Book Review: Just Blame Me for Being Blind in the Beginning

So I started reading this novel back in 2019 but ended up dropping it. I can’t remember if it was because it was boring or if I decided to pause as it wasn’t completely translated. The translations started in 2017 and recently completed this year (2021). I decided to re-read the novel starting from the beginning (I read up to Ch 24 previously).

The MC is Pei Ying. She’s a beautiful and long-legged young lady who despite having bad luck, is pretty optimistic in everything she does. She has a younger brother who is spoiled by her parents due to their preference of sons over daughters. Thus, although she’s barely able to make it on her own, her mother expects her to send her younger brother (who’s a college student) an allowance for spending. Having fail in quite a few of her endeavors, she decides to become an actress when she was discovered by an agent. But she haven’t had any successes so she remain an 18th-tier actress. She also started an online shop selling clothes with her best friend. MC’s luck seems to change for the better once she meets Song Nanchuan (the ML). When her mother discovered that she’s dating a rich CEO, she expects that he will take care of their family and help MC’s brother make connections. MC is upset and tells her mother off saying that ML has no responsibilities to them. She said that she will do her familial piety and send them money that she makes herself but she won’t let ML help them. Honestly, her family is pretty toxic.

The ML is Song Nanchuan. He’s the third son of the wealthy and prominent Song family. He has shares in Universe Pictures, a production company but also have his own company as well. He meets MC at a meet and greet when MC was recommended for a second female lead role. He’s attracted to her (especially her long legs) and helped her out when a director attempted to feel her up. Afterward, he had his assistant send him all her information and starts chasing after her.

The relationship between the two actually progressed rather quickly. Within a few dates, ML have already gotten MC in bed. Afterward, he told her that he loves her. The next day, the paparazzi reported that MC stayed overnight at ML’s house. ML had a press release sent out saying that the two are in a relationship. In fact, MC finds out that she’s his girlfriend on Weibo. He never officially ask her if she wanted to be his girlfriend. However, MC likes him too so she let it fly.

They had a cold war where they broke up when MC worked really hard in preparation for an audition for a female lead role. The director liked her but the writer preferred the other actress. When ML finds out that that role has intimate scenes, he voiced his opinion (as he’s one of the investors) that MC is not cut out for that role. MC finds out from the actor who played the male lead in that drama. She’s upset that she worked so hard for the role and could have gotten it but was stopped by ML without him taking her opinion into consideration. He tells her that he’ll get her a better role. However, their argument lead them to break up and MC moves back to her apartment. Eventually ML finally admitted that he was wrong and apologized to her and MC admitted that she should have been upfront and let him know about the intimate scenes in advance as the two are in a relationship.

As mentioned previously, MC’s luck seems to change for the better ever since she met ML. MC starts getting better roles and advertisements and became more and more popular. She landed the female role in a highly anticipated upcoming movie by writer Xin Xin (the male lead from Finding Glowing Beauty in Books). In fact, the scene that writer Xin Xin appear in also appear in that novel as well. While MC spends her day studying the script for the movie, she spends her night resisting the advances of ML. I feel like all MLs in novel-land have their lustiness when it comes to their FL and always trying to get them in bed. But Song Nanchuan is a whole ‘nother level and honestly, I’m all for it. It’s not super detailed smutty but there’s a lot of sexual flirting and snusnu.

It’s fiction, not based on reality. A gorgeous, long-legged beauty who’s an actress that couldn’t advance further in her career because she has her bottom line of not sleeping with men just to get roles and opportunities. But once she meets the very handsome, young, and rich CEO, she no longer have a bottom line and sleep with him almost right away with no resistance. In fact, later, she asked if he planned it (sleeping with her). When he said no, she questioned why he prepared condoms. I was thinking she was trying to get somewhere with her questioning but she didn’t inquire further. Was this to show us, the readers, that she isn’t an idiot and know what she was getting into? I don’t know but I was definitely expecting more than her just obediently accepting everything.

