Very Happy

Description

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Li Zhao is a poor, 20-year-old actor who only thinks of where his next meal is coming from. After growing up in a child only facility, Li Zhao has taken on a very optimistic personality even while raising money for those he sees as family.

On the other hand, 28-year-old rich businessman Yan Ting is super pessimistic.

Yan Ting: Life is no fun. What is the difference between life and death?

Li Zhao: Life is very happy.

The world in Yan Ting’s heart was very grey until he met Li Zhao. He thought, this must be the liveliest person in the world. Otherwise, how could Li Zhao be so lively in his heart every day?

Associated Names
One entry per line
Hân hoan
VRHP
美滋滋
Related Series
More Than A Few Blessings (Shared Universe)
Entertainment Industry Acting Emperor (Shared Universe)
Recommendations
My Husband is Suffering from a Terminal Illness (5)
I Just Want to Be in a Relationship (5)
Rebirth of a Movie Star (4)
I Have Amnesia, Don’t Be Noisy! (3)
Light In The Deep Alley (3)
One Useless Rebirth (2)
Recommendation Lists
  1. All BL Novels I've Read Part (1)
  2. Quero ler
  3. Best BL Novels
  4. Best of the Best BL/Danmei!! (long review+ratings)
  5. bl novels - completed

Latest Release

Date Group Release
07/03/20 Rainbow Mushroom... extra 2 (end)
07/03/20 Rainbow Mushroom... extra 1
07/03/20 Rainbow Mushroom... c114
07/03/20 Rainbow Mushroom... c113
07/03/20 Rainbow Mushroom... c112
07/03/20 Rainbow Mushroom... c111
07/02/20 Rainbow Mushroom... c110
07/02/20 Rainbow Mushroom... c109
07/02/20 Rainbow Mushroom... c108
07/01/20 Rainbow Mushroom... c107
06/30/20 Rainbow Mushroom... c106
06/29/20 Rainbow Mushroom... c105
06/28/20 Rainbow Mushroom... c104
06/27/20 Rainbow Mushroom... c103
06/26/20 Rainbow Mushroom... c102
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204 Reviews sorted by


Tutubitter
Tutubitter rated it
February 29, 2020
Status: c49
PROTECC

The world still has hope. I bleed a little bit after every chapter. Then I bleed a little bit more after the small clips.

Children are precious. Children are fragile. Must protecc.

Darkness stay away from our child Yan Ting and may Li Zhao be the guide. May the light bless and protect our children.
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Honefuusen
Honefuusen rated it
December 24, 2019
Status: Completed
I like how the theme of rebirth was used as the sounding board in a villain character and not all cannon fodder was bit*h slapped to death. Overall it's a heart warming showbiz novel. I feel like all of author's spicier and edgy drama writings is concentrated in her ancient china novels, lol.

This author is very good with slice of life sequences, and this novel was the same. I like MC bubbly personality and ML doting character. There's an instant in the novel where the ML could have turned yandere... more>> like so many novel, but the good thing about this author is how the ML are always ideals. Overbearing still, powerful, possessive, unreasonable at times maybe, but still, the way they express affection is humane, and truly place the person they loved in the palm of their hands. Like MC said, when you truly love someone, you can't bear to let them feel sad.

The translation is also superb. I hope more and more work of this author will be picked up. <<less
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Piggychan
Piggychan rated it
January 16, 2020
Status: Completed
Very happy! This story makes me very happy! The MC is so adorable, naive yet the author cleverly didn't make him fall into 'White Lotus' character. The ML was possessive but cute at the same time, again, the author brilliantly didn't let him to be an overbearing CEO ML cliche.

So refreshing! The whole story is so refreshing and heart warming. Thank you translator for always picking interesting stories for us to read. I definitely will always follow each update although I've read the MTL one.
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idlehands
idlehands rated it
October 13, 2020
Status: Completed
I'm sad that I have to give it such an average rating, the story was quite strong and surprisingly deep at times up until the middle.

A lot of plot points seem to have been silently dropped, what looked to be important and a build-up was never mentioned again, there are a lot of holes and overall little consistency, which I could have lived with if the story had been pure happy fluff, never trying to be serious.
But that isn't the case.

If you bring such serious topics into a novel,... more>> then it loses the right to the lenience a simply feel-good story would get, which made me lower my rating to "generous" three stars.

