I loved Jeremy Tsui's acting in Legend of the Phoenix and thought I'd give this drama a shot. I'm not a big fan of romance-heavy dramas as I often find their plots boring and frustrating and this drama for me was a perfect mix, a plot-driven story enriched by its romance and the great chemistry between the two main leads. This story largely focuses on Qiu Yan and her family in the first part, but takes more than enough time later on to develop the feelings between her and Liang Yi. This was quite the relief to be honest, because I couldn't relate to her fawning over Qin Xuan at all. He seemed like an incredibly bland person to me, but I liked the way Qiu Yan explained her feelings for him later on in the drama. The plot stayed strong until the last few episodes where it seemed like someone had felt the sudden urge to throw in a few last-minute plot twists and turns that seemed pretty illogical and left an unsatisfying aftertaste.

The one thing I absolutely hated about this drama was Qiu Min, the female lead's younger sister. Such an innocent-looking little girl. She keeps saying she admires and cares about her sister right up until the last episode. SPOILER AND RANT ALERT.

I don't think watching your older sister almost die at least twice and not only looking not worried, but almost relieved at the possibility to not have to stand in your sister's shadow anymore gives you any right to say these words. Yes, Qiu Min didn't have it easy, either. Yes, it was terrible that that guy raped her and yes, I can understand her being scared. But why on earth does she think she can go and to the SAME THING to Qin Xuan and still have the guts to try to defend herself? Let's face it: If a man had gotten a woman drunk, drugged her and intentionally dressed like her crush to make her sleep with him, everyone would have started screaming 'rape' immediately. No, she didn't tie him to the bed, but he certainly didn't consent to sleeping with her, Qiu Min, even in his drunk state, much less would he have done it sober. Not a single comment I've read, either here or on YouTube, mentions that word. Maybe it was just so obvious that no one bothered to? Him being drunk alone would have made it questionable. Not only did she also drug him and make him think she was her sister, she later also told him he had raped her, not the other way around. I'm not saying that part shouldn't have been in the drama, I actually like the fact that the lead's own sister is this evil. What bothers me is the fact that none of the main characters picked up on how messed up that was and just sort of accepted Qiu Min's "This was my only choice, sister, not everyone is as lucky as you." I can't believe they made Qin Xuan fall for her in the end after having heard everything she'd done to him with his own ears. I also can't believe that happily watching her sister almost die twice and getting her and her whole family in trouble for her own selfish reasons countless times can be redeemed with that one action in the second to last episode. If I was Qiu Yan, realistically speaking, I wouldn't be able to be in the same room as that person, much less smile and hug and pick flowers. Oh, but Qiu Min likes herself now, isn't that a relief. Surely she knows what she's done wrong. Surely she regrets it.

I don't mind the fact that there is a character like this in the drama. While I'm angry that the other characters don't seem to care much about what kind of person she is, at least not enough to actually take any action, that's what the story is like and I can accept that. What I can't accept is the fact that half the comments I read - up until long after she'd slept with (raped) Qin Xuan - criticized Qiu Yan for being too harsh to her and 'forcing' Qiu Min to do the things she did. While the other half did criticize her, said she took advantage of him etc., the word 'rape', or even the smallest hint that that's what she did, wasn't uttered a single time and while it's just a drama, I find that pretty concerning.

While Qiu Min's constant wide-eyed self-pitying while committing some of the most selfish, vile actions I've ever seen from a female character made her scenes hard to watch, I enjoyed everything else about this drama very much. The acting was very good and the plot-to-romance-ratio was pretty much perfect in my opinion. All in all, it is a drama well worth watching if you have the patience to ignore one very annoying and frustrating side character.