Mother and Daughter Dynamic Duo.

I really enjoyed this drama. I watched this for Sooyoung but I became a fan of everyone! I appreciated that all the romance majorly took a backseat to the core plot and motivations of the drama, which mostly was about chosen family. A lot of people found the mom annoying, but I think Eun Mi is meant to be frustrating as someone who lives for her inner child — something she didn’t get to experience due to life circumstances. I appreciated her free-spiritedness and how much she challenged her daughter and social norms. Jin Hee, on the other hand, is very straight-laced and strict (especially towards her mom) as someone who had to grow up pretty quickly too and also wanted to be a source of strength and support for her mom. Their chosen family — a first love/estranged father, a chosen sister/aunt, and an adoptive mother/grandmother — round out the spirit of the drama, which is to challenge the typical tropes and cliches. I wish we got to experience more of the grandmother but I appreciated how much we got to see the aunt; and even the other aunt made an impression on me with proving how characters/people can grow in the right circumstances. I was surprised that Ahn Jae-wook was in this with a pretty significant role; I hadn’t looked at the cast list beforehand but thought he did a great job as someone who was dorky and lovable. I liked that his character was satisfied with as much as he was given and he prioritized the women’s needs since their relationship came first. I also wish we got to see just a little more of Jin Hee’s romance subplot, but maybe that’s because I am so conditioned to watching romcom dramas. For instance, the ending was a little weird and confusing to me, but the more I think about it the more I believe it fits the show well, and I can’t really imagine another ending that would be satisfying. Maybe I would’ve liked a little more explanation on why Jin Hee decided that trip specifically (as well as Eun Mi), but I actually enjoyed the fact that they just up and decided to leave and do their own thing without any worry for people (especially the men) in their lives. Over the course of the drama, you’re always rooting for them and realizing how many times they’ve been knocked down, but you come to love how much joy and persistence they have against all odds.

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So many thoughts! Some spoilers~

I really, really enjoyed this drama and I would definitely rewatch! I even thought the music was beautiful and catchy; I hardly ever skipped the intro. I was so surprised by the chemistry between the main couple/family, and I am happy to have found out that Wang Yuwen and Wang Ziqi have worked together previously — their other drama is definitely going in my queue! I *adored* Cui Yixin as Quanquan. This little boy did such a fantastic job playing the son; his character was smart and quick-witted and often scolding the adults around him, but he got to play and whine and act like a child as well. The writing and the actor himself did such a great job balancing that. He was so cute and the glue of the Min-Xin family.

As far as his parents go, I really enjoyed the character arcs they endured. Both characters are very strong and even stubborn, but Xin Qi quickly falling deeply in love with Min Hui was a great choice. While Min Hui fell in love, she was more cautious and quick to set boundaries. I appreciated that through his growth, he had to learn to differentiate between infatuation/possessiveness and true love, and learned how to show up for MH as she needed him. MH also learned how to soften and open herself up to real love after healing from traumatic events, and went through a journey of forgiveness (for XQ and Lin Xiyue) and justice (Cheng Qirang, Ding Yifang, getting her work recognized).

As for the other characters:

I love her best friends Zhou Ruji and Cao Mu. I enjoyed Hardy but I also feel like he was underutilized; same with Cindy. I wish she introduced to the series earlier, and I also wish we could’ve seen her become friends with Cao Mu.

I didn’t love the romance between Cao Mu and Chen Jiajun. I think they were cute at times and I feel like there’s always that one side couple that moves faster and shows more affection than the main couple — they were that for this drama. But I felt like Cao Mu deserved better and we could’ve explored her backstory a little more, especially her reasoning for being against marriage. I often fast-forwarded through their scenes so, admittedly, I may have missed some interesting moments, but I look forward to seeing these actors in other projects for sure.

