Once We Get Married (2021)

If you like cold CEO, Cinderella and just a light hearted romantic comedy this is for you

10/10 is my rating. This is a 2021 Chinese Romance Drama with 24, 45 minute episodes.

First I provide a synopsis then review

Synopsis

Gu Xixi (Wang Yu Wen) is a fashion buyer who dreams of opening her own store to sell her line of fashion designs. In need of a difficult to purchase item for a client she pretends to be with Yin Sichen (Wang Zi Qi) the CEO of a mall and son of a very wealthy conglomerate family. Not one to be used for nothing, Yin Sichen helps Gu Xixi catch the attention of the designer whose item she needs to purchase but then uses that to make her beholden to him. The designer is also someone Sichen wants to strike a deal with to feature his fashion in his malls. The designer, Alex, takes an interest in the two thinking they are an ideal couple to promote his wedding dress line. To seal the deal with the eccentric designer he gets Xixi to be his contracted wife for three months. Xixi is in need of cash so she agrees to the arrangement. As the two spend time together as a “married” couple real feelings begin to grow.

Review

This is just the perfect romantic comedy. The two lead’s chemistry is off the charts. Sichen starts as the arrogant, bossy and aloof CEO but turns into the most attentive and doting husband when he discovers his feelings. Xixi is bright and sweet and wins almost everyone over very quickly. If you like heart warming romance you will live this. If you like the Cinderella and cold CEO tropes this is very good in both those aspects. It does not have a deep complex plot and there are no real twists but if you are looking for bubbly romance you don’t want all that anyway.

Spoilers*. This does not have the tired mother in law buying off the girlfriend or boyfriend trope. The mother became one of my favorite characters. My mother in law was wealthy and flew in to our wedding on a private jet to tell my fiance it wasn‘t too late to change his mind. Life can truely be stranger than fiction, So I am never surprised when one of the mothers are cruel. I expected his mother to take the side of his childhood friend who thought he was hers but she did not, instead she said how she was a great sister to her son. The grandmother was Betty White level enjoyable older character. The female protagonist was a crazy stalker and one of the best moments was when Xixi told her you do not do things to hurt those you love. Inalso cheered when her best friend tricked evil girl into insulting her own fashion choice to reveal her wicked tricks. Second guy was steadfastly there for lead girl but he never did anything hurtful. He was like a foil for the 2nd female showing how you can show your love by wishing the target if your affection happiness even if it is not with you. The only couple I was not a huge fan of was his friend and the austere career woman. I did not dislike their relationship I just did not care. I could have seen second guy and his assistant as a couple as she was so amazingly supportive of him. I thought Xixi’s best friend and Sichen’s assistant may become a couple and there were some hints. Liked how Xixi was her own person and kept her own identity yet was an affectionate and playful wife. Sichen’s transformation was fun to watch. The lead couple were so on the same wave length they even planned the same surprise for each orher.

#OnceWeGetMarried
#WangYuWen
#WangZiQi

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Cliché, predictable but I CAN'T GET ENOUGH

This drama plays the same cliché storyline of rich man and poor girl in a contractual marriage. There is nothing mind-blowing or innovative about this drama. It has so many tropes and you can easily predict what happens next but I'M OBSESSED! And let me tell you why!

THE CHEMISTRY! I can't get enough of the main leads' chemistry - they look so good together... HOW. The casting for the two of them is amazing and their chemistry is OFF THE CHARTS. You will know what I mean when you watch it. They look and act like the perfect couple who are truly in love with each other and CAN KISS. This drama isn't one of those where when the couple kiss, you're like huh... you call that kissing?? THIS COUPLE DO NOT DISAPPOINT. They can kiss and they kiss A LOT. There are tons of fluffy scenes between them to feed your needy souls.

Secondly, the male lead!! I'm a sucker for good looking male leads especially ones with THAT gaze (you gotta see it for yourself to know what I mean) and Yin Sichen stole my heart. Get yourself a man who looks at you the way Sichen looks at Xixi. They portray a perfectly balanced relationship filled with honesty, truth and loyalty. I don't think there are enough on-screen couples like them who portray a healthy relationship consisting of good communication, trust and understanding. They respect each other's spaces and openly talk about what's troubling them and never letting miscommunication get in the way of their relationship. There's not a moment when they're together that their love wavers or they question if they want to be with each other or not. They know they're stronger together and refuse to let anyone else get in the way. Plus I love their bickering - they bicker nonstop and are always doing things to tick each other off. It's pretty funny and endearing to watch!

