The Best Thing

Presentation

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Overview

Synopsis

Shen Xifan is a young woman who suffers from insomnia. After trying out several unsuccessful treatments, she turns to traditional Chinese medicine. She meets He Suye, a TCM doctor, who heals her.

My Opinion (No Spoiler)

I felt so good watching this drama! I smiled, felt comfort, rooted for characters and was just entirely immersed into that warm atmosphere. Shen Xifan is such an endearing woman. She goes through so much because of her boyfriend. It enraged me to see him mistreat this empathetic, kind woman so badly. Thankfully, she encounters He Suye. Forget green flags, this man is a green universe! He’s affectionate, tolerant, protective, patient, soft and tender. He falls head over heels for Xifan, but never pressurizes her. Instead, he waits for her to come to him. Meanwhile, he supports her from the sideline, cures her insomnia and heals her wounded heart. I loved how the drama highlighted two types of relationships and the consequences they can have on someone. On the one side, you’ve got a toxic relationship that literally destroys one’s self-love, while on the other side, you’ve got a sane relationship that provides strength, support, and wholesomeness. I particularly enjoyed discovering more about Traditional Chinese Medicine and the drama cleverly linked each flower/plant to the plot in each episode. The drama even tackles more serious themes like breast cancer, but from a TCM perspective, which was extremely interesting to see. All in all, this drama is a gem. Watching The Best Thing is literally the best thing I’ve done lately!

Analysis

Two types of relationships
Yan Heng, the toxic boyfriend
He Suye, the healing medicine

The romance
The tulips
The sachet
He Suye’s quotes

Medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
Breast cancer

Two types of relationships: The drama revolves around relationships and highlights the impact (negative or positive) they can have on your life. Using Shen Xifan’s (Xu Ruohan) love life as background, the show deep dives into two very different types of relationships.

Yan Heng, the toxic boyfriend: At the beginning of the show, Xifan is in a seven-year long-distance relationship with Yan Heng (Caesar Wu). Though they talk about marriage, their relationship is full of cracks. Yan Heng takes her for granted, constantly belittles Xifan’s dreams of studying abroad, wants to control her future and gaslights her into believing she’s selfish and uncommitted. He guilt-trips her over small things, like missing his random calls, and repeatedly makes her feel like she’s the problem. Clearly, Yan Heng has a very harmful influence on Xifan. He crushes her self-esteem, makes her anxious, insecure, and unworthy of love which contributes to her insomnia. She’s never at ease, always walks on eggshells and feels inferior, especially in the presence of Yan Heng’s wealthy family who’s never considered her up to par. When he breaks up with her over the phone without an explanation and then ghosts her, this is yet another tough pill to swallow for Xifan. Later on, Yan Heng returns asking for another chance, blaming stress for his past actions. He doesn’t apologize nor even thinks that he’s responsible. Xifan rejects him several times, but he insists, only prioritizing his own feelings. To me, this was the perfect example of a toxic relationship in which one follows his desires, imposes them on the other and expects him/her to just accept and follow. There’s no support, no communication, no respect, no trust, and thus no mutual love. As He Suye (Zhang Linghe) mentions it very well in the drama: ‘A relationship is about two people. Happiness and joy should go both ways.’ This couldn’t be less accurate here.

He Suye, the healing medicine: He Suye and Shen Xifan perfectly represent the above-mentioned quote. Suye is a green flag in all aspects who gives space, time and unconditional support to Xifan. He’s patient, tolerant, gentle, comprehensive and prioritizes Xifan’s well-being and dreams. He fell in love with her at first sight, but waited for her to heal from her past wounds. Like Xifan, he’s been through a bad breakup. His ex-girlfriend left to study abroad and broke up with him shortly after. He was hurt and felt he’d done something wrong, but he eventually moved on, following his own advice: ‘No matter what happened in the past, good or bad, it’s part of who you are. Accept the past and focus on the present and the future.’ Slowly, but surely, He Suye becomes Xifan’s comfort and safe place. She feels at ease talking about her future aspirations with him who even pushes her to study in Switzerland. Moreover, he repeatedly tells her she’s worthy of love, thus band-aiding the wound Yan Heng left on her self-esteem. With him, Xifan simply feels whole. He Suye is also very close to her parents and has even been present when Xifan’s mother suffered from breast cancer. He becomes a pillar in her life, a lighthouse in the middle of the sea.

