The reality of broken families and the impact on mental health.

An incredible representation of how a family environment can impact a child’s mental health. Perhaps it was because I could relate so well to this drama that made me love it so much. My first review ever because of this 11/10 show. Warning: long & a lot of spoilers.

Main Characters:

It’s without a doubt that each family will go through their own troubles. Let’s talk about Ling Xiao first. The entire time I was just hoping that he truly receives proper therapy and releases his repressed feelings that he’s been harbouring since childhood. Firstly, he had to live through the trauma of seeing his younger sister die. Then he was blamed for it by his mother. (God, seeing how much blame he put on himself for his sister’s death…heartbreaking. You see it in his eyes. And she also throws out all of their photos together… I wonder if he still remembers how his little sister looks like.. ) Then he had to witness his parents go through a terrible relationship following it…. and then HE GETS ABANDONED BY HIS MOTHER.

You would think that’s all he would go through. His heart and emotional stability gets stomped on again when the mother comes back, then is injured and he is expected to take care of her… and then suddenly he is needed again. And then she hates the people who truly gave him the love that he so desperately needed to fill the gap of being abandoned.

Although calling Xian Xian his “heart medicine” demonstrates some unhealthy reliance for someone to “fix him”, putting a lot of pressure on her, anyone can understand that. She was the positive light in his life ever since he met her. Her and Li father gave him so much warmth from the get-go, knowing that his family was broken. She accepted him at all costs, irregardless of his stoic and reserved attitude.

Jian jian and her father’s healthy relationship is truly the backbone of this entire drama. Time after time, you see the dependence on Jian jian from her friends and from her brothers for that love, positivity, and support. Same goes for the father - people go back to that restaurant and that home again and again to feel that love, to feel that care that he so generously gives. These two were the epitome of genuine, healthy, healing from their trauma.

Moving forward to Zi Qiu.. my baby. Oh, my sweet baby. The number of times I cried because of him. You can see that he takes a different approach to his anger - he regularly releases it, does things impulsively, and voices when he’s in pain. Tbh, I appreciated this a bit more.. I just wanted to hold him tight and close whenever I witnessed his breakdown. I knew from the beginning that his mother would never just leave without a proper reason.. and when the truth was revealed. Wow. Damn. I just wish she knew that her son would have forgiven her. How could he blame her? What could she have done? She did the right thing back then, but I wish Zi Qiu had known the truth. I believe that Zi Qiu would have a healthy recovery and that he would truly live life to the fullest again.

I also had a huge liking for the side characters, especially Jian jian’s besties. Ming Yue’s mother is that “tiger mom” that all us asians know of. The need to control her daughter’s life, “for her benefit” - man, we’d be dead drunk if we took a shot every time we heard “wei ta hao!”. Although they ended up with a warmer relationship at the end, I still don’t know if Ming Yue’s mother learned from the divorce and saw how much she put Ming Yue through. I think the releasing of the fishies in the trapped little tank had something to do with Ming Yue’s freedom though.

Tang Can’s mother was a bit like that too, but not so bad I would say. I liked that the primary focus for this character was her genuine, hardworking, and relentless desire to pursue her dream. She knew exactly what she wanted for herself, and struggled for so long to convince her mother (and all her friends) that this was what she was always meant to do. What she needed was that push. That trust and belief in her dream - and I am so glad that Zhuang Bei discovered how her eyes simply lit up as she talked about acting, and took that extra step to help her fulfill her dream. Incredible. I was rooting for her like crazy and was SO sad when she took up that museum job :(.

Another one I truly felt for was Little Orange. Xiao cheng zi, gah. She’s definitely lived through some brutal trauma... having her father die and then witnessing her mother’s crippling mental health, constant suicide attempts, and seeing how badly she treated her older brother. I genuinely hope she finds her way back to this loving bunch, and lives off their love. I could tell that she really enjoyed her time with them, and that she found a sense of security. I can also tell that she built a genuine relationship with Ling Xiao, despite all of the hurt that he was going through. During their time in Singapore and the reality of their mother’s situation… they needed one another.

I am so thankful for Li Ba. Tbh, Ling Ba was aight - I felt that there could have been more appearances of him in this drama or that he showed a bit more warmth. He always seem to appear ‘from work’. Towards the end he definitely showed more care towards Ling Xiao, but I think he just didn’t believe in himself as a father. Cue the self-deprecating comparisons to Li Ba and how he just isn’t the best father to talk to. Well… if you say it so candidly like that, then you simply won’t be the best father to talk to. I wish the conversation that they had in the last episode was like that for all of their previous conversations. But, I guess it shows how much character development Ling Ba went through and his epiphanies of how much damage the relationship he had with Ling Xiao’s mother caused Ling Xiao.

OK real talk though wow Chen Ting was so messed. She needed serious help. Her manipulation tactics were seriously on point. Threatening suicide and constantly flipping into victim mentality to get her son to stay. Yes, it is evident that she was suicidal and had little hope for life. But it’s one thing to get help and ask for support.. but it’s a whole different story if you are using it to blackmail someone to stay. Her loss of her child and her husband - she really did blame herself. But she took it out on others. I wish that she could have forgiven herself. I’m so glad that her final attempt didn’t go through. I know that she will eventually be okay.

Oh my. The amount of tears I shed in this drama. The chemistry between the characters, the love in these families, wow. I kinda was hoping for a wedding, but I guess the little family portrait was good too. Perfectly wrapped up.

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