Bittersweet Love: Bei Lu Qing and Lu Xiao Fan
This guy is such a young master: he grew up surrounded by wealth, his needs are catered to by servants, he solves problems by throwing money at it, and he holds court among his friends as the clear leader.
But, he is also a (semi-)closeted gay man in the 1990s who has decided he wants to spend his life with Lu Xiao Fan. The problem? He refuses to relinquish his young master status and wealth. And he cannot safely have both.
In one hand, he has the prestige, comfort, access, commodities, and self-assured confidence that comes with obscene wealth. This is the life he grew up in, the only life he knows, and he thrives in this environment.
In his other hand, he has Lu Xiao Fan, a man he is in a relationship with and wants to protect. And, he has a plan, a way to have his cake and eat it, too.
At no point does he consider having Lu Xiao Fan and NOT also having his personal wealth. He plans to gain his financial independence and thus sever the control his mother has over him and his relationships. But, the only reason she has this control over him is because he values this wealth so greatly that he cannot walk away from it. Not many people could, to be fair; it's terrifying to let go of wealth like that, especially if you have never known anything different.
One person who could walk away from that--and did--is Lu Xiao Fan. Lu Xiao Fan grew up in poverty and then gained access to wealth. He knows he can survive that environment again if he were to return to it because he already did so once. So, while having money comes with comforts and perks to him and he appreciates it, he doesn't need it the way Bei Lu Qing does.
And while they are in a relationship and living together, neither of these men actually talks to the other.
With his "young master" mentality where everything always falls into place around him with little to no effort, Bei Lu Qing executes his plan knowing that Lu Xiao Fan will be right where he left him when he finally has "enough" money to marry him. In his mind, Lu Xiao Fan is the prize at the end of the struggle; his reward for besting his mother.
Lu Xiao Fan, however, is a person, not a prize, and all he knows is Bei Lu Qing going hot and cold on him throughout the years, messing with his emotions.
Lu Xiao Fan spends a lot of time in his own mind. He is a worrier, an overthinker, and he rarely speaks up. This makes people around him think he is spineless and overlook him. Even Bei Lu Qing doesn't really see him; Lu Xiao Fan is just a stable constant in his life.
But all his worries and doubts about his position in Bei Lu Qing's life just swirl around in his head and are never said aloud. Lu Xiao Fan is smart and observant, he sees and understands a lot of what Bei Lu Qing is doing, so, I think in his mind, there is no reason to have any kind of clarifying conversation because he has already solved everything about him and Bei Lu Qing in his head, not realizing he missed a crucial bit of information.
So Bei Lu Qing takes Lu Xiao Fan's future forgiveness and acceptance as a foregone conclusion while Lu Xiao Fan sees Bei Lu Qing purposefully distancing himself--again--and knows he will be abandoned again. And neither feels the need to confirm these assumptions with the other.
Which leads to what I would call Lu Xiao Fan's temper tantrum, not revenge, because he knew it would bring Bei Lu Qing down low without actually causing permanent damage. And thank goodness he did that because Bei Lu Qing was never going to have "enough" money. He probably had enough financial independence for him and Lu Xiao Fan to live the rest of their lives comfortably after those 2 years of staying away from Lu Xiao Fan but, for the rich, enough to never actually enough--this isn't an opinion, there is research into the psychology of this exact thing--and so the number Bei Lu Qing thought he had to reach to be with Lu Xiao Fan would always just grow larger and larger and never be attainable.
It is also important to note, he is not accumulating this wealth for Lu Xiao Fan but for himself. As mentioned before, he refuses to lose his wealth and status so even a comfortable, middle class life would not be acceptable, even if it means getting to be with Lu Xiao Fan much sooner. And Lu Xiao Fan is just fed up with being played with, throws his temper tantrum and then walks away in an attempt to wash his hands of the whole thing because, despite what everyone says about him, he does have his own sense of pride and dignity.
So, in the end, Bei Lu Qing over prioritized his own needs, wants, and comfort, to the literal exclusion of Lu Xiao Fan, placing more value on status and wealth than his relationship. And Lu Xiao Fan just wanted to be acknowledged as someone memorable in Bei Lu Qing's eyes, not someone easily abandoned and forgotten.
I liked this show but it doesn't have much rewatch appeal.
