junah

Yes, some people succeed without formal education, but they're the exception, not the majority. Most people don't have extraordinary natural talent, so education helps them build skills, gain qualifications, and access more opportunities. It's not about "promoting degrees", for the average person, education is one of the tools that helps them compete and improve their chances in society.

you will be surprised with asian student, especially high achiever like them.

not really. long youth era is also important to make impact on long separation. viewers needs to be accustomed to their teenage bond, so viewers feel like they really live with lin zia and jiang bai relationship for years. so, when they are separated, viewers will feel it too.

It wouldn't have the same impact if they separated and reunited after just one or two episodes. For example their first separation. We didn't really feel the loss because their elementary-school connection was still so brief. The longer youth arc gives them (and us) time to build memories together, so the separation actually feels like something was taken away.

believe so. Btw, you want to check spoiler box before posting this kind of comment.

Express it is.

whaaat? that's it, i will purchase express package. GG is low budget drama, why iqiyi apply think like this ?

Huh? The tree shots and the seagulls look real to me. Why does everyone think they're AI? Maybe I'm just old, but shots like that were pretty common in dramas back in the day.
I only noticed that the director uses a lot of color filtering.

whatt??? so after today it will be 1 episode ?? I need express.

After she died, the debt for repaying the investors apparently became Jiang Yubai’s responsibility. I assume he borrowed money privately, possibly from high-interest lenders, to repay it, which would explain why he spent years working to pay off the debt instead of continuing his studies.

Jiang Yubai’s mother worked as an investment salesperson and sold an investment plan to Lin Zhixia’s family. Her boss eventually disappeared with the money, leaving her under investigation and responsible for repaying the investors. After she died, the debt apparently became Jiang Yubai’s responsibility. I assume he borrowed money privately, possibly from high-interest lenders, to repay it, which would explain why he spent years working to pay off the debt instead of continuing his studies.

As much as I love Kim Jiwon, I kind of agree with you. 😭 Her portrayal of the "joyful and funny girl" in the first few episodes feels a little... fake?
Her character is supposed to be this manic pixie dream girl who makes the ML fall in love with her, but I don't know. I just don't fully buy it. It feels like she's performing the personality rather than naturally being that person.

No offense, but looking at the dramas on your list, I think you're probably more into dramas that are more eventful and have stronger conflicts or dramatic tropes. This one is more of a light youth drama. The novel itself doesn't really have that much conflict either.

You might want to wait until it's finished and binge it, because we're entering the angst era now... 😭

But the ML is so sweet. Just carrying the monkey like it's the most normal thing in the world.
The SML, on the other hand... 💀

ah really, no chemistry ? Jiang Bai's calm voice that night when he told Lin Zia to go back to sleep pretty much sealed the deal for me.

"That's part of why depression and suicide rates are so high in these countries."

I don't think China is, but South Korea yes.

Population. China has one of the largest populations in the world, so students are basically competing against a lot, lot, lot of other students for a limited number of university spots.

And Asian entrance exams, especially math, can sometimes reach the level of university-level material in other countries. The competition isn't necessarily because every Chinese student is some kind of genius, there are just an enormous number of students competing for the same opportunities.

should add:
"i was just thinking if you had brother who was smart, had great personality, played basketball well, and was not totally ugly, you'd be pretty proud too, right?"
"why would i think such impossible things?"

his face, lol!

She honestly looks like my pretty little sister here in GG. 😂 I suddenly feel so maternal toward Lin Zia. She really can pull off a high schooler, especially with the styling. And her bare face actually looks surprisingly young, so I can totally buy her as a teenager here.

Because the story spans into their adult years, I think it's pretty normal to use adult actors for the teen portion too. Our Secret suffered a bit when it moved into the adult storyline. Everyone still looked like high school students, and then you suddenly have marriage and baby scenes... 😭 It just didn't feel convincing to me.

I don't have an issue with these actors playing teenagers. Honestly, if I didn't know their real ages, I'd probably still assume they're in their early 20s anyway. Even in Go Ahead, I remember thinking Song Wei Long looked much older than the FL and the other ML, only to find out later that he was actually youngest. 😂 I also think knowing an actor's real age can affect how objectively people judge their performance. Once you know "this actor is actually X years old," you start seeing the character through that lens instead of just judging whether they look and behave convincingly in the story.

And maybe I'm just used to Western teen dramas where actors in their late 20s have been playing high schoolers forever, so this really doesn't bother me that much.