Xia Yi Zhan Shi Xing Fu

'I know a rich woman who hired a young gigolo; she said his skin was as smooth as a 🍼Baby 🐬Dolphin''s,' Fan's BFF wistfully recollects〰

FY is a fairytale for older single chicks. The story of Fan reminds me of the Princess Bride as I imagine it starting w/ the 32y/o Fan sitting in bed. Grandma, sitting bedside, pulls out a 📖 (entitled That 🍼🐬 is Mine). 'Tonight we'll read about the director & the intern who loves her,' starts grandma...

Soon it's all hitting the FAN. Or should we say she FANS the 🔥 of a walking lawsuit? Even in 🇨🇳, "doing" the intern is a no-no, so here we go!

"If humans all live the same way it would be boring, wouldn't it?" Marriage & kids, marriage & kids. It's all the older generation knows. The young-gen isn't much better 〰'You're pretty & you have it all together. Why do you want to go on blind dates?" 〰 'At age 32, you are considered a leftover woman.' 〰 'Look at your age - Don't be so picky.' 〰 "A virgin can't reincarnate, right?" This is what Fan is up against. She's reaching an expiration date, like the 4th yogurt from a buy-3-get-1-free deal. 'What others say about us is not scary. The scariest thing is when you believe it,' she despairs. What might be scarier is falling for your baby brother's student.

Victoria Song is "Fan". I 💖 her. In ep1 she meets ML#2. David Wang is "Ming". Sure, ML#1, the waif thin Song, is beautiful w/ skin as smooth as a 🍼🐬 & a compelling ML, but I fell hard for this Ming guy! Domineering? He isn't that, so much as driven. He can take it too far, but as a bf he's absolutely lovely. The handsome actor is manly while being funny & a tad ridiculous. He's also the Sun Tzu of human relationships. Ming's firm is a client of Amazing Decorations, Fan's employer. She has to apologize for a screw-up, which places her in his office. He's repugnant. Fan is submitted to a tirade of insults along w/ the news that AD is fired. Fan starts sobbing (it's a really bad day). He relents, but 1st impressions are cemented in. This starts a string of junctures between them.

He's convinced she's stalking him. By the time he realizes his misconception (falling for her utterly in the same moment) she's already fallen for Song. So when they meet up yet again (blind date), Ming switches gears & adopts the "Let's be friends" ruse. He wants her badly. He pre-ID'd his blind date & showed up ready to seal the deal. The viewer almost hears screeching brakes as he wriggles into her life. He 'came to this blind date to mollify his sister'. He 'already has someone' he likes, too. They 'can be friends'. She confides in him as she thinks he's a disinterested party. He jumps on her fumble & runs it back to the 5 yard line➡ he offers to be her romance coach.

The acting excels. Expressions & lines are full of life & wit. We like these people. Song Wei Long is Song. He's perfect at being a sexy, winsome puppy - sweet, loving & cuddly, but not too compliant, w/ a touch of the 🐕 in him. Yang is Fan's brother. He can really yang&bang - he's a college prof & a total playboy. Esther Yu (Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9) is "Cai", Ming's niece. Her wavery voice is adorable.

Here's the seating chart: FL/Fan is Yang's twin & Song's boss at AD. Yang is Song's college prof & got him the job at AD. Yang is Cai's prof as well. Ming, client of AD, is Cai's uncle & guardian as she attends school. She stays w/ him on the w/e. Cai is in 💘 w/ Song. This leads to scenes in which Cai & Ming are both mourning over the same thing - their crush is in 💘 w/ someone else - but they don't know that their crushes are in love w/ e/o.

