Plot Overview

The drama begins in the early 70s in a small alley next to a cotton factory in the southern city of Su Zhou. As a benefit to workers in the factory, some are entitled to free housing. The Zhuang family, with the wife Huang Ling as the worker receiving the benefit, moves in with their small family of two children. The Lin family, receives the benefit after a confrontation that Song Ying has with a director, moves in with their young son. The two families became fast friends both at the parent level and the children level. 

In the Zhuang family, the head of the household, Zhuang Chao Ying is a teacher who understands the importance of education and pushes his son to achieve a college degree. Huang Ling wishes the best for daughter and sacrifices much to ensure both her children have a safe and healthy environment to study. Unfortunately, Zhuang Chao Ying’s parents leech on his family and are more than happy to give all the benefits to their younger son and his family. Huang Ying struggles against a husband who ignores the best for his own family to please those of others

Song Ying lives a much fuller life and has fewer aspirations for her family. Her positive outlook on life leaves an effect on Hung Ying and both develop and grow together as they live their lives in the alley over the course of decades. 

Overall Thoughts

This drama was a win all around during the fall. This was hit for Hunan TV who had placed bets earlier in the the month with the Rise of Ning 锦绣安宁 but turned out to be a complete ratings dud. This drama became a ratings hit with viewers and had great critical reviews except for a few issues. The drama had strong competition from the 95 flowers with Zhao Lu Si and Yu Shu Xin but surprisingly fended both of them off to be the winner of November. It became the highest viewed drama for Hunan TV in the second half of 2024 and reintroduced actors and actresses in their 40s and 50s back to audiences. 

Daylight Entertainment Co, the production company, who has really exceled in dramas set in the 60s through the 90s in recent years even though their period dramas and modern day dramas have faltered adds another great drama to their catalog. 

The main discourse though has been the great acting from its two female leads, Yan Ni 闫妮 and Jiang Xin 蒋欣. Yan Ni found fame in the 2000s with the smash hit My Own Swordsman and since then has won numerous acting awards. Jiang Xin, who we’ve constantly praised from Empresses in the Palace, has since acted in a slew of dramas both in lead and supporting roles. Audiences really connected with these two performances and positive word of mouth propelled its momentum.  

Hilariously Wang An Yu, the actor playing the adult Lin Dong Zhe, also got a significant popularity boost because this drama aired just at the right time. His acting in the drama was decent. He’s currently on the second season of Natural High, reuniting with his good buddy Hu Xian Xu from the 5th season of Divas Hit the Road, and fellow co-star Jin Chen who was on the 6th season of Divas Hit the Road. The 5th and 6th season have been constantly compared to in the past month, with Wang An Yu’s actions being placed in a very positive light. The triple whammy has raised his profile or at least kept him in the spotlight. 

I personally enjoyed the drama when it focused on the parents of the two families and exposed a world during a time that my parents grew up. Everyone was poor but tried in their best ways to make the most out of life. The parents had different philosophies in raising their children and work but that didn’t stop them from becoming best friends. The drama was never melodramatic as it just told the story of people’s lives over decades. It’s as if I was drinking a nice bowl of warm soup when watching the drama. It warms the heart with just enough spice. I do have quibbles with the show (which I’ll get to later) but it was a pleasant watch that I’ll recommend to my mother.

This is a drama that was very welcome in China but because of how specific it is to the 70s, 80s, and 90s, I’m not sure how well Western audiences will enjoy this.