The author decided to use severe mental illness and serious crimes as part of her world building, and it was handled respectfully, authentic, I had high hopes for the development and final conclusion.
Unfortunately, both topics were basically cast aside, degraded to cheap plot points, especially the mental illness aspects.

Love does not cure mental illness, it does not heal severe trauma.

This too is clearly one of the concepts the writer just lost interest in, or dropped it in favour of shallow drama and fluff.

I was so surprised by the care and accuracy the author showed for these matters, it's not often that a Chinese novel handles them like this and I suspected that the writer did some serious research about PTSD... then threw everything out of the window.

Spoiler

ML just declared that he was cured, by MC's love, and that was the conclusion, his therapist hadn't been mentioned for half of the novel and really never came up again, ML simply went from having visual and auditory hallucinations, depression, severe dissociation, and potentially dangerous possessive tendencies to completely healed in the blink of an eye, without any kind of professional help.

Something I'm still very unsure about is, that several people stated ML to be a violent madman, they show genuine fear of being mu*dered, but we never hear about the reasons, even ML thinks MC would be afraid of him if he knew, yet it seems he never really did anything violent (???)

All we hear about is him cleaning up criminal family members, in the sense of sending them to jail. Either the writer has a strange fear of justice, or something doesn't add up.

I assume this is a plot point the author dropped in the middle of writing, it's another important matter that was left to die but still used every so often.

This is the same for the rebirth/premonition side-plot, it makes no sense whatsoever and adds nothing to the story apart from a villain so s*upid that it makes you wonder how they survived for so long.

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The conflict is the same type over and over, executed in the same way, only the s*x and name of the "villain" changes, apart from that, even the solution is exactly identical, like it was copy-pasted every few chapters.

Details are completely missing, we get basic information about obviously important incidences but they are never explained further, despite them being brought up several times.

It's a general problem – repetition.
Some points are stated again and again at fairly random times, I can't tell how often I skipped whole, or several, paragraphs because they told the MC's childhood story for the 100th time.
In addition, the amount of chat-logs is hard to stand, if a good portion of a chapter is nothing but fans fighting each other online, then I can't see it as a novel – it's a chat-fic.
Of course, this is a personal dislike, if you don't have a problem with it, then you might enjoy these large sections very much.

The characters.
I have mixed feelings for the MC, he seems innocent and s*upid but really isn't, but then he is unbelievably dense when it comes to love, so much that this 20 years old man seems more like a 10 years old child.
It felt like a clumsy attempt to prolong the romance, for me it has gone too far to be enjoyable, instead it was frustrating.

Side characters are likeable, some are flat, others flashed out enough to be entertaining, sadly they were often forgotten for long periods of time, only to pop back up out of nowhere.
They hardly exist when the MC isn't around.

ML is the biggest problem, he's by far the most interesting character but the author failed to do him justice, at the end most of his setting was an empty plot device.
To highlight his good points, he respects MC, never forces himself on him, (sometimes) recognises his own behavioural problems and tries to be better for MC's sake.

There isn't much to say about the romance, it's purely focused on fluff, consensual and harmonious.

It's hard to decide if I would recommend it or not, from an objective standpoint, there are too many flaws, especially when you are someone who takes mental illness and childhood trauma seriously, or are fond of consistency.

My main problem is that the story tries to be light-hearted, I smiled a lot while reading and the feeling it gave me was often pleasing, yet duo to the very heavy subjects the author uses at plot points, it was so unbalanced that all good feelings were drowned in misery with no satisfying conclusion, which caused me endless frustration and disappointment.

If you can overlook these flaws and focus solely on the happy aspects, then this story might be a perfect mood-lifter.
If you are sensible when it comes to trauma, mental illness, or expect immaculate development, then this novel isn't for you.

My personal final conclusion – a lot of wasted potential. <<less
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ShadowAccio6181
ShadowAccio6181 rated it
January 17, 2020
Status: c114
(TT__TT)

This novel will give you cavities. I honestly feel like I'm drowning in an ocean of fluff, in the best way possible.

I MTL'd up to chapter 114, which is basically the end (there are two epilogue chapters).

First. The relationship is so wholesome... and it helps a lot with the subsequent kinda face-slapping. The "villains" are rather realistic, usually ... more>>
Spoiler

family members or industry rivals

[collapse]

For example...

