A lot of people complained that this show was slow, which worried me. C-dramas aren't my favorite, because they tend to be bloated with filler, drama, unnecessary breakups, not to mention the helium-voices of the female characters. What made me decide to watch this, I have NO idea, but I'm so glad I did!

There are certainly things missing from this show. Disapproving parents, irritating second leads, stupid misunderstandings that cause a long break up (there was one brief argument, but that's it), irritating-voice dubbing (though, to be fair, the dubbing of the voices of the announcers during the competitions, and when Yi Yang was singing to Yin Guo were pretty bad), evil exes coming back after years and wanting to get back together, delusional potential girlfriend/boyfriend doing anything they can possibly do to win the leads over - all of that was thankfully left out.

True, it is slow, but in this case, I loved it. It wasn't story or character driven; it was relationship driven. Leo Wu as Yi Yang and Zhao Jin Mai as Yin Guo were a couple made in heaven. He sees her from afar and determines that he has to meet her. Theirs is a tentative relationship, not really knowing how to talk to one another. His stares - oh my goodness. The word "smolder" in the dictionary should have his picture next to it! Whenever he looked at her, he forgot everything around him, and I forgot to breathe. More often than not, I felt like a voyeur because of their intimate glances and comfortable skinship, They really played that up as well, with their friends always averting their eyes, leaving the room quickly, clearing their throats, etc. Their kisses weren't the best I've seen, but they weren't bad. I loved how he always wanted to be near her, or he'd hold onto her sleeve briefly. I loved how she wasn't skittish or missish. Neither had been in a relationship before, but they were learning as they went. They were respectful of each other and of the time demands required of their careers. I felt that the ending was a little rushed, but since we got so much togetherness throughout the episodes, I can't complain too much.

There was "sort of" a second couple in Yin Guo's half-brother, Xiao Dong (excellent job by Wang Xing Yue) and one of the other billiard managers. I wish they had resolved their relationship better. At the beginning it was like he had a stick up his butt and he didn't appear to like anyone or anything, but he really went to bat for Yi Yang and Yin Guo's relationship.

Filmed mostly in Finland, the scenery was beautiful, though how they managed to have so many different winter jackets is a mystery to me.

There was a LOT of talking about and showing billiards and snooker. That got to be pretty repetitive. Then there was the obligatory section toward the end that was cheerleading for China. I will just fast forward through all of that, since I will DEFINITELY be watching this again!

There was one episode that had me grabbing my tissues. Leo Wu brokenhearted about his teacher really got to me.

This, for me, was a total feel-good watch. I vacillated between secondhand embarrassment of their skinship, and just wanting to watch their relationship develop. This show made me happy, and I smiled a lot while watching it.