A beautiful story of growing up, making one's way in life, and choosing between conflicting sentiments and gratefulness.

The FL is He Luo (played by relatively unknown Bu Guan Jin ; she has since played in a number of dramas, including the main role as Chen MeiRu in witty "Dear Diary / My Babylonian boyfriend" of 2021). She is a little girl who only knew how to challenge herself on the track field until she met Zhang Yuan (played by Bai Yu, who featured in "Love O2O", and in 2018 also appeared alongside Zhu Yilong in the web drama “Guardian” : a drama that developed an online cult following which led to the actors increased in popularity )
Zhang Yuan spurred He Luo on to her new goal, which only him saw as more than an idle joke. For lack of two points, caused by a freak bicycle accident he never revealed to her, their common path in Beijing Huaqing (modeled on Qinghua) was thwarted, and He Luo was courted by another worthy young man, Feng Xiao (played by Lu ChengJue who was then a relative newcomer in c-dramas)
Feng Xiao followed He Luo to America and saved her life before step by step moving to propose. Meanwhile, Zhang Yuan had changed paths, despite his youthful promise, and struck gold with a game, but being too rash and trustful, he lost so much that he felt ashamed to hold He Luo back when he might become just another loser and drifter. His worth was still recognized by one company that helped him get back where he belonged, faithful followers, and friends ; Li YunWei and Chan Feng, Zhao Chengjie and Tian Xin (who rejected Zhao), and Zhang WeiRui "Zhang CaoCao" who boldly looked up to Zhang Yuan, but realized that his happiness was elsewhere.
Yet, for ZhangYuan to win back his girl after having pushed her away was going to take time again, and luck, and Heavens did not seem to make it easy for them to reunite, even though He Luo realized she still had feelings for her Zhang Yuan and none, beyond gratefulness, for Feng Xiao.
She could have ended up forever single, like in the song Houlai. But the drama ends on a chance meeting that could be a spark of their getting back together after having both overcome their struggles.

The story brings back many memories, for those who lived in Qingdao and Beijing in the end of the 2000s and in the 2010s, with depictions that ring very true : the angst of exams, the rally by all on the news of the Wenchuan earthquake, the life transition after the gaokao verdict, the rise of online gaming, the threat of epidemics (H7N9 avian flu of 2013 here, rather than the 2009 swine flu pandemic, caused by the H1N1 influenza virus and declared by the World Health Organization from June 2009 to August 2010 or the SARS outbreak of 2003-2004 (when severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus infected over 8,000 people from 29 countries and territories and caused disruption in travel and confinements in China).
But the story starts around 2006, and it ends before 2018, when the drama was made and released, so there's no SARS/Covid scare yet.
Some epochal events are only mentioned quicky such as the 2008 Olympics, but just as in reality, the scarcity and towering price of tickets for the live event were beyond the reach of most people, especially young students (if they were not involved in the preparation and work there, in some form).
The changing skyline and way of life is touched on by the purchase of the apartment in the He Luo development, the dinners with karaoke gatherings when the former schoolmates meet up., and the revamping of the comics store-café in Qingdao. Iconic buildings of the SOHO group in Beijing are seen, and also signature views of Qingdao and Shenzhen. There is mention of the demise of the Ferris wheel in Qingdao, which underlines the urgency of time flowing away and memories becomling bittersweet as things disappear (such as the Thanks scribbled onto a hidden corner on the roof of the school). The Ferris wheel comes back in many romance dramas and, at least since 2017, there's one standing again, 68 m tall, called the Qingdao Eye (it is located on the shore of Tangdao Bay on the west coast of Qingdao; and it has 36 viewing boxes). But this new Ferris wheel does not feature in the drama.

Food features a lot in the drama, but many signature dishes and snacks of Qingdao or Beijing (Peking duck...) are just hinted at in passing ; the dishes that comes back in cooking is the crucian carp porridge (as a difficult, but nourishing dish!) , the fangbian mian (that causes He Luo to be poisoned by gas in America, though thankfully not being exploded to pieces in her apartment), the fried noodles that Zhang Yuan gets in Beijing at the eatery, and some jianbing filled with vegetables (including the one that had a worm in it, at the university canteen). Bizarrely, He Luo who is supposedly fond of snacks and savors jiaozi or a simple stuffed baozi at her friend's grandma, favors spicy food and Sichuan hotpot: it is indeed popular throughout a good part of China, but not typical from Qingdao where she spent her childhood, and not seen in her home, where her absent dad is only stationed in Sichuan or "the south". As for beverages, beer is ubiquitous, although there is no dwelling on the signature Qingdao beer, and no hint of other popular brands of Beijing. Orange juice is often seen, as well as the Nongfu spring water bottles. At one moment Zhang Yuan hurts his stomach through accepting a drinking challenge involving drinking Moutai from the bottles (!) Lesser or more expensive brands of baijiu (Beijing erguotou, or high end Wuliangye) are not seen. There are dinners at a sushi restaurant, but in other ones, I noticed the absence of the habitual watermelon slices or juice..

All this contributes to the slice of-life feel of the drama, although there is so much focusing on the sentimental struggle and job- or studies-related entanglements, that sometimes, it detracts from a clean and legible storyline. The reluctance to kiss, hug, touch or more by the protagonists of what is a romance feels sometimes extreme, although the slapping away Feng Xiao's hand is quite in character at the moment it happens. This drama is not for those who yearn for kisses and sweet touching on screen. The growth of the characters through the years is accompanied by changing outfits (although nothing spectacular) and make-up, but i am puzzled by the ML hairstyle in the later episodes, which does not really tie in with that of a director, be he a geek gamer or not.

The OST music at the beginning and end of episodes is pleasing and the performance by He Luo at various moments of some signature songs of the time too (Houlai, by Rene Liu, was first released in 2000, but was indeed very popular at the end of the decade and even into the 2010s.) But sometimes, the background music interferes with the dialogues.

Will this be of rewatch value? Maybe. I watched it as a comparison with the "90's Beijing Fantasy", another youth drama that triggered a trip down memory lane, for me.