I don't write reviews often, but in this drama, I felt the urge to just write a piece of my mind.

From acting to production, directing, and music... this drama deserved more than 10....
BUT, if I were to value the script itself, ESPECIALLY in the last 6 episodes alone, I would go less than 7.

Here is my spoiler-free, short evaluation:

1. Acting 10/10

Liu Yuning blew my mind with his delivery of Ning Yuan Zhou.
He was the best leader, most charismatic man, and a strong, loyal warrior, brother, and friend. He was a cunning, smart, scheming leader of a spy organization, and a mighty enemy. He was the embodiment of a man that leads others, and when it comes to making hard decisions, despite how it might be against his morals, he doesn't act sanctimonious and hypocritical in the face of it. I truly admire and love how gray his character was.

Liu Shi Shi... She is the best, most unique, charismatic, and the strongest BADA** FL character I have ever seen in Cdrama and I so love how Liu Shi Shi brought Ruyi to life. She is beautiful, incredibly strong, and equally smart and cunning. She knows what she wants and gets it by any means. She isn't a damsel in distress, and she is so multilayered, I am in awe of her character.

Alen Fang... I love, Love Yu Shisan. His three-dimensional portrayal of this unique character: a free, charming, beautiful, playful, and as his own saying 'playboy' character deserves applause, and I will always love Yu Shisan.

The entirety of the other cast, including Chen You Wei and He Lan Dou, were all amazing and perfect in bringing out their roles.

2. Best, just Best love story in the entire cdrama land as of now! 10/10

Ning&Ruyi are the most mature, loving, equal footing, and endearing couple I have ever seen. Their chemistry is on another level and they truly complement each other.

3. Bromance 10/10

I can't say enough of it... it was Phenomenal and on another level entirely. The bromance between Ning & Shisan threw me off the loop. I never expected to see such a wholesome, beautiful display of friendship, comradeship, and brotherhood.

Not to mention the entire squad was just... They were amazing. So caring, understanding, and protective of one another. I laughed and cried with them, and because of them, and I don't regret it. Especially Yuan Lu... my baby!

4. Music 10/10

I don't know the names of other singers except Liu Yuning, but I downloaded the entire OST and play it on loop for hours. They are unbelievably perfect for the drama and magical.

5. plot ?/10

I will say it simple:
episodes 1-34 ---> 10/10
episodes 35-39 ---> 7/10
episode 40 ---> 5/10 (even this is only for the acting of casts, not the plot or story.)

6. Ending WTF

Here is my long rant, and it contains SPOILERS:

When you write a script with a strong start and a driven, AMAZING plot, you are raising the expectation of the audience, and there are certain minefields you just can't cross. Everything about this drama from the start was full of energy, funny, lively, and in a way that made me look forward to the ending day by day.

I knew certain characters wouldn't make it to the end, and I expected it because of the genre of the drama. But still, I had my expectations for this drama. I wanted to get closure regardless of it being a Sad, Happy, or bittersweet ending.
I DEFINITELY didn't want to see an open/ambivalent ending in the last 1 minute of the drama as if the scriptwriter just wanted to force-feed me the ending that made NO SENSE considering the preview sequence of TRAGEDY that we saw.
That ending that, in appearance, wanted to placate the audience and give a supposed happy ending to satisfy everyone did nothing but make me feel like the scriptwriter is treating the audience as fools.

I have seen similar messed-up endings in her other dramas before, but against my better judgment, I just truly wished that this drama would be different from her previous scripts, and I feel like slapping myself for it!
I'm still feeling numb from this ending and in no way feel reconciled with just that 1 minute of supposed HE.

Overall, I still can't say enough of how PHENOMENAL all the cast was. Especially Liu Yuning totally stole my heart with his AMAZING acting, so much so that just because of him and Boss Ning, despite knowing I'm going to cry myself to a headache, I still watched the dram until bitter end because he deserves nothing less.

I have never seen another drama of Liu Shi Shi, but she also turned out to be my favorite actress as of now. She was the embodiment of Ruyi and brought this character to life for me.

The chemistry between Ning and Ruyi was mind-blowing, and I dare to say they top the best couple in dramas of this year, if not the entirety of dramas I have ever seen- the list is endless- but they were just that phenomenal and I never expected a Chinese drama to create such a refreshing, modern, beautiful and equal footing couple, I NEVER expected it, and for that, I'm still shocked.

They are my most favorite couple of drama land as of now.

The other cast that truly stole my breath with his performance was Alen Fang, our dear, dear Yu Shisan. I must say I was surprised since the last drama I saw of him was Lang Ballad and I was SO not a fan of his character there, but he just stole my soul in this drama.

Yu Shisan will forever be the favorite playboy of my heart and I will NOT forget him.

I will still rewatch this drama when my mood is more stable and I can actually watch without crying but only from episode 1- 34

And I recommend everyone to see it because despite the unsatisfactory and shallow ending, this drama is the best of 2023 and perhaps many, many before it. I will definitely follow Liu Yuning's other drams too.

This is the end of my rant.