Honestly, the language is very straightforward. It doesn't try to be beautiful or poetic. It reads more like a game script or a very detailed web novel. That's not a negative! It makes it incredibly easy to tear through. The mental images come quickly. The flow is good. It’s comfort food for the brain. You don't have to work to appreciate the prose, you just get to enjoy the story and the jokes.
The mother is the scariest villain by far. The dad yells, the brother hurts her, but the mother *weeps* while ordering the mutilation. "It is to save your life." She has fully rationalized the evil. She is the architect of the whole scheme to replace her daughter with a more convenient model.
The balance between humor and seriousness works well. The dirty jokes from the older sisters contrast with Zhao Tie Ying’s fierce cursing. It keeps the tone light even when dealing with heavy themes like debt and suicide. I appreciate that the story doesn’t dwell too much on the dark parts.
I was confused by the ghost lady in the abandoned house. Was she a real spirit or a demon? The story treats it like a nightmare, but then he wakes up. It felt like a cheap way to add horror, but it just didn't fit the tone of the rest of the story so far. It felt like a side quest in a video game that didn't have a purpose.
The subplot with Su Xun finding out his sons sneaked out to eat is both hilarious and relatable. Su Shi’s smooth talk about “first endure hardship then obtain reward” is such a classic older sibling move—he knows exactly how to play their father. But poor Su Zhe gets the beating because he can’t think fast enough. The detail about the monks hearing chanting mixed with gasps from the guest house is a great dark comedy moment. It shows that even literary giants had to deal with strict parents.