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In the novel he has a young love sweetheart from school, an "everyone expects us to get married after graduation" type situation but then she pursued career etc instead. So he's definitely not without baggage and never interested in another woman. But it's not super fraught either. He's not still in love with an ex.

It's an adaption of a novel. The novel really gets into tcm and yes it really does list all these herbs all the time lol. The live action is just adapting that aspect faithfully.

In the novel, all of this was handled really well. it wasn't OTT and both FL and ML never disappointed me in how they responded to the situation. as long as it follows the novel, I wouldn't stress about it. One thing I very much appreciated about the novel is that it allows that yes the FL experiences realistic abuse and harassment situations that occur to real young women. But it's not overblown angst & drama or drama's sake and it is something that FL is able to overcome and not allow it to define her. Nor is the ML gonna let this define her or change how he views her. And nothing causes him to blame her or break up with her or anything like that.

I think it's in character for her, as in the novel we see a lot of her mentally separating things in "mildly aggravating but not a threat" and "threat" and she generally takes a deep breath and mentally moves on from anything that's not a true threat. This comes from having experienced deep trauma and thus anything Not That she tells herself, 'eh, whatever. I've handled worse". The intern is NEVER someone who she feels is a real burden or source of fear. So her modis operandi would be to process the frustration/impatience and move on.

tbh the webnovel novel has even MORE tcm lmao. the vibe wasn't "propaganda", it's instead like when you read a web novel or fanfic and it's super clear what the writer's special interest is. the author was obviously very into tcm and wanted to use all their knowledge for the story. their passion for the subject was pouring off the pages. I don't know much about the subject but I tend to find that a bit endearing when I encounter writers online who are just hyped about something and want to share. So it didn't bother me.

hyped for this because I read the novel and it was just chill and good vibes between good people, and sometimes that's all I want after a tough day at work 😊

there isn't at all. he's not even an option that registers for her. she doesn't even notice his crush until after the fact in the novel lmao. poor kid.

I saw it loaded as 1 "full" drama on YouTube. I think someone posted a YT link in the MDL comments here. If that link doesn't work, keep searching through YT and Daily Motion. Someone who is a fan of vertical dramas will load it :) It's worth the search imo. If no other reason than to see the 2 actors prove they can also deliver a role that has nothing to do with looks, sensual makeouts, or rich people dramatics.

Truly! Dai Gao Zheng blew my mind here. I honestly had no idea he could deliver a nuanced, subtle performance like this. Not wooden or melodramatic at all... the acting felt fluid and natural.

A very rare perfect 10 drama for me. I had no idea this ML actor was capable of a performance at this level. Authentically very good!!

Yeah I feel like there are a certain set of tropes that come with a genre. Melodramatic romances have certain tropes, family conflict dramas have certain tropes, rom come have certain tropes, and police/military do too. Glorifying the main characters as big heroes who defend justice and protect the country, their sacrifices remembered... this comes with the genre. Sometimes the tropes can be overblown and exaggerated. Everyone has different tolerance levels for a set of tropes.

I'd say if a person is comfortable with and enjoys American TV shows about cops, soldiers, or humanitarian workers then they would be fine with this series. Same level and type of propaganda. If you are turned off by it in USA programming, you likely won't like it in CN programming. If you are used to it in USA TV and have learned to "tune it out" then it won't bother you. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

at ep 16 and I started thinking about how they're using a lot of real sets instead of just CGI. It's less seamless, sometimes looks a bit cheap if you inspect closely, but it also feels more real in a way and I think it will make the drama age well. And I'm just appreciative of set designers MAKING THINGS that the actors are surrounded by and can touch.

On ep 14 and so far the best part of this xanxia is letting the demon/yao team take center stage. When the FL chooses to roll with the demon sect instead of trying to be included by the immortals sect, and FY's 2 disciples get to show more of their personality, I knew I'd love this drama. The pretentious and self-righteous gods and immortals tend to start getting on my nerves in many xanxias. They're just so often the primary POV of the narrative that it wears thin.

I prefer this one too, you're not alone. For instance, the performance from the ML was good acting choices imo. There's this subtle defiance and an intensity in him. He's imperfect in interesting ways. Like they don't spell it out but subtextually it's clear he very much dgaf if it's emotional cheating for not, he's gonna steal this jerk's gf if he can and refuse to feel bad about it. And the drama sells me on the couple feeling that attraction-spark upon first meeting and illicit wanting each other. You feel how she had gone cold and dead to romance & sexual attraction from her long rotten relationship... and now she is thawing and waking up.

thank you!! <3

Is it actually a satisfactory, happy ending to stop at ep 28? Would that be a workable way to experience this drama?

there's a breakup for some episodes but it's pretty justified. when it was airing, I feel like most commenters at the time thought it wasn't an overreaction. FL and ML running into a conflict about him being under the emperor's thumb was inevitable. (it wasn't about love rivals or petty jealousy or a dumb misunderstanding).

like bruh it's normal to be glad an annoying character is gone 🤣

Where do the frustrating and angsty episodes start? Episode 30? So potentially the last 10 episodes are angst? 🤔