The Story of Hua Zhi (2024)

The importance of family when everything is lost

I was hesitant to watch any more historical dramas because they had been quite repetitious and uninteresting. However, I was hooked on this drama since it was quite good! The cast, including Zhang Jing Yi and Hu Yi Tian, is fantastic as always, and the plot is excellent. It was well worth seeing! I love how this isn't a typical female lead who suddenly knows everything and knows how to solve everything but there was a story behind why she is different from others.

I am so glad that Lu Yu Xiao is getting the recognition she's getting because that girl can act! She is always enjoyable in every drama I have watched her in and I'm glad she's getting more main roles because she deserves it!

The plot revolves around Hua Zhi, a girl in the Hua family who is viewed as nothing more than a disappointment for failing to follow her "female duties," and how she is the main reason for the family's survival when all of the male family members are deported. One of the reasons I loved this drama was that it portrayed the reality of families; sometimes people would just worry about themselves. One of the reasons I enjoyed this drama was because it depicted the truth of families; sometimes people would just think of themselves and spite each other to obtain what they want. The fact that no one got along well with each other, blamed each other and were distrustful of each other, and having Hua Zhi there to bring the family back together while they were going through difficulties, was extremely great to see. Typically, having family members in c-drama assumes there are nasty parents or aunts, but there was none of that. I was initially terrified of Madam Xia since she appeared to be a typical wicked aunt (maybe I had watched too many cdramas), but she was actually very nice and was simply trying to keep the family together. Even the daughters were close by the end, though I was saddened that some of them had passed. I was worried when one of the daughters married Sun Xiang, who had about 8 concubines, but it was incredibly satisfying to watch how such a little girl controlled the entire family and even the guy was afraid of her lol.

The plot flowed incredibly nicely, and these cases fit flawlessly, providing a really wonderful build up. This drama isn't about discovering one actual villain; instead, it's about the Hua family working hard to acquire enough money to reunite their family as the male lead assists her along the way. It is an excellent drama that I would highly suggest to anyone! (There's a happy ending, which is definitely a positive.)

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I recommend

Thanks to the writers of this drama for giving us less common trope filled plot. This is the one drama that the romance being as muted as it was, was actually not bad at all. The focus of the drama was overcoming adversity and doing it with love and our FL did it with such aplomb. Although her family members took sometime to come around to her way of thinking when they finally did the family became unstoppable.
I have seen a lot of horrible emperors in CDramas but this one does take the cake because he was horrible for no reason other than he was d emperor.
Anyways to say I highly recommend this drama will be an understatement.
Happy viewing new viewers, enjoy the ride

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Visually appealing, poor writing, cringe cliches, characters with potential let down by the script

Maybe I'm just not the target demographic for these types of shows. I'm a huge fan of rom-coms and have seen a few chinese/historical shows before, but most of the time I end up dropping costume&period dramas. I stuck through to the end of this one just to see how things play out, but it was difficult.

The show itself is filmed well and looks better than most chinese dramas I've seen. I really liked the character Shao Yao (ML's sister). I think she did a fantastic job portraying her character and every scene with her felt refreshing. Even though her side romance wasn't the most developed, it still felt worth the screentime and I enjoyed the chemistry between her and Shen Huan (at times I felt I enjoyed their chemistry more than the leads). The main romance between the two leads felt okay. I think their on-screen chemistry definitely took a hit with the poor writing and cringe cliche moments, but they did their best and made it kind of work. The progression felt a little slow at first, but it wasn't too bad. Unfortunately it's hard to really feel that connection between the two when the script is so full of cliches.

It kind of seemed like the ML didn't really get that much screentime compared to the other characters. Towards the end he definitely got more scenes, but near the beginning and middle of the show I feel like I barely saw him at all. The show focuses more on the FL I suppose, but it felt weird calling him a ML at times when he just showed up for a few short scenes and then dipped for the rest of the episode. Like he would only show up to remind us that he's the ML, and then disappear again. Him and the FL didn't get as many scenes together until nearing the end, and even then it was kind of on-and-off. They would meet up, have some flirty heart-fluttering moments together, and then separate and go about their individual scenes. Kind of hurt the chemistry in my opinion.