Spoiler

Family members (a cousin) try to break them up by badmouthing TingTing. ZhaoZhao beats them up, and they become amiable, and kinda terrified.

[collapse]

Spoiler

Another person has reincarnated. Things really don't end up well for them. Unlike the first person, who mostly ends up redeeming himself into a mostly likable character... this character's machinations screw him over.

[collapse]

Spoiler

More family members try to break them up, this time YanTing's... aunt, I think. ZhaoZhao ends the conflict in less than three chapters, and the aunt kind of redeems herself by telling YanTing of his boyfriend's loyalty to him.

[collapse]

Also...
Spoiler

ZHAOZHAO FINDS HIS BIOLOGICAL PARENTS!!! There's a genetic database that gets completed. His dad's a university professor, his mom's a well-liked opera star. Their child was taken by child traffickers, whose car then crashed into a river and they thought their kid was dead. (To be fair, they spent a LOT of effort trying to find him. And ZhaoZhao's dad was also unknowingly responsible for pulling his kid out of his abusive childhood by drawing light to the issue (if I read that part correctly). They form an amiable relationship first, and the biological relationship is foreshadowed. They are wonderful, wholesome people who also support ZhaoZhao and TingTing in their relationship.

[collapse]

Plus, the little comical bits at the end of each chapter are the BEST. Baby TingTing and Baby ZhaoZhao for the win!

Also, if nothing else convinces you... this is (I think) the first story I've MTL'd all the way through. It is definitely the first story I have left a review on. The author has a pretty good sense of pacing and plot development, alongside the relationship development. This is a pretty healthy relationship. I love the background characters, too. This is a story that restores your faith in humanity.

Reader: ZhaoZhao's sweet and funny and the cutest thing ever! And very smart. And very clever.

*tries to pat ZhaoZhao*

*runs away from protective TingTing*

*leaves good review instead* <<less
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gryffinpuff
gryffinpuff rated it
June 25, 2020
Status: Completed
Reading this light hearted show-biz novel made me very happy!! MC, with a sad past, manages to find happiness in smallest of things, a person with high IQ and EQ. ML, though rich, is a lonely tortured soul, and MC's positivity is a balm for him, and he's willing to do anything to protect the only warmth in his life, without going the yandere route... You would want to root for them, and applaud at every development in their lives and relationship.

The Weibo fans (not negative IQed, for a... more>> change) are cute too, their comments often add humor to the situations... Antagonists are not the usual canon fodder - they have their own charm at times, showing that they, too, are human with their own thoughts and plans.

Together, the MC and ML are very cute - their heartwarming interactions, coupled with plenty of face-slapping and lots and lots of humor makes for an amazing read - definitely recommended! <<less
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RiannNeko
RiannNeko rated it
December 10, 2019
Status: c110
It isn't that the story is bad, it's just quite average. I do highly suggest this novel if you are like a quick read full of fluff. This story is a solid 3.5 star rating!!! Though there isn't much character development, I still like their characters enough. Basically, if you want a fluffy read, this is a novel for you!

MC and ML are both very likable! MC is very nice and optimistic. He always looks at the bright side of things. Well, there is a reason for that: ... more>>
Spoiler

MC was revealed to be an orphan. He was "adopted" by a family who abuses him. It was discovered by a school teacher and he was then put in a welfare home. Though he suffered, a lot of people helped him which made him see that the world is very kind.

[collapse]

ML here isn't perfect which I like very much. He is still the powerful CEO but he has his fair share of trauma that he had to deal with. What I like about their relationship is that it was MC who took the initiative to be couple when ML is just content to be by his side. <<less
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izayaYY
izayaYY rated it
February 17, 2021
Status: Completed
So many misleading reviews, I just wonder if we all read the same novel?

To correct one of the readers who wrote that ML is a rebirth character and died in his previous life. Correction: ML died in XuBei's previous life. SongYu and XuBei (both villains) are the only ones with some clairvoyance. XuBei is reborn and thus knows what will happen to MC and ML. SongYu has the ability of dream clairvoyance and unwittingly is the one to trigger the changes in ML and MC's lives. SongYu is a great... more>> side character.

