(*title is mtl'd)
Truly LOVED it!
It's lovely, humorous, very light-hearted, airy romantic story. It has pretty simple storyline with no overcomplications and maybe this is what bought me. The characters have depth and details that are fed to the reader little by little. Recently I watched a lot of rom-com KDramas (loved them! I even registered on mydramalist to follow more), but most of them, if not all of them have a one single trait is that ML has traumatic past. In the novels we also have this setting, because MLs usually come from wealthy families in romantic novels (at least those I've read are mostly like that) and their situations are always complicated with some family drama. It is rare when there's none. But here it is FL who has more complicated past, nothing tragic though.
In more details.
Synopsis: The Internet was swept by revelations about new top male idol, as it seems he is a scumbag who cheats girls. The fans were whailing, the public was denouncing. Bai Monroe/Menglu (I'll explain her name later, her name is also mtl'd to Bai Menglu) bought papparazzi and hot searches and even brought up the boss behind idol's entertainment company, Tianqin Entertainment, as a big mastermind. After that Bai Monroe went on a love variety show to promote her fashion brand where she met devilishly handsome man, although she came to show off her brand it was okay to flirt a bit, right? She thought.
Bai Monroe: Hello, Bai Monroe.
Handsome man *who recently returned to China*: Zhuang Yan, the mastermind behind Tianqin Entertainment.
A story about misunderstanding that grows into love.
The setting I found amazing and the title of the novel is good too, this is the main reason why I picked it up among other novels from this author. And honestly I did not regret one bit. I may not come across a big fan of romance, although I reviewed quite a number of it on this blog. But it's hard for me to become a fan of a couple, to really like characters more than tool paper men, but to really have a feeling like I want to cheer for them. Surprisingly, this novel made me feel this way. What is even more surprising is that there is nothing too special about this novel (except the beginning and the revelation post), it's a pretty easy-going novel, yet I really cheered for the two. Maybe it's because there was more of a human touch to it? There is something magical about simple stories.
CHARACTERS:
Zhuang Yan, although he's a big boss and has an opening scene of appearing at the meeting and sending his uncle to retire as if it was the cliche big rom-com production, but Zhuang Yan is not just a stoic face and a crisp suit without a wrinkle. Characters are expressed more from their small actions and expressions instead of inner monologues or narration from the God's perspective. Thanks for that tbh. We see a glimpse of his approach as if he is still a studios person (as he did in his childhood as we find out) he does things he never learned, he can talk back, but it's not domineering, it's more witty and subtle and he also has this reliable feeling about him. And when he's with BM and she can actually embarrass him, which is rare for him, but it sounds cute.
Bai Monroe/Menglu. You might think I made a mistake, but her name actually comes from Monroe, it is mentioned in the novel itself, so I suppose even if you use Monroe for her she won't mind. After all being named after such an icon is a baggage. As we find out, not at once, that BM has a complicated family situation. Her mother was cheated in marriage, very cliche story, then her parents divorced, the cheating father reunited with his first love with cheated money and gave birth to twins, while her mother remarried and also became pregnant real soon and gave birth to a son, both parents had new family, while BM was left to fend for herself. She was taken back by her grandparents (from mother's side of course) and they gave her the love they could give (she mentions them the most, look out for those funny drunk scenes). So she's not all sunshine and some things still get to her even if she's an adult now, because at first BM makes you feel that she is pretty confident individual, she now has her own studio, she is pretty talented in fashion design and wants a promotion for her brand. She came to the show without any unreal expectations, everyone had an agenda, so she followed suit, she also was aware of things that would make the public more interested in the show instead of being lukewarm. I first felt that her character is alive and more real from first scenes when she prepared for the show, including full spa and booking make-up artists to get her ready for the first "best" impression. So it had a subtle meaning of not being obsessed with her own beauty (although she's openly narcissistic, in a cute way though), but you feel that she knows times when to be ready, to spend time on it. Previously I had too many times when I read about women that did nothing tbh, it was always like "natural beaty" that doesn't care about anything and if they do something it is left to professionals, we don't get people who do things themselves, but some beauty needs care, ok? She did things many could relate to. At least my hair never looks good if I don't style it. Also I liked her personality, she's smart, she knows her goals on this show, she's not afraid of making it fun in comparison to very popular type of girls that remind you shivering bunnies waiting to be saved/protected (most disliked type to me). I also liked that she had a career before the story starts, so she built herself instead of taking money from the man or being provided, having inheritance, golden finger etc. Lol, she also has inheritance though, but she didn't get it yet, her grandpa left an interesting will where she needs to get married to get it. These things are not told right away, they're slowly delivered through several scenes, which also gives the impression that she did not dump info on you, but this information came at the right time. For example, if she wasn't drunk when remembering grandparents we wouldn't have the first scene where he gets stuck with ZY and calls him grandma, without mentioning the past there would be no nickname Sissi, without arrival of a female guest we wouldn't find out that it's actually her half-sister who truly believes the words of her father that he was separated from her mother and their love is true love, so she hated this half-sister and loved to chase after things she did or liked. So these things worked to me to build the characters and reveal something about their past.