FL is too perfect. I love the actress, so no hate towards her (or any of the actors/actresses for that matter), but I wasn't a huge fan of how they wrote her character. She was supposed to be the "not-you-average-FL", but instead they just made her completely flawless and strong to the point that there was nowhere left for her character to go. The writers couldn't find a way to develop her character because there was nothing to develop. She was forgiving, caring, responsible, everyone looked up to her, she helped others all the time, etc., so she had very little character development throughout the entire show. The ML on the other hand had some potential to be an interesting character, but he didn't get as many scenes and was kind of used as an accessory to the plot most of the time. Sometimes it seemed like he was only there to add the romance into the show but didn't really provide much outside of that despite being a commander. The whole commander plot could have been a very interesting one to pursue, but it was put on the backburner most of the time and not really utilized to its full potential.

Also, sooo many side characters. This wouldn't be bad necessarily if they were actually interesting or if I actually cared about any of them. It seemed like they introduced a new side character with their own problems every couple episodes, in which the FL has to find a way to help them. Many of the side characters over-acted a little too much at times as well. Exaggerated movements, yelling, facial expressions, etc., like that one mother character they introduced at one point (I honestly don't remember her name) who was just crying in every scene she was in. I wish they would have focused more on developing the main characters instead of introducing more side plots.

And as with most of these romance shows, there are quite a few cringe cliche moments. Ones that kind of break the immersion for me sometimes, but I suppose it just comes with the genre. I guess you can give this show a try if you think you might be part of the target demographic. If you are then you'll probably love it.

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Blossoms in Adversity

Hu Yi Tian & Zhang Jing Yi… That’s interesting… Let’s watch.,,,

Story about one girl, Hua Zhi (HZ), that’s quite different from another woman of her time. She’s independent, smart & not so feminine. That’s because from a young age, her grandfather already spoiled her by taking her to many places & teaching her many things that women at that time usually did not learn nor know.

Now at her young adult age (around age 15-20 if I’m not mistaken), she’s betrothed & ready to get married. But one sudden incident regarding the Emperor & HZ’s grandpa made Hua’s family must be stripped from all their positions & their family wealth also confiscated. All the male in the family are sent to the far north for forced labor, but due to HZ’s grandma relationship with Empress Dowager, the women get spared & just need to move from the house. And with all that, the Hua’s family journey & hardship began.

HZ is one amazing woman, although she’s young, she's one capable woman. She’s led all the women in her family to go through hardship with her smart brain, creativity & the braveness to try something new. At first except her grandma, no one trusts her & underestimates her young age, but with time she’s proven herself worthy of her grandma's trust & lead the family from the hardship & poor life.

In this hard life, HZ & her family find true friends & family, the one that’s still willing to stay by their side, friends & servant, that’s not abandoning nor fooling their family. HZ also found comfort in one particular gentleman, Gu Yan Xi (YX), one man that at first we don’t know good or bad (due to his relationship & loyalty to the emperor), but over time proved himself that he really meant well for HZ & Hua family.

Ok. That's about the story… Now what I like & don’t like.

What I like:
+ The chemistry between Hu Yi Tian & Zhang Jing Yi is good. Although not fiery, but I can see them as a couple
HZ & YX relationship. How they build their relationship & trust toward each other.
+ The family that’s built from the hardship. How every woman in Hua’s family finds their place within the family. Really funny when the men come back to their life & find the women (wife) are changing.
+ The cute Shao Yao (SY) & Shen Huan (SH). Although we can see there’s something wrong with SY, She's one smart & loyal woman. I really like how SH never underestimates nor condescends SY. I really like the moment when SY finally realizes her feelings for SH.
+ Not everything runs smoothly for the Hua family. They are several times hit by setbacks & trouble, but the writer or the director do not try to hide it or erase it totally. Of course if we cut several unimportant incidents, maybe the episode can be shorter.

What I don’t like:
- The stupid separation. Oh that’s one stupid separation between YX & HZ. I know how hard the emperor tried to separate them. But for HZ to come to that conclusion is stupid & she kinda acknowledges it when she wants to get back to YX.
- The crazy emperor. Oh he’s one crazy emperor that wants all YX’s loyalty only lies to him. Several time I want to shake YX to wake up or just to kill the emperor himself.

