This was on my watch-list ever since it started filming. I was curious about the concept of the story and it was a Yang Mi drama, so of course, I wanted to check it out. Yet, I kept delaying because of other stuff. I finally dived in when I was waiting for some stuff to air. How was it? Mixed feelings but I enjoyed the main couple’s chemistry and was surprised it worked so well.
Main Cast:
- Yang Mi (杨幂) as Qin Shi (秦施). A lawyer for one of the top law firms who was trying to make partner. She was extremely hardworking and motivated. One of her previous bosses lied on her behalf regarding her marital status and she wasn’t able to clarify it because she was told she would be cut off from any potential of entering a certain major law firm. So, she had to live with the lie later on, not wanting to jeopardize the future. (Ironically, the lady who told her to lie later fell off the map and gotten married instead.) Because of the delicate situation she was in (her career and how it was getting harder to tell the truth based on timeline), she justified her actions throughout, trying to cover all areas and treated each setback as a challenge. Even if it was because she wanted to rise and become one of the persons who could make a difference and change the rules, it was still a way to justify her actions. She soon learned that all her sacrifices could be taken away in an instant, regardless of her performance. Because she could only rely on her work and didn’t have any powerful backing. It was also quite tiring fighting every single force coming her way. I was glad she was able to find her own way later and chose to stay away from the other law firm. She already learned the cutthroat competition and the restrictions of following the rules that they set. Why subject herself to that once again? She also found her true purpose in life. Hell, she got fame and reputation without their help. Only did she rise by herself that they wanted her back. I really liked this role of hers. She had a lot on her shoulders yet she fought them all off. There were weak moments and she could fall, but those were normal. Not to mention, this type of roles challenge her acting more than the typical fantasy (although I did watch some). Facing real life issues was more relatable anyway.
- Xu Kai (许凯) as Yang Hua (陽華), James. A genius in investment yet wasn’t motivated to work more than he needed to. It was revealed later on that he was once a gifted financial advisor with great potential. However, he was backstabbed and betrayed by those he thought he could trust. Defeated, he returned home and hid behind many reasons not to face the general public again. No amount of shaming or talking would get to him. It wasn’t until he met Qin Shi and saw how hard she was fighting, refusing to admit defeat (even if some of the stuff she did affect his reputation aka the fake marriage scheme), he seemed to wake up and found a new purpose in life. It wasn’t just because he was falling for her and wanting to protect her. Because he indeed was very upset when he found out he was being used to advance an agenda and rightly so (if his words were quite strong). But it was because he could see that there was so much to live for. Somehow, he became a more responsible and hardworking individual with a goal for the future, not slacking off and blaming society anymore. Even if he still have some innocent thoughts about lifestyles in general (frugality and all), he was more driven toward building a future for two. This was my first time watching Xu Kai but I heard of him before. I mostly stay away because of his agency. BUT I was glad I gave this one a try. He did a nice job portraying his character and made it relatable in many ways.
- Tang Jing Mei (汤晶媚) as Li Dai (李黛). A lawyer for one the top law firms and Qin Shi’s co-worker and arch-enemy. Although she competed with Qin Shi but believed in using her true capabilities, not dirty tricks. She did attempt to expose Qin Shi several times. But it was because she believed in the the truth and a fair competition. It didn’t sit right with her that others who lied and didn’t play by the rules could cut in line like that. She wanted to level the playing field. Aside from that, deep down, she was a good person. Her taking the risk that one time to help the victim said it all. She wanted to do the right thing, even if she might get caught and get fired. It was another type of deception, but it paved out a different side of her.
Supporting:
- Li Xiao Feng (李晓峰) as Ren Mei Mei (任梅梅). Qin Shi’s best friend and sister-in-law. In some ways, she was indeed supportive of Qin Shi and tried to warn Yang Hua about not hurting Qin Shi, the typical talk when best friends meet the significant other, etc. Aside from that, she got nothing going for her. Mean, but her story arc with her husband completely destroyed her character. At first, I felt really bad for her for marrying such a jerk and not realizing it until later. Yet, it seemed like it was their thing, fighting all the time and acting like a bunch of kids. So, yeah, she was lost on me later on.