And yes, we've seen the cold guy/nice girl and contractual marriage trope a billion times over but OWGM played it so well because Yin Sichen may be cold but he ain't no asshole. Wang Ziqi who plays him gives him the right expressions of aloofness and a tinge of arrogance without appearing rude, condescending or at all abusive to the female lead. He's a very respectable and sweet character. He protects and cares for Xixi a lot without being overbearing and communicates with her well. You know those dramas where they create misunderstandings due to poor communication between the main leads just to keep the story going? Yeah this one has none of that!

For the FL, Gu Xixi, she's selfless, kind and actually smart. I think a lot of dramas introduce their FL as smart but when you watch the decisions they make, you're like WTF. Our FL here makes very mature, rational decisions. I really enjoyed watching her because she's not annoying, a cry baby, pathetic or jealous. She's independent and strong and even in the face of the nasty second female lead, she doesn't fail to stand up for herself. Neither does she wait for Sichen to make decisions for her - no matter what stands in her way she perseveres and finds another solution. And on this note, all the characters are well written, smart and not at all tropey. They all make understandable decisions based on what they want.

Yes the general outline of the story may seem tropey but this drama really caught me by surprise. The budget is low which meant low quality cameras and shots but I don't think it really interferes with the storyline. Not every high budget dramas with well known actors are good and not all low budget dramas with new actors are bad. This one gets a GIANT THUMBS UP from me!

I highly recommend giving this drama a go! I went in with low expectations and was pretty surprised by how it played out. It's one of those no brainer dramas where you can just switch off and enjoy. If anything, watch this drama for the main couple's CHEMISTRY! You won't be disappointed. I'm so obsessed and would gladly rewatch this drama!!

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Cute drama

This is your absolute cliche RomCom. But a refreshing twist and amazing chemistry between leads. Storyline is pretty easy and predictable but the cuteness is overload. One thing i absolutely love is the maturity of the the ML. Typical drama cause annoying misunderstanding that is frustrating but the communication between the ML and FL is phenomenon and very realistic. No prolonged bullsh*t

I didn't really like the 3rd ML story lol, the friend and secretary seems childish and boring to me. Lol, skipped most scene. It's nice and all but i was more interested in the main character.

Kissing scenes are lovely, and plenty plenty of it in each episode.

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One big cliche

I watched this series because I really enjoyed the other drama the two leads were in together. They both acted fairly well but I enjoyed the male's character way more, that was the case for this series as well. I didn't really like XiXi. I hated her mulling and pouting and the aeygo faces she kept making. I thought she was an adult but she kept being so childish and it made her character hard to like. Ms. Ran was way better. I liked her dominant character and she was more relatable. Even Mr. Mo was likable. I was happy that he didn't follow the female villain's lead and continue to try to do evil even when he saw there was no way they would ever be together. I liked the fact that he bowed out while still being a friend to XiXi. I thought the female villain was way over the top. How Sichen kept figuring out it was her and never retaliated and also kept trying to just be her friend. It was clear she was unhinged and obsessed, even his mother recognized it. Why they never got that girl any help is beyond me. Anyone who would behave like that and still think everyone should give her her way is psychotic and needs to be institutionalized.
I was honestly mostly enjoying the series until the masquerade party. The masks were dumb. Seriously how can you know recognize people in half masks. The Nianxi was dumb because it was clearly Mr. Mo. But Xixi started being mean to Sichen because she thought he told her he liked someone else and it was so cliche and so unnecessary. Then I think I stopped liking the series. Because what followed was every cliche that has ever happened in CDramas squeezed into 10 episodes. It became so hard to watch and XIXi became even more whiney and I almost stopped watching so many times. Can I say I am happy I kept watching, nope. Not even going to lie. It just kept getting worse.
I am so happy that both the leads have grown so much since this series because this Cdrama just wasn't it.

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Watch for Fluff and Lurve.

I chanced upon this drama because it was being reviewed quite highly on a YouTube channel. She warned about it being trope-y and sure enough, this drama is indeed full of tropes. However, it is still a fun watch at just 24 episodes of slightly more than 30 minutes each.