I still feel very uncomfortable that ML told MC to act like a refined, graceful, young lady from an aristocratic family because his parents prefer well-bred girls. MC did get a little angry and tell him that he should go look for those kind of girls if that’s what his parents want but he said he just doesn’t want there to be any issues. She asked him what happens after the first meeting. Basically, she can act well-bred but what happens afterward. He tells her that she’ll be marrying and living with him, not his parents. I really don’t know how I feel about this. I feel like MC has never appear like anything other than a modest, well-behaved, young lady. There’s really no need for him to tell her to act a certain way. And I hoped that if they didn’t think she was well-bred enough that ML would stand up for her. He even proceeded to give her lessons on how to behave like a refined woman, from the way she should walk to her posture.

After meeting his parents, ML’s mother seems to like MC. However, ML’s father is a little cold and distant. Later on, ML’s second brother got MC drunk and this was witnessed by ML’s father. He chastised ML for wanting to marry a celebrity like MC and not a well-bred lady from an aristocratic family. ML defended her and said he would only marry her. However, he’s also upset at MC for getting drunk. MC tried to explained that she couldn’t say no when his brother gave her a beer and before you know it, she became drunk. When ML’s father complained to ML’s mother, luckily she also defended MC and pretty much told ML’s father that he’s too old-school. Afterward, ML and MC flew to a seaside resort where ML proposed to her and she said yes.

During the Lunar New Year, the two visits MC’s parents. Obviously MC’s family is thrilled that she’s marrying a rich man. When MC’s mother brought up betrothal gifts, ML tells her that he’s already taken care of that. He had his lawyers buy properties and stock options under MC’s name. He tells MC’s mother that usually betrothal gifts are given to the parents, who in turns, give it to their daughter so he saved them the hassle and directly put the properties and stocks under MC’s name. Unable to dispute what ML said, MC’s mother asked ML to find a position for MC’s brother in his company. ML tells them that he’s seen MC’s brother’s tests and he did poorly and do not think MC’s brother can graduate college. But if he does, ML will allow him to be an intern in his company but he can only rely on his own hard work and not his connection as ML’s brother-in-law. ML tells them that they didn’t treat MC well and because MC is sentimental, she’ll continue to act with piety towards them but not to expect anything else from him.

MC and ML gets married and had two weddings, one abroad and one at a seaside resort. MC won an award for Best Actress for her role in The Performer (Teacher Xin Xin’s novel). They had a baby girl named Song Jiale.

This is the fourth Chestnut novel that I read so it was fun seeing her other characters pop-up in this novel:

• One of the gigs that MC’s company got for her was singing a single, Blooming. The producer of the song is Qiao Yichen, the male lead of Marriage Concerto (Small Thing Called Love). I actually have not read this novel yet.
• Xiao Gu showed up as a friend of ML. He called Xiao Gu out to go drinking after him and MC broke up. Xiao Gu is the male lead from Sonata: Fleeing to Avoid an Arranged Marriage. I also have not read this novel.
• During a company event for Universe Pictures, MC ends up falling into the pool due to two little children whose father is CEO Yu. I believe this is Yu Yi, the male lead from Sweet Heart in Honeyed Desire. Yet another Chestnut novel that I have yet to read.
• MC plays the female lead in a movie adaptation of Teacher Xin Xin’s novel. Teacher Xin Xin is Yan Ru Yu, who is the male lead from Finding Glowing Beauty in Books. I’ve read this novel and enjoyed seeing the crossovers between the two novels. In Just Blame Me for Being Blind in the Beginning, Yan Ru Yu and Lan Ning are in the process of getting married.
• The male lead of the movie adaptation of Teacher Xin Xin’s novel is Mo Zhen, who is the male lead from Good Morning, Miss Ghost. I also read this novel as well.
• MC and ML’s daughter, Song Jiale has a crush on a little boy named Qi Rang, who is the son of the main couple from Divorce: This is a Trivial Matter.