Overall this really one good drama to watch

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Great ensemble cast and female characters

Blossoms in Adversity is a historical drama with a strong Girl Power feel. The main story seems to revolve around the way the women in the extended family come together and find their voices. The female lead, Hua Zhi, is everything one would want in a female main character--smart, brave, morally upright, and hard working. Yanxi, the male lead, has similar qualities, but also killer martial arts skills, beautiful hands, and a cute, bouncing ponytail. Together they make an ideal couple, who actually talk things out with each other. (Maybe this is less of a historical drama and more of a fairy tale.)

I do have some quibbles. There are a number of unrealistic elements, such as the way that Hua Zhi gets away with mouthing off at people in power, the speed with which the Hua family claws its way out from ruin, and the repeated use of poor but virtuous and grateful commoners as plot points. Thank goodness for the emperor, who adds some much needed ambiguity and malevolence to the story.

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An entertaining story on how to be the ideal, empowered woman and find romance along the way. . .

In the first half, the enemies to lovers plot is extremely satisfying. Hua Zhi and Gu Yan Xi are both earnest characters trying to do their best and find some happiness despite the emperor and fate standing in their way. There's also a lot of endearing scenes as the women of the Hua family band together and become resilient and independent.

But in the second half the plot grinds to a halt. The emperor is not suited for ruling during peace time, and there is no way he will forgive Hua's family. Of course, Hua Zhi and Gu Yan Xi would never rebel, so they just . . . wait for him to change his mind ??? If you were hoping for political intrigue and machinations, there are none to be found.

The acting overall is so-so (Gu Yan Xi needs a lot of music and effects to be intimidating), but the chemistry between the primary couple and the secondary couple both is excellent. I was cheering both couples on and it's the only reason I kept watching the show. The music is fairly good nothing here to really rewatch.

In the end, there is no complexity of themes or plots, but I appreciated the emphasis on women being independent, and I enjoyed the romantic chemistry.

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Life is unpredictable!

Blossoms in Adversity main focus isn't really about the love story, the focus is moreso on the family and their growth through difficulties.

Due to a petty king, Hua Family was exiled and reduce to commoners from their high wealth status.
Their oldest granddaughter, Hua Zhi, eventually becomes the head of the family to take control of their lifestyle. Zhang Jingyi played Hua Zhi quite well and very convincing. I've seen several of her dramas, and honestly she's not phenomenal but she has improved from her early day until now. Hua Zhi is a very strong-willed, independent main female character. She knows what she wants, she holds her family together through difficulties and hardships. She is quite smart and I love that she doesn't care about what the public thopught of her and her family. At the end of the day, what motivates her are is her family and bringing home the exiled family members. I have watched a few of Zhang Jingyi's dramas over the years, I think she's a natural actress, everything she has acted in was quite natural and conforms nicely to the character she plays.

The love interest of Hua Zhi is Gu Yan Xi acted by Hu Yi Tian. Gu Yan Xi lives a double life in this drama, or tries to. Although one would think he's evil to the core but from the get-go you can see that he's someone who stands up for what is right. Unfortuantely, he also has to protect someone because he has no autonomy otherwise he would be slaughtered like most of his family. His love for Hua Zhi was seen from the beginning, you would see it in his actions where he would always be her shining knight in armor.
Hu Yi TIan's acting was quite a disappointment but not a surprise. I've seen him in other dramas, he has not changed from his early years to this drama. Hu does not use his facial muscles like other actors who also plays stoic characters. You would think there's some eye acting, but not really. His face is just.. .BLANK majority of the time. He has three distiguishable faces: pokeface aka blank face, smile happy face, and finally the shooketh face which literally looks like this every time he's shocked O_O. Sometimes when there's something that is shocking, his face doesn't even do anything. It was really HORRENDOUS to watch him. He was the reason why I did not want to watch this drama when it first came out because I would be very annoyed with the way he "acts." At this rate, he's more of a eye candy actor, not an actual actor. Fortunately, the martial choreography was quite nice and the storyline isn't really focused on his character compare to the females'.