- Wang Gong Liang (王宫良) as Qin Wen Yu (秦文宇). Qin Shi’s second brother, Ren Mei Mei’s husband. He was so annoying, I thought it was between him and Tao Jun Hui. But thanks to him, Tao Jun Hui was less annoying. Because he was immature and so tiring to watch. Yet he dared to act superior in the end when he chided Qin Shi for not taking care of herself when she got caught in the rain that one time and got sick. She carried the whole family (along with the oldest brother) yet was told she let them down? Yeah, he was somewhat joking about how he was getting his life together yet she wasn’t. But it seemed kind of rich of him to do so.
- Li Ze Feng (李泽锋) as Tao Jun Hui (陶俊輝). Qin Shi’s ex-boyfriend. I hated him. He was another hypocrite that had no say in anyone else’s choices either. Seriously, he couldn’t protect Qin Shi from his mother yet dared to be upset with her for getting married and moving on? Although that marriage was a sham, he still had no right to interfere. So, the timeline was tricky and she forgot to estimate when she made the story up BUT I didn’t care for his bruised ego either. He didn’t know how to handle his mother’s situation yet only know how to bully Qin Shi. The first confrontation when he pulled her to the restroom to talk was pathetic and frustrating with him trying to pin her in like that. It didn’t create angst or chemistry for them (whoever made the call) but just made him look creepy as hell. Being cornered and helpless like that was very scary. I was glad she was all right but that scene secured it for me with hating him from there on. So, I just tolerated the stuff he did later and welcomed Yang Hua’s pettiness toward him.
- Wang Zi Xuan (王子璇) as Wu Fei (吳菲). Tao Jun Hui’s fiancée, a new lawyer. At first, I felt bad for her because she was too naive in her ways that clashed with her co-workers, hoping that she would shape up soon so she wouldn’t be picked on anymore. Because she indeed wanted to learn and much more. I cut her some slacks when she tried to use her father’s connections to get some information for work etc. because she was still navigating things. However, I lost all respect for her when she played the tattle-telling game. Was it any different from Li Dai trying to expose Qin Shi? In a way, no. But their intentions made them different for me. She used her father’s power to knock Qin Shi down just because she was jealous. She wanted to throw tantrums and threw her weight around.
- Zhang Bo Jia (张柏嘉) as Yao Yao (姚遙). Yang Hua’s ex-girlfriend. It was strange seeing her in this role because I was used to her in Under The Skin. So yeah, that got a bit getting used to. I was glad that she made it through and wasn’t killed off because of the hectic trial or something. That was a close call. I was also glad she was able to get away from Yang Hua’s mother and start over. Because didn’t she also receive harsh criticisms from the latter previously too?
- He Feng Tian (何奉天) as Cai Liang (蔡亮). Yang Hua’s best friend. He was really random at times yet supportive of Yang Hua, even if he made some remarks about Yang Hua’s life choices.
- Jiang Kai (蒋恺) as Jin Cheng (金誠). The boss of the law firm Qin Shi and Li Dai initially worked for. His wife seemed to be the face of the law firm upfront. Yet he was the one with actual say in anything. He was very capable, of course. He also had plenty of connections and was willing to use all means to protect his empire. It made sense because he and his wife enjoyed the power and luxuries they had, why wouldn’t they get rid of all the threats? It was typical. So, I didn’t care for him one way or another. He was just a typical character. I didn’t blame him or not blame him. It was how he was within those complicated business world and their rules.
