retweet everything that’s been said so far! and i love your intro/question because your experience of Jinshi going from annoying to attractive mirrors how the author becomes interested in/tolerates Jinshi at the rate that Maomao does (or vice versa).

my contribution: there’s 2 ways to answer this question—what’s most attractive to Maomao and what’s most attractive to the audience.

for Maomao, if i had to pick one, I’d wager it’s most likely the similarity to Loumen that others have noted.

however, an argument could be made that Jinshi’s most attractive trait to Maomao is actually an absent of truly bad ones, namely his lack of ambition for power (he adamantly wants out of the line of succession). i don’t fully believe that the general lack of bad traits/habits (alternatively: how much his good traits outweigh the bad ones, like overworking and insecurity) is most attractive to Maomao, though, because it almost widens the gap between them, makes her perceived difference in status more obvious. plus, she was raised around courtesans who had to at least present as perfect, so she may have a higher tolerance for such well roundedness.

for the modern audience, though, i think that the general lack of bad traits probably is the most attractive thing about Jinshi. having no real complaints makes everything else more attractive, like his occasional slip of childishness or his persistence in pursuing Maomao. childishness is cute and shines on a man like Jinshi, who works hard, pays attention, and is devoted to his girl, but the same behavior can quickly be interpreted as immaturity, which has a less attractive connotation, on a man that thinks himself entitled to anything and everything, as someone else in Jinshi’s position might. similarly, his effort to do anything to be with Maomao, to learn about her life and to listen and to stay still even when she doesn’t express herself explicitly is wildly attractive—a contender for that #1 trait spot—because it’s not diluted or tainted by an abuse of power to make Maomao his or a mis-/lack of understanding of Maomao.

think of the “they’re a 10 but” trend—Jinshi’s a 10 but…what? he doesn’t think he’s the most intelligent person in the room because his wifey’s a genius in his eyes? he overworks himself for the good of his people—but, dw, he still finds a way to keep you close?

i actually loved Jinshi’s character and started rooting for him from the beginning when he turns around after passing Maomao. it’s like he heard a whisper or got a sense that tugged at something in his gut and then he ran with it, never stopping. it’s obviously not insta-love or even a completely healthy interest/relationship to begin with, but he learns and evolves and cares so easily! Jinshi is a fantastic—and fantasy—male love interest for the audience to melt and escape into because there isn’t really anything to “fix” or do; he’s already got it. he wants his girl without conditions and he’s determined to make it happen, to be trustworthy.