Li You in Zai Xia Li You and Fan Xian in Joy of Life have both come from the future. Therefore they have read all the poetries written in later times in school. When they go back to ancient times, they recite all those famous poems written by well known poets, and amaze everyone. They are thought to be the geniuses and are respected by all.

Both dramas have settings of a female-centric world where women's and men's roles are switched. It is interesting to see all the women hold power and important office, and the men have to kowtow to them. All the noble titles are passed down to daughters instead of to sons. In marriages, the men married into the women's households. In this drama, men stay home and do chores, do embroidery, and entertain the women in dances and more.

A cute little boy (same actor) comes and bring a couple together. Though the boy is not the biological child, he and the couple make a perfect family.

The Story of Xing Fu is partially adapted from Chen Yuanbin's novella The Wan Family's Lawsuit (????) which was also made into a movie in 1992, The Story of Qiu Ju, directed by the acclaimed Zhang Yimou and acted by the gorgeous Gong Li. The earlier story was set around the 1980s when rural life was harsh, and the country’s economic miracle was still at its infancy.
The Story of Xing Fu is set in the late 2010s, and viewers can see the marked improvement of village life compared to the 80s, but the rural-urban divide is stark.

Both dramas have male leads that almost feel like second male leads because both don't get their girls until many years later. Both spend wonderful college time with the girls they love but the girls love another men instead.

The settings of both dramas is around the same time period: Romance of Our Parents before and after the Cultural Revolution, and Dear Parents right after the Cultural Revolution. The parents of both dramas are intelligent, humorous and very much in love with each other. They go through all the ups and downs together, taking care of their children, ensuring their bright future paths, and solving all the internal family conflicts.

In both dramas, the FLs have crushes on the valedictorians. Later the girls fall in love with the MLs who are infamous for being mischievous but with good hearts, and they have had bad starts with.

Both dramas take place during Ming Dynasty. Displaying all Confucian values and teachings. Orthodox and conservative. Aristocrat families with a lot of family politics. Difficult mother-in-law.

In both dramas, there's a bride switch, the rich men accidentally marry the wrong girls who are also very poor but later fall in love with them.

The Detective 2 is a continuation of The Detective 1. All the unsolved crimes continue in The Detective 2, and the romance of the leads also blossoms in the second part.

Both dramas are about ancient detectives, mysteries, deaths, crimes, investigation, forensic. Smart and quirky main leads. Fast pace stories.

Similar vibes. Silly, outrageous, and yet funny and endearing. Similar type of jokes with unexpected twists. Bombastic characters and yet also self-deprecate. Crazy, scary situations turn up good and winning for the protagonists through good luck. Adorable characters.