Seal My Heart and Lock Away Love! Return to 2000 to Become a Top Student

I think the female lead is a bit pretentious. 😭

Who exactly is the male lead? I'm so confused, it feels like I'm having my cake and eat it too.

Don't ask why I'm posting so much. I watched the official version, spent real money, and genuinely followed it. So I'm genuinely disappointed. 😐 I followed the whole story for over a year and was really disappointed by the extra chapters. I thought it was a rare masterpiece where the female lead was favored by the author, and it seemed to be true at first. But later on, the author became more and more fond of the male supporting characters, and the female lead's personality was weakened again and again. In order to satisfy the male lead and the male supporting characters, the female lead was once again deprived of her right to choose freely and her every life was to be equally distributed among each man. Isn't it hilarious and absurd? The female protagonist, who should be the core of the story, has no power to choose among the men. The author has already arranged her partners in each of her lifetimes. Despite being the one being pursued and loved, she cannot freely choose her men. Just because these men like her, she must repay them in this life and the next, as arranged by the author. She cannot experience two or more men in one lifetime. Looking back at the female protagonist's lifetimes, aside from the one where she and Xi Zirong were a loving couple in school, her other lives were all arranged and manipulated, her joys and sorrows controlled by others. Because the male protagonist, Zhou Mochen, couldn't have her in his first life, he bound her from the very beginning of his reincarnation. In her second life, she endured half her life in the agony of believing she was being kept, every step of her life restricted, with no freedom whatsoever. In her third life, the female protagonist returned to the past to restart her life, starting a campus romance with the male god Xi Zirong, but she still couldn't escape Zhou Mochen's control. Torn between disgust and fear, she was also torn between pity and guilt. Even after actively choosing Zhou Mochen, she was still harassed by the dirty cucumber Shen Chen. Her life seemed to be an inescapable struggle against her will. And yet, these forces were disguised in the name of love. She felt as if she were carrying a mountain of immense weight, as if refusing them was a grave mistake, yet she still felt pity and sympathy. But why? What did she do wrong? It was clearly a one-sided love between them, so why should she feel burdened? Why should she be pulled in different directions and blamed? Is this really the life the female protagonist wanted? She sympathizes with these men hurt by love, but did these men ever sympathize with her? They wanted it, so they were willing to do anything to get it. Their love was all coercion, plunder, possession—a reckless madness. The author sympathizes with them, feels sorry for them, but who sympathizes with the female protagonist being manipulated, possessed, and forced against her will? The timeline becomes even more absurd in the epilogue, where the female lead is completely reduced to a tool to satisfy the male supporting character. If the main story depicts the female lead's willing choice after enduring a torturous love affair, the epilogue is merely a continuation of the miserable situation imposed on her by the male supporting character (actually the author and readers), resulting in the female lead's overall out-of-character behavior. Because of Shen Chen's worthless love, and because the author's increasingly biased portrayal, the female lead's life is once again manipulated, forcing someone who hates Shen Chen and explicitly refused to be with him in the next life to be bound together again—a cruel twist of fate for her. Furthermore, to make her willingly accept this, she's even given the opportunity to regain her memories to sympathize with and feel sorry for Shen Chen. Because of her soft heart and guilt, she'll have to spend her entire life making amends, leaving her with no escape, isn't it? But is this fair to the female lead? Dirty Cucumber had been promiscuous since his teens, the kind of person the female protagonist despised. Not to mention his repeated attempts to force himself on her. The female protagonist clearly expressed her disgust and aversion, but because Dirty Cucumber liked her and wanted her, and because the author liked Dirty Cucumber Shen Chen, the female protagonist had to be sacrificed again. From the beginning, her life was arranged and bound, her will and emotions were sacrificed, and her aversion and objections were ignored. She was forced to accept this manipulated life and the arranged partner. Given the female protagonist's personality, if she had a choice, she would never willingly be toyed with by the creator in this way. As an aside, the "prodigal son returns" narrative is a lie told through male narratives, an excuse to benefit men. It's ridiculous for female narratives to defend these male lies. You might think he's gentle, considerate, and highly skilled, but have you considered that his charm is entirely built on exploiting other women? In other words, his pleasure is built on the suffering of other women. Can you really accept that? Having written so much, the answer is quite clear: seeking agency for the female protagonist in romance novels is likely laughable. But I still want to ask: why treat the female protagonist as a prize in a power struggle, distributed among every man? Why do female protagonists in female-oriented novels still lack a choice? [After finishing writing it, I felt it was too sentimental, too genuine. Who would care about a female protagonist who isn't loved by the author, whose personality and soul aren't acknowledged?]

I'm really confused, who exactly is the male lead?

Am I the only one who thinks the male lead is Xi Zirong?

The second male lead's storyline is so long, and the female lead still hasn't accepted him. Is the plot twist going to be this slow? It's taking too long; I'm about to drop the story.

Are there any male leads like Xi Zirong that I'd like to watch? I'd love to see one with a female lead like him (T_T).

I don't understand the female lead's behavior when faced with two people. Can someone explain it to me?

Ahhh, I love Xi Zirong so much! 😭

First, let's be clear: the idea that a prodigal son's return is more precious than gold is a lie told through male narratives, an excuse to benefit men. Female authors and readers who believe this are beyond redemption. 🥵 The allure of the playboy stems from the exploitation and oppression of women, built upon the flesh and blood and suffering of other women; it is not worthy of admiration or praise. Moreover, in female narratives, the female protagonists don't even receive such lenient moral evaluation or exhilarating life experiences, so why further fuel the playboy's sense of satisfaction? 😆 In this story, Shen Chen, the "dirty cucumber," is the real winner in life. He's been born into wealth and indulged in a life of pleasure for several lifetimes, starting to have casual relationships in his teens and experiencing everything he could possibly want. When he finally meets his true love, the female lead, he can force himself on her even if she doesn't want him. Even if he doesn't get her in this life, it doesn't matter; he'll be reincarnated and still have money, leisure, and the ability to bind his true love for life. He's experienced both freedom and true love; the only hardship he's ever endured is unrequited love (which he eventually gets due to the author's and readers' favoritism). Who wouldn't call this a "satisfying story"? However, the female lead has never had such a good time in any of her lifetimes. 😐 But why? Why are men enjoying themselves so much in female-centric novels? 😰Why are authors and readers increasingly feeling sorry for Dirty Cucumber? Because packaging love as a guise is like a sugar-coated bullet to most women. As long as a man uses "like" and "love" as a pretext, he can win a woman's sympathy and forgiveness no matter what he does. But does the "dirty cucumber" (a nickname for a man who is accused of being a womanizer) really deserve sympathy? He clearly has the advantages of a privileged background, outstanding looks, and considerable wealth, possessing all the advantages one could in the world. In contrast, the female protagonist has a disastrous start, a patriarchal family, stunning beauty but no ability to protect herself, being kept, coerced, forced, and robbed. Shouldn't she be the one who deserves the most sympathy? Isn't it ridiculous that someone who is clearly in a lower or weaker position sympathizes with someone in a higher or stronger position? Perhaps we should spare some of the sympathy we feel for men for the female lead.