Say_do

I've never heard snything good associated with Yu Zheng. Every time I see his name, it has to be something bad he did. How did he even manage to dip excellent writing so much so that everyone is unified in their disappointment and complaints regardless of fandom?

LJL kindly pack up the rest of your self respect and leave. RSB has made him insecure and love will never be enough to make up for that. She is not incapable of pursuing that man. Someone that has used his life to prove time and again, that he is down for her, through thick and thin. If she wants a miserable existence, looking for shadows of him in other men(for reproduction obv), because he was just perfect for her, then so be it. He will survive as a single man at worst.

If you watch the direction of the writing, they re writing him into that probability. Also, I never said he would. I said that I agree with what Minister Xu's daughter said. I'd hate to see it happen.

Exactly! And her showing her affection properly will not in any way take away from her being a strong woman/female lead. Male leads are not portrayed like this on screen because viewers will riot. In adaptations where the MLs are powerful, they always tone down the realistic portrayal of their authority, especially to the FL.

Just like minister Xu's daughter told LJL, I really hope he does not give up his career for love. I'm tired of the trend in romance shows where the men give up everything to follow and support their women. It feels like virtue signalling in writing at this point. It is not misogynistic for a woman to make such sacrifices for her man. Both genders should be able to do it, just write it well. A good compromise is a good thing.

At this point, what has RSB sacrificed for LJL to show her heart? What great thing has she given up JUST for him?

That is a waste of good writing. He may not be power hungry, but he cares for the people. Allowing his sorely incompetent brother to take that position is doing harm to everyone.

"My Condolences". I laughed.

This is not one of the shows where the unwilling ML gets to hand over the throne to someone else. He BETTER become emperor. There is literally no one else worthy.

Shen Hao Petty Ming

The parents in laws are/were not the real problem. It was him.
I was so happy she ended that relationship. That man was not willing to stand dup for her in front of his parents. He deferred to them on very important issues without discussing them with her.
How can a new couple say that all their wedding gift money should be given to the parents of the groom who are not suffering? They are not in hardship. That is what is supposed to be for the new couple to have an easier start on life. He lied that he discussed it with her and completely gave it all to his parents.
And when they insulted her, he never said a word in her defence or even a word of comfort. He just moved to what he wanted. You could also tell that this was not a one time occurrence. It was her reaching her limit.

The difference between him and Haoming is that whether it was to protect XY's lie from being found out (for his own benefit) or not, he always made sure to save her from his mother and family. He pulled her out of those situations.

Lin Tao may not be a bad person, but he needs to mature more to better enter into the role of husband.

There are so many "unnecessary" things he did in their relationship, for someone that was only there for business. Too many little expressions of genuine care.
He also really wanted to touch her and the extras ALL THE TIME! Like I'm not sure you can fake that much desire and attraction.
And it felt like everytime he felt that she was "acting" too genuinely, he made things more transactional. The man is truly out of his mind.

SHM throwing money at XY is not even about her at this point. This is about him not being ready to be vulnerable, to let go. He needs to first accept that he wants a relationship of mutual feelings with her, and not something "safe" like a business relationship.
He desperately wants her back, but he also wants the control. He hasn't truly broken yet. He hasn't let go of his arrogance yet.
But the trailers show that this will happen soon lol. He actually just needs to have an honest conversation, lay himself bare and actually sincerely woo her for the right reasons. Their conversation in ep 20 was just perfect. Like this is what should have happened when they were dating. This unguardedness and sincerity.

Exactly! She is quite self-aware and I love it.

SHM doesn't believe XY loves him because their first encounter was based on deceit. She sneakily sought him out for that interview and built a web of lies to get it. So since it started with lies, it can't end in anything good.

At the same time, he doesn't believe he can love her because he approached her with ulterior motives. He lied and schemed too, and has continued to do so to achieve his very strong goals.

So it's like since they were not honest in the beginning, they never can get to genuine feelings. It's quite interesting. A balance I appreciate.

I actually didn't even read the summary on this site. I just said what came to mind.
Because I have already gone far in watching the show, I don't need to read the summary anymore.

Shen Haoming is not in love with Xu Yan, true, but I believe he underestimates how much he cares about her, and how much he can come to love her.

Xu Yan loves Haoming, but I don't believe it is true love. She has not experienced all he really is because he has been putting up an act since the beginning.

It's only when they both shed their masks that they can really get to know who they truly are, for themselves, and for each other.

She's not a saint. And what she did already is going to cause a "stain" on the Shen family. This situation could be used to hurt their reputation, and you know how important that is when you are in the limelight.
Then you have how it will affect the family members in the house. They all already formed a great dynamic with her, now to find our she was lying and scheming.
They hurt her, yes, but everyone that has done something wrong will face the consequences of their actions and choices.

I don't think you can understand Xu Yan and hate Hao Ming at the same time. They both had reason for doing what they did. If Xu Yan did not lack so much affection and thirst for it, he wouldn't have fallen into his trap. ; at least not easily.

For him, he immediately showed his background to her on their next meeting and she fell for him right after. This was after he saw her scheme and act, to get a chance to meet with him. For her, he showed a bit of care, responsibility and thoughtfulness, so she thought he was safe. It's like an unfortunate coincidence. And he has to be used to women wanting him for his money.

Her leaving at the cost of everything she has built and worked hard for is the perfect proof that she wasn't there for his money.

We're also forgetting that he is also ambitious. He wants to have control, to have his ideas and suggestions be properly honoured by his father. He knew that if he continued in the way things were in the company, he would not be able to properly convince others about his abilities. He too was neglected as a child (just not the way Xu Yan was) and was hurt because of it.

So let's remember that he has a point of view too, that explains his actions, but doesn't justify it. Just like Xu Yan.

I think she would actually like to marry someone she liked. She obviously craves affection. But from the point of view of his short life, it makes sense. But if he wanted to go this route, he should have used it as a condition to saving Chai Jing. He had the opportunities to do this a long time ago, when they had not gotten this involved and this close.

Yh, I also have been suspecting that Zhuang Shiyang had something to do with it.