- Drama Title: A Better Life
- Also Known As: 蛮好的人生, Man Hao De Ren Sheng, San Shi Jiu Er Shi Ba, Bao Xian Ren Sheng
- Director: Wang Jun
- Screenwriter: Fei Hui Jun, Li Xiao Liang
- Genres: Romance, Melodrama
- Cast: Sun Li, Dong Zi Jian
- Number of Episodes: 36
- Date of Release: Apr 17, 2025
- Original Network: CCTV, Youku
- Where to Watch: Youku
Dear readers… The weather’s been absolutely sunny lately. Perfect for cold drinks and lazy afternoons. I had grand plans to make homemade jelly and something fancy to sip on, but let’s be real, laziness won that battle.
So, I grabbed a store-bought tea, dumped in a massive amount of ice, and called it a day. Paired with a refreshing bowl of cucumber salad, I’m now fully fueled to bring you my thoughts on this cheeky A Better Life drama. so, without further ado, let’s get into it review, because this show has a lot to unpack. Happy reading!
Read A Better Life drama review and ending explained here:
- A Better Life Drama Review
- A Better Life Ending explained (soon will be uploaded)
A Better Life Drama Synopsis
Hu Man Li, thirty-nine years old, has worked as an insurance agent for two decades. She climbed her way up from the bottom and reached the peak of her career. Her life seemed flawless. She has successful job, fat bank account, a scholarly husband, and a bright, adorable son. Until everything fall apart.
She accidentally discovers her husband is having an affair. Soon after, a colleague betrays her, and her once-stable world begins to collapse. The person behind her downfall is Xue Xiao Zhou, a twenty-eight-year-old newcomer at her company.
Hu Man Li’s husband chooses the mistress no matter how hard she tried to fix the problem. Her hard-earned career is gone. Left with her son and no clear future, Hu Man Li struggles to get back on her feet.
Then, the truth comes out. Xue Xiao Zhou was also a victim, manipulated by a jealous superior who wanted to destroy Hu Man Li’s success. With the air cleared between them, the two join forces.
Together, Hu Man Li and Xue Xiao Zhou re-enter the competitive insurance world. This time not as rivals but as allies. Through shared setbacks and hard-won lessons, their relationship shifts from enemies to partners, from mentor and rookie to trusted friends. They push each other toward growth, redemption, and a deeper understanding of who they truly are.
A Better Life Drama Review
I was scrolling through YouTube, looking for interesting videos when I stumbled upon this one. I’m sure the algorithm guided me to it. Curious, I moved to Youku to watch the full episode. The first thing that hooked me was the opening.
I love this kind of animation. And the song! I didn’t expect to learn so much about Hu Man Li’s personality just from the opening theme. Its catchy tune had me singing “Hu Man Li… Man Li…” for days. It became a total earworm that I couldn’t shake off. 😅
A Better Life seemed like just another urban drama about family and career. It didn’t get much hype maybe because it’s more mature and segmented. The lead of this drama is 42-year-old Sun Li, or Betty Sun, a seasoned actress who has been in the industry since 2001. In the middle of a wave of younger stars bringing fresh energy, older actors like Sun Li prove that experience and emotional depth never go out of style.
Throughout the drama, I was completely charmed by Sun Li. She brings Hu Man Li to life with powerful, nuanced acting. She expresses pain, frustration, and resilience through subtle facial expressions, body language, and carefully measured words. But she also shows Hu Man Li’s pride, playfulness, and warmth. She doesn’t portray her as a perfect heroine, but as a flawed, real woman.
A fierce tigress when needed, yet also a tired, frustrated single mother at times. Sun Li doesn’t just act strong. She makes you believe that strength has always been there, buried beneath layers of compromise and sacrifice.
At first, I thought A Better Life would just be another romantic melodrama with a typical age-gap twist. The beginning felt cliché. Hu Man Li discovers her husband is cheating and he leaves her for the other woman. If not for Sun Li’s brilliant performance, I probably would’ve stopped watching. But the story quickly shifts.
It becomes a journey of Hu Man Li fighting to build a better life for herself and her son. During my binge-watching sessions, I found myself rooting for her like a personal cheerleader. She deserves a world full of love and happiness. As for the others? They’d do well to quietly disappear and let her live in peace.
