Plot: (2/5 stars) Plot is pretty straightforward, and for a short read it’s pretty good. However, it feels like the author was trying to include too many different plot points for the length of the novel so it fell flat, especially since there tends to be little to no conflict that’s not resolved in the same chapter. Strong emphasis on the slice of life tag.

Also, the money is not consistent throughout the novel. MC and family should have made more than enough each year just from renting out the land that even with their extravagant spending, they should have had left overs. And when the author wanted to get to another plot point they would either raise the price of everything to where MC started planning on how to raise money, or make it cheaper to the point where you wondered if MC got scammed. There is also the fact that MC cannot be trusted to save or spend money responsibly, and while being generous is nice, he was way to generous with a lot of his gifts.

Another point of issue is that the author would change situations against what they had previously said. This n this case amp was supposed to have cut off all ties with his family, with him repaying a favor to his second uncle for a single night of kindness. Then out of the blue he has a cousin he’s in good terms with in order to create a secondary pairing??? This is sus!!!

The author also seems to forget what they wrote in previous chapters. In one chapter MC and ML sell ML’s old home in his home village to his second uncle, and then a few chapter from the end ML sells that same property to his cousin. That move in is going to be super awkward!

when Qing Mei and the ml's cousin get married they give them the ml's old house in Chenjia village, but forgot that they already sold the house to the ml's second uncle.

When Jin Ger got married compared to Jingbai you can really see this. For example comparing Jin Ger's dowry to Jingbai's bride price it is significantly "cheaper." Yes monetarily it could be better than county officials bride price, but lacked any sentimental value. The second the MC and ML meet their future in law he instantly takes off his jade bracelet, which was a family heirloom, and gives it to is in-law and in the bride price the MC includes better things then in Jin Ger's dowry. Maybe this isn't that big of a deal, but it was jarring to see this character change of a gay man from modern-day China, who would receive backlash for the act of not being filial and not being able to continue his family's bloodline because of his sexuality to someone who displays favoritism for the son over the 'daughter.'

Or maybe the writer changed the way they felt about adoption and changed it to even if your adoptive parent (s) are nice to you, you won't really be apart of their family. Which could really be another reason, because at the end of the novel the MC doesn't even mention Jin Ger and how he was doing in his marriage. There is also the way they portray Qingliu and his son Wu Feng at the end. It kind of felt like the "nothing is as good as your real mother's love." Yes I understand why Wu Feng was never treated as family by the MC and ML because his mother was still alive and for me it would feel wrong to just take place of his mother as long as Qingliu was out there due to how much he loved his son. But this narrative was kind of tainted by the way they treated Jin Ger at the end and felt that it was more influenced by the new narrative around adoption.

This really was the main issue for me which left a really sour taste in my mouth at the ending of the novel. I would've rather the story be even shorter and end it around the time Jingbai entered school and became a student. I feel like that would've tied up loose strings and left some for the reader to imagine by themselves.

Qing Mei could have been more fleshed out if it explored what he had gone through with his previous Master (?) and it would've made his marriage with Cheng Hui's cousin sweeter

Furthermore, what happened to Wu Feng and his mother at the end? Why weren't they mentioned again lol. Also I was expecting like a big face slapping to the original body's stepmother and ml's brother but that was also dropped. There was also not another mention of the original body's Master, idk if that's for the better but I was hoping to have him mentioned atleast once just to find out what happened to him.