This interesting drama depicts one of the most natural high school romances I've ever seen on screen. The leads have chemistry and the way their relationship develops through the high school portion feels organic and their falling in love plays out slowly and naturally. The last time I saw a relationship portrayed so honestly it felt like watching 2 real people was in the Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight Trilogy. So in this aspect the show succeeds.

The dialogue feels like it was lifted from real students. The pressure to study, get good grades, get into a good university to secure a bright future, all that is real, and all that is what every parent wants for their Child to do in order to "succeed' in life. This is how the culture in Asia really is, academic pressure, parental expectations, kids rebelling, others like He Luo (Bu Guan Jin) being frustrated at their inability to keep up and "escaping" from life using various means (Comics for FL). But then she meets the Zhang Yuan (Johnny Bai) and everything changes. He is smart, but tends to mess up his life by sacrificing himself to help complete strangers. I want to be angry at him, but I can't even ... because deep down he is a GOOD man who will stand up for justice no matter what it costs him. Such men are "keepers". His flaws and pride get worse later which leads to misunderstandings, without which there would be no drama!

The story follows a group of 6 friends, who are made up of 3 "couples". The best thing about this drama is the friendships depicted are real. They grow up together, starting in high school and we see them struggling and helping each other through tough times in life, through university and then on to the world of working for a living after. They visit each other, dvice is given whether it is needed or not, and the friend's advice usually contains shockingly profound insights. This is the kind of advice a REAL friend would give you if they really KNEW you that well. These types of scenes are so well done I ended up crying multiple times throughout this drama. Good script plus good acting means emotional resonance with the viewer.

As someone who has lived through over half the situations portrayed in this drama, I can relate maybe too well, as scenes would actually transport me to my past. The good memories have a golden glowing "summer" halo around them, and yet they are bittersweet because you can't go back to re-live them no matter how hard you try, the best you can do is see them play out in your head when you visit the places they happened, just like how this show portrays it! Everyone has experienced this to some extent. I'm guessing the ratings aren't as high as the younger people who haven't been through the stresses of "working" life probably gave the drama a lower rating for the last third, but it's extremely realistic how things played out and this left me with "the feels".