Nanfeng

agree on all the points you've raised regarding the plot and character growth. i guess i just didn't enjoy the second half as much as i did the first half that was full of mystery, although stressful! i liked that she went to start her own business and got herself good strong friendships and truly believed in herself. no justification really, i just didn't like the the tone/vibes and didn't enjoy it as much.

Yeah, I get that but i was shocked by all the slapstick comedy and characters being goofy suddnely. the business angle also wasn't that great

why is the second half a different drama? I am struggling to keep up with the change in mood and style

Was this show written by a man?

I am 20 episodes in and Li Junxiao is a misogynistic ass and no redemption arc so far can convince me otherwise. I mean, I am resigned to the fact that Congrui will be together with thim coz they have the same "family values" or whatever but I just don't like how Wu Congrui never ever stands up for her bestie when he talks shit of her and dehumanises her. Like you can be together with the trash man but can you not draw boundaries about your best friend?

If you go in not expecting much romance but just take it as a slice of life about Dr Tang, it is such an enjoyable drama! Don't be like me who put it on hold for many years because I gave up halfway while it was airing.

P.S: Qin Lan never dissapoints truly!

I was so happy for my Wu Minmin and Xiangdong couple. They had signs from the earliest episodes and were my ship - their happiness made up for the last episode haha

Yes

5 months later but it is really is a medical drama focusing on a top surgeon coming back to china from abroad, settling in to her new life as the director of the heart centre and overcoming her divorce to find new love. Very little romance but the medical cases make up for it. An amazing cast of side characters too to keep you going!

well said

I get that the drama characters are more fleshed out to fit the elongated length and for television format as it is not like a book where a character can described in a few words.

However, I found the change in setting to introduce typical xianxia elements e.g., with a council of elders, ML's tortured background, mistrust between the leads etc. made the ML and FL a bit more cliche - losing the uniqueness they had in the short novel. I liked that the relationship was very nontraditional in the novel and while the drama has fully developed character arcs for both the ML and FL, I just found it not as good as the novel.

I am not saying the drama is bad - it is good in its own right - just that my personal preference is the novel setting with characters that we don't often see in Cdramas. This comes from a decade of watching dramas and reading webnovels and so, I guess, I just prefer to find something new and extra.

I get that they needed to invent more characters and change different storylines to add drama and angst for the TV adaptation but they lost all the uniqueness of the novel characters and just made a run-of-the-mill wuxia with all the usual tropes.

I don't think I have seen a faithful adaptation since Shenli. Recommend any recent good ones.

They really took the "adapted from" seriously as this is a very different drama from the novel

I wish we only had the MYG and XJL pairing. They are my fave and I would just watch a drama with them alone

do you think elvis requests it?

This! it was already weird in Fake it Till you make it. Here, it's worse because the character is also called Elvis Han. Now, it seems like I am watching the actor in different lives instead of watching him imbue different characters

me tooo!

I can't believe its been more than 5 years already! I want to erase this from my brain and restart. I slightly miss the era of palace dramas

thank you

thank you! i'm glad they ease up on it. did you like the show overall?