Listen friends, when a show is relying on its main couple for success, the chemistry better be damn good.

Good chemistry relies on at least 1 heavyweight.
Either the ML is milking the hell out of it, with heated gazes, body language, subtleties, etc.
Either the FL is really milking it with either the push/pull or the getting embarrassed thing.
or,
Either BOTH of them are the heavyweights, in which case, it's great.

For SHPH....it's neither.

PROS:
- Im glad we get to hear Xu Kai's actual voice! if only we'd gotten this for FIYS
- Yang Mi is really beautiful, and her acting is OK as well (though its concerning to me how skinny she is—this isn't a jab at her, but more at China's insane beauty standards.)
- this CP has the looks. Tons of eye-candy whenever they're on camera.
- ....that's it.

CONS:
- Xu Kai's acting --
wait don't skewer me just yet!! His acting's not bad here, it just feels so awkward! I hate that I can tell when actors are acting—I'm not supposed to be seeing Xu Kai pretending to be Yang Hua, it should be Yang Hua who looks surprisingly like the actor Xu Kai!!

- Terrible melodramatic script.
So much of the story gets bogged down down by her brother and sister-in-law's terrible, toxic relationship (that the writing is encouraging them to stay in...????), the petty ex, the absurd law firm rule about partners' marital status, the ML's mom, etc. So much of it just feels like filler.

And the worst offence of all:

- This CPs chemistry just isn't that good. If newer eps come out and prove me wrong, I'll gladly take it back! But XK just seems awkward with YM, and YM just seems to awkward with XK. I've yet to have a seen where I'm kicking my feet giggling, you can feel the tension/chemistry in the air, you see the *gaze* of either leads, you feel embarrassed for watching them...I can almost see the bright fluorescent lights of the cameras, and the 20+ crew standing in front of them, staring. *shivers* so awkward. (tho I will say, XK's chemistry was only *slightly* better in FIYS)

Anyways, I'm kind of disappointed—the story's not that good, we see virtually the same sets all the time, every episode feels a little bit of a rinse and repeat of the same thing, it's all just exceptionally DRAGGED OUT, there are NO SCENES that make your heart flutter, and the CPs chemistry isn't that good!

Worst of all, half the plot is Qin Shi's struggles in her career at the law firm—but our ML has no ambition of his own, and its quite boring to see. His scenes all revolve around the FL, or are him....doing nothing.

Of course, I'll keep watching, but not on an ep. by ep. basis. This isn't good enough to make me wait each day for the next ep. to come out. I'll wait till there's at least ~20/30.

I hope it starts picking up, pleaseeee. I paid VIP for this (ಥ﹏ಥ)