- Liu Lin (刘琳) as Tang Yi Yui (唐伊慧). Jin Cheng’s wife, the other boss of the law firm Qin Shi and Li Dai initially worked for. I actually don’t blame her for punishing Qin Shi later. Was she fake as hell and relied heavily on connections to get her way? Yes. She was also quite unreliable when it came to allies. Because she, like her husband, chose self-preservation when things came up. It was typical human nature though. Yet she had every right to choose what to do with her law firm as well as the expectations of her employees. Were those rules unfair? Probably but it was her law firm. What I did have a problem with was how she tried to recruit Qin Shi again after Qin Shi found some popularity after establishing her own path. She didn’t care to take the risk before yet wanted to reap the benefits regarding Qin Shi’s fame? Yes, I got it that she did use company resources to allow Qin Shi to thrive in the environment and much more previously. However, it wasn’t like Qin Shi was sitting on her ass eating bon-bons and NOT doing anything. She had to put in hard work to get results as well. So, I thought she already fulfilled her duties within company expectations. Only the marital status was the deception bit, which she already got punished for. Besides, I lost respect for her when she caved to Wu Fei’s demands. Yeah, she was afraid of a bigger power and didn’t want to offend Wu Fei’s father. Yet she talked big at times about going against other forces and failed to land. She became one of the people who played by the rules of lifting the more powerful above her head and stomping down on those without power. So, I wasn’t going to in the account of how Qin Shi had played with her emotions. Considering how she was ready to sacrifice Qin Shi for Wu Fei’s entertainment. So, it didn’t seem like Qin Shi was that important to her anyway in the grand schemes of things.
Others:
- Wu Yu Fang (吴玉芳) as Mama Yang (陽母). Yang Hua’s mother. It was very tiring to watch her at times. She was all over the place with her expectations that made me roll my eyes many times. It wasn’t that she wanted her son to be more productive and dependable. I thought she wanted to control every aspect of her son’s life or something. In fact, she wanted to control everyone around the house. That made her more happy or something. Because she seemed to never like anything. So, I thought it was about time she met her match in Qin Shi, fighting fire with fire thing. It was hilarious to see Qin Shi not caving and riling her up.
- Yue Yao Li (岳跃利) as Papa Yang (陽爸). Yang Hua’s father. He tried to support his son’s stance at times and wanted to leave him alone. Yet he was also forced to comply to his wife’s demands. So, it was a tough spot to be in at times.
- Ma Wen Zhong (马文忠) as Qin Jun (秦軍). Qin Shi’s father. He was the picture of hypocrisy all right. I wasn’t surprised with that but all the crap the plot spent on him was really wasted. It explained about Qin Shi’s trust issues and her guarded nature but it was really frustrating to watch nevertheless. He laid out the rules about never divorcing yet he somehow went through that several times. Of course, he justified it each time.
- Yun Kun (杨昆) as Liu Yan (劉豔). Qin Jun’s second wife, Qin Wen Yu’s mother.
- Zhou Xiao Li (周笑莉) as Hu Xiao Mei (胡小妹). Qin Jun’s third and current wife, Qin Shi’s mother.
- Gao Xin (高鑫) as Qin Wen Bin (秦文斌). Qin Shi’s oldest brother. He was more of a father figure to Qin Shi than her own father. Having a father like he and his siblings did, he had to step up and be the mature adult for the others. Perhaps, he was the glue to their family, not the other adults. He was probably responsible for whatever of the sanity left within the family too. Because he was the supportive figure for Qin Shi and she appreciated him very much, even if she didn’t say it enough at times.
- Tu Ling (涂凌) as Zhao Qing (趙青). Qin Wen Bin’s wife, Qin Shi and Qin Wen Yu’s sister-in-law.
- Chen Guan Ning (陈冠甯) as Lawyer Chen (陳律师). He was an asshole along with his buddies. The whole group represented the typical boys’ club at the office who never took the accountability for anything.
- Zhu Yin (朱茵) as Mama Tao (陶母). Tao Jun Hui’s mother. I hated her as much as her son. She was so annoying. Yeah, she could be concern about her son all she wanted. But I couldn’t take her looking down at others just because. She moved the goal post like no tomorrow. First, she picked on Qin Shi because of her family background, which she had no control over (because yeah, sure, she could just tell her father what to do with his life). Then, she later said Wu Fei was a better choice because of her background and better for his career. If she had said she loved money and only follow that trail then I would respect her more. Because that would be more honest and realistic. But to constantly push down on others just because? She was more despicable than all the villains combined.
