Three women in or near their thirties: one is struggling to marry, one is struggling to have a child, and one is struggling to maintain her family.
Notable Actors/Actresses
Tong Yao: Gu Jia
Jiang Shu Ying: Wang Man Ni
Mao Xiao Tong: Zhong Xiao Qin
Director:
Scriptwriter:
Recap Grade: B
First Impression: 2.5/5Mini Recaps
Wang Man Ni is a sincere salesperson. She's smart and hardworking. When she scores a VIP client, we see how cutthroat her peers are. She manages to block her coworker from stealing her client but she can't block her manager from it. The client recognizes the manager's motives and specifies she only wants Wang Man Ni to help her.
[Ep2] Gu Jia wants her toddler to enter a prestigious school and so she and her son go through a series of interviews of various languages. Xu Huan Shan is all smiles but he speaks very little. Behind that smile, he's clearly uncomfortable. Gu Jia is always looking to elevate her social status but her husband is complacent with their current one.
Zhong Xiao Qing is pregnant but her husband doesn't want children yet.
[Ep3] Wang Man Ni's VIP client has a sad story. She's using up her divorce settlement to buy the most expensive jewelry. She had helped her husband earn their first pot of gold and for all these years she had poured herself into work to find out that he's been cheating on her for years. When she saw the mistress wearing designer brands from head to toe and looked at herself, her heart ached for herself. That whole morning when she was shopping at all the expensive stores, it was only Wang Man Ni who valued her as a customer which is why she think the jewelry she's buying from her is worth it. Wan Man Ni feels guilt, a very expensive guilt.
Gu Jia's intuition is spot on. The tangerine lady does want to seduce her husband so she buys boxes and boxes of the same expensive tangerine as a subtle threat to the woman.
Zhong Xiao Qing's husband, Chen Yu, wants her to abort their child. What does she see in him?
[Ep4] This episode makes me sick of vain rich people (the operative word being vain). Gu Jia is very accepting of the superficial rich ways of how her son's preschool is operated. However, when it matters, she stands up for justice. Meanwhile, a rich man makes a move on Wang Man Ni. She accepts and flirts back. However, when she realizes he's married, she draws a hard line between them. Our girls live in a rich and superficial society but at least they have their ethics.
[Ep5] Chen Yu doesn't want the child because he was abandoned by his father. It's a psychological trauma. He doesn't think he'll be a good father to their baby.
Gu Jia tires to resolve the argument her husband had with an important client but the client keeps sexually harassing her. Unable to withstand any more harassment, Gu Jia scolds the client and walks off. She returns home to find her son missing. He's taken to a birthday party by the mom who had her position stolen by Gu Jia. Among the children, Gu Jia does not see her son but she hears a faint muffled cry. She walks up to the locked bathroom and demands that mom to open it. WOAH. That mom did what? How can a mom do that to someone else's child? Gu Jia stays calm and coos her child. Before leaving the mom's home, she puts down her son and tells him to wait for her. She then kicks off her heel and drags the moms by the hair and beats them up until their faces are scratched and bloodied. I love how the drama used Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, That was the first fight Gu Jia had in thirty years of her life. She dares them to sue her. She's got proof of her kidnaping and abusing her son anyways. When Gu Jia's husband returns home, she doesn't tell him about her being harassed nor her son being bullied. She only tells him how to overcome their current economical crisis. What a strong woman. It's so tough being her.
[Ep6] Chen Yu is proving to be one of the best husbands for their baby. Zhong Xiao Qing is proving to be a strong lady herself. She stands up against her manager to help Wang Man Ni prove her innocence. Zhong Xiao Qing and Wang Man Ni become friends this episode. When Zhong Xiao Qing is given a a promotion, she refuses it because she needs stability in her job for her pregnancy.
[Ep7] Gu Jia and Wang Man Ni become friends after Wang Man Ni helps her find the limited edition bags. Wang Man Ni needs the bags to fit into an superficial elite social circle. She wants to use the connections here to help her husband's company but even with the bags to superficially upgrade her status, she still can't truly fit in.
Zhong Xiao Qin's unborn baby has died in her womb. She's upset that Chen Yu isn't nearly as sad as she is. He's practically indifferent about it.
[Ep8] Zhong Xiao Qin's mother had comforted her daughter that Chen Yu's indifference to losing a baby is understandable. However, when mom accidentally shuts down his aquarium filter, he blows up. Mom reprimands him this time because he showed more emotion about his fish than his baby.
Wang Man Ni finds her man on her dream trip but what's a dream should stay a dream.
There are these ending scenes where certain words show up on the screen. This time it's "Light". Last time it was "friendship" if I remember correctly. I don't feel like flipping through episodes to find it again. I'm not quite sure what these scenes mean yet.
