Suliabryon

Exactly! It tells us so much about each of them early on.

Thank you! I removed the spoiler tag so hopefully more people will read it!

I'm glad I offered a different perspective. He's just very reserved. I think actions speak louder than words and his kindness is in the things he does, not what he says. Things like getting her the interview, or sitting on his balcony and telling her why he really hired her and complimenting her design ability, or driving her to work when she was going to take a taxi or subway, or taking care of her when she was drunk, or getting her water when she seemed sick. I'm sure we'll see him open up more to her in the future as she gets further inside his defenses. That is his character arc - he is cold and aloof with people probably for multiple reasons, not just his trauma, but I'm sure people have tried to get close to him before for selfish purposes. Female players enamored with his in game character, for example, or those in the architect world trying to use his name as this famous designer. Remember, our characters have to start from a place that isn't so good for them. Her - unemployed, broke, and dumped at the altar and feeling like a failure in life. Him - aloof, distant, keeps people are arms' length and doesn't let anyone in emotionally. Both of these states have to change and our characters have to grow, and in a romance that means he helps her grow, and she helps him. :)

There are SOOOOOOOOOO many comments from people not understanding or liking the game scenes, aka Republican Era scenes. Are you skipping ff through them? Let me explain to anyone finding it confusing, but you 100% should not be skipping or FF-ing the scenes. They are integral to our leads' story. It's a VR game. So in reality: people are wearing glasses and "entering" a VR game world that the show is SHOWING us as basically "what they see" inside the game world. So they see these elaborate buildings and people's faces and wearing the era-correct costumes, and it "feels" and "looks" real. Think of as a lower tech version of the holodeck on Star Trek The Next Generation if you've ever seen that. Or just understand they are playing a game and pretending to be these characters, like a dinner murder mystery but with much better sets and more realism.

These scenes are important, because they set up not only the characters' personalities and early interactions and dynamic, but also share with us how clever and competitive both of them are. That early back and forth between them is LITERALLY why they like each other in the beginning, because they challenge one another (where other people don't as well) and it's fun and exciting - even if the ML is less demonstrative of this, you can still TELL he finds their back and forth interesting and admires her cleverness. Meanwhile, she becomes obsessed with beating him because he betrayed her in their first interaction, lol.

This is no different from any other "gaming" drama, where the leads meet in a game and then interact IRL, this just twists the "they don't know who each other really is" trope a little with the whole apartment lease thing. But it's still the same, ie, their dynamic in the game is their early dynamic and interest, and then that expands when they start interacting IRL and blossoms into more. Except arguably here the gaming world is much more important because it isn't just combat or brief scenes with them, it's the foundation of their early interactions and relationship.

The game literally IS their meet-cute and early dynamic. It is the relationship developing. If you're FF-ing it, you're doing yourself a disservice. And I suspect that even though we haven't seen it much, we'll be going back. There are scenes from the trailers in the game world that we haven't seen yet.

I feel like this is a super harsh take. He doesn't treat her bad at all, in fact, arguably he has gone out of his way to help her multiple times. While it's clear he hired her because he felt she had a lot of potential and could do the job, he's also the ONLY reason she even got picked for an interview with his company. They've also made it clear he treats his employees fairly and even far better than many other companies. He has a somewhat aloof demeanor but he's calm, collected, and deals with a crisis well. I don't see where "bad" even comes in. Because he tries to maintain his privacy? Because he tricked her in the game a few times? He also went along every single time she pulled him into her issues, like covering for her about leasing her apartment.

I'm honestly really stumped by this comment. Is he in love and fawning all over her? No. Does he respect her cleverness and design ability? Yes. He has an aloof demeanor with literally everyone. It's pretty clear he has childhood trauma and keeps people at a distance deliberately, and yet already is allowing her more inside those boundaries than he does other people so far.

Sure, he picked up on there being some uncomfortable history between the FL and the groom at the wedding, but literally the fate of the project and arguably his company's future is on the line regarding him connecting with the person he went to talk to. The WHOLE reason he is at the wedding. The show also set up the fact that this "Mr. Xie" is a recluse and NO ONE gets to see him without going through the one scummy guy who controls that. So this is the ML's only chance to catch him and get around the people blocking his company's participating in the project. I think the ML also doesn't know yet how severe the history is between the FL and the groom. And the trailer makes it clear he - once again - is going to stand up for her and support her. So...I guess I don't know what people expect. For him to drop everything to comfort her right then? I think he knows she's a capable person and that she would be able to handle herself long enough for him to take care of company business, and then he could get her out of there and figure out what is going on. Of course, her former future m-in-l is going to escalate things and that is when our ML will step in in the next episode.

