# Forever And Ever (一生一世)
**Forever and Ever** (一生一世, *Yi Sheng Yi Shi*) is a 2021 Chinese modern romance television series starring [Ren Jialun](https://www.edgepedia.org/ren-jialun) (Allen Ren) and Bai Lu, broadcast on iQiyi in 30 episodes from September 6, 2021[1](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Forever_and_Ever). It is the contemporary half of a two-drama adaptation of Mo Bao Fei Bao's novel *Yi Sheng Yi Shi Mei Ren Gu* (一生一世美人骨), with the historical drama *[One and Only](https://www.edgepedia.org/one-and-only-eps6v64r90)* (周生如故) telling the couple's ancient-life story[2](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_14424117). The series follows the voice actress Shi Yi and the chemistry professor Zhousheng Chen, who meet by chance at an airport, become engaged, and work to preserve his family's traditional zisha teapot craft[3](https://www.iq.com/play/forever-and-ever-1k61evwlpvc?lang=en_us).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Chinese title | 一生一世 (*Yi Sheng Yi Shi*); adapted from the novel 一生一世美人骨 by Mo Bao Fei Bao[1](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Forever_and_Ever) |
| Broadcast | iQiyi, premiered September 6, 2021; 30 episodes of roughly 45 to 49 minutes[1](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Forever_and_Ever) • [4](https://tv.apple.com/gb/show/forever-and-ever/umc.cmc.1veplddand764bmfni7u0wkag) |
| Leads | Ren Jialun as Zhousheng Chen, a returnee chemistry professor; Bai Lu as Shi Yi, a top voice actress[5](https://gdj.fujian.gov.cn/zt/mpdsj/202109/t20210909_5684060.htm) |
| Creative team | Director Shen Yang (with Ben Fang); screenwriter Mo Bao Fei Bao, author of the source novel[5](https://gdj.fujian.gov.cn/zt/mpdsj/202109/t20210909_5684060.htm) • [6](https://cnvix.com/info/forever-and-ever/) |
| Companion drama | *One and Only* (2021), the ancient-life half of the same novel; the two can be watched independently or as one story[2](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_14424117) |
| Ratings | Douban 6.2/10; iQiyi 8.6/10; IMDb 7.5/10 (figures as of March 5, 2024)[7](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%80%E7%94%9F%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%96/50362132?fromModule=tashuo-article_bottom-lemma) |
| Heat performance | Heat index of 75.72, the top web drama of September 2021 on Guuduo's monthly chart[8](https://m.fx361.com/news/2022/1031/10709081.html) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and plot
The story opens with a chance meeting. Shi Yi, a gentle, low-profile voice actress at the top of her profession, encounters Zhousheng Chen, a refined chemistry professor returned from overseas, at an airport, and the two leave a deep impression on each other[3](https://www.iq.com/play/forever-and-ever-1k61evwlpvc?lang=en_us). In the first episode, Shi Yi is dubbing narration for a film called *Mei Ren Gu* and is struck when the professor's name, familiar to her from that story, is called out at a security checkpoint; she works up the nerve to introduce herself and obtains his email address[9](https://www.iqiyi.com/a_i1w9ogqu0d.html).
**An engagement to save a family business.** Zhousheng Chen's family runs a declining zisha (purple clay) teapot factory. To save it, he agrees to his mother's condition that he become engaged and take over the family business, but he rejects the match his family has arranged and instead proposes an engagement to Shi Yi, for whom he already has feelings; she, having long since decided on him, accepts[3](https://www.iq.com/play/forever-and-ever-1k61evwlpvc?lang=en_us). The drama follows a "marriage before love" arc in which the two grow close through daily life[10](https://www.ctitv.com.tw/channel39/%E4%B8%80%E7%94%9F%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%96).
Conflict comes from the family rather than the couple. Zhousheng Chen's efforts to revive the zisha craft bring him into a major disagreement with the family elders over how the business should be run, and Shi Yi's steady support helps him through the hardest stretch; together they preserve as much of the traditional handicraft as possible[3](https://www.iq.com/play/forever-and-ever-1k61evwlpvc?lang=en_us). Near the end, Shi Yi is seriously injured saving Zhousheng Chen from harm and falls into a deep coma; he hands over the family affairs and devotes himself to caring for her until she wakes, and the two promise never to leave each other's side[3](https://www.iq.com/play/forever-and-ever-1k61evwlpvc?lang=en_us).