[Ep9] Now I finally know why this drama and Twenty Your Life On are airing together. The four girls from Twenty make a cameo here as their characters! There's Liang Shaun, Xiao Guo, Luo Yan, and Da Bao. They're the young girls in their twenties that our ladies in their thirties are envious of. It's the last day of university and the four girls in Twenty seem to be friends now. Liang Shuan has her birthday photoshoot tomorrow. During class, Xiao Guo is watching a Maggie Jiang Shu Yin drama. So much meta. Xiao Guo also mulls how she could have been a rich housewife (Duan Zhen Yu's??) but she lost the chance. Gu Jia had taken Wang Man Ni and Zhong Xiao Qin to a university to cheer up Zhong Xiao Qin about her miscarriage. As I’m typing this, I don’t know how this issue is related to that issue.
[Ep10] Gu Jia wins the battle of social class. Wang Man Ni rekindles with her dream man. Zhong Xiao Qin makes her husband test his sperms' viability.
[Ep11] Zhong Xiao Qin's cute male coworker likes her. I’m totally rooting for these two (after she gets her divorce which seems growingly likely).
[Ep14] Zhong Xiao Yang drives Zhong Xiao Qin on his motorbike to visit her father who's in the emergency room.
[Ep15] The entire company now knows Zhong Xiao Qin is divorced when only Zhong Xiao Yang was supposed to know. So cute how he's so happy. Meanwhile it looks like Xu Huan Shan will cheat. It's hard to hate the girl when she's just doing her job and being herself.
Gu Jia is moving her way closer to the center of her social circle. It feels like a horror movie watching Gu Jia move closer and closer in each group shot. As she approaches the elite wives, the distance between her family is growing further.
Daisy is the new manager at work. Wang Man Ni doesn't get her promotion.
[Ep17] Wang Man Ni finally gets her dream man to admit that she's his girlfriend but then he drops another bomb. He won't marry. Ha. This is my cold laughter. Wang Man Ni tells her friends that she'll just wait. She believes she can change him. Gu Jia asks her what if he never wants to marry. Then Wang Man Ni will never marry. Gu Jia mocks her idea. If she's looking for a rich man, it's better for her to change her target now. Wang Man Ni is insulted. She’s not into him for money, it’s love.
Gu Jia is lighting fires everywhere. First with her friends, and now with her husband. She wants to hire a specialized nanny to care for their son while she focuses on building her new career and climbing her social ladder. Her husband is against that idea but she won't listen. She's quite the demanding one and doesn't consider anyone else's feelings except for her 'greed' for a higher social status. The higher she climbs, the bigger her fall will be.
[Ep18] It's Gu Jia's 30th birthday. Everyone makes up with her for this special day. Xiao Yang invites himself to this party. Wang Man Ni threatens Xiao Yang that if he's not serious about Xiao Qin, he'd better give up now. Xiao Yang isn't fazed and asks her, "What if I am super serious?" Woo.
[Ep19] Xiao Yang is curious why Xiao Qin divorced. She tells him their personality didn't match. The next day at lunch their coworkers try to introduce girls to Xiao Yang but he reveals there's a girl he likes but he doesn't have the courage to confess. He confidently stares at Xiao Qin the entire time. He then tells everyone he hasn't confessed yet because the girl is just too good. He's still staring and smiling at her. Uncomfortable, Xiao Qin gets up but his eyes are following her and she knows it.
Gu Jia learns she's been scammed by the classy elite wives to buy a debt-ridden piece of land. Her doting husband who has not cheated on her yet is one hundred percent at her side.
[Ep20] Most people confess under the starry night sky but Xiao Yang confesses under the clouds. He's a cloud fanatic and even subscribed to a cloud group and through that group he's notified there's a beautiful sky at this time and place. It might sound dumb to some of you but in most parts of China, it's hard to see a blue sky with white clouds. Xiao Qin stops him before he confesses. She's not ready to hear it yet.
This episode, we also get a chance to learn about Chen Yu's perspective of their marriage. It's not that he purposely didn't wash her clothes it's that she was the one who didn't let him touch her clothes in the beginning. He just kept to that habit. It's not that he didn't cry about their baby's death. No one asked him when he cried alone. Ugh. Show, I rather you not show me this side of him. Now I pity him but I already love Xiao Yang. So guilty now. His brother (Chen Xu) lectures him on not revealing his thoughts and feelings to Xiao Qin and that's the main reason they're divorcing. He asks him if he wants Xiao Qin back. Chen Yu does. Thus, Chen Xu takes his drunk brother home creating a chance for Chen Yu to drunkenly confess to Xiao Qin. Oh no. Who does Xiao Qin want?
