An okay drama with lots of frustrating moments.

Be ready to pound your chest in frustration at the slow pacing and weak (albeit understandable) character personalities/actions (talking about Xu Qin here). XQ was quite a frustrating character to watch in the beginning, and I'm torn because I understood her dilemma and lack of action in being independent and relying on herself, but I also thought she was too spineless and too dependent on her parents. As someone who values independence, it was really frustrating to watch her. She grows a major backbone by the end and delivers one of the best speeches I've ever seen of a child rebuking their parents' actions, which was so satisfying.

I've seen some people compare this drama to Road Home and I get why. There's a lot of similarity in the relationship dynamic between the two couples. Specifically, both dramas are really about this couple who've known eo from childhood, spent time broken apart, found eo again and reunite and try to make their relationship work while dealing with the realities of life around them (their work, family pressures, personal pride/prejudices, adulthood, etcetra). Even the pacing of the non-romance parts were the same as we got to see a lot of both MCs day-to-day life at work fighting fires or saving lives in the hospital. I personally enjoyed these scenes as well as it was a reprieve from all the angst in the characters' personal lives, but if you prefer faster pace romances, then you may not like this.

The romance aspect was different from Road Home though. XQ and Sang Yan's relationship didn't feel as stable as the couple in Road Home. Also, I personally preferred the actors' chemistry in RH more. In this drama, the XQ and SY had chemistry, but it felt a little like acting to me and so less natural. It also didn't help that I just kept feeling like Yangyang was giving the same "man-in-love" kind of performance that I've seen him do in other dramas (honestly, specifically referring to his performance in YAMG. You know those scenes, the ones where he grabs Dilraba and tucks her in his neck, cradles her hair, presses his nose into her neck and whispers sweet nothings into her ear and alla that). Anyway, the whole "in-love" performance in this drama just looked so similar to me, so the chemistry here looked a little bit recycled and less natural. Regardless, the couple were really sweet together and adorable so if you're not picky like me, you'll for sure enjoy their romance and have no problem with the chemistry.

I've said this before and I'll keep saying it again - Not every plot line needs a happy ending. Sometimes, people are shitty and they deserve to deal with the bad karma that comes from the consequences of their actions. I wish cdramas would stop caring so much about filial piety at the expense of one's child's mental health, but who am I to say that? It's their culture. Side note, I'd like to give 10 stars to XQ's mom for her acting in this drama. That lady freaking killed it.

Anyway, overall, it is an okay drama but I likely would have dropped it if I wasn't such a slut for Yangyang in romances.