Le Meilleur des Choix (2024)

If Mother/Daughter Dramas are you're thing, this is the one for you...

I loved this drama because of its heartfelt messages of love and family unity in helping to face the difficulties of life and family strife. These messages are conveyed in the story of Mai Chenghuan, who has dreams of excelling in her career, but has a well-meaning and controlling mother who gets in her way.

I think this drama hits home for many women, young and old, who've had moms like this. They work hard all their lives taking care of you and wanting what's best for you, but just can't seem to make the transition from raising their children, to being hands-off companions to their adult children. They get caught in the push/pull of what they believe will make their children happy instead of listening to what they actually need, making them horribly unhappy because they've grown used to being in control. This is where our story begins.

The mother/daughter leads are played masterfully by Yang Zi, as Mai Chenghuan, and veteran actress, He Sai Fei, as Liu Wanyu. These two actresses were phenomenal together. They took us into their tumultuous relationship, making us cry with their heart-breaking fights and making us cry again when they make up. They got their characters down pat and brought them to life on-screen. What an honor I can imagine it must have been for Yang Zi to work alongside such a talented actress that is He Sai Fei. I could see right off that she took all her younger counterparts to unimaginable heights. My hat is off to the director for guiding them all to go further in their performances. The ensemble cast were all wonderful as the Mai family. They felt like a very real family, supporting each other in good times and in bad. It is no wonder then that Yao Zhiming, wants so badly to be a part of it?

Xu Kai, as Yao Ziming, is the quiet loner who slowly becomes entangled with Mai Chenghuan and her family life. They both share a very important person in their lives and she is instrumental in teaching them that nothing is more important than love for family and doing what is right. She gently guides Yao to become more free and less transactional, employing the efforts of Mai Chenghuan in her endeavors. I was very impressed with Xu Kai's understated performance. He could be the cold CEO, but you could see that he had a big heart and that he was guarding it, not willing to give it away until he was ready. I appreciated that about his performance. He understood his character completely. That inner monologue was present and you don't always get that in less seasoned actors. He was alive, a rock for Chenghuan, but vulnerable at the same time. The rawness of his need for a family was palpable. All I can say is the noodle scene. Without giving anything away, that was the moment he won me over as an actor.

The weakest areas of the plot were at the beginning. The first few episodes felt disjointed and slow. I think the drama was still trying to find its footing and those first 12 episodes could have done with less cliches.

In a forest of Chinese dramas full of young, handsome romantic leads and cliche plots, this was a diamond in the rough because it doesn't just dwell on romance. There is much more going on and that is a good thing. Even the secondary romantic couple is well written and doesn't detract from the main couple or the principal situations. I highly recommend this one for viewers who like slice of life dramas, or want more going on than just the romance.

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Its good but very exaggerated mother daughter duo

I am very confused with this drama honestly.i watched it for xu kai, but ended up watching till the end. i just hated the exaggeration of a mothers obsession towards her children. i kind of did not like the unprofessionalism where a mother can randomly enter a daughter's office meeting and say to have lunch. They were a lot of unattractive points in the drama. but above all the ML and FL has carried the drama beautifully. Even FL's brother and Ex boyfriend did a good job projecting the relationship. It was sensible for a mother to be noisy in a daughter's relationship but it was really really not acceptable for a mother to be noisy in professional fields. I have a lot of mixed feelings towards this drama. Its a family drama with very weird obsessions. The granny was the best among everything.

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Oh so boring! :(

Unfortunately, yes. The trailers and reels would make you think it’s a romance story between Yangzi and Xukai, but it’s really not.

The drama revolves around Mai Chenghuan and her family, centering on her relationship with her mother. The mother has a really annoying character where she talks too much and constantly interferes with other people lives. Too much screen time were given to both the parents which I did not enjoy. The other couple which is her best friend and little brother also did not interest me one bit.

The first half focused mainly on the FL relationship with her bf of 3 years, whom she didn’t know was the son of a very wealthy family. Somehow forced to get married, she finds there’s too many differences in their social status and creates conflict with the future mother and sister in law. These scenes were so frustrating to watch. And her own mother never learns- even after breaking off the relationship, she secretly held an engagement party , tricked her to attend it and it was SUCH A MESS!

After that it gets boring, a grandma dies, she inherits a hotel and navigates her way to run the hotel, whilst getting closer to xukai and liking him… really not that interesting.

