Characters in general were acceptably deep. This is somewhat linked to the subdued drama, as characters like Murong Shi's father can't be pure scum in order to match the tone of having drama not blow up while also not feeling like characters are being doormats. Another noteworthy example is Jiang Shaohua, who is sort of scummy but has his own principles and overall very quickly pivots from the initial impression of "oh, the shitty fiance who'll get slapped in the face" as circumstances are revealed (again still kind of scummy though). Aside from characters that are not really given screentime (although even Linda, who has a very minor role, is given a bit of an 'actually nice person' arc), Fragrant Citrus is probably the closest to a single dimensional character. She's given some potential depth but it's never really explored, which I think is overall fine since the characters we follow very much have reasons to not sympathize with her or look into her circumstances.

Most arcs were enjoyable to read without much in particular to comment on more specifically, but a few things are worth mentioning. Some character traits probably could've done with a bit more exploration or foreshadowing in the story. For example, Xu Changchang's self-deprecation and jumping-to-conclusions is fairly well established, but especially when combined with her rarely shown outbreaks of jealousy they can occasionally feel a little bit out of character. An easy example is the very brief "is she cheating" arc at the very end of the book (in comparison, the "is she cheating" arc where Murong Shi was hiding her meetings with the publishing lady felt relatively in character for her considering the circumstances and personality). I also think that while the subdued nature of the coming out arc made sense for the tone and length given to the arc, there were some setups that I was surprised never paid off - Jiang Shaohua never explictly finding out felt odd considering the multiple 'hints' Murong Shi ended up giving off during various plot arcs, and the company gossip sections felt like setup for a payoff that never came. Overall though, the plot progression was still enjoyable and these were minor issues.

Side plots were generally alright. There were two main subplots, one major and one minor. The minor one involving Xu Xiangxiang bending was honestly pretty decent; due to length there's only so much that it could accomplish but I feel like it was an interesting aside for a character I was given enough to like. The Fang Qin/Ange plot was alright. I think this was a case of trying to do too much while allocating too little screentime. We did get a complete arc and got to see the relationship grow, which is why I'm classifying it as alright, but I think for this arc to really work, we would've needed to get more shown on their mindsets and interactions over the course of the relationship.

The pace starts slow and we get our first kiss at around chapter 41, but I promise the wait will be worth. I loved the cat and mouse game and some of their interactions made me fangirl so much. You really cannot help but cheer on them.

Later on there will be conflicts with their families, the topic of coming out will play a major role and since our MC is a novelist, you'll also catch a glimpse into the novel platform's special rules and even some platform drama.

Sadly there was a couple I was very supportive of too, but it didn't get established. The ship has sunken.

It was later revealed that Murong Shi is gay all along, and Chuanchuan is the first person who caught her attention. Murong Shi and her boyfriend were just pretending because it's beneficial for both of them.

One day, she fought with her dad, amd Chuanchuang accompanied her to drink. She kissed Chuanchuan, and then, she realized her feelings for the MC. Right away, she pursued this 'straight' MC

Especially when Chuanchuan buys this particularly skimpy outfit for Murong Shi to wear, she just straight up said "if my baby wants to see me in it ill wear it"

theres this particular scene where just the simple act of Murong taking her to the train station and seeing her off brings Chuanchuan to tears cuz her family's always been pretty neglectful of her, just seeing Murong care like that for her brings her to tears.... Damn and I felt that lol

so for certain reasons Murong Shi just goes all in and kisses Chuanchuan one night when their relationship was just starting to form as friends then after that she just starts ignoring Chuanchuan for a long while only to again outta nowhere confess to Chuanchuan and ask for a relationship, that whole part just feels so weird and outta character for her tbh, she seems so casual and from outta nowhere, her circumstances at the time were pretty bad though so I get her feelings were a bit off though

its a f*cking joke ending tbh, so Chuanchuan's little sis realizes shes into girls too and is planning to confess to Litltle Yan and Litltle Yan geets a boyfriend just before she does, it all happens in llike 3 paragraphs at the end and it was just s*upid.

Murong Shi's wedding proposal, damn it just comes at the perfect time and it hits super hard, its a very emotional moment

so all throughout the story Chuanchuan grows to love and accept Murong Shi and really falls deeply for her like I said throughout this review but at the very end someone comments that she's been getting away from her now and asks why and Chuanchuan says that she might be growing tired of her.... Like what the actual f*ck author ? Why the f*ck would you put that there at the very end ? After all they've been through together ? Like it was so out of left field and so ret*rded bro, it's just 1 little comment but it's s*upid as f*ck

Murong finds out XCC is an author early on and creates an account to follow her, talk to her privately, search through her past posts and then she uses all of this against her. Murong punishes XCC in a completely crappy way after reading XCC complaining about her. Murong pushes her on the couch and forces a kiss on her while she's living in the company dorms. The company that Murong runs. Murong repeatedly corners XCC in the office where she works to make advances and force XCC to make a choice.

Ange, XCC's best friend and her lesbian author advisor, acts like a friend through a good portion of the story. She teasingly flirts with XCC, but she never goes overboard and is always respectful of what XCC wants... unlike Murong. Ange cares about what XCC thinks of her, even if she actually romantically likes XCC, she never crosses a line. This is turned into a ridiculous romantic rivals scenario where the only thing it serves to show is how controlling and jealous Murong is. Truly deserving of the "Big Jealous Bug" nickname. Murong's jealousy is vaguely validated later, but I felt like this did a huge disservice to Ange's character.