As some of you can probably guess by now, I’m on vacation so I’ve time to pick up and binge-watch these cdramas.

This drama “Are You the One?” has just began its run and as of today only seven of the slated 40 episodes are out on Viki. If you’re impatient to watch more episodes, other sites like dramacool already have a few more episodes subbed.

The pros and cons of watching this drama.

1. Pro: Beautiful actress and handsome manly actor

Like a magpie, I’m attracted to bright pretty little objects. The actress in this cdrama, Wang Chu Ran, is one of the most luminous actresses I’ve seen in a cdrama. When I saw her in that Yang Yang cdrama, “Fireworks of My Heart,” I thought she looked washed out so I dropped it. But in this costume drama, she looks positively radiant and I’m instantly hooked.

As for the actor, Zhang Wan Yi, the fans of “Lost You Forever” (LYF) would know him. He was one of three men vying for the female lead’s affection. To me, his looks were average in LYF but I attribute that to his role. He played a mean, overbearing relative of the heroine and mean guys can’t be the handsomest of the bunch. (That’s cdrama logic for you!)

He still doesn’t look spectacular in this show, but at least, he balances Wang Chu Ran’s classic beauty with his masculinity.

source: justajacky’s tumblr

Anyway, I know I won’t be bored watching them interact.

2. Con: the length of the cdrama

40 episodes?!! No. I won’t be able to watch them all.

3. Pro: Fake marriage and cohabitation

The story doesn’t beat around the bush. We know that:

a. Liu Mian Tang (LMT) has amnesia as a result of a head injury. Lord Huaiyang discovered her unconscious in the mountains, and brought her back to his residence.

b. From some yet undisclosed reason, he knows that LMT is the concubine of his enemy, Lu Wen. Since Lu Wen is the leader of the bandits he’s trying to eradicate, he intends to use LMT to lure Lu Wen out of hiding.

c. LMT mistakes Lord Huaiyang (aka Cui Xing Zhou) for her husband, Cui Jiu. Her last memory is off traveling to meet her groom on their wedding day so she has no idea what he looks like.

It’s noteworthy that the name Cui Jiu has three meanings in the story.

First, it’s the name of LMT’s husband.

Second, it’s a moniker for Lord Huaiyang, too. His close friend (and the physician who treats LMT) coins the nickname, saying that it’s an apt one. After all, Cui is Lord Huaiyang’s last name, and Jiu, which means nine, refers to his official rank.

Third, the name sounds like a Chinese term of endearment. It’s repeatedly translated as “Honey” on Viki.

When LMT wakes up from her coma and calls Lord Huaiyang “Cui Jiu”, he’s nonplussed at first because a) he realizes that she lost her memory, and b) he thinks she’s calling him “honey.”

LMT: Cui Jui.
Huaiyang: What did you call me?
LMT: (weakly) Cui. Jui.

Lord Huaiyang looks back at his friend (and her attending physician) to seek confirmation that LMT is indeed suffering from amnesia. But he sees the golden opportunity for his military campaign. He looks at LMT and then decides to call her “Furen.”

Now, I’m not Chinese but I do know that “furen” refers to a married woman. In usage, it’s like “Madam” or “My Lady.” However, in this instance, when Lord Huaiyang calls LMT “Furen,” he validates their (imaginary) married status. He isn’t merely confirming that he’s her husband, but he’s also reciprocating her term of endearment for him because his “Furen” signifies “dear.”

Now, I like the subtext of their petnames. Cui Jui = honey; Furen = dear.

You see, every time she says his name, she imprints on his mind that they’re husband and wife and reinforces their imaginary relationship. As for him, I’m sure that his decision to call her “furen” will come back to haunt him. In the future, he’ll remember that he exploited the situation and took advantage of LMT when she was the most vulnerable.

4. Pro: the premise of the story

Lord Huaiyang (okay, I’ll call him Cui Jui from now on) constantly finds himself caught up in complicated situations because he lies to LMT.

Ever heard of this quote? 

Let’s take Episode 1 as an example.

Spoilers ahead

Cui Jui sets LMT up in a house in the village with a plan to parade her daily in the marketplace so his enemy Lu Wen will discover her whereabouts. She’s told that they had to move to a new (and cheaper) residence because he lost half of his fortune paying for her medical expenses. He expects her to recuperate and spend her time in new home like other married ladies: shopping for trinkets and food. Meanwhile, he has his men pretending to be street vendors and following her every move in case Lu Wen appears or she tries to contact Lu Wen.

