Ohoho... what to say? It's one of those novels that will make us all single dogs, who are 'allergic' to love, question ourselves why we are still single and hope to find a compatible partner and a love like theirs too... momentarily lol~

Since I enjoyed the story's plot execution and the extraordinary presentation of the "confession in the rain" of the ML and the "indirect" way of proposal of the MC, here's my sweet 5/5!

I originally didn't plan to leave a review since the rating here in NU is doing great (no need to give justice and defend) and there's already an existing review, but it's already been 1-2 days now since I've finished reading this through MTLing and this hollow feeling still lingers... What to do but to vent and unleash this and share to you all how great this novel was. Please partake in my blissful misery xD

... more>> STORY:

First off, yep, that overview up above is accurate. The story will start off from the unraveling of the truth regarding the mu*der of the MC's childhood friend and ex-fiancee; where every evidence is pointing to him as the mu*derer. I'm gonna be honest here and say the journey here in the first case didn't give me much impact to get me hooked and establish an engagement. Maybe because I was following the release of the translation update—which greatly affected my overall reading experience negatively. Served suspense getting cold, the "who is he again?" question popping up every time I read a new release, and the 'mandatory' re-reading of the previous chapters to refresh my memory... so troublesome. I'm not really good at it xD

So yeah, I ended up MTLing everything till the end lol~

So worth it, though. Everything picks up once the story revolves not only on the cases the MC gets 'involuntarily' entangled with, but also about the unraveling of his past prior to his reunion with ML. For me, this is one of the highlights of the whole novel. A very, very relatable and realistic portrayal of one's reason for change of perspective and attitude, and how to deal with life moving forward after experiencing and realizing that nothing is permanent and not everything will go as planned. You'll get to realize why people choose to live life simply and understand why others are not afraid of YOLO-ing and say and do the things they like while they are still kicking. As expected from Meng Xi Shi's novel, you can't help but pick up life lessons as you read and make a double take about how you live your life as a human being when it comes to making decisions. There is always a takeaway.

So, what else to expect? Well, despite that glaring 180+ chapter count, each chapter is not that long. AND, every case/arc is not boring, BUT also not something you would call overly complicated. I'm sure you've already read one or two of these sorts where the plot is so darn complicated you don't know where to place your brain anymore or if you still have a single brain cell that remains functioning while reading as everything seems complicated and too overwhelming due to info dump you couldn't help but to take a break to digest everything (sometimes, I failed to continue tho xD). Well, I'd like to congratulate you for stumbling upon this and reading my review—this novel is brain-friendly (lol). But of course, that doesn't mean it doesn't invite engagement and analysis participation from the readers. This is Meng Xi Shi's novel so that's enough reason to trust the overall story's credibility in evoking interest. Intriguing mu*der case, assassination, human trafficking, revenge, and cult involvementーare just some of the plot elements here to expect. Plus breathtaking suspense and action scenes that will make you question if the author has a sadistic kink towards her MCs (remember Cui Buqu and Shen Qiao?). And also look forward to their adventure of acting as an 'envoy'... and do some cosplaying on the side and unleashed their inner film emperor streak lol~

CHARACTERS:

The main CP is pretty much already well-introduced based on the plot overview and tags (I added some for additional reference) ー that is if you're like me who relies heavily on tags and reviews before adding novels to 'reading list'.

Well, the MC here is Ling Shu (shou), and the ML is Yue Dingtang (gong) ーa rich young master and a professor as a profession, and also a consultant on the side. The MC is portrayed in the earlier chapters as a lazy and unambitious policeman who happened to get his current job only due to the help of his brother-in-law. So, you might think how useless and incompetent of him, right?

