I mean i would hope things get better sooner or later. Honestly I'd be happy with an ending where shen yu just leaves altogether and settles down in some small village and lives a happy life there. I don't think any of the romantic intererests really deserve redemption at this point so i just want shen yu to go off and be happy by himself while they suffer over losing him over petty bs and misunderstandings
That ending sounds great, kiki, and it would be so much better than this constant emotional and physical battering that poor kid has to take. Humiliation isn't my kink. If this story is still around in another 6 months, and there are enough chapters built up that the momentum doesn't dissipate between them, I might revisit and see if the development is more promising. It's punishment to keep reading this right now.
I'm not getting into the melancholy of this. I know melancholy can be fun sometimes, but this is just relentlessly somber and bleak. Does it ever lighten up, or are we all just meant to collectively slit our wrists at the end of it?