YMMV / Qian Qiu

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Given how Shen Qiao is unfazed whenever men and women try to make a pass at him, especially with the narration making it clear how indifferent he is towards matters involving physical intimacy, many make the assumption that Shen Qiao is demisexual. Demisexual people are generally uninterested in sex but can harbor a sexual attraction towards someone they have already forged a deep and emotional bond with — something which is applicable for Shen Qiao considering the progress of his relationship with Yan Wushi.
  • It's difficult to pin down what exactly was Yan Wushi's motive/s for betraying Shen Qiao.
    • Yan Wushi claims that it's because he no longer saw Shen Qiao as a Worthy Opponent, although an extra hints that in truth, he was mostly curious and he wanted to test Shen Qiao one last time and see if he'd break, with his hurtful words being part of his attempt to corrupt the other man's spirit. Chapter 95 also confirmed that he traded Shen Qiao for his old sword (which he no longer needed) to add further insult to the injury of the humiliation. That being said, that may not be his only motive.
    • The fact that the narration has noted more than once that he acted quite oddly prior to betraying Shen Qiao hints that he might have already gotten attached to Shen Qiao; but given his callous and distrustful personality, he may have panicked and lashed out, wanting to get rid of any potential weaknesses.
    • In view of what happened to Shen Qiao's cultivation after he destroyed his meridians to fend off Sang Jingxing (as well as learning that a demonic core was planted inside him), considering that Yan Wushi himself had read the Zhuyang Ce, he might have figured out early on what was needed for Shen Qiao to repair his foundations and recover to full strength. But given that Shen Qiao had previously rejected the idea of a demonic core being put in his body, Yan Wushi decided to do it in secret and then surrendered Shen Qiao to Sang Jingxing to put him in a position where he has absolutely no choice but destroy his (already damaged) Daoist core. Even he outwardly acknowledges that Shen Qiao would have no choice but to do just that.
• Awesome Music:
  • "I Read You Three-Thousand Times" (我读三千遍你), the first ending song of the audio drama. What makes it an especially poignant theme is that it is sung from Yan Wushi's point of view and tells of his feelings for Shen Qiao.
  • "Close Friends within the Mountains and Rivers" (山河知交) is the ending song of the donghua, and is a beautiful and melancholy piece that perfectly captures the essence of the novel, particularly the relationship between Shen Qiao and Yan Wushi.
  • "Sword Tinted with Spring Water" (剑染春水), the second opening theme of the donghua, is a powerful song that fully embraces the wuxia themes of the novel through and through.
• Broken Base: For novel readers, either Yan Wushi's Adaptation Personality Change in the donghua is an interesting and entertaining take on his character that still manages to keep the core aspects of his personality intact, or it's a complete disservice to his original characterization in the novel.
• Catharsis Factor: After spending the entire novel abusing his powers and escaping death at every chance, Sang Jingxing finally dies. What makes his death better is the implication that it is Bai Rong that deals the killing blow, offing the person who has tormented her and so many others.
• Diagnosed by the Audience: Given Yan Wushi's Neat Freak tendencies, it's highly possible that he has obsessive-compulsive disorder. To drive the point home, some of the mini-theaters and extras are even titled "Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder".
• Genius Bonus: With Meng Xishi being the history buff that she is, this is going to be a given. Even the Animated Adaptation gets to add in a few extra historical and literary references.
  • Most of the text in the book that Shen Qiao recites in Episode 3 of the donghua is taken word-for-word from the ancient Daoist text Baopuzi, written by scholar Ge Hong. More details about the particular script that Shen Qiao read can be found here.
  • The poem that Yan Wushi recites at the start of Episode 10? It's an excerpt from a Real Life poem, "After the Imperial Examination" (登科后). More specifically, he's reciting the last two lines.
    Gone are the melancholy and the rejections of old.
    From this morning onwards m'radiant thoughts know no hold.
    My high horse proudly gallops, with the gentle breeze of spring.
    In one day, I see all Chang'an flowers that make my hear sing.
  • When asked by Ruan Hailou if he would be willing to forgive someone who betrayed his trust and humiliated him, Shen Qiao responds with, "In pursuit of knowledge, every day something is acquired. In pursuit of wisdom, every day something is lost." ("为学日益, 为道日损") — which is a quote from none other than the founder of Daoism, Lao Tzu, and can be found in his most famous script, the Tao Te Ching.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • In Chapter 15 of the novel, Yan Wushi asks Shen Qiao why he's referring to him as zongzhu instead of shizun like he initially did, a scene that was kept in the audio drama. Months after the audio drama aired, Wu Lei (Yan Wushi's voice actor) gets cast as the protagonist of another danmei series, where said protagonist's love interest calls him nothing but shizun. What's even more humorous is where part of Qian Qiu's plot involves Yan Wushi trying to see if he can blacken Shen Qiao, one of the main plot points of The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System involves Shen Yuan trying to prevent Luo Binghe's blackening.
  • In the finale of the donghua's first season, Guang Lingsan (who is voiced by Shen Dawei) tells Yan Wushi "Long time no see," while weakening and attacking him from afar. Both Wu Lei and Shen Dawei play the leads in the Animated Adaptation of The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System, and in the first trailer of its second season, Luo Binghe reveals his presence to Shen Qingqiu by ominously greeting, "Long time no see," with the rest of the trailer showing him attacking Shen Qingqiu.