Wang Man Ni argues with her boyfriend. In a coffee store, she meets her ex. He's a barista behind the bar. The man remembers how cruelly she broke up with him. She made him buy a ton of expensive accessories until he maxed out his credit card to prove that he's not the man she wants. She asks him how he's been and that's when a server comes out and addresses him as her boss. Did Wang Man Ni's eyes light up when she found out he's the boss? I don't think he's interested in her. He still seems bitter about the breakup. He also asks her how she's been and whether she's latched onto any rich men.
[Ep21] Wang Man Ni wants a man who will lead her not a man who's behind her giving her food. Seeing her ex (Jiang Chen), she's even more motivated that she can't turn back and regret. She believes in herself and will choose her current boyfriend, Liang Zheng Xian. Not like she has a better choice if she wants to marry the rich.
Chen Xu is helping his brother, Chen Yu, win over Xiao Qin again. He's created a romantic night but he's unable to open the wine bottle. Xiao Qin tells him forcing it won't work just like forcing their relationship. The night is a failure but Chen Xu still has more plans for his brother the next day. Chen Yu makes every lid too tight for her to open and hangers too high for her reach. Chen Yu is pretty cute, sigh. However, Xiao Yang isn't going to lose. He drives her to a driving test centre. He wants her to learn to drive. While Chen Yu makes her more dependent on him, Xiao Yang makes her independent. Thank you show for proving that I loved the right person.
[Ep22] Wang Man Ni learns it the difficult way that her boyfriend is in a common-law relationship (the actress is Samantha Ko) of seven years. Wang Man Ni is the third person in their relationship. Meanwhile Gu Jia finds a potential third person in her own marriage. Xu Huan Shan is emotionally cheating on Gu Jia... He was super honest about the tangerine girl, if he doesn't' have feelings for Buzz girl, he doesn't need to lie.
Xiao Yang drops Xiao Qin home and runs into Chen Yu. She's awkward as she explains to him that Xiao Yang only conveniently drove her home. Xiao Yang upsettingly explains it wasn't convenient at all, he's travelling an extra distance just to drop her off home. Heh. He doesn't like her explaining to Chen Yu. The next day he ignores but he can't take it anymore and steals her bag after work. He wants her to go somewhere with him. He gives her a white helmet with a celery stick girl. He tells her this helmet belongs to her and her only.
[Ep23] Xiao Qin hasn’t accepted Xiao Yang’s confession yet. She’s afraid he’s not serious and afraid he’s too serious.
Gu Jia is so ahead of her times; disinfecting her home and warning her husband to not be near their son if there’s anyone at work coughing or is sick. Sigh. It’s like she knew we’d be in COVID-19. Her husband is also trying hard to stay faithful but that girl is convincing him that Gu Jia is not perfect for him, all she’s doing is controlling his life. I get what’s she’s saying but that doesn’t make her any better.
Wang Man Ni and the coffee ex dude have more interactions. I don’t want the ex to forgive her this easily...
Xiao Qin is upset Xiao Yang didn’t fulfill his promise of picking her up after her driving lessons. She’s complaining to her driving instructor who happens to be on Bluetooth with Xiao Yang who’s actually hiding in the backseat listening to everything. Cute. Xiao Qin admits she’s afraid of starting a relationship with him. He tells her why he likes her: she's his favourite type of cloud. She'll never go out of her way to standout; the wind can separate her and the rain can scare her but she'll always gather herself again. When he sees a cloud like her, he knows that day will be a good day. Chen Yu is also doing everything he can to get Xiao Qin back. He admits regretting divorcing her. Xiao Qin is so confused with life with these two men's hot pursuit of her.
[Ep24] Buzz girl insults Guo Jia's wife. Xu Huan Shan tells her off.
Xiao Yang's cloud confession inspires Xiao Qin to start writing as a hobby.
Liang Zheng Xian is trash. He thinks Wang Man Ni can continue being her second women but she dumps him. He dares her to take off everything he bought for her. She does. She's down to her tank top but she can't strip down in a public restaurant. A righteous waitress walks up to her and offers her clothes. The girlfriend (Samantha Ko) had a heart to heart talk with her. She wonders between them who's luckier: her who has won Liang Zheng Xian or Wang Man Ni who had lost him. Wang Man Ni starts anew and quits her job.
[Ep25] Buzz girl won’t let Xu Huan Shan go.
Coffee ex still loves Wang Man Ni. Why?
Xiao Qin experiences trouble at work and is dismissed. Haters are stalking her home and Chen Yu calls her to tell her their home is dangerous but the call is intercepted by Xiao Yang who doesn’t deliver the message properly only that Chen Yu tells her to not go home.
