Growing Pain | Recap and Review

A journey of four high school students, steering through academics, crushes, and family problems. 
Notable Actors/Actresses

Zhang Jia Yi: Lin Da Wei 

Yan Ni: Wang Sheng Nan

Zhao Jin Mai: Lin Miao Miao

Guo Jun Chen: Qian San Yi

Wang Yu Wen: Deng Xiao Qi

Jiang Guan Nan: Jiang Tian Hao

Chinese Title
少年派

Genres: Contemporary, Slight Romance, School, Family, Comedy

Network: MangoTV, iQIYI, Tencent Video

Year: 2019
Episodes: 40

Recap Grade: D
First Impression: N/A

Jump to Review

[Cyn-opsis] First half – the nucleus of the drama is the friendship between Lin Miao Miao, Qian San Yi, Deng Xiao Qi, and Jiang Tian Hao. This quartet is loyal. And the teeny romance between Qian San Yi and Lin Miao Miao is cute. 

Second half – we orbit around family problems. Lin Miao Miao’s family is the fun one, the unpredictable one, the blissful average trio. Mom might be stubborn but she is flexible. I think she’s a bearable (and funny) tiger-mom. Qian San Yi’s parents are estranged but they’re not divorced. His mother pretends that everything is normal, but he knows they’re abnormal. Deng Xiao Qi is raised by a single mom but lies to her classmates that she has a father and a perfect family. She loves her mother, though and is filial. Her mother is her source of motivation to study. Jiang Tian Hao’s family will face difficulties but everyone is optimistic and strives to be better. Nothing can beat them down (financially or emotionally). 

Mini Recaps

I wasn’t planning to make a recap, but I happen to have enough notes to scrape by for a D level one. Expect a lot of gaps in the recaps. Treat it as drama highlights. 

[Ep1] An introduction to Lin Miao Miao: she’s so bored in class, she can be entertained by her teacher’s armpit sweat mark.

[Ep2] While the daughter is brushing her teeth, her mother asks, “Did you poop today”? Dad is outside and complains if there’s nothing else to monitor other than their daughter’s ins and outs. LOL. Later in the episode, Lin Miao Miao shares her wisdom with us: “There’s a type of cold, which is your mother thinks you're cold. There’s a type of hunger, which is your mom thinks you're hungry.” Me jumping up because of how true this is. 

He’ll be drinking this concoction ^ for the entire drama

[Ep3] The water spit that began Lin Miao Miao and Qian San Yi’s friendship and romance?. Also in this episode: the whole school knows Lin Miao Miao has her period thanks to Mom.

[Ep4]
[Ep5]
[Ep6]
[Ep7]
[Ep8]
[Ep9]
[Ep10]

[Ep11] Lin Miao Miao performs a chicken dance at the talent show. The boys are watching her in their muscle suits. When Jiang Tian Hao leaves, Qian San Yi stays to watch Lin Miao Miao until the end.

Dad: “Your mom is a virgin!” 

[Ep12] Breaking news! We have confirmed Mom is a “virgin” and Lin Miao Miao is not a “virgin”. Dad gets a good chuckle from this. In this context, Virgin (in Chinese) means Virgo.  

[Ep13] A lot of firsts this episode. First Ferris wheel ride, ah, but Qian San Yi has a fear of heights. He’s so scared he’s hugging onto Lin Miao Miao lap. Because of that, they also have their first night together! But it’s so platonic. 

[Ep14] Qian San Yi keeps Lin Miao Miao’s half eaten dried mango snack pack and Hello Kitty hairpin. 

[Ep15]
[Ep16]

[Ep17] Qian San Yi and Lin Miao Miao’s mom become friends by climbing a building! It’s not easy making friends... 

[Ep18]
[Ep19]
[Ep20]
[Ep21] 

[Ep22] Is this wifi password gibberish or the most romantic thing ever? The most romantic thing ever!

[Ep23]

[Ep24] See that left hand? Jiang Tian Hao is okay! He just jumped out of the window. That's all. 

[Ep25]

[Ep26] The wife misunderstands the husband is murdering her. He’s just measuring her neck circumference in the middle of the night while she’s sleeping so he can buy her a necklace. LOL. They also have a notebook on everything he promises to give her after they “divorce” and now a set of necklaces is added. Hahaha. 

[Ep27] The wife confesses that every time they fight, she uses the husband’s toothbrush to scrub the toilet. LMAO. But then she also gives him a new toothbrush afterwards. Hahaha. In hindsight, he notices his toothbrush is frayed. That’s because they haven’t fought much these days. This is so hilarious and relatable. Oh wait a second. I don’t do that. Nope! 

