Do you think we have time for this? I've been sad that some episodes and arcs are rushed. I know that break up…
That's what I'm worried about. They'll just make Luke to chase her and she'll act cold and then accept it. I want both to ack what they did to each other like in literal words, no eye talk, voice over and shit.
At this point, I don’t want the ending to decide who was “the villain” and who was “the victim.” I want both of them to finally acknowledge what they did to each other.
For Lu Nian, I want something like:
“I hurt you. I took you for granted. I let my insecurity turn into sarcasm, jealousy and cruel words. I should have trusted you more and made you feel safer in this relationship.”
And for Tao, I want:
“I shut you out. I expected you to understand things I never properly communicated. I kept parts of my life separate from you, repeatedly made you feel like you were not a priority, and sometimes judged your reaction without acknowledging what led to it.”
THAT would feel like real growth.
What I don’t want is the drama rewriting six years of a complicated relationship into “Lu Nian was the problem, Tao endured him, therefore he must now spend years suffering, chasing and proving himself until she decides he is worthy again.”
Lu Nian absolutely needs accountability. But Tao does too.
If the reunion only requires one person to apologise, reflect and change while the other is placed on a moral pedestal, then that is not reconciliation between two flawed people. It is just punishment for one of them.
A convincing happy ending, for me, requires BOTH of them to say: “I hurt you too. I understand that now. Let’s do this differently.”
I still don't understand why tf would they make him like Flora. It has changed my entire view on their dynamics…
I think you’re taking “emotionally compartmentalized” too literally.
Obviously Luke isn’t going to be equally jealous of every single person Tao interacts with. The issue is not “she spends time with other humans.” It’s the specific kind of closeness he feels excluded from.
Yuan Zhu shares her home, Luke, daily routines and emotional moments with her. That is a very different dynamic from a landlord or a female friend. And yes, Tao didn’t know Yuan Zhu liked her. I’ve already said that. I’m not blaming her for his feelings.
What I’m saying is that the reveal makes it harder to dismiss Luke’s discomfort as completely irrational, because the emotional closeness he was sensing was real, even if Tao herself never saw it romantically.
And “she wanted to go public, therefore she definitely would have integrated him fully into her life” is still an assumption. Wanting marriage or a public relationship shows she wanted something more serious, which is fair. But emotional inclusion also comes from everyday communication and making your partner feel involved, not simply changing the relationship status.
Tibet actually proves both points: Tao finally feels like they are in a real relationship, and Luke is visibly happier because he finally feels openly included too.
So I’m not saying Tao should stop having close friends. I’m saying both of them spent years wanting more security from the other while being terrible at actually giving it. That’s why I hold BOTH responsible.
At this point, I don’t want the ending to decide who was “the villain” and who was “the victim.” I want both of them to finally acknowledge what they did to each other.
For Lu Nian, I want something like:
“I hurt you. I took you for granted. I let my insecurity turn into sarcasm, jealousy and cruel words. I should have trusted you more and made you feel safer in this relationship.”
And for Tao, I want:
“I shut you out. I expected you to understand things I never properly communicated. I kept parts of my life separate from you, repeatedly made you feel like you were not a priority, and sometimes judged your reaction without acknowledging what led to it.”
THAT would feel like real growth.
What I don’t want is the drama rewriting six years of a complicated relationship into “Lu Nian was the problem, Tao endured him, therefore he must now spend years suffering, chasing and proving himself until she decides he is worthy again.”
Lu Nian absolutely needs accountability. But Tao does too.
If the reunion only requires one person to apologise, reflect and change while the other is placed on a moral pedestal, then that is not reconciliation between two flawed people. It is just punishment for one of them.
A convincing happy ending, for me, requires BOTH of them to say: “I hurt you too. I understand that now. Let’s do this differently.”
No proper character growth. Atleast Luke got some. But Tao didn't. So many issues with the storyline with cutdown.…
Absolutely. I’m already dreading how one-sided that whole stretch might feel.
