- #1
The ML is selfish:
When I read his spoken words or his thoughts it eventually always revolves around him. He comes immediately looking for Li Rong in the second life because he wants to and because he spent his past life all for his little moonlight so in this second life he wants to enjoy Li Rong's sincere devotion (his words). Even in the second life, he never once verbalises or thinks about how he would treat his little moonlight, which makes him seem fickle and keeping all his options open.
Idiotic, short-sighted and self-centered:
He immediately without a second thought schemes against her potential marriage partners, because he wants to disappoint be with her a second time around, but that his schemes against Li Rong, a member of royalty, could potentially harm her never crosses his mind. And that she might not want to marry him and he maybe could respect that, isn't apparently worth thinking about either. After all, he wants to enjoy the 18-year old Li Rong's devotion.
Hypocritical:
He keeps calling his little moonlight affectionately Zhenzhen even in the second life, and when Li Rong gets angered by his relentless clinging to his moonlight, he gets all brainless: "What did I do? Princess, getting angry isn't good for you!" I wish she'd throw him into a lake a hundred more times. He finally stops when his little moonlight crushes his narcissistic delusions.
And yet, whenever Li Rong treats Su guy nicely but distantly (and she doesn't call him affectionately either!), he's all upset and pouting, nursing his bruised ego. Hypocrite much?!
Needy:
He and his inferiority complex need constant cuddling. I wish he'd finally act like an adult and work on improving himself instead of pouting all the time at the unfairness of other people's skills and achievements, in this case the Su guy's qualifications.
Even when he admits that he treated Li Rong unfairly, this self-reflection doesn't amount to anything as he always thinks about his feelings and wants first and I have yet to hear/read a credible sincere thought about what Li Rong may want and what may be best for her. His character is completely insufferable and I wish the author had the good sense to lay off imparting so many of his thoughts. In fact, I wish the author had had the sense to be less verbose and focus more on the plot in the first third or half of the book instead of being so redundant about the conversations between ML and Li Rong and their thoughts.
Li Rong, on the other hand, is clearly the only adult between them. Se tries to navigate the complex political situation among the royals and ministers and keeping her brother from repeating the past life's mistakes. When the ML gets pouty at her interactions with the Su guy, she calmly explains her reasons – which his insecure little ego often can't take. Is she supposed to cuddle him? He neither deserves nor should expect it considering his own little moonlight and the fact that he's an adult. His character is so flawed and exhaustingly short-sighted and self-centered, if I were Li Rong, I wouldn't be able to have such patience to indulge his fragile ego for this long. Being reborn, I would want nothing to do with him and focus on people that are actually sincere towards me. Grow up, ML.
I guess what annoys me the most about the ML is that he seems to have learned nothing from the past life. In the first life, he was stubbornly set in his way of guarding his little moonlight's memory (even twenty years after her death) and was too stubborn and prideful to let go and find a way to build a life with Li Rong. In the second life, he is stubbornly set in marrying Li Rong, alternatively claiming it's because he wants to enjoy a good life or because he wants Li Rong to have a good life. But he never once spells out why having him in her life again would possibly benefit Li Rong or her happiness this time around. Especially when he finds out she has retained her past life's memories and more importantly feelings as well and that she clearly doesn't want to marry him again. What good would it do for her to marry him? Comes across as self-centered and short-sighted again.
The only upside is, I guess, that all his character flaws make him a pretty rounded character. Kudos, author, I guess?
I like Li Rong, she's strong but not harsh (like so many of those supposedly strong but really just blood-thirsty female leads in C-novels), nor clinging to her past feelings for Su guy or the past in general. She's the only one of the two trying to move forward. She's even able to think about what might be best for Zhenzhen in the second life. I wish this novel had been more plot-driven with a focus on Li Rong instead of character-driven and being this long-winded about their repetitive thoughts.
[collapse]The author keeps promising that the ML will eventually get better, but honestly right now I don't trust that to happen and after everything I've read of his thoughts and actions, I don't care to find out. There are better books to read with flawed and yet simultaneously interesting or likable characters.