Look somewhere else if you want fluffy romance

I was lucky enough to have binge watch this, instead of waiting for so long waiting to get the happy ending we didn't get in season 1.
This drama is definitely not for someone looking for a happy ending you expected, but there is a happy ending.
Just like in real life, you fall in love and for one reason or another you break up, and later in life fall in love again. You don't always end up with your childhood or highschool sweet heart. You may not even end up with someone you fall head over heels for. You may end up like JoJo (and Sun Oh too), finding someone that love you and support you unconditionally and you learn to love and appreciate them eventually. Criticize all you want, but love is not always about a happy ending you want, sometime it's a happy ending you need. And learn to be happy with your choice in life.
For me, Jojo learned to really love Hye Yeong proven by her effort to remove the shield, to give him the assurance he needed through the app. That's one thing I dislike from this whole theme, how people put their trust on technology to find out if someone truly love you.

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Not your typical drama

Well this isn't your typical cdrama. Why? Because the story feels so real and relatable. Maybe because it's based on a true story. It's a breath of fresh air for me. A story about love, family, and friendship.
I usually try to avoid watching anything more than 25 episodes, because most of them have long drug out plots to extend to that many episodes. Not this one. Every episode keeps you interested on the story and characters. Two characters that really stood out for me were the step father and Fei Dachuan. Fei Dachuan was always there to help the FL. The step father was loving and supportive of the FL, treated her like his own.
This is the first drama that I'm fully invested not just on the main lead's romance but also on the second AND third couple's romance. Their stories weren't just fillers but bring colors to the drama itself.
What I like most of this drama is that there's no evil character that makes you wanna yell at the screen.
The jumping around of the time line kinda distracts me at first, but they stopped doing it after a while. It may bother some people, but the way they did the interview with the characters kinda show you that it's a happy ending since it's revealed the main leads got married on early episode.
Even though this is a more serious romantic drama, but it's real light and there were some funny moments. My favorite one was when Guan Chao stopped Yan Mo's college roommate from approaching Wu Yi at the wedding, and then later flaunted his wedding ring. I just loved his expression.

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Don't watch it if sexual assault triggers you!!!

I feel compelled to write a review when a story hits you hard. Sexual assault is not a light topic to discuss, and yet they tell the story through the eyes of the victim perfectly.

I've been watching a few of Tiffany Hsu movies lately, and by far this is her best performance. Charlize did great too portraying her younger character.
She walks us through the life of a teenage girl Lin Chen Xi who was raped by her teacher. The saddest part of this drama is her family caving in to the pressure of the principal and try to bury the scandal from the public. Growing up in an Asian country up to my teenage life, I could see how the community could see rape as something shameful, her family didn't wanna be pitied or looked down on by everyone.
For Lin Chen Xi carrying this trauma all through her life is one thing, not having the support system through her family is another whole level of suffering.

As you get the scene of the accident, it was confusing when they switched her memory the first time. Was it a dream or did she get back in time? But the whole thing made sense when she came back to reality.

For her to move through life by suppressing her memory and made something of her life was not an easy task and show her strength.
I was glad that she was able to get away from the attempted rape by her coworker and get her revenge with him.

I was a little disappointed at first that the person that raped her when she was a teenager didn't die like in her alternate reality. But to think about it he got what deserved. Living as a vegetable on a wheelchair is a better punishment for him than killing his character. And his wife who helped him bury his crime, actually hates him and wants him dead, and yet have to take care of him the rest of her life. I wouldn't say justice served on a silver platter for Lin Chen Xi, but it's an ok punishment.

I may rewatch it again in the future, but I will FF the assault scene.

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Bu Na who works in London was tricked by her parents to come back home to China. She met Jin Yang who picked her up at the airport and ended up being her hired driver while she's back home. He's a hard worker, and very dedicated at taking care of his mom who lives in a nursing home. She looks down on people, including him, and naturally he resented her for that.
One thing lead to another, she ended up hiring him as her fake boyfriend. Love grew as they spent more time together and she learned what family means from him.
Nothing spectacular on the story or acting from anyone, but not bad either.

