- Drama Title: Shine on Me
- Also Known As: 骄阳似我, Jiao Yang Si Wo
- Director: Chen Zhou Fei
- Genres: Romance
- Cast: Song Wei Long, Zhao Jin Mai
- Number of Episodes: 36
- Date of Release: December 22, 2025
- Original Network: Tencent Video
- Where to Watch: Tencent Video, WeTV, iQiyi, Netflix, Viki, Viu
- Adapted from the web novel “Blazing Sunlight” by Gu Man
Hola, dear readers… I’m so sorry for the long wait. There are so many things happening IRL, and I was also having trouble moving on from this Shine on Me drama. It took so much time for me to write this review.
After finishing a drama, I usually already have a list of things that I want to address in my review. But when a drama is good, I will end up rewatching it repeatedly. This is my biggest problem as a drama reviewer. I have an issue of letting go, and this drama was one of those that stayed with me longer than expected.
Thank goodness, after dragging myself off the couch, I managed to sit in front of my computer and write this article. Well, before I kept rambling on about my days or the weather or the food or whatever, let’s just started on this Shine on Me drama review. Happy reading, y’all!
Shine on Me Drama Review
The Synopsis
During her college years, Nie Xi Guang fell in love with Zhuang Xu. But it was one-sided. He already has a childhood sweetheart. After a series of heartbreaks, she decided to take a job in Suzhou, far away from him.
At her workplace, Nie Xie Guang meet Lin Yu Sen, the newly appointed deputy GM. He was once a top-tier surgeon. But after a terrible incident, he could no longer hold a scalpel, and his career came to an abrupt end.
Their relationship began with misunderstandings. Still, Nie Xi Guang’s bright and cheerful nature slowly melted his heart. And before they even realise it, an office romance has started. With his endless support, Nie Xi Guang learned to let go of her past and stop looking back.
Gradually, she began to open her heart to Lin Yu Sen. Over time, she grew from a carefree and laid-back girl into a focused, driven career woman. At the same time, when Lin Yu Sen thought he had made peace with the accident that changed his life, a hidden truth surfaced. Will it change the course of their budding relationship, or will it make it stronger?
The Review
After Speed and Love, here comes Shine on Me. This sweet and heartfelt romance was perfect to wash away the gloom of the rainy season. I choose to give this drama a higher rating than Speed and Love because I feel more comfortable with the story. And yes, I do have a soft spot for Zhao Jin Mai.
Shine on Me was an adaptation of Gu Man’s novel, Blazing Sunlight. Aside from this one, Gu Man’s stories have been adapted into so many dramas and movies. Her novel, Silent Separation, was adapted into both a movie and a drama.
The movie was titled You Are My Sunshine (starring Huang Xiao Ming, Yang Mi, and Angelababy). And the drama version came with a 32-episode series titled My Sunshine (starring Wallace Chung and Tiffany Tang.
Then there is A Slight Smile Is Very Charming novel, which somehow got three adaptations. Yes. Three. Love O2O is a 30-episode drama starring Yang Yang, Zheng Shuang, and Mao Xiao Tong. One Smile Is Very Alluring, the movie version starring Angelababy and Jing Bo Ran. And also a Japanese Drama, Cinderella Is Online, starring Nakamura Riho and Seto Toshiki.
Boss and Me, starring Zhao Li Ying and Zhang Han was adapted from Come and Eat, Shan Shan novel. There is also a Thai drama version with the same title, starring Push Puttichai and Aom Sushar. And the last is my favourite among her works. You Are My Glory, starring Yang Yang and Dilraba Dilmurat. This drama has become my go-to drama if I need some comfort during a hard week.
Gu Man always tells her stories with heart. Whenever you read or watch her work, it makes you smile. Or tear up. And sometimes both. You might get annoyed at a certain antagonist. You will definitely dislike them.
But this kind of frustration never feels heavy or exhausted like intense angst dramas do. Somewhere along the way, you find yourself forgiving them. Especially after they meet their own karma.