What I liked

• The sisterhood between Huang Lin and Song Ying: The acting from Yan Ni as Huang Ling and Jiang Xin as Song Ying has been lauded by viewers and reviewers but it’s also because of their positive characters. Yan Ni’s Huang Ling is a strong woman who is willing to sacrifice everything for her children, which is where she will draw the line. Jiang Xin’s Song Ying teaches Huang Ling that it is okay to spend money on yourself, to dress up, and to push back. Huang Ling in turn, makes Song Ying new clothes, always shares what they have, or also take care of her child. Their bond is one of respect, admiration, care, and love for each other. These two ladies become bffs and live their lives to their fullest without resorting to backstabbing or pettiness. When other neighbors are unreasonable, they support each other against injustice. They also push each other outside of their comfort zone to strive for a better life. It’s refreshing to see healthy middle aged friendships between women and this drama shines when we are focused on these two ladies.
• Acting from the Adults and Children: The two main adult couples of Zhuang family and Lin family are extremely well acted. They just seem like married couples, complete with small affection touches and movements (well, mainly the Lin family). Individually, they each have their own quirks that are also SO reminiscent of the time. Zhuang Chao Ying would sit just like my grandfather and older men that I know in my life and ugh – I personally don’t like it, too formal, but hey, it suits the character. These adults also are extremely natural with their young children. The children each have at least 2 young actors and actress and honestly, they are much better than the adult versions. The young Lin Dong Zhe (all 3 versions) were so hilarious and animated that I was shocked at how great they were. I honestly just wanted the drama to end in the the first 20 episodes so that we were capped at the younger children. Because of these child actors, the first half of the drama is much stronger than the second half.
• Realistic yet disappointing characters: We do get the positive female characterizations of Huang Lin and Song Ying but we also get the realistic yet disappointing characters throughout the drama. Zhuang Chao Ying’s parents are classically misogynistic who refused to even let Huang Ying and her daughter eat in the main room, only men and boys were allowed. They also guilt trip and spent years gaslighting Zhuang Chao Ying every chance they could into supporting them and their youngest son’s family, whether that was with time or money. The Zhuang family and Lin family also have neighbors who spend their days scheming on how to score a better deal within the alley or even backstabbing others in the alley to achieve their goals. They’re annoying characters but nevertheless realistic because the characters acted based on their own beliefs and what would be beneficial to them. Are they the outright antagonists? No, but they nevertheless were issues for the Zhuang and Lin families. 
• Example of an Ideal Couple: The Lin family are the shining example of healthy and loving family. Lin Wu Feng, the husband, loves his wife. He dotes and pampers her and will always be her rock. He will support her unconditionally and fully lives by the mantra of “Happy Wife, Happy Life”. He gives her all of his money to manage and doesn’t have overbearing parents. Song Ying in turn gives him her trust and puts him first. Their son, Lin Dong Zhe, lives how he wants with the support of his parents. It’s rare to see an actual healthy family that everyone online had so many comments about this couple. Some include “Lin Wu Feng is the ideal man. Zhuang Chao Ying is the realistic man because Zhuang Cao Ying’s exist everywhere. Lin Wu Feng’s are extremely rare” or finally, Jiang Xin has a loving husband and son in a drama!

What could have been better 

• Fan Cheng Cheng as Zhuang Tu Nan: I mentioned above that the first 20 episodes would have been perfect and I would have given this drama a higher score if it ended there, but as soon as we get adult Zhuang Tu Nan with Fan Cheng Cheng, his story just drags on with a poor performance from Fan Cheng Cheng. His acting is rather wooden and he doesn’t mesh with the characters around him. Everyone, including the other young adult actors, embodies their characters a better. He just seems like a walking stick without any personality who moves when it’s his time to say his lines. That could be due to the character of Zhuang Tu Nan but Fan Cheng Cheng also doesn’t breath any life to the character. It doesn’t help that Zhuang Tu Nan as a character is a wet noodle until episode 28 when he finally has some agency. Zhuang Tu Nan, being a man of the Zhuang family, was the beneficiary of old patriarchal injustices and didn’t realize what his mother and sister suffered, so it was hard to relate to the character. I was honestly skipping most of his scenes, which unfortunately is quite a lot, in the latter half of the drama.
• Odd Accents and not enough Su Zhouness: This is my personal nit but for a drama that is set in Su Zhou (near Shanghai) with many characters supposedly from the area, why is no one even trying to have some form of Su Zhou accent besides Jiang Xin’s Song Ying? Another kudos to Jiang Xin because she’s not even from Su Zhou! Jiang Xin would insert a saying here and there in the local dialect which adds to the immersion. All of the other adult actors have very proper mandarin accents, which is great, but I wish they tried incorporating more Suzhou words or dialects all around. There’s been several dramas in the last year who have begun incorporating local dialects for certain characters and this one would have definitely benefitted from that. The entire time I’m watching, my reaction was, I feel like I’m not watching a drama about Su Zhou but some place in the north. The drama was filmed in the winter of 23 through early 24 in Ning Bo, another city close to Shanghai, but because it was mainly filmed in the winter, many scenes included characters dressed in winter clothing, which again brings me back to why this felt like it was set in the north. I missed the rain and humidity of the summer of Su Zhou (since I was just there in June).