[Ep28]

[Ep29] Mom finds Dad so cute for writing “Don’t live long” on her birthday cake. 

[Ep30]

Dad: “Auntie is visiting Uncle”

[Ep31] Dad comforting Mom about menopause. He says her “Auntie” (= period) went to visit Uncle. So cute.

[Ep32]

[Ep33] Mom uses her pregnant belly to demand the money her husband was scammed of and then uses the money to invest in Jiang Tian Hao’s business! Awww! And ya, Mom is pregnant.... 

[Ep34] Wang Yu Wen confesses to Pei Yin (Qian San Yi’s mother)! He’s ten years younger and she’s his first love. 

[Ep35] Omg, for the first time I want to spank a student for not studying!!!! Lin Miao Miao is so focused on live-streaming, she’s forfeiting studying in her third year. Even Deng Xiao Qi is working her butt off to get better grades so that she can support her mother (as an actress). 

[Ep36] Melodrama escalates! Lin Miao Miao is so sad that she can’t livestream anymore, she’s almost in a trance and commits suicide. Mom faints from the scene. Lin Miao Miao cries and calmly reflects on her current actions and future paths. Phew. 

[Ep37] Qian San Yi guarantees that with him around, Lin Miao Miao won’t fail her gaokao. Jiang Tian Hao and Deng Xiao Qi are helping her too. 

[Ep38] A forehead touch between our 一秒 CP! Qian San Yi says it was to install a 5G hard disk in Lin Miao Miao’s brain (to help her study by making her heart accelerate). Oh and Dad is super jealous that Lin Miao Miao is in love with Qian San Yi. It’s a misunderstanding (boo).

[Ep39] D-Day! It’s gaokao (高考), and Mom is giving birth (生 sheng)! Omg. Dad wants to leave with Mom to the hospital but she yells at him to accompany Lin Miao Miao at the exam centre instead. Another parent comforts a panicking Dad that it’s an auspicious sign. It’s 高升! This means promotion (gao sheng). It’s combining the character 高 from gaokao with 升, which is a homophone of 生. When Lin Miao Miao learns her mother is giving birth, she orders her Dad to go to Mom. Aw. One more thing! Qian San Yi’s half-brother was born on the same day! Lol. This drama. And gaokao of all days. What kind of weird fate is that. 

On a crazy day like this, let’s dance. Why not?

[Ep40] Qian San Yi and Lin Mia Miao hold hands! It’s because of his fear for heights and nothing romantic. When did Deng Xiao Qi fall out of love with Qian San Yi? And why do I feel like Jiang Tian Hao isn’t pretending he’s afraid of heights but is actually afraid?  

They’re all accepted in universities. Lin Miao Miao scored well, but her applications didn’t match (not sure how it works). She can’t go to Beijing with Qian San Yi (who’s going to Tsinghua) and Deng Xiao Qi (The Central Academy of Drama). Qian San Yi even spent a whole night trying to find universities to match Lin Miao Miao's applications. Meanwhile Jiang Tian Hao will be staying in the city with Lin Miao Miao. He could have chosen a better university but he’s staying to manage his business (Tian Hao Kitchen).

At the airport, Qian San Yi tells Jiang Tian Hao to take care (of Lin Miao Miao). Jiang Tian Hao nods. He will. Deng Xiao Qi pats him on the arm to thank him too. 

On the plane, Deng Xiao Qi asks Qian San Yi why he didn't confess to Lin Miao Miao. He sighs. Everyone can see his feelings for her, except Lin Miao Maio. 

On the way back home, Lin Miao Miao asks Jiang Tian Hao if he’ll miss Deng Xiao Qi. He will. He asks her too if she’ll miss Qian San Yi. Her reply is instant: “Of course!” But it’s not that she’ll miss him in particular. She will miss the time they spent together as a quartet. 

The end. 

Remarks

[First Impression] N/A. I’m already three-quarters through the drama. First half, I’d round it up to a 4/5. Second half – I’ll have to finish first, which should be soon.  

[Actors/Actresses] I’m watching this 2019 drama in 2022 because I heard there will be a Season 2 (hopefully this year?). Then I peeked at the cast and omgsh, this has Zhao Jin Mai, Guo Jun Chen, and Wang Yu Wen. However, I won’t recommend this if you don’t want to see Zhao Jin Mai like this: 

[Character Names] + Character introduction. 

