Bing70

I think she's doing both simultaneously. The course load for a master's degree is generally lighter than that of an undergraduate program, so it's more feasible for her to balance her studies with work. Feifei Fairy actually mentioned that they would be working on alternating schedules, which explains why they wouldn't always be at the workplace at the same time—except for that one particular day when they happened to be working together.

The FL is pursuing a master's degree in Automation in Nanwu, not a PhD. She needs the internship primarily for financial reasons, as she can no longer rely on her parents to support her financially.

Definitely toned down. The ML in the novel was in a really, really dark place. He was described as gaunt and sickly looking, practically with one foot in the grave. After his friend's death, he essentially abandoned everything—his studies, his ambitions, and, quite literally, his own life. He was no longer living so much as merely surviving, one day at a time, consumed by guilt and trauma.

He actually said it himself when he and the FL reconnected after their 1.5-year breakup. He didn't try to win her back when she broke up with him because, in his own words, he was no longer the moon she had once admired. He was no longer the brilliant, accomplished person she had fallen for when she was still a teenager. He knew he wasn't in a good place, and he couldn't bring himself to pursue her knowing how far he had fallen and how much work he still needed to do to become the person he once was. It also didn't help that, back when they were still together in Nanwu, the FL's father had already expressed his disapproval of their relationship, largely because FSZ had lost his sense of direction and had seemingly given up on his future.

That was why he consciously chose to put his life back together before pursuing her again. He wanted to reclaim his ambitions, rebuild his life, and become someone she could be proud of. It wasn't simply about proving himself worthy of her or becoming the perfect man he thought she deserved. He also needed to find his way back to himself. He wanted to be someone who could stand beside her again without being defined or consumed by his past.

I think this aspect of his character was considerably more pronounced in the novel. The drama still conveyed his guilt and emotional struggles, but it didn't quite capture the extent of his physical and psychological deterioration. That's why I feel the adaptation significantly toned down just how devastating his downward spiral really was, as well as how much effort it took for him to put himself back together.

Then again, the person who mentioned that YL is "five years younger than us" was actually YL’s team leader at work, who used to be a member of FSZ’s Unique team. This same team leader teased FSZ about their age gap, though it was a mix of praise and playful teasing. What confused me, however, was that FSZ was supposed to have skipped several grades. So how could he be roughly the same age as his former Unique teammates? He was even the captain of that team, by virtue of his exceptional brilliance. That detail had me wondering about the timeline and the characters' actual ages.

Having read both "Hidden Love" and "When I Meet the Moon", I agree that the latter offers more substantial character growth and development. What I particularly appreciate about this story is that both leads consciously strive to become better versions of themselves for each other. They each have their own personal demons and emotional baggage to confront, and they make the effort to overcome them—not simply for the sake of being together, but because loving each other inspires them to grow. In a sense, they both choose to become better people for love, and I find that aspect of their relationship especially compelling.

In the novel, Yun Li is supposed to be 24 when they reconnected after the breakup, which puts her at 22 when they met in Nanwu. Again, per novel, FSZ is supposed to be 5 years older. In the drama, so far, the FL thinks they're around the same age.

I share your sentiment, but I find her behavior perfectly understandable in this particular case. Aside from her social anxiety and insecurities about her partial deafness, she also had a huge—HUGE—crush on the guy. She literally had a poster of him on her bedroom wall, which she had gotten from a magazine or newspaper article. She even biked to that university almost every day, not just to practice with her robot but also, and perhaps more importantly, for the chance to catch a glimpse of him. That's how big her crush was!

Personally, I do think FSZ could have done more. For instance, he would simply stand by the door of his friend's room and watch him seemingly take his medication, without making sure that he had actually swallowed it. He also noticed certain signs that suggested his friend was still not doing well, but he never really looked into them more deeply.

I think part of the reason was that FSZ was incredibly driven and ambitious. He was a prodigy, after all, and his own academic pursuits took up much of his attention. So, while he did notice these warning signs, he didn't give them the attention they deserved. To be fair to him, though, he was also several years younger than his friend and perhaps lacked the maturity and experience to recognize just how serious the situation was.

There was also the fact that his friend once told him something along the lines of, "I wish I had never met you," without ever explaining why. What FSZ didn't understand at the time was that those words came from his friend's deep-seated frustration and feelings of inadequacy.

His friend was intelligent in his own right, but he simply wasn't on FSZ's level academically. To make matters worse, his academic advisor or mentor was bullying him and taking credit for his research and work, making it incredibly difficult for him to get ahead. Meanwhile, FSZ was so exceptionally talented that no one dared to treat him the same way. His achievements and brilliance seemed to come so naturally that he was almost untouchable in that academic environment.

I imagine it must have been incredibly difficult for his friend to live in the shadow of someone like FSZ, especially when they were both pursuing similar academic paths. It wasn't necessarily that he resented FSZ for being brilliant; rather, FSZ's success may have constantly reminded him of everything he was struggling and failing to achieve. That, I think, was the underlying reason behind his hurtful remark.

Just to clarify, what the friend's parents specifically asked FSZ to do was to make sure their son took his medication. And he did fulfill that responsibility. However, there were things he failed to notice, such as his friend pretending to take his medication without actually swallowing it. So, while FSZ did do what was asked of him, he couldn't have known that his friend was secretly not taking the meds as instructed.

In the novel, the parents did ask FSZ to watch over their son, but there was a deeper reason behind this. They were neighbors, and because FSZ’s parents were largely absent (both were academics who were too preoccupied with their respective careers), he practically grew up under the care of his best friend’s parents. In many ways, he was as much a part of their family as their own son.

