OK, I wasn’t planning to write about Love Ah! I do / Ai Ya Ai Ya, I do / Ia Ia, I do / 愛啊哎呀，我願意 (so what is its official English name again?) until I finish it and do a review at the end… but episode 8 turned a page for me. Let’s be honest here, Ia Ia, I do (I’m sticking with this name) isn’t anything ground breaking, it’s full of your typical clichés but really, after a long day at work I don’t want to stress out my brain any more. So this series is perfect.
Why episode 8? Up until this point I had been watching this drama while ‘multitasking’, surf the net, play games etc. But Episode 8 encapsulates everything I love about this drama so far. I finally feel the urge to drop the other distractions and just watch the drama itself. Keep in mind I’m watching the Taiwan broadcast version, because I think I’ll go crazy if I have to hear the actors’ voices dubbed.
Story so far… Qin Ai Ya (Tammy Chen) is an orphan who was raised by the people of Yuan Zhou Island. Her tough upbringing and a failed relationship left her scarred and no longer believing in love. She works in lots of odd jobs to earn more money, but more importantly, it is her goal to find a rich boyfriend.
Ji Xiang En (Dylan Kuo) is the CEO of large corporation. His father died when he was young so his mother places a lot of pressure on him to succeed. Xiang En has always been the centre of attention. He excelled academically and his background meant lots of girls were attracted to him. Even though he had lots of girlfriends none of these relationships lasted long as his heart only belongs to Tong Hua (Reyizha Alimjan), his childhood sweetheart / fellow rich girl turned famous actress.
Xiang En believes he will marry Tong Hua one day but she never felt that she truly loved him. This became apparent when Wu Wei (Song Min Yu), an old classmate of Xiang En’s tries to win her heart. Wu Wei thought by stealing Tong Hua, he can settle an old score but Xiang En’s feelings for Tong Hua might not be as strong as he once thought…?
Our four leads cross paths when Tong Corporation (owned by Tong Hua’s father) is tendering a project for the development of Yuan Zhou Island. Both Xiang En and Wu Wei are fighting to win this project. The key to its success will be gaining the support of the island residents, and they both might need Qin Ai Ya’s help…?
OK, that summary turned out to be longer than I intended and didn’t include details of how our OTP is traveling along. In the land of drama clichés, the following has happened so far:
- Ai Ya mistakenly thought Xiang En was poor
- Accidental kiss
- He gives her a makeover so she can find a rich boyfriend, but ends up gawking himself
- She helps him to patch up with Tong Hua but he got dumped instead
Episode 8 started with another dramaland favourite – our hero rescues our heroine. One night a little girl on the island (Ya Ya) goes missing. Ai Ya and her best friend Chao Qun (Xu Yue) – in a role that reminds me so much of Li Da Ren from ‘In Time with You’! goes to the forest to look for the little girl. Ai Ya and Chao Qun got separated and because it was raining, she slipped down a slope and hurt her leg.
While waiting for rescue Ai Ya contemplated her mortality… but then she hears Xiang En’s voice.
Ai Ya: I heard that just before someone dies, they can see the person they want to see the most… but how can it be him?
Eventually, Xiang En finds her and I think this is the first time in the drama when he let go of their social differences and let his true feelings show.
Xiang En: Ai Ya, I finally found you! Are you okay? Are you injured? You don’t look very well.
Ai Ya: I’m okay… really.
Xiang En: This is okay?! Your hands are like ice blocks! Are you cold?
He was so concerned about her, hugging her tight to keep her warm… keep asking if she’s okay, scolded her for being so careless… then ripped the sleeve of his shirt to use as a bandage for her leg wound. Not to mention he ended up carrying her all the way down the mountain. SO SWEET. I’m grinning ear to ear as I’m watching this.
After the ordeal, Ai Ya finds Xiang En asleep on a chair. She watches him, thinks back to what happened on the mountain and then… starts fanning herself LOL. This happens when fangirls like me are watching this series too HAHAHA!
So she carries him back to her bed (don’t get any dirty ideas now!) and thinks it’s a good idea to you know… give him a kiss on the cheek. Then promptly laughs about it. Ah the things you do when you’re in love.
But now she’s stuck on one side of the bed and had to leap across him to get out…(sorry this is hard to describe) but just as she puts one leg across him, he wakes up. Their expressions are just too hilarious.