• Ho Yay: There's no shortage of speculations that Gu Hengbo and Yuan Zixiao might be/have been romantically involved. At the Sword Trail Conference, Gu Hengbo beats up a male contestant that Yuan Zixiao seems to be paying a lot of attention to, before confronting Yuan Zixiao about leaving her without saying goodbye. The tension between the two can almost be interpreted as ex-lovers after a bitter breakup. In addition, the novel later reveals that after the Sword Trial Conference, Gu Hengbo departs with Yuan Zixiao, hinting at the possibility that the two women might make up in the future.
• Iron Woobie: Shen Qiao. After falling down from Xuandu Mountain, there's almost nothing that goes well for Shen Qiao. Even by the time he's properly gotten back on his feet, his trials are far from over due to circumstances outside his control. While he never gives up and soldiers on from his experiences, it's nevertheless difficult for the reader to not feel sorry for him.
• Memetic Mutation: Anyone who watches the Animated Adaptation is bound to at least make one quip about Yan Wushi's character design, for obvious reasons. Needless to say, the fandom made jokes yet again when the concept trailer for Season 2 showed that Yan Wushi's new wardrobe is more modest.
• Moe:
  • Xie Ling. Is it any surprise that Shen Qiao takes a strong liking to him in spite of the fact that he's only but a Split Personality of the same man who betrayed him and left him for dead not that long ago?
  • Young Shen Qiao. It's no surprise that anyone who sees him immediately take a shine to him. Even Yan Wushi — who's strongly hinted to be far from a Friend to All Children — adores him.
  • A-Qiao the deer. It's a fawn; what else needs to be said? The noises it makes are also extremely adorable.
• Narm:
  • Although the translation is, for all intents and purposes, accurate in meaning, it's not hard to see why fans will do a double-take when they see that Yan Wushi's Signature Move translates to "Spring Water Fingering Technique" in English.
  • The otherwise emotional scene in the donghua where Shen Qiao realizes that he no longer has a place in Xuandu Mountain and asks Yan Wushi to take him away ends at an unintentionally hilarious note when Yu Ai yells "You shameless bastard!", purely because of the way Yu Ai gesticulates as he shouts that line.
  • The English subtitles of the Animated Adaptation is already the butt of many jokes of fans for a multitude of reasons. Mainly, it almost completely fails to capture any of the nuances of the dialogue and either misinterprets what the original dialogue meant to convey or translates it too literally that the end result becomes something close to a jumbled mess, leading to some "Blind Idiot" Translation choices. There's also typographical errors, such as when Yan Wushi explains to Shen Qiao that the Fenglin Yuandian is actually a Dangerous Forbidden Technique and "fatal weakness" is misspelled as "fetal weakness".
• Narm Charm: Yan Wushi's habit of laughing, particularly in the donghua. He's described to laugh often in the novel, although the manner in which he laughs in the audio drama is still rather low-key compared to the more theatrical way he laughs in the Animated Adaptation. Not to mention, he laughs much more often, which often makes him come across as a bit louder and more dramatic than he's initially portrayed. That being said, Wu Lei is able to deliver each and every chuckle and fit of laughter in such a way that it still comes across as perfectly in-character for someone like Yan Wushi.
• Portmanteau Couple Name: YanShen for Yan Wushi and Shen Qiao.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
  • Fans of the novel were dismayed when Episode 7 of the donghua confirmed that Bian Yanmei is Adapted Out.
  • As soon as the trailer for the second season was released, several fans immediately voiced their contentions towards the modification of Shen Qiao and Yan Wushi's character designs, especially since no one had any complaints about their original designs.
    • What fans say about Yan Wushi's new design is that he looks at least ten years younger than how he appeared in the first season, where he was still handsome but his features were angular enough to capture how he's devilishly charming yet undoubtedly of a mature age.
    • As for Shen Qiao, While no one is saying that his new design is unattractive, per se, some expressed their preference for his face in Season 1; since his first facial design is still very attractive yet also manages to capture his personality, the latter of which they think his new face lacks.
• Visual Effects of Awesome:
  • Considering the genre it's set in, the novel is rife with fight scenes, many of which are narrated in loving and meticulous detail. The donghua immediately assured both fans and newcomers alike that it will do justice to the fight scenes and any other instance the characters show off their abilities, and whatever fans may think about the adaptation, they unanimously agree that the fight scenes are one of the donghua's greatest strengths.
  • Fight scenes aside, the donghua has done more than an excellent job in capturing the shifts in the character's myriad of expressions. This is best exhibited with the protagonists; in spite of Shen Qiao's reserved nature, the way his eyes and lips are creased can already hint to the viewer what mood he's feeling at the moment, and Yan Wushi's erratic personality is perfectly reflected in all kinds of microexpressions.
  • The donghua holds nothing back when it comes to how detailed everything else is, from the texture on the character's outfits and on any kind of furniture, and the intricate details of the unique items used in the adaptation. Special mention goes to the design of Shen Qiao's sword.

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