On the flip side, I enjoyed Zhou Ruji’s character a lot! At times I felt annoyed and burdened by his pining for MH, but I think that really drove the point home of feeling possessive and longing for someone out of habit. (I also enjoyed how they showed how much he was really there for MH and especially Quanquan, and learned how to care for them.) ZR, XQ, and Cheng Qirang are different sides of the same coin and each have their respective lessons to learn. Ruji needed to learn that liking someone out of habit and doing kind things to quietly persuade someone’s feelings is not how you get someone to love you beyond platonic feelings. He could never be straightforward to her; however, I appreciate how he confessed despite his feelings changing. That was such a wholesome moment that you don’t often get to see in shows. He got his closure after spending so much effort on his one-sided crush for years, MH had the opportunity to address it directly as well since I’m sure she realized his feelings, and they got to maintain their friendship. I really enjoyed his relationship with Yao Zhizhu. She was actually a really sweet and fantastic addition to the side characters and storylines. I could also see her being great friends with Min Hui and Cao Mu. While she did kind things and looked out for ZR, she was more honest and direct about her feelings and steadfast in her approach to trying to win his favor. Likewise, she never disparaged and even admired/rooted for MH, despite her being the object of Ruji’s affection. I like, also, that when Ruji realized his new feelings, that she set her own boundaries and made him work for her affection/their relationship. I enjoyed that she wasn’t easily won over when he had his realization! They ended up being such a cute and pure couple. I liked how Ruji became a golden retriever for her and I loved how much they doted on Quanquan as uncle and auntie figures in his life.

Overall, I very much appreciated the themes of this story. All the women were strong in different ways and were amazing at declaring their boundaries and moral values. Even Zheng Yiting, who had purely a business mindset and **tempuous** relationship with her husband, was strong against her husband and uncompromising for the most part, and in the end joined the right side to save her family’s legacy. Lin Xiyue, though she was manipulated into the wrong side for most of the series, she also was smart, cunning and tactical on her own. In the end, she sought forgiveness from Min Hui and regretted most how her wrongdoings hurt a former friend and other women in general.

Min Hui — all that she went through and displayed throughout the series was wonderful. A strong, independent, single mother in STEM and entrepreneurship, who stood up to toxic masculinity and corruption without fear, and often in alliance with other women. I *adored* her as the female lead, and I would even consider her the main lead of the series above Xin Qi. Wang Yuwen did an amazing job portraying her and she was the core of the success of this story!

I’ve seen some opinions saying they didn’t like how all the women ended up in relationships and it contrasted their feminist design… While I get where they’re coming from and I don’t seek to invalidate anyone’s opinions, I do want to explain how I saw it. Firstly, feminist and empowered women deserve love too; they don’t have to remain independent to represent feminist values. It was established that Min Hui was always in love with Xin Qi and despite their conflicts, she never forgot her first love. She showed herself to be efficient and capable and chose to never pursue love as she raised Quanquan on her own but didn’t deny herself of the option of love when Xin Qi came back into the picture. Of course, their relationship took a lot of work too and she didn’t just settle right away either. XQ had to learn what Min Hui really needed in order to be in her life — she always refused his overt affection, his money, his help, and etc. It wasn’t until she heard him talk about how he simply needed to be by her side, to go through life with her, and appreciate her strengths and her abilities to work things out, that she truly allowed him in. He finally realized the kind of love she wanted. Think about Cheng Qirang: he did everything in his power to force MH to be with him and he was never going to understand that *any* woman doesn’t want to be undermined or thought of as an object. XQ, in his own way, needed to learn the same exact lesson, but the difference is he was willing to listen and grow!

Zhou Ruji and even Chen Jiajun were allowed to be with Zhizhu and Cao Mu, respectively, because of their willingness to rid themselves of toxic masculinity and stand by these women in the way that they requested and deserved. There were two scenes towards the end, in the aftermath of the convictions of Ding Yifang and Cheng Qirang, that drilled the core themes of the show home for me. After MH and ZQ take care of Zhong Meimei, he is so angry about the hypocrisies and the systemic nature in which women are harmed — that no matter what women do, there are toxic men that figure out how to get away with hurting women. He says something like, “I’ve known ridicule and violence but not to the degree that women have.” But then he trails off because he knows he does not need to explain any of this Min Hui, and his rage at this point is futile. More good men can’t just be mad and silent, they need to put in the work to call out and shame this behavior rather than putting the burden on victims to be brave on their own. Likewise, in another scene, the Be Agile staff are voicing their disgust at the situations and one girl responds, “men can be harassed too.” While this topic wasn’t brought up directly throughout the show, this is a good point too. Though none of the men in the show were sexually harassed, how many of them were hit or bulled by CQ and DY? They never could speak up either. He Haixiang, the manager, even protected DY and only sided with the women when it was convenient for his business matters. Men need feminism as well, and they need better systems in place to defend *all* people who become victims of oppression, harassment, and violence that too often gets swept under the rug.

All in all, this was interesting and different take on a romantic comedy/drama, and I clearly loved it. I could expand further on my thoughts, but I’ll leave it here. ^_^;

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