What I liked:
- plenty of kiss scenes if u like loved up
couples.
- the ML and FL have good chemistry.
- the ML and FL aren’t the most gorgeous but they have their charms and are pretty easy on the eyes.
- many of the elders in the drama go against the usually stereotypes. For example, ML’s grandmother and mother support his love for FL.
- this is a sweet drama with some angst but not that much until it becomes awful and tiresome.
- happy ending!

What I didn’t like:
- Ran Xiwei was awful through and through and I don’t get her eye makeup look. It wasn’t a smoky eye look. It was a black eye look which was very weird and unpleasant.
- Shang Ke seemed like a big, bumbling idiot. His scenes with his lover girl were not interesting to watch.

Overall, as I have previously mentioned, I need a rating of at least 8/10 to consider a drama a Good Drama and my verdict is that this drama gets an 8/10. It’s fun enough to watch. Quick enough to get through. I’d say watch for the Fluff, the Lurve and the Cute Couple.

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Typical & Clingy but worth to watch

I read some reviews that it's cliché type of drama and with very typical plot but I still went ahead to watch coz I'm looking light type drama and it's kinda worth it lah imo. So the plot itself are predictable but the certain scenes/lines really does kinda make you grinning watching it. Some kinda laugh out loud lol.

However the main reason I found it worth to spend my time on this drama is because the couple chemistry. The way they act as fake couple, having fun to showing off each other as "wifey" / "hubby"

There isn't much melodrama, very light. As typical as it stated, the ML & 2nd ML take turns to be heroic to save the FL. It's nice that the "drama" + "face slapping" only from 2nd FL (FL's love rival). ML's MIL being close with FL so it's nice and the FL's family didnt really caused much drama that I expect so it's considered quite light and short - 24 Episodes (soooo wonderful) Of cos, I think 16 episodes might sufficient but yeah got 2nd Couple story so skip....

Basically I skipped as much as I can when Shang Ke pop and Xi Wei. I don't know why their eyes look awkward & stiff to me, it's unbearable to watch and the stylish (idk got or not) didn't tidy up much on Xi Wei, her hair always look messy...

PS : I really like all the FL's sleepwear dress, classy, vintage, lacey, & cute. >o<

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Don't worry! There is payoff!

I painfully give 7.5 stars (I want to give it way more, but that isn't fair)

Love the male and female leads from The Love You Give Me SO MUCH!!!
CHEMISTRY IS AMAZING!!!

The last 6 episodes are my favorite. All the episodes are my favorite excluding the meddling 2nd leads. Contract marriage was so good!

What took away the last 2 stars
-Just wish the love rivals can just go away for God's sake (no offense to the actual actors), like they took up way too much screen time
-Okay, I understand some people's reservations. The ml's personality in the beginning was a real turn off, but he does become more caring and drops his controlling nature.
-I just wish the fl could have some more agency over her life, I found her a tad too cute and passive for my liking (I like badass, strong, and/or smart fls)

Overall:
Although there are some odd parts, you should still give it ago!

Note:
If you watch this and don't feel satisfied, do not give up! Watch The Love You Give Me and you'll not regret it!

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super cliché yet cute

This drama has all the cliché scenes and plots that all "rich boy poor woman" dramas had. All the plot that you thought of, such as scenes where the ML knows exactly when and where the FL would be in danger and saving her every single time. Being able to catch her before she falls, her falling and ended up kissing him etc.

Though predictable and cliché, they are pretty cute together. I would prefer if they lessen the number of accidental kisses, or forced kisses and the random small kisses though. All these felt very superficial and fake.

Personally, I thought that the second couple didn't really add any value to the drama. They make me want to skip their scenes.

I really like Xiao Ya as a friend though, she is constantly so supportive, despite causing so many troubles throughout. She's so cute and always there for Xi Xi.

Overall, feel very neutral about the main characters, I don't dislike them nor do I like them a lot. I would recommend it if you like cliché dramas which are light and sweet.

