Sunshine by My Side Box 3 Standard Edition Blu-ray

Sunshine by My Side follows a young designer and an established advertising director whose connection crosses differences in age, experience and status. Xiao Zhan plays 26-year-old Sheng Yang opposite Bai Baihe as 36-year-old Jian Bing. This third box concludes the series with episodes 29–36.

Sent on a blind date by his mother, Sheng Yang is stood up at the restaurant, only to encounter the woman he has admired since boyhood. Jian Bing inspired him to enter the advertising industry, but the accomplished director is now struggling with her unfaithful husband and business partner, Xue Yiming. Having decided to divorce, she is drinking away her unhappiness when Sheng Yang comes to her aid. Their renewed acquaintance develops through work: he is no longer the boy she once met, and she is no longer the serene figure preserved in his memories. As his long-held affection deepens, she begins to see him differently too.

The drama grounds its younger romantic lead in his professional pride, family loyalties and outlook on life. Screenwriter Li Xiao treats the relationship as a gradual meeting of two people’s emotional ages, rather than relying simply on the appeal of an age gap. Director and cinematographer Song Xiaofei used multiple cameras concealed around the sets to help the actors behave naturally without constantly anticipating the lens. The resulting attention to everyday gestures and difficult choices gives the romance its lived-in quality. The series recorded more than 1.399 billion views and became the most-watched contemporary drama of the second half of 2023 in China.

The Chongqing setting and design profession also connect closely with Xiao Zhan’s own background. Before acting, the Chongqing-born performer pursued design and helped establish a studio with friends. During filming, his familiarity with professional design software surprised the production team; some of the handwritten illustrations seen in the drama were also drawn by him. His casting as a designer was coincidental, but that experience gives Sheng Yang’s working life particular ease and detail.

Client meetings, proposals, filming and editing reveal the practical demands of advertising. The characters negotiate the difficult balance between profit and quality, compete with rivals and face unreasonable requests, stagnant pay, managers taking credit and workplace sexism. These pressures extend beyond the romance, showing how professional ambition and ordinary frustrations shape their lives.

Alongside Xiao Zhan, known for The Untamed and Douluo Continent, and Bai Baihe, whose credits include Monster Hunt and Modern Marriage, the cast includes Tian Yu of Joy of Life, Zhu Zhu of Douluo Continent and Yuan Wenkang of Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace and The Imperial Doctress. Liu Xun, also seen in An Oriental Odyssey, plays the resourceful and amusing Song Chen, Sheng Yang’s trusted friend and confidant at the agency. Xiang Hanzhi of The Love Equations joins Wu Xingjian and Bu Guanjin, whose credits include The Legend of Hao Lan.

Wu Xingjian plays Hao Junjie, the music-college student who captains Jian Bing’s younger sister Jian Shuang’s ice-hockey team. After his role in A Lifelong Journey, this very different character helped establish his range; he later took over the role of Yan Bingyun in Joy of Life 2. Jian Yuxi portrays Sheng Yang at sixteen, having also played the younger version of Xiao Zhan’s character Shi Ying in The Longest Promise. Executive producer Xue Jijun’s credits include The Wind Blows from Longxi and Three-Body, while producer Gong Yu’s include Joy of Life and Mysterious Lotus Casebook. Song Xiaofei, the cinematographer of The Grandmaster and director of Sword Snow Stride, works from scripts by Li Xiao, associated with Mr. Fighting, and Jiang Wuji of Mr. Right.

The set includes trailers, a message from Xiao Zhan and making-of footage, together with an eight-page booklet and reversible inner sleeve. Chinese audio is accompanied by Japanese subtitles.