The romance: He Suye arrives in Xifan’s life when she is at her lowest. She’s in a toxic relationship that exhausts her mentally, emotionally, and physically. As a doctor, Suye starts by treating her physical symptoms. But he can’t do anything for her heart yet. Though he’s fallen for her, the timing of their encounter is off. However, he never tries to come between the pair. Instead, he respectively stays on the sideline and provides emotional support to Xifan. Coincidentally though, he starts meeting his crush more and more outside of the clinic. Turns out they live in the same neighborhood, blocks away from each other, and have a similar schedule. Xifan feels reassured every time she sees him and comfortable talking to him. Slowly, Suye grows closer to her and gets a special place in her heart. When she breaks up, she can count on his support. When Yan Heng comes back, Suye intervenes to protect Xifan. Their romance is a slow-burn that spans over a year, because Xifan rejects his first confession. Nevertheless, He Suye doesn’t want to lose her, so he accepts to remain as a friend and stay close. When Xifan finally realizes that she’s over her ex and has feelings for Suye, the romance finally blooms into a beautiful bond based on trust, love, respect and communication. Proof is that Suye encourages Xifan to go to Switzerland, withstands the long-distance, calls her every time (unlike Yan Heng) and patiently waits for her return. He Suye, aged 31, met Xifan when she was 27. He fell hard for her, pursued her and finally managed to tie the knot with her a few years later. I would quote two sentences in the drama that perfectly embody their relationship: ‘Give me your life’s time, and I’ll give you my life’s love.’ and ‘Loving you is the best thing I’ve ever done.‘ They are the real deal!

The tulips: Tulips are the secret connector between Xifan and Suye. They used to be the favorite flower of Suye’s mother, so they hold a very deep meaning. He was very close to her and she died of cancer when he was a kid. She’s partially the reason why he chose to become a TCM doctor. Interestingly, Xifan would always appear in his life with a bouquet of tulips that she’d get at the hotel. I interpret it as the will of the heavens. This is as if Suye’s mother was intervening from above to show her son that Xifan was the one. Tulips are very personal for each character – love for her work (Xifan)/love for his parent (Suye) and are the symbol of characters’ love.

The sachet: As part of her treatment, He Suye gifts Xifan sachets made of medicinal plants to help her relax. The female lead develops the habit of smelling it to calm her nerves. She used to dislike wooden smells, but her tastes changed ever since she’s met He Suye. He and the sachets he makes smell like agar wood (she says it herself) which will turn out to be quite relevant for the rest of the story. Sachets help Xifan realize that she’s in love with Suye when Yan Heng comes back and offers her a customized perfume. She smells it but sneezes immediately before reaching out to her sachet. That’s a sign that she’s completely over Yan Heng and needs Suye’s comforting smell and presence in her life now. She can go to him with a light heart and let their love blossom.

He Suye’s quotes: I’ve already mentioned above some of his wonderful sentences, but I would definitely add these ones to the list. All of them provide love, support and boost your self-esteem. They’re the perfect remedy if you feel low:
– ‘Don’t think you’re not good enough. Don’t think you have no value. You’re just hurt by a bad relationship. Love yourself and live well. That’s the most important thing.’
– ‘Xifan, you did nothing wrong.’ 
– ‘In my eyes, every day you get better and more deserving of love than the last. So from now on, just focus on loving yourself. As for the rest, just leave it to me.‘

Medicine: I was very pleased to learn more about Traditional Chinese Medicine that I knew nothing about. Some remedies definitely made me want to try them out! The drama brilliantly combines both Western and Traditional medicines through Suye’s career as a doctor. It did an excellent job at making you understand the limits of modern medicine and the benefits of TCM.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM): Plants have always been used to cure patients. Back when technology was not in the picture, nature used to play a big part in treatments. That’s what I discovered with this drama. Sometimes, you don’t necessarily need to turn to modern instruments, you can just use natural resources for your physical symptoms, while investigating the emotional root causes. In the drama, TCM is everywhere. First, it’s Suye’s specialization as a doctor. He’s essentially working with cancer patients and resorts to TCM to appease the ailments linked with the disease and/or the treatment. I really appreciated that they showed that TCM is not a replacement of modern medicine, but is rather a complement to ease patients’ suffering and agony. It is especially relevant when you think about palliative care. When patients don’t stand a chance anymore, at least TCM can alleviate their pain and help them leave with dignity. Second, TCM is the reason why Suye and Xifan meet in the first place. She’s tried all sorts of medicine before but none succeeded. Her last resort is TCM. Third, there’s a real link between plants (mentioned at the beginning of each episode) and the story itself. I already talked about agar wood, but you have many other scenes that use medicinal plants to connect Suye and Xifan.

Breast cancer: There’s a parallel between Xifan’s and Suye’s stories with breast cancer. In Suye’s case, his mother suffered from it for a long time and died of it. It greatly impacted his life and made him the person he is today. In Xifan’s case, Suye and his grandfather played an essential role in diagnosing breast cancer in Xifan’s mother. Though this is painful news, the outcome of the treatment is more positive for her. Xifan’s mother is cured and has many support people around her. He Suye is also present to take care of his in-law and make sure that Xifan can go abroad without worries. He doesn’t want her to renounce her dream because of someone (again) and ensures her mother’s safety in her stead.