A character that stood out to me is Shao Yao (Lu Yu Xiao) because she not only went through something traumatic, it seems she was also on the spectrum. It reminded me of how Park Eun Bi acted as an autistic character. Lu Yu Xiao nailed her role quite well. This is the second drama I've watched of hers, and we all know how amazing she was in MJTY and in this drama as well. I really hope she is one of the rare actresses who is willing to try out different roles, because so far it definitely showcased a lot of her acting abilities. I digress, Shao Yao is such an adorable character, she's also self aware of how her brother, Gu Yan Xi, and Hua family treats her: like a porcelein doll. However, she managed to find a very nice friend, Shen Huan (Biang Cheng), who didn't treat as such, and treated her like a normal human being, a friend. It was very heartwarming to see Shao Yao light up whenever Shen Huan shows up because their relationship was so innocent and adorable. I was rooting for the happy ending more than the main leads. lol

There were several veterans in this drama, most notably Myolie Wu. I honestly thought her character was going to be so annoying throughout the drama. lol The king in this drama was very annoying, he's very paranoid and petty so I will jsut leave at that.
I think the moral of this drama has taught me resilience is the best form of survival through difficult times. There will always be a solution even if you've fallen from the top. Which is exactly what Hua Zhi did to get her family back on their feet.

I would like to highlight how much i LOVE the OSTs in this drama, I haven't been hearing good music from cdramas for the past couple of months and this drama definitely have one of the bests OSTs out there, imo.

Blossoms of Adversity is definitely a must watch if you love 2010s cdramas of focusing on a female character's life through hardships to get to the top of the pyramid. It's a female centered drama where all the men are exiled, and the women needs to fend for themselves lest death of starvation.

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Snailing Its Way to Victory

This is a painfully slow drama at first. I was so bored that I skipped to the 7th or 8th episode, waiting for something to happen. I obviously didn't miss much, as I was easily able to follow the story from there. The characters do a lot of exposè in their dialogue, so you can't really miss what has already occured.

Once the drama finally picked up, it was very enjoyable to watch. The female lead was a good girl, but she wasn't saccharine. She was smart and stubborn, and a truth teller. She could have maybe done well to have an actual character flaw, not like an "I'm so quirky, I trip over myself", type of thing. Just like something to make her a bit less perfect than she is. The actress that plays her is stunning. The ML is a stone-faced, icy, archetypal hero. No real character at all. That just meant that the secondary characters shone through. The older actors stole the show, really. I loved that they featured heavily in it, as they deserved.

The story structure itself was quite good. Yes, way too slow in the beginning, but it speeded up and got more exciting as it went along. Overall, I did find this to be a satisfying watch. The story of a girl that finds her place as the head of the family. The opening scene of her climbing the mast of the ship as a child, being the perfect metaphor for guiding her family back to safety and health.

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Good leads, mature vibes - The bare minimum that is so often lacking

OVERALL
This is an oasis in the severe C-drama drought of early 2024. While not perfect, it ticks so many boxes! Watch it if 1) you like capable FL and nice (instead of the usual cold) ML, 2) you like family dramas, 3) you're looking for cute romance based on mutual support and understanding. If you 1) are looking for steamy romance, 2) get bored by business drama, 3) can't stand occasional writing flaws, reconsider.

THE STORY
In one sentence: Rich girl becomes poor and finds her way back to wealth through business ventures. Basically, Dream of Splendour, rewritten. It put me off a bit because I was disappointed by Dream of Splendour (I personally think it's a bit overrated), but still gave it a try. In some ways (though not in everything), I enjoyed this one more.

Things I liked:
- ML is nice and supportive. I can't say it enough, I'm sick and tired of the rude and entitled drama lead. Can they stop making them?
- FL is smart and capable. Some people complained that she's a Mary Sue, but honestly, she's not doing anything a ML wouldn't do in a C-drama, so if you are fine with guys having multiple talents and saving the day, you should be alright with the girl doing it too. And no worries, ML does save her from danger a couple of times too!
- The relationship between FL and ML is healthy and not toxic (yes, I'm looking at you, Kunning Palace!). It is refreshing to see characters not only support and listen to one another but give each other space and respect each other's decisions.
- There's enough danger and adventure to make up for all the business and family drama.
- The family drama was not annoying. I'm not a huge fan and often skip scenes in dramas that spend too much time on family, but I actually found a few of stories quite interesting because of how different they were (eg. sister of ML or mean girl from FL's family) or because of character development (eg. some of the aunties in FL's family).
- Almost no distasteful CGI. The visual effects (and overall cinematography) are decent and not distracting

