he is uncooperative and keeps stalling. Xi Zhou almost manages to coax her back until she learns that he has used her identity to invest in a capital firm that is embarking on a takeover of Ling Tian Group in Episode 34. His action also caused his grandfather to fall into a coma which she couldn’t accept. So, Ruan Ruan pleads with Xi Zhou to let her go and divorces him.

Ruan Ruan returns to Country M to do a documentary after the divorce in Episode 35. She cuts off contact with Xi Zhou which leaves him worried about her safety. He then flies to County M to look for her in Episode 38. Although she has left, Ruan Ruan is moved when he calls her from Country M to check on her safety. In Episode 39, Xi Zhou is pursuing Ruan Ruan just like the way she had chased after him in the past and they got back together.

What Happened To Xi Zhou’s Mother?

Xi Zhou’s mother was married his father, Fu Rong, but was forced to divorce. This is because the Fu and Jiang families have a betrothal arrangement. Fu Ling Tian needed the Jiang family’s support in his business then and was furious when he learned of his son’s marriage. Hence, he forced Fu Rong to divorce Xi Zhou’s mother who fell into depression. Xi Zhou’s mother was then unscrupulously transferred to a psychiatric hospital which made her condition worse until she became mentally unstable with schizophrenia. Xi Zhou finds this out in Episode 8 when he tracks down the doctor who signed the transfer form.

Yun Shen’s mother, Jiang Shu Ning, doesn’t trust Xi Zhou and thinks he will try to gain control of the family company. When Xi Zhou makes his move by getting engaged to Ruan Ruan, Jiang Shu Ning instigates Xi Zhou’s mother to turn up for the engagement party. Xi Zhou’s mother is hit by a car while making her way to the party in her mentally unstable state and dies in Episode 11.

Fu Ling Tian’s Guilt

Xi Zhou and his grandfather have a confrontation in Episode 33 when the former’s planned takeover of Ling Tian Group becomes public knowledge. Xi Zhou blames his grandfather for what happened to his mother. Fu Ling Tian tries to explain that his business was in trouble then and salaries needed to be paid. Hence, he had no choice but to seek help from the Jiang family. Xi Zhou doesn’t accept the explanation and tells his grandfather that he plans to take over the company and sells it off piece by piece. This causes Fu Ling Tian to collapse and fall into a coma.

Fu Ling Tian awakens in Episode 36. He asks Yun Shen not to blame Xi Zhou. The fault lies with him as he took advantage of Jiang Shu Ning’s love for Fu Rong and forced his son to marry her. Fu Rong then left everything behind and went away after he had done his duty to sire Yun Shen with Jiang Shu Ning. He subsequently died of depression.

Fu Ling Tian dies from his heart ailment shortly after. In his will, he left all his real estate and jewelries to Jiang Shu Ning. He divided his shareholdings of Ling Tian group into 3 equal parts for Jiang Shu Ning, Yun Shen, and Xi Zhou. Yun Shen will also inherit his voting rights while Xi Zhou is given the veto power. Fu Ling Tian also willed his artwork to Xi Zhou’s mother’s art gallery and and set up a foundation in her memory.

While Xi Zhou got what he wanted, it feels like a hollow victory to him in Episode 37. With Yun Shen deciding to go to Country M after his grandfather’s death, his mother feels that she has lost in the end as she couldn’t hang on to the ones she loves including Yun Shen’s father. Her love has become an obsession that it ends up hurting them.

South Wind Knows Review – Only If You Like Melodramas

I think there are 2 things that potential viewers should be aware of when it comes to South Wind Knows. The first is that it is a melodrama. That means be prepared for angsty and heartbreaking moments which number quite a few throughout the 39 episodes. This is no rom-com like The Love You Give Me. So, if you want something lighthearted, drop this like a ton of bricks. While the romance can be sweet at times, there is anticipation of an impending heartbreak and it does happen to make you feel that the main couple deserves something better.

The second point to note is that there is a toxic mother in South Wind Knows. If you have watched Fireworks Of My Heart, you should be familiar with this type of character whereby the mother is wicked and cruel towards her child’s other half. It is the type of drama whereby the actions of the mother will make your blood boil. If you absolutely hate such characters, then stay far away from this one. It is not a delightful watch for sure. Fortunately, the female lead is not a weak character but has a mind of her own while the male lead is clear about who he wants. These factors mitigate somewhat the wicked mother syndrome present in the drama although that flavor is still pretty strong overall.