And honestly, I still don’t get why they needed such a huge time jump just to show growth. It feels like such a lazy shortcut. Almost like a vertical drama formula: break them brutally, disappear for years, then bring them back as “changed people.”
They could’ve written a much stronger arc by letting both of them actually confront their issues, communicate, fail, improve, and grow on-screen instead of using years apart as a reset button.
Especially if Tao turns on him without even asking what really happened first, while Luke gets blamed for everything again. That’s the part I’m really not looking forward to.
I still don't understand why tf would they make him like Flora. It has changed my entire view on their dynamics…
I agree that the secret relationship was something BOTH of them agreed to, and I also agree that Luke was wrong to reject going public when Tao finally brought it up. That absolutely contributed to her insecurity.
But “secret” and “emotionally compartmentalized” are not the same thing.
Keeping a relationship private from coworkers doesn’t automatically mean your partner has to feel like a weekend visitor to your life while your friends/roommates share your home, dog, routines and emotional world. That’s the contrast Luke has been struggling with.
And saying “if Luke had agreed in year four, Tao WOULD have integrated him more” is still an assumption. Maybe she would have, we don’t know. What we actually saw is that both of them spent years reinforcing each other’s insecurities in different ways.
As for Yuan Zhu, I’m not blaming Tao for his feelings. She didn’t know. But finding out that he genuinely loved her absolutely changes the context when people previously mocked Luke for sensing an emotional closeness and feeling insecure about it.
Luke’s tantrums and harsh words are his responsibility. Tao keeping him at arm’s length is hers. Both things can be true at once.
No proper character growth. Atleast Luke got some. But Tao didn't. So many issues with the storyline with cutdown.…
@Sweetreat I don’t think Luke “reverting” during one insecurity-triggered conflict means all his growth disappeared.
In Ep19 alone, he openly admits he missed her and wants a future with her, respects her decision to finish the Northwest project instead of ordering her back as her boss, praises her professionally in front of others, openly calls her his girlfriend, speaks to her mother as her boyfriend, and even talks about travelling together next year. Tao herself notices how much gentler he has become and says it finally feels like a real relationship.
Does he still relapse into sarcasm and harsh words when jealous or hurt? Absolutely. That is clearly his biggest unresolved flaw. Growth isn’t becoming a completely different person overnight; it’s improving and still sometimes failing.
And yes, Tao sometimes brings things up calmly. I’ll give her that. But communication isn’t only “not saying mean things.” It’s also including your partner before problems explode, being transparent, offering reassurance, and not repeatedly leaving them to discover important things afterward. That’s where I think she still has plenty of growth left.
Even in the latest conflict, after they finally explain the hug, Luke tells her he believes her and admits he came because he missed her badly. So clearly this isn’t simply “he never trusts her.”
My concern about the coming breakup is exactly this: I’m completely fine with Luke being held accountable for the horrible things he says and the insecurity he still needs to work on. What I DON’T want is the familiar drama route where all six years suddenly become entirely his fault, Tao gets positioned as morally above the relationship, and the reunion becomes Luke spending years proving himself while she never reflects on her own contribution.
They both lack communication in different ways. If only Luke is required to acknowledge that tomorrow, then that’s not balanced character growth, it’s just assigning one person the entire blame.
I still don't understand why tf would they make him like Flora. It has changed my entire view on their dynamics…
It changes the dynamic because the context matters.
I’m not saying Flora cheated on Luke or that she was responsible for Yuan Zhu developing feelings for her. She clearly didn’t reciprocate them, and their friendship may never have crossed a romantic boundary.
But Luke was repeatedly made to feel insecure about being kept outside Flora’s everyday life while she lived with another man, shared a home, a dog, routines and emotional closeness with him and now we know that man actually DID have feelings for her.
So all those times people dismissed Luke’s discomfort as irrational jealousy suddenly look a little different. He didn’t know Yuan Zhu liked her, but his sense that there was an emotional closeness he wasn’t part of wasn’t completely imaginary either.
