L13

The revelation that she's apparently some sort of serial killer who goes around assassinating people who get on her son's nerves instead of just talking to him was a bit much.

The WeTV link in the Where to Watch section on this page has the same trailers with English subtitles.

In an alternate universe these episodes are 55 minutes long because sanity prevailed in the studio and they cut all the corny slow-mo scenes and 50-second montages of people gazing at each other meaningfully in the middle of crisis situations while emotional instrumental music plays in the background. I would like to watch the drama in that universe...

Now that MCH doesn't have to be involved with the Xin family, observing their trashy drama from an outsider's perspective is way more entertaining. I liked the shot where Mrs Xin (actually Ms Chen, I think) looked around her big fancy house with despair as she took off her ring. To me, it seemed like she was taking in the wealth she'd been so proud of—that made her and her son so much better than the Mai family in her eyes—and realising none of it belonged to her. It tied in with the theme of hard work vs relying on others for status and wealth that the drama has been developing.

I did feel a little bad for Xin Jialiang too. He was a useless boyfriend to MCH, but it seems he'll continue to be a prominent character in the story, so I hope we'll see him grow up and grow a spine by the end of the show. He's not a bad person, just immature.

Also YZM was lowkey MCH's knight in shining armour at the hospital/during that whole episode. I liked that he got mad at MCH for signing off on Mr Xin's surgery. I think signing was the right thing to do and displays of moral fortitude like that are what makes MCH so likeable, but at the same time YZM was only thinking of her wellbeing at that moment and was totally on her side. And when he protected her from Xin Jiali later, I cheered. AND THEN MCH reverse-wrist grabbed him and marched him out of the hospital??? OMG!

So far it remains a mystery how exactly MCH figures into YZM's plans for corporate domination and it may well be the case that he thinks he's being kind to her for selfish reasons, but I think it's obvious he's starting to worry about her for real. The slow transition from "this girl is such a martyr she has to be faking" to "I guess MCH is just stupid for being so nice to everyone" to "I have to stay by MCH's side to prevent her from sacrificing herself for other people!!" has been great.

She needs to stop helping for real. Every time she decides it’s a great idea to talk to other people about MCH behind MCH’s back, I want to hit my head against a wall. Lady, WHEN has that ever worked out in your experience? Haven’t you noticed you keep making things worse every time you open your mouth?

I hated that storyline and skipped through many scenes with the mother and the useless boyfriend, but there was a point to it; it showed us what the Mai family is like in great detail, including the story behind the parents’ marriage (girl from a poor village comes to the big city and marries a local to better her life, but he never becomes successful) and how that’s affected their views on their children’s futures, the mother’s neglectful treatment of their younger child, the rich grandmother’s connection to the family and Mr Mai’s discomfort with her, the mother’s belief it’s her job to set Mai Chenghuan up for a good life coupled with her lack of respect for her daughter’s feelings and opinions, Mai Chenghuan (and Mai Chengzao)’s work ethic and pride in their own efforts and the mom’s inability to understand it, the fact that despite it all MCH loves her parents very much, etc. Since this is a family drama, the first 10-12 episodes served to establish the major themes we’ll be dealing with for the remaining 25.

As for MCH’s relationship with Yao Zhiming, the opening arc of the story set up that part too. They needed those 10 episodes (in reality it will probably take another 10) to see each other’s best and worst sides before they could even begin to see each other in a romantic light, so it hardly mattered if MCH was in a relationship with someone else during that time or not.

Anyway, I agree many scenes in the early episodes were frustrating and I was dying of impatience with the show at times, but they were necessary IMO.

Clocking in for my daily shift at the hating Ms Liu factory... It's painfully annoying to watch someone with the mentality and social graces of a child being parented by her own children while thinking she's helping them. But also... Yao Zhiming sexy...

The whole drama is about Huan living her values and how different she is from her mother, so saying the show wants you to simply “accept” her mother’s excessive meddling and harmful behaviours (like how unfair she is to her son and the way she goes behind Huan’s back to beg people for inappropriate favours that make Huan herself look bad) simply because that’s how some Chinese mothers think is insane. The story itself does not approve of Huan’s mother or excuse her actions because she’s Chinese!

