I will start off by saying there are many different ways to interpret this novel. You could see the MC, Jian Chi (JC), as a wishy-washy character who doesn't set boundaries and lets his indecision ruin his life. You could see JC as a boring character with no personality. Or, you could see him as a realistic depiction of a shy high school boy. As a reader, I saw Jian Chi as all of these things. I saw him as a simple, emotionally stunted teenager. I saw him as a pushover who can't say no. I saw him as a normal boy thrown into a world he didn't understand. But I can also understand how people may see him as an annoying character.

I personally loved him. He reminded me so much of myself, and I felt like everything he did made sense. In his situation, I can understand why he always holds back, why he doesn't understand the emotions of other people, why he never speaks out. It's because he can't — that's just not the type of person he is. Honestly, instead of thinking "why isn't he doing anything", I was always thinking "why does no one ask JC what he wants".

JC is almost always at the will of others, and these are people he can't afford to offend. All of the male leads, the other students, the main antagonists — they are all people with influence who do whatever they want and could ruin JC's life. He can't say anything and not even the main love interests really take the time to get to know Jian Chi or ask him what he wants. It feels so unfair. I honestly often go angry for Jian Chi, and even though he didn't act out, I wasn't upset at him for taking it. I love Jian Chi — he is such a realistic character and even though he can be a bit bland, I think that also makes him genuinely interesting.

As for the MLs, my favorite was Shao Hang. He was the only one I saw JC as having chemistry with. And even though I liked all of the MLs, it was a bit hard to see how and why they liked Jian Chi. Having more scenes of them interacting and falling for each other would make me happy to see.

I loved this novel. It can be slow and sometimes a bit boring, but I liked that. I liked the MC so much and was so on board with him figuring out his emotions. Some people aren't as in tune with themselves as others, and it takes a bit to really find out how you feel. There were some issues, but honestly, they weren't too important. This is probably one of my favorite novels. I wish there were more side stories of him with his boyfriends!

Just wished that there were more scenes of Bai Yinian (˵ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°˵) The way he was introduced and the interactions with the MC showed signs of him being one of the gongs, though it seems there are only four official gongs and not five.

I liked him the best, even if he isn't an official pair.

harem

Hence why he try to follow the plot into his reality.

Also BX is very much like a mary sue character that is quite annoying and I tend to avoid those type.