arpar

I have to say this drama does a great job of building tension and showing emotion through the music, actors performances and the camera, without needing to throw stuff in your face or say things out loud, I really appreciate it. We can see the feelings between ml and fl growing subtly without the drama needing them to be hot and heavy or too obvious about it, also the stare between fl and her sister during 2ml's tantrum was so telling.

Also I love the saying fl said about 2ml regarding the cicada, not sure if thats already a saying or if the writer came up with that but its so poignant and just overall the writing is so good, I loved fl's blank stare the whole time 2ml was throwing a tantrum, like she was really just watching a child put on a show.

At the same time they also keeping dropping clues that make me so engaged, like ml's brother knew fl's mother or something in the past, 2ml is pretending to be a playboy to survive from the empress dowager and wants revenge , so much to unravel slowly I love it. They keep slowly revealing a deeper story, really good story telling so far instead of just making everything too obvious. I feel like some cdramas feel like they have to make everything obvious and make things happen quickly all the time otherwise viewers get bored and leave and maybe some will but those who enjoy a good story and slowly revealing different layers will stay, and so far I believe the word of mouth is pretty good due to how well its written, acted and shot, I hope it keeps it up.

We see a lot of hints that her maid Qing Shuang is a hallucination. When she slept with fl, we zoom out and only see one pair of shoes instead of two, when fl talks to her helper brother from lishan academy near the water, the one that helped her get revenge on he Lv dude by exposing his identity, they mentions Qing shuang and we see theres no one next to fl even though fl says that Qing shuang is next to her. And when we swap to ml's perspective we see that he says fl is constantly talking to herself, when in fact she thinks she is talking to Qing Shuang. Also form previews of ep 8, it gets even more clear Qing shuang is a hallucination.

I bit the pill and bought svip cause I couldn't wait need ep 7 and damn the later half of the ep, I love the quick shift in tone, one minute its happiness and comedy then next takes a dark and strange turn then kind of a sad but like eerie/confusing tone, I love the tone shifts so good. This is how you keep a drama engaging without needing a bunch of misunderstandings and forced angst. I can't wait for more reveals and answers to come

Here to mention the cdrama dazzling, 30 eps. It’s a youth romance drama that was pretty well done in my opinion. Story wise nothing new, out of town rich girls falls on hard times because her father goes through some company troubles, she moves in with ml’s family in a small town. Ml the typical bad boy that has a good heart/is a genius. Start off not liking each other, then slowly fall for each other, story is nothing new, pretty predictable but like I’ve said before, thats not a bad thing when its done well, and here it was done very well. It’s overall a sweet youthful romance, with a nice friendship group and family, with technically no break up and a HE, I’ll explain the technical no break up below.

First though want to clear something, saw some people in the comments of the drama also confused, in ep 1 ml’s mother refers to ml and fl as cousins, to be clear they are not actual cousins, not blood related, not family at all, first time they meet is in ep 1 when they are like 17 years oldish. The reason she refers to them as cousins is because fl’s mother took care/helped ml’s mother ages ago when she went through hard times, so because of that she considers fl’s mother a sister and thus sees fl as family so refers to her as ml’s cousin, fl’s mother passed away two years before. So yeh she refers to them as cousins but they are not, it's just a respectful/symbolic type of thing.

What I really enjoyed in this drama is there was no toxic 2ml or 2fl. There was a 2ml but he gets very little screen time and fl is clear with him she doesn’t see him that way, and he is respectful of her, so absolutely no issues with him. Theres also a 2fl but again she’s kind and friendly, not toxic, so overall 2ml barely gets screen time and neither 2ml or 2fl are toxic which I really enjoyed.

I do want to mention though the fl and ml get together very late, in ep 29 out of 30, this is because the majority of this drama is when fl and ml are high school age, and I believe in china the regulations prohibit cdrama’s from showing high schoolers in official relationships. I could be wrong but I think thats why in high school/youth romance cdramas it’s always once they are out of high school that the official relationship begins, so thats why they get together late in the drama. But still it's very clear they like each other for quite a while before so I didn’t mind too much and pretty much confess to each other indirectly around ep 25ish. However even way before then it’s clear they like each other. Their chemistry was pretty good and what I enjoyed was how supportive they are of each other way before they get together officially. When fl first moves there ml is very helpful and caring of her, even though at first he doesn’t show it and comes off as a rebel type guy, and fl herself is not that nice when she first arrives, pretty snobbish as she's from a rich family. But soon Fl starts helping ml and his family a lot, helping their hair saloon business, helping encourage ml to return to school and stuff like that. They also go through a lot of drama but pretty much all of it is outside of their relationship which I enjoyed, the angst and cdrama is around fl getting used to the small town, her high school life, ml dealing with debt collectors and stuff, nothing effects their relationship except for one thing I’ll mention below. But besides that, they are very supportive of each other, and help each other through the difficulties they faced. I enjoyed how strong their relationship/friendship was even before they got together and how most offthe drama did not effect their relationship at all.

