CasualCDfan

"she does everything for him, fulfils all his emotional needs, cooks for him, cleans, serves him. That's not really love it's just convenient to have someone like that around."

Love is usually like that. You do a lot for the other person while not expecting much in return.

"The ML is repeatedly getting jealous for no reason at all, cause Hu Xiu doesn't like Pei Zhen and he knows Pei Zhen is acting like that to get on his nerves. Pei Zhen can't even be considered a typical second male lead, cause FL doesn't like him and he doesn't like her. "

Every drama of this genre needs an obligatory jealously arc no matter how unnecessary it may be. It's lazy writing. I wish they spent more time on the ML dealing with his trauma instead of wasting scenes on these jealously bits.

No, she didn’t handle everything well. If she had, she’d be the worst kind of character: one without flaws. She badly misread him at the New Year’s gathering and went in for an ill-timed kiss. And no, I’m not saying she should babysit him either, that’s a straw man. What would be meaningful character development is her recognizing that she misread him and trying to understand him more.

That said, I agree he also bears responsibility. Afterward, he should have communicated instead of distancing himself. My point is that they both made missteps. She acted boldly and was rejected because she misunderstood the person she was with. He, in turn, should have told her something was wrong (even without going into details) rather than leaving her to wonder what she’d done wrong. They both need to come around because they both committed missteps. Good writers understand that they're dealing with flawed characters.

It's like they have to do the cliche jealousy trope.

I get it, the jealousy arc is a staple in these dramas. But many are so cliché and really don't add anything other than angst. In this drama, the ML doesn't need to be made jealous (although he's overthinking); he needs someone to support him as he confronts his sad past. I also hate the fact that the writer will NOT address the fact that the FL misread the ML's feelings on New Year'sday. They frame the rejection as entirely his fault.

ml actually did the right thing. The fl misread the situation. I’m not sure what her freedom has to do with anything

You’ve described her character flaw perfectly. I hope that she’ll realize that she misread him. Because realistically a guy will not share certain feelings with his significant other unless he’s probed.

I hope she takes the first step in reaching out to him. I hate how clueless they made her regarding his feelings.

So they finally get together in episode 19? I might fastfoward through episode 17 - 18. I have zero patience for jealousy/misunderstanding/miscommunication arcs.

Yeah, I think more context is coming. lol

The knee-jerk reaction is to blame ZY for breaking HX's heart. But HX is at fault.

She misread the whole situation at the New Year's gathering. ZY clearly had a lot on his mind. He didn't even want to stay over. At dinner, he was distant and emotionless. She should have tried to find out what was wrong. If he didn't want to share, she should've just given him space or stayed by his side. Instead, she went for a poorly timed kiss.

Harsh as it was, ZY did the right thing by turning away. He wasn't in the mindset to accept that kiss. However, in true dramatic style, both sides engage in terrible communication.

Now time to fast-forward through the next 2 episodes. I have zero patience for the upcoming jealousy/miscommunication/misunderstanding arc. It seems like things will get back on track for our main couple in episode 19.

I'm actually pissed that they're ruining the secondary couple. I was rooting for their marriage. I hope they can survive. As for the primary couple, I guess we gotta get through a few episodes of this shananigahn with Pei Zhen. I'm happy that Hu Xiu set some boundaries. I just hope they don't overdo Zhi Yu's jealousy arc. Those two need to communicate.

In the novel, Ning Yi has 3 wives: Su Tan Er, Lu Hongti, and Lui Dabiao, and 3 concubines: Xiao Chan, Nie Yun Zhu, and Jin’er. He has like 7 kids between them. The drama is a different story entirely. lol

100% this!

Thanks for warning me. I shows when 90% of the main characters are scheming jerks. I need people to root for.

In the first half of this drama, Bing Zhu outshines Hong Ye. I was expecting the leads to lead, not take a back seat to support characters. When the secondary couple (which are two SUPPORT CHARACTERS) has a more believable and better-written romance than the main couple, a large part of your audience will grow frustrated. I welcome AI making these writing decisions in the future. Humans are idiots

There are more male geniuses. So this tracks.

Is Hong Ye even the ML at this point? I'm thinking of dropping this. On top of that, the secondary couple seems better written than the main one. Who made those writing decisions?

For a support character, Bing Zhu gets a lot of screentime.

It's a pretty good drama overall. But it's hard not to focus on the romance since it is central to the plot.