the context is that ML near the end reverts back to an almost childlike state due to PTSD, and MC gives him a handjob, then ML's psychologist basically tells MC that he should take it even further to help heal ML's brain and make him revert back to his normal state. And then as prescribed by the doctor (lol??) they have s*x while ML is still in a basically nonverbal state, though he's definitely... very cooperative? A bit strange advice from a psychologist I can't lie, and really I just block that scene from my memory if I'm going to be honest, as it wasn't really what I would consider sound professional advice, but I guess in context MC isn't really doing anything that unethical since he was literally told to by the doctor... I'll just leave it at that as this is 188 after all and it's not like we read these novels for the most morally sound experience...

From the beginning I thought he seemed to be pushing them together, and turns out he had a bet going on with Qiu Yan about when the ML would lose his v*rginity (LOL) - so I'm sure he tried to be a matchmaker from the beginning.

I think the author just put it there for the CP to have some fun after all the tragedy happened - it's a bit silly. Yes, the ML couldn't 100% consent due to his mental state, but he was very enthusiastic about it and later on told the MC that even though he couldn't communicate at the time, he was aware of what was going on. So calling it 'rape' as some readers have done is kind of out there, and while it might be dubcon it's pretty mild and quickly turns consensual.

The translators describe him as a 'heroic handsome firefighter' and I agree he embodies that ideal! Our MC knows he's hot and teases and flirts casually not only with ML but others, but has very good work/family ethics, a strong sense of teamwork/comradeship, knows his physical limits and adhere very strongly to his moral bottom-lines even against the ML. MC also doesn't let his world revolve solely around ML; he's got a sick dad he prioritizes over everything and is his ultimate bottomline, a job he loves and career he wants to advance, and a supportive network of colleagues & friends. He's pretty much an ideal boyfriend ah!

Described as a 'mysophobic high IQ criminal investigative police', our ML is a highly intelligent workaholic who is quite resourceful and is very, very, very determined at all (mostly) lawful costs to capture the arsonist that mu*dered his family and traumatized him with pyrophobia. ML lets his guard down towards and gets very possessive over MC early into their working partnership, but, due to his very low EQ and nonexistent love experience, does NOT react well at all upon meeting MC's former lover. Although his character gradually develops to be more considerate for and of MC, his narrow single-minded focus towards capturing the arsonist, his general inability to emphasise with other ppl and his taking-for-granted of MC's forgiveness eventually touches MC's own bottomline...

Not the best first impression, quite the angsty 'getting together' full of prolonged misunderstandings (mutual love but ML and MC initially think the other only want to be FWB), but MC and ML definitely uphold their own principles and stand their ground in this relationship; most of their progress is due to their individual character development and reactions to the increasingly dangerous cases.

Btw yes, they DO IT in chp 100; MC in his own words "has always been 1 (top) " so "how could he, a pure 1 who has never been a 0, be reduced to giving meat to inexperienced little virg*ns", but only for GYX would he spread himself so clearly wide open that there's absolutely NO way ML can miss his hole (which he kept doing hahaha).

Their breakups (yes it happens TWICE) are also realistic; MC believes "as long as we like each other, most difficulties can be overcome", but because he's the type who will never "use results to weigh importance" and sacrifice his lover over "more important things", he cannot accept that "the person I love treats me like this" and would rather breakup early than let their love turn into hatred. Ofc ML doesn't agree because "no matter what you say or what you do, I will never give up on you".

Our ML's wife-chasing is quite mild compared to other 188verse novels, mostly because as a policeman ML isn't supposed to act against the law (although honestly some of his actions are clearly borderline), and because the duo are dedicated and professional enough to continue investigating together even after breaking up. They do get back together naturally too, given the nature of their professions where everyday could be their last and the increasing fatality of the plot. (BRING TISSUES FELLOW READERS)

chp 191: GYX's still not fully able to communicate but is recuperating at home with RY nursing him. Partially as encouragement to stimulate his brain, GYX's daily kiss blows up into RY riding him. It's revealed later that our ML, although unable to voice it out, was in his mind fully aware of and consenting to the s**, actively overstimulating RY afterwards~

the wife chasing bits were short and left more to be desired. I wanted ren yi to give yingxian the cold shoulder for at least several weeks or months but perhaps thats a bit unrealistic because we were getting pretty close to the end of the novel by then so naturally everything got brushed over after a life and death moment where yingxian heroically almost sacrified his life to save ren yi's father. Its not a dealbreaker but I was hoping for a more drawn out misunderstands and angst for an 188 novel yknow

That One s*x Scene where ren yi rode a mute child-like gong yingxian in a middle of a full blown ptsd mindbreak was absolutely insane crazy out of this world absurd and shuida is the GOAT for that (i loved it) I know this sh*t wont fly with the puritians tho lmaoo

gong yingxian is a sweetheart I love everything about him. His little tantrums and ocd and the whole mask and gloves schack is so cute but I also loved his tenacity and his determination to clear his fathers name and bring his family closure. I was definitely reading the novel with rose tinted glasses because this man does no wrong in my books

ren yi is a pretty great character and I like characters that are open about their sexuality. Past their initial bumpy work relationship, he didnt hum and haw about his attraction towards gong yingxian at all. And he could tell that gong yingxian was attracted or at least curious towards him as well. Even though they were in a weird situationship for a while they were really affectionate and all kissy huggy towards each other it basically felt like they were dating.

