With sincere apologies to Dai Gaozheng fans, but this was a surprisingly cringy mini drama that was marred by cheesy over-acting and poor voice dubbing, and a silly, amateur script filled with stiff dialogue. I’ve seen enough solid short-length dramas with tightly written scripts to know that quality storytelling, pacing, and tension-building can be done successfully even when an episode is just a few minutes long.

For a supposedly smart FL with a reputation that precedes her, she’s incredibly silly with her reckless rendezvous with the ML. Her memory was practically photographic at one point -- until it wasn’t. Everything had no cure, until it did. At every turn, they were groping and kissing each other aggressively even at the risk of being discovered, yet in the privacy of a room at the Poppy Inn, they were suddenly acting demure, cutesy, and mindful? Lol, right.

Ever since Dai Gaozheng blew onto the C-drama scene with his alpha male role in the steamy Maid’s Revenge Republican mini-drama two years ago, fans have been swooning over him. I’ve seen a ton of short-length dramas and have watched every drama in which he plays the lead role. While some are better than others, I do not believe he has quite the range to upgrade to full-length dramas, unfortunately. His best scenes were the emotional ones where he is trying to hold back tears. A major part of the problem is that he also appears increasingly plastic-like, a Ken doll with limited facial movements.

Overall, the second half was much better when the story focused on the couple. But I struggled to make it through the first half. If you are a Dai Gaozheng fan, by all means, watch and enjoy. The sets look good, and of course, there is plenty of kissing, gratuitous shirtless scenes, and glimpses of his abs (even those don’t look quite natural somehow?). For the rest of us, it's a pretty safe skip.