Another reader writes that MC is naive and author tries too hard to make him not naive and made him OOC several times. What?! We all see from the start that MC is not naive. How can someone who grew up literally from the gutters, abused by adoptive parents, grew up in a welfare home and had to fight for his bread amongst other famished children, how can such a character grow up naive? It is just his nature to be non-confrontational, non-opinionated and laid back. It tallies with his attitude of enjoying the present rather than dwell in the past and not waste time on useless ppl. In no way is he a weak or silly optimist, and comes to fists when necessary.

Despite the heavy themes of child abuse, poverty, starvation, clinical depression (and probably PTSD), author managed to write a light-hearted compassionate novel, filled with endearing people, funny moments and focused more on the present rather than the past.
Both protags have painful pasts. ML YanTing choose to live like a recluse and sink deeper into his darkness. MC LiZhao is the opposite. MC welcomed life after his abuse as a liberation and greatly enjoys the simple things of life. Many readers wanted more details about ML's mental disorder and his parents' demise but I don't feel there is any need. Some readers wanted more drama and precise psychoanalysis which I feel would have been irrelevant in this novel. Author only describes ML's symptoms and how it affects his daily life, not giving more details, as if respecting ML's introverted personality, just like his entourage does. And we, readers, are just part of his entourage :)
The romance is very slow as both are controlled by their own insecurities and fears, traumatised by their past. But friendship definitely turns to love and even their friendship was full of feelings and fluff.
Author's little theater with baby Tingting and baby Zhaozhao is one of the highlights of this novel. <<less
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CultivatorBunnyLan
CultivatorBunnyLan rated it
January 2, 2020
Status: Completed
I am VERY HAPPY with this novel.

It's positivity and fluff in a novel. I really like the chemistry between the MC and the ML.

The ML is very precious. I'd love to give him a big, warm hug. The MC is just pure sunshine. (My heart.)

... more>> There's not much drama but it's packed with feels. At one point, I was teary-eyed because of too much feels. No, I wasn't sad, just... content.

There's the feeling of: "The MC and the ML really completes each other."

I just really have no words. There's still a warm current flowing in me. I love the way things turned out. I just wish that there was more chapters. (Needs more fluff in my life)

It's also nice to see how supportive the ML is and to see him beginning to open up and become optimistic due to the MC is just.... Awww.

If you really like fluffy novels with a bit of face-slapping. Try this one. ? <<less
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Ritsuka
Ritsuka rated it
June 27, 2021
Status: Completed
W.H.O.L.E.S.O.M.E

Rather than calling it fluffy/romantic, I think wholesome is the perfect word for it. Why? Because it was like watching two precious babies having suffered finally getting the warmth of life. It was heartwarming.
    • Li Zhao my baby, he deserves the whole world.I loved that he remained optimistic even after going through what he did. Tbh in the start he may seem naive, but ofc he's not. He's very observant and has a bottom line. He decides himself how he should treat others and he also doesn't let himself get wronged. The ML, Yan Ting is ofc my baby too. Cuteee and caring.i wanna give him the whole world too!! But the highlight of this novel is that how both our leads more or less experienced the same kind of stuff but one turned out optimistic while one succumbed into depression and paranoia, but later they met each other and gave each other all the warmth and things the other lacked.
    • As I said, the romance element or the fluffiness is not much as they became a couple quite late into the story. But their interactions were the most wholesome thing in the world! Zhaozhao was straightforward with his affection while Yan Ting will always show affection with his actions and he even blushed while being expressive!!! A cute ML!!! We STAN!!!! My heart always warmed reading about these two strong babies, making each other's lives complete and beautiful!
    • The rebirth element of it is a very interesting addition. There are two reborn people here and a lot of changes in the events from the previous timeline.i'll leave the details in spoiler here.
Spoiler

Song Yu is the matchmaker of our couple. Due to his making MC the main lead and giving him night snacks, the circumstances led to him meeting the MC. Plus I love himmm! He's such a tsundere!!! He's the type of character we see as MCs of some BL sometimes and I love him so much. This tsundere cheeky brat. He even apologised for the bad things he did sincerely and he was so awkward making friends!!

Xu Bei, that tr*sh was the malicious one and am so glad he got beaten up good by Li Zhao!

