I watch this purely bcoz it's interesting, coz I never read the book, and neither have I watched the 2019 one.
It's true to the title, unrequited love. All the mains (except ML)all have unrequited love. Everyone pursues the one they love, but the opponent didn't like them back. The good side is that the FL is a strong, mature and determined person, and how she covers her unrequited love by studying is something that everyone who has unrequited love should try XD. Hu YiTian acts good too, here. he pays the typical "male god" ml, perfect and flawless. But the thing I like from the ML is that although he's talkative, he is more talkative and warm, not the cold type. The bromance and sismance in the ML and FL's room feels so warm and real. Mingrui shines in this series. He is a very likeable and friendly character who has good relationship with everyone. He supports ML's love, and he accompanies FL in her devastated moments. I would like to have a friend like that. Baili is a good, sweet friend, but a terrible lover. She chooses the person who has other girl in is heart. It's weird that he still likes him even after she has been treated like trash. Pacing is very slow, so I don't binge it, I watch it along with other dramas instead. It's much more enjoyable than the early 7 eps which I binged.
But the story dragged, with some unnecessary/toxic relationship, and many misunderstandings occur, and the story went downhill starting from eps. 35/36 onwards. The ending's rushed very badly, and the ending is a very unsatisfactory and open ending, so if you care about a drama's ending very much, this is not for u.
As others said, the romance here is very pure and not cliche. But the romance is just a small part of this. There are only like 5 romantic episodes while the others are only unrequited love. true to the title, ugh.

Nice usage of ost. The ost's slow and calm, like the love between FL and ML which develops slowly.

Overall 7.5/10. I enjoyed the friendship, mingrui, and the acting.