Side-characters. And I talk about all side-characters you can think of. You can call them small people who help build up the atmosphere. No one outside two main characters is given too much time or space for their own development, I think even if they're like tools but they serve to showcase who our main characters are, so we don't get narration, instead it's those side-characters who say something about the characters. Like most of the time we get the impression given by special assistant Meng next to ZY, he has his own period of disbelief that his own boss got together with BM. Or assistant Yuanyuan next to BM who teased BM when ZY was on a business trip, pointing out that her emotional changes were too transparent for others to see.
STORYLINE.
The storyline is pretty simple as one can guess. First phase is the love show. ZY appeared as an extra help in this show, but I think it has the fateful taste to it in a sense. Of course they start from an interesting side, more like a small friction, but later the misunderstanding is resolved and things move into new direction. It's fun to watch their bickering and how they react to each other. I'd like to mention one of the best things - barrage. Because it was too many times when barrage in shows or broadcasting when authors use it as a tool, sometimes it's like a bunch of brain-dead zombies following one side of opinion and often it is very negative, like offensive comments etc. Navy in Weibo comments were used like very few times, but it was obvious to many that it was a bought navy to set the rhythm. But the barrage in the show was really the helping hand, because it made the scene lively, it had a very positive feeling, sometimes very humorous. As for the feelings during the love show one should not be scared, BM doesn't fall in love right away (although she has few shoujo moments here and there). With her family situation and her dislike for scumbags and almost recent cheating of the idol she put on a hot search it was hard for her to believe a man, like all men are in the scumbag category for her and someone nice is a pure exception, so it's an obstacle to our ML.. or not? It is obvious that an old tree of ZY bloomed first. His chasing is very subtle and not annoying. He didn't show it on the show too much. Compared to others it was very subtle. The main part came after the show. It felt as if they have this paper window they have yet to pierce, but with a tacit understanding they don't do it for some time, he doesn't push forward agressively and doesn't act greasy, it has a natural way the way they interact. I loved that he's a type of no high profile, especially the phrase he said when the show had the final episode and he was outside the scene - that his love is not for show and not for cameras. Damn, that phrase felt good. Anyway, he finds a way to connect with BM outside of the show and slowly gets together. But the process doesn't take too long, I think they have mutual attraction at this point. Some of the scenes have a "I'm cannon scene for a romantic movie", such as a girl getting sick and a boy taking care of her, checked. But I don't know, they worked to me, he shows his reliable side at these times and it also opens the gate for her believing that he really has something for her, this is where she starts to tease him and finds it novel and fun. Really nice and fluffy stuff. And they come together so naturally that you have the feeling - oh, they're really good together. As an example I'll give the quote from the time when he went on a trip, but started sending flowers. It had such a nice feeling.
〝There is also a strange emotion that comes up inadvertently recently...longing?
When she was a child, she would miss her parents. Later, her grandmother and grandfather passed away one after another, and she missed them even more. But it was different from what she was feeling now, and she knew it.
Zhuang Yan had only been away for five days, and she actually felt lonely during some gaps in her life.
But this loneliness was gradually filled with the bouquet of flowers Zhuang Yan gave her every day. Every time she received flowers, she felt a sense of solidity, just like the other end of her occasional longing was not floating lightly in the air, but tied to Zhuang Yan's body.
It seems that through these flowers, you can feel the connection between the two of them.
She rarely has such romantic thoughts, and Zhuang Yan is even less of a sentimental person than her, but now they seem to be doing something very romantic.
She never asked Zhuang Yan what the daily bouquet of flowers meant, and Zhuang Yan never explained. These flowers became a tacit understanding. 〞
As you can guess, things develop in a very nice way from here on out when ZY returns.
In conclusion I must say.. I had no idea I wanted such a simple story and will be so impressed by it. There are no weirdos, no forced plots. And in comparison I had too many rebirth plots or plots where person transmigrates and knows the plot as if all the stories are plots where hero and heroine are main protagonists and they are essentials of the world. But here it's just a story, which was a nice change for once. I'm sure I will check other novels by this author. I know I've read one novels from them for sure, maybe two, but I'm not sure. One of their latest is on my to-read list, but it's still on-going, but while I'm waiting I can check out other novels.
RATE: 5/5 (rare) for all the light-heartedness, humor, airiness and simplicity that created unforgettable reading experience.
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