Wang Man Ni visits the family that's selling pancakes. I still don't understand the ending scenes of this family. Is it trying to show a normal family that can live happily even in meager circumstances? Perhaps that mother is also in her thirties.
[Ep26] Xiao Yang takes the dismissal for Xiao Qin. She was ready to be his girlfriend but now she can’t because it’ll look like she wants to repay instead. Xiao Yang is surprised and quickly takes action: he smooches her. Cute. But I think Chen Yu got his refusal unfairly.
Jiang Chen indirectly confesses. Wang Man Ni indirectly rejects it.
[Ep27] Xiao Qin is deeper in her dilemma: Chen Yu lost his job for her; Xiao Yang won’t return to work for her sake. Gu Jia gives her a piece of advice: move out and be independent. She’s never been independent in her life. Only until she knows herself, will she know who she wants in her life.
Wang Man Ni celebrates her 30th party in her home town. She’s returned to her village. That takes a lot of courage. Imagine being home at 30 unmarried with all her relatives. It’s not the age and status that bothers me, it’s the relatives part that sounds like an absolute nightmare. Jiang Chen had asked her to stay but she refused. I ask again, why does he like her?
Gu Jia’s husband is still emotionally cheating on her.
[Ep29] Wang Man Ni goes on a blind date with Zhang Zhi.
Buzz girl is being annoying. Xu Huan Shan tries to end it with Buzz girl while admitting he does have feelings for her. But his family is more important to him.
[Ep30] But then Xu Huan Shan goes and sleep with Buzz girl.
Wang Man Ni gets a job with Zhang Zhi's help. It seems like her impression of this guy is improving. Although I don't think she deserves the coffee dude, but isn't coffee dude better?
Chen Yu has fallen into a slump. Xiao Qin motivates him. Meanwhile her own boyfriend, Xiao Yang, is quite the slacker himself. I'm slowly falling out of love with Xiao Yang...
Xu Huan Shan is giving Gu Jia attitude. He doesn't want to help her tea business anymore. He tells her to admit there's something she isn't good at. Huh. What happened to all the good men in this drama? Chen Yu was my least favourite in the beginning, but he's the real diamond in the rough.
[Ep32] Xiao Qin realizes how inadequate she was in her marriage with Chen Yu. He did all the little things that she never knew. She’s on an overnight trip with Xiao Yang. He kisses her but in her pocket she finds her lost wedding band with Chen Yu. Xiao Qin rides a late night taxi back home, leaving Xiao Yang but the taxi driver is a creep that brings her to a secluded place. She jumps out of the car. Her cellular signal is on and off. She finally manages to get her call through and it's Chen Yu. She has no idea where she is and with the few hints she gave him, he’s searching the entire city for her. He finally finds her. She tells him she took the taxi back in order to be back in time to send him off. She thought he was returning to his hometown and never returning. He laughs that he was only making a short trip back. She wails that she almost died for nothing. Ha.
[Ep33] Gu Jia is onto Xu Huan Shan cheating. He’s practically filming an action scene just to deter Gu Jia from finding out.
Xiao Qin realizes the first person she’d call when she’s in danger is Chen Yu. She’s still sorting out her feelings and now Xiao Yang proposes to her in her company during work. She drags him out of the office and breaks up with him. Xiao Qin realizes she’s not up for marriage. She’s too dependent. It’s her fault her first marriage fell through. She’s not ready for another marriage and break up is the only solution she can see for herself. Xiao Yang begs her but she’s resolute. He drops the ring out the window. Wow.
[Ep34] Xiao Yang visits Xiao Qin at her home. She’s sick. He takes off her mask and pulls her in for a hug. She refuses to because she’ll get him sick. He still hugs her. He wants her cold. It’ll be like a breakup present for him because people say a heartbreak is like a really bad cold. Perhaps once he heals from the cold, he’ll be better. Before he leaves, he compliments her book that she wrote. Love the song in the beginning when he hugged her.
Buzz girl is going to get depression soon if Xu Huan Shan doesn’t visit her on a regular basis.
The girls visit Wang Man Ni in her hometown. Chen Yu is also in the area. She laughs out loud at his contacts. She’s too used to him wearing glasses. She doesn’t know how much effort he put into placing those discs in his eyes just to impress her. Am I the only one bothered at how Xiao Qin is with Chen Yu so happily when she just broke up with Xiao Yang in the beginning of the episode? Show needs to give me some adjustment time...