Fan cannot resist dating Song who is 10 yrs her jr, but 〰 'Do you think that's his gf?" 〰 "No way. She's too old." 〰 "She's not that old." 〰 "Maybe she's rich & he's a paid escort." Standards; Ideal mate; What do you want in a spouse? There's so many topics that Fan now finds uncomfortable! Fan is not a salmon. Going against the current is exhausting. She demands they keep /them/ a secret. She doesn't want to deal w/ professionals, coworkers, college frenemies, family, nosy neighbors, & random people on the street w/ their snark, condescension & judgment. She can't take the pressure! Song's a beautiful 🍼🐬; she's not that, either. She wants to try a relationship in a sedate & carefully cultured koi pond. Ming convinces her to try dating him to distract herself from her 💔. She breaks it off w/ Song. Yes, on 📑 Fan & Ming are perfect for e/o. Analytics will only get you to the playoffs. It doesn't necessarily win championships. When it comes to matters of the heart, the intangibles are what scores the 🏆

"Didn't you play flip the box in Kgarten?" "No, we played minesweeper & the loser had to buy lunch." FY depicts generational disconnect & how rigid the mindset of older people can be. Yet it's gentle w/ the elders & reinforces our obligations of deference & patience toward those who worked & sacrificed before us. Other themes are the disparity between the sexes & tossing out silly taboos along w/ the societal pressure that keeps them in place. Most of all, it's abt lies, including the struggle between truth as we want to see it & actual truth. FY is Fear>Deceit>Pride>Secrets>Relationship hierarchy>More lies>Gossip>Judgment>Expectations>Responsibilities>Finally, Freedom.

"Relationships between adults are usually maintained w/ white lies." 〰 "Where is the line between hiding & deceiving?" 〰 "Sometimes, a lie is like quenching thirst w/ poison." Fan gives it serious thought. "Perhaps lies are ice melting in truth. Eventually, there's no difference." Why do we lie? It's almost always for our own short-term comfort. Lying is like taking drugs. Comforting effects are temporary & the residue left behind is enslaving. Thus the adage: The truth will set you free. Society actually runs on lies, but that's not a good thing. James Spader, who falls for an older Susan Sarandon in the film White Palace, plays a reformed habitual liar in the movie Sex Lies & Videotape. He stopped lying altogether. It's portrayed as shocking. He was still kind - people who won't lie must know when to say nothing.

We lie to ourselves first, & the biggest lie we tell ourselves is that we're okay. The truth is that we all have lots to work on. We're all damaged, hurt, or spoiled in some way. To let go of lying we have to let go of pride. We're all better off without it; pride only obstructs 💘. Humans tend to complicate things endlessly. Fan must sort through heaps of societal garbage to arrive at what's really important. At the end of the day, things are simple. We just have to toss out the trash that's been thrown on top of us by family, friends, society, & ourselves, and grab onto the good.

The writing is excellent. There's humor & an understanding of human relations. The dialogue is snappy. The director is skillful w/ cutting & segues. He plays it well for comedy & there's a bright crispness to the flow. The pace is almost methodical - in the best way. Early on the viewer might wonder how they will fill 41 eps. They do it steadily. I can get a teensy bit stressed when I like a show, waiting for it to go downhill, as so many resort to padding & idiocy to fill the required eps. FY doesn't merely hold the line, it improves as it goes on. It's 1 of 2 modern-day Cdramas I've seen that aren't significantly flawed, (the other is A Little Thing Called First Love-8.5). 🇨🇳 is not a free country & it has seemed like they were at a loss as to how modern people should behave. It appears they've reflected on themselves & decided to get more real. Perhaps we can thank K🇰🇷. FY makes positive references to Kpop & dramas.

Now for the Scooby snacks:

〰"Being friends w/ your ex is the highest level of break-up." Seriously, can it get more 🇨🇳 than that?

〰On the wall of the office is inscribed: If you are always trying to be NORMAL you will never know how AMAZING you can be.

〰The family dynamics are cute. Fan's overprotective brother got in the way of all her romantic relationships when they were growing up. Ironically, he introduces Fan to her first 💘 after blocking 💘 for so many years.

〰The wardrobe contains some duds but has lots of winners. They had fun reinventing mens collared dress shirts. Fan accessories well.

〰Fan & Song play badminton. Determined to lose & not embarrass the other, each claims s/he is not a good player, though Fan could have made the nat'l team. Soon the competitive juices fire up w/ video game animation overlay to enhance the scene. It's very funny.

