So I pulled an all-nighter just to catch up on 金大花的華麗冒險/Jin Da Hua’s Extravagant Adventure/Substitute Princess and now I’m walking like a zombie trying to concentrate on work and half regretting what I did. Regretting not because I lost sleep but because now that I’ve finished episode 11 I have to wait every week for the new episode to come out. Bummer! And this one feels like a double stinger because I totally like this drama. I haven’t felt this way about any drama in a long time.
How could I not like it? First of all, it’s in HD! Plus the story is sort of like a breath of fresh air. I have seen so many dramas (probably more than a hundred or so) that I tend to lose interest fast, especially when you can tell from the 1st episode how the drama is going to unfold (I hate those but I still somehow end up watching them, yeah I know right?) But this one is absolutely not the typical one. But what really stuck me are the characters. They are so individually outstanding. Da Hua (Nikki Hsieh) playing double duty as a snaggletooth, country bumpkin, in love with her adoptive older brother Guan Jun (James Wen) a hot headed, sort of douchy and smarmy but filial person, and Liang Yan (Nikki Hsieh) only daughter of a company shareholder, princess-like, almost perfect fiancee of Terry/Ouyang Tai (Chris Wu) smart, classy, rich, GM of Sheng Da.
So here’s a short recap:
Da Hua was living with her not so perfect family in their traditional grocery store/house. But their family soon faced financial woes due to her father’s gambling debts. Pressured by the mob boss to pay up $2M or lose their family home she considered working odd jobs. On the other side of the picture, Terry and Liang Yan successfully held their engagement party amid silent protests from jealous peers. Everything was perfect, until an accident occurred during mountaineering adventure which caused her to be seriously injured. Terry’s doctor friend Qin Mo, fearing that Terry would eventually fall apart if he were to lose LY, decided to come up with the best possible scheme, that is to find a stand-in for LY while she “supposedly” recuperate. They needed a perfect candidate. Seeing the resemblance in Da Hua, Terry offered her the job as the substitute princess for a year. In return she gets $2M which she needs to salvage her family, of course she reluctantly agreed. Everything was going according to plan but of course Da Hua’s emotions and personality would soon reveal the truth. They were soon found out by Guan Jun and to make matters worse Liang Yan’s turned for the worse and eventually died. Terry stricken by grief wanted to end the charade but Da Hua seeing how this would affect so many people chose to stand by Terry and convinced him to fight on. Despite Terry telling her to go back home and resume her old life Da Hua refused to go, saying that she could not live Terry to assume all responsibilities by himself. Of course Duan Jun sensing that something was amiss tried to persuade her to come back to him and be together but still she refused. Liang Yan’s father suddenly fell ill and Terry feeling guilty was about to blurt out the truth when all a sudden, came Da Hua. Terry clearly asked her to go back home but she promised not to live his side until the contract is over and she wanted to fulfill that promise. Unfortunately, Terry’s secretary, having suspicions about the 2, followed them and eavesdrop on their conversation. End of episode 11…….
So here’s what I thought.
Obviously the 2 male leads are of equal standing which means there is no clear cut ending as to who’s going to end up with who. But! After watching 11 episodes, I can definitely say that those writers better let Terry and Da Hua end up together or I’m gonna raise HELL! I just fell in love with his character so much that I feel his every emotion. I feel his anguish over losing his fiancee and his tension in battling the evils in the company. And lately, I can sense that he is somehow growing attached to Da Hua and I think she feels the same way, without her realizing it. The 2 of them fills up what the other is lacking.
Now I have to wait.