Now technically there is no break up but there is a separation that happens before they get together officially. Around ep 25 fl’s father returns and tells her his problem are solved and comes to take her away. This lead to a seperation that lasts 5 years in the drama which is like 1 and a half-ish eps. I would have preferred no seperation obviously, however in youth dramas I don’t mind it as I think in youth dramas it makes more sense that both characters need to grow up, attend university, becomes adults, so I didn’t mind this seperation as it made sense story wise. Also the way it happened I think was nicely done, ml pushes her to go, he tells her to go and don’t look back, he says he’ll chase after her, and fl tells him she will attend a university in china instead of going abroad like she planned initially, so she tells him she cut the distance between them half way, now the rest is up to you. I like how they did this, neither one sacrificed everything for the other, instead they both agreed to sacrifice half/meet each other half way. I find this sweet but also realistic. Now I do wish they got together sooner, in the novel they reunite when ml works hard and enters the same university a her just a year or two behind, I wish they followed that here but instead after they seperate in ep 25 or 26, there’s a timeskip of 5 years and we see fl now working. She still misses ml, hasn’t dated and is waiting for him to catch up, and to ml’s credit he puts in the work and does. They meet again in ep 28 and kiss and make it official in ep 29. Thus, why I said technically no break up as they weren’t together officially when she left, but it was a seperation. One thing that was a little weird is when they seperated fl deleted her contact number on his phone in front of him and told him that they won’t talk again until he’s caught up to her, she explained it after the timeskip to her friend that she did it as motivation for him and was scared he would fall behind. A little silly that they had no communication for 5 years but I’m ok with it as it is really a small detail and overall their relationship was very sweet, supportive and wholesome so I don’t really mind this, just a small nitpick no big deal really.

So while I always prefer no separation, here I feel like it made sense and was necessary, in high school ml was behind anyway, so fl needed to go to university and I appreciate how she didn’t sacrifice that for ml, but she did meet him halfway by not going abroad, and ml in turn worked hard to catch up in school, graduate and finally move to work in Beijing with her. So overall, I didn’t mind this separation and beside this little bit of angst, the rest of the drama/challenges ml and fl face are all outside o their relationship, while they remain supportive and united together.

Like I mentioned their relationship throughout the whole drama from first meeting to friendship to having feelings for each other was very sweet. They start out at odds with each other, first 4 eon may take getting sued to as fl is snobbish as first, but slowly they become very supportive towards each other helping each other overcome their troubles. I enjoyed how they faced their troubles together and helped each other through difficult times. The chemistry was pretty sweet, they had a nice innocent and sweet romance, with a lot of kisses once they became official. Like I mentioned, its slow burn and they never really confess directly and get together late, but you can see their feelings for each other through their support, chemistry and their actions, somethings don’t really need to be said.

The side characters also were all mostly likable, ml’s family that became fl’s family was all very sweet and their friendship group was nice as well. I enjoyed the main core of characters, all very likable. Also like once fl’s father found out of her relationship with ml in ep 29/30, he wasn’t against it, I was afraid he would be a toxic father especially after he took fl away when he returned, but I appreciate he accepted their relationship.

Overall, story wise is nothing new, but it was done well and thus became a pretty enjoyable youthful romance cdrama. A nice cast and collection of characters, and the supportive relationship between ml and fl was very sweet throughout. I enjoyed their chemistry and I enjoyed how they faced difficulties and challenges together. The happy ending was nice as well, as we got 2 eps of seeing them in a happy relationship. Overall, while a little slow burn, I can understand some people may not like them getting together so late, for me it was a pretty enjoyable and light hearted youthful romance.

When ye li said in ep 6, troublemakers will always find a pretext to cause trouble, because trouble is all they are, damn that hit home regarding everything going on now in c-ent world, so true but like she said in ep 6, don't get tangled with them, they aren't worth your time, she's speaking facts.

Gotta say I enjoy the mature feel and pace of this drama, I feel like some cdramas now days throw so much at you because they feel like they need to do that to keep audiences engaged, but here the drama lets the story carry itself. Feels like a proper story, setting the scene, giving some clues and crumbs while slowly building up rather than just throwing everything at you at once.