- Cai Gang (蔡纲) as Wu Wei Song (吳衛松). Wu Fei’s father.
- Hu Xiao Ting (胡小庭) as Wu Fei’s mother (吳菲媽媽).
Relationships: family, friendships, romances, etc.
- Yang Mi/ Qin Shi and Xu Kai/ Yang Hua. I loved them so much that I was surprised. I swear I loved them more than when I watched her with Mark in Eternal Love. Perhaps, I liked the story surrounding the main characters more for this one than the other one. I was a bit misled by the trailer with all the sweet moments between them and how considerate he was, so I thought they were married at the beginning. Yet that was just part of it. The setup was different and became a complicated situation and caused their rough start. But it was reasonable. I liked it that the story surrounded them was more grounded than other stories. It was the modern time helped but others made it unrealistic. I guessed Qin Shi being a lawyer made her more level-headed (for the most part) so their relationship developed at a reasonable pace. That didn’t mean they lacked in emotional chemistry and those cutesy moments. I was afraid it would be overboard but they were indeed quite cute together when time called for it. They were an unbeatable force when they were on the same page. Watching some of the jealousy scenes were also funny. Yang Hua wanting Tao Jun Hui to leave when it was Tao’s car was so funny. Qin Shi was just like whatever, fight all you want. Well, her expression looked like it. Then when it was her turn to be jealous, it was somewhat hilarious too.
- Yang Mi/ Qin Shi and Tang Jing Mei/ Li Dai as rivals. They were both quite professional and ambitious. They were also equally good with their tactics. I usually don’t like to watch catfight or those office politics stuff. But considering how it was part of the theme, I rather watch them than half the people in here. Yes, it was that bad. At least, their competition was justified, unlike others.
- Yang Mi/ Qin Shi and Li Xiao Feng/ Ren Mei Mei as best friends. I could see it. But Mei Mei’s telenova with her husband had killed her character so bad that I no longer cared later on. Mei Mei confessed at one point that she wanted to stay married because she wanted Qin Shi to believe in marriage. Considering how Qin Shi’s father was taking marriage like a joke and kept jumping from one candidate to the next, treating people and relationships as disposable (yet also preach about the importance of family). But she didn’t see the irony in being stuck in some tiring relationship like that was also the problem? Yeah, she understood in the end that she must let go and take care of herself first before allowing Qin Wen Yu back in, granted that he would change his way for good. But still, it seemed so frustrating.
- Li Xiao Feng / Ren Mei Mei and Wang Gong Liang/ Qin Wen Yu. It was really tiring watching them fight all the time. I got it was another variety and the reality of things. But watching them drained me so much that I had to take breaks at times. They were ridiculous and so immature that it was so nerve-racking and frustrating to watch them. Even till the end, I didn’t like their story arc at all. Like I said, too tiring. But whatever, I guess.
- Li Zi Feng/ Tao Jun Hui and Wang Zi Xuan/ Wu Fei. They were a match made in Heaven all right. Both equally vain and arrogant and all that. I didn’t care for them at all but felt it was just another hurdle the main couple had to deal with. Yes, that terrible. Even if they did appear cute at first with some initial scenes, whatever happened after was just a time bomb for me, knowing they would be responsible for Qin Shi’s downfall. I didn’t care how it went down. They were just equally annoying. Even if they did mature later and appear as if they would have a second chance at the end, I just didn’t care.
Likes:
- The chemistry between the main couple, obviously. Like I said, I was surprised too. They both learned a lot from one another. He learned to let go of his past failure and moved forward with a little more ambition in life. Well, his arrogance somewhat caused his downfall in the past yet it had deter him, not wanting to take anymore risks. He also learned to move past that because of how hard Qin Shi was working toward her goal. Even if he was mad at her at first for dragging him into the situation, he soon realized what it was like to actually fight for something you wanted. She learned to slow down and appreciated the smaller, simplistic things in life. So, it wasn’t just one-sided with the whole growth. Because she was indeed an incredible career woman, knowing what she wanted and aimed for it. She wanted to make changes once she was at the top. But she realized later after the downfall that she was using that as an excuse to justify her means. So, they both started to build a better path for their lives and for one another.