Apart from the above, the plot also plays an important role in determining the drama’s watch value. I don’t know how many will actually enjoy the story because the weaknesses also kind of stand out in a glaring way.

Plot Weakness (Spoilers Alert!)

Personally, I feel that South Wind Knows could have been shorter. This is because some parts are dragged out more than necessary such as the flashbacks and repetitive antagonism towards the female protagonist by the guy’s mother. As the message has been conveyed to the viewers, repeating the same through various other incidents just tends to drag out the story.

The other weakness that stood out to me is the exaggeration. Just like Bright Eyes In The Dark whereby the girl was caught in a fire 4 times which is a bit too much, South Wind Knows sees the guy being injured and hospitalized 6 times. While there are reasons for the injuries, the number of times he nearly lost his life makes it overdone. So, you have to ignore this exaggeration which is there to add dramatic effect to the story.

Add in a wicked mother and you have an even more difficult romance for the couple. Not everyone will enjoy this kind of story and thus, do not start watching unless you are really a fan of melodramas. Furthermore, there is no just punishment for the villains at the end. Everything is hunky-dory for everyone that all the hardships the villains have caused to others in the past seem to have been conveniently ignored to force an ideal ending. So, the drama will leave you with the feeling that the villains don’t deserve the positive closure that they have.

Touching Romance

Most people will be watching South Wind Knows for the romance. This is where the selling point is although the story also involves family feuds. Personally, I find the romance to be touching with sweet and cute scenes at the right places. The story isn’t perfect with weaknesses mentioned above and there will be heartbreaks unlike feel good dramas like Meet Yourself. But once you get into the couple’s story, their journey is one of trust, sacrifice, and deep love.

What the drama did well is to project maturity in the romance. Hence, there are no silly tantrums and quarrels (save for the time when the guy was depressed). Both of them know what the issue is in their relationship and instead of disagreements, there is understanding and wisdom when to walk away. So, I do like this part of the romance especially with a strong-minded female protagonist who is not easily cowed.

The couple’s scenes are also able to depict a strong connection between the lovers. This is why you will feel moved when the heartbreaking moments come and automatically hope for happy ending for them. Perhaps the leads’ chemistry have something to do with it together with their acting.

Acting & Chemistry

Cheng Yi’s acting skills is widely acknowledged and he is on top of his game in South Wind Knows as well. His last drama that I have watched is Mysterious Lotus Casebook and you should check it out if you want to see more of his acting. In South Wind Knows, his crying scenes are some of the most painful moments in the drama. He is just superb in conveying these heavy emotions.

It has been a while since I caught sight of Zhang Yu Xi. Her acting may not be as great as Cheng Yi but her strength lies in her ability to connect with her co-stars. Just like in Intense Love and Love At Night, Zhang Yu Xi usually could create the right feels with her co-stars who play her boyfriends. Therefore, it is no different in South Wind Knows especially when she and Cheng Yi had cooperated before in Stand By Me.

The chemistry between them is one of the reasons that the drama is more enjoyable overall. Although this is a melodrama and the fluff is not going to be the main fare, the chemistry is still needed to build up the romance so that when the angsty moments come, the viewers’ emotions will be heightened. I think this part is done well by both of them. Just don’t expect steamy kisses in the drama in the standard of You Are My Glory despite their chemistry though. While there are a few kissing scenes, they are not going to make you blush too much.

My Verdict – Watchable But Not A Masterpiece

It is not often that you will get a good romance melodrama to come along in the C drama world. And dramas like this don’t tend to have wide appeal with all the angst and heartbreaks. Unless the story is really intense with well-developed plot and characters like Lighter And Princess, melodramas can end up being draggy and boring. South Wind Knows starts off with the lovers meeting again but with the man being depressive and in a wheelchair. The flashback then runs for about 11 episodes to tell viewers what happened in the past that leads to the present situation.

Hence, there is curiosity at the start to draw you in as you would want to know what happened to the guy. Where it fails for me is the exaggerated bits in the plot and the longer than necessary way of telling the story. The ending is also not my favorite part of the drama with the rushed final episode and the villains’ conclusion. But overall, it is a heart-wrenching romance which is good enough for those times when you are in the mood for something that is emotionally heavy.

For this review of South Wind Knows, I would give it a score of 7.5/10. It is not going to be a masterpiece but I think once you start, you will still finish it for Cheng Yi and Zhang Yu Xi due to their acting and chemistry. If you like melodramas, this is going to be worth a try and some scenes will move you emotionally. But I doubt the rewatch value will be high for most viewers because of the nature of the story.