Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 MountainPine:

I believe that it was love from first sight on Xiang Liu's side.

I don't think it was love at first sight unless XL was really into middle-aged old man appearance. 🤔😂. The change in him came with her 3 confessions: "no means to protect myself, no place to go, no one to rely on". The XiaoLiu and YaoJing relationships shared similarities, but they are fundamentally different.  The basis of Xiang Liu's feelings for Xiao Yao is empathy. He too understands what it was like to have no means to protect himself, have nowhere to go and no one to rely on. It didn't quite stray into the pity territory like Xiao Yao with Jing, because Wen Xiao Liu had a lot more guts and survival instinct than Jing did -Jing was helpless, Wen Xiao Liu wasn't. Xiao Yao sees saving Jing as a way of saving herself.  Xiang Liu has already saved himself. What he wanted was to help Xiao Yao become strong enough to protect herself, to develop and grow up.

YaoLiu's relationship developed slowly throughout the Qing Shui arc, through shared conversation, which slowly revealed their inner thoughts and feelings. During this arc, Xiao Yao assayed Xiang Liu's commitment to the resistance army several times. And his response dashed her hopes that he would never leave her. This arc also saw the YaoJing relationship developed, but in the opposite trajectory. These two barely have any worthwhile conversations; it was quite one-sided. Xiao Yao yapped on; Jing sat there. Unlike XL, Jing repeatedly vowed to be her faithful servant, to never leave her. This culminated in her accepting the 15-year deal, effectively stopping her and Xiang Liu's relationship in its tracks.

 MountainPine:

Who forcibly opened her protective shell? Xiang Liu, or she herself?

At this point, she and 17 have been living under the same roof for 2 years without much emotional connection or conversation. And yet, the first time she met Xiang Lu, her shell cracked. A way to show the real pairing/love interest. Or maybe his beauty addled her brain? 🤣 She was mesmerized when his mask melted away. 

 MountainPine:

And also the  fact that later Xiao Yao didn't think he was ugly because of his 9 heads (it's not pity, like in the case of Jing!). And the fact that she wasn't afraid of him, so he finally met someone he felt equal with.

These factors did help to consolidate Xiang Liu's feelings.

Sometimes I think that Xiang Liu loves Wen Xiao Liu rather than Xiao Yao. Wen Xiao Liu, who, despite carrying wounds that need to be addressed, was gutsy and spirited. Once she regained her Xiao Yao identity, she just went downhill, and he spent the rest of the story trying to awaken the Wen Xiao Liu within her.