That said, I was still uncomfortable with how the parents placed the blame on FSZ, especially considering that he did fulfill his responsibility, even if there were things he could have done differently or more of. I think that is precisely what makes his guilt and trauma so heartbreaking: he knows he could have done more, and that realization continues to haunt him.

This is why I appreciate the addition in the drama where FSZ voluntarily offers to take care of his friend. It gives the arrangement a different emotional dimension. Rather than simply being a responsibility imposed on him by the parents, it becomes a conscious choice on his part. It also provides a more compelling reason for the friend's parents to allow their son to continue pursuing his doctorate despite his depression. To me, this adaptation adds another layer to FSZ's character and makes his sense of responsibility, guilt, and enduring attachment to his friend even more poignant..

The breakup happened roughly two-thirds of the way through the novel, around Chapter 60 of 89. They reconnected in the following chapter, after a time skip of approximately 1.5 years, if I remember correctly. The separation came about because Lili went abroad to study for a year, but the circumstances surrounding their breakup were rooted in a painful misunderstanding.

Lili’s brother had a medical emergency, and she really wanted FSZ to be there at the hospital with her and her family. What she didn't know, however, was that FSZ was dealing with a medical emergency of his own at almost exactly the same time. If my memory serves me right, her brother was hospitalized for two weeks, while FSZ spent an entire month in a hospital in Nanwu. His condition was so critical that he almost didn't make it. He chose not to tell Lili what had happened because he didn't want to add to her worries while her family was already going through a difficult time. Unfortunately, from her perspective, his absence came across as indifference, making her feel that he simply didn't care enough to be there for her. Eventually, they broke up over the phone, with Lili being the one to ask for it.

What makes it even more heartbreaking is that, even after they reconnected, Lili didn't learn the truth directly from FSZ. She only pieced together what had really happened with the help of other people. And unbeknownst to her, FSZ had also been quietly supporting her throughout her time abroad, albeit in his own way.

Meanwhile, FSZ spent their time apart trying to put his life back together. He knew he hadn't been in a good place when they first met, and he wanted to become someone better before seeing her again. More than anything, he wanted to be able to face her as a better man when she returned—someone he believed she deserved. In a way, he spent that time working toward becoming the person he thought she wanted him to be, hoping that when they finally crossed paths again, he would be someone worthy of a second chance with her.

What makes you think he knows about their childhood connection?

In the novel, she was supposed to be 26 when she was re-employed by Hengshi Airlines, this time as a pilot. This did not really make sense to me as she supposedly was a Physics grad, presumably at 22. She then spent 3 yrs at Hengshi as a flight attendant, then another 3 yrs studying to be a pilot. The ML was supposedly 28 when they met again. And in the book, they definitely married before she turned 30. It took this long because she wanted to be a captain first before getting married. They also had one child, a daughter.

They did not break up in the novel, after they got together around chapters 103-104, out of 314 chapters in total. The catalyst was FL's jealousy, which made the ML very happy because it showed her deep feelings for him. They have long fallen in love with each other before that. There was no big declarations of affection in the aforementioned chapters, just mutual understanding. They showed their deep affection for each other more in action than in words. And YJX never went after the FL in the novel, though his mother had several moments when she wished her son chose FTY for his wife.

The dognapping happened before JZ's final race. He wasn't there because he was also involved in smuggling at the time. It was only a front, JZ was doing undercover work for the police. He was compelled to help them as he had a record. He was imprisoned briefly, for around 6 months. A car he modified, to pay the medical expenses of his sister, got into an accident, killing the driver. It was not JZ's fault. A coworker of his in the auto shop of Wan Qing's father swapped the parts of the vehicle with substandard ones, leading to the accident. He left the employ of this boss guy because of this incident and put up his own auto shop.

Yes, they skipped many parts in the drama. Even the gifting of the 2nd silver pen. He did give her the 1st black pen when they first parted--when she was 9 and he was 14. But when they reconnected, he gifted her with another pen, a silver one this time. This was the one she purposely left in the cafe for JZ to find. However, I did like that they changed the setting from northern China (where JZ and his father went to after the divorce) to Thailand in the drama. I also liked that in the novel, Mumu took her husband's surname after marriage. So she ended up being Jin Mu again. She was Jin Mu in the beginning, became Jiang Mu after the divorce of her parents.

Yes, he did. Only in the novel Mumu's family went to Australia, not Canada. Her mother married a foreigner.

In the novel, the bad guys beat Shengdian so badly and hanged him. They broke his leg and he almost bled to death. They also talked about eating the dog later. Mumu and JZ's friends had to visit the auto shop of Wan Qing or Snakey's father nearest to JZ's auto shop. The boss guy had more than 10 auto shops in the area. Mumu was prepared to check all just to find her dog. It was on the 3rd auto shop that she remembered that one of the workers in the first auto shop seemed very dirty, when they went back to this auto shop they found the back part full of blood. Shengdian was in the home of one of the bad guys; they found the dog hanging, badly beaten, and almost drained of blood. The vet could not even guarantee the dog's survival when they brought it to the clinic.

He knew about it, but it was Mumu who rescued the dog, with help from JZ's friends. The dog was hospitalized for a long time, and after only JZ could make the dog take its meds. This event saw a drastic change in the behavior of the dog, it started to be wary of people. Which is why both in the novel and drama, the dog came to be known by another name in the cafe, because it was aloof towards people. Mengdan something or other, leading Mumu not to recognize the dog right away.

For those who can't accept that he took her dog, there's actually a very good reason for this, which they skipped in the drama. In the novel, Shandian was dognapped by the bad guys. He literally almost died. He was still recovering when Jin Zhao had his accident. Personally, I am glad that they skipped this part of the narrative in the drama, because what the bad guys did to the dog was horrific, but skipping it led to some people blaming JZ for keeping Shandian. It was the right call, guys!