something I really love about tgcf is that like, yes its a romance and the romance IS the highlight of the story and everything in it follows along the path to that romantic ending, but I just love how the writing get you to really fucking care about that romance

“that’s a super common thing in romance stories bro” i KNOW but just come walk with me for a second. I love that the story takes us on xie lian’s journey through his third ascension but also through his past that is infinitely fucking important to the present. we have to sit for such long flashbacks within the books where xie lian just gets kicked to the ground and dragged through the dirt like non fucking stop. we see him at his greatest and we see him at his absolute fucking lowest. we are rooting for this poor fail man and feeling all those injustices he faces in our hearts and just fucking. wishing for things to go his way for once and .. by god thats what we get through the romance

we the reader are like sooo fucking aware that hua cheng knew xie lian from ages ago (at least likely aware, it didn’t seem like it was Really a well kept secret) from back in book 2, and then near the end of the book we find that !! not only did he know him as a kid and a teenager in the army but after he died he stayed around JUST for him, and even though he couldnt do much he was there through literally those worst moments of xie lian’s life and fast forward hes still there. devoted as ever after building an empire all in the name of his love and it’s. GOD it was so fucking satisfying to learn.

xie lian deserved that passion and devotion and jsut straight up love after all that bullshit. he went through hell and on the other end of it, after years and years of stumbling through barren wastelands on his own he gets to finally fall into the arms of someone that practically turned the term unconditional love into reality and EMBODIES it. he gets to find out how easy happiness can be. someone to eat his shitty food like how he’d eat his mother’s. someone that was there and saw him so fucked up and through it all loved him all the same and even felt that pain with him … bro deserved the world after everything and got someone that would do fucking anything to give him just that, if not literally then whatever the hell could be closest and i just love it SO much