Wang Man Ni plans to return to Shanghai. She’s not satisfied with her life in this small hometown. She'd rather live a challenging life than one that is easy and complacent. She’s breaking it off with Zhang Zhi. He’s upset she’s ditching him when everyone knows she’s his girlfriend (when she hasn’t agreed to anything). She doesn’t regret leaving him but leaving her parents is another story. Despite the tears in their eyes, Man Ni still chooses Shanghai.
[Ep35] Buzz girl is working as the superintendent in Xu Huan Shan's condo since he won't bring her to see his home. She's scary. Xu Huan Shan finds her scary too. He buys her a plane ticket and tells her to return home. Xu Huan Shan happily reruns to Gu Jia but she’s not happy at all. She discovers that he continued to produce the dangerous blue fireworks (that killed a lot of people in her friend’s firework company). Xu Huan Shan’s true colours start to show as he yells at Gu Jia for dismissing his dream. He wants to create an ocean in the sky with his blue fireworks. He snidely adds in he has to make up the money for her failure of a tea company business.
Wang Man Ni gives a direct rejection to her coffee dude. He asks her if he had missed a chance with her. He did. If he had asked her to be his girlfriend instead of offering her a job, she would have never left Shanghai. Whaaaa. She gets a job on her own but it’s not exactly the one she wants. Without a choice, she takes it for now and can only hope she'll be able to prove her worth.
Chen Yu reveals to Xiao Qin that this trip of theirs was planned by Chen Xiu. He designed surprises at each stop but they’ve perfectly missed everything romantic. However, this trip is less than romantic, at least for them.
Buzz girl is back. She shows up with a blue firework tattoo on her chest. In the drama description, is horror one of it's genre? Buzz girl is so scary.
Buzz girl shows up in Gu Jia’s/Xu Huan Shan’s home as the superintendent. A package sent to his home can make Xu Huan Shan break into a cold sweat. Gu Jia senses there's more to this Buzz girl especially when she recognizes the Buzz keychain on Buzz girl.
Wang Man Ni accidentally discovers that Gu Jia’s husband is cheating. More people are discovering it at work. This is making it harder for Gu Jia to ignore it.
[Ep38] Wang Man Ni consults with coffee dude and Xiao Qin on how to tell Gu Jia about her husband cheating. Gu Jia doesn’t need them telling her. She’s figured it all out. Her husband cries and apologizes she’s wrong. She can’t forgive him though.
[Ep39] Xiao Qin and Chen Yu get a chance at babysitting Gu Jia’s son while she needs to gather herself again. Chen Yu sweetly stares at Xiao Qin caring for the boy and tells her he wants a kid with her.
Xu Huan Shan tells her the truth about how controlling she was in their entire relationship. Not one decision whether it was at home or at work was made by him. He’s just a big kid she’s raising, he confronts her. Gu Jia stares up at him with a smile. But tears are brimming in her eyes. In her mind she’s thinking so that’s what he felt all these years. She packs his suitcase and tells him to leave. Without anymore to say, he leaves. Buzz girl is waiting for him at the lobby. She still won’t buzz off. He, however, won’t choose her even if he divorces. He can’t let his son grow up in a single family.
Buzz girl visits Gu Jia's son at kindergarten and that's Gu Jia's bottom line. She shows up at Buzz girl's home and shows her who's boss.
[Ep40] Gu Jia, Xu Huan Shan and Buzz girl have a meet up. Hu Jia organized it. Buzz girl thought she was consoling Xu Huan Shan by giving him proper dinner. However, Gu Jia, unfazed, looks at her dinner pictures with Xu Huan Shan and tells her that he's got fatty liver. Every night he skipped out on dinner is how many nights she skipped out with him. He’s not even forty and he’s at a medium risk for liver failure. Buzz girl is speechless. I'm speechless too. I thought Gu Jia was being mean to Xu Huan Shan too. But Buzz girl shows her tattoo. What is this? Are these girls proving how much they love this trash? What’s the point of winning? Gu Jia admits defeat. Later that night, she drowns herself in her bathtub fully clothes and drowns her senses with alcohol. At least she has her friends who come barging in.
Xiao Qin is offered a contract to publish her online novel. She’s hesitant on accepting the contract because she wants Chen Yu to approve the novel first. The book has him in it too. Thus he stays up all night to finish her book. He loves it. He also realizes his shortcomings through her book and plans to change.
