- #1
I will be reserving my rating until later, but I thought it would be good to write a review on what I've read thus far.Honestly, this one is pretty good! As a fan of the romance genre, I almost exclusively pick up titles that have a female protagonist and never a male one. Too many times I've read romance stories with male protagonists that are very pervy, feature a very imbalanced harem scenario, or I feel compelled to beat up the male MC (either because he's a jerk, a perv, or a player in the bad sense). But, I decided to take my chance on this one despite my hesitation and I don't regret it!Firstly, the male protagonist is a genuine good person. what a high bar to pass I know Even though he's been QT'ing for several worlds, he still comes off as rather innocent, if not just naively sincere when it comes to romance. But, he's by no means an idiot. I love how Xu Zifan always wants to do business, stock trading, investment, etc. Even in the era of China's socioeconomic reform (lol loophole exploitation abound). His personality is steady; he's not a person who will go out of his way to make trouble, outside of what his mission dictates, but he also doesn't take offenses lying down. He knows how to be grateful and returns other people's graciousness appropriately. He's very OP from the start, which would have been a turn off for me, but his sincerity and nigh inexperience with romance makes him a much more enjoyable protagonist.The stories/arcs that feature a romantic female leads are quite lovely, too. The FLs themselves have strong, robust personalities and are given a chance to grow into their own persons. They end up being a pretty good match for Xu Zifan, and he for them. There's quite a variety of worlds, so the interest in each story is well-maintained in this regard.The weakest point of this title is probably the writing when it doesn't involve Xu Zifan's thoughts and scheming. What I mean to say is, the romance can be pretty lacking and big events can be glossed over egregiously. I can't help but want more dog food for the couples, as both leads are very cute and fun to read about in their own right, but there really isn't a lot of time dedicated to letting them fall in love organically. There was a bit in the first arc, since that's the first time Xu Zifan actually does fall in love, but in the later arcs this process is very minimal. As for the "big events" I mentioned, it just feels like the author doesn't have the ability to present these events in a convincing way so they just choose to omit the details entirely. An example would be the arc where Xu Zifan QT's into a straw bag, second generation rich kid with a pretty powerful and rich family. I don't think it's spoilers to say that this family does not do well in the end, but the details of how the family's company/business falls in the aftermath of Xu Zifan's scheming isn't explained at all. It's just simply presented as, "[Character X] was very incompetent and then the Xu family business declared bankruptcy." There's only so much that "he's a bad leader" or "Xu Zifan's spies lead the leader to make bad choices" can explain the fall of an entire business enterprise, you know? I commend the author for making Xu Zifan a business mogul-obsessive, but they need to back it up with the research so that this aspect of the MC's personality uplifts the story. It should enhance the MC's thought process, actions, and desires rather than serve as set dressing for his character.If I had to give this title a number rating, I'd put it at a 4/5 at the time of this review. Give it a read, you'll have a good time. ^_^
