1
This review may contain spoilers
They had me for the 1st 13 episodes, then they lost me, and never got me back.
I am sorry to anyone who chooses to read this review. I do not think I'll be very coherent.
The best way to explain this drama from my experience watching it would be 'Pretty Aesthetics, Boring Plot.'
Here's how I watched this show -
🍉I consumed the 1st 13 episodes in one day like a woman starving.
🍉Watched episodes 14 -23 with the feeling that something was missing.
🍉Skipped episodes 24 - 28 to watch episodes 29 and 30.
🍉Skipped episodes 31 - 34, fast-forwarded through episode 35, and the finale
My thoughts about the characters
🌞NXG - I think she was a decent character. There's nothing about her that's particularly outstanding. She's a simple girl just trying to navigate life and find where she truly belongs. Her only 'fault' is that she comes from an extremely rich family. This inadvertently makes life harder for her, largely due to the jealousy of those whom she unfortunately considers friends. There's also her terrible taste in men (one man), but more on that later.
🧑🏻⚕️LYS - He is perfect, which makes him boring. IMO, he was the most interesting when he was in basically one-sided conflict with NXG. I genuinely disliked him and wasn't rooting for him till the balcony to hospital arc with NXG.
His beautiful face and long legs were not enough to make me disregard his bullying and abuse of power towards NXG. His reasoning - which held no water btw - be damned. Once he apologized and changed for the better, I did forgive him for it. But I never forgot. He eventually became the perfect textbook boyfriend. Fantastic for NXG, a snoozefest for me
😤ZX - He was draining, OMG. Self-pitying, self-hating, insecure, and so, so mean to the supposed love of his life. I spent most of my time on this show wondering why NXG liked him in the 1st place. Was it all because he was tall and (they thought) he had a pretty face? Coz, honestly, he had no redeeming qualities.
When they were in college, he would insult her with every word that came out of his mouth. He didn't believe her when she got wrongly accused, nor did he stand up for her. Let's not forget how he made her walk in heels coz he didn't want to pay taxi fare for both of them. She could've simply paid him back.
He also never said 'sorry,' not that it'd have made up for anything, but that's the bare minimum he could've done. For example, when he found out the truth about the interview call situation, he sent her good research materials for her thesis. Thoughtful, yes, but where was the actual 'sorry'?
Here's a note I wrote about ZX after ep 12
"Ep 12: Now we finally get the back story of why he was always so mean to her. I feel sad for him that he's this heartbroken because of his unwavering trust in Ye Rong. However, I'm not that sorry for him.
I cannot forget how cutting his words were. How they've always been. And sure, Ye Rong lied to him and those around him coz of her insecurity, but that doesn't negate the fact that
1. He liked NXG but never made a move to ever ask her about her side of the story. His blind belief and willingness to stand on the sidelines as she was insulted and slandered is his fault
2. He also never made his stand clear. He knew both Ye Rong and NXG liked him. But he was always in the middle like an idiot. Never outrightly choosing one. He'd side with Rong, but never quite enough to fully claim her. Never correcting her when she loudly claimed him b4 everyone, but never giving her the security she needed
Sorrows, sorrows, prayers to him."
Clearly, I hated the man, but found him interesting. No other character elicited such strong emotion from me.
😒Ye Rong - All I'll say about her is that jealousy truly makes you such an ugly person. I mean this literally because I only realized how pretty the actress playing Ye Rong was in ep 35. I hope that she became a better person after moving to Shenzen. That she never found some other poor, innocent girl to cut down with her words, simply because she never felt like she was enough. Like she couldn't measure up to whatever one-sided goal she had in her head.
About the story in general
I really loved the story in those first 13 episodes. I think the pacing and conflict were great, plus NXG's new experiences from college, moving on to adult work-life, and friendships kept things interesting. However, once the conflict with LYS takes a back seat, the plot loses its momentum.
They are pretty, they communicate, work together seamlessly, and their immediate families love them - they are perfect, and I was bored out of my mind. My mind couldn't help wandering as nothing about the story was holding my attention anymore.
Random Thoughts:
🤔One gripe in other overall sensibility of the plot...: What do you mean that someone went to school, got a degree in finnace and you move them to administration?? Why was everybody okay with that? I know it's a drama, and forced proximity had to be applied to make the romance grow.
However, my brain refuses to compute that no one found it odd or complained about the blatant misuse of power. I'd rather they'd fired her than that. Like, would you move a marketing graduate to engineering? Someone from procurement, to admin, or HR? Engineering to sales? Finance to the legal department? That shit pissed me off the entire show.
🏂🏾Oh, another thing, did anyone think that the Changbai Mountain arc felt like a super drawn-out AD? Lowkey, I felt like it was a govt sponsored AD. Something interesting about that arc is how they incorporated a 2024 trend in that episode where LYS & NXG's cousin were competing. The editing style showing how cool they were is very much reminiscent of a video I saw back in 2024 on Chinese netizens taking pics on snowy mountains
🍊That juice they (mostly the women) kept drinking during gatherings, which was another very obvious AD, reminded me of Minute Maid. I don't even like those juices, esp the orange flavour, but now I'm craving some
The best way to explain this drama from my experience watching it would be 'Pretty Aesthetics, Boring Plot.'
