Love is Not For Sale (2012)

I watched this show during my "Olivia-Wang-phase" (everyone has/had one, admit it!) and so far it's my third favourite show with her as a lead character (#1 "When a Snail Falls in Love", #2 "Ode to Joy" – shame on you if you haven't seen those yet!).

First of all, the English title of this show is extremely misleading. "Love is Not For Sale" sounds like a fun and sweet rom-com which this is not. Yes, the two main characters are one of the cutest couples I'd seen, but this show is NOT about their undying love. The original Chinese title "Qi Feng Dui Shou" is a chengyu (=Chinese idiom) and means "meeting a worthy opponent in chess". With this in mind, this show makes much more sense and is very compelling to watch.

This show is a bit different than others; it has a reality-tv-show kind of vibe, e.g. the strange character introductions in the beginning, and the realistic but almost borderline unprofessional way of lighting (seriously, didn't they have enough budget for a decent reflector?!). In the beginning I wasn't sure if I wanted to actually watch it. It started off in a rather cliché manner à la "sweet girl is in love with the wrong guy and needs the prince in shining armor (or leather in this case) to make her realise what real love is". However, it soon became much more.

The story is actually about the fiercely competitive business world, using the example of a fictional international food retailer. The characters work their way up, starting as shop assistants until (almost) all of them reach top positions within the company. During that process they learn, fail, and mature in different ways due to their different personalities and mentors.

Here are my top 3 reasons why I recommend this show:
3. The show tackles various social issues in China and the business world in general. Yes, the show features plenty of gold-diggers and back-stabbers, but, quite frankly, so does the real world. And yes, they are portrayed in an exaggerated manner, but, come on!, this is a drama after all.
2. Olivia Wang and Huang Xuan are absolutely awesome together! I'm sure you're all well-acquainted with the awkward pursed-lips-pressed-to-pursed-lips-aka-kissing-scenes in Asian dramas. Not here! Running the risk of sounding like a creepy pervert here, but their kissing does look realistic and you can feel the sparks fly ;)
1. The plot is driven by the characters. Every character has their own motivation and they act according to those thus pushing the plot further on. This is essential for good story-telling. Even the way characters realise their wrongdoings and attempt to redeem themselves is done in a believable manner.

Thanks for reading; hope you'll give this show a shot and find it as compelling as I did. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to deliver 300 pettitoes now (You'll understand after ep 2).

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