This drama is actually really, really good… a strong and smart female lead who has quite a temper, a lot of attaching characters (even the villains eventually grow on the viewer), each having a personal and interesting story. I especially like the fact that none of them is all black or white, but even when they start off as bad people, they reveal some qualities. Also, the intrigue never stops : we always have some new event, something going, which gives a good pace to the plot
I’d say my favorite point is how the female lead slowly but surely wins over everyone around her, especially her students with her wits and character. She may first appear as the usual brainless tomboy but the viewer quickly realizes she’s far from being ordinary.
Unfortunately, the story has a big flaw that stops it from being as good as it should be : the lead couple. The male lead, played by Zhang Zhe Han, could be very annoying : cold, insensitive, narrow-minded, he doesn’t start off as very likeable. But that could be brushed off once he blinds with Ban Shu, if it wasn’t for what I call his indecisiveness. his remaining attachment (sometimes close from obsession) to his dead lover first appeared as romantic but eventually became annoying and frustrating as it lingered through the whole drama, eventually making the female lead suffer and making the viewer feel that Ban Shu was just a substitute/consolation prize. This became even worse when his dead lover was actually revealed not to be dead : I could totally understand why he felt a duty towards her, especially after everything she’s been through, but it was especially annoying how this subplot lingered almost until the last episode, made us feel that he wasn’t really sure who, between the ex and the new lover, he now loved. The fact that he seemed to realize how much he loved Ban Shu only when he was about to lose her made this all the more frustrating. I also find it quite insatisfying that it was due to the ex-lover retrieving her memory that they were finally together. Moreover, this happened only towards the last episodes and I feel that if they had done sooner, and made the male lead clearer about his feelings would have felt better. What didn’t help is that just like a lot of other viewers, I had a big preference for the second male lead (even though I was happy about who he ended with the end and how he ended with her).
I feel obliged to specify : I do not blame the actor Zhang Zhe Han. In the rare scenes where his character had to express big emotions (his character was after all supposed to be poker face), he did a very good job.
So, in other words, I feel like if they had handled the lead couple in another way, this drama could have been really perfect (or almost).
Nevertheless, it’s still REALLY a good watch.
Another good point is that this drama had a lot of actors who weren’t much known back then but who would eventually famous actors, even stars and it’s interesting to see them when they were at their beginnings and some of them were actually still kids (ex : Zhang Zhe Han, Gavin Gao, Dilraba, Zhang Xue Ying, Guan Xiao Tong, Merxat, Jiang Yi Yi, Sun Yi, Wang Shuang, Zhang Yi Jie…)