I began this drama with some cautious optimism because I’d had a pretty good experience with another Mango TV production (I Hear You) and someone in my Twitterverse had enjoyed it, but I also was curious because of some pretty adamant negative remarks on MyDramaList.com — people abandoned ship fairly early on and never looked back. So what inspired these conflicting viewpoints? Well, a lot, it turns out.
Frankly, I think most people stayed for Xu Kai Cheng, because he frankly is very appealing. I actually found Wang Shuang (aka Simona Wang) likable as well. But oh, the drama tropes they put these two through! It’s only because I was shallow enough to enjoy their performance together that I followed along with the various obstacles thrown into their paths willy-nilly (with a judicious use of the fast-forward button), but I won’t say say that I especially enjoyed much of what I saw along the way.
Let’s see, we’ve got a high-powered wealthy CEO 👍🏻, who’s a domineering control-freak 👍🏻, who does things for the heroine’s love that are supposed to be romantic but really?, really? 🤔 There’s a “terminal” illness and medical malpractice… We’ve also got a contract marriage, and the requisite cohabitation hijinx. Then there’s the “but they’re gay, right, and we’re cool with that, right?” sub-plot which falls incredibly flat. Let’s toss in a rich girl who won’t take “no” for an answer, a rich boy who is the type who probably enjoys pulling wings off flies but is nice to his dog (but not above using it as a pawn), and mommy abandonment issues. There are probably a half-dozen more I’m forgetting… oh, like amnesia!
When a drama is one long inter-connected string of cliches after another, what is there to like or admire about it? Well, I did say that I found Xu Kai Cheng and Wang Shuang appealing, and it is true, but hardly enough to stick around for if I’m to be honest. I liked his “I only have eyes for you” intensity and I liked her breezy playfulness with his best pal and dedication to making her career as a “D-list actress” on her own merits without cashing in on his name and influence. This, like I Hear You, places value on earning your own way in the world, and I can’t dislike that. But the rest of this is a mess. What’s even more astounding, though, is that they’re purportedly working on a sequel!
Oh, and there is a turn of events at about episode 11 that put most people off for good. You can read what this is after the jump if you want to save yourself the trouble of watching that far!
It turns out that his character is even more of a domineering, manipulative type than we’re led to expect. After she falls for him completely it is revealed that the reason she agreed to the contract marriage in the first place, to get his matching stem cells or whatever, was all a huge set-up on his part. He has to win her back on the strength of his story that he’d fallen in love with her way back when she treated him with kindness several times.
I think she takes him back because he’s got those Xu Kai Cheng dark black puppy dog eyes and fine physique (and not because he’s all that great a catch when you think about the kind of guy who would pull the stunt that he did.) And would you really ever trust someone who could manipulate hospitals to alter your medical records and give you phony leukemia “treatments” and let you think you had a terminal illness?
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