(image credit: as marked)
So I was wrong, lol. I initially thought it was a comedy. Well, at first, like I said in the other post. But the drama started out quite intense, setting up our female lead for a lifetime of vengeance and hatred. I’m on episode 9 and still can’t wait to see what else is going on. I’ve been catching it on iQiyi. Anyway, Janine’s character, Wu Xiao Qi (吳小七), was on the journey with her adopted father to find the one responsible for killing her whole family. She was using another name so her enemies wouldn’t know. Through different misunderstandings and rough patches along the way, she finally entered the household of her enemy. Her next moves would have to be both cautious and cunning, because those within the Du family were of various types, whether scheming with one another or other hidden agendas. Before she entered the Du household though, she had somehow met with several major characters, such as the sons of the Du and the Ma families. Both families were actually rivals in business and held personal grudges toward one another. Although Xiao Qi previously had some disagreements with the Du family’s second son, Du Ming Hai (杜明海), they later resolved their differences and even helped each other–due to outer circumstances. Du Ming Hai is actually our male lead of the drama. Although Liu Huan isn’t handsome (according to some online comments that I finally could turn off), but he’s charming on many levels. His presence somewhat toned down the conflicts going on in the whole chaotic situations–even if he was actually responsible for some of the disagreements along the way too. What I’m more curious of now is who Xiao Qi’s brother is (which we as viewers know he is still alive) and if the situation of sixteen years ago was all a misunderstanding, i.e. if Du Yuan Shan (杜远山) was just arriving at the wrong time and ended up being blamed for the murders of Xiao Qi’s family. Yet I think I couldn’t sympathize with the Du family at all, except for Ming Hai and his mother. I rather side with Ma Wan Nian (马万年), even though I do not like his son that much either. Yes, Ma Zhi Yuan (马致远) tried to help Xiao Qi and was obviously in love with her, but I find his typical “nice guy” character a turn off. Not to mention, if he didn’t like her, would he meddle into some of the matters? (Just saying.) And yes, Ming Hai was rogue and somewhat despicable at times, but I liked it that he actually tried to save Xiao Qi at the harbor when they were still in disagreement with one another. He didn’t even like her then so that showed me of his true character. But what I found interesting and liked between the two guys was during the harbor scene when Zhi Yuan tossed the gun toward Ming Hai so Ming Hai could shoot the other guy to save the hostage. It was a scene worth mentioning because it showed they were able to collaborate–without Xiao Qi’s nagging. It also showed that they were able to separate themselves from their families’ senseless conflicts. Anyway, I might do some side updates later or save for review. We’ll see if I change my mind on some characters.