In comparison, there are few things I disliked, but they are not insignificant:
- The romance is super promising until around eps 25-28, then gets boring. It's the typical case of a well-written "falling in love" stage and an under-developped "in love" stage we see so often in C-dramas. As if there is no plot, no growth, nothing interesting that can happen after the leads confess their feelings. The last 4-5 eps bring some drama to spice things up, but the love story never delivers what it promised, to be honest.
- The palace politics is kind of poorly written. I quite liked the character of the emperor (he is actually a complex character), but I find that most things that didn't quite make sense to me had to do with the palace politics. For one thing, it feels like there is a lack of coherence. Who is the villain of this story? It's like you had different storylines with different antagonists. It's kind of all over the place.
- Some parts of the plot are weirdly illogical (eg. towards the end, FL does something that has negative consequences but somehow blames ML for it)

I would still recommend this drama, but these are definitely points to consider!

THE ACTING
Good enough for me. I saw FL before in a drama best forgotten (haha), but for some weird reason I really wanted to see her again. I don't think she's an amazing actress but she does it for me. ML I saw for the first time but is exactly the same. They had good enough chemistry too (such a shame it's underused!). And some secondary leads were quite good (young and old). This one boy that's in every drama is truly a gem! Might become the new Wu Lei!

THE MUSIC
Not my style, to be honest. But I've seen worse.

REWATCH VALUE
I think I might watch it again, but I'm not dying to like I have been at the end of other dramas. It's better than a filler, but not a "wow, amazing" drama for me.

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It is blooming good! Serious

The title of this show basically summed up the drama. It is all about one girl and her family's rise above terrible adversity and the many challenges they faced. It starts simple enough. All the main characters are introduced and the world building begins. Once the show hits its stride, calamity hits. The FL's family literally went from a position of power and influence to object poverty overnight.

Rather than just accepting her fate, the FL comes to the fore and takes charge of the situation and changed her family's fortune. Along the way, she found love and changed the lives of many people she touched.

The series is full of positive messages, and they are delivered quite effectively by an engaging storyline. Yes, the plots are tropey but the way they unfolded is well scripted and its pacing is good. You won’t feel bored nor confused.

It is a good drama overall and quite enjoyable. A large part is attributed to the solid FL character. She faces every challenge head on and uses her initiative and intelligence to overcome them. Of course, the ML is there to do the heavy lifting and lend a sharp sword. In that sense, the show is a bumpy ride, but the trajectory is always upwards. We are never left in utter despair. This is a double-edged sword as we are almost conditioned to see a silver lining around every storm cloud. The show does go dark from time to time, with death and suffering just around the corner. It is just our leads who are mostly Teflon coated.

There is a good deal of fan service in the second half of the last EP before the HEA ending arrives on cue. All the main threads are tied up with pink bows and most characters have their arc concluded satisfactory.

I am pleasantly surprised by the acting abilities of the large support cast. It would not be an exaggeration to use terms like cast of a thousand. There are so many actors with speaking parts! It ranges from highly regarded veterans to young green actors. There are the odd hit and miss but, overall, they lifted the series and provide able support to the leads when the going gets tough. The production value is good but not quite S rank. They didn't cheap out on the sets and costumes.

I believe this is the FL’s first historical drama. I have seen her in contemporary dramas. I not a real fan before this show. I find her other performances to be a bit stilted. However, she is good in this drama. The style suits her and the low-key makeup as well.

While the ML is handsome and the fight scenes are decent, his performance did feels oddly detached at times. To be honest, a bit wooden. All the actors are dubbed but his dialogue just feels too measured and flat. It is as if the lines are recorded in a vacuum. It is odd when almost every other aspect of the series is solid.

I started with low expectations but I was pleasantly surprised. It is tropey and a bit cheesy. A guilty pleasure for me. That’s entertainment!

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