Enter the POV of ML, our hopeless romantic I'm willing to bestow a gold medal for his classic and heart-fluttering, heart-rending, heart-wrenching straight from the heart brave confession on a one rainy day (my heart is still bleeding for you... here's my hug...), and for his dedication in posting as 'godfather' and 'guardian' of MC, who loves to court death, voluntarily. Sigh... Uhh, what I'm trying to say is, personally, at first, character-wise, I find the MC's attitude towards work displeasing. I mean, if I were the employer, I wouldn't hire him. Or instantly kick him out. BUT, there's a reason for his utterly unseemly behavior. And that's what the ML is trying to find out. The MC is without a doubt selfless, full of determination, and very considerate. And the ML? Well, he dotes on MC too much unconsciously despite their bickering. You know why? Not gonna tell (lol). I always try my review-cum-overview to be spoiler-free as much as possible, sorry. Interested now? Go read after reading my essay review lol...

As usual, the main CP, supporting characters, cannon fodders, even the unofficial side CP (the doctors lol) are all alive and appear acting independently. It's especially interesting to learn and see a glimpse of the villains/cannon fodder's POV about greed and ambition that leads to their demise, as well as their regrets. It's also amazing how the author made me fall in love with a side character named Jiang He (sigh... I guess I need to see a doctor to cure this), and made me wish that there's a separate story for the ML's two doctor friends.

See? That's how great and effective this author's writing style is. A perfect score!

OVERALL:

A short (kinda) and very enjoyable read.

Definitely one of those novels I wouldn't hesitate to own a physical copy and treat it as a treasure if I could get my hands on one. Why not? The premise is good, the plot execution is superb, engaging, adorned with bone-tingling humor (seriously, I can't with the MC's humor despite the serious atmosphere lol), and well-described action scenes. What else can you ask for? Romance? Bruh, I present to you one of the most wholesome and sweetest confession and proposal there is in the BL-dom, as well as the funny 'twist' every manly shou would ever experience (lol). You will witness them gradually fall in love and confirm it, not through the author narrating like so nonchalantly as if it's magic and you have no choice but to nod in agreement, but through watching two alive individuals with feelings (sorry, it sounds like a rant because I'm tired of those types of authors 'dictating' readers what to see and feel where in fact where the hell will you get the source of the feelings from, if you get what I mean xD). Just be reminded that this is slow romance and plot-driven so don't expect dogfood every other chapter. It's not the author's style. Look elsewhere if you're looking for all-out fluff and cotton candies and rainbows and unicorns and whatever sweet stuff you have in mind.

There's nothing much to criticize about, but if there's something I would like to complain about, maybe it's the fact that the story takes place in the 1930's, and throughout the novel, I kept on worrying if they gonna be able to survive the world war lol~

No worries, though. It's happy ending—guaranteed ^^

For final words, please support the author in jjwxc site if you can. She's really great. And also, thanks to the translator for bringing this here in NU. Your translation is great. You've worked hard. Keep it up ^^

And yep, highly recommended! <<less

First of all, MengXiShi is amazing writer. I love her writings so much, including this one.

THE PLOT. I can't stop reading from the start till the very end. MC and ML's journey to solve the cases are INTERESTING and EXCITING.

THE MC AND ML are both smart, badass, and good at their job. They bicker, tease, and test each other on daily basis but also care and love each other deeply. Their little interaction are precious. Although romance is not the highlight in this novel but I was satisfied with their... more>> story.

The SLOOWWWBURN is real slow but the plot is so good I can't even complain. It just feels right.

Oh and the translator did a good job! Kuddos to their hardwork ❤

In conclusion, this is another gem from our beloved author, MXS. Please read!!! <<less

this is by Meng Xi Shi, the same author who wrote Peerless, Thousand Autumns and others... I was kinda disappointed by this book because it doesn't match her usual standard? I even started wondering if I had the correct edition but as far as I can tell this is it.

plot: set in shanghai during the 1900s, when rich families wield a lot of power and corruption/bribery etc. are rampant and opium addiction is a problem. the two main characters are Lin Shu and Yue Dingtang. they used to know each... more>> other during high school, but went their separate paths. they meet again when the book opens, when Lin Shu becomes the most likely suspect for the death of his ex-girlfriend and Yue Dingtang is called in by the police to consult on the case.