## Source novel and the two-drama structure
The series adapts the modern section of Mo Bao Fei Bao's novel *Yi Sheng Yi Shi Mei Ren Gu*, whose story spans two lives of the same couple[2](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_14424117). In the novel, the heroine Shi Yi remembers her past life, which is why she recognizes something in Zhousheng Chen immediately; because Chinese censorship rules do not permit reincarnation in drama stories, Mo Bao Fei Bao, who also served as the screenwriter, split the material into two series: *One and Only* dramatizes the historical life, and *Forever and Ever* the modern one[11](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-daebak-k-rambles-podcast-k-271518046/episode/one-and-only-full-c-drama-328113877/).
The connection between the two dramas is carried by detail rather than plot. *Forever and Ever* opens with Shi Yi dubbing the story of the ancient couple, and it plants echoes of *One and Only* throughout, from the Qinglong Temple to the *Shanglin Fu* rhapsody[7](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%80%E7%94%9F%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%96/50362132?fromModule=tashuo-article_bottom-lemma). Critics and viewers describe the arrangement as an innovation in release strategy: the two dramas were "one book, filmed twice, with dual-drama linkage," watchable separately or as a single story, and *Forever and Ever* functions for many viewers as emotional compensation for the tragic ending of *One and Only*[2](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_14424117).
## Production and broadcast
The 30-episode urban romance drama was jointly produced by Beijing iQiyi Technology and Culture Co., Shanghai Croton (Ketong) Partners Television Production Co., and the Xiamen Film and Television Industry Service Center, and began streaming on iQiyi on September 6, 2021[5](https://gdj.fujian.gov.cn/zt/mpdsj/202109/t20210909_5684060.htm). Shen Yang directed; his earlier credits include *Happiness Within Reach* and *Feng Ni Jiu Tian*, and the leads' prior credits include Ren Jialun in *Under the Power* and *One and Only* and Bai Lu in *Zhao Yao* and *Half Is Sweet, Half Is Hurt*[5](https://gdj.fujian.gov.cn/zt/mpdsj/202109/t20210909_5684060.htm).
Anticipation before release was high: iQiyi reported more than 3 million in-platform reservations before the premiere, with viewers waiting for the "Chen-Shi CP" airport reunion[12](https://www.iqiyi.com/kszt_phone/news2021090603.html). The release schedule put two new episodes at 20:00 each Monday through Wednesday, with VIP members able to watch six episodes on the first day[12](https://www.iqiyi.com/kszt_phone/news2021090603.html). The series later aired on Taiwan's CTi Variety Channel in a weekday evening slot[10](https://www.ctitv.com.tw/channel39/%E4%B8%80%E7%94%9F%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%96), and internationally it streams with subtitles in more than ten languages on services including iQiyi's international app, Viki, and Amazon Prime Video[4](https://tv.apple.com/gb/show/forever-and-ever/umc.cmc.1veplddand764bmfni7u0wkag) • [13](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/forever-and-ever-2021).
## Cast
Ren Jialun plays Zhousheng Chen and Bai Lu plays Shi Yi[5](https://gdj.fujian.gov.cn/zt/mpdsj/202109/t20210909_5684060.htm). The supporting cast includes [Ci Sha](https://www.edgepedia.org/ci-sha) as Mei Xing, Luo Mingjie as Zhou Wenchuan, Wang Ruixin as Zhou Wenxing, Wang Yueyi as Hong Xiaoyu, Jin Liting as Tong Jiaren, and Luo Haiqiong as Qin Wan[14](https://fmdb.mov/en/series/130107) • [6](https://cnvix.com/info/forever-and-ever/).
## Reception
**Commercial performance was strong.** According to Guuduo's monthly web drama data, *Forever and Ever* took the September 2021 web drama heat championship with an index of 75.72[8](https://m.fx361.com/news/2022/1031/10709081.html). On iQiyi's own popularity index, the drama broke 7000 within 90 minutes of its premiere, 7500 within 2.5 hours, 8000 within 14 hours, 8500 within 17 hours, and eventually 9000[7](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%80%E7%94%9F%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%96/50362132?fromModule=tashuo-article_bottom-lemma).