- The friendship and/or rivalry between Qin Shi and Li Dai. It was strange to appreciate their weird relationship at work and otherwise. But I enjoyed watching more than other side characters around them. They actually have the same ideology once all those vanity was striped down and away from their rivalry. They actually enjoyed helping others and fight for injustices. When they pushed past their differences and joined hand, they were an unbeatable force. It was nice to see them shine and drew more attention from the publicity when they broke out on their own that made everything more worthwhile. It was teaching them that they didn’t have to cling onto those big corporations to thrive. They could make a name for themselves when they chose to fight for what they really believed in. And they weren’t getting along in totality either. They still had those random banters at times, which made it funnier. The bit of them fighting over Yang Hua was funny. Sort of weird but funny. Because it probably emphasized how a man of Yang Hua caliber was hard to find, so Li Dai she said she was in line if Qin Shi couldn’t make it work, lol.
- Qin Shi going against Wu Fei when Wu Fei was exuding her power. Did I like it that Wu Fei was being taken advantage by some co-workers (on light cases where they were just pranking the newbie) and being bullied (in more serious circumstances) at first? No. I hate bullies and those office politics stuff with who had the higher rank and/or more powerful. But what Wu Fei did was gave up on her principles because of jealousy and decided to stomp the others too. She was behaving like a typical nepo baby and cried when she didn’t get her way. So, the reason why the rest of the office support Qin Shi (although they had issues with her in the past)? She was right. Everyone worked their way up there. Wu Fei had no business holding such a high position and treating them like dirt. If it wasn’t for her father, she wouldn’t be able to throw her weight around.
Dislikes:
- Basically, anyone I mentioned above made it tiring to watch. No point in repeating here again. Yeah, I do realized the past two sections somewhat overlapped and seemed repetitive. So, didn’t want to drag out this section as well.
Discussions:
- The title. How misleading was that, huh? It was one of the reasons why I was surprised with Xu Kai’s character, Yang Hua, when I watched. I didn’t expect him to achieve big things like his mom pushed him and all. But the trailers were sort of misleading in some ways (as mentioned above). He was a lovable fool (if you could call it that) and had some quirks but overall a decent person. Yet seemed to got it all with his attitude at times but it was just to hide some stuff in the past. He was far from perfect but he tried for the most part. What was the title getting at then? It was referring to the scheme Qin Shi pulled. She set up everything perfect with her husband’s background and all. It was an illusion yet became a reality because they finally met. To her, she was just using his picture to depict her perfect life. There were other elements going into play but the whole deception would eventually fall apart (and in this case, it took pettiness and jealousy). But the moral of it all was don’t play with fire. You’ll get burned. The end doesn’t justify the means and Qin Shi paid heavily for it.
- Qin Shi and Yang Hua divorcing and then marrying again. Um, it seemed unproductive to me. As long as they learned their lessons and moved on, building a new future together, I didn’t see the deal with needing to end the previous marriage first and then getting married again. Yeah, I got it that it was a symbolism and how Yang Hua thought the previous marriage was fake so it tainted their relationship. But it just seemed pointless with the principle and all. But whatever, I guess. Yeah, I got it that Qin Shi also failed to commit at times (because of her family traumas) and they could separate to think things over seriously before reuniting. Yet I still stand by the whole paperwork hassle seemed pointless.
Recommended? I thought if you’re a Yang Mi fan, you would enjoy it a lot because of the story built for her. Xu Kai was good too (like said above). But not sure how his fans would think about him pairing up with Yang Mi. NOT saying there’s anything wrong with her because I’m obviously a fan. But I wouldn’t dare to speak for anyone else.