[Ep41] Gu Jia’s dad invites Buzz girl to talk her to her senses. He’s very calm about it. He’s treating her like a daughter giving advice from a father’s perspective. However, she’s still hopeful about Xu Huan Shan. She wants him to send her to the airport one "last" time. It’s Gu Jia who shows up. She even predicts that Buzz girl never bought a plane ticket so she bought one for her. Buzz girl loses all hope. She tells Gu Jia if Xu Huan Shan never appeared, they might be friends. As much as Buzz girl hates Gu Jia, she does respect her. To Gu Jia there is no if’s (they can’t be friends). At the airport, Gu Jia buys a ticket for herself to anywhere just not here in this city. She drinks at a bar alone. A boy flirts with her and she flirts back. She then drops her wedding band in the wine.
Xiao Qin quits her job job to focus on writing. I’m not sure Chen Yu is completely behind her on this decision.
Wang Man Ni's manager sets her up to fail but she courageously confronts him. But after that, she's cries to herself. Work sure is tough.
[Ep42] Gu Jia lies in the hotel bed. She picks up her courage and returns to Shanghai. However, when she gives in her passport, she realizes that even if she returns, she can't return back to being normal with Xu Huan Shan. She's made the decision to divorce him. Before they sign the papers though, his factory explodes. It's because of the blue fireworks. Gu Jia tries to help him but it's worse than she thought. She tells him that in the past she always helped him but this time he's on his own. Although she said that, she's still helping him.
I was a bit worried about Chen Yu and Xiao Qin's relationship but they're safe. Chen Yu overhears Xiao Qin's reasons for buying his parents a home with the large amount of money she just earned. She remembers Chen Yu telling her how his family suffered because they were poor. When he earned his first pot of gold, he had wanted to buy his family a home but his grandmother insisted he buy a home with Xiao Qin and add her name to it. Now that she has the money, she wants to do something for him. Money isn't that important to her but she knows it can make their life easier so why not make it easier for him? She wants to lessen his load so that he can do what he wants too. Chen Yu is more in love with her.
[Ep43] Xiao Qin has a book-signing event. She urges her readers to create happiness instead of waiting for it to happen.
Wang Man Ni is a skillful (and lawful) loan shark. Lol. She has mastered this job but when her boss offers her a manager position that she had originally gunned for, she refuses it. She realizes what she wants now. She wants to broaden her horizon. She wants to study abroad. The boss offers her money for education in return to working for him but she refuses. The commission she made while she was a legitimate loan shark is enough for her tuition. The music here when she walks to her freedom is Go Go Squid's OST (Nameless Generation). I love this song.
Gu Jia has to sell her home. We started the drama with her ideal home and now we're ending it with her losing it. Xu Huan Shan is to be imprisoned for three years. They lose all their money but manage to clear their debt. Xu Huan Shan smiles at her for visiting him in prison but he's finding it harder and harder to lift his head to meet her eyes. Gu Jia admits she had her faults in their marriage. That's when he lifts his head and asks her for a divorce. He's freeing her from him. I'm crying. He was such a bastard but now I'm crying for him. Or maybe I'm crying for Gu Jia. There's tears in her eyes and she agrees to it. They smile at each other before he leaves. Gu Jia leaves the cell to meet her girlfriends who are waiting for her outside.
The three girls drink at a bar. Wang Man Ni sees her ex, Liang Zheng Xian. He's still as garbage as ever. He broke up with his girlfriend and wants Wang Man Ni back. Why would she fall into that pit again? Wang Man Ni also visits her coffee dude. He smiles seeing her. But he's already married. Wang Man Ni smiles and congratulates them. Am I the only one happy that he didn't choose her? I don't think Wang Man Ni deserves him.
A month later: Xiao Qin is pregnant. Gu Jia receives an award for her tea business. Wang Man Ni is at the airport to begin her education.
Xiao Qin: Thirty years old is an age we nervously overcome. But when I count back and look forward, which year wasn't I nervous about?Gu Jia: It's because of these big and small matters that make us grow splendidly. Thirty years old is just an age that time has stolen a bit of youth from but it has brought us a unique history with bountiful of emotional experiences. It motivates us to achieve much more.Wang Man Ni: Life is journey with no return. There is no specific age that can determine the speed we live our life at nor the time we decide to stop at. Thirty isn't an age where you stop living live vivaciously.All together: This is our story. It is to be continued.Wang Man Ni: May all of us maintain an "而已" courage. 而已 (also in the title) means nothing more, nothing less. It can also mean "So what?" So what if we're thirty? Thirty doesn't matter. Age doesn't matter.
The end.
To be continued.
Remarks
[First Impression (Ep1-5)] I like the abstract visuals in the opening song. I’m not sure I’ll be in this drama for the long run. It paints a darker realistic life in China in a big city. Money may not give you everything, but you will get nothing without money. Wang Man Ni wants to marry the rich. Gu Jia wants her son to attend a rich preschool. Both have to serve the rich. So far the three girls are sort of connected to Zhong Xiao Qing. She’s the niece of Gu Jia and an acquaintance of Wang Man Ni. Where I'm at though, there isn't a deep connection between the three of them. Out of the three ladies, the one who captures my attention the most is Gu Jia.
