Treasures Around (2024)

Am I Stupid Enough to Stumble on This Show?

Last year prior to the airing date, I accidentally discovered this show on weibo. I was truly excited because the show is going to revolve around the personal lives and business careers of jade merchants. To be honest, I have deep fascination for jade artefacts/jewelry, so I feel that giving this show a go won't do much harm. The premise of jade merchants may sound interesting, however they failed to execute an outstanding live action series. I'm going to keep this review as short as possible since there's nothing much to talk about.

Treasures Around is actually a historical rom-com revolving around an eccentric jade businesswoman Shan Dandan and the Pei family's young master Pei Pei. At first glance, they have enemies-to-lovers trope, which I enjoy very much despite their childish tantrums. After 4 episodes, they lose their chemistry, and the relationship begins to feel forced. It would have been better if they made a slow-burn romance instead of rushing everything.

The pacing is kinda on and off too - some things are wrapped up as quick as possible while the others are as slow as snail. I stop after watching 17 episodes (by using 2x speed) and mark it as completed because I don't want to drop shows anymore. Yes, I admit that I have no idea of the ending, but based on my understanding, it is going to be HE - with the leads proposing to each other or holding a marriage.

I have to cringe whenever a comedy scene pops up. Their acting is so, so embarrassing and cheesy from the main casts to supporting ones. I personally feel that the main leads' (Bi Wenjun and Xu Lu) talents are wasted in this show. Their intimate scenes are cliche and seem to be copy pasted from other shows. Also, the main leads always make fool out of themselves, which makes me so infuriated. For the first time in their lives, can they use their brains properly instead of acting on impulse? Plus, Ah Liu is a dumb bodyguard and always makes bad suggestions for Pei Pei - as the old saying goes, like master like servant lol. We don't need the jealous bitchy Cui Liu too - she's an absolutely toxic woman.

The Su family's young master Su Jue is such a hypocritical person - he always badmouths the Pei family while secretly helping them for Shuangshuang's sake. If this were your original intention, then why waste your time badmouthing them and even got your uncle to scheme everything? Poor Shuangshuang doesn't deserve him at all - but the production team obviously wants to make the second couple out of them.

The only redeeming characters are Shan Shuangshuang (Dandan's elder sister. Despite her robotic facial expression, I like her badass personality and seems to be the only sane person out of the clown-ish people) and Mother Pei (say goodbye to toxic mother syndrome. She's such a supportive and lovely mother that everyone needs in the real life lol).

I assume that the production team must be low on budget. The sets look cheap, and the main casts only get 4 or 5 different sets of clothing while the supporting casts get none. They make the main leads sing the OSTs too - all of which are not my cup of tea.

I definitely won't recommend this show to anyone unless you're a fan of the leads. Avoid this show at all costs...

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Don't waste your time (even you're a Bi Wen Jun's fan)

PLOT: The FL, smart and skillful, is hired by the ML, a young master jade engraver, rich & quite idle (because he is disabled following an assault). FL's sister (FL2) works for the rival company, which works in secret (as the Villains) to dominate the market and she spies to find evidence of ML2's villainy.

+++ Good actors, notably Bi Wen Jun & FL2 (whose badass Mary Sue character is one of the most interesting in the series).

### The storyline is coherent, but the narration is slow, and the production low-budget. The light tone, the caricatured and useless characters, the overly obvious coincidences,... irritated me quickly. The series quickly loses its interest ( viewed in Speed ​​X 1.5 and dotted lines).

=> Without much interest despite the "jade and engraving" context.
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PLOT: La FL, futée et habile, est embauchée chez le ML, jeune maitre-graveur de jade, riche & assez oisif (car il est handicapé à la suite d'1 agression). La sœur de la FL (FL2) travaille pour l'entreprise concurrente, qui œuvre en secret (Villain) pour dominer le marché et elle espionne pour trouver les preuves de la villainess du ML2.

+++ Bons acteurs, notamment Bi Wen Jun & la FL2 (dont le personnage de Mary Sue badass est un des plus intéressant de la série).

### La storyline est cohérente, mais la narration est lente, et la réalisation (low-budget), et le ton léger, les personnages caricaturaux et inutiles, les coïncidences trop évidentes,... la série perd vite de son intérêt (regardée en Speed X 1,5 et en pointillés).

=> Sans grand intérêt malgré le contexte "jade et gravure".

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Worth a watch! In the first arc the leads have strong supporting characters.

Ep 1 to Ep 9: Okay, what I like so far is that the leads are kinda cute and there have been no silly misunderstanding. I mean apart from the one where he thought she was a spy at the beginning. The ML doesn't seem so bright in the beginning and later on he grows on you. The FL's sister is kind of a badass, I'm only hoping that she isn't the one behind all of their problems, because they seem to have such a good bond. The ML's mom is one of the nicest mom's I have seen in the history of Cdramas. Another hope that they don't change her character in the final arc and turn her into a character who stands in the way of their children's happiness.

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