whoissilmoy

FL dad is grandma step son.. step means no blood relations

Grandma said that YZM is just like his grandfather and she and her first husband had very bad times plus he cheated on her. No wonder grandma cannot trust YZM.

must be grandma's first husband he was bad to his son.

she also said in her letter to YZM that MCH needs her help more than he does because he has education and experience abroad so that was big factor to give it to her.
MCH was her favorite. I do believe she was partial. But she also felt MCH shared her values and vision and spending nights with her, she saw MCH has ambitions for hotel industry and MCH shared with her why, just like in a job interview, grandma saw her passion.

but I do believe grandma was partial, nothing wrong with that. it's up to her. in a scene, we see MCH looking over grandma table and there is only one picture of her and grandma.
Grandma never kept a picture of her grandson in front of her desk which means she been with the Mai family for decades taking care of their kids and raising them, well... time goes by.

Xu Kai always gives credit where credit is due. He has always been this way, even in interviews for Yanxi Palace, he always praises the senior actors and always say how much he appreciates their experience and that he can learn from them. He is modest and humble about himself. I read on Douban that "soso doesn't really market himself."

Grandma basically took care of all her grandkids due to no good son of hers and incapable stepson.
She had to pay for all of their educational costs, medical bills, etc.
She even had to take care of her stepson's kids full time for years. while he and his wife worked.
YZM turned out the most successful despite he had no parents, no home, or running from place to place, i supposed until grandma showed up with some money for them. Also, education abroad is better than in China and grandma pointed that out to him in her letter that he has a better education being abroad, so she's not worried about him getting a job., but MCH needs her help more to succeed so she gets everything. But still for someone like YZM who was motherless and no father around, practically homeless to get as far as he did shows real determination. Why didn't the writer give us a ML character with a normal life, so his story is uninteresting.

grandma said she read the proposal and approved, just make sure my staff is taken care of, he says ok have MCH oversee me

Grandma is partial to girl. She must have also paid for all her grandkids education.
She thinks the girl needs her help more than the boy.

aren't we all about money?

YZM actually understood the hotel was losing money and needed a lot of reforms and wanted to 1) pay his debt to Zhang 2) make grandma hotel successful, 3) side, Zhang said he will help him get promoted.
but the main thing was he needed to repay Zhang for saving his life and had promised her. YZM said he resented grandma for being the root cause of all his childhood problems since she never disciplined or straightened out her son (YZM's father) so he ended homeless. He doesn't like Zhang but at least she saved him when no one else was there for him. YZM never told his grandma he had to repay a debt. She almost died thinking the hotel was more important to him than her., but they got a chance to clear it up.
In the two months he has return, I think his attitude toward grandma changed. He was grateful she advised him to study hard and she paid for his college expenses. Grandma read the proposal and said she's good with it, but worried about her staff who are family to her. YZM assured her but she didn't trust him. He even offered to let MCH oversee him. But she changed the will and then she died.

actually, grandma hotel was like old money passed down through generations

there is a difference, this is legally hers due to inheritance, not a hand out

in real life, he would sue, well, i guess he would lose, she is her step granddaughter still related.
dramas are not real life; this drama is still just a fairytale. I thought it would be more realistic about struggles of Chinese family life but that ended already, this family is now rich.

ok edit my comment

transformation in his personality. Even Zhang said to him, you are no longer the ruthless calculating scheming YZM I knew before.

the house belonged to ML's grandfather, so it is rightfully his. Maybe Grandma got it from the divorce settlement with ML's grandfather, but it would be unfair to give it to her second husband's family.

I wonder when did YZM stopped blaming grandma as the cause of all his problems in life?
That explains why he never return home. But how can this wise grandma turn out a bad son who went to jail?

grandma raised MCH and her brother. Their parents had to work.
at her funeral, grandma said she spent the most time with her brother.
so, grandma was their real grandma raising them when they were young so the parents could work while the poor homeless stray cat, YZM, who was abandoned by his family was moving from place to place being chased by debtors and he was still a kid.

Grandma did not split the inheritance; she gave it all to the Mai. jewelry to mother, all her funds and hotel to MCH. The house went to YZM because it rightfully is his. It belonged to her first husband, YZM's grandfather, and grandmother said the house is full of bad memories for her. The hotel is owned by her was passed down to her on her family line, so she can give to whoever she wants. But basically, she had nothing to pass to YZM.

YZM told MCH he used to resent his grandma which explains why he never return; he felt his grandma is the root of all his problems in life. She never disciplined her son, and he turned out rotten. is what he said, not sure how come grandma who is supposed to be so wise, couldn't' handle her own son. He said he later realize (not sure when, perhaps recently?) he was grateful to her for providing for his education and telling him to study hard. But YZM said his mother abandoned him, still no one to come rescue him, give him a proper home.

will she thank him? even grandma told her she is too independent and that it becomes her weakness. independence can lead to arrogance

you can actually just start with ep 21, and watch from there because the conflicts and relationships prior to ep 21 all ended or died, well the mother daughter issue will continue
the mother will still be around since she is a main character.

FL father is grandma step son
ML father is grandma son (prev. thought ML mother was grandma child but it is actually ML father)