Everyone is so hard to read in this and I love it, watching ep 6 and honestly can't tell if the empress dowager is good/genuine or not and why do I actually find the sister a little sweet when she was telling stories of her and fl's childhood to prince li. Honestly, feel like she's not a bad person just innocent and easy fooled, I thought she would be the typical toxic sister when she confronted fl early in ep 6, but then soon after when she was telling stories of her and fl's childhood she was so innocent and sweet I won't lie, I can't bring myself to hate her. Hope she doesn't take a completely toxic turn, I kind of like her sweet innocence right now

No problem, yeh you're right by referring to it as second half, good way to put it. Yeh 2fl isn't too bad mostly because besides trowing some shade at fl in conversations and obviously the betrayal, she never really gets in the way of ml and fl, she's not really a threat, but 2ml yeh probs best to skip his scenes in the second half, hope you're able to enjoy it, ml and fl are really good and when the focus is on the rom com its pretty good

For me won't lie I think it looks realistic which I like, sometimes I think cdramas can go overboard with the color this kind go feels real, but also I think possibly may be a choice, because right now as ml and fl live in like a bleak world, I think the color so far shows how they pretty much are walking corpses if that makes sense, like apparently people actually consider fl a ghost of lishan academy, idk I'm probably just way overthinking that haha but I think it looks more real which I do like

I can't lie there's just something so engaging and intriguing abut this drama for me, it's kind of hard to explain. Like on the surface everything seems so simple, especially fl seems like an innocent fl just doing whatever she wants enjoying life, but you can just feel the tension, like the calm before the storm. Ep 4 and 5, fl was so good in her plotting. So far the first 5 eps just make you feel like everyones living a fake life, so much underneath the surface, so much to uncover and that feeling for me just makes me feel like this drama is so engaging and intriguing so far. Really good story telling and building tension, you can just feel when things go to hell it's going to be awesome, especially as we go deeper into the story and see everyone's true self. Idk hard to explain but I'm just excited for all the reveals to come, so much mystery underneath the surface and that feeling of slowly peeling back the layers is what makes this an interesting watch for me so far.

Side note the ost is phenomenal.

No problem, I was going to do one for this anyway, glad they are able to help. First few eps he doesn't appear too much and it's all right wasn't too bad, seeing ml and fl get to know each other is pretty funny. However he starts to get annoying round mid way, he starts appearing more and interfering with ml and fl. From the start he's not bad but we get hints like a photo of him and fl hugging but we can't make out its him and him and fl argue which ml and 2fl overhear and we see fl's shirt torn after arguing with 2ml but he we don't know or see what happened. Anyway before like ep 6 he's not that bad, a couple annoying scenes but nothing too much, he doesn't spend much time with fl before this. However from like ep 6 until like ep 10ish is when he's annoying due to how much he interferes with ml and fl and chases after fl.

He and fl used to date and were in love and all that but 2ml entered into a transactional marriage with someone else and that broke fl's heart. 2ml is still married btw but very unhappily his wife openly cheats on him and he doesn't care, its a marriage of convenience because of her powerful family, but he's still married. He still loves fl and confesses to her multiple times and tries to chase her saying he will leave his wife, he loves her etc. When he found out about ml and fl, as he works at the same company as fl and ml and has a higher position, he tries to get in-between them and he even transfers ml over seas. What was annoying is he kind of guilt trips fl saying she is holding ml back so she even eventually agrees to the transfer as she believes its best for ml. Also fl is kind of traumatized from her relationship with 2ml, so even though she likes ml, they have kissed and been intimate before, she is hesitant to get together officially with him. However, they get together end of ep 8 officially when she realizes how much she likes ml and regrets not going towards him.

Still 2ml constantly puts himself between ml and fl from the mid section of the drama, he forces fl to join him on a work trip but thank god, fl does reject 2ml in ep 8, she tells him clearly that she will ever get back together, it was a solid rejection. FL makes it clear she will never get back together. This was needed as in ep 7 and 8, 2ml forces fl into working on something with him and forces her to spend time with him and fl agrees, it makes ml think that maybe she still has feeling for 2ml, I think they were a little too close in like ep 7 and 8, its more because they have their romantic history and at this point, fl never clarifies to ml and seemingly in ep 7 and 8 she willingly works with 2ml, with ml being jealous but fl never clarifying when he asks, so I'm glad she rejected him nicely.

However, this doesn't stop 2ml, he makes one last attempt showing up at her house saying he will divorce his wife, he wants to start over with her, but again she rejects him. At this point ml and fl are in a relationship and it's clear she likes ml a lot. Honestly, he was annoying from like ep 6-9/10. He just tried getting in between ml and fl a lot and forcing fl to spend time with him, also like revealing secrets that he though would make fl not like ml when she already knew, like ml living with 2fl which I'll mention below. Like I said he wasn't too bad at the start of the drama, and at the end he changes his ways and accepts fl won't go back to him, but like the mid section is where he is annoying due to his interference.

