Hi Venus – First Impression

EPISODE 1 RECAP

The male lead Zhaoxi (Joseph Zeng) is the manager of a hospital. At the beginning of the episode, he is camping somewhere near a lake and roasting some sweet potatoes. Is it just me or does the drama WANT us to see the male lead’s makeup?

I know that all actors wear makeup for the camera, but this is a little too obvious. You can see that pink eye shadow.

From every angle.

Is… er… is there something you wanna tell us here, Zhaoxi?

A cry comes out of nowhere and Zhaoxi goes to search for it. What! Have you not read detective novels about criminals who record baby crying sounds and lure people over to do… criminal stuff? What are you doing!

OK, it isn’t a baby. Or a tape recorder. It’s an injured goat. Zhaoxi quickly rescues the goat from the bush and starts making his way to the nearest hospital.

Ye Shilan (Liang Jie) is a doctor. Due to a program, she was sent to work in this small clinic where the directors are chill and patients are scarce. So most of the time, Shilan does things like mop the floor and cook for the two old directors. This life frustrates Shilan because she’d rather be out there saving lives and stuff.

On that day, it’s about to rain and Shilan discovers that one of their goats is missing. Ohhh, goat, I see. It seems like she is responsible for a livestock-related job too.

It’s dark and a heavy storm breaks out, but neither death by lightning nor safety-after-dark protocols stop Shilan from running out and looking for the missing goat by herself.

The storm also causes some big problems for Zhaoxi. A falling tree hit his car and he was out for a while. When he wakes up, Zhaoxi shows signs of being injured. The goat is still OK, though. That is one lucky goat, two people are putting their lives on the line for it.

Zhaoxi gets out of the car and brings the goat along with him to find shelter. He runs into Shilan. Why, destiny.

But Shilan isn’t impressed despite the fact that Zhaoxi asks for help with the goat. When they get back to the clinic, she concludes that he actually stole this goat.

Zhaoxi scoffs at this and informs her that the clothes he has on are more expensive than that goat. True, he looks like he just walked out of an Abercrombie shop.

The old directors find no problems with Zhaoxi, but Shilan still doesn’t trust him. She thinks he must be in some kind of shady business. How else could he get the money to fund that flawless skin, right?

Shilan decides that Zhaoxi will have to pay for everything he gets here: Clinical service, food, accommodation, etc. But Zhaoxi has left his wallet and phone in the car. Oh sure, you carried an entire goat out of your car but couldn’t remember to take the two most important things to a person while travelling: identification and the device of communication. It’s not even a goat you grew up with!

The directors let Zhaoxi have dinner with them that night. This only irritates Shilan more, she hates it that Zhaoxi wipes his chopsticks clean before using them. He’s afraid of bugs too. Those two things alone are enough to prove that this guy doesn’t have what it takes to be a GOAT-THIEF, Shilan.

The next day, Shilan comes along when Zhaoxi goes back to find his car. But because of the storm, it is now buried underneath a pile of shattering rocks. Yes, the whole car. Guess you’re stuck with him for another few days, female lead.

COMMENTS

Well…

Either I am not giving this drama enough patience or the drama needs some work.

We can see that getting the lead couple together is a top priority here, and granted, there is nothing wrong with that. This is a romance, after all. But the circumstances in which they come together are generally unconvincing.

All dramas are unrealistic to a degree, but the way these characters act and react is quite beyond the believable realm. It is the age of smart devices, to say that someone would forget about his phone and his wallet because of an injured baby goat is a hard sell.

Then, there is this girl who is determined to give the guy a hard time. She thinks he is in illegal trade, scoffs and pouts at him, bangs her chopsticks on her bowl in front of two elders because she hates him. Her behaviour leans more toward disrespectful than what the drama wants us to see, which is “mischievous”.

Yet with her conclusion that this man is capable of stealing and lying, she still agrees to let the two elders and herself share dinner with him and even lets him use her bedroom. You know that illegal traders carry concealed weapons around, right? If you’re serious about your accusation, why not steer clear from him completely? And I hope you don’t leave your piggy bank in your room.

Yes, we can agree that everything happens to create that initial tension, they want to emphasize on this period of misunderstanding when Shilan doesn’t know who Zhaoxi really is. Some cute hostility, don’t we all love it.

But the drama needs to pick a lane. If Shilan truly believes this man is a thief, her response isn’t strong enough. If she is just mean to him because well-groomed men irritate her and clings to the goat-thief theory as an excuse, well then… this phase lasts longer than it should.

Also, the man says he is a manager at a well-known hospital. Can’t you go online and search him up?

All being said, this drama is far from the worst. It looks like they did invest in film sets to make everything look authentic. No doubt, a lot of time was spent on the goats and geese scenes; the elder couple are entertaining to watch; Shilan’s relationship with her family is also something to look forward to.

Plus, like all romance dramas, there is the chemistry between the lead couple to consider. If that works, logic isn’t much needed. If you like either of the lead actors, I definitely recommend sticking around for another few episodes. Maybe when Shilan’s “goat-thief” phase is over, things will improve.