#like this story is all abt parallels and inversions and them..........the jiang truly get fucked huh.

[tvxcue]

thinking abt chengqing and zuanli as like. inverses. like zuanli as a public engagement, a spectacle that anyone can comment on and they do, jin zixuan resenting jiang yanli bc their relationship was an obligation he never wanted and refusing to get to know her, jiang yanli fulfilling her familial obligation despite knowing this and how it turned into real love.

and chengqing as this secret admiration, jiang cheng's teenage crush that was doomed almost from the beginning, wen qing knowing this, both how he felt and that nothing could come of it but still helping him and feeling Something but never letting herself truly feel it, rejecting his offer to help, his feelings, whatever she felt, for the sake of her family. how whatever existed between them barely got a chance to breathe before it was gone.