Hu Man Li is the embodiment of a warrior with the heart of a healer. She’s not perfect, but her sincerity shines brighter than anyone else’s. And that’s exactly why I fell in love with this drama.
The Story – Working Through the Wounds
When I watched this drama, it felt like I was part of Hu Man Li’s struggle for a better life which was ended as a better person. In the beginning of the story, Hu Man Li is like a raw diamond, rough around the edges but genuine, resilient, and exceptionally rare. She may not shine at first glance, but the depth is there for those who look closely.
Before a raw diamond can become a piece of fine jewelry, it needs to be polished. Polishing is the art of shaping and refining the stone to unlock its true brilliance. It takes time and care to ignite that inner fire. Of course, not every raw diamond holds the same potential. Nature isn’t exactly generous when it comes to producing top-quality stones. If it were, my closet would be filled with something as grand as A$AP Rocky’s 90-carat umbrella from the Met Gala.
Back to Hu Man Li (I get distracted so easily, don’t I?).
To make her shine, Hu Man Li needed the “polishing process.” That’s when life started throwing her many lemons. First, her husband cheated on her. Ding Zhi Yuan was a professor proud of his status.
Like many scholar types in C-dramaland, he looked down on money, even though he needed it. He saw Hu Man Li as vain, even while using her money to build his career. To feed his own vanity, he sought someone “more cultured” and “educated” than Hu Man Li. That’s when Qiu Li Su appeared.
The second lemon came because Hu Man Li’s success made some people jealous. They use Xue Xiao Zhao, whose righteousness made him blind, and trick Hu Man Li to fall into trap. Well, maybe not exactly a trap, but she did make mistakes at work that only sharp eyes like Xue Xiao Zhao could noticed.
Hu Man Li got fired and was banned from selling insurance for two years. This cut off her only source of income, because selling insurance was all she knew. Hu Man Li had no backup plan.
The third lemon was when Hu Man Li losing her home. The lemons didn’t stop there. Hu Man Li still had to face family problems, financial struggles, and love troubles. And I found myself more and more invested in this drama, even though it drained my emotions.
Hu Man Li, whom I thought was prideful, turned out to be practical. Though her education was less than her professor husband’s, she was street smart and knew her priorities. When Hu Man Li realized she has lose her income, she sold all her branded, luxurious bags. I remember that scene so clearly because I could feel her emotions.
So, dear readers, let’s imagine. For a woman, clothes and bags aren’t just things. They can be armor when she needs strength, or a soft hug when she feels low. A pair of shoes might carry her through the hardest days. A favorite dress might remind her who she is when she feels lost. Sometimes buying a bag isn’t just shopping.
It’s a reward, a small celebration of how far she’s come. Imagine working so hard just to buy that Prada bag you always dreamed of. You love it, you feel proud when it’s on your shoulder. But one day, your family needs help. And even though it breaks your heart, you decide to sell it. Because that bag, as beautiful as it is, now means something more. It’s a way to care for the people you love.
Then there’s Hu Man Li, standing in front of her closet with a large IKEA bag, staring at her handbags with sad, quiet eyes. She had to make a painful decision: which ones to keep and which to let go. That scene broke my heart. Each bag wasn’t just an object. It held a story, a piece of her past, her pride, her identity.
And to make it worse, Qiu Li Su seized the chance to mock Hu Man Li by buying every single one. With money, she made a statement, claiming her place as Ding Zhi Yuan’s new wife. Meanwhile, Hu Man Li was forced to let go not only of bags but also of her dignity.
But then everything changed. In the next episode, early in the morning, Hu Man Li arrived with a truck full of wedding gifts. Every gift was wrapped in bright red paper. It’s the traditional color of Chinese celebration.
Even the truck was decorated with red ribbons and a huge banner that read: Congratulations to Qiu Li Su on her third marriage! Later Hu Man Li climbed onto the truck, megaphone in hand, and called out with a smile, “Ms. Qiu, are you up? I’m here to congratulate you. Congratulations on your third marriage. Come out for your gifts!” 👩🏻📢
The noise stirred the whole neighborhood. Curious faces gathered, whispering and watching. Then I saw Qiu Li Su’s panic expression while behind the curtains, Ding Zhi Yuan froze in fear. What a moment! I laughed out loud. After all the pain, Hu Man Li stood tall again with wit, courage, and perfect style. She lost the bags and the money (because she used it to pay for the wedding gifts), but she got her pride back. 🥹
Hu Man Li is just an ordinary woman. She feels sadness, anger, and hopelessness like anyone else. But what makes her special is the quiet strength she carries within. Her independence is admirable. She isn’t afraid to work hard or start from scratch. And even in the bitterness of life, she never lost her kindness or big heart.