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A Classic

I say it's a classic, because not only it has so many remakes (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Thai versions), there are also so many spin offs like Dragon Day You're Dead.
I probably should just rate this by not comparing it with the other versions, but I'm gonna do that anyway. I waited to watch the other versions first (except Japanese) before I wrote this. Each one shares the same basic story but have different details added to some to prolong the story.
Violent arrogant rich boy met his match when a poor girl who wasn't afraid of his power put him in his place. ML has a super powerful evil mother that FL isn't afraid of either. There was a moment when I wanted to root for the FL and 2ML, but it only lasted like an episode.
This one is still my favorite. Yes you can't compare the cinematography and production of this one to the more recent ones like Thai and Chinese (which is my favorite as far as cinematography goes), but I think this one has the most depth as far as characters go.
FL is the fiercest character compared to the other versions, and I can feel the ML's feeling as Jerry Yan did awesome in portraying Dao Ming Si. Although the ML is the most violent here compared to the other versions.

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Things you do for love

So many negative reviews about the story line. The thing is you won't know what you will or won't do for love until you're in their shoes.

Yi Cheng wouldn't accept any female programmers working for him because his first love supposedly betray him by selling his work to their competitor and ran away with the money. It may not make sense for you that someone could do that, or call him close minded. But everyone reacts differently to each trauma they face. I think he was just protecting himself from any chance of the same repeating heart break. Him getting into a car crash because of what she did show how devastating it was for him. So I'd give him a break for that.
The fact that he fell for Lu Li even when she was pretending to be a man to get the job, all the little things he did for her in the background, and not wanting to admit his feeling for her. That's what bothered me the most. Why wait until she leaves you and turn around chasing her, when it can be solved with good communication.

As far as Lu Li goes, call her door mat or whatever. But I don't think that's the right word for her. How many of us has fallen for someone so hard for so long that when opportunity presents itself, where you can finally be with that person, you just grabbed the bull by the horn and along for the ride, no matter how it bucks you and finally thrown you off. You can't tell me how far you'd go or how much you'd do to win the love of the person you love. And that's exactly what she did. She finally gave up on him was not because Li Man keeps throwing one jab after another, but because Yi Cheng is unwilling to communicate with her of the reason why he did what he did, causing misunderstanding between them. Like on their last fight before she left, instead of telling her the reason she can't leave is because he loves her, and yet he told her that they haven't reach the end of the contract yet. Yi Ming was so right when he told Yi Cheng he has low EQ.
Yeah Zi Tong maybe annoying to some people, but somehow I think it's cute. Just look how Yi Ming finally fell for her.
The only characters I'm not too happy about are Yi Cheng's parents. His mom is so desperate to get him settled down that she would set him up with blind dates, even when she found out that Lu Li has left him. Really? And his dad would use anything in his power to make his wife happy even if it means that his son would marry someone he doesn't love. What kind of parents are they?
I found my self rewatching certain episodes 3-4 times. I honestly think it's funny every time Yi Cheng gets drunk, especially the second time at his parents house.

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I enjoyed watching the development of character of the FL. Wen Jing blossomed from a shy country girl to a confident entrepreneur all the while maintaining her good character of putting others above her self.
I forwarded through a lot of the scenes as I found them unnecessary and boring.
In the middle of the whole thing I learned to love the relationship between Wen Jing and Ye Hui. They both sacrificed a lot to maintain their relationship. The writer spent so much time telling the stories of these two almost 1/3 of the 42 episodes) that I was sad and upset when they ended their relationship so abruptly. I found my self wishing they could've ended together at the end, because Ye Hui fought for her love all the way till the end, while the male lead watching, supporting and wishing from the side line.

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