Joannajulius

Trauma evaluation... Stressful and dragged probably but overall it's a yes

From an average third person pov, this plot might seem dragged, unflattering and disorganised but from me, a person who has experienced and witnessed trauma first hand, This had me seated till the very end. Trauma and it's effects is something that should be understood on a deeper level

First of all, the main characters first meeting albeit cliche was cute and expected. The chemistry between them was teenage like which might be annoying to others but personally I feel like that made them more endearing. Life is not all roses and flowers but having a beautiful relationship where you're happy with eachother and comfortable brings about a fairytale in your life.

Moving on to the development of the plot, I have to say Chen Zheyuan and Liang Jie really put their all into the acting, there might have been some awkward scenes but at the same time, it was easy to push down whenever the leads especially Chen Zheyuan appeared on the screen stealing with audience with his acting and charisma. The evaluation of PTSD and Depression in this series had me on chokehold. PTSD is not a trauma that goes away completely, it's like a tumor in your brain, even though it's removed and treated, there's a 1-4% chance of relapsing which takes the treatment back to stage one.

Although at a point, I was pissed at the ML and the FL for talking about everything except the state of their physical and mental health which indeed is an important aspect to the growth and sustainability of a relationship. The lies were annoying and unnecessary; for example the FL getting eye surgery without letting the ML know, the ML lying about the training process because he didn't want to "bother" the FL, and many more. I understand where they are coming from but please that shouldn't have happened. Going back to the Eastern country was important for both of them but at the same time, it was rushed. By the time I got to ep 30 and I saw the war wasn't over, I knew we weren't going to get a typical happy ending. Ep 36-38 had tears dropping from my eyes because I could feel the pain both leads were going through to pretend they were fine even if they weren't. Chen Zheyuan and Liang Jie's tears in ep 38 had me crying with them. Pain is sometimes undermined and overlooked as far as the person is smiling, it takes an empathetic person to genuinely understand where the pain is coming from. The ending they got though was perfect for them, the fact they they chose to elope and just live their remaining days in seclusion was the best discussion for them I guess. I don't believe in complete happy endings so at least that was okay for me.

Talking about the other characters, watching the character development of the FL's mother, Shen Bei, Benjamin and Sasin was my favourite. Their growth, acceptance, fight and every other thing made the plot more wholesome especially the bickerings between Ben and Sasin. I knew Ben was going to die when I saw him, I just never expected that I was going to grow to love him the way I did.

To others, the series might have been boring and stressful but to me it's a lesson. I'll agree some parts pissed me off but I'll still stick to my heart and say, the white olive tree was a success. I hope to see more representation about mental illness and it's effects on one's life.

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