Yes, they can.

IQIYI has them for me, but I'm in the US

Wow, really? The VR scenes are pretty much the meat of their interactions in the first few episodes. I feel like you're FF-ing through most of the story.

I am IN LOVE with everything about this drama! One of my favorite tropes is two smart leads at odds initially who end up working together and falling in love, and then you add the gaming theme, which is right up my alley. This is everything I was hoping it would be! I love both of the leads. I love the mystery of whatever is haunting him, the fact that they are connected through their mutual love of design (and the game and its competitive nature). I wish I had all of the eps right now! It's going to be torture waiting for each day's episodes to drop.

Exactly. It's part of the character arc for the FL to grow, just like it was for the ML in WWWSK.

Wow, I despise the grandmother so much. Not only has she deliberately ruined her granddaughters all to create some kind of sense of competition she thinks is necessary, but she KNEW about Yunxi's child, forced her to give up her child and beloved??? and then tells RSB that's the standard to live up to, while simultaneously claiming that "if you hadn't brought that child in, I would have. No girl of the Rong bloodline can be raised outside our family"....uh, WHAT. When exactly were you going to bring her in? when she's 12 or 16 or 20?? And what are your plans for the father? (Also, WTF, RSB, did you bribe that father or somehow convince him his daughter would be "better off" being raised by the Rongs? Are we just not going to address him or if he ever gets to see his daughter again?)

Granted, I'm not done with ep 19. I had to pause it after Grandma made RSB take that oath because I'm so mad! So, your marriage was a power grab by the family, and you're so bitter you don't believe anyone can marry for love?? Grandma, you are one twisted lady. And keeping your old lover as a broken servant in the ancestors' hall is some next level psychopath stuff.

So I see where this is going, and here we are setting up the future break up and "enemies" phase before we've even properly had the leads be together. 😭 I'm not ready!

And I hate grandma so much. She's evil! Every problem in that family can be traced back to her.

I also really despise Wen. He's such a small minded, selfish person. He cares nothing for RSB's happiness, only his own feelings.

Well, I don't know what to tell you. Maybe this isn't the drama for you. The "marriage arc" is woven through the whole thing, including the most recent release, ep 9, but I also thing the leads have excellent chemistry, so...

Whaaaat. Okay, I did wonder that at the time. I was like..."does she have a secret family?" But dismissed it as too wild a theory. Wow!

When RSB was playing up her illness and the grandmother goes "I can't even count on you when I need you in a moment like this" I wanted to slap her! She's the reason those girls are the way they are - they even said she spoiled rotten the one bratty one. And she puts all of the pressure on RSB.

Ha ha, real! I thought I could watch this and Unclouded Soul at the same time, but it turns out my obsession with this drama is too strong. I had to drop US until this none is finished.

THIS SHOW. You guys, the BRILLIANCE of them giving Yunxi this weakness for a man so far beneath her station (and a widower!) when she is so obsessed with status and power! Oh, I feel bad for him because he seems to truly care for her; there must be more depths to her than she usually shows in her scheming against her sister.

LJL is SO flipping smart. "Give them what they want and let them destroy themselves" is such a classic, brilliant move. Finally dealing with these sisters, and I can't wait for them to get what they've earned. After all of their "how hard can it be to run the tea plantation?" And "we know just as much as RSB." CLEARLY you don't. You're not even smart enough to listen to your workers.

The blind sister really knows how to play the long game, doesn't she? And LJL is right, she's far more ruthless and cold hearted than RSB. She doesn't just want them to fail, she wants them destroyed.

It was SO adorable him reciting mantras to keep himself from giving in to his feelings for her, ha ha. He's smart enough to know if he sleeps with her before all of his schemes come to light, she'll never forgive him for deceiving her, (and now he's secured her promise not to hold a big mistake against him in the future. 😂 Love it. So "them", lol. )

And then when she kicks him out of bed after he's almost given in, he's upset about it! Dude was so close to cracking, lol.

"you can't get mad or resent me....and most of all you can't ignore me." He knows her well, lol.

It's funny to me how many people just believe when things are shown on screen. No. It's just a ploy to oust him from the house and make him vulnerable.

Oh, I hope my comment didn't come off as dismissive in any way! I just meant "I definitely think the good guys have staged something here". I totally get your frustration in the immediate aftermath. that was me when I thought that ep 14 preview was another episode until it started playing and found out it was just a teaser! One episode?? They're really playing with our emotions with this release schedule!

I mean....they're sort of scheming FOR each other, and just not TELLING each other everything. 🤣