One doesn’t meet a girl like Hua Zhi in an ancient society. Thou one does meet a girl like Hua Zin in an ancient idol romance story.

And I meant it well. Hua Zhi is the kind of female lead that we ladies root for and want to be in our heart. After a long day’s work, it’s healing watching a smart, independent, courageous female lead successfully starting a business and leading her group of supportive family and friends out of poverty after the guys in the family are forced to exile.

Other than this strong female lead story done right, it has all other lovely elements such as romance, friendship and kinship.

Yan Xi is the god sent male lead for Hua Zhi in an idol romance. Strong, understanding and respectful. Their love story is one of the healthier ones that dismisses most troupes. Though Hu Yi Tian and Zhang Jing Yi chemistry is a little lacking, it’s healing watching Yan Xi and Jing Yi’s steady progression, heathy communication and supportive teamwork.

There are many other couples in the story too, which make up for a good time. From the happy bickering couple (Bao Xia x Chen Qing), to innocent playmates couple (Shao Yao x Shen Er), to supportive married couple (4th uncle and aunt), I quite like all the love story lines. Even granny’s first love story with grandpa got a shoutout.

Moving on the next point - the friendship and kinship. Blossom in adversity is not only about Story of Hua Zhi. It’s also about story of each Hua Lady. Every one of them is a unique flower that blooms prettily on her own right. I like how every of them have a memorable trait / character despite the big cast.

First, there are Hua Zhi’s grandmother, mother and aunts. Not many stories highlight the friendship of grannies in their 60’s and beyond. I love the backstory that Blossom in Adversity gives to Zhu Mu. We got to see a glimpse of who she was when she was a teenager, how she talked about her first love and what her considerations were as the head of a large family.

Myolie Wu plays the prideful 3rd aunt who has a soft heart. There can be many things you will feel frustrated about being family with her - at the end of the day, she does care and is reliable when times call for it. Her words to Hua Zhi, “Family is not a place to talk reason” may sound like she’s pulling rank. But indeed, sometimes reason is not the solution.

Second, Hua Zhi has 4 maids who become reliable business partners. They are interestingly named after the 4 seasons, adding color to the flowers with their own storyline - Ying ‘Chun’, Bao ‘Xia’, Nian ‘Qiu’, Fu ‘Dong’.

Third, Hua Zhi’s sisters also got mini spotlight in this 40 episode story. The one who stood out to me is Hua Qin. One might not respect Hua Qin on her schemes and only thought of using marriage as a way out. However, I thought it was a good contrast to Hua Zhi, without vilifying Hua Qin’s method.

All in all, Blossom in Adversity is a little tad perfect with Hua Zhi and Hua Family’s lovely ladies successfully building their business in the ancient society together. The guys somewhat become the Hua Ping (vase) in the story. But it kinda of hit the right tune when one wants to relax and feel a win after coming home from our real life’s adversity.