**Critical scores were more modest.** The drama opened on Douban at 6.7 ten days after its premiere, a figure noted at the time as unremarkable against contemporaries such as *Double Probe* (7.4) and *Danger Zone* (8.6)[15](https://k.sina.cn/article_7080540369_1a60878d100100yzqc.html); it later settled at 6.2 on Douban against 8.6 on iQiyi and 7.5 on IMDb (as of March 5, 2024)[7](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%80%E7%94%9F%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%96/50362132?fromModule=tashuo-article_bottom-lemma). Commentary attributed the gap between heat and reputation to the drama's standing as a sequel: whether a viewer had seen *One and Only* directly shaped their judgment of *Forever and Ever*, and as a standalone modern romance some critics found it thin, with one review judging it "barely satisfactory as a sequel" that could not carry the sense of fate established by its predecessor[2](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_14424117) • [16](https://cnvix.com/review/forever-and-ever/). Positive commentary credited the drama with avoiding stock romance tropes such as misunderstandings and breakups, weaving social reality and family conflict around the love story, and rewarding fans with layered callbacks to *One and Only*[7](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%80%E7%94%9F%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%96/50362132?fromModule=tashuo-article_bottom-lemma).
**Awards.** The drama was named an annual recommended romance drama at the 2021 TV Awards (电视剧大赏); Bai Lu received a Best Young Television Actress nomination at the 8th Hengdian Film Festival; Mo Bao Fei Bao placed in the top nine screenwriters of 2021 on the fifth Yingyan Craftsmanship List; and both leads won Annual Outstanding Young Actor at the 18th Chinese American TV Festival in November 2022[7](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%80%E7%94%9F%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%96/50362132?fromModule=tashuo-article_bottom-lemma).
## References
1. [Forever and Ever, DramaWiki](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Forever_and_Ever)
2. [《周生如故》的虐，让《一生一世》的甜去"腻"了, The Paper (澎湃新闻)](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_14424117)
3. [Forever and Ever (2021), iQIYI International](https://www.iq.com/play/forever-and-ever-1k61evwlpvc?lang=en_us)
4. [Forever And Ever, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/gb/show/forever-and-ever/umc.cmc.1veplddand764bmfni7u0wkag)
5. [电视剧《一生一世》播出, 福建省广播电视局](https://gdj.fujian.gov.cn/zt/mpdsj/202109/t20210909_5684060.htm)
6. [Forever and Ever Chinese Drama 2021, CNVIX](https://cnvix.com/info/forever-and-ever/)
7. [一生一世（2021年任嘉伦、白鹿主演的都市情感剧）, Baidu Baike](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%80%E7%94%9F%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%96/50362132?fromModule=tashuo-article_bottom-lemma)
8. [古装与现代的联动及巧思创新——以《周生如故》和《一生一世》为例, 参考网](https://m.fx361.com/news/2022/1031/10709081.html)
9. [一生一世-电视剧-高清视频在线观看, 爱奇艺](https://www.iqiyi.com/a_i1w9ogqu0d.html)
10. [一生一世, 中天電視](https://www.ctitv.com.tw/channel39/%E4%B8%80%E7%94%9F%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%96)
11. [One and Only | Full C-drama Review, Daebak K-Rambles Podcast (iHeart)](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-daebak-k-rambles-podcast-k-271518046/episode/one-and-only-full-c-drama-328113877/)
12. [300万人预约等待"辰时CP"，恋恋剧场收官之作《一生一世》9月6日上线, 爱奇艺](https://www.iqiyi.com/kszt_phone/news2021090603.html)
13. [Forever and Ever (2021), JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/forever-and-ever-2021)
14. [一生一世 (2021), FMDb](https://fmdb.mov/en/series/130107)
15. [豆瓣6.7分，《一生一世》后劲不足，口碑低于预期, 新浪娱乐](https://k.sina.cn/article_7080540369_1a60878d100100yzqc.html)
16. [Review of Forever and Ever: The Past Love Continues Today, CNVIX](https://cnvix.com/review/forever-and-ever/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › East Asian web and streaming serials › Titles Cr to In*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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