It's a slow burn romance that'll either have you enter a love-hate relationship with.


STORY:

While in college Yu Zhen had is first and only lover suddenly leave him. Now, 7 years later he is still hurt and traumatized by the incident. Yu Zhen eventually takes over Jingcherng Metalwork and Desgin after it nearly goes bankrupt. He doesn't make much changes, only implementing one rule prohibiting any employees from being in relationships or being married. This rule doesn't sit well with all the employees including Shin Lei. Shin Lei and Yu Zhen constantly butt heads over this rule at the studio and also butt heads over new rules Yu Zhen had put in the employee share house. Fed up with Yu Zhen's domineering attitude Shin Lei and the other employees come up with the idea for Shin Lei to snoop around Yu Zhen to figure out his weakness.

This story will drive you insane! It is a slow burn romance, so there is a lot of will they, won't they in the series. Not only that, but Yu Zhen is a totally different person at home and in the studio that you'll wonder if he's really the same person. There were times I hated Yu Zhen, especially in the beginning since he came off as so arrogant, but like Shin Lei, we slowly get to learn that Yu Zhen isn't an ass like he makes himself out to be. However the pacing is insanely slow. Fortunately I watched it all in one go, but if I had to wait week by week to watch this, I would be burnt out and probably have dropped the series. It's literally a slow burn.

The ending was also strange, it wasn't terrible, but it was awkward. They set up an interesting plot by bringing in Yu Zhen's Ex, but his Ex brings nothing to the story. He literally makes the ending awkward. His Ex is only there for the last 3 episodes or so, but the last 3 episodes were the weakest. Instead of trying to set him up as some competition for Shin Lei, then make him start hitting on Shin Lei to make competition for Yu Zhen, only for them to say "Surprise! It was all a prank to see if you loved Shin Lei!" They should have either literally kept him as trying to win Yu Zhen's heart back or just not included him completely. I'm pretty sure most of us would have been satisfied with Shin Lei confessing his feelings for Yu Zhen, then watching Yu Zhen figuring out if he wanted to date Shin Lei or not. Yes it would have been less episodes, but we wouldn't mind. Bringing in the Ex made it messy and confusing. Other than that it was good.

Yu Zhen & Shin Lei

They were a nice couple and had really good chemistry together. It wasn't mind-blowing chemistry like Gao Shi De and Zhou Shu Yi from We Best Love, but Yu Zhen and Shin Lei had something. Their scenes looked very realistic. You could see them slowly learning to understand and care for each other. As each episode passed there was less fighting and more compassion. By the time we get towards the end of the series we're practically begging for them to get together. I really liked how Shin Lei was able to break down all the wall that Yu Zhen built without overstepping his boundaries. There was a lot of mutual respect between them. I hope they will last for eternity.

Yu Zhen & Shin Lei & Shin Lei's Mom

Shin Lei's mom is such a treasure. I wish all parents were like her. Not only did she accept Shin Lei coming out of the closet, she took care of Yu Zhen as her own son. She also has a fantastic relationship with Shin Lei, where they have their disagreements, but they can sweep it under the rug and laugh about it after. He can talk to her about anything and not feel judged for it. I think all mom's should be like Shin Lei's mom. Bonus points since she's also hilarious on top of being caring.

Yu Zhen & His Ex

I already wrote a lot about his Ex, but I want to add a little more. I hate how they tried to make his Ex a good guy although they set him up as a bad guy in the beginning. They should have just stuck with him being the antagonist. I also was really uncomfortable with all the scenes showing him being all touchy-feely with Yu Zhen and Shin Lei. I guess I can give a pass to the Shin Lei scenes since it makes Yu Zhen uncomfortable, but I hated when they showed flashbacks from the past or those dreams with Shin Lei and Yu Zhen making out with his Ex. I understand that Yu Zhen has a past with this guy, but I really don't need to see it. It just made me uncomfortable. I swear Yu Zhen had more kiss and make out scenes with his Ex than with Shin Lei when the series is supposed to be about Yu Zhen and Shin Lei, not his Ex.

Zhao Gang & Si Qi

They were a breath of fresh air since it was good to see them get together so quickly while Yu Zhen and Shin Lei took ages to get together. That being said, I did feel like their storyline was a bit out of place. Being a foil to Yu Zhen and Shin Lei is fine, there is no complaints, bur I did find that Gang having commitment issues was out of character since he was supposed to be the big brother that you can talk to that knows all the answers. It was strange to see that he was giving advice on relationships, but wasn't able to execute them. One top of that not only did it get solved way too quickly, the answer to commitment issues was for Si Qi to propose and Gang to accept the proposal signifying he's over his commitment issues. I just don't believe that, nor do I see it being the answer. They were also dating for less than a year, maybe even less than six months at that point, so their ending was strange too. Cute couple otherwise.

Xiao Qian & Wang Jing

They were a strange pair. I couldn't tell if they were dating before Wang Jing proposed or what their exact relationship was even throughout the series. Even their ending is strange since we don't know if they got married or if they didn't. There was no conclusion to their storyline. Other than that I found them to be funny. They weren't overbearing or annoying, they were just funny. I like this couple. Yes, they are an odd couple, but they work for the story.


OVERALL:

This is a nice story to watch. Yes it's a slow burn, but it was good. The last 3 episodes were messy compared to the others, but it was good to watch. I highly recommend it if you like slow burn romances.