[Actors/Actresses] I'm more of a Tong Yao fan than I am Jiang Shu Yin's (Maggie Jiang). I’m a little sad Tong Yao is no longer Cheng Lu who can’t get married will not marry at 30 to a capable mother and perfect housewife before thirty.
[Behind the Scenes]
[Ending] I like the ending monologues from the three ladies. It’s a nice wrap up to an ending that isn’t the perfect ending we’re all used to.
Like the sister drama, Twenty Your Life On, this goes haywire in the last few episodes. Gu Jia, the one who had the most stable life, is going through a divorce and bankruptcy. Her husband goes to jail. Literally that was the last two episode. In spite of that it’s still a happy ending. The girls rediscover themselves at 30.
Gu Jia started the drama having everything fortunate and ended the drama losing everything. She doesn’t have her husband and lost her wealth. She’s now a single mom. But she has her tea business that she worked hard to keep afloat and even thriving. She kept an entire village prosperous. There’s no where Gu Jia won’t succeed in even if she hits rock bottom. As for her husband, he has hit rock bottom and is covered up in cement with no chance to see daylight. You can say he deserved it but watching Xu Huan Shan near the end was sad. Although his character was designed to cheat from the very beginning, he would have stayed faithful (I honestly believe that) if Buzz girl wasn’t always buzzing around him. Sometimes a women’s worse enemy is another fellow women.
Love ruined Wang Man Ni. She had to give up everything because of love (willingly or not). In the end, Wang Man Ni gives up love. She’s changed her focus on improving herself. Being thirty won’t limit her to challenge herself to strive for better. If she can’t find a man to lean on, she’ll just lean on herself.
Xiao Qin’s greatest reward among all the good things she got in the ending was finding success in herself. She was always dependent on others. After her divorce, she realized what she needed and wanted. She luckily struck gold with her writing and got her husband back. Her life is a dream come true. She’s the only one who has the typical happy ending. But I didn’t like it. It felt very out of place that she’s the only one who gets to have a perfect married life and a perfect career. What did the other two girls do wrong? Be more independent? That sucks.
[Review] Thirty is a “realistic” portrayal of women in their thirties living in a busy city like Shanghai. Realistic is in quotation marks because I find it more dramatic than it is realistic. Men are secondary to this female-centric drama. Wang Man Ni is the character that strikes familiarity with many Shanghainese women. She works diligently as a salesperson in a cutthroat environment. She rents and lives on her own hoping to find a home she can call hers in this bustling city. Gu Jia is an ideal women. She’s got marriage, family, and career all under her belt. Although, she’s a housewife, she still has a fair control of her husband’s company. Zhong Xiao Qin is married and has her own career. She’s not very independent though. She either relies on her husband, or her parents. At work, she’s in charge of the small tasks, running other people’s small errands. They’re all the same age, all are 29 turning 30, but all are at different stages of their lives, most notably their relationship status: one is single, one is married, and one is married with a son. These three forge a bond to face the binding locks of being thirty.
Do not expect to find any romcom elements in this. Zhong Xiao Qin’s romance might be the closest thing to a cute romance but the focus of this drama is on the growth of these girls and it’s anything but conventional.
My favourite character is Gu Jia (actress: Tong Yao). She’s successful in everything and a lot of it is because of her work ethics and brain cells. Interestingly, my favourite arc of hers is when I liked her character the least. Her desire to be at the pinnacle of the social pyramid spelled disaster. I didn’t like her neglecting her family for her greed. That was the turning point of her and her family.
Like the sister drama, Twenty Your Life On, this goes haywire in the last few episodes. Gu Jia, the one who had the most stable life, is going through a divorce and bankruptcy. Her husband goes to jail. Literally that was the last two episode. In spite of that it’s still a happy ending. The girls rediscover themselves at 30.
Gu Jia started the drama having everything fortunate and ended the drama losing everything. She doesn’t have her husband and lost her wealth. She’s now a single mom. But she has her tea business that she worked hard to keep afloat and even thriving. She kept an entire village prosperous. There’s no where Gu Jia won’t succeed in even if she hits rock bottom. As for her husband, he has hit rock bottom and is covered up in cement with no chance to see daylight. You can say he deserved it but watching Xu Huan Shan near the end was sad. Although his character was designed to cheat from the very beginning, he would have stayed faithful (I honestly believe that) if Buzz girl wasn’t always buzzing around him. Sometimes a women’s worse enemy is another fellow women.
