There are light moments but it's family drama with elements of slice of life. I would probably watch it again to see if there were any nuances I missed.

CHILD-PARENT RELATIONSHIPS
I was crying a lot in the first half witnessing the hurt parents inflicted on the children they supposedly love. The same can be said of grandparents affecting the parents.

I cried at the beauty of Li Ba's love for the children. What a gem. I am a mum and awfully sentimental, so I cry at these things.

CHARACTER GROWTH
Of the main characters, LJJ and Li Ba were the constants so their characters don't develop much. They are caring and (subjectively) loveable from the start.

LX is broken and continues to be subjected to abuse. He's still very broken by the end but this is eventually acknowledged by Ling Ba who makes effort to make amends for his lack of emotional support.

I liked HZQ's character growth the most. In the eyes of the neighbours, he is the most pitiful child. He gets the happy ending he longed for and settles things with his bio dad realistically. He takes on Li ba's caring role in the girls' house.

ROMANCE
I personally didn't ship the main couple, it felt designed to the tie the family together officially that I think defeats the overall message that you don't need to be official to be family.

The heavy dependency and controlling behaviour of LX doesn't sit well with me but I didn't find it incestuous. The numerous complaints about LJJ calling LX "Gē" is a bit annoying when it's been explained over and over that it's culturally acceptable to call the boy next door "Gē". Although there is a cultural romanticising of childhood sweethearts, which I don't care for.

I also don't care for love at first sight, but this is addressed nicely with the lawyer friend Zhang Bei.

The best couple gets married.

FRIENDSHIPS
The friendships were beautiful and provided the slice of 20-somethings life. They provide a different example of their parental issues and difficulties finding their own path. Some might feel the side characters were given too much screen time but I thought it was a good balance and more realistic/healthy romantic encounters. I was invested in them and their immediate troubles were resolved enough.

OVERALL COMMENTS
Good quality production and casting. It didn't drag too much for my taste, but I enjoy the slice of life elements eg. cooking scenes.

Comic sound effects were on point.

Flashbacks were mostly new material and used to progress the plot/reveal the characters reasoning rather than needless repeats of what we have already seen.

HOW IT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER
There wasn't any convincing resolution between LX and his mum. They both need professional help. You don't just get over PTSD and suicidal tendencies in a month. I would have preferred it if they were on the road to recovery by the end. She didn't have to accept LJJ or leave, just accept she needed help. This could have been a opportunity to shine a positive light on seeking mental healthcare, a chance to break taboo, even the Traditional Chinese Dr suggested it but Ling Ba insisted there wasn't any need.

Song Wei Long's acting does not stand out in this but that could have been the direction given.

A FEW TINY OBSERVATIONS
The 9 years away seemed too long. You can't usually stay in the UK on a student visa and then work indefinitely. Without help from his bio dad, HZQ was probably working discreetly from the authorities. Singapore is not that far, LX might not have been able to travel but why did no one go to see him?

This might be a problem in translation, but the boy Dong Dong is suffering developmental regression due to early childhood trauma from He Mei's description, autism seems incorrect.

LX & HZQ could have had a different hairstyle to depict the different time lines, like LJJ and QYL.

Hope that wasn't too long winded. My first review! :)