The drama provides several examples of women taking care of their families and clearly pits the ignorance and selfishness of Huan’s mother against the grace and wisdom of her grandmother and Huan herself. Please stop saying we’re supposed to accept the mother’s actions because that’s just how Chinese women are; that’s not true and it’s not what the drama is saying.

He knows how to win a battle of wits for sure, but she's winning the war ;)

I totally agree, it's getting better and better now that we're almost done with the Xin Jialiang arc. I'm also very glad MCH refused to forgive WY because as she herself said, 1. WY had tried to sabotage her multiple times, which is completely unacceptable, and 2. she even harmed the company's bottom line by invalidating the bidding process just to get MCH in trouble. That's such an egregious error of judgment it would actually be unfair to the other employees if the company just swept it under the rug. MCH's boss really annoyed me with his weaselly attempt to cover for WY there.

As for XJL, when he was first introduced I thought he was kind of goofy but sweet. Well, in the last several episodes he's become completely intolerable. He doesn't listen to MCH at all and doesn't seem to know the first thing about the principles and values that guide her. He will only have himself to blame when she dumps him.

I know it's an old-school premise, but I love these shows where the cold and calculating ML tries to use the FL for his own professional/revenge purposes, but she's just so alluring he falls in love with her while trying to manipulate her and it ruins all his plans. Yes, suffer, snake! This is the good shit.

Xu Kai and Yang Zi both look great in this show and I like their characters. They're both smart, serious people, so they understand each other well on some level—plus, Yao Zhiming has a subtle sense of humour that sets him apart from your average emotionless CEO stock character—but their goals in life are just too different at this stage. I know I'll enjoy watching YZM grow and grovel for Mai Chenghuan's attention.

No, this isn't something new or unknown to me. I said I couldn't stand the mom, not that this was the first time I was meeting such a shitty parent.

I know that and China is not unique in having these traditions. A lot of older people in my country think the same way! But while being nice to older people and respecting their opinions is a matter of politeness, no one should be expected to let their mother's excessive ambition and hangups dictate their most important life choices. There is a limit to a child's obedience when their parents are being totally unreasonable and selfish, even in China.

Yes, that's my point. They should have communicated about something so obvious BEFORE the meeting instead of hearing about each other's dream weddings for the first time in the middle of all that chaos. They're terrible at being in a relationship.

OK, honestly, Mai Chenghuan's mother totally deserved to get humiliated at that family meeting! She was acting like a stupid hick the entire time and insisted on forcing the couple to hold some nightmare folk wedding extravaganza in her village just so she could brag about her rich son-in-law in front of people she hasn't seen in years. How selfish and oblivious can you get? Lady, read the room!

I did sympathize with Xin Jialiang when he tried to push back against her delusions, and Mai Chenghuan should have understood where he was coming from instead of arguing with him in public because he contradicted her insane mother. It's his wedding too! He should have a say.

That said, MCH and XJL should have discussed all this between themselves before their families met and figured out a compromise for their wedding, then gently guided their families in that direction. When you know your families are going to have totally mismatched expectations and don't get along, you should at least come prepared and present a united front as a couple!

The mother reached peak nuisance in episode 5... I felt so bad for Zao when he cancelled his important meeting to keep her pacified. I just know when he starts dating Huan's best friend (we all know that's where the plot is going, right?), his mother will be extremely rude to her despite everything she's done for the Mai family just because she's divorced.

Xin Jialiang needs to exit stage left PRONTO. After lying to Chenghuan for so long and going on a blind date instead of visiting her family, the insane proposal event that jeopardized her work should have been the third and final strike... and then there was that hideous engagement ring!

I can't wait for her to dump him, seriously.

Yao Zhiming, on the other hand, is so amusing. He's a cold and suspicious little bitch who thinks Chenghuan is embarrassing and pathetic (because that's how she's appeared to him a couple of times), but at the same time he's forced to acknowledge her competence and goodness. I can't wait for him to fall in love with her despite himself; I hope they make it good!

In the drama they’re the same age.

Can we get a crumb of romance please?

Be for fucking real, his acting is dogshit lmao

He doesn't bother me any more than any other popular Chinese actor who can't act, which is basically all of them (with 2-3 exceptions). But let's not lie to ourselves.