this novel is basically a detective/mystery/suspense novel set in modern times. it's a bit similar to Silent Reading in terms of the structure - four arcs, each arc covering a complicated case that the two characters have to figure out and solve - but imo Silent Reading was much better written.

the good:

- the cases were very well written. they were very suspenseful and I was on the edge of my seat waiting to find out exactly what was going on. I was often creeped out and would get book 'jumpscares' from the plot twists

- characterization: I loved the main characters, loved their families, loved their bickering and the side characters. I only wish I could have seen them more

the bad:

- abrupt transitions between scenes and cases, some details unexplained, ending was VERY abrupt, overall the whole book felt very rushed. it's really not on par with her usual work, I don't know why. the first 20-30 chapters are good, but it starts getting a bit rushed after that.

- also, I'm not sure if it was my ebook formatting or not but there were a lot of single sentence paragraphs which made the writing style seem really clunky and simplistic. the book didn't flow well

overall: I definitely liked reading this, but it honestly feels like an unpolished first draft. it's a 3.5 star but I'm bumping it up a bit for the potential. I feel like this would be much better with some rewriting <<less

It is a mystery, suspense and action based novel, along with some power struggles of that time set during the 1900s. The time setting was unique. I don't think I have read many novels set during this time. The portrayal of police was realistic. Like how no one will take a case seriously unless it involves powerful people.

I like the side characters especially the women like they were very impactful for the story and they were like not paper people with like one sided personality. It was the highlight of... more>> the story along with the case details. Like the cases were not simple and involved something big and both of them made their own contributions. The action was also good.

Someone in the comments said that it is "basically a mystery/suspense novel set in modern times" and no, it's NOT. First of all 'modern times', it is literally set in 1900s, which in a way I guess is modern but I tink it should be specified. And Meng Xi Shi didn't incorporate so many historical elements for someone to call this story a basic suspence/detective novel. And comparing it to Silent Reading?? Unless you are planning to call every danmei novel with detective/suspense/mystery elements like silent reading, then it is nothing like silent reading.

The romance was slow and good it was not rushed and bickering tag is true to its name and fun to read.

What I didn't like about this novel was that there were not many romantic moments like no doubt the moments those were there were very amazing but like I think a bit more would have been more better. The ending could have been a bit more polished.

Spoiler

And in my opinion the extras should have involved like maybe more of the Yue's family interactions and like their present interactions instead of the future but I guess it's my opinion and some may like the glimpses of the future better.

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I would have given at 5 stars if the novel had focused on the relationship like the development was good but after the development I think I was expecting more scenes. The main focus is on the cases and like the Romance is developed along with the cases. The cases are primary not to say that the romance is not developed it is good but I think I needed more scenes. Also again the ending scene was cute but the overall ending arc could have been better.

But yes if you want to read a detective/suspense/mystery novel set in the 1900s along with commentry on power struggles of that time with well developed romance and bickering couple. And good side characters and cases then this is it. <<less

I encountered a personal problem in this novel. I had no idea that the plot was developing in the thirties of the last century. And it was difficult to penetrate the atmosphere of this time (this is a my own feeling, nothing more). However, I liked the main characters and their relationships. I can't say it was WOW. But some moments (as they wrote earlier in the comments) as love confession - are very cool.

I'll give it five stars. But personally rate it 4+

Police detective story w limited clues w smart bad guys that make it hard for MC to get a grip on the case while carrying the pot of prime suspect

MC was a bright man but due to unknown reason became a salted fish. MC and ML used to be school friends and ML trying to help clear suspicion on MC while bickering w shameless MC all the way

I finished The Plough, in which I'd rather call it Beido today... now.. I feel so empty! This is truly a masterpiece!!! SO GOOD!

The MC and ML are pretty much both equal, there are moments, where it was funny, while others was suspenseful. Ahh!.. I truly will miss this!