〰Ming's cousin is his assistant. They strictly set familial vs work boundaries. She keeps it all business on the 🕰 unless she requests a time out to talk to her cousin. Then their expressions, body language & demeanor will change instantly while they talk as family for a tad. Then it's back into work mode.

〰Ming only knows half of the equation & he says, "could it get more complicated than that?" Lol - It already is.

〰Fan protests- "I'm only 31... & 1/2..." The actress delivers superbly.

"A sense of belonging is, 'I am yours.' But a sense of security is, 'You are mine'." Young people want someone they like, older people want to find the right one. What does Ming want? He admits that he's childish, but he wants his destiny. FY tells us that's like hitting the jackpot🎰. Love at first sight is like winning the 🎰. Finding 💘 on a blind date? 🎰. Finding 💘 when a woman is over 30 is definitely like hitting the 🎰. Fan hits the super~🎰~schizzle. Cha-ching!

QUOTES📢

Men have a bad habit of being w/ their exes even if they don't have any feelings left

Siblings are debts from a prior life

Parents' tears drown relationships

〰🖍 IMHO

📣8.8 📝8.8 🎭8.5 💓8 🦋8 🎨7 🎵/🔊7 🔚8 ▪ 🌞7 ⚡2 😅5.5 😭3 😱0 😯3 😖0 🤔7 💤0

Poli-wagging 2/10

Age 14+ The primary couple does get it on prior to marriage and they do 😚 generate some steam.

Re-📺? 🔛

A successful company manager in her thirties has never known love but then a very attractive young intern starts at her company and is instantly smitten with her but will he capture her heart. The series has a great cast and many interesting characters and side stories and over the 41 episodes only has the occasionally lull. It makes some relatable observations about love in romantic relationships and friendships through the individuals lives. Overall very well written, well acted and occasionally laugh out loud funny.

This is an extremely long series of 41 eps.

This is ok if the content is interesting - but how many times can you repeat the same scenarios without falling asleep?

Older woman (32) is pursued by younger male (22) - shock - horror.

Fanxing is successful career woman who finds herself pursued by her own intern - a very handsome and attractive young man - Weilong Song.

I wasn't convinced by this - she looked every day of her age and I didn't find her particularly attractive.

The usual shame and embarrassment on her part is lathered on and on and on - until finally she drives it to destruction and immediately regrets it.

The parents in this series weren't as repulsive as they usually are - a point in it's favour - and I loved the impromptu dance of her older would-be lover in which he was joined by his niece.

Personally I thought he was a better fit for her - but then - who could resist Weilong Song?!!

There is the obligatory long separation (Why oh Why do they insist on this trope) and the inevitable resolution.

How on earth they dragged this out to 41 episodes is a mystery - too many girly conversations - too many sub romances which weren't remotely interesting. When Weilong wasn't on the scene neither was I.

16 eps would have been more than enough.

Be warned - you will need your finger on the fast forward button for most of this story.

Find Yourself on Netflix in the US. All my 7 stars go for the lead actor Song Weilong who plays Yuan Song the young intern who falls for his older boss He Fanxing. He is handsome, charming, smart, independent, has goals, knows what he wants, but yet still is innocent and young in his heart and in many ways. He plays the part well and was the perfect actor to play the part. The script went on way too long though for 41 episodes with his love moping around, putting him off, and you will end up hating the man who wants to ruin their relationship and keeps playing tricks on her named Ye Luming. I can see a couple of episodes of tricks being played to interfere to pull the lovers apart but it went on and on and on until you can't stand it anymore and also I developed a dislike for the female character as well. The ending was cute and nice but it just took so long. #FindYourself.

Wonderful cast with Victoria Song and Song Weilong as headliners but everyone shines!! Available on Netflix and kudos to Netfix for giving us the chance to see this charming, insightful comedy of manners. The interplay between the cast members is outstanding. I have actually watched this three times in Netflix and purchased the DVD.