Love ruined Wang Man Ni. She had to give up everything because of love (willingly or not). In the end, Wang Man Ni gives up love. She’s changed her focus on improving herself. Being thirty won’t limit her to challenge herself to strive for better. If she can’t find a man to lean on, she’ll just lean on herself.
Xiao Qin’s greatest reward among all the good things she got in the ending was finding success in herself. She was always dependent on others. After her divorce, she realized what she needed and wanted. She luckily struck gold with her writing and got her husband back. Her life is a dream come true. She’s the only one who has the typical happy ending. But I didn’t like it. It felt very out of place that she’s the only one who gets to have a perfect married life and a perfect career. What did the other two girls do wrong? Be more independent? That sucks.
I did like how the drama made me see Xiao Qin's relationship with Chen Yu in her perspective in the beginning. It made me completely supportive of her decision. I was like Go girl, get your divorce. But then I seeing Chen Yu’s interpretation, I felt really bad. From his perspective, Xiao Qin clearly had more fault in this relationship than he did. It was her that didn’t deserve him. When Xiao Qin got together with Xiao Yang, my bubble popped. In one scene where they were playing a VR game together, a thought crossed my head, how are these two going to be together for the rest of their lives? Who’s going to take care of who? It became immediately obvious, these two can’t/won’t last. Although I like the progression of how Xiao Qin’s character chose Chen Yu again I don’t like how she flip flopped between the men so easily. She was the character that brought a smile to my face but gradually became someone I could not support. The more happiness she got, the more I couldn’t understand why my other two girls couldn’t. Especially Gu Jia.
As these three girls experience the highs and lows of their dramatic life, the drama reminds us that there are poorer families struggling to live in Shanghai as well. Everyday is tough but they find happiness in the smallest things.
As these three girls experience the highs and lows of their dramatic life, the drama reminds us that there are poorer families struggling to live in Shanghai as well. Everyday is tough but they find happiness in the smallest things.
Final Review
[Review] Thirty is a “realistic” portrayal of women in their thirties living in a busy city like Shanghai. Realistic is in quotation marks because I find it more dramatic than it is realistic. Men are secondary to this female-centric drama. Wang Man Ni is the character that strikes familiarity with many Shanghainese women. She works diligently as a salesperson in a cutthroat environment. She rents and lives on her own hoping to find a home she can call hers in this bustling city. Gu Jia is an ideal women. She’s got marriage, family, and career all under her belt. Although, she’s a housewife, she still has a fair control of her husband’s company. Zhong Xiao Qin is married and has her own career. She’s not very independent though. She either relies on her husband, or her parents. At work, she’s in charge of the small tasks, running other people’s small errands. They’re all the same age, all are 29 turning 30, but all are at different stages of their lives, most notably their relationship status: one is single, one is married, and one is married with a son. These three forge a bond to face the binding locks of being thirty.
Do not expect to find any romcom elements in this. Zhong Xiao Qin’s romance might be the closest thing to a cute romance but the focus of this drama is on the growth of these girls and it’s anything but conventional.
My favourite character is Gu Jia (actress: Tong Yao). She’s successful in everything and a lot of it is because of her work ethics and brain cells. Interestingly, my favourite arc of hers is when I liked her character the least. Her desire to be at the pinnacle of the social pyramid spelled disaster. I didn’t like her neglecting her family for her greed. That was the turning point of her and her family.
Initially, my least favourite character was Wang Man Ni. I don’t know if it was because of the character itself or my innate disfavour of Jiang Shu Yin. Wang Man Ni looks like a gold digger through and through. However, I do understand where she’s coming from. She wants to marry someone with a stronger ability than her. Someone who can lead her. But she should ask herself what quality does she have to attract these men. It was difficult for me to like her but as I saw more of her character grow, I pitied her and rooted for her.
Xiao Qin was the cute part to this drama. She's got the normal family and normal job. However, her relationship with Chen Yu can be quite volatile. They were bound to break up. But things don't go as planned.
Throughout this drama, I've come a full circle on disliking every character and then finding myself at peace with every one of them. The strength of this drama was giving each character very humanistic flaws; none of its characters were perfect. Wang Man Ni and Gu Jia with their greed; Xiao Yang and Xiao Qin with their selfish childish nature. I disliked Chen Yu and Xu Huan Shan too. I’m surprised I completed this drama despite having disliked every character (at one point in time) and still liked this.
Bias Alert: This may be rated lower because dark dramatic dramas aren’t my favourite.
[Verdict] A female-centric drama that depicts the unconventional but conventional ways woman can live their thirties. It’s an uncomfortably comforting drama. If you decide to watch this, may the powers of "而已" be with you.
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