downsides: I dont like how ren yi has a hero complex. I know it adds flaws and complexity otherwise this man would be Too Perfect but jesus there were wayyy too many instances of him disregarding his own safety for his job which is ironic because he's squad captain and he always nags his own teammates about their safety lol. Two mindbogling examples were when he charged into a car fire (that was about to explode mind you) without protective equipment just to save a couple of cats, and another time where he lied about how much oxygen he had so he could 'stay in the action' and not go and swap tanks. That incident preceeded an infamously bad moment of leadership that caused a teammate's death, which ill talk about later.

ren yi is one of those characters who fall for the idea that theyre meant to do great things always have a key flaw that is their immense ego getting in the way from making good judgement calls. Irl first responders always have a duty to make sure their own personal safety is number one else they only add to the injury count. I dont always hate self sacrificing characters but in the context of a firefighter disregarding fire safety rules I just find it really frustrating actually.

there was also that one scene were ren yi ran into a hotel rigged with bombs and with full body injuries that had me REELING. Like bro cant go a day without being s*upid. Best part was when its revealed that the whole thing was a police set up to lure bai yan out of his hiding spot and ren yi's hero complex deadass ruined their sting operation lmao

and remember how I said one of his terrible calls lead to a teammate's death? The story didn't address this at all which kinda pissed me off but the context was that ren yi insisted on saving a pair of son and father trapped in a gigantic mall fire with inadequate firefighting gear (he was running low on oxygen) and so obviously didn't have the proper means to bring either of them back to safety. In the middle of his heroic stunt he deadass tried to THROW the baby away from the fire because the building was collapsing. And botched it lol. His teammate then decided to sacrifice himself to save the baby (the father still died tho). There were a lot of things wrong in this chain of command but ren yi was undoubtedly at fault. Could he have avoided this by not being a hard ass? Maybe, maybe not. Worst thing is that was was absolutely no self reflection, no critical thinking, nothing was done afterwards. A firefighter died in action and everyone brushed it off and pulled the classic "im sure his family can understand his choice to save the baby" my ass loool

i really hope this isnt the authors personal beliefs because this perpetuates the idea that firefighters and other first responders, the modern day 'hero', are expected to die for their jobs. Absolute bullsh*t if you ask me.

other downsides: at the start of the novel there were a lot of firefighting action which is cool and all but too many is to many. Most was just some rehash of them running into burning buildings and saving people. Shuida did a lot of research and obviously wants to show it off but some of them were a hit of miss. Most werent relevant to the story. It gets better in the next half of the story because all the cases start to relate back to the cult.

on the upside, I learned a lot. Things like venting out sewage before maintenance work. Water on fire causing a lot of steam so firefighters are mindful to not steam victims to death. And how steam can buckle steel beams which compromises the integrity of the building, etc.

(but what was complete bullsh*t is how they dealt with that crush syndrome guy. Crush syndrome is rhabdomyolysis and you treat it with aggressive iv fluids NOT amputation lmaooo!! And even if the legs were necrotic you would only amputate in a sterile operating room not in the middle of a dusty ass warehouse omg)

the antagonistic forces were well portrayed but it only goes as far as how much of a defining role they played in the story. I like how they seemed powerful but not omnipotent, enough to add tension and thriller but not untouchable that MC and ML had to rely on some deus ex machina powerup to catch the bad guys. Bai yan was not perfect and his shortcomings were fully exploited by ML and his team, like how they zeroed on the fact that bai yan only goes after the people MC and ML currently investigate, how hes always reactive and never proactive, which means that 1. He doesnt actually know whos going to rat him out, 2. He doesnt know whos actually involved in gong yingxians family fire incident, 3. He only knows as much as the police knows, 4. Which means he is an insider possibly a police officer or firefighter as well. The clues were a nice touch because it doesnt exactly narrow it down by that much but it drives the direction in which they conduct their investigation.

(that time gongren were caught on livestream and had their faces full legal name addresses occupation doxxed was crazy like whew it gave me the sweats)

(loved the bit where ML became a runaway and had to live in the back of his car for weeks because he doesnt trust anyone in the police anymore and was lowkey acting all crazy trying to make bombs and guns out of household supplies)

ngl was lowkey disappointed that the big mastermind wasn't the chief of staff chen xiaofei because imagine the angst of having a beloved family friend kill mc's father and a decorated firefighting hero mass mu*der hundreds of innocent civilians wouldve been so peak. Shuida was kinda sneaky with this one because there were a lot pointing to baiyan's identity as a 'person with power and seniority who was present during the gong family fire and has vested interest covering up the plant explosion and has connections to the police and firefighting dept' and chen xiaofei fits the bill perfectly but alas it was only a red herring and the real mastermind is some no name side character that appeared in maybe five paragraphs total

if I gotta be really honest the whole cult thing was unrealistic. It might have worked in a fantasy or historical setting, but theres no way you can convince me that a bunch of modern 21st century people living in a tier 1 city would believe in some grassroots no-name no-establishment fire god pagan cultism. Even in real life, cults are usually offshoots of well established religion because cult leaders rely on influential schools of thought that have been around for long enough to permate the collective consciousness of many. But the in-story cult has none of that. Like you can't convince me that that some guy managed to brainwash hundreds of people into following a cult that has no history, no influence, no establishment, and no power, only vibes.

to shuida's defense, im inclined to believe that censorship is the reason why she wrote it like that. Its just that whenever one of them goes off saying sh*t like 'fire will cleanse our sins' I just laugh