ChineseDramaFan

Jianjian is the difficult one to address xiao Chengzi; she'd have to call her, saozi or da sao.

Chen Ting has already hinted that Ling Xiao has never been the brother Xiao Cheng Zi wants. So I think she finds the brother she wants in Ziqiu, and for Ziqiu, his little sister has been hijacked by Ling Xiao, and now Xiao Cheng Zi comes into his life to replace that void. He has always wanted a complete family. Now he has it.

Right! Such abuses normally exist in making the kids feel guilty, demanding them to obey to the whims of the parents. I really hate that and stand against it. Parents should never tie their love to any conditions, like, "If you listen to me, I'll love you more," "To show your filial piety, you must obey me," etc.

One thing though, all the 3 kids have no mothers, and yet all the mothers, including Zhuang Bei's mother who hires a faked girlfriend, are portrayed in a negative light. The fathers, except Li Haichao, are mostly a**h***s with no bones. It does give the message that, "Who cares to have a mother?"

Wow! Thank you. Yes, I remember that remark but didn't think much of it at the time. And yes, it now makes it even better to know the exact location of that beautiful place. Brilliant ending. Love it!

Great article. Love it. Hope more viewers are encouraged to watch this fine drama after reading your article.

"A mother is supposed to be a safe haven for their children, to love her children n protecting them." ---
That is when she is sane. Chen Ting is not.

Now the hole in his heart is healed.

LOL! Haichao is no match with her in terms of pulling a fast one.

Right! Too bad many viewers interpret it wrongly hence they think it's a tragic ending. People tend to jump into conclusion without carefully understanding the scenes and all the little hints. I'm glad you see it differently now :D

Mingyue's mother is a very typical Asian mother - the tiger mom :D

OMG! This is so illuminating. Thanks for the insight!

Right! I've been thinking about this too. Did he tell the shop assistant that he needs to get some bras for his sister or for his girlfriend XD?

For me, I've always believe in the Chinese philosophy - harmony. For all the actions our characters may take, they normally try to strive for harmony.

Even as Mingyue stands up against her mother, she's not severing ties with her. Likewise with Ling Xiao. He can't stand his mother, but his 'hole' is caused by her and he needs her to fix it. If she were just leave this world without fixing it for him, Ling Xiao will be forever broken.

From a western perspective, it is true that it's not the child's responsibility to carry the parents' burden, not quite so in a Confucius society. That's why many parents from that society tend to use death to threaten their children to obey to their wills. Any disobedience may deem as not being filial pious. It is a real fear for the children to be labelled as being not filial pious towards one's parents because they would be outcast.

Parental approval in most marriages is utmost important in the Chinese society. Without this, the union doesn't feel complete. There is always a shadow haunting the couple.

As in the writing of this story, I can feel the writer does strive for harmony too. So I believe there will be redemption for the Chen Ting's character.

Ling Xiao's nightmare is Chen Ting. If she doesn't get a redemption, it's hard for Ling Xiao to heal completely. Afterall, bad mother or not, she's still his mother and he feels he has a responsibility for paying his filial piety. If Chen Ting has just dropped dead, Ling Xiao's hole will get even worse because he still hasn't made peace with her. Ultimately Ling Xiao needs to make peace with Chen Ting to have closure.

LOL! Chinese do not display their sex life openly like western culture does. You can see any mentions of sleeping together is a taboo :D

If you think it's a tragic ending, you may have misinterpreted the story :) Please read some of the comments below, especially from @PeachBlossomGoddess. She/he has written a wonderful conclusion that I fully support.

Right, Ling Xiao needs to open up more but it's hard to ask someone to open up if they have been bottling up things for their whole life. Indeed Ling Xiao's happiness doesn't depend on Chen Ting as he doesn't care less about her, but I know deep inside him, he feels drained by her. Many children run away from their parents for similar reason: they feel drained and suffocated. Even in adulthood, many of those people would still have holes in their hearts that cannot be healed until they make peace with their parents. Only Chen Ting can fix it by changing herself and her perspective, so that Ling Xiao can feel free and at peace.

That could be after 2 years later. I believe Zhuang Bei and Tan Can are about to start their romance now, so Zhuang Bei would be happy for his best friend and the girl he once fancies :)

Hahaha! Everyone deserves a second chance, don't you think?

Zique and Mingyue are a pair from the beginning. It may not happen right away because both characters still need to grow: Ziqiu needs to feel 'whole' again so that when he falls in love, it's not because he wants a family as with Li Ba and Jianjian, but a family of himself with his love. Mingyue needs to grow to prove that she's right for pursuing her own dream, not her mother's. She has started to take steps, and she's going to be a famous reporter soon when she comes back from Beijing. That's when their romance will rekindle :)