Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 MountainPine:

I will say that the adaptation is like a meme with pencil drawing of horse.

By this, I'm thinking you mean the drama captured the vague outline of the story, but didn't capture its essence?

 MountainPine:

I would put Yang Zi's acting a little lower than him. But she had the hardest time. Because her character was deprived of any consistency and completely changed the meaning. In the scene where she marries Jing and in the final scene where they walk side by side and she carries a doll - I literally see on her face the expression "I don't know what I'm playing, and what I'm supposed to be playing at all, sorry."

I'm in the minority, but I have a problem with Yang Zi's acting, and I find that it contributed to the overall problem of the drama for me. The script is the major culprit with the way it downplayed and up-played the two balancing relationships. However, I don't think Yang Zi understood the character of Xiao Yao and how much her abandonment fear drove her choices. This further tilted the balance, resulting in the core of the story being warped. I find Xiao Yao in the novel to be more palatable and sympathetic compared to the one in the drama. I don't like drama Xiao Yao at all. 

 MountainPine:

But in general, this novel is like a house of cards. It's enough to pull out one card - and everything will be destroyed.

 MountainPine:

this novel is like a certain balance of "yin and yang" (such a Chinese way). And the only thing the author should have protected was this balance.

Exactly. It's a delicate balancing act, and it comes from the character of XY through the XL-XY-TSJ triangle. If you don't maintain this balance, the essence of the story will be lost.

 MountainPine:

The novel is a litmus test. Depending on who you root for - it immediately says who you are, and what your general vision of life is.  

Absolutely. Your vision of life, your worldview, your values, how you love and want to be loved. It's such a stark juxtaposition because Xiang Liu and Jing were created to be contrasting characters. If someone likes Xiang Liu, then chances are, they won't like Jing.