First Episode 63: 夜雨 / 给我一支烟

A part of the Grand First Episode Project -- See this thread for more info.

Language difficulty level: Upper intermediate

Download: Emule RMVB - Emule RMVB 2 - Emule MP4

Watch online: youku - 56.com - tudou - sohu

Edgy modern romance/drama focussing on the life of KTV girls / 小姐

The story in the first episode is quite straight-forward. 李海涛, a wealthy white-collar guy visits a night club after a painful break-up and falls for 叶子, a hostess and dancer in the nightclub. At the same time, her friend 小玉 falls for him. After 李海涛 and 叶子 strike up a tentative friendship, she lands in a hospital after being beaten by one of the club's more influential patrons. While visiting her in the hospital, he gets to meet her friends, other 小姐 working at the establishment, and to have dinner with them, presumably because 叶子 doesn't want to get involved with him.

美其名曰 měiqímíngyuē * describe something in a euphemistic way

钻石人间 name of the karaoke bar the story takes place in

夜总会 yè zǒng huì * nightclub / nightspot

舞池 wǔchí * dance floor

活色生香

苏打 sū dá * soda (loan word)

烟 yān * cigarette / tobacco / smoke

保安 bǎo ān * public security

腰围 yāo wéi * waist measurement / girth

泡 pào * to pick up (a person), to seduce

失恋 shī liàn * lost in love

大起大落 dàqǐdàluò * wild fluctuations

如醉如痴 rú zuì rú chī * lit. as if drunk and stupefied (成语 saw); intoxicated by sth / obsessed with / mad about sth

花心 huā xīn * playboy / playgirl / the center of a flower

舞台 wǔ tái * dance podium / (theatrical or political) stage / arena

侧门 cèmén * side door / side entrance

尽管 jǐn guǎn * despite / although / even though

友好 yǒu hǎo * friendly (relations)

前尘经历 qiánchén jīnglì * past experience

保留 bǎo liú * to retain / to continue to have / to preserve

犯愁 fàn chóu * to worry / to be anxious

轻蔑 qīng miè * contempt / disdain

一言难尽 yī yán nán jìn * hard to explain in a few words (成语 saw); complicated and not easy to express succinctly

屈辱 qū rǔ * to humiliate / humiliating

风月 fēngyuè * love between men and women, romance

凡夫俗子 fán fū sú zǐ * common people / ordinary folk

勇气 yǒng qì * courage / valor

狐狸精 hú li jīng * fox-spirit / vixen / witch

门票 mén piào * ticket (for theater, cinema etc)

梁祝 liáng zhù * Liang-Zhu. Butterly Lovers concerto (from the story 梁山伯與祝英台)

坐月子 zuò yuè zi * lying-in (for one month after childbirth) / postpartum period

护士 hù shi * nurse

蔡琴 Cài Qín * Tsai Chin, a Chinese pop artist

榨菜 zhà cài * zha cai

装孙子 zhuāngsūnzi * pretend to be helpless and miserable / pretend not to know

Based on heifeng's recommendation.

I found this quite good. My initial impression of an "edgy Fendou" was not that far off. But this is more serious, and more arty. In a similar league with 我们俩的婚姻, IMHO. The characters are interesting, there actually is a story, and it is well executed. One of the girls is 毛纳 from 好想好想谈恋爱.

Certainly worth a shot, this one. Unfortunately, after it took me forever to get the first episode, it seems to have been taken off of verycd.

Will give this one a look - stalled on watching 痞子英雄, and this sounds like it might be worth a look.

Edited the title, btw - 给我一支烟, not 只. Might that also explain the disappearance from Verycd?

狐狸精 hú li jīng * fox-spirit / vixen / witch

I think in a modern context, it's like calling a woman a whore/bitch. So when you see a wife cat-fighting with the husband's mistress or complaining about the affair to other people, you'll notice the mistress being refered to as 狐狸精.

Edited the title, btw - 给我一支烟, not 只. Might that also explain the disappearance from Verycd?

Damn, I'm an idiot I was typing from memory and didn't notice, and there were still plenty of hits on google

Thanks roddy, I've added more links now. Now I finally understand where the youku stream went too...

Anyway, worth a look, this one. Baidu has some info, including an episode guide, and you can read the original novel here. I haven't read much, but it reads very smoothly.