Best Choice Ever

Best Choice Ever is a 2024 Chinese urban television series directed by Tian Yu and produced by Huace Media and Tencent Penguin Pictures. It stars Yang Zi as Mai Chenghuan and Xu Kai as Yao Zhiming in the lead roles.
The series is based on the novel "Story of Joy" by Yi Shu and tells the story of a young woman who is looking for a balance between herself and her family relationships as she grows up. The series premiered on CCTV-8 and Tencent Video on 9 April and ended it's run on 27 April.

Plot

The series follows the story of Mai Chenghuan, a young woman from a typical Shanghai family whose life has always been controlled by her overbearing mother. She meets Yao Zhiming, her boss and also the biological grandson of her step-grandmother at her workplace, Botticelli Hotel. Their contrasting personalities and misunderstandings create tension between them. At home, she faces pressure from her mother, Liu Wanyu, to discuss marriage with her boyfriend, Xin Jialiang. Differences in family backgrounds and excessive parental involvement lead to their breakup, motivating Chenghuan to assert her independence and focus on her career. She later inherits Xing'anli Hotel from her step-grandmother, which brings her into contact with Yao Zhiming again. When they reunite, their initial friction persists, but through teamwork and mutual support, they begin to understand each other better and fall in love.
Chenghuan goes from living under her mother’s watchful eye to finally being independent while still remaining filial. She embarks on a meaningful journey of growth, career achievement, and love, discovering her own path and self-worth along the way.

Cast

Main

Yang Zi as Mai Chenghuan
Xu Kai as Yao Zhiming

Supporting

He Saifei as Liu Wanyu
Yao Anlian as Mai Laitian
Zhang Yao as Mai Chengzao
Xu Lingyue as Mao Yongxin
Wu Yanshu as Chen Shuzhen
Niu Junfeng as Xin Jialiang
Guo Yunqi as He Dong
Xu Yajun as Xin Zhishan
Deng Ying as Chen Dejing
Hu Dandan as Xin Jiali
Gong Beibi as Zhang Peishang
He Fengtian as Zou Nan
Lu Zhaohua as Zhang Ziyu
Wang Ziwei as Zhu Baoqiao
Bao Chenxi as Qian Duoduo
Wang Chuyu as Tian Feng

Production

The series started filming on June 18, 2023, and was completed on September 23 of the same year. In order to play the role of Mai Chenghuan better, Yang Zi specifically learned the Shanghai dialect of Mandarin and the lives of Shanghai girls of Chenghuan's age. To make the character of Mai Chenghuan more vivid, the creators visited the alleys, coffee shops and other local places of Shanghai to observe the clothing styles of young women and took inspiration from them to create the makeup style of Mai Chenghuan. The crew created an alley based on Sanheli and an old house based on Sinan Mansion completely. A total of 117 scenes were filmed in Shanghai.

Reception

The series won the Most Anticipated Work award at the 2023 Tencent Video Starlight Awards. The series premiered on CCTV-8 on April 9, 2024, and was simultaneously broadcast on Tencent Video. The first episode of the drama had a real-time audience rating of over 2, with a peak of 2.0584%. The popularity of the series on Tencent Video has exceeded 30,519, setting a new record for the highest popularity of urban dramas on the site.