Qian San Yi. San Yi (三一 )  literally means three-one. The characters may be rudimentary, but it embodies the eloquence of Chinese. If there’s one thing about Cdramas, it makes me appreciate my mother tongue and the beauty of the culture expressed in the language. Qian San Yi's name is derived from a line in 道德经 (Tao Te Ching; a philosophical and religious text written in 400 BCE):  一生二，二生三，三生萬物. One begets two. Two begets three. Three begets all things. His grandfather gave him this name with the expectations that he will be different from his father who became a businessman for fame and fortune (btw, money = 錢 qian). He hopes Qian (錢) San Yi could become return their family to its roots, become cultured and learned. Hence his name isn’t 一三 (one-three), but the reversed 三一 (three-one). Lin Miao Miao. Miao (妙) means clever and wonderful. It can also be the sound of cats (meow) and hence the theme of cats related to her (e.g. Hello Kitty and pet cats). Yi Miao (一秒) is their CP name. 妙 and 秒 sound the same. 秒 means ‘second’ and so they are the One Second CP. I hope they last longer than one second though...or maybe I’m supposed to understand it as the “Instant” couple. 

Jiang Tian Hao  (江天昊) is optimistic even when the sky falls. His name (天昊) means the “sky is vast and limitless”. His surname is 江 means river. And so neither the sky or the river is his limit. Deng Xiao Qi. Xiao Qi (小琪) is petty and her name literally means she’s 小氣 (xiaoqi; petty). 

Lin Da Wei 林大為. Da Wei (大為) means “Greatly”. He’s got a great purpose in life (and in death, lol). He has a positive influence on everyone. He’s the hero of the drama. Wang Sheng Nan. Sheng Nan (勝男) means “Surpass Men”. She’s an aspirant and expects the same from her daughter. She may be bossy, but Show makes her hilarious and the actress is fun. Her name will remind you of the proverb 青出於藍而勝於藍. Literally: the colour of blue is made out of indigo but is more vivid than indigo. Figuratively: The student surpasses the master. Mom wants her daughter to surpass her (like how she surpasses men). By the way, she also has a sister 頂男 which means “Substitute Men”. Haha. 

[Behind the Scenes] 

[Ending] Generally happy for the students and families. Romance is open ended. Honestly, if there wasn’t a second season coming up, I might be upset at this ending. It’s like a new chapter just started and Show decided to end. 

[Season 2] Filming completed in Jan 2022 (when Reset was airing). Unfortunately, Wang Yu Wen didn’t reprise her role, but I’m glad they got mostly everyone else back. I very excited to see the 一秒 (yimiao) couple all grown up.  

[Review & Rating] 

First half is lighthearted with relatable family moments, and a bit of high school romance. Second half, is unpredictable. Just unpredictable. What stays consistent is the entertainment, comedy, and friendship and family. 

Warning: drama is not without its angst. Starting from ~Ep20, drama dives into family problems. The angst is a bit atypical. It’s like a competition between which family has weirder misfortunes, and then the show seems to have an obsession in turning misfortune into fortune and misery into hilarity. The unpredictability kept me watching, but I wished there were less problems....! This is the main complaint I have. Ep36 onwards, drama is somewhat back on track to being lighthearted. 

My favourite character is Lin Da Wei. He’s a hero, saving the day for everyone. It’s a blessing to have a father like him. I also really love the friendships between the mums (of the ML and FL). However, Qian San Yi’s mother can sometimes be a hypocrite... Anyway. My least favourite friendship is between Deng Xiao Qi and Lin Miao Miao. Deng Xiao Qi’s pettiness annoys me (but she does get better in the end!). I prefer it when Lin Miao Miao is with the boys. They’re much more loyal with much less drama. 

Show is filled with love but don’t expect typical romances. Since the kids are in high school, they can’t date, but there are little romantic moments. The parents may already be married (or divorced) but romance doesn’t have to stop after marriage. 

• Qian San Yi & Lin Miao Miao (一秒 CP): They bicker and banter. He knows exactly how to tick her off and every time she’s riled, she’s like a bunny, jumping everywhere. I like the innocence of their current relationship (and am anticipating for the romance to develop in season 2). 
• Jiang Tian Hao & Deng Xiao Qi: He falls in love at first sight with her but she likes Qian San Yi. Jiang Tian Hao's unwavering love and loyalty grows on me. 
• Lin Da Wei & Wang Sheng Nan: At first you think the father is lazy, always giving in to the mother who’s like a tiger mom, oh but then you’ll impressed when you find out how cunning the father is. His craftiness is lovable because he truly loves his wife. They make divorce-talk hilarious and romantic.

Random Recommendation: Racket Boys [K]

Rating: 3/5 ♥♥