Anyway, it made me cry a lot that in the past timeline YanTing commited sucide and Li Zhao died due to his body deteriorating as he pushed himself too hard to film to find him family. It hurts me so much that he would've been bullied so much, stepped on and taken advantage of and there was no one to help him. Thinking about Yan Ting mental health that led him to sucide gives me nightmares.

I am so glad that they met! Thank you Song Yu! Thank you rebirth!

[collapse]

    • About the showbiz part of this novel, it was alright. There was decent amount of face slapping but I'm so glad that not everyone was malicious, Song Yu. Lu Hao, Liu Fen There were a lot of people who were nice to the MC. And for some people who are whining about MC not using his 'own' strength to shine in showbiz. Really, guys? I'm so pissed when you say this. First of all, minor spoiler but in the previous timeline MC did achieve everything on his own. But what was the point of rebirth then, to make him suffer again? No, it was to give him happiness of the world.I don't care as long as my baby is happy. And if you wanna bring other MCs in, let me tell you atleast they had something to their name so they could shine with their own strength without suffering. But Zhaozhao my baby was penniless with no connection, no money and even no one to fall back upon! I'm glad in this life, he was laid back! He deserves it! But putting that aside, can I mention how cute the fans were? Wholesome fans for wholesome people!
    • The side characters were again super wholesome people! I loved how much the housekeeper and assistant Qin cared about Yan Ting and how nice and tight lipped the people in the office were. Li Zhao's friends from the welfare home were so much like a family!! And about Li Zhao's family
      Spoiler

      am so glad his parents found him in this timeline! They were so sincere with him and searched for him for so long!!!

      [collapse]
I highly recommend you all to read it to cleanse your souls and wash your eyes. The world is a beautiful place and precious babies do get their happiness in this novel! Read this heartwarming story whenever you can!
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Avrohom
Avrohom rated it
April 24, 2020
Status: Completed
When I saw it on Chrysanthemum Garden, I said to myself that there was no way in hell I would ever read something like that. Well, I ended up reading it all and mtl-ing the untranslated chapters and keep reading them as they are being translated again! I don't want it to end! This is such a feel-good novel, every chapter is like a feel-good pill, take one upon awakening and the entire day feels good after that. The best. Excellent story telling, heart gripping little dialogues at the end... more>> of each chapter, my heart simply expires from their cuteness, amazing quality of translation. Ahh... So very happy with it. You will be too, I'm sure. It's irresistibly good. <<less
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ike_00000
ike_00000 rated it
May 30, 2020
Status: c78
Ahh it's too cute!!

I LOVE THIS MC TO DEATH. Okay, MC is definitely a white lotus. Every production he's in does spectacularly well and he happens to get a lot of attention. BUT in this story, so far I don't think it feels too much. Perhaps it's because his character is so down to earth, or he's just too comedic. He really portrays the happy-go-lucky poor actor struggling, who appreciates the finer things in life but even if he doesn't make it he's okay going back to open a noodle... more>> shop too. Or perhaps it's because he's had to suffer so much in his childhood, and yet still manages to come out with a bright, untainted, and beautiful view on life, and I just want all the best things in the world for our baby.

I LOVE THE ML EVEN MORE. He's the classic CEO tyrant from the power perspective, but he's much more tender and sensitive than all of them. He's willing to pluck the stars and the moon for our MC, and yet doesn't even dare overstep his affections. Warning, he's suicidal. His affections for MC border genuine obsession, but he still holds himself back and isn't the crazy yandere at all. Seriously, it's amazing; he has all the setting and inclinations of a crazy possessive yandere, but rather than act on it he restrains himself to treat MC with all the care and respect in the world. How rare is that?? I'm so tired of BS overbearing MLs who treat their partners like a pet they can control! This one genuinely struggles with mental illnesses, including paranoia and madness, but he's willing to work through it to be able to treat MC better. Note that although I say these things, the tone of the story isn't dark or overly dramatic; rather, it's typically light-hearted and optimistic, a story about two people walking out of sludge happily and cheerfully together.

In anything and everything, MC's wishes are first, and he holds MC at the tip of his heart. He won't even do things like a background check on MC since he doesn't want to intrude on MC's privacy, as much as he wishes to keep him in the palm of his hand. Rather than try to keep MC for himself, like he really really wants to do, he's the first to stand behind MC. He doesn't stop MC from achieving his dreams, even pushing him forward, and is the happiest one to see him succeed and fly.