Her stories are filled with warmth, gentle romance, and just enough bitterness to feel real. When the ending credits roll, you don’t feel drained. What stays instead is a soft warmth in your chest. The kind that makes it hard to move on.
Her stories are emotionally risky. Not because they hurt. But because they linger.
That’s how I feel when I watch this drama. Shine on Me is a light romance. The story was easy to digest, and the romance was easy to accept. Rewatching feels unavoidable. So my first suggestion, if you decide to watch this one, is to be mentally prepared.
If you were the type who could easily detach from every drama you watched, even when it starred hunks like Song Wei Long, Zhang Ling He, Yang Yang, Xiao Zhan, or whoever it might be, then there is nothing to worry about. Just go for it!
But for those who tend to get swept up by the story, the hunks, or the beauties, I wouldn’t recommend rushing through this drama in three days. Stretch it out, dear readers. Shine on Me is the kind of drama that makes you pause, rewind, and linger a little longer. 😁
Shine on Me’s main forte is its slow-burning love story. Song Wei Long and Zhao Jin Mai did a great job as the main leads. Their chemistry is strong, and you could see it was building naturally as the story goes on. There are no forced emotional moments or a rushed romance here.
I love slow-burning romance, and Cdramas were the best at building emotions slowly (sometimes it was painfully slow 😭). Kdrama have their own share of slow burns too, but Cdramas are far more patient. Feelings stay unspoken for many episodes, even though the glances said otherwise.
Only those who have a real determination could handle the longing, restraint, and jealousy. Missed timing happens all the time, and sometimes the tension was intensified with the presence of third parties.
Shine on Me is a good drama to watch on a busy day. There aren’t too many conflicts between the main couple. But I am sure some of you would still feel like throwing things at the villains. This is the kind of drama that the internet would call “green flag drama”. But don’t be too quick to accept the label because there were moments that made me frown.
After watching Shine on Me for the nth time, I realised that this drama resolved Lin Yu Sen’s problem faster than expected. His pain, trauma, misplaced anger, and even his childish revenge toward Nie Xi Guang were deep and emotionally complex.
But the story chooses to gloss over them quickly. This effectively keeps the story tone light, but it also reduces the emotional payoff. Shine on Me clearly prefers emotional comforts over high-stakes tension.
Still, in my view, Lin Yu Sen turned into a more irrational version of himself. Especially when it comes to love. He did everything he could to hide Nie Xi Guang’s involvement in the accident from his family and friends.
At the same time, he was clearly suffering. Because deep down inside, Lin Yu Sen still wanted to be a doctor. That was his true passion. He couldn’t hide it from himself that he didn’t really enjoy the corporate life.
This plot left me conflicted. Lin Yu Sen was introduced as a smart, clear-headed, and calculating man. I also saw a slightly vengeful side of him in the way he messed up with Nie Cheng Yuan’s business.
This is why watching him abandon his own logic for love felt unsettling. There are so many ways to write a male lead as a “green flag man” without stripping him of his intelligence or emotional balance. And I wish the story had chosen one of them. 😢
But despite my intrusive thought, I still enjoyed all the lovey-dovey scenes in this drama. Nothing can stop a romance junky like me from enjoying a good romance. Some habits are truly hard to break. 😁
I also have to give a shoutout to Zhao Jin Mai and Song Wei Long’s acting. They did their job perfectly. I really enjoyed seeing them together. Zhao Jin Mai shines as a shy, gentle, but determined girl, just like she did in Amidst a Snowstorm of Love. If you wanted to see her in a very different genre, try to watch Reset and Drifting Away. These dramas, in my opinion, is her must-see.
Meanwhile, Song Wei Long still did great as a soft-hearted boss with a cold façade. His Lin Yu Sen’s portrayal reminded me of his character in Youthful Glory, Jiang Xu. He is also a caring but jealous lover and a clingy partner in an amusing way.