And that’s what bothers me most about Flora: not that she had male friends, but that she integrated everyone else so naturally into her life while Luke — her boyfriend of six years — was still so compartmentalized.
You can disagree with my reaction, but reducing that to “you’re just looking for reasons to hate Flora” is avoiding the actual point.
No proper character growth. Atleast Luke got some. But Tao didn't. So many issues with the storyline with cutdown.…
She has never even realised that she's making any mistakes. Still the same from Ep1 till now. Tomorrow all blame will go onto Lu Nian and she'll breakup lol.
She's has had great growth in career and she's great with her friends. But emotionally not much with him.
Everyone commenting about Luke and Flora and here I am absolutely broken because of Sun Yuan suicide. He was such…
I still don't understand why tf would they make him like Flora. It has changed my entire view on their dynamics and now I hate Tao even more for not introducing Luke to anyone. Sun yu was a better choice.
Relationship needs work from both people in it. Dumping blame either way is not ideal.
For Lu Nian, I want something like:
“I hurt you. I took you for granted. I let my insecurity turn into sarcasm, jealousy and cruel words. I should have trusted you more and made you feel safer in this relationship.”
And for Tao, I want:
“I shut you out. I expected you to understand things I never properly communicated. I kept parts of my life separate from you, repeatedly made you feel like you were not a priority, and sometimes judged your reaction without acknowledging what led to it.”
THAT would feel like real growth.
What I don’t want is the drama rewriting six years of a complicated relationship into “Lu Nian was the problem, Tao endured him, therefore he must now spend years suffering, chasing and proving himself until she decides he is worthy again.”
Lu Nian absolutely needs accountability. But Tao does too.
If the reunion only requires one person to apologise, reflect and change while the other is placed on a moral pedestal, then that is not reconciliation between two flawed people. It is just punishment for one of them.
A convincing happy ending, for me, requires BOTH of them to say: “I hurt you too. I understand that now. Let’s do this differently.”
PS: I know there's no Pin option
Obviously Luke isn’t going to be equally jealous of every single person Tao interacts with. The issue is not “she spends time with other humans.” It’s the specific kind of closeness he feels excluded from.
Yuan Zhu shares her home, Luke, daily routines and emotional moments with her. That is a very different dynamic from a landlord or a female friend. And yes, Tao didn’t know Yuan Zhu liked her. I’ve already said that. I’m not blaming her for his feelings.
What I’m saying is that the reveal makes it harder to dismiss Luke’s discomfort as completely irrational, because the emotional closeness he was sensing was real, even if Tao herself never saw it romantically.
And “she wanted to go public, therefore she definitely would have integrated him fully into her life” is still an assumption. Wanting marriage or a public relationship shows she wanted something more serious, which is fair. But emotional inclusion also comes from everyday communication and making your partner feel involved, not simply changing the relationship status.
Tibet actually proves both points: Tao finally feels like they are in a real relationship, and Luke is visibly happier because he finally feels openly included too.
So I’m not saying Tao should stop having close friends. I’m saying both of them spent years wanting more security from the other while being terrible at actually giving it. That’s why I hold BOTH responsible.
For Lu Nian, I want something like:
“I hurt you. I took you for granted. I let my insecurity turn into sarcasm, jealousy and cruel words. I should have trusted you more and made you feel safer in this relationship.”
And for Tao, I want:
“I shut you out. I expected you to understand things I never properly communicated. I kept parts of my life separate from you, repeatedly made you feel like you were not a priority, and sometimes judged your reaction without acknowledging what led to it.”
THAT would feel like real growth.
What I don’t want is the drama rewriting six years of a complicated relationship into “Lu Nian was the problem, Tao endured him, therefore he must now spend years suffering, chasing and proving himself until she decides he is worthy again.”
Lu Nian absolutely needs accountability. But Tao does too.
If the reunion only requires one person to apologise, reflect and change while the other is placed on a moral pedestal, then that is not reconciliation between two flawed people. It is just punishment for one of them.
A convincing happy ending, for me, requires BOTH of them to say: “I hurt you too. I understand that now. Let’s do this differently.”
