A coming of age drama that spans a decade. I won't repeat the synopsis nor what many others have written. I was pulled to this drama for WRC and he didn't disappoint. For a 24 year old, his acting is actually quite good. He has a very good sense of range of emotion. His past characters have all been arrogant yet sexy men, and here he brings that essence with him. But at the same time there's an immaturity, yet loyalty to those his character considers to be a good friend. As the 5 best friends go from high school and into college (well 4), they face more challenges but also the story grows in angst. This part I felt could have been tapered down a bit. Even when there is unrequited love in a series with 36 episodes, with multiple characters, and a group friendship dynamic, more of it should be shown.

The time lapses worked fine until the very last one which literally made no sense. I put full blame on the screenwriters. From what I understand, they were trying to create a happy ending from a sad one; and while I applaud that (the proposal was epic to say the least!), the separation of the leads should have been handled way better and not for 5 years. The disconnect starts in episode 33 and just snowballs throughout 34. 35 is well structured and quite funny and of course 36 takes the cake.

I loved Tao Tao's character because she knew her own worth and grew quite quickly and who doesn't want a best friend who hands the reigns of her own wedding to her two HS friends one of whom wants to propose to the other? She dropped her college boyfriend after he was less then committed but still managed to part ways in peace. They all grew a lot but I feel her character evolved the most.

What would have given this series a higher score from me would have been more of their group dynamic in college, less angst, no needless additions of the two completely useless characters to further make misunderstandings and separate the leads who then disappeared without a trace, and a more cohesive way to separate the leads for a period of 2 years max so they could both grow into their own selves as working, independent adults.

Shi Yi's reasons for going should have been because he was getting an amazing opportunity to study medicine, that he wanted to step out of his father's shadow, that he would always return even with the tweak that XJ didn't give him the answer he wanted; it's not like he had proposed to her, so what exactly could be expected? The ebb and flow of a cohesive transition was not there and it hurt the ending a lot. Cut ties and run and make sure she wouldn't get to him in time? I'm sorry but even writing 101 would stick a failing grade on that setup.

I would also have rewritten the Lin You arc because Chen Lang deserved way better then being left in the cold despite her and ex bfs history. Because she ended up with a foreign husband back in China; which made even less sense. She obviously broke up with her ex, she could have just as easily reconnected with CL and they could have conversed long distance until she returned and even he could have visited her abroad; that would have been a more mature and realistic way to properly close that out. That was another plot slip for the screenwriters.

I would rename this series "The Road Long Traveled" as a tick off the Robert Frost poem. Shi Yi's emotions and his ways of expressing them sometimes made me think the dude was bipolar but I understood that he frequently had the "talk first, think later" approach. But when he was proposing to Xiao Ju, I could tell he had grown a lot. My probably favorite moment of that last episode was when she said yes and he closed his eyes in relief. It felt like over a decade and 200 pounds were lifted off his shoulders. He finally got the girl he'd loved before he even knew he did; the first overtures came in episode 8.

Is this series worth watching? Sure! Does it have problems? Yep. But I'm still glad I watched it even when I wanted to smack them for their lack of balls or to stop being so angsty. Everything for just about everyone worked out in the end and the best part was that the 5 best friends that went to the Yun Hai beach after finishing HS, were all back together in the same room and still had that group dynamic that made them so lovable and strong in the first place.

So I say, watch it and form your opinions for yourselves. :)