I was really drawn from the very start to Liu Ye's character. His character was that of an incredibly simple, honest, grounded, and heart-warming man with the best intentions so I felt very comfortable supporting his story through the majority of the movie. I'm also a sucker for simple romances of everyday people with the "indie" camera work that can be found in a lot of Asian movies so I was rolling with it. Around 3/4 of it, I started to get tired of the minor plot holes and the Peiru because honestly I don't think that woman was up to the rare diamond of a man Fang Zhendong was, BUT. Their exchange where she told him he'd blessed her with an angel, his utter shock that "she'd want his child from someone like him" and her THANKING HIM for being in her life hit me like a truck. I'm tearing up writing this and thinking of that scene now. I didn't even expect that brick load of tears but I was sobbing and kept crying over new scenes every 5 minutes after that. My nose was stuffy and I was roaring with tears especially for the last 5 minutes as well. I did not expect or prepare myself for this movie even though I should have known it was emotional since that's why it's so famous.
One thing that stood out to me and triggered more sobs was the thought of Peiru's (possible) regrets? She used this angel of a man and honestly did not appreciate him for long enough when he was still healthy and able to express his love for her as much as HE wanted and they almost parted on an argument??? I would probably never be able to get over that regret or forgive myself. It seemed like such an everlasting burden to be honest but the portrayal of their love was fantastic.
Overall, I was VERY unprepared for all these unexpected emotions.