Just like any other heartfelt romance, Shine on Me also ended with a satisfying happy ending. And I must say, this drama ending was waaay better than the novel. 🥰
The Story – Finding Ease in Love
The romance is the main dish in Shine on Me. It is a classic office romance trope because Nie Xi Guang and Lin Yu Sen’s love blooms at work. Thankfully, this is not some kind of Cinderella story where a poor girl falls in love with a powerful CEO. Not at all. In fact, Nie Xi Guang’s family and Lin Yu Sen’s were on equal footing.
Both are influential in the business world, and both come from wealthy backgrounds. The third party in their love story is Nie Xi Guang’s college crush, Zhuang Xu. What makes it interesting is that Nie Xi Guang and Lin Yu Sen’s relationship is actually aligned with Zhuang Xu’s mother’s belief that a good match requires equal standing. Well, reality speaks for itself. 😉
Nie Xi Guang isn’t a show-off girl. She is rich, but quietly so. During her college years, she never told any of her friends that she came from a prominent family. They only know that she is a laid-back and carefree rich girl. Well, she would probably be the kind of person with a natural rich aura around her.
Nie Xi Guang carries the calm and steady confidence that only people with a solid safety net tend to have. She never feels the need to prove herself because failure didn’t threaten her basic security.
Ye Rong is the complete opposite. She belongs to those who work their way up from the bottom. Her confidence is sharp and alert. But it is also laced with insecurity and defensiveness. Deep down inside, she has a constant fear of falling down or losing the things she holds dear.
Still, Nie Xi Guang’s life is far from perfect. Her family fell apart when her father, Nie Cheng Yuan, chose his first love over his marriage. This betrayal hurt Jiang Yun’s heart. She then made a firm decision to walk away.
From that moment on, Nie Xi Guang’s relationship with his father grew distant. The ironic part is that Nie Cheng Yuang never married his first love. Yet he took care of her and her daughter.
Meanwhile, Lin Yu Sen came from a prominent maternal family. His mother is Sheng Xian Min’s only daughter. His father, a business prodigy, passed away early. Later, Lin Yu Sen was raised by Sheng Xian Min, who kept him close and raised him alongside his cousin Sheng Xing Jie.
Although their families are not without flaws, I enjoyed watching Nie Xi Guang’s interaction with her mother and the Jiang family. Meanwhile, Lin Yu Sen also had a good relationship with his mother, his stepfather, and his grandfather.
If Shine on Me is your first Cdrama, let me tell you something: families are not always like this. In Cdramaland many families are written as deeply dysfunctional families. In both modern and historical dramas, this kind of family is everywhere. That is why when you come across a drama with such a warm interaction, it almost feels like a breath of fresh air.
What makes Nie Xi Guang and Lin Yu Sen’s relationship work is their sense of equality. There is no saviour/benefactor dynamic between them. They meet as equals and respect each other’s independence. Both sides offer a quiet but steady support.
Lin Yu Sen finds emotional safety in Nie Xi Guang’s warmth. While she feels reassured with him. It’s the total opposite when she falls in love with Zhuang Xu. She was the active one in the relationship, the one who sacrificed a lot. But with Lin Yu Sen, she didn’t have to try so hard anymore.
Friendship-wise, I didn’t like Ni Xi Guang’s friends at college, except for Xiao Feng. She seemed to be the only one who was truly sincere toward Nie Xi Guang. Lao Da is someone who went with the flow and tried to appear wise, but in the end felt like someone who wanted to play it safe.
Si Liang was Ye Rong’s close friend. Her thoughts were full of envy. She dislikes Nie Xi Guang’s wealth and Ye Rong’s sense of superiority. Yet, she still befriended them. Hypocrisy at it best. On the contrary, Nie Xie Guang’s working colleague was truly kind and sincere to her. This goes against the common belief that coworkers rarely become real friends.
The Story – The Cost of Playing Safe
I found the most interesting part to discuss in this drama is not Nie Xi Guang and Lin Yu Sen, but Zhuang Xu. There’s something off about him. Watching him feels like having an itch you just can’t scratch.
Shine on Me has more sweetness than bitterness. But that only applies if you could survive the first three episodes. The sweetness really starts after Nie Xi Guang got her job and moved to Suzhou.
