Anyway, it was in this series that MingEn rose to fame as a "golden couple." And justifiably so!
So Ming Dao plays Shan Jun Hao, a cynical and arrogant chairman of a famous and well-known hotel, founded by his dad and two friends. He works closely with Xu Zi Qian (played by Sam Wang) and Fan Yun Xi (Joyce Zhao), who he has grown up with. YunXi was taken in by JunHao's family when she was little, and since then, she has loved JunHao. In her memory, he was the first person in the house to welcome her into the family. However, she freely acknowledges that ZiQian is the person who knows her best. What she doesn't recall is that in actuality, it was ZiQian who extended his friendship to her first - but ZiQian remembers, and for his part, has loved YunXi since they were babes. There's a rivalry between ZiQian and JunHao, but they always try and put that aside for the sake of the business and their family. YunXi and JunHao finally decide to get formally engaged, and before the ceremony, JunHao buys a special ring - the maker of the ring tells him that when true love appears, the ring will fit tightly and not come off.One day, Junhao runs into Ye Tian Yu (CQE), who does everything in his power (including lying and cheating) to get money from him. TianYu comes from a poor family - they scrimp daily to make things meet, and so feel no qualms in extorting money from rich people. Because of this, TianYu's biggest ambition is to marry rich, so that she can help her family. Anyway, JunHao recognizes TianYu as a cheat, and the two have some really heated arguments. In one encounter, TianYu tricks YunXi and Junhao onto a hot air balloon. Junhao tries to put the ring on YunXi's finger, but the balloon kind of collapses, and Junhao accidentally lets go of the ring. TianYu finds the ring, and puts it on. Anyway, the two keep accidentally bumping into each other and JunHao ends up saving TianYu when she falls into the ocean. He performs CPR on her, and she freaks out - she's really proper when it comes to this kind of thing, and thinks its almost as intimate as kissing! Anyway, while saving her, he realises that she has his ring. Later, she goes to his house to return it, but it refuses to come off her finger. They have another argument where he yells at her for being stingy, and she attacks his character by saying that he shouldn't have kissed her (when all he really did was CPR). Junhao gets really upset, and then actually kisses her, saying "now, that was a kiss." That was her first kiss btw, and so TianYu gets even more upset. But during this whole time, TianYu doesn't know who JunHao is really - all she knows is that he's some rich dude.
Anyway, drama happens, and we finally get to the point where this prince will turn into a frog. Junhao is run over by a car, and loses his memory - he remembers most things, but knows nothing about his life, or who he is. TianYu and family find him - in fact, TianYu thinks she ran over him! - and tell him that he is a Chinese immigrant named Dong-ou. Dong-ou only recognizes TianYu, and the two become really close. This is one of the sweetest parts of the movie - JunHao loses his arrogance and coldness but retains the rest of himself, which is actually smart and tender. No one usually sees this side of him. In turn, Dong-ou sees TianYu's inner self, which is determined and loyal. She'll do anything for her loved ones - including lying and cheating. It is so adorable - after the two fall in love, someone asks Dong-ou - aren't you afraid to trust TianYu? He replies - No, not at all, because when she's lying to an outsider, she does it really well. But she can't lie well to anyone she loves - and because I know when she's faking it, I trust her. SO SWEET. Sparks just leaping off the screen at this point!!!
Around this time, TianYu also meets ZiQian - remember him? Childhood friend of JunHao and lover of YunXi? They hit it off and become pretty good friends. ZiQian's been spending his time since JunHao's accident comforting YunXi - and she starts to soften towards him, since she thinks JunHao will never return. But as TianYu and ZiQian become friends, he meets Dong-ou, and realises that JunHao is still alive. ZiQian persuades TianYu that the best thing to do for Junhao is to return him to his family and fiancee, and so, with TianYu's help, ZiQian returns JunHao to YunXi...JunHao freaks out and runs after TianYu, who saves him from this guy who's trying to murder him (part of this drama to do with the hotel, which I don't really care that much about). ANYWAY, JunHao loses his memory again - he forgets that he was ever Dong-ou, but remembers himself from before. He finds out about all the things that happen when he was Dong-ou, but choose to ignore them and return to YunXi. ZiQian and TianYu are crushed. Kind of devastated really. The two both love someone who won't love them back, and so come to an agreement - if they don't find their true loves in 3 months, they'll date each other, and see what happens.
As JunHao settles back into his world, YunXi becomes extremely jealous of his time with TianYu (Dong-ou refused to return to YunXi because of TianYu...long story) and pulls away from ZiQian, who defends TianYu. ZiQian, who at this point genuinely cares for TianYu as a person (well, as a friend), asks TianYu to start dating him...she eventually agrees. ZiQian also gets TianYu a job at the Shan hotel. Of course, this engenders a bunch of meetings between JunHao and TianYu...and JunHao begins to fall in love with TianYu again. Well, more accurately, JunHao gets really jealous when he constantly sees ZiQian and TianYu together, and realises that though his memory from that time is gone, he still loves TianYu. He tries to win her back, but TianYu refuses, and so he gets married (and divorced) to YunXi on the same day. Lots more drama occurs, but eventually JunHao and TianYu find their way back together. YunXi realizes that ZiQian was the first person to help her when she was a child, and that couple comes together too! And so everyone lives happily ever after. There were a bunch of other sub-plots...but we all know I only care about the romance.
WZBQW has the standard love-rectangle stuff and standard t-drama plot twists, but it stands out as a drama because of the amazing chemistry and acting of the four leads. There were real connections between the four of them, and it showed on screen. In "real life", Joyce and CQE are part of the same singing group, 7 flowers, and do a lot of duets with 183 Club, the group the Ming Dao and Sam Wang belong to. And I dunno. Ming Dao is a lot like Ariel Lin in that he can generate chemistry with whoever he works with. CQE is the same way - so you put the two together, and boom! Major heat! Though please never put MingDao and Ariel together in a drama - I think that would not work.
It's interesting though - before this, I watched Magicians of Love (where MingDao acts with Joanne Zeng), and I thought the chemistry between the two of them was pretty decent...but now, after watching this? All MingDao + XYZ interactions have seemed pretty pale. I guess that's the downside about being really amazing when you're acting with someone - it shows when you don't reach that high with someone else...
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