Here's how I watched this show -
🍉I consumed the 1st 13 episodes in one day like a woman starving.
🍉Watched episodes 14 -23 with the feeling that something was missing.
🍉Skipped episodes 24 - 28 to watch episodes 29 and 30.
🍉Skipped episodes 31 - 34, fast-forwarded through episode 35, and the finale
My thoughts about the characters
🌞NXG - I think she was a decent character. There's nothing about her that's particularly outstanding. She's a simple girl just trying to navigate life and find where she truly belongs. Her only 'fault' is that she comes from an extremely rich family. This inadvertently makes life harder for her, largely due to the jealousy of those whom she unfortunately considers friends. There's also her terrible taste in men (one man), but more on that later.
🧑🏻⚕️LYS - He is perfect, which makes him boring. IMO, he was the most interesting when he was in basically one-sided conflict with NXG. I genuinely disliked him and wasn't rooting for him till the balcony to hospital arc with NXG.
His beautiful face and long legs were not enough to make me disregard his bullying and abuse of power towards NXG. His reasoning - which held no water btw - be damned. Once he apologized and changed for the better, I did forgive him for it. But I never forgot. He eventually became the perfect textbook boyfriend. Fantastic for NXG, a snoozefest for me
😤ZX - He was draining, OMG. Self-pitying, self-hating, insecure, and so, so mean to the supposed love of his life. I spent most of my time on this show wondering why NXG liked him in the 1st place. Was it all because he was tall and (they thought) he had a pretty face? Coz, honestly, he had no redeeming qualities.
When they were in college, he would insult her with every word that came out of his mouth. He didn't believe her when she got wrongly accused, nor did he stand up for her. Let's not forget how he made her walk in heels coz he didn't want to pay taxi fare for both of them. She could've simply paid him back.
He also never said 'sorry,' not that it'd have made up for anything, but that's the bare minimum he could've done. For example, when he found out the truth about the interview call situation, he sent her good research materials for her thesis. Thoughtful, yes, but where was the actual 'sorry'?
Here's a note I wrote about ZX after ep 12
"Ep 12: Now we finally get the back story of why he was always so mean to her. I feel sad for him that he's this heartbroken because of his unwavering trust in Ye Rong. However, I'm not that sorry for him.
I cannot forget how cutting his words were. How they've always been. And sure, Ye Rong lied to him and those around him coz of her insecurity, but that doesn't negate the fact that
1. He liked NXG but never made a move to ever ask her about her side of the story. His blind belief and willingness to stand on the sidelines as she was insulted and slandered is his fault
2. He also never made his stand clear. He knew both Ye Rong and NXG liked him. But he was always in the middle like an idiot. Never outrightly choosing one. He'd side with Rong, but never quite enough to fully claim her. Never correcting her when she loudly claimed him b4 everyone, but never giving her the security she needed
Sorrows, sorrows, prayers to him."
Clearly, I hated the man, but found him interesting. No other character elicited such strong emotion from me.
😒Ye Rong - All I'll say about her is that jealousy truly makes you such an ugly person. I mean this literally because I only realized how pretty the actress playing Ye Rong was in ep 35. I hope that she became a better person after moving to Shenzen. That she never found some other poor, innocent girl to cut down with her words, simply because she never felt like she was enough. Like she couldn't measure up to whatever one-sided goal she had in her head.
About the story in general
I really loved the story in those first 13 episodes. I think the pacing and conflict were great, plus NXG's new experiences from college, moving on to adult work-life, and friendships kept things interesting. However, once the conflict with LYS takes a back seat, the plot loses its momentum.
They are pretty, they communicate, work together seamlessly, and their immediate families love them - they are perfect, and I was bored out of my mind. My mind couldn't help wandering as nothing about the story was holding my attention anymore.
Random Thoughts:
🤔One gripe in other overall sensibility of the plot...: What do you mean that someone went to school, got a degree in finnace and you move them to administration?? Why was everybody okay with that? I know it's a drama, and forced proximity had to be applied to make the romance grow.
However, my brain refuses to compute that no one found it odd or complained about the blatant misuse of power. I'd rather they'd fired her than that. Like, would you move a marketing graduate to engineering? Someone from procurement, to admin, or HR? Engineering to sales? Finance to the legal department? That shit pissed me off the entire show.
🏂🏾Oh, another thing, did anyone think that the Changbai Mountain arc felt like a super drawn-out AD? Lowkey, I felt like it was a govt sponsored AD. Something interesting about that arc is how they incorporated a 2024 trend in that episode where LYS & NXG's cousin were competing. The editing style showing how cool they were is very much reminiscent of a video I saw back in 2024 on Chinese netizens taking pics on snowy mountains
🍊That juice they (mostly the women) kept drinking during gatherings, which was another very obvious AD, reminded me of Minute Maid. I don't even like those juices, esp the orange flavour, but now I'm craving some
Was this review helpful to you?