So unfortunately will be dropping this. I just fast forward too too much just to get to their kiss scene in ep26- and even that was a lack of chemistry and let down. Definitely not recommended.

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Mai ChengHuan's growth to independence

TLDR: If you've read the discussions on Viki and MDL, you will have seen the overbearing, annoying and toxic mom labels. I won't deny that the mother was portrayed very well by actress He Sai Fei. And many people who are unfamiliar with Asian culture may not understand her portrayal, so they dropped the series because of her, even though she eventually strives to understand her children better, and they reach an understanding. Also, if you're just expecting a RomCom, this series is not for you.

This drama is more about family life and the relationships between the family members. Not many of us will have the economic background as the Mai family, who are living in government housing, and where the parents' big dream is for the government to demolish their building so they can collect the relocation money and move to the suburbs. Mr. and Mrs. Mai have sacrificed enough to be able to send their two children to college, and ChengZao had scholarships while also tutoring while attending school. He's in his early 20s and still sleeps on a cot in their living room. Older sister ChengHuan is 29 and diligently works in the hotel industry. She wants to be independent and to be able to alleviate her parents' difficult life. As her mom increasingly interferes with her life, the fragile balance between filial piety and independence breaks, leading to a public row between her and her mom.

Things I liked:
- the very gradual and realistic change in the relationship between Yao ZhiMing and Mai ChengHuan. They started off on the wrong foot. From my perspective, he fell first but could only support her without her knowing about it.
- Yao ZhiMing and Mai ChengHuan being there for each other, physically present and emotionally available, was the most romantic thing. Viewers define romance differently. Some go for the big ring, flowers, chocolate. Me - someone to hold me when I'm down and someone to listen so I can hear myself think.
- ChengHuan's journey growing up with an overbearing mom to being able to speak up for herself, not second-guessing herself, but being able to stand up for herself was a joy to behold.
- the friendship between siblings ChengHuan and ChengZao. They're the only ones who know their parents and know what the other is going through.
- the friendship between ChengHuan and MaoMao. They have each other's backs.

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Love every second of this

This was such a great show.

It was a family drama and watching this family grow from where they stated to where they finished was such great entertainment. The whole cast was amazing.

The mother was so annoying in the start but you came to understand her and her story by the end. Every character grew so much from the first episode. I just loved every minute of this. I loved all the storey beats although I do feel there was a LOT happens in the last 10 or so episodes, they could have stretched it out. Who am I kidding I just want more of this show.

One gripe is I would have really loved to see a proposal scene between Chenghuan and Zhiming, that was the only thing that felt unfinished. I want my romantic proposal!! lol. Even better if it had been Chenghuan proposing to Zhiming. But alas, it didnt happenthefore it was docked 0.5. :)

Lire davantage

awesome

- This drama was truly awesome.

Firstly i watched this mainly for the 2 mainly characters they were v well matched and complemented each other.

Secondly they love story was unique in the sense that 1 new what they wanted. Despite how that came together, each with respect for each other. Although the mom did annoy me in the beginning, she did eventually grow on me and got to understand her and enjoy her.

Thirdly I loved the dynamics of the story unfolding and how very grateful and thankful can go alone way in life. And family can get through situations in life.

Definitely a good drama and well wry written story

Lire davantage

Beautiful Slice Of Life Drama

Only up to Episode 16 has been released, but I’m really enjoying the storyline. So sad they only drop 2 a day, but better than waiting weeks in between.

The lead and supporting actors are really presenting the story well, and of course I already have my favorite characters. (The grandmother of course!!) It was also refreshing to see the FL , although exceptionally generous, not back down with one of her coworkers. *more often than not, the jealous coworker is let off the hook.

**wishing my Chinese was good enough to read the book this is based off of.

Looking forward to seeing which direction this will go!!

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Really a great show. Worth watching!

I am here to give a review about this drama after watching 16 episodes. After lighter and princess and hidden love, this is the drama that has surprised me. I mean story acting is next level. The FL killed it by her performance in this drama. I liked her from Go Go squid, she was so cute and childish there. But in this drama she is mature, brave and smart FL. And also the ML ( xu kai ) was so handsome and cute in this drama. This is not the typical romantic Chinese drama where the rich boss ML fall for employee FL. It's totally different drama. It's shows how you value your family, how you support them and how much you love your family. I really can't wait for the other episodes.

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