Spoiler

For example, he knows Zhao Zhao has always wanted to find his parents (he's an orphan) and that's one of the reasons he's so active in the entertainment centre. He knows for ZZ, that's always been so important to him. Even though he's deathly afraid ZZ would leave him after he found his parents, he's still willing to invest huge sums of money to help ZZ achieve this dream.

[collapse]

Maybe he did seem to fall for MC a little too quickly, especially since he's a character that completely closed himself off in the beginning, but hey it could also be that he was subconsciously reaching for a branch to hang onto. It borders love at first sight, but we really see that affection grow and MC is entirely deserving of it. Both characters just want a home and a person that will put them first.

The romance part is pretty slow. ML and MC's relationship became strong very early in the game, but it's at a level above "good brothers" but not turned into romance for a loooong time. This is a story that puts MC front and center, which I really enjoy because MC is indeed a character worth reading about. His relationship with ML is just so sweet and good.

The entertainment elements are fine too. I like the side characters, especially our tsuntsun Song Yu. He's had a lot of character development. <<less
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Nikkiart
Nikkiart rated it
May 7, 2021
Status: Completed
I love this novel so much!!! I came here after reading all of the authors another works I could find and they are a treasure.

Genuinely the MC in this is one of my favorite characters of all time. The absolute positivity!!! I know it's not realistic, but I love him so much for it anyways. Just the way he's written makes me happy and I give this full stars just for that. Although he's cute and bright, he is still not naive or dumb in any way. For example:

... more>>
Spoiler

in the beginning, there's a character who really dislikes him and makes him switch roles. Obviously he's also scheming against him and tries to make him fat by giving him bubble tea and sweets or something at night. Later on, the character asks the MC why did he help him even though he was so bad to him and MC just says it's true that he didn't like him, but all the food and tea he gave to him was real whether he did it with good or bad intentions. It doesn't matter what the character thinks of him or whatever because in mc's opinion he still helped him or something along those lines. So basically, it's not that he doesn't see the scheming or the negative emotions other have, but he chooses to move past it anyway.

[collapse]

The ML is also good though he's not particularly that unique or lovable, but he's good and I want to protect him too.

I truly do love this novel and the outlook the MC has on life in general. It's one that'll stay with me for a long time. I don't know what else to say about it besides it's the best abd I love it. <<less
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Tazberry
Tazberry rated it
January 22, 2021
Status: Completed
A novel where nothing bad happens. The MC seems to be "blessed by God" and he lives his life with a powerful friend (ML) who later becomes his lover. There are tragic backgrounds but the MC lives his life by looking forward and not backward so his past is more of a side note than anything. His job goes well, his romantic life goes well, he gets everything he ever wanted by the end of the novel. The novel is entirely predictable, everything is like a railroad track, going to... more>> one destination: a very happy ending. There are no roller coaster ups and downs, there is only the small incline of a hill and slow and careful descent. It's good, not awesome, but definitely satisfying if you're the type that just wants the absolute best for the MC.

My biggest suggestion is that the translation could definitely benefit from an editor as it desperately needs one. Here a few things I marked down because they really threw me off when I was reading:

-One paragraph starts out describing an old man and by the next paragraph he is an old woman.

-Li Zhao's name is changed to Literary.

-Yan Ting's name is changed to Years in one instance.

-"I can't look at your face with now."

-"Three months... no, two movies." (months to movies?).

-"Zhu Xia talked to Zhu Xia (Zhu Linlin?) and forgot about Chen Xiaojun and Zhu Xia (Zhou Ming???)." This sentence is a huge mess!

All throughout the novel there are easily fixable mistakes that can make the novel flow more smoothly and show more respect to the author of the original work. I hope that the translator is willing to let an editor run through this novel. <<less
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damnmei
damnmei rated it
October 8, 2023
Status: c100
I'm a bit annoyed at how high the ratings for this novel are because I definitely feel baited into thinking it would be much better than it actually was. Especially with a novel dealing with such heavy topics of mental health, it had so much potential, but ended up falling so flat.

