honestly i have not been so active in dropping my reviews on MDL but i had to pen down my thoughts on this one. I did a short review in my X account but i will elaborate here on my objective thoughts of this production

disclaimer though, as a haoyan fan, i had been waiting for this collab since 2021. altho the drama production was surrounded by many skeptical comments and slanders, it still came out as a drama that was worth it and even rising to be global sensation with the international results it has achieved.

i shall not elaborate on the synopsis but i will pen what i liked and disliked about the drama:

- character development. i love that while this was a female centric drama, the development was parallel for both the male lead and female lead.
> For Zijing, no doubt he was a tragic character, carrying the burden of his family's massacre and tainted reputation and also traumatic childhood being imprisoned by his enemy for 8 years!!! suffering an incurable poison at that. his ending was bound to be a tragic one from the get go but it didnt matter to him until duanwu appeared. he lived only for revenge and was determined to die for it too. but duanwu made him rethink his decision ... from having no longing in this world, to having a reason to live... but by the time he realizes this his days were numbered. however, the ending while they didnt show him explicity dying, it was a realistic one. we all know he died in the end... but its just tragic he chooses to die away from his loved ones and perhaps no one will know where he was buried.
> For Duanwu, she was a consistent character. her spirit is to never give in to fate because she believed that everything is possible with one's will and she proved it from escaping the pearl farm, working her way up the yan trade convoy, becoming su muzhe and making a name of her own in yangzhou. she has a painful childhood, and witness time and again her loved ones leaving her ... but she didnt made revenge her only purpose in life. instead, she used it as a driving force to become better and stronger because as i said, she isnt one to surrender to fate. but what really crushed me was, despite her successes in the end, she lost everyone that were dear to her. especially losing zijing... their love enough wasnt enough to withstand the tragic fate that beholds them. like she said, their ending would have been very much different if they werent born into their respective families.
> as a couple: no doubt the chemistry was perfect! second collaboration always work for me because there's already tacit understanding between the two. also no doubts lusi has chemistry with every male lead she had worked with. plus despite the negative comments on the cnet, she recommended yuning to be her costar for this production. and they are serving both visuals, and chemistry way more than my expectations. i love that their love also grew to withstand time, from puppy love at the start, their fateful separation and getting back together where they live a simple life together... it was SOOO GOOD.
> bonus shoutout to jinran because he was such a good second male lead! he was quite forward with his feelings. but i did felt he confessed at the wrong time. he confessed at the time when he didnt understand duanwu like zijing did and perhaps like how duanwu felt, his affections perhaps to duanwu was only a form of protection, which isnt what she wants. she craves for freedom in her way. but jinran does grow to understand that, and was supportive of her and zijing till the end. rendering help to them as a couple and as individuals and telling duanwu he will remain a brother to her. then wanting to release a prisoner so that zijing can get the antidote.... PLUS PLUS POINTS TO THIS SML!!!
- acting wise : for leads acting were stunning. comparing to their previous works, both acting have improved! especially the microexpressions and using eyes to express their emotions. also, thankful they allow lusi and yuning to use their original voices here. it made their emotional scenes 100000x more relatable. the best & most memorable scene for me was their last scene together. even with the minimal dialogue it worked because they the drama allowed us to see their growth, and how their love went through hardships but they still they could not fulfil a simple promise of being with each other everyday in the end. the part where duanwu was drinking the longevity porridge and fed the first mouth to zijing because that was her wish to him. she fulfilled everything she wanted to but she knows she is losing him and he know his departure will mean forever ... she was begging and my heart was breaking. and for zijing, you could tell he really want to said yes to staying by her side, it was just a simple "ok" but... he knew he could not say it because he was about to die. and that hug was so painful because he achieved his lifelong dream and completed his revenge but he wasnt as fearless as before. he has a reason to live now but its all too late.....
- story wise: i liked that the story was rich and they set a strong foundation right from the start. all the choices made were logical given the circumstances the characters were in that we cant even blame them for it. we are moving with the plot as they moved to different cities. it was a good mixture of comedy, tragedy, familial, scheming, i think the emotions were also well balanced throughout the plot.

on the negatives which i could mostly overlooked but i had to point out:
- i felt the pacing in first 20 eps were better. it seems that the writing & pacing had changed after ep 20. i felt more detached. ..perhaps it was also because they killed off the yan's caravan people which we had grown to like in the first 20 eps. it was quite detaching for me as i couldnt had the same intensity of affections to the new family at Clear Mind.
- i couldnt vibe with the second couple (shijiu and zheng zhiheng), their romance didn't seem necessary to the plot. but the scene where zhiheng sacrificed for shijiu did made me tear a little. but still i think we didnt needed their sub love plot here
- too idealistic successes: this is very apparent if you compared the guangzhou and yangzhou days. when still in the caravan, duanwu had so much setbacks in making it to the business troop. but when she just stepped foot into yangzhou, she was almost able to succeed in opening clear mind immediately by making a bet on huanlang... although she did face problems after opening the business but the way she founded clear mind seem to idealistic to me
- duanwu's relationship with shijiu: i really hoped they remained as frenemies. the whole plot of them becoming besties at the end seems too forced...and awkward for me. but perhaps thats the whole intention of a female centric drama...

all in love, the second collab didnt fail me and exceeded my expectations in terms of the storyline and execution. even though the ending was regrettable, it was the most reasonable and realistic ending given the circumstances and situation that we cant even blame the writer for making this ending! that's very satisfactory for me as there are so many bad endings in cdramas that are uncalled for nowadays. it almost seems like they write BE for the sake of it.

my only wish is for yuning to take on happier roles like haodu, he has been dying too much in his dramas (7/9 of his main character dramas that are not cameos ends up dead) that him acting in pain/ poisoned felt so real. also if possible (chances are slim) i wish lusi and yuning can have a third collab in romcom modern please...........I AM WILLING TO INVEST

p.s i rated lower for the rewatch because the pain was too much for me yet i cant blame anyone for it