But LMT feels guilty that her long illness caused their reduced circumstances. She devises a plan to launch a business selling porcelain to regain their family wealth. Without Cui Jui’s knowledge, she buys two stores and a kiln, and hires employees.

Now, her actions have unintended consequences which Cui Jui doesn’t see coming. As far as he’s concerned her business enterprise is a win-win situation for him. She’s out of his hair as she’ll be preoccupied with her new venture. And more importantly for him, she becomes more visible in public. This will surely get Lu Wen to come out of hiding and seek her at her store.

Thus, Cui Jui highly approves of her new plan.

He has no way of predicting the headache that ensues from her opening a porcelain business.

For one, LMT captures the attention of the wrong sort of men in town because she’s beautiful.

An aside: It’s quite telling that Cui Jui is blind to LMT’s beauty. He sees her as bait only.

As her husband, Cui Jui is forced to defend her honor and file a complaint before the magistrate of the land. But as Lord Huaiyang (and Prince), he is the de facto magistrate and highest officer in the province. He’ll have to hear her civil complaint personally.

Do you see his problem? His secret identity will be blown.

For another, as Lord Huaiyang, he’s also called upon to settle disputes between LMT and the town’s guild of porcelain makers. As she’s the lone female business proprietor of a porcelain shop, the guild opposes not only her membership but also her movements. (Yes, they’re sexist.) 

Furthermore, Cui Jui cannot have foreseen that LMT’s perspicacity will earn his admiration. When his nanny (and spy) reports to him of LMT’s activities, he begins to see her as more than just bait and his enemy’s concubine. He’s impressed with her organizational skills and shrewdness. By the end of Episode 1, he commands his nanny to give LMT more money, so she doesn’t have to bow and scrape for business or for anyone. He wants to preserve her dignity.

This tells me that he’s learning to sympathize with his captive — in some sort of a reverse Stockholm syndrome. lol.

Note: His sentiments are mirrored by LMT in a later episode when she overhears him fawning over somebody (it’s all staged by Cui Jui, though). She gets upset because she doesn’t want to see him bowing and scraping for anyone for a living. She tells him that she’s taken on the management of the porcelain business because she wants him to devote his time doing what he wants. In short, she wants his dignity preserved, too.

Now, there’s another funny example in Episode 2 when a complication occurs because of Cui Jui’s deception.

To cover up his real identity and mission, Cui Jui feeds her lies that he’s a porcelain merchant who needs to travel to sell their products. But when she discovers that he has zero knowledge of porcelain, he has to invent more lies and pretend that he’s an absolute lazybones who shirks his responsibilities and palms off his duties to his hapless wife LMT.

This scene is funny because Cui Jui goes home ready to interrogate LMT on suspicion of using her martial skills. Cui Jui has a reputation for being a relentless inquisitor. But as it turns out, LMT has an innocent answer to all his questions, and it’s he who ends up on the interrogation chair being tortured by LMT for lying about his porcelain business.

To me, Cui Jui is digging himself a hole every time he deceives her. I’m salivating to see his comeuppance.

End of spoiler.

5. Con: the gaslighting

I can’t help feeling sorry for LMT because Cui Jui is constructing one ginormous false narrative with everybody’s cooperation. LMT is the only one in the dark.

6. Con: the angst when the truth comes out

For sure, there will be fury, tears, recrimination, revenge, separation, and groveling when LMT discovers what Cui Jui has done to her. As of Episode 7, she still makes excuses for everything he does because she believes that he has her best interests at heart.

Poor dear. She won’t know for sure when he’s faking it and when he’s for real. That’s a terrible feeling.

source: numerodix’s tumblr

I hope the story won’t go down the tedious “makjang” route.

7. Pro: LMT is a formidable heroine.

She’s mentally strong and stable. She isn’t reckless and helpless. She’s very feminine. She’s a problem solver. She isn’t a shrinking violet. And what more, I think she’s the assassin.

In the opening scene of the series, Cui Jui is almost killed by an arrow aimed at his throat.

source: dangermousie’s tumblr

The identity of the archer is unknown because she (or he?) is wearing a mask. But I should note that she hangs her face mask up on a stand beside a dressing table. The table has a mirror and cosmetic jars on it. And behind the table hangs a floral painting. The bedroom looks decidedly feminine.

Fast forward a few scenes, and an unconscious LMT is discovered and brought home by Cui Jui. Her tendons on both her wrists were severed.

I find the shift from archery to porcelain very intriguing. I’ll have to think about this some more….

Let’s see if her character changes halfway through the drama.

That’s it for now. Will edit this when I’ve time.  Dinner’s waiting.

I intend to watch this show along with “The Princess Royal.” I hope you’ll join me.