The early part is still set in her days, and this part truly annoyed me. Zhuang Xu and Ye Rong’s actions, however, managed to build up the tension needed for what came next. It feels like eating the sour part of a fruit first, so the sweet part would taste better later.
But also in this part, I really saw how bad Zhuang Xu’s choices were. He is supposed to be smart and sensible. Yet the story almost forced him to act foolishly.
Zhuang Xu excels in studies. You can see it even more clearly once he starts working later on, when his abilities really stand out. That’s why I was bothered by the fact that he was so easy to manipulate. He trusted what others said about Nie Xi Guang instead of his own judgment.
Still, Zhuang Xu thought he was being rational when, in fact, he was being led by Ye Rong. And I just couldn’t accept that someone as bright and strategic as him could be taken advantage of so easily.
And this ended up becoming a hot discussion topic between me and my friend, who also watched this drama. At one point, I feel like we were talking about something serious, like politics or morality, or something like that… 😃
One moment that really got us (my bestie and me) riled up was Zhuang Xu’s attitude during a conflict between Ye Rong and Nie Xi Guang. It was a situation where accusation where thrown, emotions ran high, and misunderstanding escalates quickly. What bothered me was not the conflict itself, but how Zhuang Xu reacted to it.
Instead of looking for the truth himself, Zhuang Xu chose to believe Ye Rong’s version of the matter. Even when things didn’t fully add up, he still leaned towards her. That was what frustrated us the most. Zhuang Xu should have known Nie Xi Guang well enough to doubt the accusations.
He should also understand her background and character better than most people involved. He is Jiang Rui’s tutor, for God’s sake. And yet, he still made the choice he did. That decision alone said a lot about him. 😡
That was when the contradiction became clear to us. Zhuang Xu was not clueless at all. All this time, he never truly accepted Ye Rong. He refuses her, even when she acts as if she were his girlfriend. Every time they appeared together, standing side by side, there was an invisible wall between them.
Zhuang Xu knew clearly that he shouldn’t betray his own feelings by accepting Ye Rong. So why couldn’t he see the truth when Ye Rong accused Nie Xi Guang?
Then it hit us that Zhuang Xu wasn’t stupid or a hypocrite. He did behave inconsistently, but he didn’t lack awareness either. His real problem was a lack of courage. He chose a safer path for himself. And the path is Ye Rong.
Zhuang Xu believed her mother’s idea that a good match requires equal standing. Ye Rong is his neighbour. Their families shared the same financial level. He was aware of her feelings, and both his mother and brother kept pushing him toward her.
What held him back was fear. Because she did many things to help his family. Zhuang Xu was afraid that rejecting Ye Rong openly would make him look like the bad guy. So he stayed in the middle, reassuring himself that this way, no one would get hurt. His inconsistency didn’t come from confusion, but from himself. He understood his feelings, yet he lacked the strength to take responsibility for them.
That’s why his character feels frustrating rather than evil. Don’t you think so?
The Visuals – A Free Visual Trip
There’s nothing major wrong with this drama when it comes to visuals. Everything feels perfectly arranged. I especially love the costumes. They looked good on everyone, but Zhao Jin Mai’s outfit stood out the most.
I found myself drooling over her Miu Miu and Maison Margiela bags, while my daughter said Nie Xi Guang’s style could be her fashion inspiration. Too bad we lived in a tropical country. Her knitwear is cute, but there’s no way we could wear it under this scorching sun. 😅
The makeup, on the other hand, was almost flawless. It looked very natural. When Nie Xi Guang was lying in the hospital bed, she truly looked pale and unwell. It didn’t feel exaggerated at all. which made those scenes more convincing and easier to believe.
The only visual flaw I noticed seemed almost intentional. The European trip scenery, especially the badly attached Houses of Parliament background, was impossible to miss. But because it looked so obvious, I am sure the production team did it on purpose.
Chinese dramas really know how to promote tourism. I felt a pang of envy when Nie Xie Guang opened her hotel room’s windows, and Shanghai’s colourful city view came to life. And I haven’t even started on the Changbai Mountain scenery or the plum blossoms in Wuxi. These were real places you could actually visit if you travelled to China.
