The hit TV series "Lurk", a thrilling and suspenseful spy drama starring veteran actor Sun Honglei and Yao Chen came to a finale Wednesday night.

Chongqing Television has invested heavily to be the first to broadcast the drama, reportedly spending as much as 1 million yuan on each episode. However, this 30-episode play has drawn unexpectedly big audience ratings.

Different from what we have usually seen on screen, actor Sun Honglei presents a refreshing spy image and displays the true-to-life personality of a spy in a high danger-plagued existence full of espionage.

The ending has caused heated controversy among audience members. Some have even conjured their own version of a happy ending.

Long Yi, the author of the original novel thinks differently. He spoke highly of the adaptation by screenwriter Jiang Wei, saying an end like that adds a finishing touch to the story and is much closer to the reality back then. A happy ending, though more compliant with immediate audience wishes, would arouse more opposition because its artistic value would be lessened.

The story took place after the Japanese surrendered and the civil war broke out earlier in 1946.

An underground worker for the Communist Party, Yu Zecheng (Sun Honglei), is an undetected spy within the Kuomintang (KMT) secret service. He has to keep his distance from his true love, Zuo Lan, in order to conceal his real identity and agrees to "marry" Wang Cuiping (Yao Chen), a quick-tempered but straightforward guerrilla fighter from the countryside.

The two collaborate closely on this arranged yet fake marriage to help their organization obtain lots of important and valuable information from the KMT, however, they really fall in love with one another as the story develops.

With the liberation day impending, Cuiping, threatened by identity exposure, is asked to leave Yu and be transported somewhere else for security reasons.

When Yu is also about to leave, after successfully obtaining a crucial name list, he is taken away by the KMT secret police on a secret service assignment to Taiwan, where he has to spend the rest of his life, lurking.

(CRI April 17, 2009)