Suprisingly excellent

This is the first romance drama I have ever watched. To be honest, I started watching it because of Xiao Zhan. However, I did not expect to like it all that much since this is really not a genre I usually choose. I prefer thrillers, horror, crime etc. so I expected this drama to be more of a background noise or that I would keep my finger glued to the FF key. That was not the case. The drama was easy to watch, not too saccharine, and I was able to look past most of its problems due to the excellent chemistry between the leads, mostly great acting and a very sweet soundtrack.

Story: The story is not particularly new or original. During the first few episodes I had a problem with the overbaringness of the FL's father and the unrealistic portrayal of the medical stuff. I had to often remind myself that this is a romance drama and that they were never going to devote much time to the details of the doctors' work. So, while the hospital and the father's cancer are depicted in a sanitized way, the emotions that arise when a close family member is dealing with such an illnes were presented very well. As time went on, the father grew on me and his death made me cry uncontrollably. I have to say that the final two episodes are one of the best and most emotional portrayals of different stages of grief I have ever seen.
The love story itself was sweet and not toxic. Both ML and FL were sometimes very stupid and dense but that's how people are when they're in love. Their romance was believable and the ending was georgeous. Even the two other love interests for the ML and FL were only annoying for a few episodes so I appreciate there were no unnecessarily prolonged love triangles in the drama. The score is not a 10 mainly because of the unoriginality and the obnoxious side characters. San San was super annoying, selfish and conceited. I dont' think her and Gu Xiao should have ended up together. And that sentiment is doubled in the case of our thrid couple. Yi Xi's continuous insistence that the boyfriend was the one who should apologize and that it was all his fault was grating. I have to give kudos to the screenwriters who dedicated the final few episodes mostly to the leads and the FL's father because focusing on the other two couples would have truly spoiled the mood and the emotionality of those episodes.

Acting/Cast: This being a romantic drama (sometimes a rom-com), I didn't expect a huge acting range. Both XZ and YZ did very well with what they were given. They embodied the characters perfectly and they truly shined in the more emotional scenes. The chemistry between them was top notch. I was surprised at how well they sold their love story in only 29 episodes. There were no awkward or unnatural moments, and every hug, kiss and conversation seemed real. I deducted half a point for the actress who played SanSan because she overacted in basically every scene she was in and for the ML's parents who seemed wooden (although the script didn't really give them anything to go on).

Music: Wonderful and sweet, I can't get the songs out of my head.
Rewatch value: High, although I'm not sure I would be able to watch the final episode again, it hits very hard.

Overall: The drama was well worth the wait and is a prime example of how you can elevate a very simple concept by hiring two talented actors. I would recommend this to anybody!

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