I should preface this review by first stating that the majority of c-dramas I get invested in are historical dramas, not many modern or youth dramas. Yet I fell in love with this drama within the first few episodes, much to my own shock. I thought I'd just watch it casually or when I wanted something fluffy rather than angsty and dark. But I soon binged up to all the available episodes, that's how immersed I felt in the story.

Now that I've explained my love and attatchment to their story, as it's rare for me to be invested in a drama and main pairing like I was, I can explain why I enjoyed the majority of the story and I reccomened it to anyone with an open mind about this story.

Firstly, the story. I haven't read the orginal book but I could tell that the source material helped the writers create such a fun and exciting story off the bat (with fire crackers giving us the start to the story, literally) Anyways, I was instantly gripped by the dynamic between the leads, Shiyi and Xiaoju, which felt sort of similar to the love story dynamic of Anne and Gilbert (From Anne of Green Gables) which could certianly be a reason as to why I enjoyed watching their story unfold so much, as that book was part of my childhood, along with the mini-movies. The reason I found these two similar is because it delievers that cheeky teasing boy x girl who fights back yet is ultimately quite sensitve to his teasing at times, and they bicker, like a LOT. As well as the fact that Shiyi falls for her first, which makes the way he constantly teased her at first even funnier considering how he falls and has a crush on her before he can even come to terms with it himself.

I thought the side-characters were interesting enough as well (there's a scene with the second leads, Huang Jun and Letao, towards the end that actually led me to tears even though I didn't quite expect it from them, so their story is anything but dull.) I know many viewers were somewhat dissapointed by how Xiaoju was crushing on Chang Leng for so long, but I think that's part of what made me want to keep watching. Her pining after this guy who didn't pay her much attention after he found someone he liked, she became basically an after thought to him, but she was never an after thought to Shiyi. We as the viewers get to see first hand how nice he actually is to her and all that he does for her, even if he likes to tease with his words and deflect his feelings a lot. If this kind of drama sounds like it would intruige you, I'd advise you to watch for characters who all make mistakes in love! ALL of them. No one is perfect.

This is also a c-drama with high quality acting from both mains, and most of the supporting cast. Hu Yixuan did such a great job with the conflicts at the beginning centered around her mother and her, specifically her mother's obvious favorment of her brother over her, which isn't a rare trope, but I thought she portrayed those emotions of an older sister particularlly well. And Richards Wang stood out to me as skilled right away, he pulled off the goofy, comedic relief male lead off successfully, and I've certianly seen other actors be unable to pull this off. Another thing that struck me was their beautiful chemistry together, they had to potray leads with a friendship that dated back to high school full of teasing and that kind of acting can come off as rather fake if the actors aren't comfortable with each other but you could tell they were and understood what seemed natural for their characters in interacting.

Overall, I think if you want a drama that does slowburn well, with only a little big of dragging at the end (in my opinion they should've cut college life off a bit earlier so we could get more of their adult life) but I understand they were following the original book and they made some good adjustments to the story as well. hehe. But the payoff is worth it! The chemistry is worth it! And don't be concerned about the 2nd male lead being in the way too much or anything, Shiyi and Xiaoju become best friends basically in the middle of the drama and this leads to them being together the majority of the time. Lots of fluff and tropes done right! I'll miss this drama and I'd love to rewatch it some day. Give it a try if this review sounds like you'd be in the mood for it!