Xiang En: What are you doing?
Ai Ya: Nothing. You were sleeping outside and since you might strain your neck I brought you back here so you can be more comfortable…
Xiang En: Then… why are you blushing?
Ai Ya: It’s hard not to blush in this type of situation.
After all the sugary moments our OTP hits a hurdle. Earlier Xiang En promised to take Ai Ya to a ball. At the entrance reporters gather around Xiang En to ask him about his marriage proposal to Tong Hua. Then Tong Hua and Wu Wei arrived at the ball too and announced to the reporters that they have mistaken, she is actually dating Wu Wei now.
The reporters keep pestering Xiang En about his failed proposal, and how he was dumped by Tong Hua. They then start targeting Ai Ya, asking whether she is Xiang En’s new love. Xiang En’s getting increasingly annoyed so Ai Ya tried to defuse the situation by saying she was the one who proposed to Xiang En…
Ai Ya: I really like Ji Xiang En, I want to be with him for the rest of my life, so I proposed. But he rejected me…
This of course made it worse as the reporters are now speculating Ai Ya was the third party in Xiang En and Tong Hua’s relationship…
Ai Ya: I was only trying to help, don’t be angry with me. I know I didn’t think it through…
But Xiang En shouted at her to get out of his car.
Xiang En: Why did you have to say that? You want to be famous? Or you want to turn it real and force this into a real engagement? You are really stupid, saying how you’re trying to help, but have you thought about the consequences? Now the whole world, all the reporters including Tong Hua thinks we’re together. My reputation is gone! I’m sick of being entangled with you! Tomorrow I’ll transfer $300k to you. Please disappear from my life… forever!
Gosh that was cruel. Xiang En will come to regret this. Ai Ya just took all of it in silence with tears running down. I felt for her immensely.
After this rollercoaster of emotions we get a bit of comic relief. Besides our OTP the interactions between Xiang En and his mum are also great to watch.
Mum: You must be messing around for Tong Hua to be disappointed in you and find another guy! How can I have such an unfaithful son? If I knew I should’ve made you uglier! Then you wouldn’t be messing around!
No… the rumours this time are true? You really like that… gold digger? OMG. If you like her so much, bring her to meet me!
Xiang En: … who?
Mum: That one called Qin Ai Ya!
As if this scene was not hilarious enough, Xiang En then starts hallucinating it’s Ai Ya who’s standing in front of him and giving him a hard time. The filming of this scene was even funnier – it’s in the ‘Behind the scenes’ feature after episode 9!!!! Poor Dylan had to sacrifice his pretty face to film that one!
After the hallucination Xiang En starts to panic and thinks he needs to sever all ties with Ai Ya ASAP. So he stops by the store where she works. As she finishes work she bumps into him outside, and they look at each other like this.
He takes her to a fancy French restaurant. Everything on the menu is expensive so she said she’s not hungry and just orders a coffee. But Xiang En orders a whole bunch of things…
It’s a bit awkward during the meal and he even fed her without saying anything.
Ai Ya: Have you forgiven me? I didn’t mean to say those things…
Xiang En: Does it taste good? Your one month’s salary can’t even afford a meal here. The is the biggest evidence of how we’re living in two different worlds. I’m not trying to show off how rich I am compared to you. I don’t look down on you because you’re poor. But Qin Ai Ya, I must tell you, these two worlds are like two different planets, orbiting on its own, without any meeting points.
This is $300k. I don’t know your account number so I can only give you cash.
Ai Ya: How can I take this? I still owe you money for the nursing home fees. You said I can be your assistant to pay back that debt.
Xiang En: I just want to get rid of you. I want you to disappear from my eyes, my life, my brain… I don’t care how much it’ll cost.
CRUELLLLL x 10000. The most hurtful things just comes out of Xiang En’s mouth. He didn’t even think about Ai Ya’s feelings. Maybe he chose to believe Ai Ya is just a money chasing girl, but at the same time he has forgotten why she is the way she is, and that she’s actually a kind person.
The episode does end on an angst-y note but we know it won’t be long until Xiang En regrets what he said…
**My love for this episode extends to the ‘Behinds the scenes’ parts because hrm. I’ll let the screencaps do the talking.
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