This whole novel feels like an exercise in patience: not just waiting for the "just friends" to get together, but also waiting for the MC to become less naive, waiting for a reason to why MC acts like he... more>> does, waiting for MC to become actually interesting. And I'm still waiting. MC has to be one of the most inconsistent character designs I have ever read. The author writes his character like she wants him to be one way, but then he's not interesting enough so author throws a random scenario at him to change his behavior for one scene before he goes back to the original character design, without keeping ANY of the new character traits. I don't know if I'm making sense here, but as an example: MC is portrayed as a gentle, kind person who sees only happiness and good feelings from others
Spoiler

except for the scenes where he just out of nowhere starts beating other characters up?? Like actual physical violence?? And then after he's done with that the story just keeps going like nothing happened. The violence is never addressed again. MC has no violent thoughts again. Except for when it randomly happens again. And then the same thing happens where author just completely ignores the violence after it's done. Am I missing something? Where is the character consistency!

[collapse]

If you want to create a complex character, you cannot just shove in a sad backstory and call it a day without actually having that character show that they're experiencing the trauma of said sad backstory. Climactic events in this novel just felt flat for me, because once the scene finished it didn't carry any lasting effect on the characters. They just kept being the exact same. Maybe that's my problem- the extreme lack of character development?

Even ML who is supposed to be going through a whole character arc of learning to trust and being open, feels flat because he basically fell in love at first sight. There's no growing to trust the MC and slowly falling in love with him because he literally from the start already fully trusts the MC and wants to stay with him forever. Basically the entire novel, the two of them have from the start decided they want to be together forever, and the only slow burn is them deciding that they also want to kiss too. I just don't see the slow burn, maybe because for me the best slow burns are those where the emotions are the last to form. If you already are basically proposing marriage and vowing to be in each others lives forever, it's already romance for me. Them calling each other "best bros" was just annoying at that point, because just how emotionally dense do you have to be.

I really wished MC would have showed a single brain cell sometime before he literally had a friend explain it word by word to his face that he was in love. The naive protagonist once again. He really never learned a single thing in the entire novel. I'm just so let down by his character because I lowkey wanted him to have a hidden dark and intelligent side, but he just stayed naive and trusting the whole time. No two faced behavior. At least no consistent two faced behavior. Just so annoying.

Also how the hell am I supposed to believe that a kid who had his whole family mu*dered at 8 years old somehow rose to be the most powerful and rich man in China without a support network, all while also suffering from basically debilitating suicidal thoughts and depression?? And he's only 28 years old mind you. Make it make sense please. Nothing in this novel is coherent.

Now if the overall rating of this novel were lower and there weren't such heavy topics being touched on, I wouldn't have had all these expectations of a great novel and it could have easily been just another brainless enjoyable read, but as it is, I am just so unbelievably disappointed. The plot is very basic, characters are super one dimensional feeling, dark themes are just thrown in as random filler, and any conflict is very minimal. Face slapping of villains is so predictable and easy to accomplish that it's not even fun, since ML is too rich and powerful and MC is too likable and nice (because we're just going to ignore the fact that he's repeatedly BEAT PEOPLE UP with literally no consequences) to have anyone successfully impede their lives in any meaningful way. Really the only good thing about the novel is the dog food, which unfortunately has no real emotional depth, and also gets overshadowed by the obliviousness of the characters. It's so annoying when a character is supposedly really emotionally intelligent and can understand people's darker motives and still choose to be optimistic, but then when it comes to his own feelings have 0 EQ. Looking at you MC.

Don't go in expecting something amazing and you won't be disappointed like me. This novel should have avoided bringing in such heavy topics as childhood abuse, mu*der, and su*cide if it was just going to treat them like plot filler, and not go deeper into the actual psychological affects of such childhood trauma. This novel should have just been a cute little slice of life novel, and its downfall was trying to be something more. Don't waste your time with this one. <<less
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Alwerien
Alwerien rated it
April 6, 2023
Status: Completed
I was hoping I could rate this story 5/5 but in the end I can't.

It is definitely a good story that kept me invested and I have read it without any long breaks, but... The story and setting you start with is not what you end up getting in the later part. I have enjoyed the slightly more real story and the deeper essence it had but then ... more>>
Spoiler

it just ends up getting dismissed/forgotten to give space to ridiculously ideal ending where mental problems are somehow solved by love like snapping your fingers and the unreal finding loving parents end, there was never any abandonment and MC/ML are easily accepted by everyone.