2fl used to be in a casual relationship with ml but they broke up after she left and ml didn't really care, there were no strong feelings between them, she has a major crush on 2ml. 2ml once kissed her in like ep 3 or 4 I think but then he said it was a mistake, and still likes fl which is just weird from him, plus he's also married even though his wife is horrible I won't lie. Anyway 2fl has no place to stay so is living with ml, fl finds out but she's not jealous, one thing I did like when she found out I think around ep 6 there was no major misunderstanding, fl trusted ml. For the most part 2fl is obsessed with 2ml who constantly rejects her and she dislikes fl because 2ml likes fl but she's not too bad, just a bit annoying, until ep 9. We found out she knows about 2ml and fl's past relationship and leaks it causing all kinds of trouble for ml, fl and 2ml. Eventually in ep 9/10, after 2ml rejects her strongly again, she betrays him and ml, who has only been nice and helped her this whole, siding with their enemy at the company and again causing all kinds of mess because she is jealous of fl.

So for me it's a combination of 2ml and 2fl. 2ml still loves fl and tries to get back together with her constantly in the mid and later section of the drama. 2fl likes 2ml and is therefore jealous of fl and just as 2ml stops chasing fl, she betrays them all because 2ml lies fl and constantly rejects her, becoming toxic.

I feel like what I said was really negative, don't get me wrong, I still actually liked the drama solely because of how good ml and fl were, their relationship was super nice, going from enemies at work to falling for each other, was a bit slow burn as it took time for fl to accept her feelings but even their dynamic was cute, it was funny seeing them test each other, the comedic relief between them was nice. Also once they are together no break up, they work together to survive the storm that 2fl's betrayal causes at the company, both caring for each other and once they are together they're pretty cute.

But again, for me I think its mostly the mid section form like ep 5/6-10 where its annoying, ml, fl, 2ml and 2fl kind of from a weird love square, and because of that it can be quiet annoying seeing 2ml chase fl and interfere with fl and ml, and then seeing 2fl constantly rejected by 2ml and thus be very jealous of fl.

No problem, this is fair enough, for sure 2ml and 2fl are pretty annoying in this for the majority of the drama unfortunately. Got high hopes for moli/first jasmine though as I read the novel, also currently airing dazzling and ashes to crown so far main relationship wise pretty good but I'll let everyone know once it ends. Hoping we get less love triangles.

Oh nice, I'm also re-watching shine on me, such a comfy cdrama, romance done right

Haha no problem, I feel you on this, feels like recent dramas have had a lot of 2ml's and 2fl's that have been obsessive or toxic lately

For anyone interested just some extra info, definitely I agree with this, no break up and their relationship is pretty nice, especially once they get together around ep 9ish I think it was, very cute and supportive relationship overall.

But beware pretty strong 2ml and 2fl that can be pretty annoying, 2ml eventually turns good but for a majority he is obsessive over fl, 2fl has a crush on 2ml who likes fl so that makes her toxic near the end, around the middle and later parts both of them can be annoying especially for people in here that I know dislike love triangles with 2ml's and also toxic 2fl's. But still the relationship between ml and fl was pretty nice, liked how supportive they were and how they worked together so well, also seeing fl go from cold to being so cute and romantic with ml was nice, a good recommendation overall.

Yeh its not bad, besides the short break up their relationship is pretty nice, the story kind of typical kdrama rom com nothing new, start of not liking each other and slowly falling for each other type thing so you know what to expect.

Oh yeh I remember that scene, I was like this is too over the top, like I can imagine maybe a tear or two for 2ml dying as he's her friend, but her crying so hard and not caring her husband just fainted was crazy, I agree for sure. It definitely could have been so much better if there was no love triangle and just a focus on ml and fl, thats also why I wished fl rejected 2ml more harshly then she did.

I also agree like ml and 2ml worked well together, they could have focused on them working together rather than making him part of a love triangle.

Oh nice thanks had no idea I'll check it out

Yeh I do agree, the chemistry was great just wish we had more focus on ml and fl, thats why like I mentioned I think, favorite was that mid section around ep 17-22ish where we focused on ml and fl getting together, but like before there was too much focus on 2ml I think, then after they get together 3ml returns. Would have been good if they had more eps of the middle part where ml and fl were the focus.

Yeh I agree, was short thank god but definitely felt unnecessary, felt like it was a break up just to extend the time a little bit or introduce angst for no reason. Like some break ups make sense story wise and help the story along, but some are introduced just for angst or feels like to extend the episode count or just fill time.

Hahaha no I know what you mean, I think it's cause when you have a good ml and fl relationship, even if you skip the annoying others parts you still think how good it could be if they just gave us more ml and fl instead, the wasted opportunity