This is the beauty of modern dramas. Watching them sometimes feels like taking a small tour around China. Of course, not every modern drama offers scenery like this. But those with a higher budget like Ski into Love, A Romance of the Little Forest, Meet Yourself, or To The Wonder, can easily give you a free visual trip.
The Characters
Nie Xi Guang (Played by Zhao Jin Mai)
Ni Xi Guang’s nickname is Xigua (watermelon). She came from a well-off family and didn’t lack anything. Her parents are businesspeople, smart and resourceful. Especially her mother, Jiang Yun.
Although Ni Xi Guang was actually smart and capable, she loves to be under the radar. She used to not think about the future seriously. Well, her father often said that she would inherit his company someday. And they also could easily secure a place in any company she wanted due to their connection.
Nie Xi Guang’s personality is simple. She is a cheerful and carefree person. Deep down inside, she is a mature and emotionally steady person. When things go wrong, she will endure it and sort things out step by step. Never impulsive. That made her look passive sometimes.
But when it comes to empathy, she had no fear. Nie Xi Guang values dignity. She didn’t chase love blindly. She didn’t need attention or validation from others. She also has her fragile moments, but it never keeps her feeling down for too long. She will stand up and face the world courageously.
Lin Yu Sen (Played by Song Wei Long)
Lin Yu Sen is calm, rational, and emotionally mature. He is older than Nie Xi Guang, so he could guide her and support her in every way possible. Lin Yu Sein is someone who knows what he wants and doesn’t waste time or energy on unnecessary drama. His confidence came from his self-awareness.
What I love about Lin Yu Sen is that he respects boundaries and never rushes Nie Xi Guang or pressures her into anything. He listens more than he speaks. And when he acts, it’s usually after careful thought. Once he commits to anything, he is clear and responsible about it. He is supportive and dependable without needing to prove himself.
Zhuang Xu (Played by Lai Wei Ming)
Zhuang Xu came from a humble family. His mother is a single mother and a simple woman. Zhuang Xu loves his family deeply and is a very good brother to his younger sibling. Realising that his life was not easy, he worked hard on his academic skills and earned recognition from his professors and later from his boss.
At work, Zhuang Xu understands people, situations, and is very calculating. But when it comes to emotions, he becomes overly cautious. He knows what he feels, yet he is too afraid to act. He avoids conflicts, even if it means staying silent when he should speak up.
Zhuang Xu cares a lot about stability, family expectations and social standing. But when it comes to Nie Xi Guang, he seemed like a different person. He acts like an elementary school kid who speaks hurtful things just to get his crush’s attention.
He doesn’t mean to hurt her, but his words often come out wrong. Instead of expressing his feelings honestly, he hides behind sarcasm and distance. In the end, this only pushes Nie Xi Guang away and reveals how emotionally immature he was.
Ye Rong (Played by Bai Bing Ke)
Ye Rong is emotionally driven and deeply insecure. She is sensitive to rejection. Much of her behaviour comes from her fear of being outshone by Nie Xi Guang. She is smart but impulsive. When she feels threatened, she reacts emotionally.
Often without considering the consequences. Ye Rong believes that effort and constant presence should eventually earn love. Because of this, she struggles with her unreciprocated feelings. She refused to step back and pressed forward. Her actions often come across as manipulative. But it was rooted more in desperation than malice.
The Conclusion
Shine on Me is a drama that suited for your weekend getaway after a long and hard week. It offers a comforting romance that doesn’t demand too much emotional energy. The story is easy to follow, and the conflicts won’t drain you.
In the end, Shine on Me is not a drama that tries to impress you with big moments. It simply wants to keep you company and leave a warm feeling inside your chest. And sometimes, that’s exactly what we needed. 😊
So, dear readers, everything I’ve written in this long review reflects my personal preferences and my own intrusive thoughts. You might see this drama differently, and I’d love to hear your thoughts about it. Feel free to share your thoughts with me on this Shine on Me drama review. I’ll see you in another drama review. Until then, take care and goodbye!