To be honest, I have started having issues a bit earlier already, because more and more of the plot was getting harder and harder to believe. Everything just went too easy for them, villains were probably lobotomized or at least that's how it seemed. Drama just for the sake of drama, even if they didn't get the obvious predetermined faceslapping, why would they do what they did, a simple mental calculation would show high risk for low benefits.

And the amount of selfless good deeds...

Another thing that made me dissatisfied with the ending is I felt like it also discredited MC's life's hard work as simple "Oh, he had the genes of a scholar and artist lineage, no wonder..."

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I loved the MC and ML a lot. They are both precious and deserve to be protected and loved and be happy ;-; There was a good amount of fluff, some amount of drama and interesting side view of some characters - aka what (not) to do when you are reborn/dream of future. <<less
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Michelle-08
Michelle-08 rated it
July 9, 2021
Status: Completed
OMGGGGGG!!!! I bawled a lot of times reading this novel! ugh

MC is the type of a character that you want to protect with all your might. He's the sweetest and always look at the positive side of things. The ML although has a very dark past and turned cold because of his childhood trauma but is very lovable and a little baby inside.

Good thing that it has a veryyyyyy happy ending, if not..... I will be very sad for both the ML and the MC. Story 9.5/10.
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shuulys
shuulys rated it
November 3, 2020
Status: Completed
its literally what the title is

it made me very happy when I was reading the story. Honestly the characters were extremely cute and I just cant stop loving them. I honestly tend to love characters like yanting more because like I can empathise with him more.

overall the story is great.
Spoiler

they dont get into a relationship until like ch80 to 90?? So like the so called romance is quite slow. However the interactions between yanting and lizhao is so damn cute that I can forgo the fact that they got together at a later chapter hehe

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anyways I definitely understand why other readers gave this novel a high rating :) it is a must read to all fluff and bl lovers!!
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rhianirory
rhianirory rated it
January 28, 2020
Status: Completed
I was expecting a piece of brainless fluff and was surprised that the story has more depth to it. I like that the MC can be optimistic without being an idiot or as naive as he pretends ... more>>
Spoiler

he's actually quite pragmatic, recording conversations and pretending to be completely oblivious while taking care to protect himself

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his relationship with the ML is a little slow, not only because he has no idea that two men can be anything other than brothers, but also because the ML is so broken, and it takes a lot of time and effort to heal. Lots of sweet and fluffy moments but there's some drama as well. Thankfully, it doesn't drag out too long before being resolved. Next time someone picks a fight on social media I totally intend to answer with "oh."

the only thing I found a little questionable was his
Spoiler

finding his parents so quickly (the same day he applies), which is probably every lost or abandoned child's dearest dream. Most of them search for years and years and might never find a clue. There were lots of very convenient coincidences, but it was tolerable, given this is a feel-good story.


It also bugs me that we never find out what or how the ML died in that alternate reality, why that Xu guy was reborn at all, or why Song Yu had those dreams. The unexplained loose ends, as well as the length of time it took for the MC to finally get a clue, are the reason this is a 4 and not a 5.
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I absolutely loved that for once the tired and severely overused trope of coming out and giving a declaration of undying love at an awards ceremony never happens. The two are together and they don't hide it, but they don't feel the need to announce it to the world. I got a little frustrated that the MC took so long to realize his feelings but overall this is a happy read and the author's notes were a fun addition. <<less
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DaBrick
DaBrick rated it
January 20, 2020
Status: Completed
Author have never disappointed me!! Even in BL Novel her writing is still heart-warming like many of her other stories. Although this novel take place in entertainment world, there's no drama at all between the two lead and even if there is a problem it's because some people that want to stir up troubles.

Author have this way of writing which have a charm that makes you think that even if problems comes in the couples way, they will still stand strong and face it together holding hands. It's this kind... more>> of writing style that reassures your soul as a reader watching the two main lead journey falling in love while falling in love in the story yourself.

MC is adorably cute and really kind-hearted person that have his morals and bottom limits. He might seem too innocent and pure, but he is not an innocent white lotus that knows nothing of the world because he is an adult too. This is also one of the reason why I like this type of MC because there are more authors out there that portrayed their main lead as an innocent and pure person while they are already grown up and that is incredibly unrealistic. Tis kind of MC fits my taste so well.

Please read the novel! It's good! You won't regret! And also check out author other works! They're good! :) <<less
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