When life knocked her down, she found the courage to stand up again. I was so proud of her. In a world that often measures worth by money, beauty, or status, Hu Man Li reminded me that true pride comes from within.
The Story – In Another Life, Maybe
I never thought I could hate a male lead in a drama so much. This is the first time. While scrolling online, I saw some people did not like Xue Xiao Zhou because they felt Dong Zi Jian was not handsome enough for the role.
But for me, it is not about Dong Zi Jian at all. It is Xue Xiao Zhou’s character that really annoyed me. Honestly, Dong Zi Jian did a great job playing Xue Xiao Zhou because he made me feel that strong dislike.
Xue Xiao Zhou is 11 years younger than Hu Man Li. At 28, he is a principled young man with a strong sense of right and wrong. A law graduate, he believes in clear distinctions between black and white, good and bad.
As an insurance broker, Xue Xiao Zhou wants his clients to buy policies based on logic and need, not persuasion. He refuses to use flattery or emotional appeal to close a deal. To him, Hu Man Li’s approach by winning clients over with warmth, kindness, and personal charm felt manipulative and undignified.
This is where their principles clashed. Hu Man Li believed in connecting with people through empathy and sincerity, while Xue Xiao Zhou prioritized practicality and reason.
I thought this drama would be all about a mentor mentee relationship since Xue Xiao Zhou already has a girlfriend, a young and smart woman named Wu Ya. She really cares for him and understands his personality and struggles deeply. But then the story took a turn into a noona romance as Xue Xiao Zhou slowly found himself attracted to Hu Man Li.
And that is when I started to dislike him even more. Xue Xiao Zhou was already pretty annoying, but when he fell in love he became even worse. Sure, he is smart, but he rarely considers things from other people’s perspectives. He only thinks about himself. In other words, he is selfish and stubborn, a truly dangerous combo.
And let’s talk about the cheating couple, Ding Zhi Yuan and Qiu Li Su. Ding Zhi Yuan is a weak man who feels insecure because his wife can make more money than him. He looks down on her while secretly fearing her. All this time, he has used her money for his studies, lived in a house that belongs to her, eaten her food, and worn the clothes she bought for him. Yet he still claims that he and Qiu Li Su are compatible. 🤮
Qiu Li Su is a complex character shaped by her past. She is rich because her two late husbands left her large inheritances. Her first husband was an old man, while her second husband, who was Xue Xiao Zhou’s father, was a businessman.
Qiu Li Su became a mistress in Mr. Xue’s life, skillfully befriending his wife and slowly seducing him until he divorced his wife and married her. After Mr. Xue’s death, she took over his business.
Ding Zhi Yuan saw Qiu Li Su as a cultured and educated woman. She even writing a poem on a Madame Bovary postcard and Ding Zhi Yuan likes that. But Madame Bovary is a story of a woman who wanted a glamorous life but ended in sadness and debt.
It makes you wonder if Qiu Li Su understands the lesson of Madame Bovary or if she is chasing the same dreams without seeing the danger. She is ambitious and powerful but also causes pain and betrayal.
Ding Zhi Yuan and Qiu Li Su are a clear contrast. Ding Zhi Yuan is weak and afraid to face his own problems, while Qiu Li Su is strong and willing to do whatever it takes to win. Together, they show how insecurity and ambition can destroy trust and love.
Both of them are truly not good people. I bet you can already guess that this cheating couple is headed for a bad ending. I won’t hide it for you. Yes, it happens. But you really need to watch the process yourself because, honestly, it was quite satisfying to see.
The Story – Imperfectly Real
I know Cdramas often exaggerate things, and A Better Life is no different. Hu Man Li’s insurance policies sometimes seemed unrealistic. So while watching, I tried not to think too much about that and focused instead on how Hu Man Li solved problems and handled relationships.
I genuinely like this drama because Hu Man Li’s positive energy shines through every episode. Her spirit and the way she faces each day with determination and optimism is contagious. I feel energized every time I finish an episode. Even though I know her amazing work ethic probably only exists in Cdramaland, my logical mind didn’t stop me from feeling that happiness.
