Ahjummai

She's sus because everyone is saying she's sus (novel readers, XYX, friends saying go for a rich man). Plus she is interested in MYC (as a man? as a potential rich lover? as a person? ionno). For now, only drama writer knows if it will circle back to the same situation as in the novel or not.

this is the only way they can visually show "hot scene" without the snipping scissors of c censor swooping in

It made sense to remove it tbh. Visually, unless Dr. Xu has terrible eyesight, it's farfetched hahaha. Also, XQ choosing to move to SY without any push felt like her mind was made up who she wanted to be with. Then XQ going upstairs without hesitation (or in the novel, having a riled up SY telling her to go upstairs) felt like XQ had more courage than wanting to appease SY. The sequence to me flowed better and get more agency to XQ than in the novel.

I wonder how it'll go with the drama. In the novel, her mom didn't really tell her to give it back. It was her decision which shocked her mom hahaha the part where she tells SY she doesn't want to go home isn't in the novel

I wonder if it's to mask their own generational trauma they can't escape. Trying to hold on to a belief that it's not wrong so it's okay to have gone through it and it doesn't mean they grew up flawed. This is how generational trauma gets passed on to one generation to the next. When they've made themselves believe that it's okay, so it's the same thing they do to their children. "I didn't grow up badly, so it shouldn't affect you negatively."
smh

i'm just gonna believe that time was meant for all the cut smexy time they had to censor out (and fill it in with my imagination)

25-26 gave so much warm fluffy feels and hotness. but i'm rather mad that they teased that bare back bed scene, it made me think we'd get more of that. i'll just let my imagination fill everything in that c censor wouldn't allow

age doesn't seem to match though. the mom left when sy was already in school (maybe 8-10 yo) so that should be the age gap between sy and jy if ever.

viu
i like my viewing to add to the official count whenever possible
(i did watch 23 earlier, but i rewatched it last night)

i feel like the drama writer is going to give him an earlier redemption than in the novel. i don't care enough like he's just an annoying possessive guy with one-sided feelings for me. so if drama writer thinks we can put him out of the way earlier, i don't mind.

It would be a shame to not show the thirst of this cp in the drama. That made up a chunk of their time together in the novel hahaha novel readers would feel so robbed if songqin don't get some
also those burning tension from their gazes in the earlier episode, we all deserve to see hot scenes now hahaha

I think it was the slow burn and waiting for episodes to drop day after day that turned off some people hahaha waiting daily with that slow burn push and pull was not for the impatient hahaha

she does try although they keep crossing paths. also, he's been her life line, even if in a way it's just the idea of him. it's actually realistic how she clings to him.
think for example a fan whose idol keeps them from suicidal thoughts, and the way they really give their all to support that idol. not everyone would understand it, but there's a psychological reason for that behavior. just telling the fan that the idol doesn't even know you're alive would be enough to make the fan stop liking the idol.
also, it's not like sy is really giving up on xq. he actually went to her in ep11 because if he didn't, then xq would really let him go.

she does try although they keep crossing paths. also, he's been her life line, even if in a way it's just the idea of him. it's actually realistic how she clings to him.
think for example a fan whose idol keeps them from suicidal thoughts, and the way they really give their all to support that idol. not everyone would understand it, but there's a psychological reason for that behavior. just telling the fan that the idol doesn't even know you're alive would be enough to make the fan stop liking the idol.
also, it's not like sy is really giving up on xq. he actually went to her in ep11 because if he didn't, then xq would really let him go.

To everyone who are so vocal at negatively judging Xu Qin, I want to say:

I ENVY YOU. How nice it must be to have that strong emotional and supportive environment from childhood and into adulthood. How nice it must be to not have a friend who never had that. How nice.
Also... THANK YOU. You just reinforced that people should be perfect and flaws should be hidden. We must always wear a mask of confidence and perfection lest we be judged and looked down upon. That being broken means we're toxic and must not dare to love because we will only hurt the other person.

And here I thought there was hope for the broken. That the world was trying to be better, to provide a safe space for everyone. It was just my wishful thinking.

Love your comment. The last one made me lol

Love your comment. The last one made me lol

To be fair, she didn't really reject him like "no we cannot be together ever. goodbye". But she can't, in her current situation and frame of mind, promise him what he's asking for (choose him over her family).

That's okay. Maybe when you have time, you can go back and bingewatch the rest of the episodes so it doesn't feel too slow for you.
I wanted more of the story so I read the novel and knowing what's to come makes the slow episode drops bearable. Also, I like to notice parts where the drama writer expanded on something in the novel to make it more coherent for drama (some things work in prose but not in scriptwriting).

"Looks like they put a bunch of good looking actors together to try to over ride sloppy and lazy writing."
Nope.
Sorry if the comments made you feel that way, but if that's your takeaway despite all the other comments talking about the complexities of the characters, then this probably won't work for you.
If despite your initial judgement (based only on the bad comments) you decide to give it a try, I hope you can push aside those ideas and watch it with an open mind. They you, yourself, can decide and make an informed judgement.