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It's the not the best drama but still it's good it's for people who watch sweet, soft and cute dramas with lots of love scenes cuz it has many kiss scenes the drama was overall good but some scenes sometimes made me cringe but some were okay and some were good.
Acting and cast: 10/10 The acting of the cast was good especially xi wei she acted really well as a scheming girl she suited that kind of role also she made me hate her that shows that she acted really well. Wang ziqi his acting was good too he suited his role and is good looking.
Wang yuwen is now like my most favourite actress she is so pretty and cute also she acted really well and she is really good at doing cute roles it suits her also I don't cringe at all when she acts cute cuz I've seen many drama's where the female lead don't suit the cute role at all and they mess up so she was quite good but what disappointed me the most was her wardrobe it was not like the wardrobe of a fashion designer but it's not the actress's fault she still looked lovely but in my opinion she suits that rich role and I want her to do that cuz I'm also fan of dramas with rich female leads and with the best fashion sense and outfits so I wanted her to do that too but I hope she plays a rich female lead role in the future with nice clothes ofcourse and not repeated outfits same with the male lead and second female lead
The supporting cast was good but I didn't paid attention to them cuz I think even if they were not in the drama it would have been the same but it's ok.
Overall it was a good drama didn't liked it that much but watched it for the female lead liked her alot and also the top notch chemistry of the main leads was good so cuz of that I will give it a 7.5/10.

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Predictable but main leads' chemistry kept me interested

This series is featured in a top drama list on YouTube. I think it was about contract marriage oh well I was intrigued hence I watched it

What I like
1. Romance - Wang Zi Qi & Wang Yu Wen have beautiful partnership that their characters look like a real couple. They are affectionate with each other. The morning after scene was so sweet.
2. Si Chen's characterisation - mostly about his personal side not professional side. I like how he acknowledges his growing feelings for Xixi and tries to win her heart. He did not deny his feelings.
3. Handbag drama - This occurred during grandma's birthday party. I like this story because it demonstrated Xixi's resilience.
4. Wang Zi Qi - I like that he looks like a normal businessman not a movie star. I find him attractive once his character opens up to his wife. He looks like Kim Sungkyu from Infinite especially with fringe/hair down.
5. Chen Xun - arresting visual. He looks like he is part of Twilight's Cullen family. Pale skin contrasting with dark brown hair. Bloodshot eyes.

What I dislike
1. Over the top stories - some stories/scenes are too dramatic and unnecessary. For example, the attacker.
2. Fashion - for a fashion shopper/designer, Xixi has horrible fashion sense.
3. Xixi's characterisation - childish & klutz.

Favourite scene
Xixi's birthday celebration scene.

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Short, sweet, and a whole lot of cliche

I am such a sucker for contract marriage and enemies to lovers dramas. They're definitely my guilty pleasure and going into it, I know to expect a lot of ridiculousness and cliches. And I think that's exactly what we got here. Honestly, I think this drama is perfect for just a short, sweet, lighthearted, and easy watch, when you're just in the mood for that type of cliché romance drama. This drama has tons of sweet moments (and a whole lots of kisses) and the main couple is absolutely adorable, but just don't expect anything with too much depth because you're not going to find it here.



[SPOILERS AHEAD]
Now, for the many things that I didn't like in this drama, because even with going in with my lowered expectations, I was still disappointed at some points:
1. I really hated Ran Xi Wei, which of course, is her sole purpose of being there. But I hated that she basically just got to skate on by throughout the entire drama, causing all these problems and essentially getting away scot-free at the end. Yeah, Yin Si Chen stepped up and created firm boundaries with her and warned her multiple times to stop and eventually broke off his friendship with her, but I didn't find that ending very satisfying enough and of course, our sweet Gu Xi Xi was still pretty nice to her in the end, it was just not satisfactory tin the end on this aspect
2. Mo Zi Xin was pretty damn annoying. He played his role of a love rival but it was pretty ridiculous how he kept showing up even in the later half of the drama once the main couple's relationship really was established. He was basically borderline stalkerish and honestly, I thought that was the direction they were going into to make Mo Zi Xin the bad guy, but they really just left him as a nice guy till the end and then he didn't even show up in the last couple of episodes. I didn't mind it but it just further emphasized that he wasn't needed in this drama.
3. I really did not care about the second couple AT ALL. They didn't need to add them in at all and I just could not find a single shred of care for them. They didn't add to the story at all and I would've much rather them make a second couple out of Yin Si Chen's secretary and Gu Xi Xi's best friend instead!

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