After Cultivation, Became a Special Forces Soldier - Reviews

The principal and the teacher, Teacher Yang, are such cardboard cutouts of authority figures, aren't they? The principal is all about reports and procedures, while Teacher Yang is just flustered and ineffective. And the way the butler shows up, stammering about "no, yes, no," is hilarious and sad at the same time. It really drives home how absent Liang Liang’s parents are. Money is the only language his family speaks. The whole scene in the meeting room feels like a parody of a disciplinary hearing, with the kid just swaggering in and insulting the teacher.

Okay, gotta say, this opening fight scene is pure teenage drama gold. Two guys rolling around on the grass over a girl named Hao Jing, one yelling about grades and the other about being a "bad student"? It's so over the top, I can almost hear the dramatic music. And the dialogue, "If you've got guts, kill me!" is such a classic, cringey line you'd actually hear in a schoolyard brawl. It instantly sets up this world where everything is life or death for these kids. I'm already getting flashbacks to every high school drama I've ever watched.

I actually felt a pang of sympathy for Teacher Yang when Liang Liang roasted her for being almost 30 and single. That was brutal. But also, it's such a realistic teen comeback. You can tell she's trying to do her job, but this kid has zero respect for any of it. The way he talks back, it's not even clever, it's just mean. It shows how angry and broken he really is beneath the tough-guy act. He's not just a bully; he's lashing out at anyone who represents the system he feels has failed him.

The dad, Liang Weiye, is such a caricature of the wealthy, absentee father. His first reaction to hearing his son got expelled is to donate a million yuan for "good karma"? That's such a detached, billionaire way of dealing with your kid's problems. It's no wonder Liang Liang is so messed up. The dad is completely clueless, thinking money can fix everything, from a school fight to his son's entire personality. And bringing his girlfriend, Awen, who’s just stirring the pot? Recipe for disaster, obviously.

The home confrontation scene is intense! You can feel the tension and the years of resentment boiling over for both of them. The dad slapping Liang Liang for insulting his girlfriend while the kid is screaming about never being loved? It’s messy and real. I almost felt bad for the old man for a second, but then he pulls the "without my money you're nothing" card. Classic move, dad. That’s when you know this kid is going to do something stupid just to prove a point.

Wang Ma, the housekeeper, is the real MVP of this whole story so far. She’s the only one who seems to truly care about Liang Liang. The way he calls her "Mom" at the end of the scene, and kowtows to her? That broke me a little. It shows that all this kid ever wanted was a real parent, and the closest thing he has is the woman his dad pays to clean the house. It adds a much-needed layer of genuine emotion to all this teenage angst.

Alright, the "running away from home" arc is a bit predictably scripted. His cards being frozen? Of course they were. It’s a little too convenient for the plot. But the part where he picks a random city on the map was a nice touch. It captures that feeling of just wanting to disappear, to go anywhere where no one knows your name. It’s the classic "aimless runaway" fantasy. But you just know he's about to get a harsh dose of reality.

Ugh, the rental scam. Seriously? He gets scammed by the first person he meets? I know he's a naive rich kid, but come on, seventeen is old enough to know better than to follow a random person to a "cheap hotel" in a shady part of town. This plot point is a little too on the nose to show how sheltered he was. Still, the part where he wakes up and his pants are stolen is genuinely funny in a painful way. He’s learning the hard way.

The transformation from a bratty rich kid to a beggar sleeping under a bridge happens way too fast. One minute he's fighting the landlord, the next he's smearing stove ash on his face to look homeless. I get that time is a factor in a novel, but it feels a bit like the author just fast-forwarded through the hard part. His decision to call home and then pull back his hand because he’d rather die? That’s the pride talking, but it feels a bit hollow when he's just given up so quickly.

So, he tries to get a job at a foot massage parlor and the lady hits on him? This is just getting weird. This whole section feels like the author is trying to show all the "bad" parts of society, but it's coming off as a series of clichés. The desperate man, the sleazy job offer... it's like a checklist of things that can go wrong for a runaway teen. I'm starting to see a pattern here, and it’s honestly making the story feel a bit less genuine.

1 The old Daoist master is a total trope. The white hair, the crane-like face, the "strong old man" who walks effortlessly while the young guy pants. It's like the author copied and pasted him from a hundred other cultivation novels. But you know what? I'm kind of here for it. It's comforting in a predictable way. After all that stressful family drama and street life, you just want to see the kid find a cool master and learn some awesome kung fu. The trope works.

1 And then, out of nowhere, he’s shouting on a mountain top and a random Daoist Immortal sees him and decides he's "extraordinary"? What. Even. This is the biggest plot twist so far, and it feels like the author just threw their hands up and said, "and now, magic training!" It’s such a jarring shift from a gritty "street smart" story to a classic wuxia training arc. I’m all for genre blending, but this transition is clunky and has zero build-up.