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He falls first because at first she isn't thinking of romance. Things are not "even" at first because they're not on the same page at all and she is focused on economic factors, bettering her life. But once they are a real couple and she falls for him too, then they're partners and both support each other. It's that in the start, we can't expect her to be devoted when she doesn't see him that way yet.

"comes back to her" refers to the start of the drama. ml knew her as kids and is returning to the village.

The reason she keeps being passed over is that there are only a few university spots at this time. And getting a spot isn't based purely on test scores, you need to be nominated/selected. It's basically true throughout history, everywhere in the world, that people will start scheming and lying to get ahead whenever there are a limited amount of something that is life-changing.

So what's happening is that she keeps being told "next time" because someone else gets the spot that year. Why someone else? Because other people had better connections, timing, or popularity. It's not some vast conspiracy against HER personally in all the past years. It was that someone else always won the place. This year, when the drama opens, she finds a way to stand out and get noticed. It really SHOULD have been her year! But that mean girl had it out for her and did actively sabotage her. :(

if you watch 1980-90s era dramas, you can see that was the time of transition

Tale of Thousand Stars and Bad Buddy are both solid rom coms without too much childish characteristics. (I mean, besides the normal romcom petty antics)

TBH the novel really dragged for me in thay aspect (it goes on FOREVER) and I hope the drama speeds it up. It's not that Qin was totally unresponsive (he gave positive indications that he enjoyed being chased) but at some point it just wears on me. I understand the Duang character isn't bothered but ME, I'm bothered. I'm like you where I want to see balence in my ships and I don't like one-sided chasing for so long. I am hopeful that the drama writers want to accelerate things.

The novel has a happy ending for the 2 leads

It's a period drama. The late 1970s-1990s period is the "Reform and Opening-up" period of chinese history: 改革开放

If you don't love it by ep 15, it's just not for you and move on. It clicked for me by episode 10.

Tons of exciting things happen, and the drama gets quite dramatic and dark as it progresses, but if you don't care by now then probably you won't later.

if you look for short dramas, there are a lot of short dramas set in the 70s and 80s... but quality varies so viewer beware 🤣🤣

Yes I've seen chinese dramas set during this period and they seem pretty honest about the pressures of the time. The 70s were a time that many of our parents were alive - they recall it, it's not a secret. In many countries, this was a time with some darkness and social conflict. One thing viewers have to keep in mind is that when people of that time say political slogans or are affected by propaganda, that's a depiction of how it was in china at this point in history. It's not saying "all of this was good and right" or trying to convince you to live like them. It's a story about people in a specific time and place.

In many chinese webnovels the ML is ruthless and will eliminate people as needed to achieve his goals. I've read several where he is basically a villain (though the FL may not perceive him to be one, objectively I can see he's calculating and hurts others without blinking). "Black belly male lead" and "Ruthless male lead" are common tags.

The only non-standard characterization for a webnovel ML is that normally he WILL be in love with the FL. But in this case, there is the butterfly effect. Too many events changed and it seems now the he didn't fall in love with Yong'er this time. Therefore he doesn't get "soft only for her". He's not OOC, the right sequence of events didn't happen for him to fall in love.

I've actually seen this twice (bad ML who mistreated FL, reborn and corrects his mistakes) but don't know their names. Both were really good... so keep looking, it's out there :)

If you appreciate the setup of male scholar x female fighter, I recommend cdrama The Ingenious One. It's a male lead drama but the romance is good. He really has no fighting power at ALL and falls into her arms LMAO. It's his smarts that makes him a badass.

thank you!!!!

did the best friend and Gong get together in the end? or open ending on that potential couple?

Yeah her perception of him and attitude towards him develops and really changes as the story progresses. She ends up very ride or die for him.

also adding:Fated Hearts and Moonlight Mystique

"Moonlight Chicken", Thai BL. Older gay character called uncle by everyone - including the guy he ends up dating. It came off as cute tbh.

plus him preparing those thesis materials is part of his misunderstanding of the FL - she didn't NEED that to be done for her. she was always capable of doing it herself. he keeps assuming everything she has is due to shortcuts and connections, and thinks she is less capable and smart than the rest of the group. Yusen on the other hand always recognizes that FL is smart and determined, he tosses things on her plate because he expects she can handle it.