Man can't they be reasonable. Like 1 or 2 years itself is too much for me. I hate this trope of longer separation
And honestly, I still don’t get why they needed such a huge time jump just to show growth. It feels like such a lazy shortcut. Almost like a vertical drama formula: break them brutally, disappear for years, then bring them back as “changed people.”
They could’ve written a much stronger arc by letting both of them actually confront their issues, communicate, fail, improve, and grow on-screen instead of using years apart as a reset button.
Especially if Tao turns on him without even asking what really happened first, while Luke gets blamed for everything again. That’s the part I’m really not looking forward to.
But “secret” and “emotionally compartmentalized” are not the same thing.
Keeping a relationship private from coworkers doesn’t automatically mean your partner has to feel like a weekend visitor to your life while your friends/roommates share your home, dog, routines and emotional world. That’s the contrast Luke has been struggling with.
And saying “if Luke had agreed in year four, Tao WOULD have integrated him more” is still an assumption. Maybe she would have, we don’t know. What we actually saw is that both of them spent years reinforcing each other’s insecurities in different ways.
As for Yuan Zhu, I’m not blaming Tao for his feelings. She didn’t know. But finding out that he genuinely loved her absolutely changes the context when people previously mocked Luke for sensing an emotional closeness and feeling insecure about it.
Luke’s tantrums and harsh words are his responsibility. Tao keeping him at arm’s length is hers. Both things can be true at once.
I don’t think Luke “reverting” during one insecurity-triggered conflict means all his growth disappeared.
In Ep19 alone, he openly admits he missed her and wants a future with her, respects her decision to finish the Northwest project instead of ordering her back as her boss, praises her professionally in front of others, openly calls her his girlfriend, speaks to her mother as her boyfriend, and even talks about travelling together next year. Tao herself notices how much gentler he has become and says it finally feels like a real relationship.
Does he still relapse into sarcasm and harsh words when jealous or hurt? Absolutely. That is clearly his biggest unresolved flaw. Growth isn’t becoming a completely different person overnight; it’s improving and still sometimes failing.
And yes, Tao sometimes brings things up calmly. I’ll give her that. But communication isn’t only “not saying mean things.” It’s also including your partner before problems explode, being transparent, offering reassurance, and not repeatedly leaving them to discover important things afterward. That’s where I think she still has plenty of growth left.
Even in the latest conflict, after they finally explain the hug, Luke tells her he believes her and admits he came because he missed her badly. So clearly this isn’t simply “he never trusts her.”
My concern about the coming breakup is exactly this: I’m completely fine with Luke being held accountable for the horrible things he says and the insecurity he still needs to work on. What I DON’T want is the familiar drama route where all six years suddenly become entirely his fault, Tao gets positioned as morally above the relationship, and the reunion becomes Luke spending years proving himself while she never reflects on her own contribution.
They both lack communication in different ways. If only Luke is required to acknowledge that tomorrow, then that’s not balanced character growth, it’s just assigning one person the entire blame.
I’m not saying Flora cheated on Luke or that she was responsible for Yuan Zhu developing feelings for her. She clearly didn’t reciprocate them, and their friendship may never have crossed a romantic boundary.
But Luke was repeatedly made to feel insecure about being kept outside Flora’s everyday life while she lived with another man, shared a home, a dog, routines and emotional closeness with him and now we know that man actually DID have feelings for her.
So all those times people dismissed Luke’s discomfort as irrational jealousy suddenly look a little different. He didn’t know Yuan Zhu liked her, but his sense that there was an emotional closeness he wasn’t part of wasn’t completely imaginary either.
And that’s what bothers me most about Flora: not that she had male friends, but that she integrated everyone else so naturally into her life while Luke — her boyfriend of six years — was still so compartmentalized.
You can disagree with my reaction, but reducing that to “you’re just looking for reasons to hate Flora” is avoiding the actual point.
She's has had great growth in career and she's great with her friends. But emotionally not much with him.
Sun yu was a better choice.