A Better Life is a good pick. The plot is well written and the storytelling is amazing. The director, Wang Jun is doing a great job in this drama. He was also the brain behind The Tale of Rose and Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace. And although A Better Life’s visuals were just okay, I still plan to rewatch it. Especially whenever I lose motivation or get stuck with words.
The Characters
Hu Man Li (Played by Sun Li)
Hu Man Li loves money, expensive things, branded bags, Valentino clothes, and claw clips. Her house, car, and her son’s prestigious school are her pride and joy. She earned all of this through twenty years of hard work as an insurance broker. She is proud of her achievements and makes sure others notice them.
As a person, Hu Man Li is kind and warm-hearted. She is a caring and attentive mother and a devoted daughter. She raised her son to be one of the most well-behaved children in Cdramaland. When she speaks, Hu Man Li is straightforward and eloquent.
One of her greatest strengths in her career is her sharp observation and insight. She understands what people need and works hard to solve their problems. To meet her clients’ needs, she does everything she can. Even if it means lowering herself a bit. Hu Man Li has a sincere heart. She helps poor clients just as much as wealthy ones. For her, the most important thing is to truly help people.
Although Hu Man Li is proud and sometimes holds grudges against certain people, her best qualities are her logical thinking, unbreakable resilience, and courage. She never falls into self-pity or misery. When she realizes someone is not worthy of her, she cuts them out of her life immediately.
Xue Xiao Zhou (Played by Dong Zi Jian)
Xue Xiao Zhou was born into privilege, the son of a prosperous businessman. At first, he has a good relationship with his father. But his world cracked when his father’s affair with Qiu Li Su came to light, tearing the family apart.
Fueled by bitterness and stubborn pride, Xue Xiao Zhou rejected his father’s betrayal and the pain it brought to his mother. Choosing to walk away from the family’s wealth, he decided to build his own path as an insurance broker, determined to prove himself on his own terms.
After high school, Xue Xiao Zhou went to law school. He is smart and idealistic, holding tightly to his principles. However, he is more of a textbook smart type. A very theoretical and rigid person.
Then Hu Man Li entered his life, becoming a whirlwind of emotions that made him more human. Through her, Xue Xiao Zhou learned how to understand people, compromise, and slowly began to respect different perspectives instead of looking down on them.
Ding Zhi Yuan (Played by Gao Xin)
Ding Zhi Yuan is a professor whose life is filled with irony. He often speaks confidently about morality and holds tightly to his ideals of righteousness. But beyond the lecture halls, his actions betray his words. He cheats on his loyal wife, Hu Man Li, with Qiu Li Su whose charm is rooted in manipulation and ambition.
Though his intellect is sharp, his heart is weak. Trapped by pride and insecurity, he cannot accept that his wife has become stronger and more successful than him. Instead of confronting his own shortcomings, he clings to the illusion of compatibility with someone who makes him feel in control.
Qiu Li Su (Played by Myolie Wu)
Qiu Li Su is strong, smart, and knows exactly how to get what she wants. In front of Ding Zhi Yuan, she plays the role of a gentle woman who needs his support. But behind the scenes, she is a master manipulator. Like Hu Man Li, she values money.
However, while Hu Man Li earns it through hard work and perseverance, Qiu Li Su depends on others. She gained her wealth through inheritance and uses it to fund her business and indulge in her love for luxury.
Despite the image she projects, Qiu Li Su is not truly skilled in running a company. What she lacks in business sense, she makes up for in strategy. She moves through life with cold calculation, always knowing when to charm, when to push, and when to strike.
The Conclusion
A Better Life is a great drama that truly deserves praise and Sun Li’s acting is what makes it shine. She delivers a remarkable performance as Hu Man Li and dominates every scene she is in. The plot is well written and gripping.
You might find yourself completely hooked after the first episode quietly clicking “next” even if it is past your bedtime and you have to get up early the next day. This drama is seriously addictive. Consider this a friendly warning. 😉
My advice is to watch it in binge mode. Do it on a weekend if you can. I guarantee you will be glued to your seat and screen. You might even want to watch it from the kitchen, so you do not miss a moment while preparing your meals.
That is all for today dear readers. Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope my words convince you to give this drama a chance it is definitely one you do not want to miss. I will see you in the next post. Until then goodbye and happy watching!
